Can a cup cost 1 million and 800 thousand British pounds? Oh... yes, it can. And that was long before inflation began to spread through our new Old World. That is exactly how much a 1st-century AD Roman silver cup was sold for in Britain 37 years ago. But the cups you see in the photograph are probably much more expensive, because they feature even richer decoration. They belong to the famous “Boscoreale” type. They are called this because the first cups of this kind were found at the Pisanella villa in the Italian town of Boscoreale, and they became a symbol of the wealth and refinement of the Roman Empire.
And one more important thing: they were found in Bulgaria in 2009, when the leading news story was the research into the so-called Eastern Mound in Karanovo. I have told you about the prehistoric settlement mound in this same village near Nova Zagora — it is where the famous Karanovo seal was found, and it is so important in archaeology that an entire prehistoric culture was named after it. But today I am talking about the Eastern Mound, where 18 years ago, in 2008, archaeologist Dr. Veselin Ignatov discovered an exceptionally rich burial of a Thracian nobleman, laid to rest together with a huge four-wheeled chariot, its horses and an astonishing number of objects. Among them were the famous silver cups, similar to the “Boscoreale” style, dated to the same period — the 1st century AD — and probably more valuable than their “London counterpart.”
The word “unique” is used very often, on every possible occasion, but this find truly is such — because of the abundance of artifacts and the excellent preservation of the chariot itself and the size of its wheels. Are burials with chariots associated only with the Thracians? Ignatov himself, who is the foremost specialist in ancient chariots not only in Bulgaria, gives specific and eloquent figures in an interview — only three such ritual burials have been discovered in Gaul, 27 in Pannonia, and remains of more than 230 in Thrace, most of them looted by treasure hunters. This allows us to judge quite convincingly what this ritual was: it was deeply connected with the beliefs of the Thracians.
There is something else, too. The Thracians were not only enemies of Rome. For long periods, they were its allies. For example, the last ruler of the Odrysian Kingdom, Rhoemetalces III, was a close friend of Emperor Caligula. Part of the Thracian nobility held high status in the empire, which explains why many Thracians and Illyrians occupied high positions, including becoming emperors, and left behind rich material traces across the lands of present-day Bulgaria, symbolizing their power and wealth.
This is where the good part of the story ends. Because this world-class discovery fell victim to “Punic wars” over its preservation and for many years was left almost to the mercy of fate. As, incidentally, were other sites — such as the magnificent tower in the Maltepe mound near Plovdiv, which ultimately almost collapsed.
The Roman senator Cato the Elder remains famous in history for saying in every speech he made: “And yet Carthage must be destroyed.” In our reality, it seems that we have some kind of Cato — a guardian of Bulgarian indifference — who often says: “And yet the cultural and historical heritage in our lands must be destroyed.” Well, there is a difference between the two. The Roman Cato is considered a positive hero, while ours is a symbol of the spirit of native negation and ruin.