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They draw a false conclusion....The only thing they can correctly say is that they were infected with Plasmodium sp when they died. The fact that they found two or more sp points toward chronic &/or recurrent infections, very common in that region at that time. A fulminant course of malaria leading to rapid death within days of exposure is less common than a more indolent course resulting in anemia and eventual organ failure. (Cf- Quartan Fever) https://www.cdc.gov/malaria/hcp/clinical-features/index.html

The Torlonia collection is on its final stop of North America in Montreal this month. The Torlonia collection contains 622 ancient marbles, assembled in the 19th century from aristocratic Roman families (Giustiniani, Albani, Cavaceppi) and Torlonia estate excavations. For decades it was inaccessible, making this tour a landmark event. The Torlonia sculptures now on exhibit form one of the most important Roman sculpture showings in decades: 57 masterpieces from the Torlonia Collection, touring North America for the first time and currently on view at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA) until July 19, 2026. The exhibition is historically significant: the Torlonia Collection—long considered the greatest private collection of Roman sculpture—was inaccessible for most of the 20th century, stored away since WWII and known mainly through 19th‑century catalogues. Its recent restoration and release to the public is one of the major events in Roman art scholarship. Here is a good video review about the exhibit while previously in Fort Worth at the Kimbell Art Museum earlier this year: Here is a short video of the exhibit now in Montreal:

The article below about the reopening of the House of Carbonized Furniture at Herculaneum made me wonder: Why were wooden objects preserved at Herculaneum in AD 79 (and not at Pompeii)? Pictured above and below are some of the wooden objects preserved there. The wood did not burn because the pyroclastic surge that hit Herculaneum was not the same type that destroyed Pompeii. Instead of open-air ash fall, Herculaneum was engulfed by a 20‑meter‑deep mass of superheated pyroclastic mud. Temperatures reached ~400 °C, hot enough to carbonize wood but—critically—oxygen was almost completely absent. At Herculaneum, when the first pyroclastic surge struck the town, it produced carbonized wood. The surge raised temperatures to around 300–500 °C, but it contained almost no oxygen. In such conditions, wood doesn’t burn; instead, it undergoes a process called carbonization. This is a chemical change that drives off volatile compounds, leaving behind a stable, charcoal-like material. Because the surge quickly buried the buildings and sealed them beneath meters of hot material, beams, doors, furniture, shelving, and even architectural panels were remarkably preserved in their original shapes, only transformed into carbon. This process accounts for the incredible preservation of many wooden objects at the site. On the ancient shores of Herculaneum, a different preservation process took place (see the picture below). Waterlogged wood creates a very unique environment for preservation. In several parts of the site, especially where volcanic mudflows and wet deposits settled, timber was buried in saturated, oxygen-poor layers rather than being heated enough to turn into charcoal. When submerged in this special anaerobic environment, decay-causing organisms couldn't thrive, allowing the wood to stay chemically 'alive.' It kept its cellular structure, species features, and even tiny growth rings. That's why archaeologists can tell the difference between fir, cypress, and spruce at the site: the wood wasn’t burned or charred but preserved through long-term saturation. Above are a boat prow painted red and a vertical winch (used to pull boats ashore), both wonderfully preserved. Pompeii’s wood mostly burned or decayed over time, but Herculaneum’s unique circumstances—such as higher temperatures, deeper burial, and lack of oxygen—preserved the world’s largest collection of Roman wooden artifacts. You can find doors, beds, shelves, roof beams, furniture, and even carbonized scrolls there. https://www.ansa.it/english/news/2026/07/10/herculaneums-house-of-the-carbonized-furniture-reopens-after-30-years_26911e38-10bd-434f-8f29-da719b60a565.html https://the-past.com/feature/wooden-wonders-of-herculaneum/ Below is an interesting video from Darius Arya highlighting the wooden objects preserved at Herculaneum.

Gildas (AD 450 or 500-c570) is foundational for understanding the collapse of Roman Britain because he is the earliest surviving British voice describing the period after Rome withdrew. Every later medieval historian—Bede, Nennius, the Anglo‑Saxon Chronicle—depends on him. Without Gildas, our picture of 5th‑century Britain would be dramatically thinner. This article explains how medieval Britons remembered the fall of Roman Britain, focusing on the 6th‑century writer Gildas, whose account shaped all later narratives. It shows that medieval memory of Rome’s departure blended history, trauma, and legend, and that some of Gildas’s claims align with contemporary Roman sources. Gildas wrote De Excidio Britanniae (shown above) around AD 540, making him the first British author to describe the post‑Roman world from inside Britain rather than from Rome or Gaul. No earlier British chronicles survive from the period of AD 410–540. Gildas identifies the usurper Maximus (AD 383) as the figure who removed Britain’s troops, effectively beginning the end of Roman rule. He highlights the AD 410 message from Emperor Honorius telling Britons to defend themselves, marking the official end of Roman administration: Gildas writes that after repeated appeals for military help, “the Romans told them to look to their own defence, and no longer to expect help from them,” a line that marks the moment Britain was formally abandoned and forced to face Saxon pressure without imperial protection. Gildas describes the later Battle of Mount Badon (around AD 495 or 500) as a decisive victory in which the Britons defeated the Saxons, ending decades of warfare and ushering in a generation of peace. https://share.google/xievpPhoTFyOUWTmJ

Magister Craft's take on the baths M

True spy thriller in Naples: "How I caught an Illegal Russian Spy" only on youtube but with 6k comments urging Netflix to adopt it. Prize winning journalist tracks down honeytrap spy trolling Naples Nato base officials for blackmail potential due to illicit romance or finances. Found due to her fraudulent passport number being in sequence with known spy assassins and kidnappers. Her several fake identities tied together via ID chip in her cat. I always suspected one of the top U.S. youtube publisher of the ancient and modern around greater Naples of being a history teacher for K-12 schools of that Nato base. Sounded like such a nice gig, but now can see threats of sinister or sometimes buffoon operatives. P.S. not in the headlines for murder so much today because spys get the same reward for dead or alive (kidnapped into Russia):

Archaeologists digging near Binyamina in Israel uncovered two remarkably well-preserved Roman marble statues dating to roughly 1,700 years ago. They were found in a collection pit used for a Roman–Byzantine winepress. Rather than being displayed as originally intended, they had been carefully laid face-down in the pit, suggesting they were intentionally buried after the winepress ceased operation. The sculptures are marble protomes—heads and upper torsos—depicting figures from the Greco-Roman era. One statue bears a Greek inscription with the name “Lycurgus,” and researchers are trying to determine whether it represents Lycurgus of Sparta or Lycurgus of Athens, both well-known historical figures. The statues were first noticed when an unusual object emerged from the soil; further digging revealed marble instead of the usual pottery fragments found at such sites. Their quality suggests a considerable investment in imported art, likely originally displayed in a public building or an elite household in Caesarea, where similar portrait sculptures have been discovered — although such finds are rare, with the last comparable discovery dating back to the 1990s. The statues are now undergoing cleaning, conservation, and detailed study, including efforts to determine their original placement and the reason they were deliberately hidden for nearly seventeen centuries. 1,700-year-old Roman marble statues found buried in ancient winepress near Caesarea | Archaeology News Online Magazine

A marble bust of the Roman goddess Venus was discovered during beach restoration work on the Spanish beach of La Almadraba in Alicante. The bust dates from the 1st-2nd century AD. https://www.jpost.com/archaeology/article-899027

The article below about the use of mushrooms in antiquity made me think of Ötzi (pictured above) who lived 5300 years ago and whose mummified remains were found in 1991 on the Alps between Italy and Austria. https://www.theglobalist.com/mushrooms-from-ancient-foraging-to-modern-obsession/ Ötzi was found with two types of fungi. One fungus found was Fomes fomentarius (the tinder fungus or hoof fungus), which he carried as processed amadou for fire‑starting and ember transport. Also found was Fomitopsis betulina (the birch polypore), likely used for its medicinal and anti‑parasitic properties. Both fungi were found among his equipment. The Romans ate porcini, which they called boleti, a category that included Boletus edulis (modern porcini) and closely related species. Roman writers like Pliny and Apicius describe them as prized, rich, and luxurious mushrooms. They also ate truffles, which Roman authors such as Juvenal and Pliny describe as elite delicacies associated with wealth, aphrodisiac qualities, and extravagant banquets. Both porcini‑type boletes and truffles were staples of high‑status Roman cuisine, alongside Amanita caesarea and morels. According to the major Roman historians, Claudius was killed in AD 54 by a dish of poisoned mushrooms, almost certainly boleti. The plot was widely attributed to his wife Agrippina the Younger, who wanted her son Nero to succeed Claudius before Claudius’s own son Britannicus came of age.

After watching the virtual 3D tour of ancient Rome Guy posted, I watched this one on the baths. If this is how it looked, it must have been truly magnificent. Also, I was amazed that the narrative states the baths functioned for 300 years. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQV8BJFAkrM