guy

Another great mosaic has been found. This one was found in Syria and dates to the fourth century AD. https://phys.org/news/2022-10-syria-rare-roman-mosaic-rebel.html

A pair of Levi’s jeans from 1880s found in an abandoned mine in New Mexico sold for $87,000 at auction Quote from the WSJ: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11307191/Pair-Levis-1880s-denim-archaeologist-New-Mexico-shaft-sell-87k.html

I imagine that many of the worst floods came after a tsunami after a volcanic eruption. There was severe flooding damage, for example, after the eruption of Vesuvius In AD 79. The recent eruption of the volcano on Stromboli, an island off the coast of Sicily, has created a mini-tsunami. https://nypost.com/2022/10/10/italys-stromboli-volcano-erupts-causing-mini-tsunami-video/amp/

Falcon remains. Summary: It is interesting that an Egyptian cult persisted so late in Roman history, long after Christianity was firmly entrenched in the Empire. https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/720806 https://www.sci.news/archaeology/berenike-falcon-shrine-11268.html https://www.archaeology.org/news/10913-221007-egypt-falcon-shrine https://www.livescience.com/ancient-egypt-falcon-temple

Here’s a nice short about the forgotten emperor important to the preservation of the Roman Empire during the Third Century Crisis.

The Romano-Gallic Empire lasted fourteen years and was ruled by five accepted rulers: Postumus (AD 260-269) Marius (269) Victorinus (269-271) Tetricus I (271-274) with his son Tetricus II as Caesar (273-274) An important usurper was Laelianus (AD 269) who was unsuccessful against Postumus. Another usurper, until recently unrecognized and relatively unknown, was Domitianus (271). It is recent numismatic evidence that has confirmed the existence of Domitianus. The background story is fascinating. The first coin of Domitianus II was discovered. This is the original Domitianus coin found in 1900. This was the first coin of this emperor and its authenticity was questioned. It was thought to be a retooled forgery. In fact, it was soon "misplaced" at a local museum in Nantes, France. It was only rediscovered more than a century later. So, the debate about the existence of Domitianus II was unresolved ... until a second example was found a century later in an unrelated hoard in Chalgrove, Oxfordshire: Second Domitianus coin found in 2003 in the Calgrove hoard: Eventually, even a third example of a coin of this emperor was found in a hoard in Bulgaria. This is a very readable article below on this mysterious emperor. Domitian II – the Lost Roman Emperor – Antigone (antigonejournal.com) Here is a previous post of about the numismatic evidence of this emperor from more than a decade ago:

A late Roman-era ford has been discovered during excavation for water works in Evesham. At this point, the exact date of the ancient ford has not been determined. It may be related to the nearby Great Whitcombe Roman Villa (about 30 km or 25 miles away). https://www.thearchaeologist.org/blog/suspected-roman-ford-unearthed-near-evesham-during-waterworks?format=amp

I believe you are correct that the Romans captured Ctesiphon five times. Three of the times was during the Parthian Empire: Trajan (AD 116), Avidius Cassius (164), and Septimius Severus (197). Twice during the Sassanian Empire: Carus (283) and Galerius (299). The Parthian Empire was a decentralized feudal state, so the capture and destruction of Ctesiphon was less meaningful for the Parthians. The Sassanians, on the other hand, were more centralized, so the capture of Ctesiphon had a much greater impact on the Sassanian Empire. These defeats by the Romans were not total and complete, however. They were also early in the Sassanian Empire's history. They quickly retook Ctesiphon and rebuilt the city. By AD 637, the Sassanian Empire had been gravely weakened after decades of relentless wars with the Byzantines. The capture of Ctesiphon by the emergent Arab forces was a devastating fatal blow to an already-weakened Sassanian Empire. Because of the lack of a centralized authority and strong leadership, the Sassanians were unable to mount a capable resistance and quickly fell.

I imagine that the capture of the Sassanian capital of Ctesiphon was the death knell of the Empire. Without the benefit of the economic and political center of Ctesiphon, the rest of the Empire withered and soon collapsed. The Byzantine Empire probably survived because Constantinople remained intact, allowing the Byzantine Empire time to coordinate the rearming and rebuilding the Empire. Once the Byzantine capital of Constantinople fell in 1453, however, there was little hope of a Byzantine resurgence.

That’s an interesting question. Looking at the conquest by the Spanish conquistadors in the 16th century AD of the Western Hemisphere might shed some insights. The Spanish had a much smaller force that was equipped with modern weaponry. They faced vastly numerically superior forces that used premodern weaponry made of wood, stone, copper, and bronze. The indigenous tribes were stunned by the presence of horses, steel armor, swords, cannons, guns, and crossbows. The Arabs didn’t have these technological military advantages over their foes. The Arabs frequently didn’t suffer from such numerical disadvantages, either. The Spanish brought new diseases (especially smallpox) that worse-than-decimated the indigenous peoples they conquered. This made the vulnerable and weakened indigenous people more easily subjected. Disease may have played a role in the Arab conquest. The sources are unclear but the Arabs may have benefitted from the Plague of Justinian. The Spanish were able to recruit local tribes to fight with them. This was especially important for the Spanish conquest of the Aztecs who were loathed and feared by the surrounding tribes. This factor was, in fact, important in the Arab conquest of their enemies, including the Sassanians, Byzantines, as well as the Visigoths. The Arabs, for example, were able to elicit support from aggrieved Christian minorities against the Byzantines. The Arabs also had the advantage of facing Byzantine and Sassanian Empires that had weakened each other after decades of bloody fighting, leaving these Empires both economically and militarily exhausted. Like the Spanish, the Arabs were an impassioned and organized military force energized by an ideology. Most importantly, however, they both were able to exploit vulnerabilities in their enemies. Early Muslim conquests - Wikipedia This looks like a good book on the topic:

Late in 2021, a Roman military diploma was found at Perre, in southeast Turkey. (See post below.) This diploma was dated to AD 123 during Hadrian’s reign. There has been a recent find in the area of a bronze object with a Medusa head thought to be a military medal, possibly of Roman origin. https://arkeonews.net/1800-year-old-bronze-military-medal-with-medusa-head-found-in-southeastern-turkey/

Thank you for reading my post. It is amazing that the two dominant empires in the region suffered convincing defeats by an emergent power in such a short time. The bloody conflicts between Rome and the Sassanian Empire weakened both to allow a relatively new power to defeat each one separately in such a decisive fashion in AD 636. By AD 637 the Sassanian capital of Ctesiphon fell and the Sassanian Imperial army totally collapsed soon afterwards in AD 642. Here are more pictures of the stunning gold coins discovered: https://www.heritagedaily.com/2022/10/treasure-hoard-uncovered-at-ancient-paneas/144898?amp

A Roman copy of Hercules has been found in the Greek city of Philippi. https://www.zmescience.com/science/news-science/statues-hercule-greece-04102022/

Is there room for a Gaius Californicus? If so, I’ll send over £25. guy

The Islamic Prophet Muhammad died in AD 632. Soon afterwards, there was a rapid Muslim Conquest of the then-Christian Levant. The Byzantine Emperor Heraclius sent a large army to the Levant in AD 636 to check the Arab advance. He was decisively defeated, however, and the Byzantines were forced to leave the region. Within a few years, the Muslim conquest even defeated and ended the Sassanian Empire. A recently-discovered Byzantine coin hoard was discovered in Israel. It was probably hidden for safekeeping from the approaching threat. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/360698

Reading the article for the first time, I was skeptical about the function of the box as an “ancient refrigerator.” The contents of the box, however, made the belief more credible (see picture below). The discovery of this bottle, however, confirmed the description.

Archaeologists have been excavating a site known as Slaves Hill in the Timna Valley, which was a major center for copper production from the 11th to the ninth centuries B.C. (Image credit: Photo by Hai Ashkenazi, courtesy of the Central Timna Valley Project) The site of suspected mines of King Solomon have been studied in-depth. The reason for the failure of the mines has long been debated. There might now be an explanation: https://www.livescience.com/king-solomon-mines-depleted-firewood Here is a previous thread on the discovery of these suspected mines of King Solomon.

Buck Owen’s music, as much as anyone else’s, epitomizes the “Bakersfield sound.” This video with Dwight Yoakum and Buck Owen captures the sound with this song appropriately called “Streets of Bakersfield.”

The mythical now-extinct ancient plant of silphium has been discussed before. Turkish researchers believe that they have found the ancient plant at last: https://greekreporter.com/2022/09/27/plant-ancient-greece-rediscovered/ https://www.dnaindia.com/science/report-miracle-cure-all-plant-from-ancient-times-that-mysteriously-vanished-2000-years-ago-rediscovered-silphion-2988492

More pictures on the find: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-suffolk-62989415

The accepted narrative was that Palmyra was destroyed by Aurelian In AD 273 when Zenobia and her son rebelled against a weakened Roman Empire. New studies, however, suggest that climate impact may have played a significant role, also. Poor harvests may have weakened the city’s resolve and ability to defend itself. https://www.heritagedaily.com/2022/09/archaeologists-give-new-insights-into-final-blow-of-autonomous-ancient-palmyra/144774?amp https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0273241

An ancient anchor, possibly of Roman origin, has been found off the British coast of Suffolk during survey works for a wind farm turbine by ScottishPower. https://www.heritagedaily.com/2022/09/ancient-anchor-found-at-the-bottom-of-the-north-sea/144778?amp https://www.shropshirestar.com/news/uk-news/2022/09/26/anchor-discovered-during-offshore-wind-farm-work-may-date-from-roman-times/

A Roman mosaic in Folkestone, England was reburied due to lack of funding after being discovered in the 20s. It has recently been unburied. Folkestone is a port town on the English Channel in south eastern England. https://www.heritagedaily.com/2022/09/roman-mosaic-re-exposed-by-archaeologists-in-folkestone/144724?amp Interestingly, the recently-discovered Roman villa in Scarborough has been reburied:

There have been previous posts about the use of opium in antiquity, including the recent finding of opium in a Canaanite grave (see below). Here is a scientific article dealing with the subject of the Canaanite find and conclusions of the research: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/arcm.12806

Thanks for that interesting quote: Here’s an interesting post that deals with the legacy of Nero: https://ancientimes.blogspot.com/2015/08/why-did-optimus-princeps-trajan-admire.html?m=1