The Gold of Tolosa
Encyclopedia
The Gold of Tolosa existed as a hoard of treasures plundered from Greece (allegedly the sanctuary of Apollo
at Delphi
) in 279 BC
by Gallic invaders
of the Volcae
(often denoted incorrectly as Galatians, despite the later migration of some Volcae Tectosagi to Galatia). It was often noted that, during the siege of Apollo's sanctuary at Delphi, the Gallic leader, Brennus
, was badly wounded (many contemporary sources state some kind of divine intervention
, and the battle was lost against a combined force of Thracians
, Macedonians
, Triballi
and Illyrians
). Many, after their fortunes reversed, retreated back into the Balkans, some to the Volcae heartlands, and many others back to Gaul itself, dumping their plunder into the lakes near Tolosa (modern-day Toulouse
), believing that the loot was cursed. The faltering of Brennus's great expedition, however, helped create the Gallic exclaves around Tylis
and in Galatia
, the latter of which remaining de facto independent for centuries to come.
For the curse to be lifted, according to Celtic paganism
, the treasure had to be offered back to the Celtic gods, and so was left in the lakes. Other guilty warriors hid their treasure in the vegetation around the lakes. The lakes at Tolosa were used many years thereafter as a place of pagan worship, but nobody (who believed in the curse) dared recover the glinting treasures from the sandy lake bed. Some of the treasures, however, did find their way into the temples of Tolosa, but the same religious taboo of their theft still presided.
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And it is further said that the [Volcae] Tectosages shared in the expedition to Delphi
; and even the treasures that were found among them in the city of Toulouse
by Caepio
, a general of the Romans, were, it is said, a part of the valuables that were taken from Delphi
, although the people, in trying to consecrate them and propitiate the god, added thereto out of their personal properties, and it was on account of having laid hands on them that Caepio ended his life in misfortunes — for he was cast out by his native land as a temple-robber, and he left behind as his heirs female children only, who, as it turned out, became prostitutes, as Timagenes
has said, and therefore perished in disgrace. [Note that Strabo here is mistaken, since Caepio did bear a son
, an ancestor of Marcus Junius Brutus
, the principal assassin of Julius Caesar
.]
However, in 105 BC
, the proconsul of Cisalpine Gaul
, Quintus Servilius Caepio
, reported the discovery of the gold at Tolosa to the Senate, and was charged with sending the treasure back to Rome. Over 50,000 15 lb. bars of gold and 10,000 15 lb. bars of silver were found. The gold disappeared en route, with Strabo mentioning that "it was on account of laying hands on them that Caepio ended his life in misfortunes...". It was reported that the gold was stolen by a band of marauders, with many contemporaries and modern historians believing that Caepio himself had hired them. Indeed, Caepio did go on to lose the Battle of Arausio
by his hubris, and was prosecuted for corruption by the Senate. He spent the rest of his days in exile at Smyrna
, tried for the loss of his army by Gaius Norbanus
. The curse was reported to have continued with his son, Quintus Servilius Caepio the Younger
, who fought against Rome in the Social War
. He barely escaped an accusation of maiestas ('dimunition of the majesty of the people of Rome') after disputing with the tribune Marcus Livius Drusus
who was also his brother-in-law, and princeps senatus Marcus Aemilius Scaurus
. Caepio perished in an ambush executed by the general Quintus Poppaedius Silo. The gold of Tolosa itself was never found, and was said to have been passed all the way down to the last heir of the Caepiones, Marcus Junius Brutus
.
But however, the account of Poseidonius is more plausible: for he says that the treasure that was found in Tolosa amounted to about fifteen thousand talents (part of it in sacred lakes), unwrought, that is, merely gold and silver bullion; whereas the temple at Delphi was in those times already empty of such treasure, because it had been robbed at the time of the sacred war by the Phocians; but even if something was left, it was divided by many among themselves; neither is it reasonable to suppose that they reached their homeland in safety, since they fared wretchedly after their retreat from Delphi and, because of their dissensions, were scattered, some in one direction, others in another. But, as has been said both by Poseidonius and several others, since the country was rich in gold, and also belonged to people who were god-fearing and not extravagant in their ways of living, it came to have treasures in many places in Celtica; but it was the lakes, most of all, that afforded the treasures their inviolability, into which the people let down heavy masses of silver or even of gold. At all events, the Romans, after they mastered the regions, sold the lakes for the public treasury, and many of the buyers found in them hammered mill-stones of silver. And, in Tolosa, the temple too was hallowed, since it was very much revered by the inhabitants of the surrounding country, and on this account the treasures there were excessive, for numerous people had dedicated them and no one dared to lay hands on them.
