Could Gold Be Gift From Caesar

"They thought it had been made by skilled local craftsman in the last century before the Roman invasion. But scientific analysis of an Iron Age gold hoard found near Winchester in 2000 showed it was made by Roman or Hellenic craftsman between 70BC and 30BC," said Dr. Dick Whinney, curator of the British Museum.

Dr Whinney observes: "We're never going to prove the gold was a gift from Caesar or Antony. But if we take the technological evidence about the origin and craftsmanship of these items alongside the time frame, it is a good theory. "The implication is they were made to order in a style that would be acceptable to native kings and queens, possibly to cement a friendship or encourage an alliance."

When the legions invaded, they were unopposed by local tribes, although they had the manpower and fortifications to fight. "There were no battles here. The Romans were allowed to pass through what appears to have been a client kingdom."

See also: The Winchester Hoard

Portraits from Fayum

I have always loved the Greco-Roman mummy portraits from the Fayum region of Egypt and today stumbled across this wonderful site about them. Discovered in March, 1888 by Flinders Petrie, the site was termed 'an immense cemetery of Roman time with rooms brick-built tombales still containing the bodies of their owners'. He became quite emotional when he gazed on the first portrait still fixed to its mummy, 'a splendidly drawn girl, with sweet grey tints'. "

I found this portrait particularly poignant.

Ancient pirate stronghold unearthed at Antikythera

Archaeologists digging at the ancient city of Antikythera have located sanctuaries, a large public building and a wealth of missiles — spear and arrow heads, slingshots and large catapult stones — in the settlement identified as the city of Aegila mentioned in ancient sources. Antikythera controlled the strait between Kythera and western Crete, a crucial passage for shipping.

The site, occupied from the mid-fourth to the mid-first centuries BC, may have been a nest of pirates, at a time when piracy was quasi-legitimate. Archaeologists also located a large boat shed “which protected the constantly war-ready pirate ships.”

I wonder if this port could have served as a base for Sextus Pompeius?

Senua, Britain's unknown goddess unearthed

"Senua, a previously unknown Romano-British goddess, has been resurrected at the British Museum, patiently pried from soil-encrusted clumps of gold and corroded silver which have buried her identity for more than 1,600 years."

Ralph Jackson, Roman curator at the British Museum, said he believes Senua was probably an older Celtic goddess, worshipped at a spring on the site, who was then adopted and Romanised - twinned with their goddess Minerva - by the invaders. There is a direct parallel at Bath, where the Romans seamlessly absorbed the Celtic god Sulis, and a much older shrine, into their religion.

New Mosaics And Frescos Excavated At Zeugma

"New mosaics and frescos have been excavated from the ancient city of Zeugma located in Belkis Village 10 km east from Nizip town of southeastern Gaziantep province, by the River Euphrates."

See also: http://www.zeugmaweb.com/zeugma/english/engindex.htm

Byzantine Artifacts Found At Abu Sir

Five gold coins minted in Constantinople and a gold bracelet decorated with nine crosses have been unearthed by Hungarian archaeologists excavating a necropolis 45 kilometers west of Alexandria.

"Mohamed Abdel-Maqsoud, head of antiquities for Lower Egypt, said two of the coins bear the bust of the Byzantine Emperor Maurice Tiberius who ruled from 582 to 602 AD. Another is graced by the Byzantine Emperor Hercules on one side and his son Hercules Constantine on the other. The Byzantine Emperor Phocas, who ruled from 602 to 610, appears on the other two coins.

Abu Sir, which is rich in Ptolemaic and Graeco- Roman monuments is spread over an area two- kilometres square and was built on a limestone ridge. The cult of Isis was strong in this city by the sea whose name at the time of founding was Taposiris Magna.

Among the city's many claims to fame is that it is home to the oldest known wine press and one of the earliest constructed bridges."

Origin of Famous Cameo Vase Disputed

Dr Jerome Eisenberg, editor-in chief of ancient art and archaeology magazine Minerva, states in a recent issue that he is convinced that the Portland Vase, one of the most famous cameo-glass vessels from antiquity, was created during the Renaissance. It was thought to have been found in the tomb of Emperor Severus Alexander in 1582.

But "numerous stylistic inconsistencies" - meaning some images were closer to Renaissance style than Roman - meant it was likely to have been made in the second half of the 16th Century, he wrote.

"The sea-monster depicted in the lap of the reclining female figure on the Vase provides the principal clue to my redating of this cameo glass masterwork," Eisenberg notes.

The British Museum's deputy keeper of Greek and Roman antiquities, Susan Walker, disagrees, "The vase was created using the Roman technique of 'dip-overlay' - which was not understood until recently.'

Roman Lioness of Severan Period to be featured in new Cramond Interpretative Center

A white sandstone lioness statue unearthed by ferryman Robert Graham in the mud of the River Almond in 1997 is expected to form the centrepiece of a new £2 million interpretative center planned for Cramond, Scotland. Plans have also be proposed to restore the 1800-year-old Roman fort near Cramond Kirk and the nearby bath house.

Herbert Coutts, city director of culture and leisure, said it was one of only three permanent sites known to be associated with the Severan conquest of Scotland.

The fort also played a crucial role in supplying provisions to other Roman garrisons, said Mr Coutts, while Mesolithic remains at the site were also significant. 'The post-Roman and early medieval remains are scant, but are also of national importance and high significance, not least due to the gap in knowledge about the use of the fort site following the departure of the Romans.' "

Submerged Ancient Port of Agrigento Discovered

"Located on a plateau overlooking Sicily's southern coast, Agrigento was founded as Akragas around 582 BC by a group of colonists from Gela, who themselves were the immediate descendants of Greeks from Rhodes and Crete. Akragas was renamed Agrigentum by the Romans, and Girgenti by the Saracens, only to be christened Agrigento in 1927, but the place is the same.

Akragas, named for the nearby river, flourished under Phalaris (570-554 BC), and developed further under Theron (488-471 BC), whose troops participated in the Battle of Himera in 480 BC, defeating the Carthaginians. Agrigento was destroyed several times during the Punic Wars, suffering particularly extensive damage during a siege by Roman forces in 261 BC, but always rebuilt. The Greek poet Pindar (518-438 BC) described Akragas as "the most beautiful city of the mortals." Akragas' most famous citizen was the philosopher and scientist Empedocles (490-430 BC)."

Roman Legionary's Exam Certificate Unearthed in Norfolk

"Archaeologists have uncovered the earliest examination certificate ever found in Britain. Fragments of two bronze sheets, which had been threaded together, were unearthed by metal detector enthusiasts in Norfolk.

The diploma was awarded in AD98 to a garrison soldier whose name has not survived but who was recruited in the imperial province of Pannonia, now the Balkans. Lettering inscribed on the eroded metal shows that he served in the legions from AD73, most of the time in Britain.

His certificate acknowledges lessons learned during 25 years in the Roman army, lessons which became as subject to controversy and allegations of cheating as any modern exam. "

Did Boudicca's Army Desecrate the Graves of the Vanquished in Londonium?

"Archaeologists from Wessex Archaeology found a small cremation cemetery from London's earliest years that had been severely disturbed some time before the 70s - the date is given by a coin overlying the site.

