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Winged Cupids dyeing textiles on a frieze at the House of Vettii in Pompeii. In Pompeii there is a project to bring back the techniques of dyeing fabric of the ancient Roman city. They contacted master dyer Claudio Cutuli from Umbria for his input into the research. https://www.dailysabah.com/life/pompeii-brings-back-fabric-dyeing-to-show-life-before-the-eruption/news Here’s an excellent video on the latest findings at the House of Vettii in Pompeii, including the frescoes of scenes of daily life depicting Cupids dyeing fabric, preparing grapes for wine, making perfumes, and creating floral garlands (10:20):

Here’s a nice article on the discovery of this mosaic made of shells and coral. https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/style/rome-palatine-hill-archaeology-discovery/index.html

The Scythians were a nomadic Steppe tribe. They were an equestrian nomadic people. They were well known for being skilled mounted bowmen. They were known stating in the 9th century BCE until they were replaced by the Sarmatians in the 3rd century BCE. https://phys.org/news/2023-12-analysis-ancient-scythian-leather-samples.html Here is a comprehensive video on the Scythians. The women were known for their military skills and tattoos:

Elon Musk, while visiting Italian PM Giorgia Meloni in Rome, shared this short view of the Pantheon on X (Twitter): https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/watch-elon-musk-visits-the-pantheon-in-rome-shares-incredible-view-of-the-city-at-night-4690716/amp/1

I wonder how developed for tourism the battlefield site could be since it was only recently that the location was determined (Kalkriese). Plus, the battle extended over a 15 mile corridor.

A recent excavation near the colosseum produced a luxury home and a wonderful mosaic. https://www.independent.co.uk/tv/culture/ancient-roman-home-unearthed-italy-b2464005.html https://www.euronews.com/culture/2023/12/14/archaeologists-unearth-luxurious-roman-home-with-unparalleled-mosaic-near-colosseum?utm_source=yahoo&utm_campaign=feeds_articles2022&utm_medium=referral

Below is the fragment of sundial discovered to the left and its imagined appearance in the towns forum to the right. Interesting question. I had never thought about sundials before watching the video, especially conical sundials on a column (see 25:25 of the second video). It is interesting that the sundial would have been prominently displayed in the open space of the forum for easy visibility and away from the other buildings’ shadows that would have interfered with the sundial. I imagine that there would have been a platform for easier visibility. Another article on the discoveries: https://www.heritagedaily.com/2023/12/new-study-changes-assumptions-of-roman-backwater-town/149927

Thank you for bringing this ongoing research to my attention about the Interamna Lirenas Project. Two aspects of this find stand out to me: First, the finding of a roofed enclosed theater was unusual in Ancient Rome. (One suggestion that this theater had a roof is the presence of gutters on the side of the building.) According to the video, there are around 100 known Greek and Roman theaters in the Peninsula of Italy, but only ten are thought to have been covered. Second, the finding of an inscribed sundial at the site was absolutely fascinating. I learned a lot about precision time keeping in Ancient Rome (both sundials and water clocks). I had never thought about it but I learned from the videos below that the Roman hour during the summer was about 80 minutes; the winter, 40 minutes. This sundial was a nice bit of self promotion. According to the video, there are 600 sundials known from Roman history. About thirty are inscribed and less than half of them have a person’s name inscribed on them. According to the video, the inscription on this sundial reads “Marcus Novius Tubula, son of Marcus, tribune of the plebs who donated this from his own funds.” This sundial dates to the end of the 1st century BCE to the start of the 1st century AD. The office of tribune at this time was held in Rome. It appears from the presence of another inscription with a similar name at Interamna Lineras that this man was probably a local benefactor. This individual possibly made a successful career in Rome and he wanted to celebrate his success with his home town. A short summary video of the find: A more thorough video on the find with emphasis on the roofed theater, numismatic finds, and the inscribed sundial. An excellent video on timekeeping in Ancient Rome.