All above quotes: Geographica (Strabo
), Book IV Chapter I
The lakes at Tolosa were also briefly mentioned in Cicero's On the Nature of the Gods (Chapter 30), referencing political scandal in the late Roman Republic
: "Consider other judicial inquiries, the one in reference to the gold of Tolosa, and the one on the Jugurthine conspiracy...".
Apollo
Apollo is one of the most important and complex of the Olympian deities in Greek and Roman mythology...
at Delphi
Delphi
Delphi is both an archaeological site and a modern town in Greece on the south-western spur of Mount Parnassus in the valley of Phocis.In Greek mythology, Delphi was the site of the Delphic oracle, the most important oracle in the classical Greek world, and a major site for the worship of the god...
) in 279 BC
279 BC
Year 279 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Saverrius and Mus...
by Gallic invaders
Gallic invasion of the Balkans
Gallic groups, originating from the various La Tène chiefdoms, began a south-eastern movement into the Balkan peninsula from the 4th century BC. Although Celtic settlements were concentrated in the western half of the Carpathian basin, there were notable incursions, and settlements, within the...
of the Volcae
Volcae
The Volcae were a tribal confederation constituted before the raid of combined Gauls that invaded Macedon circa 270 BC and defeated the assembled Greeks at the Battle of Thermopylae in 279 BC...
(often denoted incorrectly as Galatians, despite the later migration of some Volcae Tectosagi to Galatia). It was often noted that, during the siege of Apollo's sanctuary at Delphi, the Gallic leader, Brennus
Brennus (3rd century BC)
Brennus was one of the leaders of the army of Gallic invasion of the Balkans, defeated the assembled Greeks at Thermopylae, and is popularly reputed to have sacked and looted Delphi, although the ancient sources do not support this.In 280 BC a great army, comprising about 85,000 warriors, coming...
, was badly wounded (many contemporary sources state some kind of divine intervention
Divine Intervention
Divine intervention is a term for a miracle caused by God's/a god's active involvement in the human world.Divine Intervention may also refer to:*"Divine Intervention", a 1991 song on Matthew Sweet's album Girlfriend....
, and the battle was lost against a combined force of Thracians
Thracians
The ancient Thracians were a group of Indo-European tribes inhabiting areas including Thrace in Southeastern Europe. They spoke the Thracian language – a scarcely attested branch of the Indo-European language family...
, Macedonians
Ancient Macedonians
The Macedonians originated from inhabitants of the northeastern part of the Greek peninsula, in the alluvial plain around the rivers Haliacmon and lower Axios...
, Triballi
Triballi
The Triballi were an ancient tribe whose dominion was around the plains of southern modern Serbia and west Bulgaria, at the Angrus and Brongus and the Iskur River, roughly centered where Serbia and Bulgaria are joined....
and Illyrians
Illyrians
The Illyrians were a group of tribes who inhabited part of the western Balkans in antiquity and the south-eastern coasts of the Italian peninsula...
). Many, after their fortunes reversed, retreated back into the Balkans, some to the Volcae heartlands, and many others back to Gaul itself, dumping their plunder into the lakes near Tolosa (modern-day Toulouse
Toulouse
Toulouse is a city in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern FranceIt lies on the banks of the River Garonne, 590 km away from Paris and half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea...
), believing that the loot was cursed. The faltering of Brennus's great expedition, however, helped create the Gallic exclaves around Tylis
Tylis
Tylis or Tyle was a capital of a short-lived Balkan state mentioned by Polybius that was founded by Celts led by Comontorios in the 3rd century BC, after their invasion of Thrace and Greece in 279 BC. It was located near the eastern edge of the Haemus Mountains in what is now eastern Bulgaria...
and in Galatia
Galatia
Ancient Galatia was an area in the highlands of central Anatolia in modern Turkey. Galatia was named for the immigrant Gauls from Thrace , who settled here and became its ruling caste in the 3rd century BC, following the Gallic invasion of the Balkans in 279 BC. It has been called the "Gallia" of...
, the latter of which remaining de facto independent for centuries to come.
For the curse to be lifted, according to Celtic paganism
Paganism
Paganism is a blanket term, typically used to refer to non-Abrahamic, indigenous polytheistic religious traditions....
, the treasure had to be offered back to the Celtic gods, and so was left in the lakes. Other guilty warriors hid their treasure in the vegetation around the lakes. The lakes at Tolosa were used many years thereafter as a place of pagan worship, but nobody (who believed in the curse) dared recover the glinting treasures from the sandy lake bed. Some of the treasures, however, did find their way into the temples of Tolosa, but the same religious taboo of their theft still presided.