Contemporary with the cremation cemetery, the partly-decomposed body of a middle-aged or elderly man had been thrown into an open drainage ditch, with the partly-decayed head of a young woman placed between his legs. The bodies were left uncovered. The man's skeleton was missing its lower legs, while the woman's skull had lost its jawbone.

Although mutilated and other 'strange' burials are not unknown in Roman Britain (British Archaeology, March), these remains do seem to represent body-parts that had been roughly removed from their original graves, perhaps quite soon after burial, in an act of deliberate desecration. 'It is hard not to associate this with Boudicca's sack of London, as the dates match,' said project director Chris Moore."

Despised Tomb May Be Burial Chamber of Biblical Prophets

"For centuries passers-by have thrown rocks at an ornate tomb in Jerusalem's Kidron Valley, reviled as the traditional burial place of the biblical King David's villainous son Absalom.
But in one of those strange twists unique to the Holy Land -- where tombs can post-date by a millennium those believed buried there -- an inscription found on the crypt now points to it belonging not to Absalom but rather John the Baptist's father, Zacharias, and maybe even James, who some Christians regard as the brother of Jesus."

Hadrian and wife statues unearthed at Sagalassos

A team of Belgian archaeologists from Leuven University uncovered a second-century fountain and five-metre statues of the Emperor Hadrian and his wife Sabina.

Director Marc Waelkens explains, "We are now exposing the monumental city center and have completed, or nearly completed, four major restoration projects there. We've also undertaken an intensive urban and geophysical survey, excavations in the domestic and industrial areas, and an intensive survey of its vast territory. Whereas the former document a thousand years of occupation, from Alexander the Great to the seventh century, the latter has established the changing settlement patterns, the vegetation history and farming practices, the landscape formation and climatic changes during the last 10,000 years."

2nd Century Etruscan Family Tomb in Perugia Dazzles Visitors

"Discovered entirely by accident in 1840 during road construction, the hypogeum in Perugia (2nd century BC), is the biggest of the 38 graves found in the surrounding Palazzone burial ground.

"A steep flight of stairs leeds to the travertine doorway, still intact, which bears a vertical three line inscription related to the construction of the tomb, owned by the Etruscan Velimna family. The layout of the rooms around the atrium is the same as in Etruscan and Roman houses, with the difference that what appear to be wooden beams supporting the roof are in fact the ceiling that has been carved out of sheer rock."

"...The urn containing the remains of the head of the family, Arnth Velimna, stands at the centre on a base. The base is decorated with two winged female demons, or “vanth”, that were precursors of genii in the Roman pantheon and have similarities with what came to be known as angels for Christians. They guard the painted entrance to the Empire of Death."

Roman port from Hannibalic War revealed in Pozzuoli

"Excavators at Pompeii, entombed in ash and toxic debris by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79, were able to remove the volcanic material and expose the city to the open air.
But in Pozzuoli, whose beauty was such that the great Roman orator Cicero called it 'little Rome,' the ancient streets were encased in the foundations of a new city built by the Spanish in the 1500s, when they ruled what was then the Kingdom of Naples."

After 10 years of excavation, the Roman city originally constructed as a seaport during the Hannibalic War (Second Punic War) has emerged.

Visitors may see "well-preserved warren of Roman streets, paved with huge stones and lined with little shops, inns and houses."

"Small private altars are visible in the corners of some of the shops and there are also ancient flour mills, deep wells, vaulted storage rooms and stone heads that used to be fountains."

"A vast, white marble temple from the first century BC stands there, with well-preserved colonnades and walls. It also features gilded arches, a white and gold dome and fragments of religious frescoes -- the remains of a Baroque church which the Spanish built using the ancient structure."

Efforts Mount to Save 1st century Venus statue

"The British Government has placed a temporary export ban on a Roman statue of Venus in the hope that it can be bought for the nation. The marble statue, described as being of "outstanding significance", has been dated to circa late 1st/mid-2nd Century AD and is a Roman copy of a Hellenistic original of 2nd Century BC. Known as Jenkins Venus, the statue, originally bought in Rome in 1765 , was resold at auction earlier in the year by an anonymous foreign buyer for a record £7.9m to pay for the refurbushiment of Newby Hall in North Yorkshire .

Ancient Women Used Dung, Grease as Makeup

"For the ancient Romans, looking good didn't stop at applying makeup. Archaeologists have found tools such as tweezers for trimming the brows and small scoops for cleaning out the ears. The devices were likely used by both men and women, says Rosenberg."

As the ancient Roman writer, Plotinus, declared in A.D. 250, "This is the spirit that Beauty must ever induce: a wonderment and a delicious trouble, longing and love and a trembling that is all delight."

Ancient writings and recovered artifacts have revealed women could be quite creative when finding ways to touch up their looks. One secret, for example, was extracting the sweat and dirt from sheep's wool to form the basis of a paling face cream.

Sally Pointer, an archaeologist and specialist in cosmetics history, says A pale face suggested an upper-class life of leisure spent away from the sun's harsh rays. Some women patted dried crocodile dung on their faces. Others used chalk and the ground root of the orris, a type of iris, which can be poisonous.

Caligula's Roman palace discovered

"The ancient palace in Rome that provided the backdrop for many of Emperor Caligula's wildest depravities has been found by British and American archaeologists. It has been located at the foot of the Palatine Hill, at a point where it met and joined the Temple of Castor and Pollux.

The discovery confirmed the belief that Caligula - who had himself deified - had the audacity to incorporate the sacred temple into his home. Andrew Wallace-Hadrill, head of the British School, said: "The ancient sources claim that Caligula transformed the Temple of Castor and Pollux into the vestibule of his palace. The new excavations greatly strengthen the case for supposing that Caligula's building actually came up to the temple.

Tellaro Mosaic Contradicts Homer's Iiad

Dazzling Roman mosaics discovered near the site of the ancient city of Eloro on Sicily apparently contradict Homer's account of the Trojan war in his epic poem, the Iliad.

"One mosaic depicts the story of the recovery of Hector's body from Achilles, who after killing King Priam's eldest son, dragged his corpse around the walls of Troy, tied to his chariot. Amid a group of Greek and Trojan figures including Achilles and Diomedes, and old King Priam of Troy, Hector's body is shown lying on one of the two plates of a weighing scales, while on the other is Priam's treasure. The scene implies that the ransom for Hector's body was calculated according to his physical weight, rather than his honour, the traditional ancient yardstick for such matters."

Etched Gladiator on glass fragment most exciting find of 2003 at Whitehall Farm Roman Villa & Landscape Project

A small piece of fine glass, engraved or etched with the figure of a gladiator is one of the most exciting finds this year at the Whitehall Farm Roman Villa and Landscaping Project. Part of a drinking vessel, it was found in the sealed context of room 3B of the bath house.

Researchers said this is only the fifth gladiator vessel found so far in the UK.

Other finds this season include a square game piece, a bone hairpin, and a silver denarius minted by the house of Severus.

3rd Century BC Industrial Iron Ore Kilns Discovered in Lecco, Italy

"According to Marco Tizzoni of Bergamo University 'it is the most ancient proof of iron ore reduction in the [Lombardy] region found thus far. We are looking at what are probably some of the first proto-historic mines in Lombardy'.
The kilns were very simple: small clay structures resting at the feet of the mountain, they were used in conjunction with hand driven vents, which allowed for the creation of iron in a paste form'. "

Roman cosmetics' found at ancient dig

Excavators at the site of a major Roman temple in London have found a sealed box containing a white cream still bearing the fingermarks of the person who last used it, nearly 2,000 years ago. Museum conservator Liz Barham who opened the fist-sized cylindrical tin box for the first time on Monday, in front of the world's media, described the smell from the half-full container as "sulphurous" and "cheesy." The substance, which will now be chemically analyzed, could be face cream or even face paintsaid Museum of London curator Francis Grew.

