guy

(Titus Pullo, while searching for his friend Vorenus after the Battle of Mutina, meets a grown Octavian.) Ray Stevenson, who played Pullo in the HBO series “Rome”,” has died at the age of 58. Too young. https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2023/05/22/entertainment/ray-stevenson-death/index.html

Here is an interesting article on the beer culture in Celtic France: https://www.seriouseats.com/beer-prehistory-celtic-beer-from-france https://www.worldhistory.org/article/223/beer-in-the-ancient-world/

We have had previous posts about the diet of the Legionaries and whether they were vegetarians (see post below). I think that most scholars now believe that the Legionaries’ diet was supplemented by local food sources, including meat and fish. The excellent Max Miller recently did a video on possible diets of the Roman army using ancient sources including letters found at Vindolanda:

I'll frame your question differently: How did power in both the Roman Republic and Empire evolve over a thousand year span? The dictatorship in Republican Rome was usually a short-lived position that had full authority to deal with a specific problem such as a war on internal dispute. Ultimate power still resided with the Senate and the plebeian tribunes, however. The two notable exceptions were Sulla and Julius Caesar. The Principate (starting with Augustus in 27 BCE) at least created the illusion of deference to the Senate.. Of note, however, emperors during the Principate still had ultimate power at some level. They would continue to amass both power and authority. Septimius Severus (ruled AD 193-211), for example, had 53 senators repressed (49 sentenced to death and 4 convicted to other penalties). Aurelian (ruled AD 270-275) was able to impose worship of Sol Invictus on the Empire. By the time of Diocletian (284) the Dominate became the form of imperial government. Older elites and the senate were supplanted by a more compliant equestrian order. This allowed the emperor to impose military reforms, impose religious uniformity, create a more entrenched and subservient bureaucracy, etc. without formal consent of the Senate.

https://www.eadt.co.uk/news/23528814.detectorists-targeted-baylham-roman-site-plead-guilty/

Excavation of a temple to Isis in Pompeii has yielded evidence of birds, possibly for sacrifice to Isis. (Isis from wall painting of tomb of Seti I) https://www.livescience.com/archaeology/romans/ancient-romans-sacrificed-birds-to-the-goddess-isis-burnt-bones-in-pompeii-reveal https://phys.org/news/2023-05-evidence-bird-sacrifices-goddess-isis.amp

Here are two short videos about some of the Roman treasures found in The British Museum and The Metropolitan Art Museum of New York by Professor Garrett Ryan:

A 2000-year-old financial record has been found in Jerusalem. https://www.haaretz.com/archaeology/2023-05-17/ty-article/israeli-archaeologists-find-2-000-year-old-financial-record-in-jerusalem/00000188-28eb-df77-afe9-69ef95060000 https://www.ynetnews.com/travel/article/rkzwcwfhn

Two skeletons have been found in Pompeii, presumably killed by the earthquakes that followed the eruption of Vesuvius in AD 79. https://phys.org/news/2023-05-skeletons-pompeii-excavations.amp

London has its newest museum that showcases the Roman Wall of London: https://www.ianvisits.co.uk/articles/londons-newest-museum-shows-off-a-huge-slice-of-roman-wall-62592/ https://knowyourlondon.wordpress.com/2020/08/31/roman-wall/ Here’s a nice video on finding the remnants of the Roman wall through London

A mid 2nd century AD Roman wreck containing marble has been found in Israel. Swimmer discovers precious marble cargo from 1,800-year-old Mediterranean shipwreck (msn.com) Storm Uncovers 1,800-year-old Shipwreck Carrying Rare Precious Cargo (newsweek.com)

Another book I'll add to my queue. This new book dealing with pandemics thru history shows that disease has played an important role in the arc of history. I found this statement from a critical review interesting: The idea that instability and chaos results in increased religiosity is not a new one. Several other books have suggested that Christianity offered comfort in this life and potentially the next. I can't remember the name of the book that stressed Christian "burial societies" (which helped to pay for funeral services) in Ancient Rome helped to solidify Christianity in Ancient Rome. This book looks interesting, nevertheless. Burial society - Wikipedia Are Germs the Main Characters in History? | The New Republic (Thanks to Lapman's Quarterly for bringing this to my attention)

Mérida, Spain is the best preserved Roman city in the Iberian Peninsula (see video below). A Roman purse dated to the late 3rd century AD has been discovered at the site. It is thought that the textiles used in the purse’s construction originated from Egypt: https://www.heritagedaily.com/2023/05/archaeologists-analyse-remains-of-roman-purse-found-in-merida/147279

Something not mentioned is “luck.” Octavian was a sickly child who was plagued by poor health throughout his life. Octavian managed to live a long life, however. This was no small feat in a world where there was such a high mortality rate. Octavian was also lucky to have early in his life two essential friends: Agrippa and Maecenas. Agrippa was crucial in his political advice and his military expertise in defeating Marc Antony. Agrippa was also crucial for many civil projects (aqueducts, sewage, baths, etc) as Octavian consolidated his power over Rome. Maecenas was the wealthy patron whose administrative skills were needed to consolidate Octavian’s power. He was also a patron of the arts (Virgil and Horace, for example) who helped to legitimize Octavian’s rule by creating the Augustan mythology. As mentioned, Octavian was lucky that Antony was either foolish or incompetent in military and political matters. Antony, for example, lost more than 30,000 needed and irreplaceable troops pursuing a foolish war against Parthia. Antony also alienated potential allies in both Rome and the military with his relationship with Cleopatra. So, “luck” also played an important role in Octavian’s successful rule over Rome.

We are familiar with the promiscuous Messalina, the third wife of Claudius. In fact, Caldrail recently linked an old movie based on her life (see below). Below is an interesting podcast on her life based on a soon-to-be released book by the classicist Honor Cargill-Martin. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-ancients/id1520403988?i=1000612571183

Here is another good short video by Classical Numismatics:

The Pantheon, originally a Roman pagan temple, now hosts celebrations for Pentecost, which marks the Holy Spirit descending on the Apostles and Jesus' followers in Jerusalem (Acts 2:1-31). This event occurs 50 days after Easter. Red rose petals represent the Holy Spirit's arrival.

Here is a good video by Maiorianus on the roles that two Germanic generals played (Ricimer in the Western Empire) and Aspar (in the Eastern Empire) during the 5th century. I knew about Ricimer but Aspar was little known to me. The Germanic general Aspar had a pernicious influence on the Eastern Empire for almost a half century during the reigns of Theodosius II and Marcian until Leo I had him killed in AD 471. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ricimer https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aspar#:~:text=As the general of a,the end%2C had him killed.

Here's a follow-up of this find. These are some of the more than thirty engraved gems discovered (so far): Here is a section of the main drain excavated: Ancient Romans Dropped Their Bling Down the Drain, Too - The New York Times (nytimes.com) Archaeologists Recover Trove of Ancient Roman Gems That Fell Down Bathhouse Drain in England (yahoo.com)

Illegal metal detectorists who pillage protected historical sites at night are known as “nighthawks.” The Colchester site has become the latest target. (Several threads have been written before about this important Roman city. See below.) https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-essex-65417465

It features well-preserved wooden wharf and quay structures https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/clw9g3d153no

There has long been speculation about trade between India and the Roman Empire (see threads below). A statuette of Buddha, possibly associated with an Indian trader, has been found in the city of Berenike (Berenice Troglodytica), an Ancient Egyptian seaport on the western shore of the Red Sea (see map below). (Two Indian coins minted in the 2nd century AD were found at the site) https://www.heritagedaily.com/2023/04/statue-depicting-buddha-found-in-ancient-egyptian-city/147109 Site of Berenike, Egypt on Red Sea

According to the Venerable Bede, writing in AD 731, the Picts originated in Scythia: http://irishhistorian.com/IrishHistoryLinks/Historical_Documents/Bede.html

(Scene from the movie “The Eagle”) A new DNA study now shows Picts were an indigenous peoples, not an immigrant tribe in the British Isles. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-65423713 There have been previous thread on the Picts: