Viggen

Residents of a Cypriot village, intrigued for decades by a tale of buried treasure and an underground flight of steps leading nowhere, have decided to get to the bottom of the mystery. More than half a century after British colonial rulers forced them to abandon their last attempt to explore the site, residents of Tseri village in central Cyprus have begun excavating the 1,500-year-old tunnel and stairway. Antiquities officials say the stone structure is part of an ancient irrigation network. Residents romanticise, half jokingly, that it may lead to "Aphrodite's Golden Carriage" -- a euphemism for a hidden treasure dating from Roman times, between 58 BC and AD 330. full article at Reuters

"CRUDE, boorish and slow- witted" - even dictionaries give Neanderthals a hard time. But our prehistoric cousins were in reality just as smart as we are and did not die out as a result of a lack of brain power, according to a new archaeological study. Until now, the leading theory of why the Neanderthals disappeared has been that a lack of intelligence meant they were less efficient hunters. But a team of US archaeologists believe they met their evolutionary end because of a failure to maintain social links with other groups, unlike modern humans, who travelled widely, making the friends who would help them during hard times. full article at the Scotsman

Scientists have started to decode some mysterious scrolls found centuries ago in the ancient Roman village of Herculaneum. The eruption of Mount Vesuvius in A.D. 79 entombed the town in lava and ash, but the blackened papyruses survived

A man digging his back garden in Cardiff uncovered Roman pottery, which has prompted months of excavation. The find at the house on the Pentrebane estate is the first evidence of Roman activity in this part of the city. Archaeologists have so far uncovered 300 pieces of pottery shards which they believe date back nearly 2,000 years and could be a manufacturing site. full article at the BBC

How about in the feedback forum! ...and you are welcome, we thought it was time (and enough posts in the main forum) to split republic and imperial... cheers viggen

Well Moon, there you go... The Da Vinci Code Paperback Edition... cheers viggen

Another excellent review has been completed for our Roman Books section, thanks to community member Pantagathus. Not only are relevant items available for further research throughout the site, but our books section includes an ever growing list of Roman related Fiction and Non-Fiction books, Movies and Games. The Ancient Celts by Barry Cunliffe

oh, "almost" too late... happy birthday

Italian archaeologists believe they have found an ancient city where the demi-gods Castor and Pollux fought Aeneas, the Trojan hero whose descendants founded Rome . Lorenzo and Stefania Quilici of Bologna and Naples universities claim the large, massive-walled settlement dating from the VI to III Century BCE was the city of Amyclae, believed by Renaissance scholars to be somewhere near Lake Fondi between Rome and Naples . via Ansa.it

Pertinax, i do not know that, but i found some intersting philosophical questions regarding Judas.. If Jesus foresees Judas' betrayal, then it may be argued that Judas has no free will, and cannot avoid betraying Jesus. If Judas cannot control his betrayal of Jesus, then he is not morally responsible for his actions. The question has been approached by Thomas Aquinas in his Summa Theologiae, which differentiates between foreknowledge and predestination, and argues that the omnipotence of the divine is not sufficient grounds for eliminating the existence of free will. If Judas is sent to Hell for his betrayal, and his betrayal was a necessary step in the humanity-saving death of Jesus Christ, then Judas is being punished for saving humanity. This goes hand-in-hand with the "free will" argument, and Aquinas's Summa deals with the issue of free will in demons and other beings instrumental in the life of Jesus that are nevertheless damned. If Jesus only suffered while dying on the cross, and then ascended into Heaven, while Judas must suffer for eternity in Hell, then Judas has suffered much more for the sins of humanity than Jesus, and his role in the Atonement is that much more significant. Standard Christian dogma holds that the suffering of Jesus was infinite, and that the suffering of Jesus was not time-dependent. This position holds throughout orthodox Catholicism and many forms of Protestantism. Do Jesus' last words on the cross, "Father forgive them, they know not what they do," not apply to Judas? Is his atonement insufficient for Judas' sin(s)? regards viggen

Well, i have only read the introduction so far, i wont get a chance to read it before the weekend, i keep you up to date... cheers viggen

Thanks Ursus for this excellent article... cheers viggen

Discovery of 'Gospel of Judas' Raises Questions It is a mystery 2,000 years in the making, buried in the desert and fueled by centuries of debate and doubt, theft and deceit. The question: Was there ever a Gospel according to Judas? And if there was, what did it reveal? The mystery began to unravel almost 30 years ago, according to a new National Geographic Channel documentary. Watch the full story on ABC's "Primetime" Thursday at 10 p.m. ET and "Nightline" at 11:35 p.m. ET and get more information from National Geographic by clicking here. Watch the full documentary "The Gospel of Judas" at 8 p.m. ET Sunday, April 9, on the National Geographic Channel. full article at ABC News