William Smith, D.C.L., LL.D., in an article in A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities of 1875 explains, "The practice of painting the face was very general among the Greek ladies, and probably came into fashion in consequence of their sedentary mode of life, which robbed their complexions of their natural freshness, and induced them to have recourse to artificial means for restoring the red and white of nature. This at the least is the reason given by some of the ancient writers themselves (Xen. Oecon. 10 c.10; Phintys, ap. Stobaeum, tit. lxxiv.61). The practice, however, was of great antiquity among the Greeks, and was probably first introduced among the Asiatic Ionians from the East, where the custom has prevailed from the earliest times. "

He continues, "In order to produce a fair complexion, cerussa, or white lead was employed. The eye-brows and eye-lids were stained black with a sulphuret of antimony, which is still employed by the Turkish ladies for the same purpose. The eye-brows were likewise stained with a preparation of soot.

Roman ladies even went so far as to paint with blue the veins on the temples, as we may infer from Propertius (ii.14.27) "si caeruleo quaedam sua tempore fuco tinxerit." The ridiculous use of patches (splenia), which were common among the English ladies in the reign of Queen Anne and the first Georges, was not unknown to the Roman ladies (Mart. ii.29.9, x.22; Plin. Ep. vi.2). The more effeminate of the male sex at Rome also employed paint. Cicero speaks (in Pison. 11) of the cerussatae buccae of his enemy, the consul Piso.

See also: Fucus

Cosmetics were also valuable trade items:

I also came across this reference:

"From Homer's day forward, precious oils, perfumes, cosmetic powders, eye shadows, skin glosses and paints, beauty unguents, and even hair dyes seem to have been in near universal use. Export and sale of these items formed an important part of trade around the Mediterranean. During the 8th and 7th centuries BC, overseas markets were dominated by Corinthian, Rhodian and East Greek perfume flasks and cosmetic containers, including aryballoi, alabastra, pyxides and other small specialized shapes. Cosmetic unguents were imported into Greece in containers carved from the Red Sea Tridacna shell."

Conservation Continues at Sagalassos

A beautiful frieze of dancing girls that adorns the NW Heroon, an honorific monument, dedicated to a prominent figure of the city and built in Augustan times (25 B.C.-A.D. 14), has been freed of its winter protection. A new study of the naiskos (platform) blocks indicated that almost nothing was missing of the latter. Also, it turned out that it was not a distylos in antis (two columns set between projecting side walls), but a tetrastyle prostylos (four columns set in front of the cella) shrine built in the Corinthian order.

Work also continues on the Antonine Nymphaeum, a monumental fountain located on the north side of the Upper Agora and dated to the reign of Marcus Aurelius (A.D. 161-180).

Roman brooch discovery pushes ancient frontiers farther north in Scotland

A Roman brooch, dated to between 50BC and 50AD, has been discovered by amateur archaeologists in Shetland. The ancient pin could have belonged to an islander returning to the area around Norwick on Shetland after serving in the Roman army.

Experts at the British Museum believe the one found on Shetland, from the late Iron age/early Roman period, could have been made in Germany.

Dr Alan Leslie, director of the Glasgow University archaeological research division, said: "The brooch gives an indication of the extensive trading networks at the time.

"It could have been used as something to barter with and is certainly a very special find. There was substantial seaborne mercantile activity but it could have got there via other agencies. The Roman army was established in different areas and shifted about a lot. There were legionaries who were Roman citizens and auxiliary units from allied or conquered countries. Someone could join the army, serve their 25 years, and then move back to their locality."

Weekend detectors find variety of ancient brooches

Digs sponsored by The Weekend Wanderers Detecting Club, founded by Peter Welch in 1997, have yielded an impressive variety of early Roman and Saxon brooches. Weekly digs take place in and around Hertfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, Hampshire, Surrey, and Oxfordshire in the UK.

Fish fossils reveal Roman trade routes: Genetics shows ancient Anatolians imported Egyptian catfish

Fish fossils found in an excavation of Sagalassos, 110 kilometres inland from Turkey's southern Mediterranean coast, have added to growing evidence that Sagalassos had connections with far-flung regions of the Roman Empire. 1400-year old remains of an Egyptian catfish dinner were identified by genetic analysis.

"The catfish was probably a delicacy for aristocrats," says the director of the dig Marc Waelkens from the Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium. Romans may also have imported these and other exotic fish to stock their decorative pools. Waelkens and his colleagues found Nile perch (Lates niloticus) and African tilapia (Tilapia zillii) at the site too, they report in this month's Journal of Archaeological Science .

Ancient Roman Fonts

Michael Scarpitti has designed some unique fonts "based on historical sources from different eras of the Roman Empire and are extraordinarily accurate to the details of the different lettering styles which they represent. These are not modernized abstractions of popular styles like Rustica and Roman Uncial, but grittier, more interesting designs derived directly from ancient manuscripts and inscriptions. This is Roman lettering as it was actually done, not a contemporary designer's reinterpretation."

His entire set of fonts is available for $49 and he provides Falconis as a free download.

New Research Reveals Petillius Cerialis Rather Than Agricola founder of Roman Scotland

The traditional view, that the Roman frontier in Scotland was established in the 80s through the campaigns of the governor Agricola has been overturned by findings at the Roman Gask project excavations at Coldoch. The theory was based largely on the writings of Tacitus, Agricola's son-in-law. According to Birgitta Hoffmann, deputy director of the project, the new evidence suggests the founder was more likely Petillius Cerialis, general and diplomat, and governor in 71-73/4.

Pollen evidence from settlements in the area shows no agricultural decline from the 70s - as would be expected if occupation had been achieved through conquest, as many native farmers would have been killed. Instead, it shows the intensification of grazing, with pastures supporting bigger herds.

Evidence from the latest season's work at Coldoch, two miles from the Roman fort of Doune, suggests the natives may have started to grow wheat - a crop not generally grown in Iron Age Scotland - to trade to the Roman army and its camp followers, who may have numbered as many as 20,000. Fragments of 1st century Roman glass at the settlement proves there was contact between incomers and natives.

Ancient canats (water canals) restored for use in Syria

A village, located approximately 70 kilometers southeast of Aleppo near the town of Khanasser, is the first in Syria to have its qanats (water canals), which date from Byzantine times, reactivated. This program, in partnership with the International Center for Research in Dry Areas (ICARDA) and the directorate of the National Museum of Aleppo, gives the locals of Shalala Saghira the chance to use this ancient yet clean and efficient way of getting their water.

During Roman times, these canals connected cities such as Duro Europos, Bosra and Palmyra. The paths of the qanats (basically large tunnels) are so big that one could drive a car through them. The Romans were probably the biggest builders of qanats, though other civilizations also contributed their irrigation techniques to the region. Qanats rely on gravity to carry water and are considered environmentally sound because they do not deplete groundwater resources.

There are an estimated 2,000 qanats in Syria, of which 91 have been identified at 41 sites in the country, with another 30 still flowing.

