This Day in Ancient History: pridie kalendas septembres
pridie kalendas septembres 12 A.D. — birth of the future emperor Gaius (Caligula) at Antium 40 A.D. — Gaius (Caligula) celebrates an ovatio after his attempted military campaigns in Gaul and Britain 161 A.D. — birth of the future emperor Commodus (and his twin, Titus Aurelius Fulvus Antoninus)
This Day in Ancient History: ante diem iii kalendas septembres
ante diem iii kalendas septembres 490 B.C. — battle of Marathon (according to some reckonings) 37 A.D. — dedication of the Temple of Augustus (and associated rites thereafter)
Statues of Cleopatra
I’ve been sitting on this one for a while … an excerpt from a piece by Zahi Hawass in Asharq Al-Awsat: However what is strange is that there is not one statue of Queen Cleopatra, and thanks to historians we know that such statues did exist. However there is an image of Queen Cleopatra on [...]
Intact Minoan Tombs Found!
Saw this on Aegeanet … it’s in Greek and Google translate is okay on it but a bit vague for my liking; the upshot seems to be the discovery of some Minoan tombs in the Heraklion area, with pots, jewellery, etc. inside. Not sure if there’s any evidence of looting at all, but this is [...]
Allianoi Update
From a press release: An ancient city in Turkey’s Aegean area will be covered with sand instead of silt and clay then inundated with reservoir water from a new dam, officials say. Environmentalists say the decision to use sand to cover the ancient city of Allianoi will mean the ultimate destruction of an architectural treasure, [...]
Caistor St Edmund Dig Update
A very nice report from the Evening News … note the link at the end to the project’s blog: They have been excavating for just a week, but already members of an archaeological team at a Roman town on the outskirts of Norwich have found “huge quantities” of artefacts. A thousand visitors have been to [...]
Rethinking the ‘Domus of the Dancing Cherubs’ at Aquileia
This probably won’t last long at ANSA: Archaeologists working on the remains of an ancient dwelling in northern Italy have reassessed their ideas about the site after uncovering lavish decorations and imposing architectural features. The building in Aquileia, which previously appeared to be a normal Roman villa, has now emerged as a majestic mansion complex, [...]
Marking Robert Fitzgerald’s “100th”
The Illinois State Historical Society is raising money to commemorate the 100th birthday of Robert Fitzgerald, a Springfield native who became a notable poet, editor and translator. Fitzgerald, who died in 1985, worked with Flannery O’Connor, James Agee and William Maxwell. His translations of the “Iliad,” “Odyssey” and “Aeneid” remain standard reference works. He was [...]
Citanda: 24 August 410: the date it all went wrong for Rome?
On the periphery of our purview, but likely of interest. From the BBC: 24 August 410: the date it all went wrong for Rome? | BBC.
Citanda: Roman Denarii Find
Somewhat vague item (without pictures) of a find of some Republican denarii by a metal detectorist in the UK: I found buried Roman treasure! | Messenger Newspapers.
Citanda: Pompeii Food and Drink Project
Saw this fieldwork notice in the latest AIA eBulletin: Archaeological Fieldwork Opportunities Bulletin – Pompeii Food and Drink Project.
This Day in Ancient History: ante diem vi kalendas septembres
ante diem vi kalendas septembres Volturnalia — rites in honour of a divinity associated with fountains/waters 479 B.C. — Greek forces defeat Persian forces under Mardonius at Plataea (according to one reckoning) 413 B.C. — lunar eclipse which caused hesitation amongst Athenian forces under Nikias in Sicily; the subsequent delay ultimately led to their destruction
Roman Socks and Sandals Rereredux
Newspapers in the UK are starting to get agog over a recent find … the Telegraph seems typical: New evidence from an archaeological dig has found that legionnaires wore socks with sandals. Rust on a nail from a Roman sandal found in newly discovered ruins in North Yorkshire appears to contain fibres which could suggest [...]
This Day in Ancient History: ante diem vii kalendas septembres
ante diem vii kalendas septembres 55 B.C. — Julius Caesar invades Britain, but doesn’t stick around very long 1875 — Birth of John Buchan, 1st Baron of Tweedsmuir and Governor-General of Canada … and author of a decent biography of Augustus
Citanda: Archaeology Magazine on Mithraism
Interesting feature by Carly Silver: Bull-Killer, Sun Lord | Archaeology Magazine.
On Latin and Getting Into College
Excerpts from a lengthy article in Bloomberg, which every high school Latin teacher will, no doubt, be posting on their door/bulletin board within seconds of reading it: When Lena Barsky picked up her first Latin text in 2004, she couldn’t have known that memorizing the phrase “canes sunt in via” (“the dogs are in the [...]
Odysseus’ Palace Claim
As usual, the day I’m away from my laptop some major news manages to accumulate in mailboxes, twitterfeeds, and on Facebook. At this point, the ‘best’ coverage (note the scare quotes) of this story comes from the Telegraph; skipping the intro bit: Nearly 3,000 years after Odysseus returned from his journey, the team from the [...]
This Day in Ancient History: ante diem viii kalendas septembres
ante diem viii kalendas septembres Opiconsivia — rites in honour of Ops, an old Italian earth deity and usually considered the spouse of Consus 79 A.D. — death of Pliny the Elder in the wake of the eruption at Pompeii 325 A.D. — Council of Nicaea comes to an end, having come up with the [...]
This Day in Ancient History: ante diem ix kalendas septembres
Image via Wikipedia ante diem ix kalendas septembres rites in honour of Luna at the Graecostasis mundus patet — the mundus was a ritual pit which had a sort of vaulted cover on it. Three times a year the Romans removed this cover (August 24, Oct. 5 and November eighth) at which time the gates [...]
Pompeii and Sodom and/or Gomorrah
The July/August issue of Biblical Archaeology Review has a very interesting article by Herschel Shanks about Jewish oracles relating to the destruction of Pompeii. A useful summary can be found in the Jerusalem Post, post alia: [...] Shanks recently told The Jerusalem Post that the idea to examine a connection between the two events came [...]
Recreating the Heraia on Samos
From ANA: Athletes and volunteers dressed as torch-bearers of antiquity participate in one of several events recreating an ancient festival in honour of the mythical goddess Hera (Heraion), which was held at the port of Pythagorion , on the eastern Aegean island of Samos on Friday 20 August 2010. The ancient Heraia festival served as [...]
Inscriptions from Pompeiopolis
From World Bulletin … there seems to be a persistent misspelling of Pompeiopolis: New inscriptions were unearthed during excavations in Pompeipolis ancient city in Taskopru in the northern province of Kastamonu. Prof. Dr. Christian Marek, who has been examining inscriptions uncovered in Pompeipolis, told the AA correspondent that inscriptions were about festivals of Roman era. [...]
Villa of the Living Mysteries
Blogging Pompeii just alerted us to this one:
This Day in Ancient History: ante diem x kalendas septembres
ante diem x kalendas septembres Vulcanalia — a festival in honour of Vulcan, which included games in the Circus Maximus rites in honour of Maia and the Nymphs rites in honour of Ops Opifera and Hora Quirini 93 A.D. — death of Gnaeus Julius Agricola, father-in-law of the historian Tacitus, and subject of the latter’s [...]
Pre Roman Remains at Brading Roman Villa
From the County Press: THE third phase of the Big Dig at Brading Roman Villa may well have been one of the toughest excavations eminent archaeologist Sir Barry Cunliffe had ever undertaken but it has yielded some treasures and a greater understanding of Brading’s history up to its Roman occupation. With the three-week dig ending [...]
