JGolomb

Just came across an article that discusses Moussolini's impact to the Rome's architecture. Nicely fits in with this thread. Mussolini's legacy in modern Rome excerpt:

Crispina, I thought Eagle's Conquest was the best of the first three so far (I've only read 3 and have the 4th in the queue for the next month or so). I noticed the same thing when Scarrow describes the locations...hard to put a mental image with his descriptions. Will have to look up that last line when I get home. If you're interested in the whole Claudius/Narcissus angle to the story, check out Robert Graves' "Claudius the God" - it's the second part of "I, Claudius" and he goes into some detail of his British adventure - VERY different perspective (though also fictional), and was nice to tie in with Scarrow's storyline.

Gloucester body 'is Goth warrior' A late Roman period body unearthed in Gloucester has stunned experts after tests suggested it was a Goth warrior from eastern Europe.

An interesting thought! 1630 - 1550 BCE ... is that about the time that Moses and Exodus was supposed to have taken place? First of all, uhm, please common, it cannot be news that people want to identify Santorino with Atlantis (which is nothing but ridiculous) Anyway about the Exodus, that is 400 years later I'm affraid. The exodus is dated (by the mention of the founding of two cities, Pitom and Ramses) to the reign of Ramses II (13th century Bc) while the Santorini event has been dated to 1628 Bc by modern methods. Nice thread! This theory is fairly common...a number of books and tv specials tout the Thera/Santorini volcano with Atlantis and Exodus. There exists circumstantial evidence, but the timescale is off enough that the Exodus portion of the theory is pretty much squashed. And since Plato's references to Atlantis are extremely hard to date (and certainly validate) one could kind of make Atlantis fit into any convenient timeframe. It looks like the latest news is tied to the accidental discovery of evidence that validates a huge tsunami within the right timeframe that potentially resulted from a huge volcano. I've also seen stories in recent years reporting the discovery of layers of ash in the Arctic (or maybe it was Greenland) that suggest the same timeframe as the Thera explosion. Here's one book on the topic: Unearthing Atlantis National Geographic Channel ran a special on the Thera/Santorini Super Volcano that's been tied to Atlantis and Exodus. It follows Bob Ballard, who discovered Titanic, exploring the area.

Shallow and brutal archaeology Interesting editorial on archaeological practices in Jerusalem. I'd be curious to hear from anyone with insight into Italian practices...I know that construction efforts can be held up for years due to archaeological investigations. Much of the archaeology in the center of Jerusalem's "holy basin" is fast archaeology, swallowing up more than it is capable of digesting. It is no coincidence that the top archaeologists from this country's leading institutes are refraining from taking part in excavations in Jerusalem. This archaeology is being carried out under time pressure and is subordinate to the desires of landlords who are not scholars; usually these are religious, ideological or tourist organizations, or contractors. The work is carried out nonstop, without pause for researchers to understand their findings. Full story:

For you archaeophiles, here's a nice story on our modern world which still contains a world of things yet discovered. My job requires me to sit in front of a computer most of the day, but I'm heartened to see how much more discovery there is to be done. The world has been fully mapped, but only a fraction of the oceans have been explored. Not to mention space. And technologies improve our abilities to find the previously unfound, as well as learn more about what was previously discovered. Enjoy. The secrets of ancient Rome: The discovery of a major new archaeological site in Italy is a reminder that the world is still stuffed with secrets Look down from a height at any landscape in this slanting autumn light, and you'll see that the ground is only a thin blanket thrown over the remains of the past. The faint marks of fields and walls, houses and roads, show up even in the heart of cities

Lanista and Artimi, Wow. Thank you very much. I genuinely appreciate the feedback.

