In November 1992, a farmer in the village of Hoxne (pronounced 'Hoxon') in Suffolk, eastern England, lost his hammer in his field. He asked his friend Eric Lawes, who had a metal detector, to help find it. Lawes searched the field. The detector beeped. Lawes dug. He found, instead of the hammer, a small silver spoon. Then more spoons. Then coins. Then more coins. Lawes stopped digging and called the police. The police called the British Museum. The hammer was eventually found too — it is now also in the British Museum, displayed near the treasure. What Lawes had stumbled on was the largest find of late Roman treasure ever made in Britain. About 15,000 gold and silver coins. Hundreds of pieces of jewellery — bracelets, rings, necklaces, the gold body chain of a wealthy Roman lady. Silver plates and bowls. Silver spoons, some inscribed with Christian prayers. And four small silver pepper pots, beautifully made — including one shaped like a Roman lady, with her hair gilded gold, holding a tiny scroll. These pepper pots, called piperatoria in Latin, were containers for one specific spice: black pepper. Pepper does not grow in Europe. It does not grow in the Roman world. It grows only in tropical climates, particularly along the Malabar Coast of southern India — about 7,000 kilometres from Hoxne. To get pepper from India to Britain, the Romans developed an extraordinary trade network. Ships sailed from India to ports on the Red Sea. Spices crossed the desert by camel to the Nile. They went down the Nile to Alexandria. From Alexandria, they sailed across the Mediterranean to Italy, then north through Gaul (modern France) and across the Channel to Britain. Pepper was so valuable that wealthy Romans had specific containers made for it — containers like the silver lady from Hoxne. The hoard was buried around 408 to 450 CE, exactly when Rome was losing control of Britain. The Roman armies were withdrawing. The economy was collapsing. Wealthy Roman-British families were probably leaving for safer parts of the empire, or hiding their valuables in case the trouble passed. The owners of the Hoxne treasure buried it carefully and never came back. They probably died, or could not return. Their treasure stayed in the ground for 1,600 years. This lesson asks how a small silver pot ended up holding a spice from 7,000 kilometres away, in a country that was about to be cut off from the empire that brought the pepper there. It is a story about trade, wealth, crisis, and what happens when an economy ends.
Because it changed how food tasted. Roman cooking used many spices, but pepper was special. It added a sharp, hot flavour that nothing else in Europe could match. Garum (fermented fish sauce), salt, and herbs were available, but pepper was uniquely valued. It was also a luxury — the cost showed your wealth. The pepper was not just a flavour; it was a statement that your dinner guests were sitting at a table of someone who could afford the whole long Indian Ocean trade. The wider trade was huge. The historian Pliny the Elder, writing in the first century CE, complained that Rome was losing 100 million sesterces (Roman silver coins) per year to Indian luxury goods — pepper, silk, ivory, gemstones. Modern scholars think this estimate was high but not crazy; the trade really was huge. Roman ships sailed from Egypt to India in fleets of hundreds. Ancient Indian texts mention 'Yavana' (Greek/Roman) merchants in southern India. Roman gold coins have been found in Indian temples. The trade lasted from about 30 BCE to 600 CE. Pepper was at the centre of it. The Hoxne pepper pot is a small piece of that enormous trade — silver wrapping around a tiny amount of black grains that travelled most of the world to get there. Students should see that 'globalisation' is not new. The Romans and Indians built a global trade network 2,000 years ago. The Hoxne pot is one survivor of that network.
Because pepper itself was so valuable. If the spice cost a fortune, the container should reflect its value. A silver lady was a way of saying: 'What is inside is precious. We use it carefully.' The mechanism — three positions, designed to seal the pepper away when not in use — shows the same care. You did not leave pepper exposed to air or accidents. You kept it locked up, and you used a specially-made key (the turning disc) to release it. The wider Roman dining culture mattered too. Romans took dinner seriously. Wealthy households used specific tableware for specific things — fish plates for fish, drinking cups for drinking, pepper pots for pepper. Food was not just food; it was a performance. The pepper pot was a stage prop in the theatre of a Roman dinner. Your guests saw the silver lady. They knew she contained something valuable. They watched as you turned the disc and tapped pepper onto your dish. The whole thing was about showing wealth, taste, and refinement. The Hoxne hoard included other tableware too — silver plates, spoons, bowls. The owner had a complete set, designed to display wealth at every meal. Students should see that the pepper pot is a piece of social communication as much as a kitchen tool. It said something about who its owner was. That is why it survived, beautifully made, alongside thousands of coins and dozens of pieces of jewellery in a buried hoard.
