This is a pepper pot, part of the Roman treasure hoard found at Hoxne, United Kingdom, near the old Roman city of Camulodunum. The woman depicted is said to be the mother of Constantine the Great, but I believe it is modeled after the wife of Aurelianus Ursicinus, a woman named Juliana, who I believe to be King Arthur's grandmother.
The Hoxne treasure includes silver flatware, bowls and flagons. On many them may be found the name Aurelianus Ursicinus. Other names include Eutherius, and Juliana. I based my novel in part on these names. It is my hypothesis that Aurelianus Ursicinus is the father of Eutherius, father of Ambrosius Aurelianus, who is the real life King Arthur. All this is traced in my book.
The weapon used by Saint Longinus to pierce the side of the crucified Christ was kept for centuries in a remote monastery in Armenia, Geghardavank. The Monastery of the Lance, or Geghardavank, is a beautiful treasure deep in the mountains near Mount Azdahak (Dragon Mountain).
This is an actual copy of the memorandum from Rear Admiral Mark Bristol regarding the killing of my great-grandfather outside Aintab in 1920.
Here is a palimpsest -- Latin on the bottom, Armenian on top. The word 'ursicinus' is visible in the smudged section on the middle right.
This is a picture of my actual grandfather, 'Shep.' He really did go to Oxford in the early 30s, did serve in the Middle East in the State Department as described in the book, and was a professor of Arab affairs in the Political Science Department of the Univ. North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He loved tennis, kept diaries, and indeed played tennis in 44 countries.
