Gordopolis

On this day, 28th Oct 312 AD Constantine the Great and Maxentius clash at the Milvian Bridge, vying for control of the Western Roman Empire. Did Constantine really order his troops to paint Christian symbols on their shields? What do you think? Artwork by the excellent Peter Connolly.

Portus, the harbour of ancient #Rome. Emperor Claudius chose this site, 2.5 miles north of Ostia (Rome's original port), and his architects based their design on the famous circular port of Carthage (with inner harbour). What I found most interesting about this was the story of the lighthouse island (best visible in pic 1). The foundations of the island were created by sinking a ship - and no ordinary ship. It was the vessel used to transport one of Egypt's giant obelisks to Rome. The obelisk first stood in the Circus of Nero, before taking its place in the centre of Vatican Square, where it stands to this day. Rather cool, I think. #History Second pic (showing Portus and nearby Ostia) by the brilliant Jean-Claude Golvin

Think you know about the Roman Emperor Domitian? Think again! Win a signed first ed hardback of Simon Turney's new Roman epic and help #MakeMyelomaHistory by entering this week's charity book auction. Bidding takes place on my Facebook page. Please enter bids as comments on this post: https://www.facebook.com/GordonDohertyAuthor/posts/pfbid02Bkqkbx46uokwaGzdFNVvXDDz8Lm4UaaKZYptDLqv2ijMT8fwePnDwpqF76C5UMqql Good luck 🙂 !

It's #MakeMyelomaHistory auction time! This week, we have a 𝐒𝐈𝐆𝐍𝐄𝐃 1st ed 𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐃𝐁𝐀𝐂𝐊 of 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐌𝐀𝐃 𝐄𝐌𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐎𝐑: 𝐇𝐄𝐋𝐈𝐎𝐆𝐀𝐁𝐀𝐋𝐔𝐒 & 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐃𝐄𝐂𝐀𝐃𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐑𝐎𝐌𝐄 - the epic new novel by the brilliant 𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐑𝐘 𝐒𝐈𝐃𝐄𝐁𝐎𝐓𝐓𝐎𝐌! Bidding takes place on my Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/GordonDohertyAuthor/posts/pfbid02UpVhkHwxgdhppwEVFK9Zn3VdpCBZ3LJW9cbEVEZct6eigwZzVB1G38ZPmhkwY7col Good luck 😊

There absolutely is! Thank you! (and nice Latinised name 😊 )

Yes I initially suspected ill-informed click-bait, but it sounds pretty credible. I had actually just been writing about a cold storage pit in a 4th c Roman farm, and wondered if this was common. Did a quick Google and hit upon this recent find - perfect!

https://www.ancient-origins.net/news-history-archaeology/novae-roman-refrigerator-0017341 Rather "cool" this 😉: a #Roman 'refrigerator', or cold storage box, has been discovered in the ruins of Novae fortress on the Danube frontier in what was the Diocese of Thracia!

My next book, entitled 'LEGIONARY: THE EMPEROR'S SHIELD' will be published soon (maybe the end of this year, or the start of 2023)! Now.... how do you fancy having your name 'immortalised' in the manuscript? That's right, your name could be listed in the all new 'Claudian Roll of Honour', which will sit in the front matter (the first few pages) of the book, and remain there for all time! See the screenshot attached, which has a few familiar names from the series on there to start us off All you have to do is donate to my Myeloma UK blood cancer fundraiser at https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/MyelomaHistory For a donation of £𝟮𝟱 donation, you will get: Your name listed in the 'Claudian Roll of Honour' For a donation of £𝟱𝟬, you will get: Your name listed in the 'Claudian Roll of Honour' A copy of the eBook A rather natty Legionary-branded gift (details forthcoming) A Legionary bookmark For a donation of £𝟳𝟱, you will get: All of the above Plus a 𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗲𝗱, 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗲𝗱, 𝗻𝘂𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗱 & 𝗱𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗰𝗼𝗽𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗮𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸! Just post a reply to this topic to let me know you've donated, or drop me a line at www.gordondoherty.co.uk/contact-me If you're in the UK, I'll cover postage. If you're overseas, I'll ask you to cover shipping. There is limited space for twenty names on the roll of honour, perhaps thirty at a push. So let's see if we can swell the ranks! Come on, Pavo and Sura are looking a bit lonely there And if you're unfamiliar with the Legionary series... where have you been?!? 😄 Find out all about it here: https://www.gordondoherty.co.uk/legionary.html

