guy

The upcoming Netflix historical epic tells the story of battle of the Teutoburg forest. https://www.gamespot.com/articles/netflixs-barbarians-trailer-is-packed-with-swords-battles-and-blood/1100-6483186/ Trailer: Good Critical Review:

Hundreds of lucky felines haunt the ruins where Caesar was murdered. https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/torre-argentina-roman-cat-sanctuary I hope the cats have done well during this COVID-19 craziness.

Nice review: https://www.heritagedaily.com/2020/10/legio-ix-hispana-the-lost-roman-legion/135890 guy also known as gaius

This video is a nice review of the cursus honorum: " the sequential order of public offices held by aspiring politicians in the Roman Republic and the early Roman Empire. It was designed for men of senatorial rank. The cursus honorum comprised a mixture of military and political administration posts. Each office had a minimum age for election. There were minimum intervals between holding successive offices and laws forbade repeating an office" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cursus_honorum#:~:text=The cursus honorum (pronounced [ˈkʊrsʊs,for men of senatorial rank. Not too surprisingly, ancient Roman political machinations are similar to those of modern politics: https://fs.blog/2012/03/5-things-cicero-can-teach-you-about-winning-an-election/

GOLD EARRING FROM EGYPT’S FAYUM MUMMY PORTRAITS DISCOVERED IN ROMAN CITY DEULTUM IN SOUTHEAST BULGARIA First, background on the Fayum portraits: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fayum_mummy_portraits Now, the article: http://archaeologyinbulgaria.com/2020/10/06/gold-earring-from-egypts-fayum-mummy-portraits-discovered-in-roman-city-deultum-in-southeast-bulgaria/ https://www.ancient-origins.net/news-history-archaeology/earring-bulgaria-0014394 Summary: There is quite a similarity between earrings found in Bulgaria and those found on the Fayum portraits in Egypt. Coincidence? Maybe. Or, this is a reflection of the extent of trade in the Roman Empire. Bulgaria (home of the Thracians) was conquered by the Romans in AD 46. It should be little surprise that items for trade were transported long distances in the Empire. Unfortunately, I didn't read any mention of the chemical analysis of the earrings found in Bulgaria, possibly confirming its Egyptian origin. At least, it appears that the women of this Roman colony in Bulgaria were following the fashions of Roman Egypt. City of Debelt (site of the earrings) close to Black Sea.

Scientists Dig for Answers in Medieval Loos! Looking For Signatures In 600-Year-Old Poop DNA https://www.ancient-origins.net/news-history-archaeology/medieval-gut-bacteria-0014379 Another article on the subject: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/archaeologists-mine-medieval-toilets-clues-gut-biome-180976016/ Modern technology is extracting lost secrets from this 14th-century wooden latrine in Riga, Latvia. COURTESTY OF ULDIS KALEJS https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/ancient-toilets-microbiome (Thank you Lapham's Quarterly for the above link.) Summary: DNA analysis has given us insights into life of the ancient world. Now, we have a tool to more precisely assess the health of ancient people. The microbiome (bacteria, fungi, protozoa and viruses - that live on and inside the human body - along with their genetic material) in our intestines would be expected to be different from our ancient ancestors as a result of differences in diet, lifestyle, modern use of antibiotics, etc. Future research will determine what impact this has on our overall health, however. guy also known as gaius Of the 100 trillion microbes that exist in our bodies, about 80% live in our guts. The microbiome is essential for nutrition, immunity, digestion, hormone secretion, and inflammation.

https://www.the-sun.com/lifestyle/tech/1601719/julius-caesar-assassination-coin-ides-of-march-brutus/ The coin could fetch easily a million dollars at an upcoming auction. More information about the upcoming auction. Opening bid is 300,000 GPB. (Thank you Clavdivs at CoinTalk for sharing the auction link.) https://www.biddr.com/auctions/romanumismatics/browse?a=1300&l=1377214

Ancient Roman Mosaic Floor Unearthed Beneath Italian Vineyard The intricate, multi-colored tiles likely date to the third century A.D. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/ancient-roman-mosaics-discovered-beneath-italian-vineyard-180974986/ https://www.thisiscolossal.com/2020/05/roman-mosaic-verona/ Much better video, but in Italian: To get English subtitles (good, but far from perfect), click the following: Settings (lower right screen) Subtitles /cc Italian (Autogenerated) Subtitles / cc again Auto-translate Then, preferred language (for example, English)

https://www.livescience.com/vitrified-brain-of-vesuvius-victim-found.html https://www.ancient-origins.net/news-history-archaeology/vesuvius-brain-0014353

I say, "Throw him to the lions!"

This is a nice review of the Seleucid Empire (312-63 BCE). This empire was created after Alexander the Great died and his Macedonian Empire splintered apart.

https://www.skylinewebcams.com/en/webcam/italia/lazio/roma/pantheon.html https://www.skylinewebcams.com/en/webcam/italia/lazio/roma/roma-colosseo.html Enjoy, guy also known as gaius

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-52911797 Here's an interesting older video describing the laser technique that makes 3D terrain maps that can examine the underlying terrain beneath the vegetation. This information was put on an open data website, allowing students of ancient Roman history to discover long-forgotten Roman roads and encampments in Wales and the rest of Britain.

I think some of the features of the emperors may be totally imaginary. For many, if not most of the emperors, there is only numismatic evidence and a few sculptures to recreate these images. Carus and his heirs (Carinus and Numerian) may have been from either Gaul, Illyricum , or Africa. These diverse backgrounds would give very different physical features (eyes, hair, and skin) from those proposed. g.

