“I almost fell off my chair,” says Danish archaeologist Freerk Oldenburger of the moment he realized he was looking at a small bronze portrait of Alexander the Great found in Denmark.
Oldenburger added in his comments to Live Science that the piece “has the typical features of Alexander the Great, such as his distinctive wavy hair and ram’s horns.”
It was discovered by metal detectorists Finn Ibsen and Lars Danielsen, who were surveying a field outside Ringsted, a town on the island of Zealand, 50 kilometers southwest of the Danish capital, Copenhagen. The bronze piece was given to the West Zealand Museum where Oldenburger works. It is approximately 2.7 cm in diameter and is made of bronze alloy.
Bronze alloy portrait of Alexander the Great found in a field in Denmark. (photo: West Zealand Museum)
The mini-portrait dates to around 200 AD. This puts it around the same time as the Roman emperor Caracalla who ruled from 198 to 217 AD.
“We know that he was absolutely obsessed with Alexander the Great and was interested and inspired by him, since he was the greatest conqueror of that time,” Oldenburger explains. Caracalla often “dressed in the same style and believed himself to be the reincarnation of Alexander the Great,” Oldenburger adds. “Caracalla is also the only emperor of his time depicted with a shield containing a portrait of Alexander the Great.”
Although the Roman Empire at the time did not extend as far north as Denmark, trade and commerce between the Romans and the north and east was common. During the reign of Caracalla a great battle took place between the Germanic armies in Danish Jutland. Excavations have revealed that many of the shields used in the conflict were decorated with portraits of warriors, according to a statement from the West Zealand Museum.
Despite being nearly 2,000 kilometers from his birthplace in Macedonia, such a portrait of Alexander the Great has already been found. The newly discovered piece is almost identical. “But this one is a bit thicker and is made of cast bronze rather than silver-plated,” says Oldenburger. “The bronze alloy also contains a high lead content and was made using an alloy often found in [ρωμαϊκά] bronze statuettes. It is possible that a statuette was melted down to make this portrait.’
Portrait of Caracalla, the Roman emperor who often imitated Alexander the Great. Depicted with a shield containing a portrait of Alexander the Great. (photo: Münzkabinett der Staatlichen Museen, Berlin)
“This is a unique find in Scandinavia associated with one of the most famous figures in world history,” says Oldenburger.
With information from Cosmos, Live Science
Tags: Denmark #1800yearold miniature portrait Alexander Great
