The weekend is nearly here and that means (hopefully!) gathering together with loved ones and sharing a meal or a feast. Watch out for the hare though, they are already tucking into the delicious grapes 🍇
✨Special Episode - Exploring Place in Regal Rome with Neil, The Ancient Blogger - Part 2 ✨
We are joined by the lovely and knowledgeable Neil from the Ancient History Hound podcast to explore fascinating places including the Tullianum and the Circus Maximus!
Cave canem! This mosaic from Pompeii appears to depict a guard dog. This combined with the apparent weapons on display offers clear warning to any who cross this doorstep!
🪔 For eyes pleasure: Mausoleum of Hadrian, also known as Castel Sant'Angelo. It was built between 134 and 139 AD, and #Hadrian's ashes were placed here a year after his death in Baiae in 138 AD, together with those of his wife Sabina, and his first adopted son, Lucius Aelius, who died in 138. 📸 me. No filters, no photo editing.
🪔 On this frieze from the Trajan's Column one can see two scenes from the 1st Dacian war: above one can see #Trajan and his troops traveling by ship, then reaching shore and disembarking. Below Trajan is giving his second adlocutio - a speech addressed to his legions. 📸 me
🪔 For #FrescoFriday: Fresco fragment of a Calendar with Children bearing offerings to the goddess Diana. Beginning of the 3rd century A.D. Ostia, from an edifice near Porta Laurentina. Now in Musei Vaticani. 📸 me
🪔 For the #RuinOftheDay: remains of the Temple of Rome and Augustus right behind the Parthenon of Acropolis in Athens. It was likely built between 19 and 17 BC and it is the only Athenian temple dedicated to the cult of the Emperor. 📸 me
This piece captures the realism that characterised Roman portraiture of the late republic. The identity of the woman is not known but it is intriguing as statues for women were considered rare in this period.
Get to your weekend like the maenad you are, beautiful people! Low slung coverings, trays of delights, and the ability to float through the air are non-negotiable.
Stunning detail from the fresco from Livia’s villa. The fresco wraps the room making you feel as though you’ve been transported to a faraway place and you have. The artistry of thousands of years calmly envelopes you from birds and fruits to flowers and trees.
It’s 403 BCE and representing the patricians, Appius Claudius fights with the tribunes of the plebs over the terms of military service in Rome's war with Veii.
🪔 For #FrescoFriday: a wall-painting with a reclining Naiad, drinking from a horn. Dated to AD 30-50, it was found at a Roman villa at Campo Varano, #Stabiae. Now in the BM. 📸 me
Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it’s a flying phallus! You can just spy the loop at the bottom that would enable this to be worn as a protective amulet.
Ah, Rome, the society where wearing a phallus bespoke good fortune, health, and warded off the evil eye.
We are THRILLED to announce that we will be publishing a new book together.
‘Your Cheeky Guide to the Roman Empire’ will be a quirky tour of some of our favourite parts of history.
There will be some famous and infamous people; consideration of Roman building works; and of course our signature style - history with an eye to the joy.
We’re busy bees bringing all the details together but it can already be pre-ordered if you’re keen! 🥳🥳
🪔 #OnThisDay Septimius Severus was born in 145 AD at Lepcis Magna. In this post – the only preserved ancient painting of #Severus’ family showing himself, his wife Julia Domna and sons Caracalla and Geta. After the murder of Geta his face was scratched out. In Altes Museum, Berlin. 📸 me.
🪔 For eyes pleasure: a gold signet ring depicting Leda and Zeus transformed into a swan. The inscription alludes to the Thessalian city of Homolion. 2nd c. BC. Benaki Museum, Athens. 📸 me
Description: Theft is probably one of the most annoying aspects of social life. It is by no means the most dramatic one, but it is one of those things you constantly have in mind. In most Slavic languages, a thief (‘złodziej’ in Polish, ‘злодій’ in Ukrainian, ‘zloděj’ in Czech) literally means an evildoer, as it was this kind of wrongdoing that almost everybody had to deal with. But while theft likely existed in all human societies, it changed over time: how much the thieves stole, what they stole, who stole and from whom, and how people protected themselves - all of these evolved over time. In short, theft has its history and can be a subject of historical research. Late Antiquity is a good period to study it because, in this era, thieves become more visible than before. This paper, examining documentary and literary evidence, will seek to answer questions about how people dealt with theft, attempted to apprehend thieves and recover goods, and, most importantly, what impact theft and the methods of dealing with it had on communities and individuals.
🪔 On the slope of the #Halberg hill, overlooking the #Saar (Germany), was once located a roman Vicus Saravus – it stood on the Roman road linking Divodurum (Metz) to Borbitomagus (Wörms). During the Late Roman Empire this place was home to a Roman legion camp and legionnaires were using he Halberg grotto as a sanctuary to the god #Mithras. #romanarchaeology#archaeology#antiquity#ancientart#ancientrome#ancienthistory @archaeodons@histodons @antiquidons
🪔 For #EpigraphyTuesday: an inscription "FVLGVR DIVOM CONDITVM" - or "Buried Jupiter lightning". In antiquity, the places where lightning struck the ground were sacred and an inscription recalling the event was placed there. Romanité Museum, Nîmes. 📸 me
🪔 For #EpigraphyTuesday: Military diploma of a Lycian sailor of the Miseno fleet, Sextus Memmius Clearchi. Dated to 16 November 140 AD, it attests to the granting of Roman citizenship to a Lycian sailor after 26 years of service in the imperial fleet. 📸 me