Melvadius

...caligii into the...

Although I suspect from a recent lecture that it may be a variation of techniques which have been/ are being used by other researchers for related purposes in the same region and period, Eureka alert carries an interesting article by Mark Esser of National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) on the value of nondestructive evaluation (NDE) techniques when examining corroded coins.

The full report on Alpha Galileo discusses several burials which have been found but mainly points to continuance of traditional Thracian burial practices during the period of Roman occupation exemplified with the mixture of Roman produced material amongst the grave goods of someone who may have served with the Roman's. There are good photographs attached to the full report showing the remains of the chariot and other goods in the main burial.

As part of English Heritages ongoing National Mapping Programme Culture 24 reports on the publication of a book detailing the results in South and West Yorkshire. The NMP survey's generally covers all periods from prehistory through to the twentieth century so will include information on several Roman sites*. *English Heritage's report on the yorkshire Dales survey state that The NMPs use a combination of aerial photographs taken over the last few decades as well as some field archaeological results and even in some instances maps for sites which have been quarried away before they could be photographed top build up a composite picture of archaeological features, buildings and structures in each area surveyed. The publication seems to be the combined results of three different NMP surveys including the older Yorkshire Dales survey already mentioned as well as the more recent Lower Wharfdale NMP and the Vale of York NMP Both pages on the main English Heritage site have aerial photogrpahs showing Roman sites which were mapped as part of the surveys.

You will not receive a reply from Sylla on this forum. He apparently managed to annoy the forum moderators once too often and got his membership revoked, although not before he edited that particular bit of irrelevant text over a large number of his postings. The result of his actions is that he is now listed as 'damnatio'.

cucumber growing on

....was missing a....

Although not a legion based group, it may be worth contacting Collegium Gladiatorium in Hungary in case they have any local contacts for people interested in Legion re-enactment and/or may be able to help with general equipment related questions. Otherwise I suspect that either an Austrian or Italian Legion group may be the closest to you.

putative emperor Brutus (p.s. I didn't realise that he was also an emperor)

This [url="http://

In that case should I be worried that I don't seem to have received such a message as either a regular or a lapsed member

So only if you are quick (and ash clouds willing)

The photographs attached to the full article about this 'small' excavation in China iare well worth a look.

This story probably falls between different fora but it may be of general interest that recent research (which forms part of the current BBC 'Cold Case' series - next episode Thursday 20th May) has reconstructed the face of a 13th/14th century warrior who was found buried in the Royal chapel at Stirling Castle. Full story, including facial reconstruction, continued at link above.

Like most I seem to have provided myself with a confused result, I never considered myself that much of a 'Stoic' although Livy's histrical bent does ring a few bells. I suspect it's more to do with where the very jerky slide bar stopped when I tried moving it to indicate the priority I gave to each answer than precisely where the question setter drew the questions or even how close I am to the individuals listed. i. Seneca ii Livius iii Marcus Aurelius iv Augustus v Q. Horatius Flaccius Possibly something to keep a record of and go back to in a few months time to see if the same result is derived - I bet it isn't.

Which 'you', do you mean - 'me' personally or is this a more generic 'you' referring to 'the man (or woman) in the street' who reaches for a dictionary to look up the meaning of a lot of terms? The issue with all dictionaries is that if 'you' have little idea how a particular word is spelt, 'you' can spend a long time reading through such a comprehensive and authorative Dictionary as the full OED trying to find the word AND meaning 'you' are looking for. If 'you' have heard of a word such as 'siphon' but do not have an appropriate background then why shouldn't 'you' accept that the explanation in the Dictionary is the definitive explanation of a particular term? I strongly suspect that most people, if they have looked up the term at all have only done so to check the spelling rather than as a means to get a proper definition of what the term means. A simple explanation that 'siphon' is something to do with the movement of water through pipes without active human intervention probably would suffice to blunt their level of interest. I am possibly a bit jaded in suspecting that for most of the time 'the man in the street', unless they need to know the 'definitive' answer for a specific reason, probably couldn't care less what is the definitive meaning of most words. As far as siphon is concerend this could extend to not caring if the 'physical' reason for the movement of water through the siphon is gravity, air pressure or a bucket chain of leprechauns and may not even realise that (at least as far as the first two options are concerned) there could be a difference.

As part of the Nottingham Caves Survey the University of Nottingham is currently carrying out an extensive laser based survey of the medieval and earlier caves beneath the city. They are trying to map and record over the next two and a half years many more than the 450 caves already known about int he area.

The Balkan's Traveller reports on a major discovery of Byzantine and Venetian coins at Skopje Fortress Continued at link above

It seems to me that the late Roman infantry also used an oval shield. The Byzantine infantry used an oval shield and later they used a kite-shaped shield. The oval shield was used by various units from the Republican period onward but this doesn't necessarily detract from Caldrail's points about the later Imperial period.

The BBC has reported on the discovery during recent excavations of another 114 Terracotta warriors (although mainly in pieces) at the vast underground Qin dynasty burial complex where more than 8,000 have previously been discovered. Full article at link above

I suppose it really depends how embarassed you may feel if you consider yourself to be a trained physicist and have actually read this entry in the last 100 years or so without noticing that it was wrong

The Cumberland News are carrying this 'taster' story about how last years floods may have provided clues to the location and extent of the Roman vicus at Papcastle. The interewsting point for anyone in the area is that they are currently looking for volunteers to take part in the upcoming fieldwork between 24 and 28 May (contact details below).

The New York Times carries a good article on the application of LIDAR (light detection and ranging) technology, which has been used so successfully in Britain in recent years, into jungle areas which has revealed the extent of extensive Mayan related archaeological remains. Although not useful for finding small 'spot' remains such as pits; LIDAR has been proved in the last few years to be very good at picking up linear features such as terraces, trackways and the remains of buildings or extensive settlements even under forests or as the article proves jungles.

There was more to Romans than politics and militarism. I know. However, I do not see why anyone would want to buy a book on Roman weddings, other than for research. I suppose it depends on how you define 'research'. There has long been is a large field of study into the Roman family and its various constituent elements which encompasses both the physical buildings in which people lived as well as what evidence there is for customs and practices - in fact this particular book would compliment information I learned as part of an old Open University course which I did a few years back on the Roman Family. Admittedly on this basis there can be a large element of 'research' which can be undertaken in this area but the output of such research can help archaeologists interpret what they find so underpins a lot of theoretical discussions e.g about how some of the insulae in Pompeii were used , whether by extended family groups or small households or less certainly if such households were fomalised by marriage. Against this I know some people who seek out such works purely for their own interest with no ulterior intention to carry out formal 'research', so you pays your money and reads the book or not as the case may be. Now you come to mention it maybe I will have a look at that book myself...