Leaderboard

Just putting the shout out that an auction is underway for the 𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐘 𝐅𝐈𝐑𝐒𝐓 𝐒𝐈𝐆𝐍𝐄𝐃 𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐃𝐁𝐀𝐂𝐊 of 𝐋𝐄𝐆𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐀𝐑𝐘: 𝐃𝐄𝐕𝐎𝐓𝐈𝐎, the final instalment of the Legionary series, hot off the press after publication last week! Every penny of the winning bid will go to Myeloma UK - the charity that fights to defeat Myeloma blood cancer for good. As you can see, the book is numbered, giving proof that it is the FIRST signed copy, and is also stamped and quoted. I'll gladly add whatever personal message you might like as well. Visit my Facebook page to check out the rules and bid ☺️ https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1A6RwE1q9q/

What more can a person give to a cause, than their very existence? This is the essence of the ancient Roman oath of 'Devotio' - the word from which the modern term 'devotion' is derived. Read my blog that explores this chilling final resort of ancient Romans at war: https://www.gordondoherty.co.uk/writeblog/the-greatest-sacrifice?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAYnJpZBEwakRWTXR2ek5uSTJFYVlvNQEeNZVGENCkHeYmyzIBbxt1NxTONyMw2DhxnpSQRnlx4_kGRYFxh1vhtdIkKyM_aem_eRglGEnEcW7QxP-VhbvZDw

A blog investigating the origins and jounrye of Alaric the Visigoth, the king who conquered Rome: https://www.gordondoherty.co.uk/writeblog/alaric-the-visigoth-king-of-all

Hi, I'm new to this forum, but am a longtime enjoyer of Ancient Roman history. For the past year or so, me and some friends have been working on a spreadsheet, that goes along with some maps and community functions on Discord. I really admire the quality of discussion on this board, and thought I might see if anyone was keen to give some feedback on the project. Below, I've attached a link to the sheet and a guide to view it. I know many likely won't be to appreciative of some liberties that I've needed to take, obviously there's no way to do something like this and retain a real degree of accuracy. But if you spot any obvious points of improvement, I'd really appreciate hearing them, and I hope you enjoy my sheet. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1JqPWIoG6NUVgI_5XasOAFBdl12CU0pSHp2Vy0mXi4rQ/edit?usp=drivesdk https://docs.google.com/document/u/0/d/1E2QWQmCxSFDCypeKCZUODOIBPSjch2VW0DMLad3V9os/mobilebasic https://discord.gg/4JHj6U6j

Thanks Indy! In the end it went through the roof - made over £600 ❤️ Awesome result for the cause!

A Roman gold coin (aureus) was found in a farmer's field near Dudley, England, in the West Midlands. It depicted the ill-fated Vitellius, one of the four Emperors who struggled for power in AD 69, “The Year of the Four Emperors,” following the death of Nero in AD 68. Suetonius described Vitellius as an obese glutton. Vitellius defeated Otho before Vespasian eventually killed him in Rome. Vitellius was Emperor of Rome for just eight months (April 19 to December 20, AD 69). Interestingly, the coin fetched just £4,700 (approximately $6000 US). This is an excellent piece of history that reflects the influence of Vitellius in Britain at the time of the turmoil: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0mwm8nw914o A nice summary of the struggle for power after the death of Nero:

A 3-year-old Israeli girl has discovered an ancient Canaanite scarab while hiking with her family. (Scarabs are amulets and impression seals (shaped like scarab beetles) and were popular throughout ancient Egypt.) The scarab is 3,800 years old and was found in Tel Azeka, which is mentioned in the Bible as the site of the battle between David and the Philistine giant, Goliath. https://www.timesofisrael.com/three-year-old-girl-finds-canaanite-seal-where-bible-says-david-battled-goliath/

You're absolutely right about being most likely to find things concentrated at the narrow points of a funnel shaped field. This is why prospectors pan for gold in the streams rather than sifting thru random shovels full of dust on the mountainside. My original comment was tongue in cheek....An order-of-magnitude estimate-- Suppose a village consisted of 200 people, half whom had amulets of which only 0.1% were lost each year over a 500 year existence of the village-- That's 50 amulets for archeologists to find today at that one site....and how many sites are there? It adds up fast.

Looks like they actually visited an external overlook in newly reopened Temple of Venus and Rome. Wiki sayth:

I sense this topic might be mistaken as an uplifting sign of exalted status of Roman women, but reading the fine print: 1) This Ceres type of priestess is the only one rivaling responsibility of a priest, and only 7 were known to ever practice in Pompeii. 2) Her husband (wedding ring on conventional finger as moderns) has subtle indications of upper class, and probably was the source of family status that enabled her to become priestess. Lastly the most notable feature of the women to this rube tourist is her sculpted body veil. Several of these can be found in Naples churches from the 1800s and really impress onlookers. I guess it is a workable optical illusion to create riffles cross cutting thru riffles, but it seems like magic to this baclofen patient (side effect = false sense of well-being).

Awesome idea!! Raising money for a good cause is always a good thing. Let me see what the bid is up to. . .

A canal built by Marius (Caesar’s uncle) has been found in Gaul in the Rhône River delta. It is dated to 104-102 BCE, and is thought to have been constructed to help Rome in the Cimbrian Wars (113-101 BCE). The Cimbrian Wars were between the Roman Republic and the tribes of the Cimbri and Teutons, among others. https://www.livescience.com/archaeology/romans/archaeologists-may-have-finally-discovered-famous-lost-canal-built-by-julius-caesars-uncle

Here’s a needed review of the Cimbrian War

How did Rome come to annex Cyprus? How did the whole thing get started? Elsewhere it has been claimed that a lex Julia had named Ptolemy Auletes 'an ally and friend of the Roman people'. Bevan (1929) would also have it so: In 59 B.C. Julius Caesar, the leader of the democratic party, was one of the consuls. It was believed that the annexation of Egypt was part of his own political programme. Yet Ptolemy contrived, by an enormous payment of 6000 talents, to buy Caesar's support. Caesar carried a law, in spite of the opposition of the nobles, by which Ptolemy Auletes was recognized at last as king of Egypt, and, by a new treaty, "ally and friend of the Roman People." But the treaty said nothing about Cyprus, where the other Ptolemy, the brother of Auletes, had been reigning since 80 B.C. as king. In 58 B.C. the tribune Clodius, a partisan of Caesar's, carried a law by which Cyprus was constituted a Roman province, and Marcus Cato was commissioned to go to Cyprus and induce the king to make over ship island kingdom to Rome. The only accusation against the king of Cyprus which Rome could find to justify this act of high-handed spoliation was that he was very rich and had not been sufficiently free-handed with his riches. Cato offered the king, in exchange for his kingdom, to have him installed by the authority of Rome, as high priest in the temple of Aphrodite at Paphos. But Ptolemy of Cyprus preferred to commit suicide. His treasures