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Where did Carthaginian General Hannibal cross the Alps with his elephants in 218 BC? This study concludes that Col de la Traversette (pictured above and below) is the most plausible route Hannibal used to cross the Alps, based on detailed energy‑expenditure modeling for soldiers, horses, and elephants. Note: The Col de la Traversette is a mountain pass, not a peak. It’s a high crossing in the Cottian Alps, at about 2,950 meters (9,678 feet) above sea level, right on the modern French–Italian border. A pass is a natural corridor or saddle between mountains that allows travelers to cross from one valley to another. Traversette is particularly steep and narrow, which is why it matches ancient descriptions of Hannibal’s crossing: snow at the summit, a treacherous descent, and a gorge where ambushes could occur. Researchers developed a comprehensive bioenergetic and movement-ecology model for Hannibal’s army, including infantry, cavalry, and elephants. This model thoughtfully combines physiological energy consumption with terrain slope details, elevation profiles, and historically accurate marching speeds, offering a detailed understanding of their logistical capabilities. They then applied this model to four proposed Alpine passes—Col de la Traversette, Col du Clapier, Col de Montgenèvre, and Col du Mont Cenis—running full‑army simulations to estimate total energy expenditure across each route. By combining ancient sources from Polybius and Livy with modern terrain analysis, the team showed that Traversette required the least total energy and was the only pass short and efficient enough for elephants to cross without starving. Traversette is 11–19% more energy-efficient than the other options — a significant advantage when moving elephants and tens of thousands of men through snowy and steep landscapes. That's why only Traversette makes it possible for elephants to successfully cross the terrain described by Polybius. The model’s favorite route closely matches the descriptions kept by Polybius and Livy, mentioning a narrow gorge near the top, a high pass covered in snow, a steep and risky descent into Italy, a region with pale or “white” rock, and an exciting ambush spot that made the most of the tight terrain. These story details seem to fit best with the physical features of the Cottian Alps, especially the high elevation and unique geology of the Col de la Traversette, which at nearly 9,700 feet, aligns perfectly with the old accounts of snow, visibility into Italy, and the tough descent that made Hannibal’s army create a new path for the elephants. https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2612764123

Once again, modern DNA studies (see above) have clarified history. The latest results have helped clarify a 16th-century Renaissance controversy. The studies proved both Medici brothers — Giovanni (d. 1562) and Francesco (d. 1587) — died of malaria, not poisoning. A new ancient DNA analysis of their skeletal remains, published in iScience, extracted parasite DNA from rib samples taken from their tombs in the Medici Chapels in Florence. Giovanni carried a novel strain of Plasmodium falciparum, the deadliest malaria parasite. Francesco carried both P. falciparum and P. malariae, confirming he died from malaria rather than the long‑rumored poisoning by his rival brother, Cardinal Ferdinando de Medici. Both brothers were prominent members of the Medici dynasty, the ruling family of Renaissance Florence, whose power shaped Italian politics, banking, and culture for centuries. Giovanni de’ Medici (1543–1562) was the teenage son of Duke Cosimo I, groomed for high office, while his older brother Francesco I de’ Medici (1541–1587) eventually became Grand Duke of Tuscany. Their deaths became legendary because they happened suddenly. For generations, rumors suggested that the brothers were murdered rather than dying from illness. Giovanni’s death at nineteen was thought to be caused by poisoning or court intrigue, especially since his mother and younger brother died simultaneously. Francesco’s death was even more controversial: he and his Venetian wife, Bianca Cappello, died within hours of each other, fueling centuries of speculation that Francesco’s ambitious brother, Cardinal Ferdinando de’ Medici, poisoned them to gain power. These stories became part of the politically motivated Medici legends and were perpetuated by historians for 400 years. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/archaeology/medici-renaissance-murder-mystery-solved-b3006418.html?callback=in&code=ZJGZYZU5NTGTODQYMC0ZODMYLTG5NJGTMWUZYWM2ZGRJYTBL&state=947537500622478ca9c080907faae770

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

Archaeologists at Heraclea Sintica in south-western Bulgaria have uncovered an extremely rare Roman bladder-stone surgical instrument—a lithoulkos—found beside the Temple of Hercules, offering direct physical evidence of advanced medical practices at the site. The find dates to the third century AD. Darn. That looks painful. https://www.heritagedaily.com/2026/07/ancient-bladder-stone-surgery-tool-discovered-at-bulgarian-roman-city/158530

Deversorium in Boardwalk emere volo. (Google Translate is my friend.)

