Viggen

A Vatican scholar claims to have deciphered the "death certificate" imprinted on the Shroud of Turin, or Holy Shroud, a linen cloth revered by Christians and held by many to bear the image of the crucified Jesus. Dr Barbara Frale, a researcher in the Vatican secret archives, said "I think I have managed to read the burial certificate of Jesus the Nazarene, or Jesus of Nazareth." She said that she had reconstructed it from fragments of Greek, Hebrew and Latin writing imprinted on the cloth together with the image of the crucified man.... Dr Frale said that many of the letters were missing, with Jesus for example referred to as "(I)esou(s) Nnazarennos" and only the "iber" of "Tiberiou" surviving. Her reconstruction, however, suggested that the certificate read: "In the year 16 of the reign of the Emperor Tiberius Jesus the Nazarene, taken down in the early evening after having been condemned to death by a Roman judge because he was found guilty by a Hebrew authority, is hereby sent for burial with the obligation of being consigned to his family only after one full year". It ends "signed by" but the signature has not survived. ...read full article at the Times Online

How cool is that? http://www.vimeo.com/4167288 One of the most beautiful footage i have ever seen, and the jelly at the end seems to defy gravity for a moment...

We are happy to announce that Osprey Publishing is giving away five books. All you have to do is reply to newsletter@unrv.com that you are interested

Today we issued our sixteenth UNRV Roman History Newsletter. So check your inbox! If you haven' yet signed up to our Newsletter that keeps you up to date on the latest additions on UNRV.com and in the world of Roman Archaeology, you can do that here! If you missed it, no worries, all our newsletters will be available in the archive.

...and here it is... Need some light reading this holiday season? Want a good stocking stuffer to give to someone this Saturnalia? Consider The Classical Compendium by Philip Matyszak. As with all of Maty's books, it is an enjoyable yet informative read. This tome in particular seems to be geared as a "fun" event to be enjoyed by the more casual history student. The work surveys a variety of interesting trivia from the Roman and Greek worlds... ...read the full review of The Classical Compendium by Philip Matyszak

Below are the newest releases for November.... Among the Gentiles: Greco-Roman Religion and Christianity Imperial Roman Naval Forces 31 BC-AD 500 The Army of Herod the Great Gladiator: Rome's Bloody Spectacle History of the Roman People, A (5th Edition) (Paperback) The Lusitanian War: Viriathus the Iberian Against Rome The Roman Remains of Northern and Eastern France: A Guidebook The Murder of Regilla: A Case of Domestic Violence in Antiquity Roman Pottery: The Fine Ware Import The Life of the Blessed Emperor Constantine: From AD 306 to 337 I also updated the Bestselling in October page...

Youre at a dinner party, and you overhear your neighbor discussing gladiatorial games in ancient Rome. You sidle over and slip into the conversation, Did you know that an ape was once trained to drive a chariot pulled by camels? Later, you check in on the teenagers in the basement watching the newly released Blu-Ray version of Russell Crowes Gladiator. After Maximus slices through the last of his latest foes, you pipe in with, Did you know that condemned criminals (and sometimes Christians) were, in fact, thrown to lions, but they were also thrown to crocodiles, wolves, dogs and bears? ...read the full review of Age of the Gladiators by Rupert Matthews

thank you Nephele for another excellent article on the surnames of the Republic, it has now its own page... cheers viggen

Below are the newest releases from September and October Lost to the West: The Forgotten Byzantine Empire That Rescued Western Civilization Hadrian and the Triumph of Rome Annals and Histories (Everyman's Library (Cloth)) (Hardcover) Greeks & Romans Bearing Gifts: How the Ancients Inspired the Founding Fathers (Paperback) The Poison King: The Life and Legend of Mithradates, Rome's Deadliest Enemy (Hardcover) The Cambridge Companion to the Roman Historians (Cambridge Companions to Literature) (Paperback) Defence Speeches (Oxford World's Classics) (Paperback) Europe's Barbarians AD 200-600 (Paperback) The Classical Compendium: A Miscellany of Scandalous Gossip, Bawdy Jokes, Peculiar Facts, and Bad Behavior from the Ancient Greeks and Romans (Hardcover) Caligula: A Biography (Hardcover) Roman Republics (Hardcover) Poverty in the Roman World (Paperback) Aeneas: Virgil's Epic Retold for Young Readers (Paperback) Resurrecting Pompeii (Hardcover) The Ancient Romans: Their Lives and Their World (Hardcover) Ten Speeches (Paperback) Roman Manliness: "Virtus" and the Roman Republic (Paperback) Augustus, First Roman Emperor: Power, Propaganda and the Politics of Survival (Paperback) I also updated the Bestselling in September page...

