Ludovicus

This is one of my favorite sites on the Flavian Amphitheater. It covers the monument's history from the preconstruction site through modern times. http://www.the-colosseum.net/idx-en.htm Here are two teasers: "The valley collected the waters, which created a marsh or a lake, depending on the season. The small lake was fed by the waters of the Rio Labicano, a stream flowing down the Labicana valley, more or less along modern day Via Labicana. The stream can still be seen underground when visiting the Basilica of St. Clemente in Via di San Giovanni. There you can descend about 30 feet under modern ground level and walk on the cobblestones of old Roman alleys, enter shops and houses, visit a Mithraic temple and listen to the soothing sound of running water. The stream is still there and the water runs clear and fast, enclosed inside a conduct built in the 19th century in order to drain the underground of the church." "The inscription on the right - dating back to 484 or 508 - commemorates the works that the Praefectus Urbi Decius Marius Venantius Basilius had had done - at his own expense - to repair the arena and the podium, damaged by an "abominandus" earthquake.Venantius' repairs of the arena meant the dismantling of the remaining colonnade, by sliding the columns and pieces down in the underground of the arena, and filling it up. In 519 Eutaricus Cilica held games in a Colosseum without the upper portico or underground, not to mention other major damages to the cavea, entrances, etc."

San Giovanni in Laterano is fitted with the huge metal doors taken from the Curia Julia, the ancient Senate House in the Forum. So there's a touch from a pagan past. As far as I know, the church was constructed in stages. The first of which was a rather plain late Roman basilica/hall. Later it was embellished. Here's an illustration of the what the original church looked like before a devastating fire and subsequent reconstruction. http://employees.oneonta.edu/farberas/arth...ohn_lateran.jpg Here's a photo of those colossal doors: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Doo...Curia_Julia.JPG Does anyone know when the Senate House lost its doors?

This "neolatin" enclave in Constantinople sounds fascinating. Where can I find information about it?

One can find mention of Syrian and other ethnic groups residing in Rome during the latter part of the Empire. Was there a Latin-speaking enclave in the capital of the Eastern Empire? If so, what do we know about this community?

The Colosseum has ceased to be a traffic roundabout for some time now. I found it well worth the time. Just do some reading in preparation for the tour.

Here are 12 high resolutions photos from the excavation site. I found them in today's "Repubblica.it" newspaper. Just hit the "avanti" button to view the images.. http://roma.repubblica.it/multimedia/home/7194410/1

Gaius, thanks so much for your sketch of Vespasian. Lovely marble floor in that villa!

Thanks for more details on this news item. If you have any images of either Flacrinae artifacts or of mosaic floors from the presumed Vespasian villa could you please post them or links to them. I'm curious. What do you find interesting about this emperor and his sons?

"A team of British and Italian archaeologists have discovered the remains of a lavish villa belonging to the emperor Vespasian, exactly 2,000 years after his birth." http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/...discovered.html

What an unfortunate life that would have been! It would take an hour just to ask how the weather has been lately in Umbria! One day Gaius decided that he wanted to hear Cicero give a speech in the forum. So he tells his wife who packs him a small lunch and off he sets early in the morning. Gaius is gone all day and when he finally arrived home that night his wife asks him how Cicero's speech went. "Well," he said, "he is as fine an orator as they say." "What did he speak about?" Gaius' wife asks. "I don't know." Gaius responds. "I didn't stay long enough to hear the verb." Very funny!!! Have anymore? Maybe there should be a Roman jokes thread. Thanks!

I studied Latin four years in high school. My teachers were wonderful, dedicated. But the lack of any background on spoken Latin left me with the false impression that all Romans spoke like Cicero.

Fascinating. Once thoroughly investigated, these shipwrecks should be able to provide valuable information shipbuilding and on the history of Mediterranean sea trade during the Roman era. There is another Roman naval "graveyard" uncovered about ten years ago when 16 ancient ships came to light at construction site near Pisa's main train station. Here's more on this fascinating story of a totally unexpected trove of Roman ships: "In 1998, an inspection was carried out before work was to begin on the foundations of a new FS National Railways control centre in the vicinity of the Pisa-San Rossore train station, not far from Behind the Tower. The builders made an amazing discovery only 500 metres from the Piazza dei Miracoli: they found the remains of the urban harbour of Pisae, the ancient Etruscan and Roman harbour and in it, were found several ancient ships, perfectly preserved. This was immediately acknowledged as a discovery of great historical import for several reasons, not least of which, for the number of archaeological finds present at the site. There are at least 16 ancient ships, 9 of which are presently being recovered. This is an amazing discovery, because there are no other examples of ancient ships (1st century B.C - 4th century A.C.) so well preserved. Perhaps even more significantly, their cargo was found, including the most perishable goods such as ropes, rigging, fishing equipment, equipment for negotiating the canals, anchors made from stone, wood and iron, baskets and fishing pots. These items do not usually survive centuries of burial, but the conditions of the ground in this location, in the absence of oxygen, managed to preserve even the most fragile objects. These finds are fundamental in order to improve our knowledge of the life and activities in Pisa in the Etruscan and Roman times." http://www.behindthetower.com/en/pisa/sigh...ientshipsofpisa Here's a link to the recently opened museum dedicated to these ships: http://www.cantierenavipisa.it/Scavo.html

Thanks, Kosmo, for this fascinating story of Rome's "found again" treasures! I've been in the church of Sts. Comas and Damian which eventually incorporated the "Temple of Romulus." I never realized that there was a Roman era bronze door preserved on the lower forum level. Likewise, the House of Gryphons is a treasure that I never knew existed. for more in Sts. Comas and Damian: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santi_Cosma_e_Damiano

Rome fell in 476 AD. This is another inaccuracy perpetuated by badly written textbooks. In 476 AD, Odoacer, German conqueror of Italy, though refusing to take upon himself the title of Roman Emperor of the West, did consider himself "Patrician of Italy." He retained the Roman administration in Italy. He enjoyed the support of the Roman Senate. With the date of 476, at least in Italy, we see what was left of the Western Empire evolve into a new political entity, admittedly under barbarian leadership, that was neither hostile to Roman ideals of civilization nor to the authority of the Eastern Emperor. The Eastern Empire continued until 1453.

Spartacus is depicted as almost faultless; a freedom fighter with a concept of freedom and self determination that, I think, did not exist in the ancient world. To be fair, Kubrick was unhappy with this portrayal but was browbeaten by Dalton Trumbo, writing under the name of Sam Jackson that appeared on the credits. That's a curious statement. If Dalton Trumbo couldn't even use his own name in the credits for fear of the Hollywood blacklist how are we to believe that he could browbeat anyone on that set?

By the time of the Empire, Rome was almost entirely built of marble. It was a white city. Quite the contrary. Aside from the monuments and the temples, Rome was shades of red brown due to the use of brick in the overwhelming number of building used by the poor and middle class. Also many public structures such as walls, towers, and large halls were of brick. From: Brick in Roman Antiquity, Prof. Ing. Carlo Roccatelli http://www.giorgiozanetti.ca/bricks/bricks.html "The use of brick construction in Roman antiquity, contrary to what a superficial observer might believe, was very widespread, indeed one might say almost general. Passing by the well known, venerable monuments of Roman art, the notable character of which demanded in their exterior forms the use of stones and marble, let us seek rather to obtain a close view of the familiar life of Rome by turning our attention to those elements which, up to our day, have been so much neglected as to seem foreign to the classical world as known to us. In fact, by observing the humbler class of buildings, those in which the activities of every-day life were carried on, those quarters of the ancient city inhabited by the middle class, by merchants and workmen with their houses, shops, and taverns, where in short pulsed the real life of antiquity, we experience a complete transformation of the ideas we had formed of ancient architecture by our observation of stately temples and sumptuous public edifices. The excavation at Ostia, even more then those at the less commercial and more tranquil Pompeii, shed great light upon the subject. We see in fact how general was the use of brick and how it afforded many solutions in construction and admirable decorative effects, while the use of cut stone was, as today, only an exception. And if the evidence of ancient constructions themselves is not sufficient, Vitruvius reminds us of their value, by praising the structures of brick as worth of being the dwellings of kings. While burned brick were used in buildings within the city of Rome, he tells us why sun-baked brick should not be used and then gives rules for their use in construction outside the city. Dion Cassius informs us of the disastrous effects of the inundations of the Tiber upon many buildings of sun-baked brick, and finally Suetonius relates how Augustus was able to boast that he had received a Rome of brick but had left it one of marble. Going back to the origins, we find, as one of the very first examples of brick construction, the Etruscan wall of Arezzo, mentioned by Vitruvius (in Italia Arretio vetustum egregie factum murum), built of burned brick with the facing so well executed as to cause Caporali of Perugia to write in 1536, nearly two thousand years after its construction: " Arezzo possess a wall of brick so excellently worked by hammer and laid that one can hardly see the mortar joints between them; more-over the brick are so well burned that the color is absolutely uniform." All this proves, at least indirectly, how widespread was the use of brick before the days of the Empire, and suggests how important had been both Greek and Tuscan influence."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2009/jun...road-burial-pit The skulls of scores of young men have been found in a burial pit on the route of a new road in Dorset. So far 45 skulls, believed to be almost 2,000 years old, have been found, and more may be found as the pit is emptied. Archaeologists have called the discovery extraordinary, saying it could be evidence of a disaster, a mass execution, a battle or possibly an epidemic.

I'm fascinated by the article's only picture. What do you think it is? It looks very Roman Empire.

How curious! If you google "impeach Eisenhower," you'll get 97 hits. Clinton gets 22,800. Try as you might, you just can't impeach a President who's out of office. That's the difference between Bush's hits and Obama's on that score.

-- Nephele Paradoxically, that was precisely because the civic rights of the Roman slaveowners were going down; the Roman state was messing up more and more with the use of their own private property. Yes, this is a good example that shows that private property rights and human rights can conflict. I've never thought about the fact that in this one area of slave rights that the Empire was more advanced than the Republic. Another is the extension of citizenship to free males. This has been a very good thread. I've learned a lot from the discussions.

Indeed, that book is handy in addressing one of the original questions posed by Ludovicus at the start of this thread: From a footnote on page 28: "On the death of a master who had maintained his slave-girl as a concubine, she and her children got free, by law, in spite of any thing to the contrary, contained in the will of the deceased. A female slave, marrying a free person, with consent of her master, who gave her a dowry, was forthwith deemed a freedwoman." -- Nephele P.S. For anyone who wants to see (and participate in) a practical application of slave titles from the cited book, Roman Antiquities, clicky here. I can always use more slaves. Yes, the resource answers my question, and what a great resource it is. Thanks for the link! I'm just discovering what a treasure trove is just a click away on Google Books.

At the exhibition "Luxus & Dekadenz" which was in December 2007 in Bremen, Germany they also showed a murmillo helmet but one of the type without decoration, together with a pair of thraex/hoplomachus greaves and the gladiator daggers used by retiarii or hoplomachi as secondary weapons. It's really nice to see these things you know from pictures in books in real. So far I didn't make it to the National Museum in Naples though I had been twice on a day trip to Pompeii. Those pictures from that murmillo helmet made be drool - BTW the little text beneath the first photo was a good practise for my Italian. I've got quite a few pictures from the national museum in Naples if you're interested as I've visited it twice this year. Anyway on the topic of pieces leaving Italy and exhibitions - H

Three high quality images of a gladiator's helmet from the Melbourne exhibit from today's Italian "Repubblica" newspaper: http://www.repubblica.it/2006/05/gallerie/...elbourne/1.html Just click on "successivo" for the next photo. There are three in all.