Because there was nowhere safer. There were no banks. There were no safety deposit boxes. There were no police to protect your home. If trouble came, your villa could be looted, burned, or taken. The only thing you could do with portable wealth was hide it — bury it in a place only you knew, hope to live through the trouble, and come back to dig it up later. Many people did this in the 400s in Britain. We know about the ones who never came back, because their hoards stayed buried for 1,600 years. We do not know about the ones who came back and dug up their treasure. The Hoxne family are an unsolved mystery. We have some clues. A gold bracelet in the hoard is inscribed 'UTERE FELIX DOMINA IULIANE' — 'Use this happily, Lady Juliana'. The name 'Aurelius Ursicinus' appears on several other items. Perhaps Juliana and Aurelius Ursicinus were the owners — a Roman-British couple in the chaos of around 410 CE. They buried their wealth carefully — the coins in wooden chests, the jewellery wrapped in cloth, the pepper pots and silverware packed together. They probably planned to come back. They never did. Whether they died, fled, or simply could not find the spot again, we will never know. Their treasure stayed where they left it for sixteen centuries. Eric Lawes found it because he was looking for a friend's hammer. Students should see that 'history' is not always about kings and battles. Sometimes it is about a real family, in a real crisis, making a real decision that turned out to be permanent. The Hoxne hoard is what survives of one family's last attempt to hold onto what they had.
That one find can change a country's law. The Hoxne hoard showed that the old rules were too complicated for modern finds, especially with metal detectors becoming common from the 1980s. The new Act gave finders a clear path: report your find, get a fair reward, see it preserved. Without it, many important finds would have been lost — sold abroad, broken up, or kept secretly. The Treasure Act is now studied as a model by other countries dealing with similar issues. It is not perfect — debates continue about which categories of finds should count, and how rewards should be calculated — but it has saved enormous amounts of British heritage. The Hoxne hoard itself is the largest single beneficiary. The whole hoard is now in the British Museum. Eric Lawes died in 2015; he donated his share of the reward to charity. The story has had a happy ending of sorts. The original Roman-British family lost their wealth in a crisis 1,600 years ago. The modern British public gained an extraordinary window into late Roman life. Students should see that 'finds' — and the laws around them — matter. What you do with what you find can shape how the next generation understands the past. End the discovery here. Eric Lawes's friend Peter Whatling, who lost the hammer, eventually got the hammer back. It is in the British Museum, on display next to the hoard, with a small label.
The Hoxne pepper pot is one of four small silver pepper pots found in 1992 in a field near Hoxne, Suffolk, eastern England. They were part of the Hoxne Hoard, the largest late Roman treasure find ever made in Britain — about 15,000 coins, hundreds of pieces of jewellery, silver tableware, and the pepper pots. The hoard was buried around 408 to 450 CE, almost certainly during the chaos of the end of Roman Britain. The most famous pepper pot, called the Empress, is shaped like a wealthy Roman lady about 10 cm tall, made of silver with details gilded in gold, holding a small scroll. Inside is a hollow space for ground pepper, with a turning disc in the base that opens or closes the holes for filling and sprinkling. Pepper grew only in tropical regions, particularly southern India. Roman ships sailed regularly from Egyptian Red Sea ports to Indian ports, bringing pepper, silk, ivory, and other luxuries back to the Roman world. The trade was huge — hundreds of ships per year — and lasted for centuries. The Hoxne hoard's owner was probably a Roman-British family fleeing or hiding from the collapse of Roman rule around 410 CE. A gold bracelet from the hoard is inscribed 'Use this happily, Lady Juliana', possibly the name of the owner. The family buried their wealth and never came back. Eric Lawes, who had a metal detector, found the hoard while looking for his friend's lost hammer. The hoard is now in the British Museum, London. The find helped lead to the 1996 Treasure Act, which set out clear rules for reporting and rewarding finds in the UK.
| Date | Event | What changed |
|---|---|---|
| From about 30 BCE | Roman trade with India begins on a large scale | Pepper, silk, ivory, gemstones flow into Roman world; gold coins flow to India |
| 43 CE | Romans invade Britain under Emperor Claudius | Britain becomes a Roman province; Roman trade extends to British villas |
| About 350-400 CE | Hoxne pepper pots and other tableware made | Wealthy Roman-British family acquires elaborate dining set |
| 380 CE | Christianity becomes official Roman religion | Many Roman-British families are now Christian; spoons inscribed with Christian prayers |
| 408-410 CE | Roman administration collapses in Britain | Wealthy families flee, hide their valuables, or both; Hoxne hoard buried |
| November 1992 | Eric Lawes finds the hoard while looking for a lost hammer | Largest late Roman find in Britain; rewrites understanding of late Roman wealth |
| 1996 | UK Treasure Act passed | New legal framework for finds, partly in response to Hoxne |
| Today | Hoard displayed at the British Museum | One of the most-studied late Roman finds in the world |
Pepper has always been common in Europe.
