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Two Deaths at Amphipolis by Mike Roberts Book Review by centurion (Martin Holmes) The Peloponnesian War (414-404 BC) was one of the most important conflicts ever witnessed in the ancient world. A gargantuan struggle that spanned decades and involved almost the entire Greek world, it was first and foremost a war between the two great superpowers of the age: Athens and Sparta. These two powers were the polar opposites of one another, with Athens being a democracy, asserting its hegemony through its powerful navy, and the reclusive oligarchy of Sparta which dedicated itself to martial prowess and possessed the most feared army in the Greek world. There was only one way in which they were similar, and that was their yearning for power, influence and domination of their rivals... ...continue to the full review of Two Deaths at Amphipolis by Mike Roberts

great summary and oh boy, Bowie could defenitely sing....

...today we present the last article on Caracalla. The final part... The Parthians were certainly not a threat to Rome at this point. Rome's great enemy in the east was prostrated by the after-effects of an enduring plague and from some very rough handling by the army of Septimius Severus some fifteen years previously. As is often the case, instability in Parthia had bred further instability, and the country was now riven by a bitter civil war between the brothers Artabanus V and Vologaneses VI. Consequently, Caracalla felt that his enemy was ripe for the picking. (Nor was he completely mistaken in this assessment. The Parthian empire was in its death throes and would fall within a decade. However, due to circumstances beyond Caracalla's control, the final blow would come from rebellion within rather than from the force of Roman arms.) ...continue to the full article of Caracalla - the final part

A History of the Ancient Near East by Marc Van De Mieroop Book Review by Alistair Forrest Books like this excite me from page one because I just know it’s going to ignite a plethora of ideas for my own writing. Van de Mieroop does not disappoint. While this is clearly a textbook for scholars of ancient Mesopotamia, do not be put off if you’re merely looking for insights into the great story of the cradle of civilisation. This is the third edition of a classic made all the more popular as we try to understand the origins of today’s Middle East with its wars, hatreds, dictatorships, genocides and infamous new caliphates that hold nothing but terror for those who will not bow the knee to jihadi dogma... ...continue to the full review of A History of the Ancient Near East by Marc Van De Mieroop

Public baths, latrines with washing facilities, sewer systems, fountains and clean drinking water from aqueducts did not protect the ancient Romans from parasites, finds new research. Published in the journal Parasitology, the study used archaeological evidence from cesspits, sewer drains, rubbish pits, burials and other sites to assess the impact of Romanization across Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. ...via Discovery News

The instant volcanic eruption in ancient times kept Pompeii and its homes encased in a natural time capsule. Once these homes were restored, Pompeii’s new exhibit now offers a realistic glimpse into how the people of this ancient city lived. According to CNN News on December 25, the homes of the well-to-do citizens of Pompeii were restored right down to their original mosaic tile and wall graffiti. The Italian government has been criticized for letting the uncovered Pompeii homes fall to ruin after years of overwhelming tourism has taken its toll... ...via Examiner

We are very fortunate that we had the chance to do an interview with Tom Holland on his latest book Dynasty: The Rise and Fall of the House of Caesar Many thanks to Tom Holland and Philip Matyszak UNRV: First of all congratulations on Dynasty - it is a great read. What inspired you to write the book? Tom Holland: My first book on ancient history, Rubicon, covered the fall of the Roman Republic, and I was eager to take the story forward the moment I had finished it. My publishers, though, were keen to see me explore other areas of interest, and so it was only after I had written histories of the Persian Wars, Western Europe in the 10th and 11th centuries, and the rise of Islam, that I finally returned to the 1st century BC, and the mutation of the Roman Republic into an autocracy.... ...continue to the Interview with Tom Holland on Dynasty

Dynasty: The Rise and Fall of the House of Caesar by Tom Holland Book Review by Philip Matyszak This book is a splendid read. Those familiar with Tom Holland's style will be unsurprised by the confident deftness with he sweeps readers into the political maelstrom of the Roman Revolution at the end of the first century BC and then deposits them, better-informed and breathless, on the edge of the Year of the Four Emperors in AD 69. It is quite a ride. Basically this is the story of the Julio-Claudians, from the rise of Augustus to the fall of Nero. The book is essentially the biographies of the emperors in that line (other members of the dynasty get far less attention, and that usually in the course of being killed off by whoever was emperor at the time). The focus is on the glamour and public appeal of the Julio-Claudians, the author's point being that no other dynasty has had the same mix of glamour, perversion and sheer deranged blood-lust as the Julio-Claudians. He considers – in his words - 'the House of Caesar as something eerie and more than mortal. Painted in blood and gold, its record would never cease to haunt the Roman people'... ...continue to the full review of Dynasty: The Rise and Fall of the House of Caesar by Tom Holland