Researchers in England used a 3D printer to recreate a playable version of Ludus Latrunculorum, the strategic board game that was widely played in Roman Britain. Their model is based on a carved stone board found at Vindolanda, a Roman fort near Hadrian’s Wall that housed several thousand people between the late first and early third centuries C.E. Although only a fraction of the site has been excavated, Vindolanda has produced an extensive archaeological record, including multiple gaming boards that shed light on everyday life. The particular board used for the reconstruction was discovered in 2019, buried between a bathhouse drain and a workshop wall beside a third‑century road. Broken into five pieces, it appears to have been reused as a flagstone, later incorporated into the foundations of a farm. Its location outside the fort suggests that civilians—including women and children—played the game, not just soldiers. Vindolanda itself seems to have been a center for ancient gaming culture, with more than a dozen sets of Ludus Latrunculorum found there alone. Visitors to Vindolanda will be able to try Ludus Latrunculorum themselves at the Roman Army Museum, using the newly recreated board. Although no complete rulebook survives, scattered descriptions suggest the game worked somewhat like checkers, with two players attempting to capture each other’s pieces by trapping them between their own. Ancient writers mention the pastime under several names, including “the game of little brigands,” “the game of little robbers,” and “soldiers,” reflecting its long‑standing association with strategy and conflict. https://share.google/o2uh98kIlD1ObCNTj

East West Rail’s archaeological trenching has uncovered a cluster of Roman‑period finds—notably coins, pottery, and a Late Iron Age vase—during early works for the new Oxford‑to‑Cambridge rail line. (Pictured above is a coin minted from the reign of Carausius AD 286-293.) Archaeologists are opening 1,000 exploratory trenches—with 6,000 more scheduled—along the future rail corridor to document buried heritage before construction begins. Each trench measures roughly 50 m long, 2 m wide, and 0.5 m deep (about 164 ft × 6.5 ft × 1.6 ft). https://www.thisisoxfordshire.co.uk/news/26246306.east-west-rail-unearth-roman-finds-1-740-year-ago/

New technology finally allows deciphering Assyrian tablets without breaking their seal. A new ENCI mobile CT‑scanner has been used to read sealed Old Assyrian cuneiform letters from Kültepe/Kaneš without breaking their clay envelopes. ENCI is a specialized mobile high‑resolution CT scanner (pictured above) designed specifically to read sealed cuneiform tablets without breaking their clay envelopes. It is the first device engineered for non‑destructive imaging of Old Assyrian tablets still encased in their original clay coverings. The Old Assyrian letters (pictured below) were written on a clay tablet, then wrapped in a second layer of clay — the envelope — which was sealed and stamped. Opening it destroys the seal, the archaeological context, and sometimes the tablet itself. The creators of the sealed tablets were Old Assyrian merchants, families, and scribes living in the early 2nd millennium BCE, roughly 2000–1750 BCE, during the period known as the Old Assyrian Trading Colonies. These people lived in Kültepe/Kaneš, in central Anatolia, and were part of a vast commercial network linking Assur (in northern Iraq) with dozens of Anatolian cities. They wrote letters on clay tablets and sealed them in clay envelopes to protect contracts, loans, shipments, and family correspondence. https://www.nature.com/articles/s40494-026-02568-7.pdf

There’re have been a few previous posts on the Roman baths. (Pictured above is the recreation of the Roman bath complex in Bath, England.) Below is a documentary by the fabulous Professor Darius Arya on “Why Bathhouses were the Heart of Roman Culture”

