The treasure of Sant'Eufemia, from Calabria to the British Museum in London. The treasure is made up of jewels from the Magna Graecia era found in 1865 in the Terravecchia district in the Sant'Eufemia plain, in practice the central Tyrrhenian Calabrian area. The jewelry found, as he explains the historian Vincenzo Villella they are “a diadem, parts of two or three necklaces, ends of a pair of spiral earrings, pieces of some belts, a ring and fragments of other ornaments belonging to one or more rich women”.

treasure sant'eufemia - jewels on display
Part of the treasure exhibited at the British Museum in London

There are also “an unspecified number of bronze coins that would have been the equipment for a burial. All the pieces would have been made by the same workshop of that master-craftsman who is defined as the 'Master of Sant' Eufemia ', who would have made them between 330 and 300 BC. C. ". The documents of the experts who found the jewels describe in detail the treasure composed of “four gold strips, forming part of a cuirass, upright in half and cut on one side. Four smaller and much finer gold stripes. And then a triangle in gold with filigree works that could be served either on the front of the diadem, or as a clip on the belt that supported the sword.

treasure saint euphemia - gold necklace

There is also a gold filigree chain with a gold medallion hanging on it, on which various emblems of the city of Syracuse can be seen in relief. And, again, a gold medallion with the emblems of that city; other small objects all in gold; bronze coins on the obverse of which you can see Diana's head with arrows in the braid of her hair, and on the reverse the winged lightning bolt with the inscription 'Agatocle Basileo' around it in Greek letters. The jewels, all of refined and elegant workmanship, are yet another testimony to the existence of the city of Terina, one of the richest and most flourishing colonies in all of Magna Graecia.

treasure sant'eufemia - laminae

The treasure of Sant'Eufemia

The treasure of Sant'Eufemia is found by chance; the finds were purchased by the Roman antiquarian Vincenzo Vitaliani who in 1896 sold a part of them to British Museum in London. The jewels are currently exhibited among the finds and treasures of Magna Graecia. According to Dyfri Williams, head of the Greco-Roman section of the British, the treasure of St. Euphemia is "probably the largest and most important find of Greek goldsmiths in Magna Graecia".

diadem
The diadem is part of the jewels found in the excavations of Terina

François Lenormant, Assyrian and numismatist, is among the first scholars to argue that the city of Terina, a colony of the great and powerful Crotone, was established on the Lametine plain. Subsequently, the archaeologist Paolo Orsi begins his research in the area, in order to identify the remains of the ancient colony. However, it was only in 1997 that excavations began and brought to light the remains of the ancient urban agglomeration.

Terina flourishing city of Magna Graecia

According to historical sources, the Greek city of terine it was founded in the sixth century BC by the Crotoniati. These, already settled in the Ionian area of ​​Calabria, intend to expand their dominion over the Tyrrhenian Sea. The goal is to ensure complete control of the isthmus, i.e. the central area of ​​the region.

magnagrecia map

Terina, between the fifth and fourth centuries BC, like many Greek cities in Calabria, falls under the dominion of the Syracusans. Later in the third century BC it was conquered by the Bruttii. In 272 BC the belligerence against Taranto ended and the Hellenic colony was subjected to the authority of the government of Rome. In 203 BC it was destroyed by Hannibal because he refuses to take sides with the Carthaginians.

The way of the isthmus

The excavations started in 1997 and carried out in the locality "Gardens of Renda”Of Sant'Eufemia Vetere since 1997 have brought out the first archaeological area of ​​Terina. A well-structured urban settlement, characterized by two large arteries. Close to the two roads the remains of the urban agglomeration built, according to historians, in the XNUMXth and XNUMXrd centuries BC

terina coins
Coins of the Magna Graecia colony depicting the nymph Terina and the winged Nike

The power and wealth of the Magna Graecia settlement is represented by the refined minting of its coins. terine e Skilletion (today Squillace, a town in the Ionian of Catanzaro) had a strategic role in controlling the "via Istmo ", the road section in the center of the region that ran along the Amato river. The privileged 'corridor' for communication and trade that allowed communication between the colonies in Calabria and the motherland: theHellas.

(Thanks to the historian, Prof. Vincenzo Villella, for the kind concession of the images regarding the treasure of Sant'Eufemia)

The treasure of Saint Euphemia in the British Museum in London last edit: 2021-03-29T15:30:00+02:00 da Maria Scaramuzzino

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