Was Constantine's Miracle a Meteor?

In the fourth century AD, the fragmented Roman Empire was being further torn apart by civil war. Constantine and Maxentius were bitterly fighting to be the sole emperor.

Constantine was the son of the western emperor Constantius Chlorus. When he died in 306, his father's troops proclaimed Constantine emperor. But in Rome, the favourite was Maxentius, son of Constantius' predecessor, Maximian.

Constantine overran Italy and faced Maxentius at the Milvian Bridge over the Tiber a few kilometres from Rome. Both knew it would be a decisive battle with Constantine's forces outnumbered.

But something strange happened. Eusebius, an early Christian historian, reports, "...about noon, when the day was already beginning to decline, he saw with his own eyes the trophy of a cross of light in the heavens, above the Sun, and bearing the inscription 'conquer by this'. "

Jens Ormo, a Swedish geologist, and colleagues working in Italy believe Constantine witnessed a meteoroid impact. The research team believes it has identified what remains of the impactor's crater. Radiocarbon dating puts the crater's formation at about the right time to have been witnessed by Constantine

Edinburgh engineer proves Colosseum could have been flooded

Academics have long argued that holding sea battles at the Colosseum was impossible . But, Cassius Dio, chronicler of ancient Rome, said: "Titus suddenly filled this same theatre with water and brought in horses and bulls and other domesticated animals that had been taught to behave in the liquid element just as on land. He also brought in people on ships, who engaged in a sea-fight there, impersonating the Corcyreans and Corinthians."

Now, Martin Crapper, lecturer in civil and environmental engineering at Edinburgh University was able to prove it was possible for sluice gates to be closed off and for water pressure to reach the correct level for the arena to be flooded by four million gallons of water to a depth of five feet within seven hours.

Roman barge raised from the bottom of the Rhine River

Although silted over centuries ago, a Roman barge that has stayed waterlogged for nearly 2,000 years, preserving the vessel and its contents, has been raised from the bottom of the Rhine River near the city of Utrecht. It is 25 metres long and 2.7 m wide, and is the first to be found with a cabin containing an entire inventory of items that have been fully preserved--from the captains kitchen, bed and chest, down to the contents of his cupboard.

"Weve found indications of military soldiers on board, from the spiked shoes that they normally used, to lance points and axes: standard equipment of the Roman soldier," said Andre Van Holk, the maritime archaeologist heading the research team. The archaeologists believe that this barge will provide insights into how the Romans organised their defence systems.

Cathedral of Roman Emperor Otto the Great Rediscovered in East Germany

A giant cathedral in eastern Germany known to have been built by Holy Roman Emperor Otto the Great in the 10th Century has been unearthed in Magdeburg. Laden with Italian marble, glass mosaic stones and glazed wall tiles--remains of which were all found at the site--the romanesque cathedral was as extraordinary in its beauty as in its size.

"It was the largest house of worship north of the Alps apart from the Cologne Cathedral," said Kuhn, adding that it was believed to have measured 80 metres long and 60 metres high. It was Otto the Greats final resting place, but was destroyed by fire in 1207.

See also: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11354a.htm

Excavations at Grumentum yield 4th century C.E. statues and 7th century Lombard necropolis

Grumentum, near the present-day city of Viggiano and the subject of a 4-year multinational excavation, has yielded five statues from an imperial bath dated from 380 to 420 C.E. The city was founded shortly after 295 BC then destroyed during the Roman Social wars (90-83 BC). The city was then refounded in the Augustan era (20-10 B.C.) and endured economic fluctuations until a massive earthquake and widespread malaria ended its existence as an urban center in the 5th century. Although the site no longer served as an urban center after that time, it still attracted later inhabitants because of its commanding position along the Agri River valley and control of access to the Ionian coast. Archaeologists discovered evidence of post-Roman settlement including a necropolis containing burials genetically identified as Lombards, a Germanic tribe that entered Italy in the seventh century C.E.

After 10 Years University of Pennsylvania Museum Reopens Classical Sections

"The Greeks, the Etruscans and the bane of them both, the Romans, are now part of an integrated exhibition called "Worlds Intertwined." Unlike the ancient glamour pieces one finds at museums such as the Metropolitan (the best statues and ceramics that money and pillage could assemble), the universitys museum is more terrestrial, yet, argues its director, Jeremy A. Sabloff, no less valuable for scholarly purposes." The Washington Post

To celebrate the opening, Etruscan scholars gathered for a conference at the new center. Nancy Thomson de Grummond traced the persistence of an Etruscan demon figure, Charun, through Roman times and beyond. Another scholar, L. Bouke van der Meer, shared his struggle to understand how the Etruscan version of liver examination differed from the Romans and the Mesopotamians divination practices.

"One of the most intriguing features of the reinstalled permanent exhibition, which opens Sunday and includes a treasure trove from 30 Etruscan tombs that the museum acquired in the 1890s, is a voice. Its on an audio tape of a reading in ancient Etruscan--a language dead for nearly 2,000 years."

"The voice belongs to Jean MacIntosh Turfa, who teaches Etruscan art and archaeology at Bryn Mawr College. Turfa, a consultant to the exhibition, said scholars have found clues on how the language might have sounded from the writings of the Romans, competitors who eventually edged out the older civilization."

"Along with comparisons of Roman and Etruscan words, Turfa said, Roman authors offered snide comments: "Theyd say, We send our kids to school in Etruria and they come back with an accent. " Philadelphia Inquirer

Temple of First Oracle to Proclaim Alexander Ruler of the World Found in Bulgaria

Bulgarian archeologists believe they may have found one of the most famous oracles of antiquity, a Thracian temple of Dionysus, in the mountains of southern Bulgaria. Combing through the site of the ancient village of Perperikon in the Rhodope mountain chain, archaeologists found an oval hall that had no roof but a round altar carved out of the rock. This matches a description of the oracle by the Roman historian Suetonius. Nikolai Ovtcharov, the head of the archeology team, pointed out that this sanctuary is as important as that of Apollo at Delphi, "It is where Alexander the Great heard before he embarked on his conquest of Asia that he would become master of the world."

Etruscan Gold Book Surfaces in Bulgaria

An Etruscan gold book containing six 23.82-carat gold pages covered with ancient text and depicting images of warriors and a siren has been donated to the Bulgarian National Museum of History by an anonymous benefactor. The text and the images indicate the book was made for the funeral of an aristocrat who was a member of the Orpheus cult.

The Greek philosopher Pythagoras influenced by orphism--a Thracian religion--spread its ideas in ancient Greek cities in southern Italy and the neighboring territories of Etruscan tribes. Bulgarian Professor Valdimir Geogiev is working to decipher the text.

Police fingerprint expert helps track the work of a 1st Century Roman potter

Ceramics specialist at the Museum of London, Charlotte Thompson, approached David Goodwin, head of Northamptonshire Polices Fingerprint Bureau for help after discovering prints on ancient Roman relics. Thompson hoped to discover whether the pottery had been made by one person, or by a group of potters working under a single name.

"It was very interesting for me to look at such an old item and broaden my experience of the history of fingerprints," Goodwin remarked. "The oldest fingerprints I knew of previously dated back to the 16th Century."

He studied images of the nine pieces of pottery, but was unable to determine how many people were involved in making the items.

"Because the detail on the marks is quite poor, all we can say is that on two of the pieces, the prints looked similar," Goodwin said.