"I am Spartacus!" "No, 𝙄 am Spartacus!" Fancy being Spartacus? Why not enter this week's #MakeMyelomaHistory charity auction to win an action-packed biography of the legendary gladiator and live his life through the read! Please enter bids as comments on my Facebook post: https://www.facebook.com/GordonDohertyAuthor/posts/pfbid035VhcD9zaaqquKwNzvkqv4fg1PpNVg3WTi6pUJfoMmLGbNU6FBpoBosthrJ1XmsCpl And remember: every single penny we make goes directly to Myeloma UK - the team who are relentlessly pursuing better futures for sufferers of this horrible blood cancer! Good luck 🙂 !

Help fight cancer with the latest #MakeMyelomaHistory charity book auction - this week for Douglas Jackson's epic SCOURGE OF ROME. Bidding takes place on my Facebook page, where you can eter bids in the comments of this post: https://www.facebook.com/GordonDohertyAuthor/posts/pfbid02apkjL1tRk81FqNtCVhJgEnrmh7swjgoEFzZNWJyPvHoU6gaQ7dFpQhU2YjBnL51zl Good luck 🙂 !

Every Wednesday, I auction off a rare historical fiction novel with all proceeds going to Myeloma UK, the blood cancer charity. When I say 'rare' novels, I mean a combination of first edition/limited edition, signed, dated, dedicated by the author (to you), numbered, stamped etc. Sounds good? If so, I plan to post any Roman themed auctions on this thread, so you guys have the option to bid if you wish (or just follow the bidding action!) And this week, it just so happens that we have a 𝐒𝐈𝐆𝐍𝐄𝐃 paperback of 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐔𝐍𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐆𝐈𝐕𝐄𝐍 𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆 by the brilliant 𝐋.𝐌. 𝐀𝐅𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐒𝐒𝐌𝐀𝐍! Fancy bidding to make this signed volume yours? Simply lodge your bid as a comment on the main auction thread (hosted on my Facebook page): https://www.facebook.com/GordonDohertyAuthor/posts/pfbid0J2VKKMgLUVCj9Y5Qo1uXCTzwYNahddinfgkS7UUFsC1HDZU4xkb9DmS8J8Jt4fdtl You'll also see the auction rules and terms on there too. Good luck! 😊

Another slight silver lining to the dark cloud of climate change: drought in Spain has lowered this reservoir to reveal the pristine foundations of a Roman fort. "Aquis Querquennis" as it was known, was built under reign of Emperor Vespasian, circa AD 75, and housed the troops who were tasked with constructing the nearby "Via Nova" (new road). https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11161091/Roman-settlement-flooded-create-reservoir-visible-entirety-drought-Spain.html

A video of my reflections on the "Fall of the Roman Empire" exhibition in Trier: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zlGZo0mp48

To celebrate publication day for 𝑮𝑶𝑫𝑺 𝒐𝒇 𝑹𝑶𝑴𝑬 in paperback, I'll be signing this stack of copies. Fancy one, dedicated to you? https://www.gordondoherty.co.uk/buysignedcopies.html

A memorial plaque at the site of Vindolanda Roman fort, near Hadrian's Wall, which lists the legions & cohorts who served at the site between the 1st and 5th centuries AD. And a shot of the VIII Augusta legion reliving and teaching the ways of that long-gone era.

More from my jaunt around NE England: This 1st c AD tombstone, discovered in the foundations of Hexham Abbey, depicts Flavinus, a Roman cavalryman, riding over a 'barbarian' (a typical scene in Roman reliefs). The torque indicates that Flavinus was of high rank or had been rewarded the piece for some act of valour, and his standard is topped with a sun deity emblem (possibly Sol Invictus, maybe Mars Neto or Apollo). The inscription underneath the relief reads: "To the spirits of the departed, Flavinus, trooper of the cavalry regiment Petriana and standard bearer of the troop Candidus, aged 25, of seven years' service, lies here."

That's a great point - a good measure of the strength and stability of any state is the ability to move freely and rapidly (and safely) within it. Also, I only realised after posting that the quoted text about Longinus is alittle erroneous - it equates Dacia with Bulgaria, when in fact the Dacia of Trajan's time was in fact equivalent to modern Romania. Perhaps an easy mistake to make though as later in the empire (376AD ish), the Romans named part of what is now modern Bulgaria 'Dacia' (very confusing, I know!) Maps of Trajan's Dacia vs later empire Dacia attached:

I visited the Roman Army Museum in Greenhead the other week, and came across this incredible story of Longinus, a Dacian, recruited into the First Hamian Archers (Cohors Prima Hamiorum Sagittaria) after Trajan's Dacian Wars, then sent to serve on Hadrian's Wall thereafter. "A career recruit, Longinus was a new recruit in the first cohort of Hamians (cohors I Hamiorum sagittaria) in AD 107, a year after the end of Trajan's Second Dacian War (Bulgaria). It is likely that the Hamian archers had fought in that war and, needing new troops to replace casualties, took local recruits, including Longinus. Travelling from his homeland to serve in distant lands, he was fortunate enough to have survived his years of military service on the frontier, and received an honourable discharge after 25 years' service. Longinus received his bronze 'diploma' on the 9th December AD132. Respectably the Emperor Hadrian granted him and the other veterans "citizenship and the right of marriage with the wives they had at the time of the grant of citizenship, or, if any are single, with those which they later marry, provided that each only has one wife". There is no record of Longinus' wife, if she was still alive at this time, but citizenship was also granted to his two sons, Longinus and Sestius, and his daughter, Sestia. As many retiring soldiers chose, he took his family back to their Bulgarian homeland, where this diploma was discovered." ...how utterly fascinating!

Thanks to the 8th Augusta legion for letting me shoot their ballista last weekend at Vindolanda. Check out the clean hole the bolt punched through the armour strip that was attached to the target board - and that was just at quarter strength! I often write of ballista bolts wrecking their way through one, two, three or more men on the battlefield, and the tests show they were indeed that devastating

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-60466187 This beautiful Roman mosaic has been uncovered in London, near the Shard. It appears to have been the floor of a 2nd or 3rd century AD dining room (known as a "triclimium" in Latin). It reminds me of 2001, when I headed down to the 'big smoke' to start my IT career. One of the first things I encountered was a Roman archaeological dig right in the heart of the capital. I was spellbound by the sight - the earth laid bare, the towering glass and steel skyscrapers crowding around the edges of the dig like me and the other spectators, the sound of scraping trowels and the smell of millennia old soil. Absolutely magical. Best thing is there is an almost limitless number of things like this still to discover! #history #roman

That's one of the big plusses of living in Scotland - apart from when you are in the two major cities, you are always with mountains and countryside close to hand 😃 Thanks for the tip - I'll post to the arch group for this kind of thing in future!

After collecting "Vandalf" (our grey campervan) from the garage after a wee upgrade, I decided to sneak in a wee bit of research reading... and a cheeky visit to Chesters Hill Fort, near North Berwick! What a place... and bloody freezing too! The site was probably a Votadini tribal stronghold during the era of #Roman occupation. It is a typical iron age hill fort or 'oppidum' - consisting of several maze-like rings of ditches and troughs, each successively higher, surrounding and protecting a high plateau where the village would have stood. The name "Chesters" derives from the Latin term "Castrum", meaning fortification. P.S. I wasn't sure whether to post this here or in the Archaeology forum - mods feel free to move it if it doesn't fit here

Late reply, but yes, Aetius named his son Gaudentius in honour of his father

Beat me to it - great post! 😊

Badger leads archaeologists to hoard of Roman coins in Asturias, Spain, dating to 200-400 AD. https://edition.cnn.com/style/article/badger-roman-coins-spain-scli-intl-scn/index.html This corresponds with the Late Roman period, when barbarians such as the Suebi arrived in the Iberian peninsula. Dig director Alfonso Fanjul believes the coins were hidden by refugees sheltering in the area, saying: "We think it's a reflection of the social and political instability which came along with the fall of Rome and the arrival of groups of barbarians to northern Spain."