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Archaeologists have found a Roman-era landscaped pool and wall around a natural freshwater spring near the village of Chamborêt, about 12 miles north of Limoges, France. These ruins date from the third century AD. These Roman ruins were built on an older Neolithic period site that might date back 4,500 to 6,000 years. Roman ceramics and coins from the late Roman Empire were found at the site. https://www.livescience.com/archaeology/romans/1700-year-old-roman-ruins-discovered-atop-much-older-neolithic-sacred-spring Site of find in France

We have had many posts about the mysterious dodecahedron (see below). This example dates from the third or fourth century and was found in Norton Disney near Lincoln in 2023. It is one of only 33 dodecahedrons found in Britain and is unusually large: 8 cm large (3.15 inches) and weighs 245 g (8.6 ounces). It will be displayed this summer in Lincolnshire, not far from where it was found. https://www.lincolnshire.gov.uk/news/article/1853/mysterious-roman-dodecahedron-found-in-norton-disney-to-go-on-display-in-lincolnshire-for-the-first-time Note: I was surprised at the number of dodecahedrons (33) already found in Britain. Its function, nevertheless, is still unclear: a measuring device, a sewing tool, or either a gambling or play piece.

I did have some of them on the Gallery although I'm not sure they are there now. I will try to find some!

Crispina is thinking of GhostOfClayton, who last described upheaval of direction due to brexit/covid in:

Yikes

Welcome back, Neil. I can't remember you because I've only been amember here for a short time. I'm looking forward to what will probably be interesting contributions from you. That's quite an eclectic little curriculum (would that make it a curriculum-ulum?) vitae you've outlined. (Have you considered seeking counseling?) I see we share an Interest in 2-wheeling. My screen name is a play on words in Italian.

More amazing to me is how technology can allow us to read the carbonized scrolls, and the episode about slavery adds significantly to the richness of the history. Pin-pointing Plato's grave brings to mind the story of how they finally located the exact position of Mozart's grave. He was buried in a mass grave for paupers....It seems one day not long ago a groundskeeper heard music coming up out of the ground. Experts realized it was Eine Kleine Nachtmusik being played backwards.....They figured it was Mozart de-composing.

The geography of the Med gives the following ferocious seasonal winds, usually oriented to push sailors away from sheltering shores. Except for the boot of Italy which may be placid to a fault (promoting Roman development?).

A Sahara dust storm from Northern Africa has turned the skies of Greece orange. https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2024/04/23/europe/weather-finland-snow-sahara-dust-greece-intl-latam Here’s a previous post about a Sahara dust that affected Europe in 2022.

Oh, guess I remembered wrong. I thought you led tourists on tours of the wall. Do you have photos of your models?

Above comment is in regard to the scroll mentioning Plato's burial site.

That's amazing.

Hi Crispina! My link to Hadrian's Wall (apart from, until 7 years ago, livig 60 miles south of it) was a series of models I made of Hadrian's wall and some of its buildings, which at the time attracted the attention of some of the museums along the course of the Wall.

There are several posts about the potential insights that reading the carbonized Herculaneum scrolls could give insights into the culture and philosophy of the ancient world (see post below). Recent research into a scroll has possibly found the resting place of the Greek philosopher Plato as well as other aspects of his life: https://archaeologymag.com/2024/04/herculaneum-papyrus-reveals-platos-burial-place/ https://lavocedinewyork.com/en/news/2024/04/23/italian-researcher-working-in-herculaneum-reveals-platos-burial-place/

Well I am still mostly a lurker rather than a poster - but I remember you! Didn't you have a connection to Hadrian's wall i.e. employment as a guide?? Welcome back, look forward to your posts.

Fantastic rockabilly from Hank Thompson. Amazing to think that these records, complete with complex backing vocals, were done in one live take. Terrific typically mid - 50's guitar with tape echo from 1.04 - 1.24. Sorry folks, but I've always been retro!

More of a 'hello again' rather than a new introduction. I joined the forum back in 2006 and sort of drifted out of the orbit around 2012, although sporadically sending the odd contribution since. New interests, several house moves, currently living in France after moving there from England in 2017, lots of guitar and double bass playing in Jazz, country and Rockabilly bands. Recently my Dad died and helping my daughter sort out all the house contents, I rescued a good amount of history books, and rediscovered my mums old photos of archaeological sites from when she was at university. My interest in Rome was rekindled! Although like the Empire itself it never technically died as I shifted my interest to the Byzantine, or rather Eastern Roman Empire. Work has, of course, resumed at HOMVNCVLVM, the tiny Roman Colonia in the North of England, of which I am the governor. As well as focusing on astronomy, and developing a new interest in Black Powder firearms and shooting. Hello again! I wonder how many of the old bunch are still here?

The finding of phallus symbols are not uncommon in the Roman Empire. This could potentially be an example recently discovered at Vindolanda. This could represent a fascinus which is a phallic amulet or depiction used to invoke divine protection. Below are just two of the many posts about the phallic symbolism found throughout the Empire. https://www.heritagedaily.com/2024/04/archaeologists-uncover-possible-phallus-carving-at-roman-vindolanda/151753 https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fascinus

Agamemnon (Ἀγαμέμνων) ressembles Memnon (Μέμνων) King of Aeithiopia. In the myth of Perseus, he goes to Aeithiopia and takes away Andromeda, by comparision, Paris goes to the Peloponnese and takes away Helen, as if the Myth of Perseus is in opposition to the Trojan War. Peloponnese (Πελοπόννησος) means Πέλοπος νῆσος "dark-face Island" and so Αἰθιοπία is a synonym and the rocks in which Andromeda where chained are the Scironian rocks in the Isthmus and also the naming was transposed to the dangerous rocks near Joppa, Phoenicia, hence also interpreted to be Aeithiopia.

