Day: July 18, 2025

ROGUECLASSICIST’S BULLETIN ~ July 18 , 2025

~ David Meadows ~ rogueclassicist ~ Leave a comment

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LEGENDA
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Scavi di Unipa, statua di marmo greca rinvenuta nell’isola di Mozia | Nuovo Sud
https://www.nuovosud.it/articoli/283635-cronaca-trapani/scavi-di-unipa-statua-di-marmo-greca-rinvenuta-nellisola-di-mozia

Archeologia, le «infradito» dei Romani nei nuovi mosaici di Piazza Armerina – Giornale di Sicilia
https://enna.gds.it/articoli/cronaca/2025/07/17/archeologia-le-infradito-dei-romani-nei-nuovi-mosaici-di-piazza-armerina-f6ee56f0-21c3-4616-8452-566793d75685/

Bulgaria Unearths Marble Slab Depicting Entire Family from Roman-Era Heraclea Sintica – Novinite.com – Sofia News Agency
https://www.novinite.com/articles/233461/Bulgaria%2BUnearths%2BMarble%2BSlab%2BDepicting%2BEntire%2BFamily%2Bfrom%2BRoman-Era%2BHeraclea%2BSintica

An ‘Anomaly’ Near the Pyramids May Reveal an Ancient Portal
https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/archaeology/a65436974/pyramids-anomaly-portal/

Romans loved to wear socks and sandals — could that be the reason for the massive shoes found at Magna fort? | Live Science
https://www.livescience.com/archaeology/romans/romans-loved-to-wear-socks-and-sandals-could-that-be-the-reason-for-the-massive-shoes-found-at-magna-fort

Mosaic of lovers returned to the Archaeological Park of Pompeii

Mosaic of lovers returned to the Archaeological Park of Pompeii

[AI?]Negev’s Byzantine wine: A tale of boom, bust, and rainfall dependence | The Jerusalem Post
https://www.jpost.com/archaeology/article-861363

In London, a Roman era demolition pit yields fragments of beauty : NPR
https://www.npr.org/2025/06/20/nx-s1-5439437/roman-artifacts-london

Ancient rural settlement in Fordingbridge reveals Iron Age to Roman transition, daily life, and industry | Archaeology News Online Magazine

Ancient rural settlement in Fordingbridge reveals Iron Age to Roman transition, daily life, and industry

Geomatics for heritage preservation: Team DIRECT at the Etruscan Necropolis of Cerveteri | Politecnico di Torino
https://www.polito.it/en/polito/communication-and-press-office/poliflash/geomatics-for-heritage-preservation-team-direct-at-the

2,200-year-old Celtic settlement discovered in Czech Republic — and it’s awash in gold and silver coins | Live Science
https://www.livescience.com/archaeology/2-200-year-old-celtic-settlement-discovered-in-czech-republic-and-its-awash-in-gold-and-silver-coins

Italian archaeologists unearth ancient Tomb in Cyrene (Shahat) | The Libya Observer
https://libyaobserver.ly/news/italian-archaeologists-unearth-ancient-tomb-cyrene-shahat

[AI?]Archaeologists discover 6,000-year-old temple, ‘blood channel’ in Turkey | The Jerusalem Post
https://www.jpost.com/archaeology/article-861220

Roman bathing complex discovered in eastern Türkiye
https://www.heritagedaily.com/2025/07/roman-bathing-complex-discovered-in-eastern-turkiye/155625

Mad emperor Caligula had surprising medical knowledge, new research reveals from ancient Roman texts | Archaeology News Online Magazine

Mad emperor Caligula had surprising medical knowledge, new research reveals from ancient Roman texts

Vast marble pavement of ancient agora found in Turkey – The History Blog

Vast marble pavement of ancient agora found in Turkey

Mosaic looted by Nazi officer returned to Pompeii – The History Blog

Mosaic looted by Nazi officer returned to Pompeii

Update on sealed Etruscan tomb – The History Blog

Update on sealed Etruscan tomb

Archaeologists discover 3000-year-old stone slab that is breaking ancient ideas of gender – Scoop Upworthy
https://scoop.upworthy.com/archaeologists-discover-a-3000-year-old-stone-slab-that-is-breaking-ancient-ideas-of-gender-ex1

A Late Antiquity Port Discovered at the Northern Tip of the Island of Corsica

A Late Antiquity Port Discovered at the Northern Tip of the Island of Corsica

What the Herodion will look like after the “facelift”: The architectural masterpiece that has seen everything – From bullfights & Delphic Festivals to Maria Callas & Rudolf Nureyev – ProtoThema English

What the Herodion will look like after the “facelift”: The architectural masterpiece that has seen everything – From bullfights & Delphic Festivals to Maria Callas & Rudolf Nureyev

Ancient Greek Shipwreck Found Off Sicily Reveals Rare Artifacts – GreekReporter.com
https://greekreporter.com/2025/07/18/ancient-greek-shipwreck-sicily-rare-artifacts/

