{"id":17652,"date":"2025-12-16T21:27:49","date_gmt":"2025-12-16T20:27:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/museonazionaleromano.beniculturali.it\/?page_id=17652"},"modified":"2025-12-16T21:28:21","modified_gmt":"2025-12-16T20:28:21","slug":"case-24-no-2-triple-solidus-of-theodoric-so-called-senigallia-medallion-gold-late-fifth-early-6th-century-ad","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/museonazionaleromano.it\/en\/case-24-no-2-triple-solidus-of-theodoric-so-called-senigallia-medallion-gold-late-fifth-early-6th-century-ad\/","title":{"rendered":"Case 24 no. 2  Triple solidus of Theodoric (so-called \u2018Senigallia medallion\u201d), gold, late fifth-early 6th century AD."},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>From a tomb discovered at Morro d\u2019Alba (Ancona) in 1894<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Former F. Gnecchi collection<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>The gold medallion of Theodoric, discovered in 1894 in a burial at Morro d\u2019Alba (Ancona), is a unique object of outstanding historical, artistic and numismatic significance and formed part of the celebrated collection of Francesco Gnecchi, acquired by the Italian State in 1923. Issued as a triple solidus, it depicts on the obverse the frontal bust of the Gothic king with bare head, long hair curling at the ends, thin moustache, scale cuirass and a cloak fastened by a fibula. The right hand is raised, while the left holds a globe surmounted by Victory. The reverse again shows Victory with globe, palm branch and wreath, accompanied by the legend <\/em>VICTOR GENTIUM<em>, celebrating the ruler as \u201cconqueror of peoples\u201d. The obverse inscription defines him as<\/em> pius princeps<em>, evoking titles of imperial tradition.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>The dating of the medallion has long been debated: some scholars have proposed a date around AD 500, in connection with Theodoric\u2019s visit to Rome, while others have suggested alternative chronologies. According to more recent studies, the piece was probably issued by a moving mint travelling with the king\u2019s court before AD 497, the year in which Emperor Anastasius officially recognised Theodoric\u2019s rule over Italy. The medallion was intended for ceremonial distribution as a donative to members of the court. At a later stage, it was transformed into a brooch, possibly worn by a member of the Gothic elite and buried with it. The findspot, associated with human remains and archaeological materials, indicates a funerary context. The iconography and legends reveal Theodoric\u2019s deliberate attempt to legitimise himself as heir of the Roman Empire in Italy.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>From a tomb discovered at Morro d\u2019Alba (Ancona) in 1894 Former F. Gnecchi collection \u00a0 The gold medallion of Theodoric,&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-17652","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/museonazionaleromano.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/17652","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/museonazionaleromano.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/museonazionaleromano.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/museonazionaleromano.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/museonazionaleromano.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17652"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/museonazionaleromano.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/17652\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17653,"href":"https:\/\/museonazionaleromano.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/17652\/revisions\/17653"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/museonazionaleromano.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17652"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}