Thank you for reading my post. I must disagree, however, with some of your points. I agree, for example, that only a small population in the ancient world had any level of literacy. Among the literate (not exclusively the ruling class elite), the knowledge and familiarity of the great Latin and Greek texts was essential. Historian and numismatist Guy de la Bédoyère mentions that even soldiers were frequently at least familiar with these texts. In fact, the military character in Roman comedies was distinguished by the way he would recite quotations (see 11:30 of the video below). As you mentioned, only a few could read. The fact that the writing was on the bottom of the amphora and not easily visible means that it was probably not meant for either the merchants or consumers. Maybe the text was copied for only the amusement of the amphora manufacturer or perhaps it was written by someone to practice and perfect his Latin. Guy de la Bédoyère has done some interesting and insightful work on deciphering an inscription on the reverse of a medallion of Carausius found in the 1930s. (Carausius was the usurper who ruled Britain and Northern Gaul, coming to power in AD 286.) On the reverse of Carausius medals was “RSP” and “INPCDA.” These inscriptions were left without an adequate translation for more than a half century. In 1997 Bédoyère was able to translate the significance of this inscription through his familiarity with Virgil’s “Ecologue.” (Virgil was the Roman Augustan poet who published “Eclogues” or “Bucolics” around 39-38 BCE, more than two centuries before Carausius.) “RSR” was seen to represent as “Redeunt Saturnia Regna;’ “INPCDA” was “Iam Nova Progenies Caelo Demittitur Alto.” This passage is found in Virgil’s “Ecolgues” and means “The Saturnian kingdoms return (or The Golden Age returns), now a new generation is let down from heaven above.” (See page 189 of the article below.) Bédoyère notes that fluency and understanding of Latin and Greek were much more common even in more recent years than today. In fact, he states, “A 1689 medallion of William and Mary issued to commemorate the restoration of the church carries the reverse legend ‘Caelo delabitur alto (he comes down from the heaven above)’ a direct allusion to [Ecolgues] IV, 7.” In conclusion, our lack of familiarity with poetry little more than a century old should not cause us to underestimate the ancient appreciation of poetry several centuries old, even if only superficially. Thanks, again, for reading my post. Bedoyere_2005.pdf (mom.fr)

Split, Croatia was the retirement seaside palace of Diocletian in AD 305. Roman mosaics and baths have been recently found at the palace grounds. https://archaeologymag.com/2023/12/roman-baths-and-mosaics-under-split-city-museum-croatia/ Modern recreation of Diocletian’s Palace.

https://news.rthk.hk/rthk/en/component/k2/1731469-20231209.htm?spTabChangeable=0 https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/bakery-prison-uncovered-ancient-romes-pompeii-2023-12-08/ Here is a video on the find: https://youtu.be/jFnKLBe3NY8?si=ec65TVuokU1JN6V4

The controversy surrounding an ancient “curse tablet” continues (see previous post). Originally thought to be a lead “curse tablet” written in ancient Hebrew 3,000 years ago, some researchers suggest it might be really just a fishing weight with no discernible writing at al. It had been suggested that it was “the earliest proto-alphabetic Hebrew text — including the name God, “YHWH” — ever.” https://www.livescience.com/archaeology/curse-tablet-with-oldest-hebrew-name-of-god-is-actually-a-fishing-weight-experts-argue

Ceramic roof tiles attributed to the Greek King Antiochus IV (reign 175-164 BCE) were found in Jerusalem this week. It was his persecution of the Jews of Judea and Samaria that led to the rebellion of the Jewish Maccabees and the Hanukkah celebration. https://www.aninews.in/news/world/middle-east/roof-tiles-found-in-jerusalem-traced-to-greek-king-antiochus-iv-of-chanukah-fame20231206150253/ https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antiochus_IV_Epiphanes

Two ancient Roman statues from the second century AD were destroyed by a lunatic in Israel in October. Strangely, he was acquitted. His defense was unusual: https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/travel/article/tourist-smashes-statues-israel-scli-intl/index.html https://m.jpost.com/israel-news/article-776757

Here is an excellent video by Darius Arya of the finds on display:

Here are videos on the find:

We have had several previous posts on the Teutoburg disaster. Here is an excellent article by Professor Jo Ball that reassesses Publius Quinctilius Varus who commanded the doomed Romans in AD 9. He was possibly not the incompetent general as previously believed. Dr Ball contends that Varus, in fact, “was an experienced commander and governor who had served irregular wars and managed complex diplomatic situations, responding effectively to rebellions when called upon.” https://antigonejournal.com/2023/11/varus-teutoburg-disaster/

Here is an interesting (mostly balanced) view about the return of the Elgin marbles: https://amp.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/dec/01/the-parthenon-marbles-row-is-about-nationalist-politics-the-sculptures-are-just-a-facade

There have been many posts in the past about the controversial Elgin marbles and their return to Greece (see below). Once again, they are in the news. Earlier this week British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak abruptly cancelled his scheduled meeting with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis after Mitsotakis appeared on British TV and demanded the repatriation of the statues and frieze panels that once decorated the Parthenon. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-67549044.amp

Here is an interesting article by the classical historian Charles Freeman reviewing the contributions of the Greeks to Roman society. Although a nice summary, I might have a few (mostly) minor quibbles with the article. In his section about Galen, for example, he writes, “His distasteful party piece was severing the squealing nerves of a pig and the restoring them in front of a public audience.” If by “severing the nerves” Freeman meant ligating (tying off) the nerve to temporarily paralyzing it, I would agree. Usually sever means to cut, however. I doubt Galen could cut a nerve and then perform microsurgery to repair the nerve to a functional state. Then, Freeman describes the events of Hypatia’s death in very simplistic terms: “Hypatia’s death is often seen as marking the end of a pagan learning that welcomed students of whatever beliefs.” I’m not sure of the meaning of “whatever beliefs,” but it wasn’t a tolerant and accepting view, for sure. His final statement is absolutely ridiculous: “These free-traveling Greek intellectuals were replaced by monks whose world was inevitably narrower.” I would remind Mr. Freeman that these same monks he disparages also preserved much of classical thinking after the fall of the Roman Empire. Alan Cameron in his book “The Last Pagans of Rome” wrote: “[T]he main focus of much modern scholarship has been on [the last Pagans'] supposedly stubborn resistance to Christianity. Rather surprisingly, they have been transformed from the arrogant, philistine land-grabbers most of them were into fearless champions of senatorial privilege, literature lovers, and aficionados of classical (especially Greek) culture as well as the traditional cults. The dismantling of this romantic myth is one of the main goals of this book." Overall, this is a good article and his book looks interesting. Some of his historical examples are either wrong or distorted, however. https://antigonejournal.com/2023/11/greek-intellectuals-roman-empire/

The Roman spa at San Casciano dei Bagni in Tuscany has been the source of many new discoveries (see below). Archaeologists have found a marble statue of Apollo Sauroctonos, also known as the “Lizard Killer.” https://www.heritagedaily.com/2023/11/statue-of-apollo-lizard-killer-found-at-etruscan-and-roman-spa/149706 More information about Apollo Sauroctonos: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_Sauroctonos

A large number of animal sacrifices, including horses, have been found at the Iron Age site of Casas del Turuñuelo at Badajoz, Spain, in the western Iberian Peninsula. These sacrifices were found in a building site from the late 5th century BCE. https://www.heritagedaily.com/2023/11/analysis-reveals-rituals-of-mass-sacrifice-of-horses-and-other-animals/149677 Badajoz, Spain

There have been many previous posts on Garum (see below), the famous fermented fish sauce of the ancient world. Max Miller has attempted to recreate (again) this unusual dish:

Here’s another good article on the “Five facts about the newly-opened Vatican necropolis.” https://news.artnet.com/news/5-facts-about-newly-opened-vatican-necropolis-2397775