• Agonalia — the fourth and final occurrence of this festival in the Roman calendar; like all instances, the Rex Sacrorum would sacrifice a ram in the Regia, but on this occasion, the sacrifice was apparently in honour of Sol Indiges.
• Septimontium — a somewhat obscure festival apparently originally only celebrated by the ‘montani’ (i.e. the ‘hill-dwellers’) which involved sacrifices on each of Rome’s seven hills.
• 287 — martyrdom of Fuscian (and others)
• 302 — martyrdom of Pontian

===========================================================
LEGENDA
===========================================================
New Pompeii discovery uncovers Ancient Roman slaves’ surprising diet | The Independent
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/archaeology/pompeii-ancient-roman-slaves-food-diet-b2881765.html

Country diary: An unlikely job for a farmer – preserving a roman fort | Heritage | The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/dec/10/country-diary-an-unlikely-job-for-a-farmer-preserving-a-roman-fort

Kition-Bamboula 2025 excavation completed

Kition-Bamboula 2025 excavation completed

A 2,000-Year-Old Pleasure Barge Resurfaces in Cleopatra’s Harbor, Telling Us of Life in Roman Egypt | Discover Magazine
https://www.discovermagazine.com/a-2-000-year-old-pleasure-barge-resurfaces-in-cleopatra-s-harbor-telling-us-of-life-in-roman-egypt-48377

Archaeologists in France Dig Up a Jar Packed With Tens of Thousands of 1,800-Year-Old Roman Coins
https://www.zmescience.com/science/archaeology/archaeologists-in-france-dig-up-a-jar-packed-with-tens-of-thousands-of-1800-year-old-roman-coins/

Ancient Roman officers may have kept pet monkeys to highlight their status
https://phys.org/news/2025-12-ancient-roman-officers-pet-monkeys.html

A 2,000-year-old building site reveals the raw ingredients for ancient Roman self-healing concrete
https://theconversation.com/a-2-000-year-old-building-site-reveals-the-raw-ingredients-for-ancient-roman-self-healing-concrete-271405

[old news]Man finds a pair of 2,000-year-old Roman swords in a field – Earth.com
https://www.earth.com/news/man-finds-a-pair-of-2000-year-old-roman-swords-in-a-field/

New discoveries at Hadrian’s Wall are changing the picture of what life was like on the border of the Roman Empire | Live Science
https://www.livescience.com/archaeology/new-discoveries-at-hadrians-wall-are-changing-the-picture-of-what-life-was-like-on-the-border-of-the-roman-empire

Louvre denies reports of flood damage to Egyptian artefacts – Museums – Antiquities – Ahram Online
https://english.ahram.org.eg/News/558398.aspx

Monumental Section of 2nd-Century BCE Hasmonean Wall that Was Deliberately Demolished Discovered in Jerusalem

Monumental Section of 2nd-Century BCE Hasmonean Wall that Was Deliberately Demolished Discovered in Jerusalem

Anatolia’s only known ‘Good Shepherd’ Jesus fresco uncovered in Iznik, crafted in Roman style – Türkiye Today
https://www.turkiyetoday.com/culture/anatolias-only-known-good-shepherd-jesus-fresco-uncovered-in-iznik-crafted-in-roman-s-3211092

D.A. Bragg Announces Return Of 43 Antiquities To The People Of Türkiye – Manhattan District Attorney’s Office

D.A. Bragg Announces Return Of 43 Antiquities To The People Of Türkiye

Was the Baghdad Battery Actually a Battery?: An Archaeologist Demystifies the 2,000-Year-Old Artifact | Open Culture

Was the Baghdad Battery Actually a Battery?: An Archaeologist Demystifies the 2,000-Year-Old Artifact

Pliny the Elder’s ‘Natural History’ to Auction with $1.2m Estimate
https://www.finebooksmagazine.com/fine-books-news/pliny-elders-natural-history-auction-12m-estimate

