[External Blog]

Thanks for pointing this out so I could do the same. And I also uploaded today a new post on my blog. Although my blog is only in German, at least the new post has loads of pictures :-)

[Things to do in Londinium]

I discovered an iPhone/iPad app called Streetmuseum Londinium (not sure if it's available on Android).  It's published by the Museum of London, so excellent credentials, and is free.

This was mentioned also on RAT and when I asked if it is available for Android also they said so far it is only available for iPhone. Maybe you should write to the musum to ask if they will publish it for Android also.

[Has the UNRV format changed or is it just me?]

Finally I see new topics marked in bold letters. With the old forum I could see only the posts within the last 24 hours but sometimes I couldn't check the forum for more than a day and then I got lost what's new and what not.

[Interview with Klingan]

Interesting interview. I was delighted to see something new again on the starting page.

 

And good to see you are back, Viggen

[The Colosseum in colours]

The text next to the video translates as follows:

 

The Colosseum in colors

 

Cinnabar red, blue, pink, ocher, shade of green. Shades which make up decorations with vegetal motifs, symbolic figures and inscriptions. The Colosseum is in colors. This extraordinary find appears in the intermediate gallery at the third level of the Colosseum, approx. 30 m above street level, during restoration works of the Sovrintendenza ai Beni culturali.

 

It was for sure that such a prestigeous building such as the Colosseum must have been splendidly decorated the more it is great that they found now traces of these decorations, esp. when taking the general bad state of this building in consideration.

[Things to do in Londinium]

Do you have any pictures of it? I would be very interested in seeing how it looks!

 

Unfortunately I only have pics of the yard, not from the remains of the amphitheater. I guess it wasn't allowed to take pictures there and I had to put my backpack including the photo camara in a locker.

[Happy New Year!]

FELIX ANNVS NOVVS MMXIII!!!

 

Everyone here may have a good 2013 with lots of Roman things!!!

[Things to do in Londinium]

The remains of the amphitheater can be seen in the basement of the Guildhall. If I recall it correctly I could get a ticket just to see the amphitheater without having entrance to the Art Gallery, but I'm not too sure about. I just see that the entrance to the amphitheater is free. On the yard of the Guildhall is pavement in black stones which outline the amphitheater.

 

http://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/things-to-do/visiting-the-city/attractions-museums-and-galleries/guildhall-art-gallery-and-roman-amphitheatre/Pages/Guildhall%20Art%20Gallery%20default.aspx

[Gladiators vs. Werewolves]

Is that a B-movie???

 

I look on the poster tells me that this is a pure fantasy film, except for the helmet nothing reminds the fighter on the left hand of the poster of a gladiator. Holding a mace as a weapon *aaarggghhhh* But maybe the mace is the only weapon with which you could kill a werewolf

[Statue of female gladiator found]

I, too, doubt that this statue depicts a gladiatrix. It reminds me more of the Bikini girls from the mosaic of Piazza Armerina on Sicily. They are doing gymnastics, and this stauette reminds me of a woman cleaning herself after having performed gymnastics. But gladiatura sells, gymnastics don't

[Happy Birthday Viggen]

FELICES DIES NATALIS !!!

[Julia Domna's Hairstyle: Wig v. Natural]

Ornatrices were specialized slaves and I guess very costly so only the rich could have afforded one. The lower classes had to go with simpler hairstyles I assume which they could make themselves like braiding etc.

 

The French group PAX AUGUSTA shows some reconstructions of various hairstyles in their book "La Femme Romaine - au d

[Apicius and his cookbook]

I can't recommend a translation of the Apicius cookbook but I could recommend a cookbook which contains some of Apicius recipes tried out and modified in a way that you could cook it yourself, i.e. measurements are mentioned etc.

 

Sally Grainger, Andrew Dalby

"The Classical Cookbook"

 

In Germany there are several reenactors who tried to cook the Ancient recipes, e.g. Marcus Junkelmann, Edgar Comes etc. but these books are available in German only. But I love to cook Roman food and had last year in November friends over and we have had a nice Roman meal.

 

And instead of bringing tzatziki or some salad to a barbecue party I bring moretum and everybody likes it. It goes well with modern barbecue.

[Ancient symbol of Rome]

What I knew so far is that the bronze sculpture of the she-wolf is Roman but that the twins were added during the Medieval ages.

[Which Cultures Would You Like To See Discussed?]

