Three rare 4th c. gold coins found in Aquileia – The History Blog

Three rare gold solidi minted by three different 4th century Roman emperors have been discovered in Aquileia, northeastern Italy. The issues are so rare they were likely not circulation coinage, but rather medallions gifted to favored courtiers by the emperor during celebrations.

A team of archaeologists and students from the University of Verona excavated the site of the Fondo ex Pasqualis, a complex of markets on the southeastern edge of the city. They were able to uncover an area of more than 8,600 square feet in three months, all of it never before excavated.

The coins were found under the portico floor of one of the buildings in the market. They were minted by the emperors Valens (364-378 A.D.), Magnus Maximus (383-388 A.D.) and Arcadius (383-408. A.D.) in the imperial mint at Constantinople.

The 2025 excavation also revealed a row of 19 amphorae embedded into the soil. A similar set of 23 was discovered in the 2024 excavation, and the amphorae do not seem to have been used for storage or movement of goods, but rather to enhance drainage and to stabilize and strengthen the soil under long, narrow structures believed to have been warehouses.

These are most likely storage structures related to the first river dock discovered in the area, which belonged to a river much wider than the current one. These finds demonstrate that this southern area of ​​the city, whose function was unknown before our excavations, also hosted a series of landing places and docks for goods arriving from the sea via the river. It can therefore be deduced that the city’s river port was larger than the already widely known western sector, following the course of the Natissa southward and also including structures for the storage of goods.

The 2025 excavation also unearthed a whole cobbled street that branched off the main thoroughfare to navigate between two of six large buildings where foods were stored and sold. The street still has wheel tracks visible on the surface, left behind by transport carts 1,700 years ago.