Viggen

...anyone seen this show? Seems like fun! Plebs: ‘Ancient Rome allows us to bring in gladiators and orgies’ It’s Horrible Histories meets The Inbetweeners – ITV2’s hit sitcom may be built on a bedrock of puerile humour, but you might learn something too... more at http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2014/sep/20/plebs-roman-comedy-tom-rosenthal

I find this interesting, a smiliar conclusion was drawn at the indigenous population from celtic Noricum (i come and live in what was than Noricum) When you look at images/statues etc...from the 2nd and 3rd century you will notice that although they have been for two hundreds years or more under roman rule women were still wearing celtic outfit. When i spoke with some scholars at a meeting at Magdalensberg museum they claimed even that at that time men would speak latin at work/public but at home they probably spoke their celtic language. This celtic "population" only disapeared with the "Völkerwanderung" and the influx of Awares and later Slaves from the 7th century on. So one might be allowed to say that Romans actually presereved local customs and let them thrive in private as long as it was not interfering with public life?

...nice article to this birthday from PHDiva http://phdiva.blogspot.co.at/2014/09/today-in-63-bc-gaius-octavius-thurinus.html

Hello gradis and welcome to UNRV!

THE "Pompeii of the North" has been saved for the public after a £2m sale to a philanthropist. The Roman site at Binchester, near Bishop Auckland, has been sold to Jonathan Ruffer, who leads the trust which now owns neighbouring Auckland Castle. Mr Ruffer's initial bid to buy the land from the Church Commissioners did not progress, leading to the start of a "Save Binchester" campaign last month, which quickly received more than 4,000 signatures online. Binchester is regarded as one of the most important Roman sites in Britain – hence its nickname the "Pompeii of the North" – but it straddled two of the ten plots of land that the Church Commissioners put up for sale. This led to fears that the fort and surrounding village could end up in different hands, which could have jeopardised public access, research and, ultimately, its development as a heritage attraction... ...full article at The Northern Echo

Book Review by Lindsay Powell The 2,000th anniversary of the death of Augustus has renewed interest in the man regarded as the founder of the Roman Empire and its first emperor. With a canny sense for timing, acclaimed military historian Adrian Goldsworthy has published a new biography of this important, and still controversial, historical figure. The new biography joins his other well-received profiles of the great personalities of the Late Republic, Caesar: The Life of a Colossus (2006) and Antony and Cleopatra (2010). In his Introduction, Goldsworthy states his goal is to “tell Augustus' story afresh” (p. 11), and his mission is “to write as if this were a biography of a modern statesman, asking the same questions even if our sources make it difficult to answer them, and trying as far as possible to understand the real man” (p. 5). He makes clear that “this is not a history of the times, but a biography and thus, although wider events are considered, our attention is fixed on Augustus himself” (p. 11)... ....continue to the full review of Augustus: First Emperor of Rome by Adrian Goldsworthy

awesome, if it is any good, let us know with some update

thanks Bryaxis, Here a site dedicated to the great Tomb in Amphipolis http://www.theamphipolistomb.com/ lots of images

Hello, as we are in the process to convert the front page from wordpess to IPS a small error caused that posts made up to 6 hours before that date got deleted, we apologize for that. Everything from before that has been already backed up. (we do every 12 hours automatic back up) In total there are ca. 10 posts accidently deleted. sorry again for the inconvenience. regards viggen

13 Alexander-Era Figures Who May Be Buried in the Amphipolis Tomb While evidence shows that archaeologists are one step away from uncovering the “big secret” of Amphipolis, Greece, people are speculating on who is buried under Casta hill. Archaeologists and other world experts have supported different theories on who is the important ‘tenant’ of the Casta Hill, and we present them to you below: ...full article at the Greek Reporter p.s. what baffles me is that there is really no historical mentioning of such an enormous building?

It is defenitely on our agenda to create some cool roman themed Tshirts and sell them via this site. We actually sell once in a while a UNRV shirt via spreadshirt http://unrv.spreadshirt.com/ be careful to order from the USA, you might end up paying extra customs on top of shipping costs, i keep you up to date, maybe you have some cool design suggestions for a real awesome Tshirt? cheers viggen

File Name: The Art Of Poetry by Horace File Submitter: Viggen File Submitted: 20 Sep 2014 File Category: Free Classic Works in PDF Ars Poetica, or "The Art of Poetry," is a poem written by Horace c. 19 BCE, in which he advises poets on the art of writing poetry and drama. The Ars Poetica has "exercised a great influence in later ages on European literature, notably on French drama..." and has inspired poets and writers through the ages. The poem was written in hexameter verse as an Epistle (or Letter) to Lucius Calpurnius Piso (the Roman senator and consul) and his two sons, and is sometimes referred to as the Epistula Ad Pisones, or "Epistle to the Pisos". The first mention of its name as the "Ars Poetica" was c. 95 by the classical literary critic Quintilian in his "Institutio Oratoria," and since then it has been known by that name. Click here to download this file

The Gauls used boomerangs 2,000 years ago, according to archaeologists who have found a wooden curved stick on a beach in the northern French town of Cotentin. The Gallic stick dates from 120 to 80 years before Christ, nearly 30 years before the Roman conquest of Gaul. full article at RFI English

For more than 5,000 years, numerous civilizations have left their mark on upper Mesopotamia _ from Assyrians and Akkadians to Babylonians and Romans. Now much of that archaeological wealth is under the control of extremists from the Islamic State group. They have already destroyed some of that heritage in their zealotry to uproot what they see as heresy. full article at CP24

You are welcome, any suggestions?