Ancient Rome Another Venice

"The dynamic nature of the Tiber, the extent to which it rises and falls, asserts Professor Albert Ammerman of Colgate University in New York, "Since the modern embankment was built in the late 19th century the river has been channelled. But in fact it can go from three metres above sea level to between eleven and thirteen metres. This means it would have flooded the Velabrum regularly, creating an effect in Rome not unlike the acqua alta of Venice."

Professor Ammerman continues, "A traveller approaching Rome in the Republican era--say at the time of the Punic Wars--would have seen an astonishing sight: the Temple of Jupiter towering above him on Capitol Hill, but also a line of other great temples on the river bank, appearing to rise out of the water."

Culture Ministry plans to exhibit artifacts from Nicopolis

Founded by Octavian after his triumph in the Battle of Actium in 31 BC and decisive defeat of his opponents, Mark Antony and Cleopatra. Nicopolis, the city of Nike, or Victory, developed over the next 10 centuries into the leading urban center in northwestern Greece. The inhabitants of the neighbouring cities of Epirus, Leucas, and Acarnania were forced to settle in this area. The city enjoyed special political and financial privileges, had its own mint and every four years celebrated the Actia, festivals including athletic, musical and racing contests. Many intellectuals of the period, such as Epictetus (A.D. 89) gathered in Nikopolis. The city was sacked by the Goths in the fourth century then restored by Justinian in the fifth century. It was inhabited through the Byzantine period.

The Culture Ministry has made plans to exhibit thousands of artifacts unearthed there, including sculptures, mosaics and lamps. The first systematic excavations on the site were carried out in the period 1913-1926, by the Archaeological Society, under the direction of Al. Philadelpheus, and were continued by professors G. Soteriou and A. Orlandos until 1938. A British team from the University of Nottingham have been working at the site since 1996.

See also: http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/archaeology/research/balkans/bulg/bcity.html

Roman Stage Sets Recreated Virtually at University of Warwick

The remains of Pompeiis ancient villas show that the Romans decorated their villas with extravagant wall paintings of theatre scenes that used tricks of perspective to impress guests with what seemed at the time an early version of virtual reality. Now, researchers at the University of Warwick are transforming these ancient forms of perspective painting into the 21st century version of virtual reality using 3-D digital models that allow viewers to tread the boards of long-lost Roman theatres.

Drew Baker, from e-lab at the University of Warwick, said: "Theatre was an integral part of Roman culture and the wall paintings enable us to understand theatre, politics and culture during the transition from Republic to Empire. The new virtual theatre museums open up new possibilities, and are more engaging than conventional museums. Until now, museum visitors were expected to appreciate the art and history of the theatre by examining static displays, miniature stage sets, and two-dimensional photographs or drawings."

1st Century Jewish Catacombs Near Venosa, Italy Continue to Yield Evidence of Roman Captivity

Newly uncovered catacombs near Venosa, Italy are yielding artifacts from a settlement of Jewish prisoners brought to Italy in the first century C.E. Dr. Cesare Colafemmina, visiting professor of Hebrew and Hebraic literature at the University of Calabria, said documents indicate that Emperor Titus brought 5,000 captives to the region after the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem in A.D. 70. Hundreds more are thought to have settled here before and after that time, simply because it was a prosperous crossroads of maritime trade. And Jews played a vital role in Mediterranean commerce. By the end of the fourth century many towns were dominated by Jews. They even became political and community leaders, he added.

Historians were surprised that inscriptions on the burial slabs found to date are almost totally in Greek. There is little or no Hebrew. When Hebrew is used, the characters mostly spell out Greek or Latin words. Both Greek and Latin were commonly used in that part of Italy at the time. This suggests an assimilated life for the Jews who may have lived here outside Venosa between the third and seventh centuries A.D.

Intellectual Center of 6th Century Alexandria Uncovered

Monumental red-brick baths dating from the fourth century with an adjoining cistern, and a small theatre with marble tiers of the same period have been found by a Polish team at Kom Al-Dikka near Alexandria. Both buildings opened to the west into a large open space lined with columns, the agora of late antique Alexandria. Residences of the wealthy inhabitants of the city lined the streets originally laid down by Alexander and his heirs, and while the houses of the earlier Ptolemaic period are hardly accessible, the later ones, with wall paintings and fine mosaic floors have been preserved, and, as in the third century Roman "Villa of the Birds" discovered earlier, restored. During the sixth century, the eastern side of the agora underwent reconstruction and a succession of meeting rooms were built within the colonnade. The theatre was also transformed: a dome was constructed over the tiers of steps, thus creating a huge lecture hall in line with the smaller rooms.

See also: http://www.guardians.net/sca/roman_mosaics.htm

Stesichorus claims a woman founded Rome

According to Romes Il Messaggero newspaper, a fragment of writing by the Graeco-Sicilian poet Stesichorus (638-555 BC) recounts how a woman named Roma arrived with a Trojan fleet in an idyllic place that could easily be Rome. The scene was described as one of enchanting beauty, where before the setting sun the visitor was "enticed to dream while being caressed by the off-shore breeze".

Roma fell so in love with the spot that she conspired with the other women to burn all the ships, so that the party would have to stay. Once they were stranded, the group all agreed that they should name the place after her.

The tales claims are strengthened by the fact that Stesichorus was born just 115 years after the founding of Rome.

See also: http://www.anotherscene.com/phaedrus/stesic.html

Two Roman Forts Discovered near Dine-fwr Park in Llandeilo, Wales

Ground-penetrating surveys carried out by Cambrian Archaeology, has revealed two Roman forts plus a range of roads, buildings and streets near Dine-fwr Park in Llandeilo, Wales. The square or rectangular fort, which was built around 70 AD, is overlain by a smaller rectangular fort, which was built when the area was reoccupied some years later.

"The first of the forts, the largest of the two, was abandoned soon after it was built. But the second similar fort, which gives a more complete image, is packed with streets and buildings. Early indications also show that there was a bath house, which was a popular and very advanced means of relaxing for the Romans," explains Gwilym Hughes, director of Cambria Archaeology. "The earliest fort is huge and covers nearly four hectares - more than nine acres - the largest in Wales outside the Roman regional headquarters at Caerleon. This suggests a much greater scale of resistance to the Roman invasion than previously recognised by historians. It indicates that the local Demetae tribe did not meekly accept Roman rule. It was not the walkover that has previously been implied."

Pliny the Elder inspires resurrection of Pompeiian wine

In a walled vineyard in the shadow of Pompeiis splendid amphitheatre, Pietro Mastroberardino has produced a wine which is "very intense and with a nice fruity bouquet" from the original vines grown within the walls of the ancient city. "We used different techniques but the same technology, and for the nose and the mouth this has the same result," said the winemaker.

The ancient imbibers who kept Pompeiis more than 200 wine bars busy often diluted their favourite tipple with sea water to make it more drinkable. The resurrected wine, which Mastroberardino prefers to call an "evolution", like its ancestor is grown on the stakes of local chesnut trees. It is a blend of two local varieties, Piedirosso and Sciascinoso, also known as Olivella for its oval-shaped appearance.

"If there was one source for our inspiration, I would have to say it would be Pliny the Elder," Mastroberardino said.