Italy

I suppose that the relatively "obscure nature" is in the eye of the beholder; I have been a big fan of the work of Prof. Scheidel for some time.Among the many excellent posts on archaeological findings by our JG, I think this has been the best for some time; it may even become a watershed in the demographic studies of Ancient Rome, because it provides quite hard evidence for the "Low Count" hypothesis, which should presumably be already considered the standard explanation, as it is in fact implicitly assumed by most reviewers. Some significant consequences of the "Low Count" are that: - the count of the Roman Censuses shifted from the adult males to the whole population under Augustus, even if unattested by our available sources (a good example of a positivist fallacy); - the Roman urbanization was atypically high for the first century BC; - their military draft was tremendous for any place or time. Sylla, Yeah...I guess I was editorializing a little bit, eh? Clearly from the amount of coverage this study is receiving, there's interest in the topic. Question for you...what would be the implication if the "High Count" theory had resulted? Each article referenced "rewriting Roman history", but none that I saw provided much rationale.

I'm just about finished with the second part of Robert Graves' fictional autobiography of Claudius - Claudius the God. It's enjoyable, but not as strong as I, Claudius. I've been waiting for him to address the Agrippina/Nero years, and I'm just hitting that era in the final 90 pages or so. Graves' prose is so comfortable...it's amazing that he makes some of the most benign and uninteresting topics so interesting and story-worthy. For Simon Scarrow fans, Claudius the God contains the Claudius-version of the battle in which he took part against the Caractacus-led Britons. Including the elephants! Needless to say, the perspective is quite different from frustrations Scarrow paints in the characters of Vespasian and Plautius. There are a couple of references to Vespasian and Legion II. A fun book, but not as fun as the early Roman Imperial period that Graves' addresses in the first book.

Here's more background than you'd ever conceivably need on the baby Mammoth: Ice BabyA near-perfect frozen mammoth resurfaces after 40,000 years, bearing clues to a great vanished species.

This study is getting a ton of press today, which I'm finding kind of interesting due to the relatively obscure nature of the topic and findings. I'd love to hear what the UNRV community thinks of this. Here are links to a number of different stories. from Physorg.com: Buried Coins Key to Roman Population Mystery? from Live Science: Ancient Rome's Real Population Revealed from Wired: Roman Coin Hoards Show More War Means Fewer Babies

Roman tombs found in south Lebanon cave one photo included in link above TYRE, Lebanon

Here's a link to the official site of the project excavators: Excavating Portus Nice video inside. Here's what seems to be a new interview with the director of the Portus project, Simon Keay. Interview: Simon Keay Explains why Portus is as Important as Stonehenge Since some folks were questioning why this was being touted as important as Stonehenge or Angkor Wat...

Came across a little more info in this story from Science Daily and includes a new photo. Provides, to me at least, a little more clarity as to why they think this may be Nero. Laser Scans To Confirm Nero's Return: 21st Century Scan Could Reveal Rare Sculpture Of 1st Century Roman Emperor from this new article:

Whatever happened to all the Neros? There's no real mention of why they now think this is a young Nero...the statue was discovered 40 years ago.

I know this community doesn't respond much to most non-Roman specific news, but I think this is going to be pretty big and far reaching, so I thought I'd share. Note - I work at National Geographic, but didn't have any hand in this story...I'm just tossing out what was released today on ng.com. Oldest "Human" Skeleton Found--Disproves "Missing Link" some highlights from the story: Scientists today announced the discovery of the oldest fossil skeleton of a human ancestor. The find reveals that our forebears underwent a previously unknown stage of evolution more than a million years before Lucy, the iconic early human ancestor specimen that walked the Earth 3.2 million years ago. The centerpiece of a treasure trove of new fossils, the skeleton

Maladict - I think you're right. Similar to the announcement of Vespasian's Villa a few months ago (although there seems to be more evidence, circumstantial or otherwise, tied to the Nero discovery). Here's part of the thread on Vespansian's Villa on this very issue.

