Klingan

The Roman Agora? Or the original one? Oh well, doesn't mater to much, I will take lots of pictures at both sites Haha I'll try to do that Thanks everyone for you comments by the way.

Well, it's quite simple. Does anyone know where in Rome this arch is/was? My first thought was that it was the Via del Nazareno port, but that's unfortunately incorrect (unless he improvised a lot), and I can't remember any other structure like this one.

It is completely accepted that Claudius tried to revive a more conservative spelling form, including Caesar spelled as Caisar, but what sources do we have for this (not including inscriptions)? And when did he begin to promote this alternative spelling and for how long into the reign of Nero were the new spelling used? I've seen an official inscription from 46 A.D. still using the orthodox from Caesar.

Yeah it really does. The guy reading it is the very best you can find thou (according to my professor).

Well, as the topic title let you know, I'll be going to Athens soon (next Saturday to be precise), and I would just like to let you know that I don't know how my internet access will work down there - I might be more or less gone for a few months (or I might be a pain in the ass uploading pictures all the time). Do not fear, I'll be back. And, when talking about pictures, if anyone know an object or ruin they would like to have a picture of, no matter why you need it or how small or insignificant the motif is, just let me know. I managed to get a few specifically asked for shots last year and I'm sure that I'll handle it again, even if I'm not having internet where I'll live.

*the Roman nobles claimed to be from the Trojan blood line. It's important to remember that they weren't, in reality, from Troy (if anyone can prove otherwise, I'd love to read about it). An inscription which appears to be written in Etruscan or a similar alphabet, has been found at Lesbos off the coast of Asia Minor. Aside from this admittedly tiny piece of evidence, there is very little to back up their claim. I reckon that inscription normally is used as argument that the Etruscans might have come from somewhere in Asia minor but not Troy? Not even the Greeks and Romans them self believed that.

Wonderful!

Archaeological/historical theory (as processualism, post-processualism, positivism and so on) is one of my many weaknesses within my studies of Greek and Roman history, but it's really something that I would like to try to work on and that is why I've created this topic. What theories and methods do you find to be useful and why?

It's all global warming!

*the Roman nobles claimed to be from the Trojan blood line. It's important to remember that they weren't, in reality, from Troy (if anyone can prove otherwise, I'd love to read about it).

It is out in some countries (it was actually months ago) but since then lost.

An excellent link! By the way, concerning your last post, have you found anyone to help you/take over your site one day? I would very much not like to see it go down, I use it more or less daily.

Lucian - the Ship of Wishes

Crazy Ursus, just crazy. But I like it.

Hey, congratulations Aurelia! And welcome back to Europe

Thanks Doc I'm really trying to learn how to read it myself, but damn, it's difficult.

They used et, aut...aut, ut and other such words in an other way than we do today, which would make it easier to read without dots and spaces. I'm afraid that someone who's better at Latin would have to complement this thou.

Congrats Doc

Unfortunately, no.

True, the comments in CIL are invaluable, if you really want to work with an inscription you'll actually need the book form. If you on the other hand only want a translation and don't care about the inscriptions modern history, this is the way to go. Rest assured of that; as Mal said, a valuable resource indeed; thanks. Maybe we should try a specific forum for Latin inscriptions. I'd love that but would it really be used?

Getting reliable information on what an inscription really say can be tricky. Most photographs are taken head on with no side lightning (which would create great shadows that reveal the inscription) and some letters may be very difficult to make out. The only really good way to cover your back when working with inscriptions is therefore to use CIL or ILS (there are also other minor works, but I cannot go through them all). Here's a trick to help you out if you're looking for a fairly known inscription (remember that the Wikipedia copies are wrong all the time, I've corrected more than one): First of all, for everyone not familiar with CIL and ILS. CIL stand for Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum and it's, as the name indicate, a collection of inscription which is gathered by the Königlich Preussische Akademie der Wissenschaften. The work began in 1853 and contain around 180.000 inscription at present, many which have been destroyed since they were recorded (this is especially true about the volumes containing a lot of graffiti). The physical form (i.e. books) are very expensive, most libraries cannot afford buying them and if they do buy them, they'll be very protective about them. Any inscription in CIL will be identified by two numbers, volume and id (e.g.: CIL VI 1188). Remember that CIL is written in Latin. ILS (inscriptiones latinae selectae) is a more selective publication series. They take up specific example - far fewer than CIL (never the less a great number). ILS inscriptions are simply identified by an ILS number (e.g. ILS 797). Now to the real deal here: How to find the inscription youre looking for without the physical books (which are tremendously difficult to find a specific inscription in, indices are all but nonexistent). First of all you need to find a CIL or ILS number, this is the really tricky part. If you have a random tombstone, milestone or instrumentum domesticum, quit reading here. If it's something a little bit more famous google it. I'm going to use a fairly unknown 4th century inscription as an example - what I'm looking for was a added to the Porta Maggiore by Honarius and its records the walls and gates being restored. Now I start of by googling Porta Maggiore, then I go to Wikipedia where I find a picture of the object but no reference. Now I can't read the inscription here, but even if I could I'd want the CIL or ILS edition. Now, the English Wikipedia is much better than the other wikis in most fields - Roman history is unfortunately not one of them. If it's not there always try the Italian version. Notice that 3 of the inscriptions on this page contained typos earlier on. Here I find a reference to CIL (CIL VI 1188). Bingo. When you have a CIL or ILS number it'll all get very easy, especially if it's a ILS number (if so simply ignore the following step). Now go to CIL's homepage (http://cil.bbaw.de/cil_en/index_en.html). It's only partly translated from German to English and generally a miserable corner or the internet. There is however a search function (Database). This seems great, but the function really doesn't work very well at all. I have yet to find one single inscription that actually will show up. The normal answer to your search is something like: "No photographs of this inscription are available in the database. No squeezes of this inscription are available in the database. Please send any suggestions and comments to the CIL." and an invaluable " VI 1188 = VI partis I p. XIX n. 16 cf. VI 31257 et VI p. 3778 et VI p. 4334 cf. ILS 797 = Fiebiger - Schmidt 23 = Fiebiger - Schmidt 242". Bingo! You`ll now know that CIL VI 1188 = ILS 797. This is the really important part: ILS has a working homepage. Or at least semi working one. ILS have two functions, a search engine (which is completely useless in my opinion, but I've never really tried it out seriously) and a "show the inscription function". The later is magical if you know how to handle it. Here's a link: (http://oracle-vm.ku-eichstaett.de:8888/epigr/epieinzel_en?p_belegstelle=D+05932&r_sortierung=Belegstelle) (this link lead you to a random inscription, simply the first one I used like this). Notice the highlighted numbers. These are the ILS identification numbers. You now know that the 4th century AD Porta Maggiore inscription is refered to as CIL VI 1188 which equals ILS 797 and that you can simply insert the ILS number in the adress like this: (http://oracle-vm.ku-eichstaett.de:8888/epigr/epieinzel_en?p_belegstelle=D+00797&r_sortierung=Belegstelle). Remember that the number is always five digits (add zeros if needed). Voila, you've found the inscription in a reliable source and can now use it. Now I just hope that someone actually will have some use for this guide.

Pyramus et Thisbe in Latin (hexameter). You'll find plenty more at that site.

Not any more, he's getting to old for that (11 now). He used to climb all the way to the star thou. Damn, nice work with the lights. Really can't see anything like that here in Sweden (we used to have a small rain deer on the roof, but he jumped all the time, till I couldn't fix him any more.)

Great work as always Albert! Do you sell these? By the way, what's your model for this last image?