JGolomb

Dominican archaeologist closes in on Cleopatra, top Egyptologist says This story is getting a good amount of coverage and could become huge is Cleo's actually found. The top Egyptologist is one of National Geographic's Explorers in Residence and he's stated for a couple of years now that Cleo's tomb was very close to discovery. As a side note, I posted yesterday that Hawass has not given permission to the two Italian brothers who claim to have discovered the Lost Army in the Egyptian desert.

I'm taking a page from the Sylla Book of Skepticism here... This full article provides a very long and detailed review of Cambyses related discoveries. I'm highlighting some of the key points...

Guy - sorry, I double posted on this. Should've checked out the new postings first. J

Great question, Sylla. I'm about half way through Everitt's biography and there's a tremendous amount of speculation, just shy of assumption, on Everitt's part. It hasn't hurt that this thread's been educating me on Historia Augusta. The bio, up until Hadrian becomes Emperor, is focused on the context of the world in which Hadrian lived. For me, this adds a great deal of color to that timeframe, but it's definitely lacking in its ability to add flesh to the character that is Hadrian.

Israeli museum displays coins from Jewish revolt, destruction of biblical Jerusalem Temple A bronze coin with a palm tree dated by Israeli archaeologists to 69 AD, part of an exhibition displayed at the Davidson Center in Jerusalem's Old City, Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2009. The Israel Antiquities Authority displayed for the first time Wednesday a collection of rare coins excavated at the foot the Temple Mount, found charred and burned from when the Romans razed the Jewish Temple nearly two thousand years ago. These some 70 coins give a rare glimpse into the period of the Jewish revolt that eventually led to the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE, said Hava Katz, the curator of the exhibition. JERUSALEM (AP)

Roman ruins found under theatre An ancient Roman ruin has been discovered by builders working on the

Mel - terrific insight. Looking forward to reading about what you uncover. -Jason

Kosmo - good instincts. Here's some additional backstory and a piece of a documentary about the finding. Quite an archaeological adventure - and some terrific "moments of discovery". Story- The quest for Cambyses' lost army Short Video- The Lost Army Of Cambyses These are different than what I posted yesterday.

Vanished Persian army said found in desert Here's the associated video. Fun story that perhaps validates this tale from Herodotus:

Some comparison:

I think, for the moment, a conclusion rests on whether or not one accepts the credibility of the primary scientists: Dr Rob Symmons, curator of archaeology at Fishbourne, and Bournemouth University lecturers Dr Miles Russell and Harry Manley. We'll see if they come up with something a little more concrete. Interesting thread all around... J

Caesar rises: 20 years of water digs on display Here's the bust when it was found. Check the article for the cleaned up version: From the article: ARLES, France

A Dying Emperor's Unsolved Mystery A very interesting, and poorly written, article on Hadrian's last words and their lasting mystery - a story I've never actually never come across. Since watching a rather dry History Channel special on Rome and a segment on Hadrian, I've always felt a certain affinity towards the Emperor. A running joke between my wife and I during a trip to Rome last summer was over the so many things we came across that involved him. Here's a post I made in a board shortly after I joined the community - Greatest Roman Figure. Upon re-reading this post, I see that I walked the fence a bit and didn't declare a GREATEST, but made some points for Hadrian to be up there with Augustus and Caesar. I'm reading Anthony Everitt's "Hadrian - Triumph of Rome" and hope to have a review for UNRV in a couple of weeks. I can only assume this story of his final words will be addressed. But in the meantime, I thought I'd share this article and let the UNRV community help analyze. I don't read Latin, so if anyone can provide a straight translation, that would make a good start.

I'm glad you wrote that - exactly what I thought after reading the editorial. Notice that he's got a book out on the Byzantine Grand Strategy, so presumably he knows his stuff, it's just not tied to anything real in the format above.

