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ASTUR - ROME
----Under normal circumstances, potential mining share investors and other interested
persons would content themselves with determining the fundamental information
regarding a company in which they were interested. However, in the case of Astur Gold
Corporation (TSX:V-AST) and their Salave Gold Deposit located along Spain's northern
coast, there is also a most fascinating history of mining in Spain during Roman times,
which literally changed the course of the world's history.
There are three important persons within this story; the great general Gaius Marius; his
nephew and perhaps the most important Roman of them all, Julius Caesar; and Caesar's
grandfather, also of the same name.
Marius was one of the most natural, able and brilliant military heroes of Ancient Rome.
As Plutarch describes Marius in his "Lives of the Noble Romans", "...he (Marius)
signaled himself to his general (the famed Scipio Africanus), by courage far above his
comrades." Africanus commented that in Marius, he saw a young man capable of
bearing his own mantle.
Because of his military prowess, Marius rose to second in command and, as a result,
succeeded in obtaining the political office of praetor, the second highest such office in
Rome. As Praetor, he was named governor of Spain at a fortuitous time, because the
metals mines which included ore bodies containing gold, silver, lead, zinc, copper and
iron, were just coming into full production. As governor, Marius was entitled to a portion
of the proceeds and, in her well-researched historic novel, "The First Man in Rome",
author Colleen McCullough notes, "...the Roman conquerors kept tripping over richer and
richer deposits of ore." And, as a result, "...Gaius Marius got rich. Then got richer.
Every new mine was either wholly or partly his..."
Marius longed to obtain the highest office in Rome, the Consulship, because only present
or past Consuls, known as 'Consulars', could command armies. But in Rome, election to
the exalted position of Consul was restricted to Rome's Famous families, whereas, as
Plutarch described the family of Marius, "...He was born of parents altogether obscure
and indigent."
It began to appear that Marius could never be elected Consul until the grandfather of the
great Julius Caesar appeared. Marius was wealthy and powerful, but of an obscure
family. The Caesars were one of Rome's most exalted families, but relatively poor. And
so, a marriage of convenience was proposed by grandfather Julius to Marius. If Marius
would marry either of his daughters, that would graft Marius into the Caesar family and
would almost certainly result in his election to the consulship. In return, Marius would
pledge to finance the political careers of grandfather Caesar's two sons as well as provide
for the dowry of the daughter Marius chose not to wed. Marius agreed, married the older
daughter named Julia, and in 107 BCE, he indeed was elected Consul of Rome.
His first true command was in the Jugurthine War of northern Africa, a struggle which
had dragged on endlessly and which Rome despaired of successfully concluding, but
within one year the war was won and Marius' reputation with the public soared.
Then came the scourge of the German masses. Three hundred thousand warriors,
accompanied by 450,000 supporters, wives and children, emerged from Belgium and the
Rhineland and headed south, threatening to annihilate Rome. Three Roman generals led
armies totaling over than 100,000 men against the German hordes but they were wiped
out, virtually erasing Rome's military capability. In this fearful state, Rome appealed to
Marius as the only man capable of saving the Republic.
And he did not fail. Re-elected consul five consecutive years, he re-built Rome's armies,
led them against the Germans and, at the famed battle of Aquae Sextiae, routed the
German masses. Rome rejoiced upon receiving word of the momentous battle, and, as
McCullough wrote, "...The whole of Rome went mad with joy, its streets filled with
weeping, dancing, cheering, embracing hordes of people, from slaves to the most august."
Rome had been saved, but that salvation would not have occurred had not Marius been in
command, which could not have happened unless he had been elected Consul, which
would not have happened if Marius had not been grafted into the family of the famous
Caesars, which would not have taken place without the enormous wealth Marius
accumulated due to the mineral wealth of Spain.
Thanks to the defeat of the Germans, Roman history continued on its path, eventually
leading to the rise to ultimate power of Marius' nephew, son of Julia's brother, the famous
Julius Caesar, who later wrote that he learned his military lore from his Uncle Marius.
This most famous Roman was later appointed Propraetor in 61 BCE and left Rome to
govern Hispania Ulterior (Furthest Spain). In western Hispania he led the conquest of the
Callaici and Lusitani peoples, adding to his growing military reputation. His army hailed
him as imperator, and he entered Rome in triumph. It is most interesting to note that the
territory of the Callaici and the Lusitani is described as being to the north of Portugal and
along the Atlantic Coast - the same general area as Astur's Salave Gold Deposit.
Caesar returned to Spain once again in 45 BCE to finally consolidate Roman power in
Spain at the battle of Munda near present-day Seville. Spain remained a peaceful
province of the Roman Empire for more than 400 years and relics from Roman times dot
the landscape up to the present day.
It can therefore be seen that Spain's mineral wealth, including portions of northern Spain
near the Salave Gold Deposit, directly led to the eventual establishment of the Roman
Empire, later under Augustus and Tiberius, where the origination of Christianity took
place in Roman-ruled Judea, forever changing the course of the world.
--Leonard Melman