guy

Although Suetonius wrote during the time of Hadrian (one of the adoptive emperors from the Nerva-Antonine dynasty), he is thought to be a Flavian apologist, with especially good things to be said about the Flavian emperor Vespasian. There is no doubt where Suetonius stands on Vespasian, setting the tone from the very first sentence about his reign: http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Suetonius/12Caesars/Vespasian*.html He is somewhat unfair to Nero, who will forever live in infamy. guy also known as gaius

Thanks for trying! It comes up on the PC, although the image smaller than usual. I hope the "upper management" addresses this glitch. guy also known as gaius

Here's an interesting set of animated videos that are a nice intro to Ancient Roman Society. Any opinions? guy also know as gaius

Just a test:

Another problem : Posting a You Tube videos is difficult. Sometimes, only a smaller screen is seen: guy also known as gaius

Here's the finding on video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=405YeDu7Wms

I may not understand the significance possibly from the late Roman Empire, but it is interesting: http://www.thejournal.co.uk/news/north-east-news/image-celtic-geordie-god-found-4865961 http://esciencenews.com/articles/2013/07/04/archaeologists.unearth.carved.head.roman.god.ancient.rubbish.dump guy also known as gaius

I appreciate everyone's input. I assume that olive oil was source of fuel used by these lamps? Here's an interesting article about a lamp factory recently found in Ancient Mutina (modern day Modena between modern day Parma and Bologna). (Click image to enlarge) http://news.softpedia.com/news/Millennia-Old-Roman-Oil-Lamp-Factory-Discovered-99444.shtml These ancient lamps with different names are similar to modern day mass productions. guy also known as gaius

(Carausius, rebel emperor of Britain and Gaul) Good to know. Thank you. guy also known as gaius

Anyone living today by a major city is impressed by the number of lights and the amount of activity at night. But how was the night in the major cities of the Ancient Roman world? I imagine there would be fires in the private houses. Are there any ancient sources attesting to lighting at shrines at night (except for the Temple of Vesta, of course)? Were there ever gladiator, chariot, or other public outdoor spectacles at night? Or, because of the lack of public lighting, were all night time activites held indoors at a home or possibly a small outdoor theater? Traveling at night must have been dangerous and relatively rare. In smaller cities and town, the night time must have been a very isolated, absolutely dark, and extremely vulnerable time. Thanks in advance, guy also known as gaius

it seems no one can right now upload images, i notified the host about it, seems like the transition made some unwanted changes, i keep you up to date... Any update concerning posting pictures? I still cannot. guy also known as gaius

I saw the program, too. Very interesting and one can only wonder how much of history has been lost forever from the devastation of war. Hopefully, the Ancient Roman city of Palmyra in Syria won't be destroyed. The fascinating history of the Eastern princess Zenobia has already been obscured by the mists of time. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palmyra http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zenobia guy also known as gaius

http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2013/06/04/roman-concrete/ guy also known as gaius

Thank you for the help. Nevertheless, I am still unable to load pictures, even pictures I have loaded before. Here's the message I get: "The server returned an error during upload." Thank you for your attention. guy also known as gaius

Still can't post pictures. Most of my posts involve images, so until then, ....

It is great that the site is back and running. That said, I am unable to post replies to posts. Also, I am unable to post pictures. Growl. guy also known as gaius

I'm still not certain that your sculpture is of any emperor. Frontal nude statues of Augustus were rare, but did exist, however. If it were an emperor, it would be of Augustus. The Aphrodisias museum in Turkey looks to have a beautiful collection. The statue is found at the 3:54 point of this video (the audio is very nice): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fwTevYyFbE This promotional video for Aphrodisias is quite tempting: guy also known as gaius

Say no more. Without Aurelian's reunification successes, there would have been no fourth and fifth century for the Roman Empire. There only would have been numerous successionist states whose future would have been determined by more local factors (usurpers, barbarian tribes, local economics, etc). Interestingly, a future Christian conversion of the entire empire could not have occurred without a relatively unified Empire. guy also known as giaus

I don't know for sure, but I guess Augustus: http://www.wmf.org/project/aphrodisias-archaeological-site I doubt Claudius, however, since he was hardly a patron of the Eastern Arts. Less likely than Augustus would be Hadrian and even Nero. The sculpture does not look like Hadrian (no beard) or Nero (too thin). guy also known as gaius

The Papal conclave will soon convene to elect a new Bishop of Rome, also known as the Pope. This is the person who is also the apostolic successor of Saint Peter and earthly head of the Roman Catholic Church. I thought a review of this coin

Wow: I almost missed this interesting post. Janet Stephens has done some interesting and insightful "amateur" research. Here is a previous post discussing the Ancient hair style of Julia Domna with reference to her work: http://www.unrv.com/forum/topic/15740-julia-domnas-hairstyle-wig-v-natural/ Thank you for posting, guy also known as gaius