What were the origins of the Greek gods? Contemplating an ancient religion in modern times ...a fascinating topic! The nineteenth and early twentieth centuries are a key period in the history of modern scholarship on ancient Greek religion. It was in nineteenth-century Germany that the foundations for the modern academic study of Greek religion were laid and the theories formulated by German scholars as well as by their British colleagues in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century exercised a profound influence on the field which would resonate until much later times. Throughout this period fierce debates were conducted over the interpretation of Greek religion: what were the origins of the Greek gods and what light did they shed on their conception in historical times? Was there a monotheistic strand in Greek polytheism and if so, how was it to be explained? In terms of an innate human tendency, or diffusion from abroad? And if the latter, where from? How similar or different was Greek religion to the religions of other Indo-European peoples, to the non-Indo-European religions of the ancient Near East, or to the modern polytheistic religions of Africa and Asia? At a time of growing scientification and professionalization in the discipline, classical scholars in Germany and Britain drew on developments in philology, archaeology, comparative mythology, anthropology, and later sociology to propose strikingly different answers to these questions... ...via Oxford University Blog

We just added a new article about Gaius Pontius, Sabine leader - enjoy! Gaius Pontius came from a leading Samnite family - the Samnites being a large confederation of Italiot tribes who occupied the mountains of central Italy. The Samnites were a warlike people, and their expansion westward threatened Greek cities such as Naples on the Campanian coast. This gave another expansionist and warlike people - the Romans – an excuse to become involved in Samnite affairs... ...continue to the full article on Gaius Pontius, Sabine leader

looks awesome! what kind of drone/camera do you use?

Commanders and Command in the Roman Republic and Early Empire by Fred K. Drogula Book Review by caldrail There is a wonderful irony about certain aspects of Roman history. Not only do a great many people today make huge assumptions about ancient politics and military leadership, so did the Romans themselves who wrote the histories we get our information from. They knew very little about the details of their past and so thought that politics and war had pretty much always been the way it was in their day. When we blithely type in a reply to an internet discussion, are we sure that our answer is as accurate and erudite as we like to believe? The alarming truth that Fred K Drogula sets before us is that we cannot be so sure until we've looked closer. Therefore this book addresses two basic principles. Firstly, that our understanding of the ancient world is greatly distorted by our modern perspective. Secondly, that Roman authority evolved radically over time and did not remain as static and traditional as we might expect... ...continue to the full review of Commanders and Command in the Roman Republic and Early Empire by Fred K. Drogula

New Discoveries: Early Liturgical Textiles from Egypt, 200–400 ----one of the many exhibitions that are shown right now, seems pretty amazing, for anyone who is in NY a must see http://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/listings/2015/new-discoveries

Gideon Nisbet, editor of the Oxford World’s Classics edition of Martial’s Epigrams tells us the top ten things we should know about Martial and his Epigrams.

At an archaeological dig near Lake Küçükçekmece in Istanbul, Turkish researchers are working at uncovering the ancient city of Bathonea, but it’s an Amber necklace uncovered in the process that’s causing a lot of excitement for historians and archaeologists. Not just any necklace, the Viking-period Amber necklace may provide the long sought after evidence of a Viking presence in ninth century Turkey. via New Historian

This is probably going to be horrible, but who knows.... Barbarians Rising is told from the perspective of the barbarian rebel leaders. The Roman Empire called them “barbarians” – tribes the Romans viewed beyond the fringe of civilization that lived a brutish and violent existence. However, these were also men and women who launched epic struggles that shaped the world to come. The docudrama features nine of history’s greatest warriors – Hannibal, who vowed a blood oath at the age of nine; Spartacus, the slave-turned-rebel who led a barbarian revolt; Boudica, the Celtic warrior Queen; Arminius, the stolen son of Germany; Attila, scourge of the east; as well as fighting units, the Goths, a fierce people betrayed by the empire; and the Vandals, the wandering raiders who dealt Rome’s final death blow. via Deadline

I was not aware that the Franks were at this time in carinthia ...depending on when in the 6th century, that could be a goth or a celto-romanic soldier, the Roman empire in todays carinthia (noricum) only "really" dissapeard in the early 7th century with the arrival of the slavs and awars from the south and the bajuwarii from the north...

...funny, i just read today a reference to that lettuce epigram, no new clues about Domitian, but very interesting indeed Still, Romans thought this dinner-party staple could be hard on the digestion (and modern dieticians agree); Apicius includes (3.18.3) a recipe for a pungent date-and-cumin purée to be taken medicinally after dinner, ne lactucae laedant, “to prevent the harmful effects of lettuce.” http://blog.oup.com/2015/12/martial-epigrams-roman-food/