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Watching the film clips of the recent riots in LA this week, seeing the rebellious demonstrators "fundant et fugunt" from a charging mounted police, I was reminded of this thread. One could also see in that clip how vulnerable a mounted warrior would be to attack by swords, spears or projectiles from the rear once surrounded by a mob..... ...and then there's the erratic behavior of an excited horse, described by Livy in his description of the episode in the first Sabine War that resulted in the naming of the Lacus Curtius in the Forum when Mettius Curtius' unmanageable horse plunged him into the middle of the swamp. https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Liv.+1+12&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0151

There have been a few posts before about treating battlefield wounds (see below). This is an interesting video on the subject: Still another wonderful video on treating battlefield wounds:

Excavations continue at the Roman Magna Fort, near Hadrian’s Wall. Recent finds, including a large shoe, continue to make news. Archaeologists at Magna Fort, a Roman site near Hadrian’s Wall in England, recently uncovered a massive 2,000-year-old leather shoe. Measuring 12.6 inches long, roughly equivalent to a U.S. men's size 14, the shoe likely belonged to a Roman soldier with enormous feet. The discovery was made in a deep defensive trench, known as an "ankle-breaker," designed to trap enemy soldiers. The oxygen-free, waterlogged conditions remarkably preserved the leather, allowing researchers to study Roman footwear craftsmanship. The shoe features multiple layers of leather, stitching, and hobnails, reinforcing its durability. Magna Fort, also known as Carvoran, was strategically positioned at the junction of two major Roman roads, serving as a key defensive outpost along Hadrian’s Wall. One Roman soldier had enormous feet, 2,000-year-old waterlogged leather shoe reveals | Live Science Previous excavations at the fort: https://youtu.be/2Kde75jgGes?si=D4Bz5ZNdpy5i77pb

Efforts are underway to restore some of ancient Pompeii’s greenery. By analyzing spores and seeds preserved at the site, researchers have successfully recreated the flora of the Garden of Hercules, which was once filled with roses, violets, rosemary, and vines. The garden is named after the statue of Hercules (seen below) found at the site. https://www.thetimes.com/world/europe/article/pompeiis-perfume-garden-replanted-as-it-was-2000-years-ago-lcqwbtkqr

Archaeologists from the Israel Antiquities Authority have unearthed an exquisitely sculpted marble sarcophagus near Caesarea, Israel. This Roman-era sarcophagus features a rare depiction of a drinking contest between Dionysus, the god of wine, and Hercules, the mythological hero. While this motif was common in Roman mosaics, its appearance on a sarcophagus marks a first for the region. The discovery was made in the sand dunes outside Caesarea, suggesting that the city's extent during the Roman period was larger than previously thought. The sarcophagus has been sent for conservation, revealing an elaborate central scene of Dionysus surrounded by mythological figures, including satyrs, Hermes, Pan, lions, and tigers. Experts believe the imagery symbolizes liberation and the transition to the afterlife. Exquisite marble sarcophagus unearthed near Caesarea

This Lego recreation depicts the Trajan Canal (Amnis Traianus) in Egypt, an ancient waterway that linked the Nile to the Red Sea. Emperor Trajan established a harbor and fortifications at the canal’s junction with the Nile, which Emperor Diocletian later reinforced in the 3rd century AD. Diocletian constructed the Babylon Fortress as part of these expansions to safeguard the canal’s entrance (see picture below). The fortress featured two imposing towers on either side of the canal. Entertaining video, although the creator gets the historical dates wrong:

Using LiDAR technology, researchers have found a Roman army camp in the Netherlands, north of the Roman limes, 50 miles southeast of Amsterdam. The findings date to about the 2nd century AD. https://amp.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/article307345096.html https://www.uu.nl/en/news/roman-army-camp-found-beyond-roman-empires-northern-frontier

Some more pictures about the find: https://amp.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/article307803730.html

Roman themed interludes:

This pop ditty by The Association may lack excitement, but I wanted to point out a resource of hundreds of rare interviews with pop/rock stars, often nearing dementia of their 80s. https://www.youtube.com/@discograffitipodcast2872/videos is hosted by an eccentric music industry insider asking artists to rate their every song, but they give him interesting reality checks about their goals, historical context, etc. He must have about 6 hours from The Association and much more from the only surviving Momma/Poppa Michelle Phillips for example.