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

Augustine was a North African Christian bishop and thinker from the late Roman world who became one of the most influential writers in Western history. Born in 354 CE, he spent years searching for truth through philosophy before converting to Christianity and eventually becoming bishop of Hippo. He wrote powerful works like Confessions and The City of God, where he explored human desire, sin, grace, and the nature of God. His ideas shaped Christian theology for more than a thousand years and still influence how people think about the self, morality, and faith today. Two previously unknown sermons by St. Augustine were identified in a 12th‑century manuscript (pictured above) held in the Diocesan Library of Pelplin (Poland). Scholars Christian Tornau and Clemens Weidmann argue that the texts are authentic based on linguistic, stylistic, and theological analysis. The sermons address 1 Samuel 28, where King Saul consults the Witch of Endor and the dead prophet Samuel appears. The sermons appear to be delivered on two different days—Sunday and the following Wednesday—showing Augustine thinking through the problem with his congregation in real time. Note: 1 Samuel 28 is the famous biblical episode known as the Witch (Medium) of Endor, where King Saul, abandoned by God and desperate for guidance, seeks out a forbidden necromancer to summon the dead prophet Samuel. Augustine thought 1 Samuel 28 was worrisome because it deals with forbidden magic, demonic deception, divine sovereignty, and the limits of human knowledge. The story was considered “dangerous” by Augustine because it can be misread in ways that justify magic, empower demons, or undermine God’s authority. Augustine thought this story was risky because people might get the wrong idea and think magic is real, demons can pretend to be holy people, or that God would speak through something He clearly forbids. The scene is confusing and easy to misread, and Augustine worried that ordinary believers might start trusting fortune‑tellers or trying forbidden spiritual shortcuts instead of turning to God. https://arkeonews.net/two-newly-discovered-sermons-by-st-augustine-tackle-a-dangerous-biblical-mystery/#google_vignette

A small rock‑cut Roman sanctuary dedicated to Minerva has been identified within an ancient sandstone quarry at Campos del Paraíso (Cuenca, Spain). The study, published in June 2026, indicates that the shrine was carved in the late 2nd century CE by Plotius Vigor, a member of a prominent Hispano‑Roman family. The shrine is an aedicula — a miniature temple façade — 24 inches wide and 20 inches tall, carved directly into the sandstone quarry wall. Minerva appears as a front‑facing armed goddess, wearing a long tunic and a crested helmet while holding a spear in her right hand and resting her left hand on an oval shield; she also bears the aegis across her chest, and an owl—her traditional companion symbolizing wisdom—stands beside her, making the identification unmistakably consistent with classical Roman portrayals of Minerva and her Greek counterpart Athena. The inscription beneath the relief is brief, formulaic, and typical of rural Roman cult sites. According to the published study, it reads: Minervae dominae — “To Minerva the Lady,” a respectful divine epithet. Plotius — The dedicator, identified as Plotius Vigor, a member of a wealthy Hispano‑Roman family. cum suo comitatu — “with his retinue/companions,” meaning he made the dedication together with the group under his authority (family, workers, or dependents). Recreation of the rock-cut sanctuary: https://elpais.com/cultura/2026-06-22/hallado-un-santuario-romano-dedicado-a-la-diosa-minerva-en-una-cantera-de-cuenca.html https://allthatsinteresting.com/campos-del-paraiso-spain-roman-minerva-shrine

Here is an interesting short video on the Albarracín Aqueduct in Spain. First the background information: The Albarracín–Cella aqueduct was basically one of the boldest underground water projects the Romans ever built in Spain. It ran for 25 km (about 15.5 miles), and almost the whole thing—98% of it—was hidden below ground. The system included a 5 km (3.1‑mile) tunnel and roughly 140 vertical shafts, all dug in the 1st century BCE to move water from one river basin to another and bring it to the small settlement at Cella. It probably wasn’t meant for a big city’s drinking supply but more for industrial and farming work, like fulling, metalworking, or mills. Here’s another video on the aqueduct:

Archaeologists in Aspendos (Antalya, Turkey) uncovered a rare Roman mosaic depicting Eurymedon, the personified river god of the ancient Eurymedon (modern Köprüçay). The mosaic dates from AD 200-250 and was exceptionally preserved. The high‑quality Roman mosaic shows a young Eurymedon, a youthful river god—an unusually local and specific depiction in Anatolian mosaic art. River gods appear in Greco‑Roman art, but local, identifiable river deities in mosaics are rare—making this depiction important. https://www.turkiyetoday.com/culture/rare-river-god-mosaic-uncovered-in-turkiyes-ancient-city-of-aspendos-3222205

An intact late-Roman sarcophagus has been unearthed in the coastal town of Cavtat, southern Croatia. It was discovered during excavations at part of the necropolis of the Roman colony of Epidaur. It dates to the 4th-5th centuries AD. It’s intact and in situ—still in its original position and sealed since antiquity. Epidaur was a Roman municipium and later a colony, likely founded in the 1st century BC during the wave of Romanization along the Dalmatian coast. It sat on a protected bay, making it a natural harbor and an administrative hub. https://www.heritagedaily.com/2026/06/rare-intact-roman-sarcophagus-unearthed-in-croatia/158407