guy

His wife, Cornelia Salonina, was thought by many to be of Greek origin from Bithynia: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornelia_Salonina

During the excavation of sewer works along the Appia Antica in Rome, a Roman statue has been found. It is unclear whether it is Hercules or the Emperor Trojan Decius depicted as Hercules. The statue has a lion headdress and club associated with Hercules. A known statue of Trajan Decius: https://greekreporter.com/2023/01/28/statue-hercules-discovered-rome/

Here is a wonderful video about letters sent to and from the Roman military frontier:

Below is an excellent video on the Third Century Crisis Emperor Gallienus. His 15-year reign is now being reassessed by historians:

Excavations have found evidence of a Roman residential area under the modern city of Luxor in southern Egypt: https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20230124-egypt-archaeologists-uncover-complete-roman-city

Roman road discovered in the Romanian city of Cluj-Napoca. “Several fragments of a Roman road were found, covered with slabs and built of river stones, sometimes glued with mortar, at a depth of about 80 cm. The orientation of the road is north-south and it is probably related to the street network of the Roman city of Napoca”, said archaeologist Cristian Dima from the National History Museum of Transylvania. https://www.romaniajournal.ro/society-people/science/2000-year-old-roman-road-discovered-in-the-center-of-cluj-napoca/ https://arkeonews.net/archaeologists-found-a-2000-year-old-roman-road-in-cluj-napoca-in-northwest-romania/

Many of the remains have the head placed at the feet Several decapitated skeletons have been discovered at the Roman site of Wintringham, St Neots in Cambridgeshire. The skeletons date back to the third century AD. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-64358866

Here is an entertaining and informative overview of the Via Appia from Rome to Brindisi

That is why Claudius might have been involved in the Caligula assassination: He was not viewed as a threat to assert his power and thought to be weak and controllable. As history has shown, Claudius was very much underestimated.

Quintus Labienus was an ally of Brutus and Cassius following the assassination of Julius Caesar. After the deaths of Cassius and Brutus, Labienus joined forces with the Parthians. (The horse on the reverse of the coin probably reflects Labienus’ cavalry background.) He was later defeated and killed by Antony’s General Ventidius. This gold aureus of Labienus issued between 40-39 BCE sold for $930,000, almost doubling the pre-auction estimate of $500,000. https://www.ngccoin.com/news/article/11170/roman-ancient-goldberg/ https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quintus_Labienus

Another article about the opening of the House of Vettii, named after its owners, two former brothers who had been slaves: Aulus Vettius Conviva and Aulus Vettius Restitutus. They got wealthy by selling after they were freed https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-64225813 https://allthatsinteresting.com/house-of-the-vettii

A Roman villa in Pompeii known as the Domus Vettorium (House of Vettii) reopens after twenty years of restoration. Pompeii, Italy - 14 December 2022 1. Walking shot from the gate of the domus that opens, with sign reading (Latin) 'Domus Vettiorum' (House of Vettii), to the atrium 2. Pan left of the triclinium, called 'Hall of Ixion' 3. Various of the frescoes in the 'Hall of Ixion' 4. Walking shot of the peristyle surrounding the garden 5. SOUNDBITE (English) Gabriel Zuchtriegel, director, Pompeii Archaeological Park: "The House of the Vetti is like the history of Pompeii and actually of Roman society within one house. So, you have the great artwork, we're seeing here the last phase of the Pompeian wall painting with incredible details so you can stand before these images for hours and still discover new details, and the sculptures in the garden. So, you have this mixture: nature, architecture, art. But it is also story about the social life of the Pompeian society and actually the Roman world in this phase of history." 6. Various of fresco in the 'Room of the Cupids' representing Cupids engaged in various activities and crafts 7. Pan right of the 'Room of the Cupids' 8. Close of a fresco in the 'Room of the Cupids' 9. SOUNDBITE (English) Gabriel Zuchtriegel, director, Pompeii Archaeological Park: "The house belonged to two men who were probably two freed men, so they were ex-slaves and then they had an incredible career after that and reached the highest ranks of the local society, at least economically. They evidently tried to show their new status also through culture and through Greek mythological paintings and it's all about saying 'well we have made it and so we are now part of this elite', local elite in the Roman world." 10. Various of fresco in the 'Hall of Pentheus' depicting Hercules as a child choking snakes 11. Pan right of the 'Hall of Pentheus' 12. Various of the frescoes in the 'Hall of Pentheus' 13. SOUNDBITE (English) Gabriel Zuchtriegel, director, Pompeii Archaeological Park: "The House of Vettii has always been a case study on how do these paintings reflect the dreams and imagination and anxieties of the owners because they lived between these images. So, on one hand we see Greek myth which is a very learned kind of showing off your knowledge because during the banquets you then had to comment (on) these paintings and you could show that you really understood was going on there. And there is also sometimes some kind of identification." 14. Various of the 'lararium,' a place in ancient Roman houses reserved for the worship of the Lares (deities in ancient Roman religion) 15. Various of the atrium of the domus, cat walking by 16. SOUNDBITE (Italian) Arianna Spinosa, architect director of restoration work: "This house is one of the iconic houses of Pompeii and represents the Pompeian domus by excellence, not only because of the frescoes of exceptional importance, but also because of its layout and architecture. Today, we can finally read this complexity thanks to the new roofs – both the restoration bits, but also those put in just to protect the rooms that we have found and rediscovered during the restoration, such as the whole 'gynaeceum' area." 17. Various of one of the rooms of the domus called 'gynaeceum' 18. Pan right of one of the rooms of the domus 19. Various of the frescoes 20. SOUNDBITE (Italian) Stefania Giudice, director of fresco restoration: 21. Various of bronze remains of one of the two safes in the atrium 22. Wide of the garden 23. Walking shot of one of Pompeii's cobbled streets

A Roman village was once situated along the modern A29 near Hardham (Image: Martin Burton/SussexLive) New excavations will continue to yield Roman developments along Stane Street: https://www.sussexlive.co.uk/news/sussex-news/two-lost-roman-villages-hidden-8019639

The sword was made from iron and has mostly rusted away, but its scabbard is decorated throughout its length with gold-leaf. (Image credit: CNAIR/Vasile Pârvan Institute of Archeology) Hunnic burial sites have been found during road construction in Romania. https://www.livescience.com/princely-tomb-hun-warrior-romania

The Plague of Galen (the Antonine Plague) between AD 165-180 was thought to be the result of smallpox. There is increasing evidence that smallpox had devastated humans 1000 years before the Antonine Plague. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/01/230109112755.htm

Another dodecahedron has been found in Flanders: https://www.vrt.be/vrtnws/en/2023/01/10/second-mysterious-dodecahedron-found-in-flanders/ The mystery of the dodecahedron has been discussed on previous posts.

It’s good to see that Garrett Ryan (“Toldinstone”) has a podcast. He is one of the best publishers on ancient history on YouTube and now with podcasts.

The race in the early 1800s to decipher the Rosetta Stone was epic, between the British polymath Thomas Young and the French linguist Champollion. https://the-past.com/feature/the-power-of-words-racing-to-read-the-lost-secrets-of-egypt/

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg, Jr., today announced the return of the “Green Coffin,” valued at over $1 million, to the people of Egypt. The Green Coffin was looted from an archaeological site in Egypt and trafficked by the Dib-Simonian network, who smuggled the piece through Germany into the United States in 2008. It was sold to a private collector and eventually loaned to the Houston Museum of Natural Sciences, where it remained on view until this Office’s seizure. The Green Coffin is more than 9.5 feet tall and belongs to the ancient Egyptian priest Ankhenmaat. It was looted from Abusir al-Malaq in Northern Egypt and then surfaced in the possession of Simon Simonian in Switzerland. It was trafficked to the United States in 2008 and then sold to a private collector, who loaned the piece to the Michael C. Carlos Museum at Emory University until 2013, when it was loaned to Houston Museum of Natural Sciences. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-64147545 https://www.manhattanda.org/d-a-bragg-returns-green-coffin-from-the-houston-museum-of-natural-sciences-to-the-people-of-egypt/

A fountain built in Turkey 2,000 years ago has been restored using 150 original fragments uncovered at the site It is located in Kibyra, known as the City of Gladiators due to several the massive 10,000-person arena that was also built in the town by the Roman Empire Archaeologists are also restoring the water system so it will soon flow with drinkable water just as it did 2,000 years ago Above is a 10,400-person Roman stadium in Kibrya. It was used for both races and gladiator fights as suggested by the gladiator friezes. (By Dosseman - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=77208381) By Dosseman - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=92793659 https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-11586381/Fountain-stood-Turkeys-ancient-City-Gladiators-2-000-years-ago-restored.html#comments-11586381

Here is follow-up on the linguistic importance of the comb: https://mosaicmagazine.com/observation/history-ideas/2023/01/is-the-language-abraham-spoke-engraved-on-an-ancient-lice-comb/

Here is a wonderful article on Legio V Macedonia, Rome’s longest-documented legio: https://www.heritagedaily.com/2023/01/legio-v-macedonica-the-last-roman-legion/145686 Here’s a more in-depth article on the legion: http://byzantinemilitary.blogspot.com/2016/08/the-last-roman-legion-legio-v-macedonica.html?m=1

First, welcome to UNRV. (Your post probably would have been better placed in the subforum "Templum Romae - Temple of Rome.") I think you are overestimating the power and influence of pagan temples in the late Roman Empire. By AD 331, paganism had become an effete and less important factor in Roman government and daily life. You may be confusing the pagan temples' importance at the time of Constantine with that of the Delian Temple of Apollo on the ancient Greek Island Delos, which held the treasury of the Delian League until Pericles transferred it to Athens around 454 BCE. In fact, most of these pagan temples continued to function and still had nominal power many decades after the reign of Constantine. These pagan temples, nevertheless, were not "the heart of finance and economy" of the late Roman Empire.

https://www.heritagedaily.com/2022/12/archaeologists-uncover-high-status-roman-domus/145674 https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reims