Further Seuso treasure pieces brought back

The Hungarian Government has acquired and repatriated the final seven pieces of the 'Seuso-treasure', a unique, priceless, ancient Roman silver treasure. The announcement in the Hunting Room of Hungarian Parliament in Budapest was made by Hungarian PM Viktor Orbán this Wednesday.

The Seuso-treasure was found in the middle of the 1970s around Polgárdi, W Hungary, situated close to Lake Balaton. Despite the international investigation that has been ongoing since then, little is known for certain about their history until it was presented at New York auction in 1990, which was abandoned when the ownership was disputed by Croatia, Hungary and Lebanon. Later, Lebanon gave up its claim.

The treasure trove, crafted in the 4th century AD, consists of large silver vessels. The best-known piece of the treasure is the plate after which the treasure was named. In the center of the large piece, meticulous hunting scenes are framed by Latin signs dedicating the treasure to its presumed owner and his family, while on the plate the word Pelso, the Latin name for Lake Balaton, can be read. The treasure was named after a high-ranking Roman officer, Seuso, who probably buried his silver vessels before a military attack around the turn of the 4th and 5th centuries.

The silver Seuso-treasure consists of fourteen silver vessels used for dining and washing. The Hungarian State acquired the first seven silver pieces of the Seuso-treasure in 2014 for EUR 15 million and paid another EUR 28 million now. As the ownership of the pieces is still disputed, the amount the Hungarian state paid the unnamed sellers is referred to as 'compensation' not as 'price'.