Pepper does not grow in Europe. It comes from tropical regions, particularly the Malabar Coast of southern India. Before the Roman trade with India began on a large scale (around 30 BCE), pepper was largely unknown in Europe. Even during the Roman period, it was a luxury item that only wealthy households could afford.
Common items today were rare luxuries in the past. The story of how pepper became cheap is a story of changing global trade.
The Hoxne hoard was just buried treasure.
It was almost certainly buried by a real Roman-British family during the crisis of the early 400s CE — the collapse of Roman administration in Britain. The family planned to come back. They never did. The hoard is the surviving piece of one family's last attempt to hold onto their wealth in a failing world.
'Buried treasure' makes it sound like a fairy tale. The reality is more specific and more sad. A real family lost everything they could not carry, and most of what they carried too.
Indian Ocean trade was a small thing in the ancient world.
It was huge. Hundreds of Roman ships per year sailed between Egyptian Red Sea ports and Indian ports. Roman gold coins have been found across India. Indian texts mention 'Yavana' (Greek/Roman) merchants. The Roman writer Pliny the Elder estimated that Rome lost 100 million sesterces per year to Indian luxury goods. The trade lasted from about 30 BCE to 600 CE.
Calling ancient long-distance trade 'small' erases an extraordinary commercial network that connected most of the known world for centuries.
Eric Lawes hid or stole some of the hoard.
Lawes did exactly the right thing. After finding the first silver pieces, he stopped digging immediately and called the police, who called the British Museum. Archaeologists then carefully excavated the whole site. Lawes received about £875,000 — half of the £1.75 million reward, split with the landowner. He donated much of his share to charity and died in 2015.
The Hoxne case is also a story about doing the right thing with a major find. Lawes's careful response is part of why the hoard was preserved so well.
Treat the late Roman period with appropriate context. The collapse of Roman Britain involved real disruption for real people. The hoard's owner probably suffered considerably. Do not dwell on this, but do not erase it either. Be honest about the wider trade context. The Indian end of the pepper trade is sometimes invisible in English-language accounts. Make sure students understand that pepper grew in India, was traded by Indian merchants, and reached Roman Britain through a long network involving Indian, Arab, Greek, Egyptian, and Roman intermediaries. The Hoxne pot tells us about Roman wealth, but it also tells us about Indian agriculture and Indian trade. Use names accurately. 'Hoxne' is pronounced 'HOX-on' — a quirk of Suffolk place names. 'Piperatorium' as 'pip-er-ah-TOR-ee-um'. 'Muziris' as 'mu-ZEE-ris'. 'Malabar' as 'MAH-luh-bar'. Be careful with the term 'fall of Rome'. The Roman Empire did not 'fall' on a single date. The western Roman Empire collapsed gradually over the 400s CE. The eastern Roman Empire (later called Byzantine) lasted another 1,000 years. Roman Britain ended around 410 CE because the western system was collapsing, but Rome itself continued in many forms. If you have students with British heritage, the Hoxne find is a piece of British archaeological history worth knowing. If you have students with Indian heritage, the pepper trade is part of their heritage too. Both can be celebrated. Avoid the lazy 'Romans were so advanced' framing. The Romans had impressive engineering and trade networks, but they also depended on Indian growers, Arab and Egyptian middlemen, and the labour of millions of slaves and ordinary workers. The pepper that reached Hoxne was the work of many people, not just Romans. Be honest about Eric Lawes's good behaviour. The Hoxne case is partly a model of how finds should be handled. He stopped digging, called the authorities, and the hoard was excavated properly. Many other finds have been damaged or lost because finders did not stop to call experts. Finally, end on what the find means now. The Hoxne hoard is in the British Museum, where millions of people see it. The Treasure Act it helped inspire has saved thousands of other finds. The hammer that started it all is on display nearby.
Answer each question in one or two sentences. Use what you have learned about the Hoxne pepper pot.
What is the Hoxne pepper pot, and what was it used for?
Where did the pepper inside the pot come from, and how did it get to Roman Britain?
When and why was the Hoxne hoard buried?
How was the hoard found, and what happened next?
Why is the Hoxne find important for British law?
These questions have no single right answer. Talk in pairs or small groups, then share your ideas with the class.
The Hoxne family buried their wealth in a crisis and never came back to dig it up. If you had to leave your home suddenly, what small valuable things would you try to save?
The pepper trade connected India to Roman Britain. Are there modern things that travel a similar distance in your daily life?
Eric Lawes did exactly the right thing when he found the hoard — he stopped and called experts. What might happen if a finder kept the hoard for themselves?
Your feedback helps other teachers and helps us improve TeachAnyClass.