A.H. Sayce and His Search for Biblical Peoples and Places in the Amarna Letters | Bible Interp
https://bibleinterp.arizona.edu/articles/ah-sayce-and-his-search-biblical-peoples-and-places-amarna-letters

The cast of “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” talk Greek myths in the upcoming season | National Geographic
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/article/percy-jackson-cast-greeking-out-interview?loggedin=true&rnd=1765394552564

Winter Writing Wednesday | Archaeology of the Mediterranean World

Winter Writing Wednesday

Laudator Temporis Acti: A Missing Epithet
https://laudatortemporisacti.blogspot.com/2025/12/a-missing-epithet.html

“Barbaren” in het Romeinse leger – Mainzer Beobachter

“Barbaren” in het Romeinse leger

Divine Plots and Human Plans: Reading Iliad 7 – SENTENTIAE ANTIQUAE

Divine Plots and Human Plans: Reading Iliad 7

10 December 58 BCE: From Cicero (at Dyrrachium) to Atticus (in Rome)
https://epistulae.substack.com/p/10-december-58-bce-from-cicero-at?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=944078&post_id=181196325&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=q7tlq&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email

PaleoJudaica.com: Assyrian inscriptions that mention Israelite kings
https://paleojudaica.blogspot.com/2025/12/assyrian-inscriptions-that-mention.html

AWOL – The Ancient World Online: L’abolitio memoriae à Rome et dans le monde romain (Ier s. av. n. è.—IVe s. de n. è.)
http://ancientworldonline.blogspot.com/2025/12/labolitio-memoriae-rome-et-dans-le.html

AWOL – The Ancient World Online: Combattre les dieux: Le théomaque chez Nonnos de Panopolis
http://ancientworldonline.blogspot.com/2025/12/combattre-les-dieux-le-theomaque-chez.html

AWOL – The Ancient World Online: Past Perfect? The Archaeologies of Mandate Palestine 1917–1948
http://ancientworldonline.blogspot.com/2025/12/past-perfect-archaeologies-of-mandate.html

AWOL – The Ancient World Online: De la matière à l’action: Aristote et le problème du vivant
http://ancientworldonline.blogspot.com/2025/12/de-la-matiere-laction-aristote-et-le.html

Early Christian writers in the West and the classical literary tradition: stylistic and literary perspectives – Bryn Mawr Classical Review

Early Christian writers in the West and the classical literary tradition: stylistic and literary perspectives

Alatzomouri Pefka: a Middle Minoan IIB workshop making organic dyes – Bryn Mawr Classical Review

Alatzomouri Pefka: a Middle Minoan IIB workshop making organic dyes

Pindar’s Pythian Twelve: a linguistic commentary and a comparative study – Bryn Mawr Classical Review

Pindar’s Pythian Twelve: a linguistic commentary and a comparative study

===========================================================
AUDIENDA
===========================================================
Virgil’s Aeneid: BONUS with Pr… – The Classics Podcast – Apple Podcasts

===========================================================
VIDENDA
===========================================================
(161) Archaeologist Debunks Ancient Civilisation Myths – YouTube

(162) Explore Domitian’s Villa amidst Papal Gardens in Castel Gandolfo! – YouTube

(162) Suicide Gaul in Palazzo Altemps, once decorated the Imperial Gardens of Sallust! – YouTube

(163) Jerusalem Archaeologists Unearth Maccabean Marvel – YouTube

(163) Ancient Greek Art Advent | Day 8 – YouTube

(163) Conference: A Tale of Two Kingdoms: Sparta and Macedonia – DAY 2 – YouTube

• The tribunes of the plebs would enter their office on this day during the Roman Republic.
• ca 300 A.D. — martyrdom of Carpophorus

===========================================================
LEGENDA
===========================================================
Pompeii offers insights into ancient Roman building technology | MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology
https://news.mit.edu/2025/pompeii-offers-insights-ancient-roman-building-technology-1209

