guy

This is a great video on the Emperor Majorian, Rome’s last hope (reign 457-61 AD). According to historian Edward Gibbon, Majorian "presents the welcome discovery of a great and heroic character, such as sometimes arise, in a degenerate age, to vindicate the honour of the human species". The Encyclopedia Britannica likewise calls him "the only man to hold that office [i.e. the imperial throne] in the 5th century who had some claim to greatness." https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Majorian

Great video explaining use of carbon dating and solar flare events in deterring the exact year of the Viking landing (1021 AD) in Newfoundland: https://aeon.co/videos/a-viking-axe-struck-a-newfoundland-tree-in-the-year-1021-heres-how-scientists-proved-it

A dagger is one of hundreds of objects uncovered on the ancient battlefield. Archäologischer Dienst Graubünden Interesting find by a hobby archaeologist confirming a little-known skirmish between the Romans and a local Raetian tribe. The Raeti were a confederation of Alpine tribes, whose language and culture may have been related to those of Etruscans. (Wikipedia) “Hundreds of artifacts littering a Roman battle site in Switzerland have been uncovered thanks to the persistence of an amateur archeologist. The finds – including a dagger, well-preserved slingshot stones, coins, nails and part of a shield – are assumed to have been left on the battlefield after a clash between Romans and a local tribe at around 15BC.“ Lucas Schmid, who volunteers for the local archaeological association, uncovered the remains using a metal detector at a remote southeast corner of Switzerland, near the Crap-Ses gorge between the towns of Tiefencastel and Cunter.” “It is assumed that a battle took place between Roman forces and a local Rhaetian tribe in what is now canton Graubünden.“ https://euronewssource.com/amateur-archeologist-uncovers-roman-battle-site/ https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/amateur-archeologist-uncovers-roman-battle-site/47074852 https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhaetian_people

A nice video from the British Museum:

Hierapolis, Turkey looks to be a beautiful Hellenized city known for its hot springs and health spas during the Roman Empire. The discoveries of ancient houses adds to our knowledge of this marvelous site: A view of the ancient Greek city of Hierapolis in Pamukkale, Denizli, southwestern Turkey, Nov. 4, 2021. “There was news for archaeologists in Turkey to celebrate this week after researchers revealed that the remains of two houses from the Hellenistic period had been discovered during excavations this year in the ancient Greek city of Hierapolis.” https://www.dailysabah.com/arts/ancient-hellenistic-houses-discovered-in-turkeys-hierapolis/news

This is one of Professor Kenneth Harl’s marvelous courses at Wondrium (formally known as Great Courses). He is a fantastic lecturer. He shares his vast knowledge in an entertaining way. I have seen almost all his courses. I recommend highly all his courses, especially Rome and the Barbarians, The Fall of the Pagans and the Origins of Medieval Christianity, Barbarian Empires of the Steppes, among others. Professor Harl is a great teacher (and a respected numismatist). I recommend watching any of his courses.

This is a thread from earlier this year of the chariot that was found near the slave room.

Another poignant, but important discovery in Pompeii: a slave room. “In the latest series of excavations by the Archaeological Park of Pompeii, alongside the Public Prosecutor’s Office of Torre Annunziata, archaeologists found a room near to where the chariot was discovered, that is believed to be the humble lodgings of the slaves who carried out the everyday work in the Roman villa, including the maintenance and preparation of the chariot.“ https://www.heritagedaily.com/2021/11/slave-room-discovered-at-pompeii-villa/141955?amp

There continue to be great findings in Aizanoi, Turkey. It has one of the best preserved ancient temples in the Anatolia region. https://www.heritagedaily.com/2021/11/archaeologists-uncover-statues-of-aphrodite-and-dionysus-in-turkey/141927?amp Previous funds in that area: Be sure to check out the YouTube video below https://youtube.com/shorts/ZDUQosmaRik?feature=share