Very interesting editorial here. I have no real historical understanding of Byzantium, but I thought I'd toss this to the community to see what folks thought of this. The piece feels a little lightweight to me. Take Me Back to Constantinople Economic crisis, mounting national debt, excessive foreign commitments -- this is no way to run an empire. America needs serious strategic counseling. And fast. It has never been Rome, and to adopt its strategies no -- its ruthless expansion of empire, domination of foreign peoples, and bone-crushing brand of total war -- would only hasten America's decline. Better instead to look to the empire's eastern incarnation: Byzantium, which outlasted its Roman predecessor by eight centuries. It is the lessons of Byzantine grand strategy that America must rediscover today. Fortunately, the Byzantines are far easier to learn from than the Romans, who left virtually no written legacy of their strategy and tactics, just textual fragments and one bookish compilation by Vegetius, who knew little about statecraft or war. The Byzantines, however, wrote it all down -- their techniques of persuasion, intelligence gathering, strategic thinking, tactical doctrines, and operational methods. All of this is laid out clearly in a series of surviving Byzantine military manuals and a major guidebook on statecraft. I've spent the past two decades poring over these texts to compile a study of Byzantine grand strategy. The United States would do well to heed the following seven lessons if it wishes to remain a great power: I. Avoid war by every possible means, in all possible circumstances, but always act as if war might start at any time. Train intensively and be ready for battle at all times -- but do not be eager to fight. The highest purpose of combat readiness is to reduce the probability of having to fight. II. Gather intelligence on the enemy and his mentality, and monitor his actions continuously. Efforts to do so by all possible means might not be very productive, but they are seldom wasted. III. Campaign vigorously, both offensively and defensively, but avoid battles, especially large-scale battles, except in very favorable circumstances. Don't think like the Romans, who viewed persuasion as just an adjunct to force. Instead, employ force in the smallest possible doses to help persuade the persuadable and harm those not yet amenable to persuasion. IV. Replace the battle of attrition and occupation of countries with maneuver warfare -- lightning strikes and offensive raids to disrupt enemies, followed by rapid withdrawals. The object is not to destroy your enemies, because they can become tomorrow's allies. A multiplicity of enemies can be less of a threat than just one, so long as they can be persuaded to attack one another. V. Strive to end wars successfully by recruiting allies to change the balance of power. Diplomacy is even more important during war than peace. Reject, as the Byzantines did, the foolish aphorism that when the guns speak, diplomats fall silent. The most useful allies are those nearest to the enemy, for they know how best to fight his forces. VI. Subversion is the cheapest path to victory. So cheap, in fact, as compared with the costs and risks of battle, that it must always be attempted, even with the most seemingly irreconcilable enemies. Remember: Even religious fanatics can be bribed, as the Byzantines were some of the first to discover, because zealots can be quite creative in inventing religious justifications for betraying their own cause ("since the ultimate victory of Islam is inevitable anyway

Ursus - Well done! I'm adding some of Maty's books to my Amazon wishlist right now. :-) -Jason

Cheesy photo of the new hoard's discoverer - and a sampling of said hoard.

UNRVers - Following on the recent UNRV participation by Dr. Peter Turchin regarding his work behind hoard-population theories, I dropped a quick note to Dr. David Beresford-Jones who led his team's Nazca investigations. Here's his note below.

'No new money' for Antonine Wall Opposition politicians have criticised the Scottish government for failing to spend more on developing the potential of the Antonine Wall. The ancient fortified wall, which formed the north-west frontier of the Roman Empire, was given world heritage status in July last year. Falkirk East Labour MP Cathy Peattie said more cash was needed to raise the profile of the 37-mile structure. Culture Minister Mike Russell said future funding would be considered. He said an "action plan", led by North Lanarkshire Council, was being put together to decide how to best promote the wall, built in 142 AD by Emperor Antoninus Pius. There is an ongoing campaign for a new visitor centre to be created at the wall, which runs from Bo'ness, near Falkirk, to Old Kilpatrick in West Dunbartonshire. Although much of it was destroyed over time, sections of the fortification can still be seen at several points, with sections in Falkirk among the best preserved. Campaigners hope that the decision to give the wall world heritage status will boost tourism in the area. In response to a parliamentary question from Ms Peattie, which asked what additional funding had been given to promoting and developing facilities for the wall, Mr Russell said: "There has been no additional funding allocated to date and each of the organisations is contributing expertise or funding to the planning. "However, once the action plan is agreed, the projects to deliver a rolling programme of improvement will seek funding and this is likely to come from a variety of sources, not just the public purse." Ms Peattie said: "It's good to hear that there's an action plan but I would like to see some additional funding being allocated to promote and enhance the awareness of the Antonine Wall. "In England, work is being taken forward on Hadrian's Wall by a management company, which receives substantial funds via the UK government. "The investment there is bringing a real return, providing excellent new visitor and interpretation facilities, which attract tourists to the area and provide a welcome boost to the economy in the north of England." A spokeswoman for Historic Scotland said: "We are working closely with Scottish Natural Heritage, the Forestry Commission, the five local authorities that share responsibility for stretches of the wall and others to look at how to develop the access to the wall in general and the way it is presented."

Odd trinity of numismatic news: 1. Exclusive: Scots metal detector man finds 2000-year-old lost treasure trove worth

Mel - Good pick up. This is getting a ton of coverage. Over the past couple of years, Scientist have raised that the gradual destruction of the environmental ecosystem in Mexico and Central America caused the decline of the Mayan civilizations as well. From National Geographic's website: Maya May Have Caused Civilization-Ending Climate Change "Self-induced drought and climate change may have caused the destruction of the Maya civilization, say scientists working with new satellite technology that monitors Central America's environment. " Question: How much do modern environmental sensitivities (and agendas) feed into conclusions such as the recent Nazca and Maya announcements? J

The auction for this item was to have taken place on 10/28. I spent some time this morning on Bonham's site and while many items on this day were sold, there was still only the estimate price for the Caracalla bust on the webpage. I take this to mean that it wasn't, in fact, sold. Maybe we should take donations from the community and purchase it ourselves? Each participating UNRV community member can have it for one week. We'll take it around our hometowns and show it off like champion NHLers do with the Stanley Cup. :-) It'll look mighty nice on my Thanksgiving Day table. J

It also makes me wish I had a spare