Aurelia

Well, according to the article, there is a difference. Early Christians are believed to have eaten mostly freshwater fish whereas their non-Christian Roman contemporaries ate sea fish. This suggests that they (Christians) were considerably poorer than other groups.

Thanks guys! It was my pleasure.

According to Wikipedia, it is kept in the Palazzo dei Conservatori of the Capitoline Museums. I didn't see it when I visited the museum last year but then I wasn't looking for it.

In Ancient Rome lions ate Christians, so we are told. But what did early Christians eat? A lot of fish, according to recent research on bones from the Roman catacombs. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/f...icle6073834.ece

This is the sort of news I love to read about (and in this case, the English is quite entertaining too ). Researchers study traces of an ancient brew found in earthenware discovered along the Tigris river. It is thought that this "grog" was drunk by Etrurians too. http://www.teatronaturale.com/article/345.html A question for our American UNRV friends: is this Midas Touch concoction worth looking for? I'd be curious to taste it.

Welcome back, Klingan. Glad to know you're all right and thanks for the nice pictures.

I thought you had a Masters in Ancient Studies. How come you're thinking of going into something completely different like engineering?

That's also pretty cool! The Antwerp Central Station one was a stunt performance to promote Op Zoek Naar Maria (Dutch for Looking for Maria), a local TV talent competition programme where several candidates compete for the role of Maria Von Trapp in an upcoming production of The Sound of Music.

Thanks, Nephele! I told you I belonged to a noble family.

The trip back to Belgium turned out not to be so pleasant after all. I had to pay about $120 for excess weight (for my luggage, not for myself ) and then an additional 50

Currently packing my bags and hating every moment of it. I'm flying back to Europe tomorrow evening and while I don't mind the long-haul flight too much (I always find ways to entertain myself on the plane ), I absolutely loathe the packing routine that precedes it. It normally takes me about two days to get the job done. The worst part is not actually deciding which clothes and shoes to take along but to find a place for the "little things" i.e. toiletries, books, camera, travel documents and so on. I'm only allowed to take one suitcase with me yet I expect to get away with "sneaking" several bags in as hand luggage. This time, my estimate is about 3 to 4 bags of different shapes and sizes. Not looking forward to dragging all this stuff around with me but I think it's the only way to take what I need with me. One would expect the check-in people to be understanding towards passengers who have spent over four months away from home but alas this is not normally the case. This means I'll be leaving a smaller suitcase filled with the left-over stuff at my parents', as well as a big backpack from a previous visit. Luckily they have enough space at their place. On a more cheerful note (if I don't take the probable bad weather into account) I'm actually looking forward to going back to Belgium. I have a busy month ahead of me: two job interviews and an assessment test for an MBA programme I'm thinking of enrolling in for the next year. I'm more nervous about the test than the interviews. It involves maths, which always makes me apprehensive. And given that I haven't studied as much as I think I should, my self-confidence is kinda low at the moment. Hmmm, guess I've just figured what I'll be doing during the 11-hour flight tomorrow...

How much for a CD?

Things seem to be getting worse... http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090407/ap_on_...taly_earthquake

Thanks for the suggestions for further reading. When I was in Sevilla a few years ago, I remember buying a book about Moorish architecture in Southern Spain that touched on the Convivencia period. It is indeed a fascinating era.

Brian Blessed is brilliant. But I must admit I like him even better in Blackadder. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIhBXR7I-c4

I'm flying back to Europe tomorrow evening so I'll be busy packing today and most of tomorrow. But I'll try to look up accommodation options on the internet this weekend or beginning of next week.

Didn't Klingan say he was going away for a few days? That's probably why he hasn't posted anything.

It is true that the Vienna Dioscurides is a bit of a stretch as it dates back to the 6th century. However if we consider that it belongs to the Byzantine period (still known then as the Eastern Roman Empire), it could still technically be Roman. I'm not trying to restrict criteria here. I was merely observing that there were not many original Roman works in the UNESCO list, that's all. When I asked what people thought should be added to the list, I didn't mean that they should only suggest Roman documents. My remark about the Roman period was just added as an afterthought.

The Tabula Peutingeriana is a medieval reproduction of a Roman map dating back to the 12th century The Biblioteca Corviniana Collection is also medieval (not sure if it contains any original works from the Roman period although it does contain books by Greek and Latin authors) The Gutenberg Bible was printed in 1455 Please don't get me wrong, all the above works are very relevant to the Roman period. What I meant is that I was looking for original Roman documents, not reproductions from later periods.

You're right, sylla. Perhaps I should have been more specific. I agree that documents and books such as "Mein Kampf" should be preserved although it would not be number one on my list of items that should be added to the UNESCO Register. As for the list of Roman documents, yes, once again you're right about Dioscurides (I didn't spot it the first time), and probably some of the documents in the Egyptian papyri collection (I assumed they only concerned papyri pre-dating the Roman period) . I was mainly looking for documents that were actually produced in the Roman period, which is not really the case with the Tabula (very interesting nonetheless!), Bibliotheca Corviniana or the Gutenberg Bible.

Sorry to hear about your job situation, AC. Hopefully things will be different by September. Let me know if there is anything I can do to help organising the meeting.

Hmmm, maybe. I guess we'll never know.

Could it be that Josephus, being Jewish, was perhaps a little bit biased in relation to his own people?

I agree. And aside from moral considerations, "Mein Kampf" is part of history whether we like it or not. Anyway, while browsing through the list I noticed that there's not much (read nothing, at least nothing I could see) from the Roman period. I wonder why...

So what in your opinion is the meaning of a second (and older looking) face hidden within the bust?