Ancient Erotic Mosaic Stolen From Pompeii During World War II Finally Returns Home
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/ancient-erotic-mosaic-stolen-from-pompeii-during-world-war-ii-finally-returns-home-180986992/

Russian Archaeologist Charged for Illegal Excavations in Crimea | Ukraine news – #Mezha

Russian Archaeologist Charged for Illegal Excavations in Crimea

Remains of Massive Ancient Feast in Greece Reveal Eating Habits From 7,500 Years Ago – GreekReporter.com
https://greekreporter.com/2025/07/18/neolithic-feast-remains-greece-eating-habits/

Dating Game: How Archaeologists Date the Biblical Past – The BAS Library

Dating Game: How Archaeologists Date the Biblical Past

Tornos News | Chios Homeric sound: Music festival with classical education and world Greekness
https://www.tornosnews.gr/en/greek-news/culture/52409-chios-homeric-sound-music-festival-with-classical-education-and-world-greekness.html

How Greece and Germany helped make the marvels of archeology modern
https://nypost.com/2025/07/12/lifestyle/how-greece-and-germany-helped-make-archeology-modern/

Isn’t It Time to Break Up with Linguistic Dating? Rethinking Hornkohl’s Method—and What Comes Next | Bible Interp
https://bibleinterp.arizona.edu/articles/isnt-it-time-break-linguistic-dating-rethinking-hornkohls-method-and-what-comes-next

The Fabulous Story of Eudoxus of Cyzicus, the Greek Navigator Who Reached India and Attempted to Circumnavigate Africa in the 2nd Century BCE

The Fabulous Story of Eudoxus of Cyzicus, the Greek Navigator Who Reached India and Attempted to Circumnavigate Africa in the 2nd Century BCE

Flesh, blood, memory: Oedipus reimagined | eKathimerini.com
https://www.ekathimerini.com/culture/1275511/flesh-blood-memory-oedipus-reimagined/

(9) An ancient soldier at arms – by Armand D’Angour
https://armanddangour.substack.com/p/an-ancient-soldier-at-arms?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=1877109&post_id=168637278&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=q7tlq&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email

(9) Aeneid VI.752-853 – by publius vergilius maro
https://aeneiddaily.substack.com/p/aeneid-vi752-853-fe6?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=1678986&post_id=167465214&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=q7tlq&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email

Collections: Life, Work, Death and the Peasant, Part II: Starting at the End – A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry

Collections: Life, Work, Death and the Peasant, Part II: Starting at the End

The Feats of Hercules [Подвиги геракла] (2000) – Animated Antiquity

The Feats of Hercules [Подвиги геракла] (2000)

Caesar en het Parthische Rijk – Mainzer Beobachter

Caesar en het Parthische Rijk

OTTC: A Blog for Old Testament Textual Criticism: Diachronic Diversity in Classical Biblical Hebrew
http://oldtestamenttextualcriticism.blogspot.com/2025/07/diachronic-diversity-in-classical.html

PaleoJudaica.com: Simulations of late-antique viticulture in the Negev
https://paleojudaica.blogspot.com/2025/07/simulations-of-late-antique-viticulture.html

PaleoJudaica.com: Longacre on Hornkohl on linguistic dating of biblical Hebrew
https://paleojudaica.blogspot.com/2025/07/longacre-on-hornkohl-on-linguistic.html

AWOL – The Ancient World Online: Ḥorvat Meṣad: A Way-Station on the Jaffa–Jerusalem Road
https://ancientworldonline.blogspot.com/2025/07/horvat-mesad-way-station-on.html

AWOL – The Ancient World Online: kinattutu ša darati: Raphael Kutscher Memorial Volume
https://ancientworldonline.blogspot.com/2025/07/kinattutu-sa-darati-raphael-kutscher.html

AWOL – The Ancient World Online: Studies in the Iron Age Pottery of Israel: Typological, Archaeological and Chronological Aspects
https://ancientworldonline.blogspot.com/2025/07/studies-in-iron-age-pottery-of-israel.html

AWOL – The Ancient World Online: Imagery and Representation: Studies in the Art and Iconography of Ancient Palestine. Collected Articles
https://ancientworldonline.blogspot.com/2025/07/imagery-and-representation-studies-in.html

AWOL – The Ancient World Online: The Alphabet at the Turn of the Millennium: The West Semitic Alphabet ca. 1150–850 BCE. The Antiquity of the Arabian, Greek and Phrygian Alphabets
https://ancientworldonline.blogspot.com/2025/07/the-alphabet-at-turn-of-millennium-west.html

AWOL – The Ancient World Online: Breaking Ground: Plant Domestication in the Neolithic Levant: The “Core-Area One-Event” Model
https://ancientworldonline.blogspot.com/2025/07/breaking-ground-plant-domestication-in.html