Plinys classic work Naturalis Historia, in which he explored the history of wine and viticulture, provided the blueprint for the project, along with Pompeiis surviving frescoes and petrified vine roots.

"Strangely enough, after 2,000 years the most refined and sophisticated winemaking techniques continue to be based on the same principle, that of temperature control, making use of cold temperatures."

Bull-headed Roman emperor featured in "The Bull in the Mediterranean World, Myths and Legends" exhibit

Painted or engraved bulls on the walls of paleolithic caverns suggest that from prehistoric times, the bull was associated with cosmic energy and the forces of life and death. In Anatolia, the bull was worshiped as the son of the mother-goddess, and its horns, which supported the world, were seen as the pillars of the universe.

This concept was probably the origin of horns as a mark of divinity. In Mesopotamia, for instance, gods occasionally had bulls ears and, with almost no exception, wore a diadem with bulls horns. Another example, included in the exhibition, is the Hellenistic head of Zeus-Amon, a new Egyptian deity that emerged with the cultural fusion that followed Egypts conquest by Alexander the Great. The bulls horns that sprout from the head is again an attribute of divinity.

The Roman deity Jupiter was portrayed, like other celestial gods of Syria and Palestine, with one or two bulls. In one of the exhibitions more unusual objects, a Roman emperor is portrayed with a bulls head, a sign of the emperors divine nature.

Scotland hopes to attract visitors to Antonine Wall sites

At Rough Castle, where the sixth Cohort of Nervians, auxiliaries from the north of France, once gazed out on the Caledonian tribes to the north and doubtless wished themselves elsewhere, there is little to suggest the massive building operation involved in imposing this barrier and symbol of Roman imperial might.

One of the walls most clearly visible structures is the Roman bathhouse at Bearsden, now nominated as a World Heritage site. Bill Hanson, a professor of Roman archaeology at the University of Glasgow, said, "The Antonine Wall was occupied only for about 25 years, whereas Hadrians was occupied, abandoned and re-occupied and remained the frontier for hundreds of years." However, he points out that it is still important, "A lot of people do not even understand that the Romans got this far."

Ancient Fragrances Return to Pompeii

"Lily, rose, basil and fennel are just a few of the heady scents that once fired the imaginations of ancient Romans," said Anna Maria Ciarallo, head of biological research at Pompeii. "Finally, and based on scientific research, we can give Pompeii back some of its fragrance."

Directors at the sprawling archaeological site inaugurated "The Perfumers House" and took the stoppers off 15 different perfumes concocted after a decade of research. Period aromas available for purchase will be the evocatively named Iris of Corinth, Saffron of Soles, Cyprino, and Pardalium. The last scent was thought to have been extracted from panthers. The perfume bottles are described as faithful reproductions of those found in the Perfumers House, now in the National Archaeology Museum in Naples.

See also: Easter in Pompeii

An 84-mile footpath along Hadrians Wall opens

An 84-mile footpath along Hadrians Wall, from Segedunum fort at Wallsend in the east to Bowness-on-Solway, west of Carlisle, is now open for visitors.

David McGlade, the official from the countryside agency who has overseen the project since it began in 1995, said: "Our task is to make it an interpretation that is the greatest expression of Roman civilisation in England. At present, it is not punching its weight. It is as important as Stonehenge, but it has never been thought of in that way. It isnt just a wall, but a complex of forts, temples, turrets, museums and reconstructions that bring the frontier to life."

To this end, Fourteen new steel bridges have been erected, many in the "weathered" variety of steel which characterises the Angel of the North sculpture, thirty miles of new rights of way have been created, and miles of new turf have been laid, to protect sites which may be excavated in later years.

Modern engineers study water turbulence control mechanisms in Roman aqueducts

Charles Ortloff and Adonis Kassinos of the private company CTC/United Defense in Santa Clara, California have suggested that a series of gradient increases and decreases constructed in the aqueduct at Aspendos, Turkey were designed to prevent "slosh" and resulting damage to the ancient pipeline. They also speculated that little holes, about 3 centimetres wide, that perforate some of the pipeline's blocks, were designed to reduce turbulence in the flow by letting air and water escape.

Roman sacrifice of three dogs and a horse found in well in Siena

Archaeologists said yesterday that they had evidence of a ritual sacrifice, dating to early Roman times, in a well beneath the transept of the Duomo, near the Campo, the piazza where the Palio is run every summer in Siena.

Riccardo Francovich, professor of archaeology at Siena University, said his team had found the bones of three slaughtered dogs and a horse, with each animal cut up into three pieces. Professor Francovich said the slaughter of animals was a "votive ritual" used by the Romans to bring good fortune when founding a new city.

According to the "founding myth", the name Siena derives from Senius, son of Remus, who founded Rome with his twin brother, Romulus. Senius fled to Siena to escape persecution by his "wicked" uncle Romulus, who sent warriors on horseback to stop him.

Ancient skeletons reveal panoply of death in the Roman world

Search site for "paleopathologist"

French paleopathologist Philippe Charlier studies ancient skeletons to determine the range of diseases and genetic deformity that occurred in ancient times. In the past seven years, the Frenchman has scoured Etruscan cemeteries in Italy and Celtic warrior burial grounds in Burgundy, France. He found such spinal deformities as spina bifida in a slave necropolis in Rome which he attributed to inbreeding or excessive intoxication on the part of the mother during gestation. He found one in 10 Celts to be carrying treponema, a bacterium related to that of syphilis. Several had hip deformities caused by riding, and many suffered from arthritis.

Another paleopathologist, Luigi Capasso of Gabriele D'Annunzio University in Chieti, Italy, found at least one in five Herculaneum skulls shows irritation likely caused by lice. He also detected cases of pleurisy, probably caused by indoor pollution. The Romans burned animal and vegetable oils for light, and wood or animal dung as fuel, filling their homes with carbon and other toxic gases.

Thieves steal frescos from House of the Chaste Lovers in Pompeii

A pair of 2,000-year-old frescoes were stolen from the "House of the Chaste Lovers" in Pompeii. The thieves hacked off a fresco of a cherub and another with a rooster pecking at an apple.

However, thanks to a fragment of pizza left at the scene, police were able to recover them. AGI reports: "Four central parts of the frescos stolen on Friday night from the "Chaste Lovers" room in Pompeii have been recovered. They were found wrapped and ready to be sent. It was probably a commissioned robbery. Each piece could be worth more than 100 million euro. The forces of law and order were able to follow the thieves trail thanks to a series of bits of circumstantial evidence, among which was a pizza nibbled while they were taking the frescos off the wall. Technicians from the Superintendancys Restoration Workshop will check their condition and the possibility of putting them back in the walls."

A typical shop with the bakery facing the street and internal living quarters, the House of the Chaste Lovers was still being decorated at the time of the eruption in 79 A.D. Portions of the walls were found with preparatory drawings (sinopie). Little cups containing pigments, a small stove and a compass were found under the collapsed vault.

Clue from 1811 archaeologist pinpoints Roman Villa

Note: Search for "1811" at URL

Two hundred years ago the famous Pembrokeshire antiquarian Richard Fenton claimed to have discovered a Roman villa in the county. Now, Pembrokeshire-born archaeologist Dr Mark Merrony, following the clues left by Fenton, has discovered the ruins of a large rectangular building about 65ft long and 28ft wide under the ground.

"Its a formal building of Roman character. Its very big which suggests a financial investment on a large scale," he said. "Possibly it belonged to a Celtic elite, who identified themselves with Roman culture."