For those following this story, here's a analytical view of the recent announcement. I'm kind of surprised that there hasn't been more suspicion of what was actually discovered from within the UNRV community. Have we found Nero's rotating dining room? by Mary Beard The first I knew of this 'discovery' -- of Nero's famous dining room -- was when I got an email from the World Service, wondering if I had a view which could be broadcast. As it happened, I didn't (I had other things on today, even though the World Service is always worth helping out). But I still haven't worked out what it was that had been 'discovered'. The basic 'facts' go back to Suetonius, who claims in his 'Life of Nero' that in the famous 'Golden House'. Nero had some kind of revolving dining room: there were, Suetonius says, "dining rooms <plural> with fretted ceilings of ivory, whose panels could turn and shower down flowers and were fitted with pipes for sprinkling the guests with perfumes. The main banquet hall was circular and rotated day and night, like the heavens." This vast palace took up huge tracts of land in the centre of Rome, but it has always been a bit unclear exactly what it looked like, and how far you could match up the literary descriptions with what remains on the ground. And as usual there was a terrible temptation to equate what we can see with what the Romans wrote about. I was always told that the "octagonal room" (in the picture) in the excavated area was what Suetonius was referring to. How exactly it rotated, or what rotated, is anyone's guess. But obviously that's been a bit massaged (or forgotten) in the new story. I am actually a bit baffled by these recent archaeological discoveries. I have only looked at them briefly. But where exactly ARE they? And, honestly, does a big pillar really prove that we have got a rotating dining room... and what exactly rotated anyway? I half suspect that no such thing as a rotating dining room existed. But even if it did, I still don't see why these remains really do reveal whatever it was that Suetonius was talking about. More to the point, how far do we really understand Nero's 'Golden House'? I have away thought that the excavated area might actually all be the servants' wing (despite the big 'octagonal room') -- and all the plush, celebrity areas were elsewhere. Maybe.. but if anyone can help with this 'discovery' (like where is it), please tell. I always suspect with this kind of thing that there is an over optimistic attempt to match up the extravagant literary account with what remains under the ground. And I suspect that the PR department is somewhere near -- plugging the "Nero connection" for all it's worth.

This story's getting a ton of coverage. Here's Science Daily's version. "Having solved one riddle, archaeologists have now uncovered another; the white marble head of a statue unearthed at the site of once-luxurious rooms close to the 'amphitheatre'. It is thought the head dates back to the 2nd or early 3rd century, however it is less clear who it depicts. "The elderly bearded male wearing a flat skull-cap could suggest it is Ulysses, however it is equally possible it is a representation of one of the Greek sailors who accompanied him on his travels. For the moment his identity remains a mystery," concludes Professor Keay." I'm assuming this was not found under the vertical toilets.

The other part was only briefly open when it had to be reshut for emergency restoral, projected to last a couple years from now (anyone know more precisely?). http://www.flickr.com/search/show/?q=Domus+Aurea shows a bit of the old tour. In a couple hours from this post there will be a repeat of "rome: engineering an empire" on history intnl channel which shows a recreation of the palace at about the middle of it's two hour run. P.S. isn't the new Gerhard Baudy theory interesting, which presents circumstantial evidence that an extremest Christian sect really did set Rome ablaze, as Nero claimed? Not as likely as the accident or 3rd party theories, but equally as likely as Nero did it. How about petitioning the Pope to have Nero cannonized as a saint, to balance all these years of persecution Thanks for the Baudy reference. I hadn't heard that before, but just spent a few minutes trying to find his theory on the web. The best I could come up with was the following from an old special on PBS: "He (Gaudy) has learned that in the poor districts of Rome, Christians were circulating vengeful texts predicting that a raging inferno would reduce the city to ashes. "In all of these oracles, the destruction of Rome by fire is prophesied," Baudy explains. "That is the constant theme: Rome must burn. This was the long-desired objective of all the people who felt subjugated by Rome." I have the "Engineering an Empire" on my DVR...I'll give the Domus Aurea section another whirl. Thanks for the reminder.

Here's another story from the Globe and Mail online that provides more history on Nero as well as a video report (at the bottom of the story). Roman Emperor Nero's legendary rotating dining room uncovered by archaeologists

VERY cool finding released today. Two stories linked below. I pulled a couple of images and text from the first story, but there's a full gallery as well. Nero's rotating banquet hall unveiled in Rome from Yahoo/AP 'Nero's dining room found'Room rotated on wooden platform to follow movement of Earth from ANSA.it Just found this slideshow from Discovery News...has some images not in yahoo/ap story: Nero's Dining Room Found Latin biographer and historian Suetonius, who chronicled his times and wrote the biographies of 12 Roman rulers, refers to a main dining room that revolved "day and night, in time with the sky." ROME