...thanks, but it`s JGolomb who deserves the praise.... cheers viggen

Eagle In The Snow by Wallace Breem centers on the years 405 AD to early 407. It captures a key moment in the Empire

It is hard to think of a more polarizing figure in human history than Jesus of Nazareth, for the very fact his adherents present him as more than human. The historical Jesus, if one exists, usually gets buried; the faithful are willing to take it on faith that Christ existed as he is portrayed in the Bible, while his opponents often consign him to the status of a fairy tale. If there is a middle ground, perhaps it is to be found in E.P. Sanders' The Historical Figure of Jesus... ...read the full review of The Historical Figure of Jesus E.P. Sanders

Below are the newest releases from August The Republic and The Laws (Oxford World's Classics) (Paperback) Marcus Aurelius: A Life (Hardcover) The Ruin of the Roman Empire: A New History (Paperback) The Histories (Penguin Classics) (Paperback) Roman Death: The Dying and the Dead in Ancient Rome (Hardcover) Conspiracy Narratives in Roman History (Paperback) Staging the World: Spoils, Captives, and Representations in the Roman Triumphal Procession Hate and War: The Column of Marcus Aurelius (Paperback) Secrets of Pompeii: Everyday Life in Ancient Rome (Hardcover) Baetica Felix: People and Prosperity in Southern Spain from Caesar to Septimius Severus Italy and the Classical Tradition (Hardcover) Resurrecting Pompeii (Hardcover) I also updated the Bestselling in July page...

oh, i had fun in vienna, i had glorious weather, every day above 30 celcius (86 F), no rain, just sunshine, went to Sch

Jo Graham delivers an interesting blend of historical fiction, adventure and romance, and pagan fantasy in this retelling of The Aeneid. Quick prose, interesting characters and ancient locales combine to good effect. With a little suspension of disbelief, the reader will be transported into a page turning delight as the sails of Black Ships ferry them to a time of clashing Bronze Age Mediterranean cultures... ...read the full review of Black Ships

I am going next weekend to vienna! One of the reasons i really love to go to vienna is that my brother and my sister lives there, and its just 200 miles away from here, but its a different world compared to my little hometown. According to the Mecer Quality of Living global city rankings 2009 it took first spot worldwide, and I am not arguing with that! ...and for everyone that hasn`t been there, here is a little video of the vienna inner city

Imagine finding a 2,000 year old Roman coin near the ancient path of the Ridgeway that had slipped from the fingers of a Celtic warrior in 207BC. Thatcham metal detectorist Malcolm Langford has discovered the UK's oldest Roman coin.... ...read the full article at the BBC

The 15th century Vinland Map, the first known map to show part of America before explorer Christopher Columbus landed on the continent, is almost certainly genuine, a Danish expert said Friday. Controversy has swirled around the map since it came to light in the 1950s, many scholars suspecting it was a hoax meant to prove that Vikings were the first Europeans to land in North America -- a claim confirmed by a 1960 archaeological find... ...read the full article at Reuters

....yes she was according to my sister completely topless, after the song Bruce went to the audience and gave her the TShirt back....

About two weeks ago, Bruce Springsteen had a concert in vienna, my sister and my brother had the privilege to get tickets and with 50.000 other fans, they could be part of something that never happend before in Europe... ...he played Jersey Girl for the first time in Europe! All it took was a girl in the audience with a TShirt written Jersey Girl on it. The camera got hold of her and she was all of a sudden on the big screen. When she realized she was on that big screen she took of her TShirt and waved at Bruce, he grabbed it, went back wrapped it around the microphone and performed for the first time "Jersey Girl".... (especially for her).....

I started with some Caipirinha`s and eventually ended up with beer !

...those sound effects imitating the rainfall with thunder was incredible, seriously amazing!

Salve!

Those fish are all caught by my dad, on the grill is a brown trout, a grayling and a european white fish, there were also rainbow trout, pike and samlet.... ...corn on the cob is not so popular here, you do see it once in a while though, but we didnt have it at that day... cheers viggen