Roman History of Tolosa and Strabo's Account
Delphi
Delphi is both an archaeological site and a modern town in Greece on the south-western spur of Mount Parnassus in the valley of Phocis.In Greek mythology, Delphi was the site of the Delphic oracle, the most important oracle in the classical Greek world, and a major site for the worship of the god...
; and even the treasures that were found among them in the city of Toulouse
Toulouse
Toulouse is a city in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern FranceIt lies on the banks of the River Garonne, 590 km away from Paris and half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea...
by Caepio
Quintus Servilius Caepio
Quintus Servilius Caepio the Elder was a Roman statesman and general, consul in 106 BC, and proconsul of Cisalpine Gaul in 105 BC. He was the father of Quintus Servilius Caepio the Younger and the grandfather of Servilia Caepionis....
, a general of the Romans, were, it is said, a part of the valuables that were taken from Delphi
Delphi
Delphi is both an archaeological site and a modern town in Greece on the south-western spur of Mount Parnassus in the valley of Phocis.In Greek mythology, Delphi was the site of the Delphic oracle, the most important oracle in the classical Greek world, and a major site for the worship of the god...
, although the people, in trying to consecrate them and propitiate the god, added thereto out of their personal properties, and it was on account of having laid hands on them that Caepio ended his life in misfortunes — for he was cast out by his native land as a temple-robber, and he left behind as his heirs female children only, who, as it turned out, became prostitutes, as Timagenes
Timagenes
Timagenes was a Greek writer, historian and teacher of rhetoric. He came from Alexandria, was captured by Romans in 55 BC and taken to Rome, where he was purchased by Faustus Cornelius Sulla, son of Sulla. It is said that Timagenes had a falling-out with emperor Augustus, whereupon he destroyed...
has said, and therefore perished in disgrace. [Note that Strabo here is mistaken, since Caepio did bear a son
Quintus Servilius Caepio the Younger
Quintus Servilius Caepio the Younger was a Roman soldier and statesman. He was elected praetor in 91 BC, and fought for Rome during the Marsic Wars of the Italian Rebellion against Rome. His father was Quintus Servilius Caepio the Elder....
, an ancestor of Marcus Junius Brutus
Marcus Junius Brutus
Marcus Junius Brutus , often referred to as Brutus, was a politician of the late Roman Republic. After being adopted by his uncle he used the name Quintus Servilius Caepio Brutus, but eventually returned to using his original name...
, the principal assassin of Julius Caesar
Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar was a Roman general and statesman and a distinguished writer of Latin prose. He played a critical role in the gradual transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....
.]
However, in 105 BC
105 BC
Year 105 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Rufus and Maximus...
, the proconsul of Cisalpine Gaul
Cisalpine Gaul
Cisalpine Gaul, in Latin: Gallia Cisalpina or Citerior, also called Gallia Togata, was a Roman province until 41 BC when it was merged into Roman Italy.It bore the name Gallia, because the great body of its inhabitants, after the expulsion of the Etruscans, consisted of Gauls or Celts...
, Quintus Servilius Caepio
Quintus Servilius Caepio
Quintus Servilius Caepio the Elder was a Roman statesman and general, consul in 106 BC, and proconsul of Cisalpine Gaul in 105 BC. He was the father of Quintus Servilius Caepio the Younger and the grandfather of Servilia Caepionis....
, reported the discovery of the gold at Tolosa to the Senate, and was charged with sending the treasure back to Rome. Over 50,000 15 lb. bars of gold and 10,000 15 lb. bars of silver were found. The gold disappeared en route, with Strabo mentioning that "it was on account of laying hands on them that Caepio ended his life in misfortunes...". It was reported that the gold was stolen by a band of marauders, with many contemporaries and modern historians believing that Caepio himself had hired them. Indeed, Caepio did go on to lose the Battle of Arausio
Battle of Arausio
The Battle of Arausio took place on October 6, 105 BC, at a site between the town of Arausio and the Rhône River. Ranged against the migratory tribes of the Cimbri under Boiorix and the Teutoni were two Roman armies, commanded by the proconsul Quintus Servilius Caepio and consul Gnaeus Mallius...
by his hubris, and was prosecuted for corruption by the Senate. He spent the rest of his days in exile at Smyrna
Smyrna
Smyrna was an ancient city located at a central and strategic point on the Aegean coast of Anatolia. Thanks to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence and its good inland connections, Smyrna rose to prominence. The ancient city is located at two sites within modern İzmir, Turkey...
, tried for the loss of his army by Gaius Norbanus
Gaius Norbanus
Gaius Norbanus surnamed Bulbus was a Roman politician.In 103 BC, when tribune of the people, he accused Quintus Servilius Caepio the Elder of having brought about the defeat of his army by the Cimbri through rashness, and also of having plundered the temple of Tolosa...
