‘Biggest canal ever built by Romans’ discovered
“Scholars discovered the 100-yard-wide (90-metre-wide) canal at Portus, the ancient maritime port through which goods from all over the Empire were shipped to Rome for more than 400 years.
“It would have enabled cargo to be transferred from big ocean-going ships to smaller river vessels and taken up the River Tiber to the docks and warehouses of the imperial capital.”
Home Away from Rome: Smithsonian Magazine article about imperial residences outside Rome, with special attention to the new excavations at Villa Magna, Marcus Aurelius’ rural estate.
“The jewel dates from the first century, measures just 2.5 inches in length and depicts an emperor - probably Tiberius - wearing a laurel wreath.
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It is inscribed with the letters Ti CAESAR above the head and has a precious red stone below. There is a loop at the top, suggesting it may have hung from a necklace.
Experts believe it was made in Alexandria in Egypt and brought to the UK with some of the first Roman settlers.”
This is a very odd thing.
“A rare, recently excavated ancient Roman dining set consisting of 20 silver objects—one of only three such sets from the region of Pompeii known to exist in the world—and an important ancient Greek kylix (or drinking cup) have been installed in The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Galleries for Greek and Roman Art as part of an ongoing exchange of antiquities between the Republic of Italy and the Museum.
“The silver objects—the Moregine Treasure—represent one of the few Roman silver dining sets to survive from the first century A.D. They include vessels for holding, serving, and receiving food as well as receptacles for mixing, pouring, and drinking liquids. Buried in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in A.D. 79, and excavated in 2000 at Moregine on the outskirts of Pompeii, the silver weighs nearly nine pounds. It had been carefully placed in a wicker basket and hidden in the basement of an unfinished public bath house; presumably, its owner had hoped to return for it, but died in the eruption. The two canthari (drinking cups) are of particular interest and were likely prized antiques at the time they were buried, having been made over a century earlier at the very end of the Hellenistic era, likely in Alexandria, Egypt. They seem to commemorate what is sometimes known as the Treaty of Brundisium between Mark Anthony and Octavian in 40 B.C., just four years after the assassination of Caesar. This historic treaty gave Mark Anthony command of the eastern Roman provinces, while Octavian was given control over Italy and the West.”
Naumachia
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Dragon-Shaped Brooch 100–300 - Celtic or Roman
The flourishes say Roman to me, but def celt influence. I like to imagine what it must of looked like brand new.
Reminds me more of a seahorse than a dragon, and I’ll bet it’s Roman :)
A Day in the Life of Ancient Rome: Daily Life, Mysteries, and Curiosities
Many books, documentaries and movies claim to chronicle daily life in ancient Rome, but it’s rare to find a narrative so encrusted in detail as this lively offering from an Italian author and television host. Adopting a first person plural voice, Angela takes us on an eagle-eyed tour of the ancient city on an “ordinary day” in the year A.D. 115. Serving as a Virgil-like guide, Angela begins in a Domus, an upper-class home, exploring its meticulous inner workings, from the aqueduct hook-up to the slave labor. Out in the streets, Angela provides a fascinating, nail-by-nail description of Roman construction before schooling readers in the particulars of buying slaves. Next up is a bloody scene at the Coliseum (featuring hungry lions and their worthy meal), and a steamy sunset tour of bedrooms, salons, and sexual mores; Romans viewed sex as “a gift of the gods,” something to enjoy, and would “judge our sexuality as excessively complicated… by mental complexes and roles.” Angela’s rigorous research and populist style, aided by Conti’s seamless translation, should fascinate casual readers as well as dedicated Italophiles. (Publisher’s Weekly)
Emperor Titus
Among marble fragments found recently in Pozzuoli, the most important finding is the head of of emperor Titus (39-81 A.D.), who ruled at the time of Mount Vesuvius’ eruption in 79 A.D.
(via Discovery Channel)