This is an interesting commentary on the Roman presence in Britain from The Guardian. Roman Britain was not some bleak and dreary outpost that quickly collapsed after the central government in Rome suffered setbacks. Roman Britain was, instead, a flourishing and luxurious community that withstood many of the pressures that assailed the central government. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/nov/05/the-guardian-view-on-roman-britain-a-constantly-shifting-picture

Interesting article. I have a poor understanding of the history of this section of the Empire, despite the Roman presence there for more than four centuries. What the article refers to as the “Pannonian revolt,” I know as the Great Illyrian revolt. (It’s also referred to as the Pannonian-Dalmatian revolt. The Romans referred to the conflict as Bellum Batonianum or Batonian War named after to leaders of the revolt.) Here is a wonderful video on the conflict The geography in that area, which includes the Danube river, is confusing for me. Map of the modern Dunube river and surrounding territories. For me, at least, the difficulty is distinguishing between the two provinces of Pannonia and Dalmatia. Together, these two provinces formed the previous province of Illyricum, which had been divided sometime after the Great Illyrian revolt (6-9 AD). Here’s a great video explaining the history of Roman Pannonia The article mentions four legions in Pannonia. The video above describes six of the legions on the frontier: Vindobona : Vienna, Austria Carnuntum : halfway between Vienna and Bratislava, Austria Aquincum: Budapest, Hungary Brigetio: Szőny Hungary Singidunum : Belgrade, Serbia Vinimdacium: Kostalac, Eastern Serbia

I wasn’t able to log-on. I’m not sure the internet was the problem. Maybe next week.

I will try to log on tomorrow. (The lecture is 7 AM Pacific Coast time.)

(Scene from The Eagle) Here’s an excellent podcast on Legion IX by Dr. Simon Elliot. The last mention of the legion, which was made up of 5,500 officers and men, is on a gateway in York, which dates from AD108. The slab of stone now sits in York Museum https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-ancients/id1520403988?i=1000506341457

Thanks. I saw the agenda. The lecture on Saxon Shore forts looks interesting. I’ll see tomorrow whether my log-in works. I briefly mentioned the Saxon Shore fort in Richborough. It is thought that Carausius dismantled the Triumphal Arch in Richborough for building material to make a Saxon Shore fort.

“The theater and the commode date back to around the second century BC, and were used until the fifth century AD, said Akin Ersoy, an archaeologist at Izmir’s Katip Celebi University and head of the excavation team. Touting "unexpected finds" during the excavations, an Izmir Metropolitan Municipality statement cited Ersoy as saying this is the first time such a toilet facility inside a stage building has been found.“ Izmir, Turkey was the prosperous ancient city of Smyrna. In 133 BC, the last king of the Attalid dynasty of Pergamum died without an heir. He bequeathed his kingdom, which included Smyrna, to the Roman Republic. https://www.aa.com.tr/en/culture/dig-in-turkey-finds-theater-commode-in-ancient-city-of-smyrna/2411192 https://greekreporter.com/2022/09/04/restrooms-bc-theater-smyrna/

“A three-dimensional reconstruction has depicted how a significant Scottish Pictish fort may have looked more than 1,000 years ago. Images of Burghead Fort in Moray have been created based on excavations by the University of Aberdeen.“ “It has long been known that Burghead was home to a Pictish settlement but it was thought that the 19th century development of the modern town had eroded most traces of this important period of its history. But over the last five years, a very different picture has emerged and the digs have yielded some of the most significant Pictish items and building remains ever. Professor Gordon Noble, who led the dig, said: “The scale of houses and buildings we have discovered evidence of show that this was a densely populated and important Pictish site.“ https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-59121017 https://www.originalfm.com/news/north-east-scotland-news/scotlands-largest-pictish-fort-reconstructed-in-new-images/ Nice video on the Pictish presence in Scotland: A nice podcast on the Picts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/in-our-time/id73330895?i=1000394608647 The Picts have been recently discussed:

An interesting discovery: A team of archaeologists have discovered a previously unknown Roman sanctuary in the ancient city of Doliche, located in south-eastern Turkey. Excavations are still at an early stage, with the deity worshiped in the temple yet to be determined, but it has been suggested that the temple could have been a sanctuary for the worship of a Roman emperor cult. The discovery underlines the fact that Doliche is a place where religious developments in the Middle East of antiquity can be studied particularly well: in the past, the Münster team uncovered the sanctuary of Jupiter Dolichenus outside the town, a subterranean sanctuary of the god Mithras and a large early Christian basilica dating from the 4th century AD. https://www.heritagedaily.com/2021/10/archaeologists-reveal-roman-sanctuary-in-ancient-doliche/141821?amp The earlier discovery of a Christian basilica: The ancient village of Doliche was a significant place of worship of the Syrian Baal. After the conquest of the city and the incorporation into the province of Syria in the last third of the 1st century AD by the Romans, the cult was transferred to Jupiter and spread as a soldier god Iupiter Dolichenus throughout the Roman Empire. After the destruction of the main sanctuary in Doliche by the Sassanid king Shapur I. mid of the 3rd century AD, the cult went down. The city persisted, however. With the flowering of Christianity, a basilica was built. https://www.alaturka.info/en/turkey-country/southeastern/4784-doliche-christian-basilica-and-bath-discovered-in-turkey

In a previous post, this gladiator funerary monument from Ephesus was mentioned: Epitaph of Palumbus. In a framed field a relief representing a bearded, heavily-armed gladiator holding a palm branch; at right a dog; inscription on the frame below the relief: Ὑµνὶς Παλούµβῳ | ἰδίῳ ἀνδρὶ µνείας | χάριν I asked Dr. Thomas Scanlon, Professor Emeritus of Classics from the University of California, to take a closer look. Here is his reply below (with permission): Thank you, Dr. Tom, for shedding light on this fascinating and touching funerary monument. https://www.sciencebuzz.org/museum/ask/coleman/graveyard

I’m amazed that the vibrant green color has survived after nearly 2000 years.

An exciting discovery of fragments of an 8-foot tall statue of Hadrian was found in Alabanda, Turkey. https://www.archaeology.org/news/9990-210914-turkey-hadrian-statue Wonderful video stream: https://m.yenisafak.com/en/video-gallery/news/archaeologists-unearth-statue-of-roman-emperor-hadrian-in-ancient-city-in-turkey-3580050

It is interesting that the coin found at the site is from Carausius (reign 286-293 AD). (Thank you Orange Julius from cointalk.com for help with identification.) It is thought that it was probably Carausius who dismantled the triumphal arch to build a Saxon Shore fort at Richborough to protect from invading barbarians. This was one of many forts in the Saxon Shore system on both sides of the Channel to defend against the invading Saxons, Franks, and others. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saxon_Shore

A reconstruction of the Richborough triumphal arch as it may have looked from the waterfront in about AD 120. © Historic England (illustration by Peter Lorimer) Bachground: Richborough (Rutupiae) was an important port city for the Roman conquest and control of Britain. It is the start of the Roman Watling street. Because of changing coastlines, the site is now more than two miles inland from the coast. Richborough is Britain’s only known site of a Roman triumphal arch. The arch is thought to have been in existence from 85 AD to 275 AD. It has been suggested that that the Italian Carrara marble and it’s inscriptions would not have survived well the British climate of snow and humidity, however. (SEE English Heritage volunteer Jenny below in video.) The triumphal arch would have greeted disembarking Romans as they left what was once a harbor city to travel inland. This would have been a powerful and symbolic entranceway to Britain for the arriving Romans. https://theisleofthanetnews.com/2021/10/29/holding-cell-for-gladiators-and-wild-animals-uncovered-in-excavation-of-richborough-roman-amphitheatre/ https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-kent-59079284

https://todayuknews.com/science/archaeology-roman-statues-found-underneath-the-site-of-a-norman-church-in-stoke-mandeville/amp/

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-02948-y