. The curse was reported to have continued with his son, Quintus Servilius Caepio the Younger
Quintus Servilius Caepio the Younger
Quintus Servilius Caepio the Younger was a Roman soldier and statesman. He was elected praetor in 91 BC, and fought for Rome during the Marsic Wars of the Italian Rebellion against Rome. His father was Quintus Servilius Caepio the Elder....
, who fought against Rome in the Social War
Social War
The Allied War was a war waged from 91 to 88 BC between the Roman Republic and several of the other cities in Italy, which prior to the war had been Roman allies for centuries.-Origins:The Early Italian campaigns saw the Roman conquest of Italy...
. He barely escaped an accusation of maiestas ('dimunition of the majesty of the people of Rome') after disputing with the tribune Marcus Livius Drusus
Marcus Livius Drusus (tribune)
The younger Marcus Livius Drusus, son of Marcus Livius Drusus, was tribune of the plebeians in 91 BC. In the manner of Gaius Gracchus, he set out with comprehensive plans, but his aim was to strengthen senatorial rule...
who was also his brother-in-law, and princeps senatus Marcus Aemilius Scaurus
Marcus Aemilius Scaurus
Marcus Aemilius Scaurus was a Roman consul in 115 BC and considered one of the most talented and influential politicians of the Republic....
. Caepio perished in an ambush executed by the general Quintus Poppaedius Silo. The gold of Tolosa itself was never found, and was said to have been passed all the way down to the last heir of the Caepiones, Marcus Junius Brutus
Marcus Junius Brutus
Marcus Junius Brutus , often referred to as Brutus, was a politician of the late Roman Republic. After being adopted by his uncle he used the name Quintus Servilius Caepio Brutus, but eventually returned to using his original name...
.
But however, the account of Poseidonius is more plausible: for he says that the treasure that was found in Tolosa amounted to about fifteen thousand talents (part of it in sacred lakes), unwrought, that is, merely gold and silver bullion; whereas the temple at Delphi was in those times already empty of such treasure, because it had been robbed at the time of the sacred war by the Phocians; but even if something was left, it was divided by many among themselves; neither is it reasonable to suppose that they reached their homeland in safety, since they fared wretchedly after their retreat from Delphi and, because of their dissensions, were scattered, some in one direction, others in another. But, as has been said both by Poseidonius and several others, since the country was rich in gold, and also belonged to people who were god-fearing and not extravagant in their ways of living, it came to have treasures in many places in Celtica; but it was the lakes, most of all, that afforded the treasures their inviolability, into which the people let down heavy masses of silver or even of gold. At all events, the Romans, after they mastered the regions, sold the lakes for the public treasury, and many of the buyers found in them hammered mill-stones of silver. And, in Tolosa, the temple too was hallowed, since it was very much revered by the inhabitants of the surrounding country, and on this account the treasures there were excessive, for numerous people had dedicated them and no one dared to lay hands on them.
All above quotes: Geographica (Strabo
Strabo
Strabo, also written Strabon was a Greek historian, geographer and philosopher.-Life:Strabo was born to an affluent family from Amaseia in Pontus , a city which he said was situated the approximate equivalent of 75 km from the Black Sea...
), Book IV Chapter I
The lakes at Tolosa were also briefly mentioned in Cicero's On the Nature of the Gods (Chapter 30), referencing political scandal in the late Roman Republic
Roman Republic
The Roman Republic was the period of the ancient Roman civilization where the government operated as a republic. It began with the overthrow of the Roman monarchy, traditionally dated around 508 BC, and its replacement by a government headed by two consuls, elected annually by the citizens and...
: "Consider other judicial inquiries, the one in reference to the gold of Tolosa, and the one on the Jugurthine conspiracy...".
Sources
- Colleen McCullough; The Gold of Tolosa (http://romanhistorybooks.typepad.com/roman_history_books_and_m/2006/08/the_gold_of_tol.html)
- Strabo's Geographica, Book IV Chapter I (http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Strabo/4A*.html)
- Cicero's On the Nature of the Gods, Chapter XXX
See also
- Gallic invasion of the BalkansGallic invasion of the BalkansGallic groups, originating from the various La Tène chiefdoms, began a south-eastern movement into the Balkan peninsula from the 4th century BC. Although Celtic settlements were concentrated in the western half of the Carpathian basin, there were notable incursions, and settlements, within the...
- Battle of ArausioBattle of ArausioThe Battle of Arausio took place on October 6, 105 BC, at a site between the town of Arausio and the Rhône River. Ranged against the migratory tribes of the Cimbri under Boiorix and the Teutoni were two Roman armies, commanded by the proconsul Quintus Servilius Caepio and consul Gnaeus Mallius...