This spectacular and rare Romano-Egyptian coin forced me to review the history of the little-know usurper of the late third century, Domitius Domitianus who revolted in Egypt in AD 297. http://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=114962 During the third century, Ancient Rome was plagued by numerous barbarian invasions and internal rebellions. The Roman Emperor Diocletian had created the Tetrarchy in AD 293 to better manage and secure the vast Roman Empire. This Tetrarchy included Maximian as Diocletian's co-equal Augustus, as well as the two subordinate Caesars of Galerius in the East and Constantius in the West. In AD 297, the Roman Empire under the Tetrarchy was still facing many challenges, but was slowly regaining control of the Empire. By AD 296 Constantius had eventually reclaimed the breakaway Britannic Empire initially formed by Carausius and later ruled by Allectus,Diocletian's finance minister and later assassin. In the East the belligerent Sassanian King Narses had seized control of Armenia from the Roman client-king and was threatening Roman Syria. After an initial humiliating defeat, Galerius began to mount an effective campaign against the Persians. Adding to these pressures, the Berber tribes in North Africa had formed a coalition known as the Quinquegentiani or "five peoples." This coalition of Berbers invaded the Roman borders, forcing Augustus Maximian to regain control of that region. In the background of this turmoil and confusion, a poorly documented usurper around AD 297 named Domitius Domitianus declared himself emperor in Egypt. This required Diocletian to march to Egypt to suppress the rebellion. Domitianus was quickly defeated by December AD 297. It is possible that Domitianus' corrector Aurelius Achilleus succeeded Domitianus as usurper. Despite the usurper Domitianus's death, the Emperor Diocletian later required a several month siege of Alexandria, resulting in Achilleus's death in March 298, to achieve the final suppression of the rebellion in Egypt. Along with the scant numismatic documentation, one of the few pieces of evidence of this tumultuous period is Pompey's pillar in Alexandria. Pompey's pillar had been erroneously dated to Pompey. It was, in fact, originally built around AD 298. It's thought to have been built to celebrate Diocletian's retaking Alexandria. It was possibly a tribute from the city of Alexandria, which had been devastated by a long siege, for Diocletian's generosity of supplying grain to relieve the famine and his making the city exempt from taxes to help with its reconstruction. Pompey's pillar is a monolith of red granite on a pedestal with a total height is 98 feet 9 inches. The shaft is 73 feet tall and its circumference is 29 feet 8 inches. Pompey's pillar is the largest Roman triumphal column outside of Rome and Constantinople. On the western side of the column is an inscription in Greek which reads: "To the most just Emperor, protector of Alexandria, Diocletian, the invincible. Postumus, the Prefect of Egypt [has erected this monument]". This video clip is long, but gives one the sense of grandeur that once surrounded this column. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opUyxSt0KJ8 After these and other threats were resolved, Diocletian was then able to focus his efforts on administrative reforms, as well as domestic planning and control (such as the unsuccessful Edict of Maximum Prices in AD 301 or the futile persecution of Christians AD 303-311). There are few literary records concerning many of the unsuccessful reigns of the usurpers of the third century. Fortunately, however, numismatic evidence has helped to pull back the veils of time that have obscured their little-known but fascinating history. Even though most of us at this site are not coin collectors, we can appreciate the contributions from numismatists toward the understanding of Ancient Roman history. The great British art historian and numismatist Harold Mattingly described coins as "almost our only chance of penetrating the thick darkness that still envelops so much of the history of the third century." Here is a nice (although possibly hagiographical) summary of Domitius Domitianus's rule, along with a discussion of the numismatic evidence: http://www.forumancientcoins.com/numiswiki/view.asp?key=domitius%20domitianus guy also known as gaius (I want to thank Dionysos from cointalk.com for his help in decifering this coin.)

One of the Vindolanda tablets suggested there was a bit of that went on. But you raise a good point, it is more likeley to have been a general purpose building. Memories from the past with a different conclusion: http://www.unrv.com/forum/topic/11738-vindolanda-tablets-glimpse-of-legionary-health/ guy also known as gaius

I, too, enjoyed the interview. It is good to get a deeper, more intimate perspective of the people we interact with over the years. guy also known as gaius

During a recent visit to the bookstore, while leafing through the most recent copy of Ancient Warfare (Vol VI, issue 4), I came across an article by Duncan B. Campbell "Evidence for Medics Amongst the Milites: Did the Roman army have a medical corps?" This article reminded me of a previous, somewhat heated discussion we had at UNRV: http://www.unrv.com/forum/topic/14768-valetudinarium/ The article asks this question: Interestingly, the article concludes: Good stuff. My favorite Roman medicus: guy also known as gaius