We Finally Know Why Roman Concrete Has Survived For Nearly 2,000 Years : ScienceAlert
https://www.sciencealert.com/we-finally-know-why-roman-concrete-has-survived-for-nearly-2000-years

[AI?] Maccabean wall segment unearthed by Antiquities Authority | The Jerusalem Post
https://www.jpost.com/archaeology/article-879650

Ancient Marble Mystery: Rare 2,500-Year-Old Greek Sculpture Unearthed in Etruscan Heartland – Arkeonews
https://arkeonews.net/ancient-marble-mystery-rare-2500-year-old-greek-sculpture-unearthed-in-etruscan-heartland/

Two Cypriot antiquities repatriated from the USA | Cyprus Mail
https://cyprus-mail.com/2025/12/09/two-cypriot-antiquities-repatriated-from-the-usa

The Roman Expansion Felled Forests So Remote, Inaccessible, and Ancient North of the Alps That They Had Never Been Exploited Before

The Roman Expansion Felled Forests So Remote, Inaccessible, and Ancient North of the Alps That They Had Never Been Exploited Before

‘Unique’ Roman Medusa Cameo Turns Up at Austrian Construction Site
https://news.artnet.com/art-world/roman-medusa-cameo-hallstatt-2725536

Incense Burner Depicting Greco-Egyptian God Serapis Unearthed in Ancient Ephesus – GreekReporter.com
https://greekreporter.com/2025/12/09/incense-burner-greco-egyptian-god-serapis-ephesus/

Archaeologists Uncover 2,000-Year-Old Luxury Pleasure Barge Bearing Greek Graffiti in Sunken Royal Harbor of Alexandria
https://greekcitytimes.com/2025/12/09/alexandria-pleasure-barge-greek-graffiti/

Archaeologists Discover Ancient Roman Olive Oil Production Facilities in North Africa
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/archaeologists-discover-ancient-roman-olive-oil-production-facilities-in-north-africa-180987775/

New findings in Pompeii reveal that slaves were fed beans and fruit to maintain their health and productivity

New findings in Pompeii reveal that slaves were fed beans and fruit to maintain their health and productivity

Locating ancient settlements and artefacts on Greek Islands

Locating ancient settlements and artefacts on Greek Islands

Thick Clothes Worn by Pompeii Victims Raise Questions About Eruption Timing – GreekReporter.com
https://greekreporter.com/2025/12/09/thick-clothes-pompeii-victims-questions-eruption-timing/

How did Bronze Age plague spread?

How did Bronze Age plague spread?

British Museum Chairman: ‘Pretty Optimistic’ Over Return of Marbles – tovima.com

British Museum Chairman: ‘Pretty Optimistic’ Over Return of Marbles

Review: ‘Oedipus’ is not your mother’s Greek tragedy – Washington Square News

Review: ‘Oedipus’ is not your mother’s Greek tragedy

Ancient Roman culture would be baffling to modern eyes – and their toilet habits prove it | HistoryExtra
https://www.historyextra.com/period/roman/ancient-cultural-values-privacy/

How One of the Most Famous Definitions of Love Came from an Ancient Woman Who May Not Even Be Real
https://www.zmescience.com/science/history-articles/how-one-of-the-most-famous-definitions-of-love-came-from-an-ancient-woman-who-may-not-even-be-real/

Brown: IO SATURNALIA! Main Line and beyond Latin students herald the ancient Roman festival of peace and harmony

Brown: IO SATURNALIA! Main Line and beyond Latin students herald the ancient Roman festival of peace and harmony

Thrilling new versions of Greek myths pulse with queer desire and feminist fury
https://theconversation.com/thrilling-new-versions-of-greek-myths-pulse-with-queer-desire-and-feminist-fury-266079

An amateur archaeologist in ancient Sardinia.
https://thecrotonchronicle.substack.com/p/an-amateur-archaeologist-in-ancient

What makes a good caption? | Blog post | The TLS

What makes a good caption?

The “Life” of St Botolph by Folcard, with epitomes and breviary readings, English and Latin – now online (BHL 1428, BHL 1429, BHL 1430, BHL 1431)) – Roger Pearse
https://www.roger-pearse.com/weblog/2025/12/09/the-life-of-st-botolph-by-folcard-with-epitomes-and-breviary-readings-english-and-latin-now-online-bhl-1428-bhl-1429-bhl-1430-bhl-1431/

How many letters of St Jerome remain untranslated into English? – Roger Pearse

How many letters of St Jerome remain untranslated into English?

Dark Acadamia | Archaeology of the Mediterranean World

Dark Acadamia

Laudator Temporis Acti: Grazers
https://laudatortemporisacti.blogspot.com/2025/12/grazers.html

Laudator Temporis Acti: Aims
https://laudatortemporisacti.blogspot.com/2025/12/aims.html

Sallustius, Caesars handlanger – Mainzer Beobachter

Sallustius, Caesars handlanger

AWOL – The Ancient World Online: Myria
http://ancientworldonline.blogspot.com/2025/12/myria.html

AWOL – The Ancient World Online: Les jeux sur les mots, les lettres et les sons dans les textes latins
http://ancientworldonline.blogspot.com/2025/12/les-jeux-sur-les-mots-les-lettres-et.html

AWOL – The Ancient World Online: Festa in mostra: Le lastre architettoniche C e D della serie etrusca arcaica Acquarossa-Tuscania
http://ancientworldonline.blogspot.com/2025/12/festa-in-mostra-le-lastre.html

AWOL – The Ancient World Online: Studies on the history and archaeology of Lydia from the Early Lydian period to Late Antiquity: Études sur l’histoire et l’archéologie de Lydie de la période proto-lydienne à la fin de l’Antiquité: Erken Lydia Dönemi’nden Geç Antik Çağ’a kadar Lydia’nın Tarihi ve Arkeolojisi
http://ancientworldonline.blogspot.com/2025/12/studies-on-history-and-archaeology-of.html

AWOL – The Ancient World Online: Sur les routes du désert Oriental égyptien: De la piste ptolémaïque d’Edfou à Bérénice au réseau des praesidia romains
http://ancientworldonline.blogspot.com/2025/12/sur-les-routes-du-desert-oriental.html

How republics die: creeping authoritarianism in ancient Rome and beyond – Bryn Mawr Classical Review

How republics die: creeping authoritarianism in ancient Rome and beyond

Colour Schemes in Roman Architecture: Aesthetics, Semantics, and Regional Appropriation, edited by Matthias Grawehr and Johannes Lipps | American Journal of Archaeology
https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/739560?utm_source=Archaeological+Institute+of+America&utm_campaign=2ccb5d05fc-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2024_12_16_11_36_COPY_02&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-894de77e7c-215971384&mc_cid=2ccb5d05fc&mc_eid=693126d49d
===========================================================
AUDIENDA
===========================================================
Episode CCL – Anthology of Int…–Emperors of Rome – Apple Podcasts

===========================================================
VIDENDA
===========================================================
(140) Taking Home Agamemnon: Casting the Lion Gate Before and After Schliemann’s Excavations at Mycenae – YouTube

(142) Excavation of the Imperial Fora! Via Alessandrina dig continues! – YouTube

(142) Ancient Roman remains on every corner of the city! Check out these marble steps! – YouTube

===========================================================
NOTANDA
===========================================================
News – Discover the Griffin Warrior of Pylos at the 2026 Annual Meeting – Archaeological Institute of America

Discover the Griffin Warrior of Pylos at the 2026 Annual Meeting

Project MUSE – Beyond the River, Under the Eye of Rome
https://muse.jhu.edu/book/126891

• 297 A.D. — martyrs of Samosata
• 303 A.D. — martyrdom of Leocadia
• 1667 — birth of William Whiston (translator of Josephus, although better known for other reasons)
• 1717 — birth of Johann Winckelmann