Gwilym Hughes, director of Cambria Archaeology, said "There has been little evidence so far of high-status Roman buildings. This is possibly one of those and it might suggest there was an important Roman settlement here. Potentially it could give us a real insight into our understanding of the Roman period in this area."

Bronze Satyr Recovered From The Depths of the Mediterranean

A 2,500-year-old bronze statue of a dancing satyr went on public display inside Italys parliament in Rome five years after its recovery by Sicilian fishermen. Reuters reports: "The satyr is missing both arms and one leg, but the head and torso are remarkably well-preserved despite centuries spent at the bottom of the sea. With its head tilted at a jaunty angle, curly hair flying and remaining leg suggesting it is in mid-leap, the two-meter tall satyr cuts a striking figure."

"I am confident that this work is by Praxiteles. It has the artistry and technical excellence that were his trademark," said Paolo Moreno, a professor of ancient Greek art and history. Shunning the formal, majestic style of earlier Greek sculptors, Praxiteles favored sensuous forms and graceful movements and left a profound mark on later classical art.

Praxiteles was a famous Greek sculptor of the 4th century B.C.E. Praxiteles depicted satyrs (later called fauns by the Romans) without most of the animal characteristics seen in earlier works. The satyr above left is an example of Praxiteles work in marble.

A Reconstruction of Trimontium Man goes on display in Melrose

The only complete skull of a Roman militiaman to be discovered in Scotland has been used by medical experts to reconstruct the face of a 45-year-old veteran whose body ended up at the bottom of a well 2000 years ago. The soldier appeared to be of Germanic or Gallic origin. Dr John Reid, a consultant radiologist at Borders General Hospital, said: "Some people think he may have been an executed prisoner, but if so why would they throw him down a well and risk poisoning the water supply? It seems more likely he was returning from a night at the tavern, and simply fell down the well."

Anglo-American Project in Pompeii Featured on the Archaeology Channel

Pompeii is well known for its rich archaeological record sealed by volcanic deposits in A.D. 79. But what was the history of the city and its inhabitants before this date? The Anglo-American Project in Pompeii (AAPP), sponsored by the University of Bradford in England, is answering this question through scholarly research and at the same time is training future archaeologists and historians in the latest scientific field techniques.

New TV documentary suggests Caesar committed suicide

TV documentary scheduled to air today features an investigation by Colonel Luciano Garofano who suggests Caesar, through failing health, committed suicide, and orchestrated his impending murder to his advantage. He changed his will six months earlier so Marc Anthony would not succeed him on the throne, and in his place put nephew Octavian.

Search for "Caesar" at URL.

Prone and Decapitation Burials Found Throughout Roman Britain

Human sacrifice is often regarded as a defining feature of barbaric societies - and it took place in Roman Britain. Victims of every age, social class and sex were chosen. An exceptional proportion had a physical impairment of some kind. Overkill was normal - a single individual might, for example, be garotted, bludgeoned, drowned and have his or her throat cut before being cast into the bog. In Britain this prehistoric practice, although always a rare event, was apparently unaffected by the Roman conquest.

Most Roman burials, of course, were carried out with respect for the humanity of the deceased. Key characteristics include care for the integrity of the body - by thorough cremation or well-protected inhumation - and concern for future well-being, especially on the immediate post-mortem journey. This was expressed in the provision of food, drink, light, money for the fare and boots for walking.

A substantial minority of burials, however, show a different and darker attitude to corpses. These rough burials are often written off as careless, but the patterns are too consistent across Roman Britain for simple negligence to be the explanation. These disturbing burials include bodies that are dismembered, mutilated, bound, buried face down, decapitated, with signs of violence other than warfare, or with evidence for defleshing and exposure. The two most common variants are prone (face-down) and decapitated burials.

2000-year-old receipt for Celtic slave girl found in London

Faint scratchings on a wooden writing tablet show that a wealthy slave working for the imperial household bought a girl named Fortunata (Lucky), a member of a Celtic tribe living on the borders of Normandy and Brittany. The silver-fir tablet had been preserved in wet London soil for 2,000 years.

Overlooked Women of Byzantium Subject of Exhibit

For the first time, an exhibit at Harvards Sackler Museum explores the world of Byzantine women: how they adorned their bodies, occupied their days, decorated their homes, and soothed their fears. Past exhibitions of Byzantine art have focused on the spirituality or imperial splendor of the Byzantine world including women only as empresses and saints. This exhibition will initiate a fresh discourse on women in Byzantium by displaying a variety of works of art and other objects and images related to them and their everyday lives.

See also: http://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/21/arts/design/21COTT.html

1st century Ivory Face of Apollo Recovered

After a six-year investigation that led authorities through Germany, Switzerland and Cyprus, the face of an ivory statue of Apollo, estimated to be from around the 1st century A.D., has been recovered in London. The fragments were originally stolen near Lake Bracciano, 10 miles northwest of Rome, seven years ago.

New film in new theater recreates 3rd century Roman Britain

Using a specially-designed camera mounted on a helicopter along with site archaeologists and costumed reenactors, film makers at the Vindolanda Trusts Roman Army Museum at Greenhead in Northumberland have recreated 3rd century Roman Britain. The film is displayed in a new theater financed by a Heritage Lottery Fund grant. With the sites low ruins transformed by live action costumed shots intermingled with computer-generated graphics, visitors can see what life was really like at Roman forts like Vindolanda and others along Hadrians Wall.

Brading Roman Villa May Be Reburied

If enough money is not raised to replace a 100-year-old metal roof over the mosaics of Brading Roman Villa on the Isle of Wight, A spokesman for Oglander Roman Trust says the 4th century artworks discovered by Captain John Thorp, a former soldier in the British Army in India, in 1880, will have to be reburied to protect them.

Ancient Butrint Site of Continuing Research

Butrint, previously known in ancient times as Buthrotum, lies 20 km south of the modern day port of Saranda. Settled by Corfiot traders in the 8th century B.C., this town is associated with the legend of Aeneas. The Romans used the port as a supply base for military campaigns in the Balkans in the 2nd century. The following century it became a colony for the veterans under Julius Caesar. The site was largely overlooked by archaeologists until Luigi Ugolini began excavations in 1924. He discovered a 4th century theatre, with its well preserved seating and cavea, that produced a sensation when a line of statues including the "goddess of Butrint" and a fine head of Apollo were found. Working on a huge scale, Ugolini unearthed the Temple of Asclepulus beside the theatre, a fine Roman bathblock in front of it, parts of an Early Byzantine palace by the Vivari canal, an extraordinarily well-preserved Early Byzantine baptistry with a perfectly preserved later fifth-century mosaic pavement and many other monuments. Now excavations by the Albanian Institute of Archaeology plan to concentrate on the Byzantine civilization that flourished there between 6th to 10th century A.D.