Laborers working on the infrastructure of a sewage canal network have unearthed a Roman-era burial cave from the 2nd or 3rd century A.D. near the ruins of Baalbek in northeastern Lebanon, the official National News Agency reported Tuesday. Site supervisor Khaled al-Rifai said the cave contained one human skeleton, leaves made of gold, glass rings and other artifacts. full article at Yahoo News

Archeologists have discovered a huge 1,500-year-old pre-Hispanic pyramid in a working class district of Mexico City after digging into a hill used every year to depict the crucifixion of Christ. Archeologist Jesus Sanchez said on Wednesday the latest find was built by the same people who constructed Teotihuacan between A.D. 400 and 500, and has evidence that it was used for ceremonial purposes. fulla article at Yahoo News

The Hollywood actor Vin Diesel has decided to shoot some of the scenes in his planned movie Hannibal, an epic about the 3rd century famous Carthaginian general who led an army with elephants across the Alps in an assault on Rome during the Second Punic War (218-202 BCE), in the Caribbean, more specifically the Dominican Republic, after a four-year location hunt. more at Bits of News

Knowing little about Belisarius and (being inspired by this thread) i wanted to know more about this fascinating character, so i just bought The Life Of Belisarius by Lord Mahon (Introduction by Dr Jon Coulston from the University of St. Andrews) Now Lord Mahon`s book is from the middle of the 19th century and probably a bit outdated, but i thought i start out with the first book about him and i havent regret it yet (although i only read the introduction from Coulston). At the of the book there are 2 pages full of recommended (by Coulston?) books for people interested in Belisarius and his time... (i like that feature already allot)... ...anyone else read a book about Belisarius?

TWO Roman quarries have been discovered by archaeologists on the site of a cement works. Chalk has been excavated from Barrington quarry for around 80 years - but it now seems our Roman ancestors had the same idea nearly 2,000 years ago. An archaeological team from Cambridge University made the discovery after they were called in by Cemex, which owns the quarry and adjacent cement works. full article at Cambridge News

A British researcher believes he has at last pinpointed the island to which Homer's wanderer returned. Bittlestone, a management consultant by profession, believes he has solved a mystery that has bedeviled scholars for more than 2,000 years. In Odysseus Unbound, published this past October by Cambridge University Press, he argues that a peninsula on the island of Cephalonia was once a separate island

Chinese archaeologists are studying the DNA samples extracted from the bones of horses unearthed from ancient sites to probe the origin of domestic horses in China. It's still a mystery to archaeologists when and where horses were first tamed in China, said Cai Dawei, a researcher with the center of archaeological research for China's border area under the Jilin University in Northwest China. The DNA research will offer valuable clues on the study of migration, spread and domestication of horses, Cai said. A large number of remains of domestic horses and carriages havebeen found in the relic sites dating back to the late Shang Dynasty (1600 BC-1100 BC) in China. full article at Xinhuanet

New Discoveries Point to "Cave of John the Baptist" as Important Site in the Time of Isaiah Recently completed digging at Israel's Suba Cave, an archaeological site that is possibly connected with John the Baptist, or Jewish groups of his time has revealed features that deepen the mystery of the site's ancient origins, according to University of North Carolina at Charlotte archaeologist James D. Tabor, associate director of the excavation. In the 2004 book, Gibson discussed discoveries from the cave and underground reservoir at Suba, 15 miles west of Jerusalem, focusing on the finding that it had seen particularly heavy use during the early Roman period, around the time of John the Baptist and Jesus. In particular, the discovery in 1st. Century AD stratigraphic levels of thousands of small pottery vessels, all apparently ritually broken, led Gibson to theorize that the cave had been a site for baptismal rituals, possibly performed by John the Baptist or Jesus, or other Jewish groups of a similar nature who practices ritual water purification rites. full article at Eurekalert

About 10,000 years ago in the Near East, the first roots of civilization were planted along with the first crops of wheat and barley. What happened next is a matter of debate. Some archaeologists believe that once people started domesticating crops, the practice spread rapidly across the Near East. Others argue for a much more gradual adoption. A new study lends strong credence to this latter view and suggests that early farmers were cultivating wild plants for a millennium or more before their harvests began to resemble today's domesticated crops. full article at ScienceNow

lol, yeah i agree, all the professors should give their books away for free too... regards viggen

Thanks Dr. Heather for answering all our questions, it was a pleasure having you here! Dr. Heather found the most interesting question (gets rewarded by Unrv.com with a copy of Dr. Heathers latest book The Fall of the Roman Empire) to be the question about Christianity influencing paganism by sullafelix.... Congrats sullafelix, the book is on it`s way... Thanks again to all that participated and of course again a big thank you to Professor Dr. Heather

Another excellent review has been completed for our Roman Books section, thanks to community member Tobias. Not only are relevant items available for further research throughout the site, but our books section includes an ever growing list of Roman related Fiction and Non-Fiction books, Movies and Games. History of the Byzantine Empire by A.A. Vasiliev