The Severan Tondo is contemporary with Septimius Severus, depicting Septimius, his wife and two children. The defaced face is supposedly Geta who suffered damnatio memoriae. I always found it interesting that Septimius Severus spoke with a Punic accent. (Historia Augusta, XIX.9) H His sister could scarcely speak Latin at all, XV.7: http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Historia_Augusta/Septimius_Severus*.html g.

Thank you. These are very powerful portraits, if they are even just close to being accurate. I would also like to see a similar images of their wives. 😎 The portraits of Septimius Severus and his children (Caracalla and Geta) certainly reflect their Carthaginian (North African) origins: Nero looks the part of the scoundrel: Here's another depiction of Nero from a different source: https://www.sciencealert.com/this-spanish-artist-made-a-life-like-sculpture-of-nero-and-it-s-just-how-you-d-imagine Thank you, again, guy also known as gaius

Zoroastrianism was one of the competing religious faiths from the East during the history of ancient Rome. In fact, Zoroastrianism was the state religion of Rome's great rival the Sassanid Empire. In fact, Sassanian coins frequently showed a fire temple, important in the religion of Zoroastriansim. (Source: Sassanian Coinage Wikipedia) Here's a good video reviewing Zoroastrianism: If nothing else, I learned that Freddy Mercury from the rock group "Queen" was Zoroastrian. guy also known as gaius

The Lycurgus cup (probably from the 4th century) has long fascinated students of ancient history and scientists alike. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lycurgus_Cup First, it is a cage or reticulated cup, with "an outer cage or shell of decoration that stands out from the body of the cup." "It has mostly been accepted that the cage cups were made by cutting and grinding a blank vessel of solid thick glass, a laborious technique at which the Greeks and Romans were very experienced." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cage_cup Second, it is made of dichroic glass, meaning it changes color depending on the lighting conditions. Whether the dichronic glass was planned or just the result of an incidental contaminant with nanoparticles such as silver and gold which cause this effect is unknown. Also, we don't know whether this was really a cup after all since the rim and feet of the cup were more modern additions. It could have been an oil lamp, instead.

This is an interesting exhibit now at the Uffizi in Florence, Italy "Worn by the Gods." https://www.uffizi.it/en/events/worn-by-the-gods Replica of alleged prostitute's shoe with the message (in Greek) "Follow me" on the sole of the shoe. (Seen at 1:50 of embedded video in above link.) guy also known as gaius

Honestly, for me, this has been the least productive five months of my life. I was supposed to be in Italy this fall, visiting relatives and "working" on the farm. Obviously, it's not gonna happen. Oh, well, I must be grateful that I'm still alive to witness this insanity unfold. I hope everyone is maintaining their health and spirits during these challenging times. guy also known as gaius

Here are some interesting links to the study suggesting that the colorless glass known in ancient Rome as Alexandrian glass really was made in Egypt after all (and not the nearby Levant region): So, the studies seem to support the ancient report that "Alexandrian" glass truly came from Egypt and not from the Levant (Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, and parts of Turkey). https://www.archaeology.wiki/blog/2020/07/10/hafnium-isotopes-clinch-origin-of-high-quality-roman-glass/ https://www.realclearscience.com/quick_and_clear_science/2020/07/13/where_did_romes_famous_alexandrian_glass_come_from.html https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/romes-finest-glass-was-made-egypt-180975482/ guy also known as gaius (Thank you Al Kowsky from cointalk.com for bringing this study to my attention.)

In an excellent National Geographic article "What History Has Taught Us: Stopping Pandemics" by Richard Conniff (August 2020), there is a reference to cocolitzli epidemics that devastated Mexico in the 16th century. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cocoliztli_epidemics#:~:text=The cocoliztli epidemic or the,by high fevers and bleeding. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2730237/#:~:text=The 1545 and 1576 cocoliztli,of Mexico (Figure 1). Conniff writes: Cocolitzli 1 (1545-48, Mexico) The little-understood disease killed up to 80% of the native population. Symptoms included high fever, headaches, and bleeding from the eyes, nose, and mouth. (15 million deaths) Cocolitzli 2 (1576-78, Mexico) The disease killed up to 2.5 million people, half of population remaining after the 1540s pandemic. It caused hemorrhagic fevers and possibly was carried by rodents. (2.5 million deaths) This devastating epidemic in Mexico makes me reconsider the long-accepted belief that it was smallpox that devastated the Roman Empire. Other possibilities include the hemorrhagic fevers (possibly now extinct) that devastated Mexico in the more recent past. Here are a list of known viral hemorrhagic fevers: Source: Great Courses: "An Introduction to Infectious Disease" by Dr. Barry C. Fox If nothing else, COVID-19 has taught us that we have a lot to learn about infectious diseases. Addendum: As discussed in a previous post, parathyphoid fever seems like a possible culprit. This interesting blog suggests a "mixed infection," with both parathyphoid and a hemorrhagic fever being the culprits :http://www.historicalblindness.com/blogandpodcast//cocoliztli-the-mystery-pestilence

Nice review of garum history and use in the Roman world. Below is a video by Max Miller on his initial attempt to make garum: There may have even been a kosher Garum (although this is controversial) found in Pompeii: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garum An opposing view, however: https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/archaeology-today/biblical-archaeology-topics/the-garum-debate/ Here's an interesting post about the modern version of garum made in Italy today made from anchovies (Colatura Di Alici). http://www.sheridanrogers.com.au/everything-old-is-new-again/