Learning Etruscan by Mel Copeland

The Etruscan language has been the hardest language to decipher, among those ancient languages which have been deciphered. Akkadian, Sumerian and Babylonian (cuneiform scripts), Hittite (a syllabic script) the Egyptian Heiroglyphs and the ancient Mycenaean script, Linear "B" all are profound successes in the history of deciphering ancient scripts. Of the latter two scripts, the Egyptian Hieroglyphs were deciphered by a Frenchman named J. F. Champollion. These inscriptions were in great abundance and Champollion was able to use a trilingual inscription, called the Roseta Stone, to break the code and discovered the Egyptian Heiroglyphs were written in a known language still spoken in Egypt. Michael Ventris, following his tracks, attempted to decipher the Etruscan scripts but gave up on them and focused on the more abundant scripts called Linear A and Linear B. He broke the code of Linear B and discovered that it was written in a known language, Greek. Unfortunately, there is no base, a known language, upon which we can use to make an accurate translation of the Etruscan language. Neither is there a bilingual inscription which we can use as Champollion used the Roseta Stone. There is a script, a lead tablet from La Serreta de Alcoy, dating circa. the sixth century B.C., which has many words which are familiar to the Etruscan vocabulary, and it is written with Etruscan characters.

Two 1st century Mummies Discovered near Rome

I saw a fascinating program on the Discovery Channel last night about two 1st century A.D. Roman mummies that were discovered in a sealed tomb just outside of Rome. Apparently, it was a mother and her 18-year-old son. Tests on hair samples of the boy revealed that his body contained over 25 times the normal amount of arsenic so researchers concluded he was poisoned. His family was very wealthy so it must have been in retaliation for something his father did. I cant imagine an 18-year-old boy (except Octavian) being enough of a threat to anyone to warrant poisoning.

The woman was wearing a very intricate hairpiece covered by a fine hairnet of gold. The hairnet was made of fine silk threads wrapped in extremely thin strips of gold. The resulting fibers were only 3 microns in diameter. A human hair is 5 microns in diameter. I wonder how such a delicate thread could have been produced?

The program also included a nicely reenacted "coming of age" ceremony where the boys bulla and striped childs toga were removed and replaced with the plain white toga virilus. It also showed him shaving for the first time then offering his first beard as a sacrifice to the gods. I noticed that his father wore a beautifully embroidered colored toga. I wonder if there is a certain age when a mature male is allowed to wear something other than the white togo virilus?

Since cremation was the usual funerary practice, researchers think this family followed the rituals of the Isis cult. The bodies both contained residuals of myrhh and the woman exhibited evidence of heat in the abdominal cavity. Researchers believe this was a result of the abdominal cavity being filled with hot pitch. The woman was wearing a beautiful ring with a tiny intricately carved bust of an older woman assumed to be her mother, covered with glass. It produced almost a ghost-like image. The researchers were even able to study the funeral garlands. Analysis of pollen grains revealed that both people had been covered with garlands of roses, violets, and lillies. This also indicated they both died in the late spring.

Their sarcophagi were made of beautifully carved marble although the mothers casket was not as carefully done as her sons.

The program repeats Saturday, March 15 at 5 p.m. EST (US).

Also, the topic of Unsolved History this week (Wednesday night) is The Colosseum. Researchers and hydraulic engineers are going to try to determine if the Colosseum could have been flooded for mock naval battles as reported by ancient sources.

The Tomb of Neros Secretary Uncovered Near The Vatican

Tombs from the time of the Emperor Nero have been unearthed as the Vatican tries to clear space for an underground car park. Among the graves is the tombstone of Neros secretary, along with well-preserved urns and amphorae. Officials denied the car park plans would threaten the discovery.

684 Species of Plants recorded in Colosseum survey

Building on the first plant survey conducted by Italian doctor, Domenico Panaroli, in 1643, and subsequent surveys in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, a research team led by Giulia Caneva of the University of Rome found the variety of plant species peaked in 1855, with 420, and declined to 242 today. About 200 of these were ever-present. The research team discovered that as the use of the amphitheatre changed, agricultural weeds gave way to opportunists associated with disturbed ground. They also identified a steady influx of exotic alien varieties.

Caroline Wilkinson, medical artist from the University of Manchester, reconstructs the Spitalfields woman

"Her perfectly preserved skeleton told us that she was young and slender while oxygen isotopes locked within her teeth showed that she was born not in Britain but in warmer, Mediterranean lands. Dressed in silk and gold, her head on a pillow of bay leaves and lying in a decorated lead coffin, she took with her on the final journey to the underworld her trappings of worldly wealth, vessels and ornaments of glass and jet."

See also: The Spitalfields Dig

The Orpheus Pavement May Never Be Displayed Again

The Orpheus pavement, which lies buried deep beneath Woodchester churchyard, was part of a fourth century Roman villa and at more than 2,200 square feet in size is believed to be the largest surviving mosaic in Northern Europe. But, damaged by fire and grave-digging above it, the mosaic may never be put on public view again.

Troy geologic studies released

John C. Kraft, H. Fletcher Brown Professor of Geology writes in the February 2003 issue of the journal Geology, which is published by the Geological Society of America, that the areas sedimentology and geomorphology do indeed complement the features described in Homers Iliad. An epic poem and a classic of world literature, the Iliad recounts portions of the war between Greece and the city-state of Troy.

"The reality of Homers description of place, event and topography correlated with geologic investigation helps show that the Iliad is not just a legend but regularly consistent with paleogeograhic reconstruction," concluded the research team, which also included George Rapp of the University of Minnesota, Ilhan Kayan of Ege University in Izmir, Turkey, and classical scholar John V. Luce of Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland. Given the vivid images painted by Homer, Kraft said he believes the author had seen the landscape firsthand. "Homer was certainly there, from the power of his descriptions," Kraft said, laying aside speculation by some scholars that the poet was blind. "You cant have really detailed descriptions of areas without having seen them."

Byzantine treasure trove unearthed near Alexandria

A hoard of gold pieces and bracelets dating back to the reign of the emperor Justinian has been found by a Hungarian team working in Abu Seir in western Alexandria.

Sacrificing Truth: Archaeology and the Myth of Masada

Nachman Ben-Yehuda, a professor in the department of sociology and anthropology at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, accuses Yigael Yadin, celebrated Israeli soldier turned archaeologist who died in 1984, of deliberately distorting his findings to "provide Israelis with a spurious historical narrative of heroism." Yadin ignored damning information about the rebels, Ben-Yehuda charges, pointing out that they belonged to a radical sect known for assassinating both Romans and Jews.

Ancient Romans Had a Different Take On Love

A professor of Classics at Hamilton College asked her students to compare the sentiments expressed in modern valentines with the love poetry of ancient Rome. They discovered a sharp contrast to some of the modern "mushy" sentiments such as "I love all that we share. I love the laughter, the understanding, and the fact that so much about us -- our minds, our bodies, our hearts, our feelings -- should touch so closely and perfectly together. I love how gentle and how sensitive you are."

Roman lovers described themselves as wounded, wretched, enslaved by their lovers, having their bone marrow on fire and suffering from double vision. They melded coarse obscenities with deepest expressions of sexual, erotic longing. Requited love is rarely mentioned since it was not very compelling to hear or to write about."

Long-buried Villa of the Papyri Now Open To The Public

Although only a small fraction of the once sumptuous villa at Herculaneum which belonged to the father-in-law of Julius Caesar has been excavated, small groups of visitors will be allowed to tour the site on weekends. The sprawling villa once occupied 30,000 sq feet overlooking the Bay of Naples. It was adorned by hundreds of bronze and marble statues and stocked with a vast private library of texts written on papyrus scrolls -- from which it derives its name.

See also: http://www.humnet.ucla.edu/humnet/classics/philodemus/philhome.htm