The young-horse here is the same as the Trojan Horse and it makes its leap when the Pleiades sets. The Pleiades constellation is important to ancient Mediterranean sailors as its setting marked the season of sailing, when Pleiades sets below the north-western horizon around Sprin , the little-horse (Equuleus, Eculeus) launches its leap, this constellation is also adjacent to the Delphinus constellation, maybe the reason why the dolphin-horse or hippocampus is a symbol of sailing. In Aeschylus the word leap, πήδημα is 𐤌𐤐𐤎𐤇 or 𐤐𐤎𐤇 in Phoenician, that derives Pascha, so originally a Phoenician rite at the beginning of the sailing season, the Persian modified Phoenician mythology producing the myth of Moses basing him on Cambyses and changing the whole meaning, but the Red Sea in context is the Mediterranean Sea adjacent to Phoenicia, which is called Pamphylian Sea in Josephus.

This vase depicts Orestes mourning his father Agamemnon, instead of a tomb there is a pillar (στήλη, κιών, σταθμός) on a raised platform (βωμός) This verse reveals that the Peloponnesians cremated the dead and placed the ashes or bones into an urn, so similar fashion to Romans, cf. cremation of Julius Caesar. So here Orestes was also cremated and his ashes were put into a small urn. These are the ancient ruins of Mycenae and there is a doorway, like a Torii, entrance to the Necropolis and there is a single pillar. Here is another example of a pillar-grave, this is placed beside the gate leading to the Isthmus, which is associated with Melikertes (Μελικέρτης) also known as Palaemon and Portunus. Here the associated with Isthmus (probably from σταθμός) with Melicertes, Palaemon hence also Portunus, Melqart and Hercules. This is very important context for the word κενοτάφιον means "empty-tomb" and are made to honour those perished at sea, hence unable to recover the bodies for cremation and burial, hence the connection with Melicertes who died at sea. This is from Aeschylus on the death of Agamemnon and its clear the poetry here is cryptic and uses similar vocabulary in regards to Melicertes who is placed in a λέβης which was thrown into the sea, it also reads πίτνει δ᾽ ἐν ἐνύδρῳ τεύχει "He falls in a vessel of water" and so this maybe interpreted that Agamemnon died at sea, hence why in epigraphy it depicts a pillar-tomb or a cenotaph. Melicertes dies at sea. This is a depiction of Herakles and he is inside a tub with the sea inside of it, this affirms my theory that Agamemnon and Herakles are one and the same, one similarity is that Herakles killed his family, where-as Agamemnon kills his daughter. Herakles was killed by his wife, Deianeira when she gave him a poisoned robe stained with the blood of the centaur and in Aeschylus, Agamemnon 1125, Agamemnon is killed by his wife Clytemnestra by goring him with a robe. This is Bāal Hammōn depicted as if he were a pillar and this is also Agamemnon. Ἀγαμ > Γἀαμ > Βάαλ = Bāal έμνων > έμμων = Hammon Bāal is the Phoenician sun god, same as Sol and Ἥλιος (ἠέλιος, ἀβέλιος, ἀέλιος, ἄλιος) and in Homer, Ἥλιος is paired with Ὑπερίων "Hyperion" which is 𐤏𐤋𐤉𐤅𐤍 in Phoenician, but this proper Phoenician noun is translated into ὕψιστος so that Ἥλιος Ὑπερίων is perverted into Ἥλιος Ὕψιστος becoming both Heliogabalus and Zeus Hypistos and the Romans built temples for these in Syria, probable origin of Sol Invictus. Hammon Bāal might be the same as the name Hannibal meaning Ἥλιος ἐγέννησε (Ἥλιογενής) "Sun begat" and also Ζεύς ἐγέννησε (Διογενής) "Zeus begat", although some interpret Hammon to mean κάμινος oven, furnace. cf. Apollodorus, Library 3.4 - Ino threw Melicertes into a boiling cauldron (

day-dreamy vibes

Appian opens his chapter with this statement, putting the founding of Carthage fifty years before the capture of Troy. The Romans think it was founded by Dido, but the Aeneid makes her contemporary and consort to Aeneas, a veteran of the Trojan War and thus a chronological contradiction. Aeneid also makes Aeneas the founder of Rome so that both Carthage and Rome were founded at the same time. There is also the problem with Cádiz (Gádeira, Gādes) and how it fits into the founding myths of Carthage and Rome. The traditional founding of Cádiz is dated to 1100 BCE, but this falls within the Bronze Age collapse of the Eastern Mediterranean, so it could not have been founded by Tyre at that time and how could Cádiz be founded before Carthage? Numa Pompilius is an alternative founder of Rome, of Sabine descent said to be colonists from Lacedaemon, this name is used interchangeably with Sparta and situated on the Peloponnese. The Trojan War was a war between Peloponnesians and Trojans and so there is a Trojan founder and a Peloponnesian founder of Rome. Pompilius resembles the name Pummay on the Nora Stone, which mentions a war with the Sardinians, the Trojans are also called Dardanians and so could this be the same way? Trojans are the antagonists of the Iliad and so why would the Trojans be made into the founders of Rome instead of the Greek heroes?

A sculpture of a snake-bodied Roman-German deity was found at the Roman fort of Stuttgard, Germany. “Despite the erosion of stone, you can still see how its arms rest on the upper body and its hands on the hips and legs. However, the latter do not have a human shape, instead merging into a kind of snake body.” https://www.labrujulaverde.com/en/2024/04/the-sculpture-of-a-snake-bodied-deity-a-hybrid-from-roman-germanic-mythology-found-at-the-roman-fort-of-stuttgart/ https://www.heritagedaily.com/2024/04/fort-excavation-uncovers-roman-sculpture/151730