What a pity I could choose only one answer, because besides the Germans (which I ticked) I'd also like to discuss the following:

 

* Egypt

* The Celts

[Any idea for Turkey]

I made a round trip through Turkey in 2005 and we stayed at the following places:

 

Selcuk(Ephesos) - In Selcuk itself is an interesting museum, but also Roman remains as such of an aquaeduct. Ephesos is only 3 km away, so it's possible to walk there from Selcuk.

 

Dalyan (Kaunos) - Greek tombs in the mountains right across the river. Roman city of Kaunos with many remains.

 

Antalya - visits to Perge and Aspendos (guided tour though).

[Help!]

All books I can think of at the moment are not the latest but the might have what you are looking for:

 

For Austria:

Herwig Friesinger/Fritz Krinzinger

"Der R

[Austria: Archeologists excavate 'sensational' gladiator amphit]

A nice link in English to the find matching nearly the link of Der Standard:

 

http://www.pasthorizonspr.com/index.php/archives/09/2011/gladiator-school-discovered-in-carnuntum

 

What fascinates me about this is that this is the first ludus North of the Alps which has been discovered. So far the scholars assumed that only itinerant gladiator troupes traveled the provinces to get gigs.

[What's the last book you read?]

I recently read "Die R

[Sand Of The Arena By James Duffy]

I love that book as well as its sequel "The Fight for Rome". It's the most authentic description of gladiators I've read in a novel so far and still the story is thrilling which for me is a proof that it doesn't need to be Hollywood gladiators to have a thrilling story.

 

Actually James Duffy had planed three books but unfortunately sales of the first two volumes weren't as high as the publisher had expected so they dumped the series which is really a pitty I think. Maybe I should convince him to continue writing and publish it by book-on-demand.

[Austria: Archeologists excavate 'sensational' gladiator amphit]

Salve Viggen,

 

Many thanks for these interesting news. I've heard about three amphitheaters so far and browsed my book to find where I got this info from. It's from the book "Carnuntum - R

[Any recommendations on the Gracchi?]

I just read an article on the Gracchi in the latest issue of GEO Epoche (German history magazine) which recommends the following book for further reading:

 

Bernhard Linke

"Die r

[Did the earth move for you too?]

When I heard about the earthquake I phoned up my friend who lives near Philadelphia, PA. She said that she was sitting on a couch in the den and it was shaking akwardly. It was kinda scary experience esp. since she wasn't aware at that moment that it was an earthquake. Her three year old daugther was playing in the living room and didn't notice anything and wasn't scared. Luckily no damage to the house happened, no mugs fell from the shelves, all pictures stayed on the wall. Hope that there will be no more earthquakes esp. since I'm going to the States to visit her for Halloween.

[How poor were Roman Legions as Individual Fighters and Swordsmen]

It would seem unlikely that Otho would raise troops as 'regular' auxillaries from the ranks of gladiators but rather as allies under Roman control. Although the effect is more or less the same in the context of an emergency measure to find troops for defense, the Roman class system was not to be ignored, and I'm not aware of any mention of gladiators being sworn in for a term of service with the phrase 'regular' would require.

 

I used the word "regular" to distinct it from bodyguards because you've said in your post that gladiators were used as bodyguards only and I just wanted to point out to you that they were indeed used as "real" soldiers and NOT bodyguards.

[How poor were Roman Legions as Individual Fighters and Swordsmen]

There's no statistical breakdown that I know of concerning the employment of gladiators as trainers. It did happen, but there's no convenient data, and in all probability most gladiators in the camp were nothing more than personal bodyguards and training from them was bound to be more informal and lacklustre.

 

For an article I hope which will be published in Ancient Warfare sooner or later I had done some research on the topic of gladiators as soldiers (which Maty already read) and I could answer as follows:

 

The gladiatorial trainers in an army camp are attested under Marius in 105 BC when the Cimbri and Teutones invaded Italy. The reason for including gladiatorial training was that Marius saw the danger that the formation might be broken up when fighting these fierce Germanic tribes.

 

You are right that gladiators were used as bodyguards e.g. under Caesar who owned his own gladiators. But also in AD 14 general Blaesus had a bodyguard consisting of gladiators as is attested by Tacitus in his Annals.

 

But as I have posted previously gladiators where used as regular auxiliary units in times of crisis such as in the Year of the Four Emperors by Otho. This unit lost against the Germanic units of Vitellius. Also Marcus Aurelius recruited gladiators for his Marcomannic wars as is attested by the Historia Augusta.