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That's one of the planet's most seismically active areas. Ground levels regularly rise or fall up to a foot a year. Modern Pozzouli -- Ancient Puteoli https://watchers.news/2025/02/18/over-550-earthquakes-recorded-at-campi-flegrei-caldera-prompting-school-closures-in-pozzuoli-italy Nearby Baiae was developed as a resort starting about 100 BC and became a favorite, decadent vacation spot for the imperial court. It began sinking in the 4th century AD....I think they found a graphitus there that reads "Quod Baiae accidit Baiae manet"

One wonders what lies buried there . . .

Here's an interesting video on the naming and numbering of the Roman legions

A previously unknown Roman village complex has emerged from the waters of Lake Fusaro near Naples as a result of the phenomenon of geological uplift known as bradysism. https://www.heritagedaily.com/2025/03/submerged-roman-villa-emerges-in-lake-fusaro/154643 https://archaeologymag.com/2025/03/roman-villa-emerges-from-lake-fusaro/

Ave, my friends! I haven't visited here in a long time, but I wanted to tell you all about a new project I started this year. In 2019, I published a novel called PRESIDENT HAMILTON, an alternative history of Hamilton's life had he not died in the duel with Aaron Burr. In 2023, I wrote another novel, yet unpublished, called WITH MALICE TOWARDS NONE, based on the premise of John Wilkes Booth failing to kill Abraham Lincoln, and what Lincoln's second term of office would have looked like. Since I seem to be in a groove now, I decided to take on (and reverse) the most tragic assassination of them all, the murder of Julius Caesar. I had originally wanted the focus to be Caesar's campaign against the Parthians, but I found another author has already written a whole series about that scenario - and the first book, at least, was quite good. So instead, I titled this book THE RETURN OF JULIUS CAESAR. It takes place five years after the Ides of March, with Caesar on his way back to Rome after vanquishing the Parthian Empire, and deals with his political struggle to restore and reform the Republic before stepping down as dictator. It's a monumental undertaking, and right now I am seven chapters in. In case you are wondering how I got Caesar past the Ides of March, I originally wrote that as a short story and have now incorporated it as the prologue of my novel. It is available to read on my blog, and I would love some feedback on it from the learned members of this forum. Here is the link: https://lewisliterarylair.blogspot.com/2025/01/here-is-prologue-for-my-latest-novel.html

Here is a scientific article on the transformation of a human brain to glass at Herculaneum as a result of the Vesuvius eruption in AD 79. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-025-88894-5 A less technical article of the find: Ancient Roman guard’s brain turned to glass after Vesuvius eruption

Almost life-sized frescoes dedicated to the Cult of Dionysus were recently found in Pompeii. Dionysus is the Greek god associated with wine, fertility, theatre and religious ecstasy. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/archaeology/frescoes-frieze-pompeii-italy-discovery-b2705115.html Videos on Dionysus

Another nice article on the most recent research on the Colchester Vase: https://arkeonews.net/the-colchester-vase-new-analyses-uncover-evidence-of-gladiatorial-combat-in-roman-britannia/ https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/britannia/article/gladiators-at-roman-colchester-reinterpreting-the-colchester-vase/6EE3B8C3EB3F6D93423C83E9FA018976

Good article . Thanks......I had to laugh reading that first known description of lead poisoning and declaring that it must be from the pipes. Apparently it has been a long established tradition in nutrition pseudoscience that correlation is equivalent to cause and effect. https://penelope.uchicago.edu/encyclopaedia_romana/wine/wine.html Romans generally drank wine diluted with water, and looked down upon provincials & foreigners who drank undiluted wine (merum). The boiled down wine (sapa) was a more expensive drink.

Here is a really clear and thorough article downplaying lead risks of ancient time https://talesoftimesforgotten.com/2019/08/30/why-lead-poisoning-probably-did-not-cause-the-downfall-of-the-roman-empire/

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2018-06-iq-scores-1970s.html. Actually, IQ scores have been falling by 7 pts per generation since 1970. During that time, thanks to the elimination of Pb from gasoline & paint, airborne levels of Pb have fallen to virtually undetectable levels. ....Not to change the subject, but since the Draconian regulations concerning auto exhaust emissions went into effect, despite measurably "cleaner" air in our cities, rates of asthma & COPD have also skyrocketed....Have they done us a favor with their over-reaching regs? Our regulations concerning acceptable Pb levels/exposures are purely arbitrary, there being no systematicallly acquired body of data upon which to make an educated estimate. The only large-scale experience is based on one episode of chemical warfare committed in Iraq about 30 y/a. Pts with very high Pb levels remained asymptomatic. Symptoms only developed in those with levels several hundred (IIRC) times over levels considered "safe." In the famous case of Flint, MI several y/a, they never told us the levels of Pb found in the water. Doing an orders of magnitude estimation, if the levels were 1000x higher than the regulatory acceptable levels, a 30 kg kid (who never got any bigger nor excreted any of the ingested Pb) would have had to drink 5 gal of water a day for 100 yrs to attain blood levels above the levels considered safe....Always do the arithmetic before panicking. Environmental Pb levels probably vary with geographic location. Before becoming known as Cheeseheads, Wisconsinites were known as Badgers because lead miners in the SW corner of the state used to provide shelter for themselves by burrowing caves, like badgers, into the banks of the Miss. R. where Pb veins are very close to the surface. How does this apply to ancient Romans??? Pb pipes do not cause contamination of the water because a biofilm quickly forms inside the pipes so the flowing water does not actually contact the pipes ...Pb cooking utensils? Doubtful, because most Romans were poor, so they didn't have metal vessels, and besides, most plebs in insulae and ate at the many tabernae & popinae, doing little cooking at home.

A recent Wall Street Journal article claims that when the Clean Air Act was passed in the United States in 1970 to regulate lead and other air-borne pollutants, children were exposed to even higher levels of lead toxicity, with up to a seven-point IQ decrease. Ice core samples from places like Greenland were used to study the deposits of lead from the Roman era. https://www.dri.edu/lead-pollution-likely-caused-widespread-iq-declinesin-ancient-rome/ https://today.duke.edu/2022/03/lead-exposure-last-century-shrunk-iq-scores-half-americans

Interesting point. As mentioned in the post below, I should add that horses in the ancient world were smaller (and likely slower). Additionally, the riders did not have stirrups.

Here’s an interesting article about the potential effects of lead. The research suggests that the lead levels had a potential 3-IQ point decrease during the height of lead exposure. https://search.app/fsLmsBzxEYmhKBkR9

The first census of Romans wad conducted during the reign of Servius Tullius (6th century BC) and said to be 80,000 men of military age. Allowing for kids, wives and old folks, that would probably bump the total number up to 200,000 plus.... Given, for perspective, that the area of the Palatine Hill is 80 acres, the forum < 20 ac, and the population density of Manhattan now 70,000/ sq mile (640 ac/sq mi) and nobody (except for maybe Oliver Wendal Douglas before he moved to Hooterville) grows grain or herds sheep in Manhattan, we have to wonder how accurate that census number was. Even if we consider Romans to have lived in a wider area than just the seven hills neighborhood, arch-rival Fidenae is only 10 miles away, Rome's safe living area was probably no more than a circle of radius 5 mi-- ~30 sq mi..... 210,000/ 30 = 7,000/ sq mi-- pretty dense for a farming/sheparding community.

Agreed....but while he was telling us about "270km/d" the title flashed across the bottom of the screen said "Rome to Gaul in One Day."... Maybe he considered anything north of Tuscany to be Gaul. For comparison, the American Pony Express delivered mail over a 1900 (3200km) course in 10 days....320 km/d, but they loped/galloped their horses-- very hard on the animals. Tizio's 270 figure may be a maximum, not average. The Pony express had way stations for change of mount every 10 miles. Swing stations, corresponding to stationes (sto - to stand) on the Cursus Publicum, for just a change of horse, and Home Stations, corresponding to Mansiones (from maneo - to stay/pass the night).

Roberto Trizio is one of the most impassioned Roman historians on YouTube. However, I think you may have misunderstood what he said. He believes a letter could travel 270 km (170 miles) daily. Florence is 170 miles north of Rome (driving) Milan is 350 miles north of Rome (driving) Paris is 880 miles north of Rome (driving) Hadrian's Wall is 1400 miles north of Rome (driving) However, he believes that a letter from Rome to Caesar in Gaul could have reached him in three days. So, let's assume the best weather and logistics would allow a travel distance about 500 miles away, approximately to Lucerne, Switzerland. (it should be remembered that Milan was part of Cisalpine Gaul during Caesar's time, however.)

https://www.google.com/search?q=scripta+manent+roberto+trizio+youtube+sistema+postale&client=tablet-android-along&sca_esv=044f2881569159f1&ei=VNW4Z9gy2Z7Q8Q-QmLfxDw&oq=scripta+manent+roberto+trizio+youtube+sistema+postale&gs_lp=EhNtb2JpbGUtZ3dzLXdpei1zZXJwIjVzY3JpcHRhIG1hbmVudCByb2JlcnRvIHRyaXppbyB5b3V0dWJlIHNpc3RlbWEgcG9zdGFsZTIFEAAY7wUyCBAAGIAEGKIESLOKAVCCFViQcHAEeAGQAQCYAYYCoAGTHKoBBjAuMTAuObgBA8gBAPgBAZgCF6AC0CHCAgoQABiwAxjWBBhHwgIGEAAYFhgewgIFECEYqwLCAgQQIRgKmAMAiAYBkAYFkgcGMy43LjEzoAenIA&sclient=mobile-gws-wiz-serp Sorry, but my crummy little tablet doesn't let me post YouTube links directly (search " scripta manent Roberto trizio servizio postale" if the link above doesn't work.....A nice bit about the Roman postal system. It's in Italian, buthas good illustrations. He claims it took only one day for a letter to be carried from Rome to Gail.

Although originally discovers in the mid-19th century, Baden-Baden’s Roman baths, known as Aurelia Aquensis, are being invested after long neglect. These baths were supplied by geothermal waters. Replacement of modern water pipes gave investigators a chance to examine the historic site closer. https://www.heritagedaily.com/2025/02/archaeologists-revisit-baden-badens-roman-imperial-baths-after-180-years/154566

Here’s an intriguing article about the innovative use of cervical cytology swabs to noninvasively date parchment manuscripts by detecting DNA. Manuscripts dating as far back as AD 700 have been examined. Parchment is a writing material made from the skins of animals (primarily sheep, calves, and goats). Although it has been used for over two millennia, parchment slowly replaced papyrus beginning in the second century AD, and by the fifth century AD, it was preferred over papyrus as access to quality Egyptian papyrus was constrained. Honestly, this technique seems simple enough, and I’m surprised it wasn’t used earlier. https://phys.org/news/2025-02-cytology-decipher-dna-parchment-pages.html

Gladius is the Latin word for sword. We usually use the word gladius when referring to the gladius Hispaniensis adopted by the Romans after being exposed to it in the hands of Hannibal's Spanish mercenaries in the 3rd century BC. Short, sharp and light (<2 lb), it was particularly efficient when being thrust and slashed from between scuda held in tight formation by well disciplined legIonaires.....The spatha was a variation, lighter, a little more narrow and only a little longer than the gladius Hispaniensis. The efficiency of the gladius Hispaniensis and the terror it struck in enemies newly exposed to it is attested by Livy-- Ab Urbe Condita-- XXXI: 34 line 4 https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0164%3Abook%3D31

Giovanni Hidalgo & Friends performing Buena Vista Social Club's "El Carretero" live

A Roman spatha has been found (in three pieces) in Southern Poland. https://notesfrompoland.com/2025/02/13/roman-sword-discovered-in-poland/#:~:text=A Roman sword dating back,Częstochowa after undergoing conservation work. https://www.heritagedaily.com/2025/02/detectorists-find-roman-sword-while-searching-for-ww2-relics/154561 https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spatha

These ancient coin casts are now on display in Castleford. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ce8yer43562o