...absolutely, i bet majority of teenager with loads of money and power would go nuts, just look at the mild versions of our teenage pop stars, just money and still mostly nuts

File Name: Dio Cassius Roman History collected Works File Submitter: Viggen File Submitted: 18 Sep 2014 File Category: Free Classic Works in PDF Dio published a Roman History (Ῥωμαϊκὴ Ἱστορία, Historia Romana), in 80 books, after twenty-two years of research and labour. The books cover Roman history for a period of approximately 1,400 years, beginning with the arrival of the legendary Aeneas in Italy (c. 1200 BC), through to the subsequent mythistoric founding of Rome (753 BC); they also cover historical events up to AD 229. The work is one of only three written Roman sources that document the Celtic revolt of AD 60–61 in Britain that was led by Boudica. Until the first century BC, Dio provides only a summary of events; after that period, his accounts become more detailed. Click here to download this file

...fascinating article... Perhaps the most remarkable tale to survive is an episode in the Historia Augusta (Life of Severus 22) concerning the inspection of the Wall by the emperor Septimius Severus. The emperor, who was himself born in Libya, was confronted by a black soldier, part of the Wall garrison and a noted practical joker. According to the account the notoriously superstitious emperor saw in the soldier’s black skin and his brandishing of a wreath of Cyprus branches, an omen of death. And his mood was not further improved when the soldier shouted the macabre double entendre iam deus esto victor (now victor/conqueror, become a god). For of course properly speaking a Roman emperor should first die before being divinized. The late Nigerian classicist, Lloyd Thompson, made a powerful point about this intriguing passage in his seminal work Romans and Blacks, ‘the whole anecdote attributes to this man a disposition to make fun of the superstitious beliefs about black strangers’. In fact we might go further, and note just how much cultural knowledge and confidence this frontier soldier needed to play the joke – he needed to be aware of Roman funerary practices, superstitions, and the indeed the practice of emperor worship itself.... full article at the OUP Blog

This six week course offers a comprehensive introduction to Hadrian’s Wall and its people and raises fascinating issues concerning colonisation, cultural transformation, immigration, integration and imperialism, and it is FREE! Registration at Newcastle University

What lies beyond the third chamber? Archaeologists move further inside Alexander the Great era tomb - but will it collapse? The tomb is situated in the Amphipolis region of Serres in Greece Its huge burial site is said to date back between 325 and 300 BC This means it could have been built during the reign of Alexander the Great Archaeologists have now entered the third chamber of the tomb However, it is structurally weak and could collapse if they enter further It is unknown if anything lies beyond the third chamber Two sculpted female figures, known as Caryatids, were found last week It is thought they were intended to guard one of the tomb's entrances Experts hope it holds the remains of a senior ancient official ...more at the Mail Online

Let’s open this review with a frank admission: I did not like the book, due to many aspects which would probably have been irritating if taken separately but simply disappoint when combined. The title indicates the theme of this book published by Pen & Sword military: a focus on a specific campaign in the famous Peloponnesian War which put Athens and Sparta at each other’s throats in the second half of the fifth century BCE. Short, with 167 pages including two pages and a half of endnotes and one page and a half of references, it does attempt to study this sub-conflict by providing both the context and the detail of the operations... ...continue to the full review of Expedition to Disaster by Philip Matyszak

In the course of an educational dig in Gernsheim, located in the Hessain Ried, archaeologists from Frankfurt University have discovered a long lost Roman fort: A troop unit made up of approximately 500 soldiers (known as a cohort) was stationed there between 70/80 and 110/120 AD. Over the past weeks the archaeologists uncovered two V-shaped ditches, typical of this type of fort, and the post holes of a wooden defensive tower along with various other evidence from the time after the fort was abandoned. A remarkably large number of finds were made in this dig. This is because the Roman troops dismantled the fort and filled the ditches on their departure. In the process they disposed of a lot of waste, especially in the inner ditch. “A bonanza for us,” according to Prof. Dr. Hans-Markus von Kaenel from the Goethe University Institute of Archaeology. “We filled box after box with shards of fine, coarse and transport ceramics; dating them will allow us to determine when the fort was abandoned with greater accuracy than was possible before”... ...full article at the Heritage Daily

View File Vandals, Romans and Berbers - Chapter 8 Vandals, Romans and Berbers: New Perspectives on Late Antique North Africa [/b]Chapter 8 - The So-called Laterculus Regum Vandalorum et Alanorum: A Sixth-century African Addition to Prosper Tiros Chronicle? The birth, growth and decline of the Vandal and Berber Kingdoms in North Africa have often been forgotten in studies of the late Roman and post-Roman West. Although recent archaeological activity has alleviated this situation, the vast and disparate body of written evidence from the region remains comparatively neglected. The present volume attempts to redress this imbalance through an examination of the changing cultural landscape of 5th- and 6th-century North Africa. Many questions, which have been central within other areas of Late Antique studies, are here asked of the North African evidence for the first time. Vandals, Romans and Berbers considers issues of ethnicity, identity and state formation within the Vandal kingdoms and the Berber polities, through new analysis of the textual, epigraphic and archaeological record. It reassesses the varied body of written material that has survived from Africa, and questions its authorship, audience and function, as well as its historical value to the modern scholar. The final section is concerned with the religious changes of the period, and challenges many of the comfortable certainties which have arisen in the consideration of North African Christianity, including the tensions between 'Donatist', Catholic and Arian, and the supposed disappearance of the faith after the Arab conquest. Throughout, attempts are made to assess the relation of Vandal and Berber states to the wider world and the importance of the African evidence to the broader understanding of the post-Roman world. This is chapter 8 from Dr. Roland Steinacher who gave us written permission to upload his work for anyone to download! CLICK HERE to get more information on the complete book Submitter Viggen Submitted 09/15/2014 Category Scientific Papers