The Sons of Remus & the Question of Western Identity ~ The Imaginative Conservative

The Sons of Remus & the Question of Western Identity

A library to discover Crimea | Spartokos read

Une bibliothèque à la découverte de la Crimée

Empresses-in-waiting: female power and performance at the late Roman court – Bryn Mawr Classical Review

Empresses-in-waiting: female power and performance at the late Roman court

Apuleius’s Metamorphoses Across Places and Ages: Receptions, Rewritings, Legacies – Bryn Mawr Classical Review

Les Métamorphoses d’Apulée à travers les lieux et les âges. Réceptions, réécritures, héritages


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AUDIENDA
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Ancient Warfare Podcast: AWA366 – When did the classical Greek hoplite cease to exist?
https://sites.libsyn.com/91136/awa366-when-did-the-classical-greek-hoplite-cease-to-exist

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VIDENDA
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(29) Battle of Silva Arsia: The Birth of the Roman Republic #rome #fyp #shorts #history #romanhistory – YouTube

(29) Hymn to the Muse (short). Mesomedes of Crete. Bettina Joy de Guzman. Ancient Greek with lyre. – YouTube

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The Conversation: Big Roman shoes discovered near Hadrian’s Wall – but they don’t necessarily mean big Roman feet

~ David Meadows ~ rogueclassicist ~ 1 Comment

Tim Penn, University of Reading

Excavations at the Roman fort of Magna near Hadrian’s Wall in Northumberland in north east England have uncovered some very large leather footwear. Their discovery, according to some news coverage, has “baffled” archaeologists.

The survival of the shoes is not by itself miraculous or unusual. Excellent preservation conditions caused by waterlogged environments with low-oxygen means that leather, and other organic materials, survive in the wet soil of this part of northern England.

Many years of excavations by the Vindolanda Trust at Vindolanda just south of Hadrian’s Wall, and now at Magna, have recovered an enormous collection of Roman shoes. These finds have provided us with an excellent record of the footwear of soldiers and the civilians who lived around them.

The shoes from Magna stand out because many of them are big. Big shoes have also been found at Vindolanda. However, of those whose size can be determined, only 0.4% are big. The average shoe size at Vindolanda is 9.5 to 10.2 inches in length, which is between a modern UK shoe size 7 to 8.

Big shoes make up a much larger share of the shoes at Magna. The biggest shoe is a whopping 12.8 inches long, roughly equivalent to a modern UK size 12 to 14.

This shoe collection raises an immediate and obvious question: why did people at Magna have such large shoes?

The possible answers to this question raise more questions and bring to the fore a central component of archaeological research: a good debate.

Emma Frame, senior archaeologist for the Magna excavations, suggests: “We have to assume it’s something to do with the people living here, having bigger feet, being potentially taller but we don’t know.”

This idea of bigger feet, bigger people makes a good deal of sense, though it would suggest that some of the military community at Magna were very tall indeed. And, as the Roman cemeteries of Hadrian’s Wall have been little excavated or studied, we have little information about how tall people were in this part of the Roman world.

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Other ideas might be worth entertaining too, however. For example, could these be some kind of snowshoes or winter boots meant to allow extra layers of padding or multiple pairs of socks to be worn?

A letter, preserved by similar conditions to the shoes at Vindolanda, refers to a gift of socks and underpants that was sent to someone stationed there, presumably to keep them warm during the cold winter nights. We also know from other evidence that Syrian archers made up one of the units stationed at Magna. These men would not have been used to the frosty climate of northern England.

Could these large shoes be an attempt to cope with the bitter shock of a British winter? Or instead, could these shoes have a medical purpose, perhaps to allow people with swollen feet or people utilising medical dressings to wear shoes?

It’s important to note, I am not claiming to have the answers. I’m simply putting out some hypotheses which could explain the extra-large shoes based on other evidence we have and potential logical explanations for such large footwear.

These kinds of hypotheses lie right at the heart of the archaeological method. Fresh archaeological discoveries are made everyday, and they often make headlines with phrases about “baffled archaeologists.” While this language can spark public interest, it also risks giving a misleading impression of the discipline. In reality, the work archaeologists like me and thousands of my colleagues around the world do is grounded in careful, evidence-based analysis.

The challenge lies not in our lack of expertise, but in the nature of the evidence itself. Much of the distant past has been lost to time, and what we do recover represents only a small fragment of the original picture.

We’re not so much “baffled” as we are rigorously testing multiple hypotheses to arrive at the most plausible interpretations. Interpreting these fragments is a complex process, like piecing together a thousand-piece jigsaw puzzle with many of the most crucial pieces (like the edges) missing.

Sometimes we have exactly the right pieces to understand the big picture, but other times we have gaps, and we have to put forward a series of different suggestions until more evidence comes to light.The Conversation

Tim Penn, Lecturer in Roman and Late Antique Material Culture, University of Reading

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.