Archaeologists Discover Engraved Gold Offering to Jupiter Dolichenu, a War God Revered by Roman Soldiers

A gold plaque etched with Greek letters has been found at an ancient Roman fortress in Georgia. Archaeologists think it’s an offering to Jupiter Dolichenus, a god revered by Roman soldiers.

The fortress, known as Apsaros, lies along Georgia’s western coast in what is now the town of Gonio. According to Science in Poland’s Ewelina Krajczyńska-Wujec, it was built when the area was part of the Roman Empire some 2,000 years ago.

Since 2014, Polish and Georgian researchers have been collaboratively exploring the site. The recent recovery of the gold artifact has strengthened their existing theory that the fort was near a sanctuary dedicated to Jupiter Dolichenus.

“He was the god of war and victory,” Natalia Lockley, an archaeologist at the University of Warsaw, tells Live Science’s Owen Jarus. The mysterious deity was a combination of Jupiter, a Roman sky god, and Dolichenus, a thunder god worshipped in what is now southeastern Turkey. Jupiter Dolichenus’ popularity “spread throughout the Roman Empire, reaching a peak of popularity between the first and third centuries C.E.,” adds Lockley.

But as Radosław Karasiewicz-Szczypiorski, an archaeologist at the University of Warsaw and co-leader of the expedition, tells Science in Poland, Jupiter Dolichenus’ cult was rooted in the east. “It was a local deity, which, for not fully clear reasons, became popular in the Roman military environment,” he says.

The newly discovered votive plaque is a thin, gold plate embossed with a Greek inscription dedicated to Jupiter Dolichenus. As Karasiewicz-Szczypiorski tells Newsweek’s Aristos Georgiou, “Votive placards were left by worshippers at places of worship for various deities,” though few examples of this kind have survived.

This discovery “confirms the existence of a place of worship—a temple dedicated to Jupiter Dolichenus in the immediate vicinity of the find,” Karasiewicz-Szczypiorski tells Science in Poland. Religious soldiers may have left the golden object as an offering to Jupiter Dolichenus, perhaps to increase their luck on the battlefield.

The researchers suspect that Apsaros was used as a manufacturing hub when troops weren’t stationed there. In the fort, they discovered kilns used for firing amphorae—tall containers that typically held wine and olive oil—as well as a wine press, according to a statement from the team.

The fort’s ruins have also revealed several mosaics, some of which have been moved to a local museum for restoration. The artworks were found in chambers used by the commander of the Roman troops, and researchers have created a digital reconstruction of what the structure may have looked like in its heyday.

The mosaic floors indicate the “exceptional character of this residence,” Karasiewicz-Szczypiorski tells Newsweek. Still, the researchers don’t have much to go on: “Much of what can be seen in the reconstruction is the result of painstaking research,” he adds.

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Sonja Anderson is a writer and reporter based in New York City.