One could also write an article about supposedly Greek ruins that are really more or less Roman. Rome eventually occupies all, and either initiates or refurbishes sites all over Greece and Italy. I liked Paestum more than Agrigento, the latter seeming more starkly Greek. Both are close to the tourist path but can have travel challenges, especially near day's end when timetables seem to crater. I think there are Roman elements grafted on to the Taormina theater:

Here is a good article on literature sources for the poorly documented and turbulent Third Century. Flickering Light in Rome’s 'Little Dark Age': Towards a Literature of the 3rd Century – Antigone

Below is an interesting review of some of the Greek ruins found in Italy. Above is a Greek temple found in Argrigento, Sicily. https://greekreporter.com/2025/06/08/ancient-greek-ruins-of-italy/

According to the commentary of the HBO show Rome, Jonathan Stamp, the onsite historian said that it means “Mars! Up and at em!”. If you get a chance to buy the old Blu-ray’s or dvds, they have a feature that adds trivia and facts to the screen as you watch the show. The commentaries are very interesting as well.

165 little birdie carcasses accumulated over what period of time? Particularly since this example is on an island, high volume sales of thrush as a fast food would quickly lead to extirpation of the local thrush population. One has to question the circumstances that produced this cache of remains-- a common menu item, an occasional "special" or one big, special feast? I don't know about more rustic locations, but most people in Rome itself lived in "insulae," 3-6 story apartment buildings, with each apartment (conclavium) only one room or, less often, a shared common room with two bedrooms (cubiculum) to accommodate two families. Neither had a kitchen (culina), so meals were taken at the tabernae or popinae. "Eating out" was the norm.

A new study challenges the long-held belief that thrushes were an exclusive delicacy for Roman elites. Archaeologists analyzed the remains of thrushes found in a latrine connected to a fast-food establishment (tabernae) in the ancient Roman city of Pollentia, Mallorca, which sold food and drink. The findings suggest that thrushes were widely consumed as street food, rather than being reserved for lavish banquets. The study identified 165 thrush bones among other food waste, indicating that these birds were sold for immediate consumption, likely fried in oil. Roman sources previously described thrushes as a luxury item, but the evidence from Pollentia suggests they were a common and affordable food for the urban population. Examination of the bones revealed that almost all the sternums, or breastbones, had been intentionally cracked. During preparation, the sternums broke upon removal, as noted in the study, aligning with traditional Mediterranean cooking methods still in use today. These methods involve flattening the bird to cook it whole, much like quail. Moreover, the absence of cut or burn marks indicates that the birds were fried in oil rather than roasted, a quick cooking technique ideal for street vendors. The research concludes that this was a standard dish intended for commercial use. https://www.labrujulaverde.com/en/2025/06/thrushes-were-the-fast-food-of-romans-in-imperial-cities-not-an-exclusive-delicacy-for-banquets/# https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/oa.3416

Researchers used an AI program (named Enoch) to date the Dead Sea Scrolls. Employing a combination of carbon dating and writing styles, the researchers can more accurately date the scrolls, which range between 300 and 50 BCE. These articles discuss a new approach to dating the Dead Sea Scrolls, which were discovered between 1946 and 1956 in the Qumran Caves. Traditionally, scholars relied on palaeography—the study of ancient handwriting—to estimate the age of individual manuscripts, but this method lacked empirical precision. A recent project, "The Hands That Wrote the Bible," funded by the European Research Council, has combined radiocarbon dating with machine learning to improve accuracy. Researchers analyzed 24 scroll samples using a deep neural network called BiNet, which detects handwritten ink-trace patterns. They then integrated this data with carbon-14 dating to refine manuscript dating using Enoch's AI model. This model, named after the Book of Enoch (one of the Dead Sea Scrolls), enhances accuracy to within ±30 years. The study found that the scrolls were produced between 300 and 50 BCE, bridging a previously unexplained 400-year gap in manuscript dating. This breakthrough provides a more precise timeline for the scrolls and their historical significance. https://cosmosmagazine.com/history/archaeology/dead-sea-scrolls-dating/ https://www.sci.news/archaeology/dating-ancient-manuscripts-13964.html Good background video on the Dead Sea scrolls:

Interesting. There is evidence (bone lesions) that TB (Mycobacterium tuberculosis) existed as far back as the Neandertals, so it's reasonable to assume that other species of Mycobacterium are that old too.... Speciation doesn't occur because one indvidual developed a novel genome and then passed it along to a subsequent population, but rather, because the same novel genome developed spontaneously and contemporaneously in a significant portion of individuals in a population, and then selection &/or random drift increases that gene frequency in the population. ... M. lepromatosis may have evolved in multiple locations simultaneously (on a time scale of centuries or even millennia) rather than sequential "spreading" of the bug over geography. ...Compare it to the invention of, say, the bow & arrow at multiple locations around the world at roughly the same time in human history.

Here’s a followup on Egyptian Blue. Mechanical and material engineers from Washington State University have worked on the chemical composition of this ancient prized synthetic pigment. https://thedebrief.org/5000-year-old-missing-formula-for-egyptian-blue-reveals-unusual-optical-magnetic-and-biological-properties/

Three mosaics have been found in a large Roman villa complex in Thalheim bei Wells, Upper Austria. This complex dates to the 2nd century AD and overlooks the Roman city of Ovilava. Ovilava was a significant settlement in the province of Noricum, strategically located at a road junction connecting key Roman routes. Important Details About Ovilava: • City Status: Under Emperor Hadrian, Ovilava gained municipium status, which granted it city rights. • Military Significance: During the Marcomannic Wars, Roman troops were stationed nearby, and under Caracalla, Ovilava was upgraded to a colonia. • Defensive Walls: The city featured walls with towers and a quadruple trench system for protection. • Public Works: It had an aqueduct, large buildings, and cemeteries (necropoleis). • Christianity: An early Christian presence is evidenced by a tombstone, one of the oldest in Austria. Ovilava later became the capital of Noricum Ripense under Diocletian’s reforms. https://www.heritagedaily.com/2025/06/dolphin-mosaic-discovery-is-part-of-an-expansive-roman-villa-complex/155360

For a long time, it was thought that leprosy, primarily caused by Mycobacterium leprae, was introduced to the Americas during European colonization. However, discovering a second pathogen, M. lepromatosis, mainly affecting people in the Americas, challenges this idea. Research shows that M. lepromatosis infected humans in the Americas before Europeans arrived. By analyzing 389 ancient and 408 modern samples, we've expanded the genetic data available for this species. The phylogenetic analyses revealed distinct clades of M. lepromatosis that infect humans, with one dominant strain in North America since colonial times. The presence of thousands of years-old strains in North and South America suggests that M. lepromatosis was widespread during the Late Holocene. M. lepromatosis leprosy has a long history in the Americas, predating European arrival. Leprosy existed in the Americas long before the arrival of Europeans, study reveals

Well, most commercials are ridiculous, but at least some are trying to be entertaining.

That's all Greek to me, but in Rome the general public was not allowed into the interior (cella) of temples where the large statue of the pertinent god stood. The priests performed sacrifices on the ara, a raised platform just outside the columns out front. The sacrificed animal then became the main course for a public feast. Temples were usually ostentatious displays of public thanks for services rendered by the god to win some battle and used mainly for major public holidays....The "day to day" religious activities of Romans was private and resolved around the family household gods, the Lares & Penates.

So it slowly dawns on me I might find pictures of the overlooking rooftop bars, which I include below. BTW the short video over Minerva piazza with local kids joyously playing soccer reminds me so much of the serendipity of less touristed pockets of Rome.

I always wondered what privileges Darius Arya was using for elevated views of the Pantheon on his channels. Maybe some tycoons apartment; his own apartment househunt was actually televised and landed him in an adjacent neighborhood. It finally dawned on me to check google maps and showed rooftop bars and eateries open to all. First is his most common (restricted) view from the SE, in Piazza della Minerva apparently from Hotel Minerva rooftop bar. Therefore it must be the most welcoming or tasty. It also might be worth checking if you can climb to the rooftop of adjacent Basilica di Santa Maria Sopra Minerva: Better side/frontal view from Piazza della Rotonda appears to be from NE rooftop bar at 3 star (affordable?) Hotel Albergo Senato. They must be less welcoming to lookie-loos because I rarely see it on either of his channels. Check 40 seconds in below: