Roman News and Archeology

Camille Jullian - Vercingétorix _ Chap. VIII \ p. 1, 2 & 3

2012-02-11T17:45:00.001+01:00

Vercingétorix

Chapitre VIII - Vercingétorix, chef de clan.

1. Rôle effacé des Arvernes depuis l'arrivée de César.

Nous connaissons déjà le peuple arverne ; nous savons pourquoi il avait commandé à la Gaule libre et pourquoi il pouvait lui commander encore le jour d'un soulèvement général. Ses montagnes menaçaient les grandes routes où circulaient les légions romaines. À la Gaule soulevée, il offrirait ses terrasses fortifiées propres aux longues résistances ; il lui apporterait le secours de ses fantassins et de ses cavaliers, l'aide de ses blés et de son or, le concours de ses clients traditionnels, le réconfort du souvenir des grands rois, et l'appui du dieu du Puy de Dôme.

Or, les Arvernes n'avaient pas une seule fois paru dans cette série de sinistres aventures qui s'étaient déroulées en Gaule depuis l'arrivée d'Arioviste. Il est question chez César des Éduens, des Séquanes, des Helvètes, des Carnutes, des Bituriges, des Sénons, et pas une seule fois des Arvernes. Il témoigne de l'humeur contre les uns, des égards pour les autres. Il n'a pas un mot sur le compte du peuple qui, avant son arrivée, faisait le plus parler de lui en Gaule. L'Auvergne demeure en dehors de son récit, de la marche et des campements de ses légions. En 58, elles suivent le flanc oriental du plateau central, dans leur marche du Confluent au Mont Beuvray ; en 57, elles guerroient dans le Nord ; en 56, elles longent les pentes de l'Occident, pour se rendre de la Loire à la Garonne. Elles ont fait le tour du massif sans y pénétrer. Elles ont hiverné en Franche-Comté, sur la Loire, en Belgique, et jamais dans les régions du Centre.

Il est vraisemblable que les Arvernes ne se sont signalés ni par une opposition prématurée, ni par une dépendance de flagorneurs. Le pouvoir appartenait toujours aux chefs de l'aristocratie, parents ou vainqueurs de Celtill ; son frère Gobannitio et les autres nobles continuaient à gouverner le pays, prenant les précautions nécessaires contre toute tentative nouvelle de tyrannie, surveillant d'assez près le jeune héritier de Celtill. Sans doute, comme les sénateurs des autres cités gauloises, ils avaient témoigné aux ordres de César la déférence de rigueur.

Ainsi, cette nation dont l'initiative, depuis un siècle, avait été prépondérante en Gaule, était en ce moment la plus effacée ou la plus recueillie. À moins de mentir à son caractère et de désavouer toutes ses ambitions, il fallait qu'elle prononçât son mot dans la crise solennelle qui se préparait. Les conjurés qui avaient écouté les paroles de Dumnorix ou adressé leurs vœux à Ambiorix avaient encore le droit d'espérer dans le peuple arverne et dans ses chefs.

Ces espérances grandirent le jour où le fils de Celtill, ayant atteint l'âge d'homme, devint un des plus grands chefs de la Gaule entière.

2. Caractère d'un chef gaulois.

Un chef de clan gaulois ne ressemble à aucun autre des maîtres d'hommes du monde antique, ni à l'eupatride grec, ni au patricien romain, ni au mélek phénicien, ni au roitelet de la Germanie. Il y avait chez lui à la fois la rudesse du Barbare et la souplesse de l'homme policé. Ne nous ne le figurons pas comme un glorieux sauvage, épris seulement de combats sanglants, de chasses rapides et de buveries sans fin. Certes, il aimait tout cela, et avec la fougue irréfléchie des natures encore neuves : les plus vives passions bouillonnaient en lui, et ne s'apaiseront jamais du reste chez notre aristocratie nationale, qui gardera en elle une survivance de ses premiers instincts. Mais le noble gaulois est autre chose qu'un brandisseur de glaives et un chevaucheur de grandes routes. Le Vercingétorix des statues classiques, dressant vers le ciel sa tête farouche et sa longue lance, est le chef des jours de bataille. Je crois que les hommes de son milieu connaissaient aussi des plaisirs plus fins et des goûts plus calmes. Si on veut retrouver ceux qui leur ont ressemblé le plus, il faut chercher, non parmi les Barbares du monde antique, mais parmi leurs successeurs sur le même sol. Le monde celtique, a dit avec raison M. Mommsen, se rattache plus étroitement à l'esprit moderne qu'à la pensée gréco-romaine. Et, en cherchant à comprendre Vercingétorix et ses congénères de l'aristocratie gauloise, j'ai toujours pensé malgré moi à Gaston Phœbus, superbe d'or, d'argent et de brocart, tantôt lancé dans d'infernales chevauchées où des meutes haletantes se mêlaient aux chevaux d'escorte, et tantôt trônant au milieu de ses convives, en face de la cheminée rayonnante de la grande salle de son château, entouré d'hommes d'armes, de chanteurs et de poètes, curieux lui-même de vers harmonieux et de récits imagés, beau conteur et beau diseur à son tour, intelligent, éloquent, rieur, têtu, cruel et dévot.

Plus à lire à: Camille Jullian - Vercingétorix _ Chap. VIII p. 1, 2 & 3 - Le blog de LUTECE

http://www.e-stoire.net/article-camille-jullian-vercingetorix-_-chap-viii-p-1-2-3-98790956.html

1,000-piece puzzle may unlock secrets to the Roman conquest of Britain

2012-02-11T17:42:00.001+01:00

Historians and archaeologists are trying to solve an ancient mystery that is already shedding remarkable new light on the Roman conquest of Britain.

After years of painstaking conservation work, experts at the British Museum have succeeded in reconstructing the finest Roman battle helmet ever found in the UK.

Originally discovered by a metal detectorist, as literally hundreds of corroded fragments buried in a field in the East Midlands, the helmet has gradually been revealing its secrets to British Museum conservators who have been re-assembling it like a 3D jigsaw.

In a laboratory excavation of the block of earth containing the helmet, they discovered that the front of the iron and gilt silver artefact bore a sculpture of a Roman goddess – probably Victory - and that the cheek pieces sported images of a Roman emperor and of the great classical demi-god, Hercules.

But now they are faced with solving an even more challenging mystery – who the helmet originally belonged to and the exact circumstances surrounding its burial.

Archaeologists believe that the helmet was put in the ground by native Iron Age British tribesmen as a votive offering to the gods in the months or years immediately following the Roman invasion of Britain in 43AD.

Studies of other material found at the site show that it was a major native British religious complex, used for the ritual interment of votive offerings for several hundred years – in the late Iron Age and Romano-British periods.

The investigation has so far revealed that, at around the time of the Roman conquest at least 14 other votive deposits (mostly Iron Age silver coins) were interred at the site. The helmet was also buried with native currency. In total, the original mid-first century AD value of these offerings (excluding the helmet itself) would have been the modern day equivalent of around £80,000.

But now historians are trying to place the votive offerings in the wider context of the Roman conquest itself. They are trying to unravel whether the offerings were being made to gain the gods' support in defeating the Roman invaders – or, alternatively, to thank the gods for the arrival of the legions.

The interpretive dilemma facing historians stems from the complex nature of mid-first century AD native British politics. Historians have long known that some British tribes or sub-tribes were extremely pro-Roman at the time of the conquest – and that some others were not. However, the political position of many of the tribal kingdoms and confederacies is not yet known, including that of a people called the Corieltauvi (literally 'the Army of the Earth Goddess') who appear to have dominated much of the East Midlands at the time the helmet was buried.

Linked with this question of political allegiance, is the mystery of how the helmet was acquired by the native British people who buried it.

More to read at: 1,000-piece puzzle may unlock secrets to the Roman conquest of Britain - Archaeology - Science - The Independent

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/archaeology/1000piece-puzzle-may-unlock-secrets-to-the-roman-conquest-of-britain-6287730.html

The splendour of a Roman Villa once buried at Lullingstone

2012-02-11T17:39:00.001+01:00

A typical Roman villa was built round a courtyard, by Peter Jackson

Men digging holes for a park fence found, beneath their spades, a beautiful mosaic floor. Their find was later to set archaeologists on a trail of discovery which was to take them far back into Roman Britain where they were to unravel the intriguing story of a villa's creation and destruction and of the people who lived and died within its walls.

Once the house had teemed with life and worship. But nothing could save it now. Its weathered timbers changed to black charcoal and then to white ash as flames raced among them, leaving blackened roofless walls standing amid mounds of fallen tiles.

It must have been hard, seeing it then, to realise that the end had come to a house that, for nearly four centuries in Roman Britain, had been the home of a succession of prosperous families who had made it the centre of their lives.

They had lived in it, bathed in its fine bath house, worshipped in its chapel and farmed the lands surrounding it. But now, this fire in the fifth century had destroyed it.

The Roman villa at Lullingstone, Kent, was a shell. In time, even this disappeared beneath the soil washed down upon it from the hills.

Centuries later, some men were building a fence around Lullingstone Park. As they thrust their spades into the soil to make a hole for a timber post, they struck something hard. It was a mosaic floor.

A second hole was dug and revealed a further part of the floor.

This was in the middle of the eighteenth century and a note was made of it in a book published soon afterwards.

In 1949, a group of archaeologists went to the site and began carefully removing the centuries of soil.

For twelve successive years they worked carefully and meticulously. Their efforts brought to light the intricate story of the villa and its surrounding buildings, and of the lives of the people who occupied it.

It is a story, both wonderful and exciting, which begins far back in time in the year of the Roman Conquest, AD 43.

Then, there was a farmhouse in the vicinity occupied by Iron Age farmers. This was followed in about 80-90 by a small but well-built villa constructed by Britons who had adopted Roman ways. Its flint and mortar walls were accurately laid out and carefully rendered with mortar. Its roof was probably of thatch.

Descendants of the same family lived in the house for most of the second century. On a terrace just behind the villa they built a small, circular temple, probably for the worship of some local woodland god. No altar or cult objects were found in it, but ritual fires had been lit on its floor of red and yellow mosaics. The entrance faced east and the inside walls had painted plaster.

Towards the end of the second century, there were important alterations to the villa which suggest a new owner who was not a farmer but a wealthy Roman of Mediterranean origin. Perhaps he was an important government official who used Lullingstone as his country house.

By him, the modest farmhouse was converted into a luxury residence. It was completely re-roofed, this time with heavy red tiles, with a few yellow ones for variation.

On to the south end a well-designed bathing suite was added. It was laid out in the standard Roman manner with warm, cold and hot rooms. It was heated by a furnace with channels to carry the hot air under the floor.

A well just outside supplied water for the hot and cold plunge baths. The walls were richly decorated with painted panels of deep blue and red above a marbled dado.

At the opposite end of the villa was a place now known as the deep room. Originally, it was built for storing corn, but the new owner changed it into a cult room for the worship of a water god.

More to read at Historical articles and illustrations » Blog Archive » The splendour of a Roman Villa once buried at Lullingstone

http://www.lookandlearn.com/blog/16158/the-splendour-of-a-roman-villa-once-buried-at-lullingstone/

Archéologie : une maison de maître antique dans les Vosges

2012-02-11T17:37:00.001+01:00

Publié le mercredi 18 janvier 2012 · Mis à jour le mardi 7 Février 2012

Une visite du site avec Michiel Gazenbeek, archéologue responsable d'opération Inrap, Nathalie Froeliger, archéologue Inrap, Thierry Dechezleprêtre, conservateur du site

Entre juin et octobre 2011, en amont de la création d'un lotissement, une fouille menée à Grand a permis la mise au jour d'une imposante villa au pied du rempart de l'agglomération gallo-romaine. Durant l'Antiquité, Grand est identifié à un sanctuaire des eaux dédié à Apollon Grannus. La découverte d'enduits peints permettent d'en restituer les décors et d'identifier la fonction de ses nombreuses pièces. La fouille d'une villa de cette envergure et de ce luxe dans son intégralité et dans un milieu urbain antique est rarissime.

Durée

7'40"

Réalisation

Carole Greco

Images : Michael Altman Montage : DanG Crédits photos et illustrations : Inrap
Aménageur : mairie de Grand

Production

Vidéo sur Archéologie : une maison de maître antique dans les Vosges - Institut national de recherches archéologiques préventives

http://www.inrap.fr/archeologie-preventive/Ressources-multimedias/Reportages-videos/Reportages-2012/p-14064-Une-maison-de-maitre-du-Ier-au-IIIe-siecle-dans-les-Vosges.htm

Archaeologists excavate ancient Populonia

2012-02-11T15:42:00.001+01:00

A team of archaeologists, students and volunteers will return again during the summer of 2012 to investigate the remains of a major Etruscan port city that straddles the Mediterranean coast of Tuscany, Italy. Located near the town of Piombino, it features one of the most important necropolises in the country, as well as an acropolis, a history that goes back to Etruscan settlers around 900 BCE, and a Bronze Age culture that dates to about 1200 BCE. The ancient site is known today as Populonia, a city that was for centuries a prominent Mediterranean centre for iron smelting and trade. Co-led by Andrea Camilli (Superintendence for Archaeological Heritage of Tuscany), Giandomenico De Tommaso (University of Florence), and Carolina Megale (Archeodig Project), they intend to focus their investigation on a section of the lower city that is still intact, where they have identified evidence of a late Roman building and, beneath that, a part of the Etruscan necropolis.

Populonia is composed of a 'lower city', which includes the necropolis, port remains and evidence of its important metallurgical activities; and an 'upper city', or the Acropolis, which features the remains of houses, temples and other structures, located on the summit of the promontory on which the ancient port city was constructed. The lower city is well-known for its impressive monumental tombs.
The name of the Etruscan city was Fufluna, after a god, Fufluns. Based on evidence uncovered from the necropolis area, the site was also inhabited earlier by the ancient Villanovans, a people with origins connected to the Urnfield culture of Eastern Europe. The Villanovans are thought to have introduced iron-working to the Italian peninsula. The later Etruscans and Romans mined and worked the polymetallic ores of Campiglia Marittima, which contain iron, zinc, copper, lead, tin and silver. Mining continues in the area today, and the modern mine is said to be descended from the ancient mine.

More to read at Stone Pages Archaeo News: Archaeologists excavate ancient Populonia

http://www.stonepages.com/news/archives/004712.html

Spartacus and the Slave Revolt of 73-71 B.C.

2012-02-11T15:39:00.001+01:00

The story of Spartacus has reached the point of popular culture, most recently realized in the Starz min-series Spartacus Blood and Sand. This series utilizes facts we know to be accurate and weaves them into a story designed to entertain. Here we will take a look what history tells us about the revolt (from Plutarch and others) and put it in the context of the Italian geography.

The slave revolt of 73 B.C. began when a group of gladiators (78 to be exact) broke out of the training camp of one Lentulus Badiates in Capua. Most of these men had been captured, held as slaves, and forced to fight for their lives in the arena. Few were Romans, the majority being Gauls, Germans, and Thracians. The gladiators escaped by breaking into the kitchen and stealing the cook's knives and spits, which they were able to use as weapons to overpower the guards.

Outside Capua they had to good luck to come upon wagons loaded with weapons meant for gladiators in another city so they were able to arm themselves. Spartacus was elected the chief of three captains. It's possible the other two were Crixus and Oenomaus.

After defeating the Romans who were pursuing them out of Capua, the rebels were able to substitute Roman weapons for their gladiator weapons, which they considered dishonorable. First attacked by the praetor Clodius on a mountain (Vesuvius?), Spartacus' men were able to escape to the other side, circle around, attack, and defeat the Roman force. After this battle, the rebel force grew stronger though the recruitment of sympathetic allies.

The log of attempts to defeat Spartacus and his men follows:

1. The praetor Publius Varinus sent his lieutenant Furius against the rebels with 2,000 men and they are defeated.

2. Cossinius was sent to give advice and counsel to Varinius but he and his men were intercepted while in camp and killed.

Spartacus decides to march his men to the Alps and allow them to go their separate ways – Gauls to the west to their homeland and Thracians to the east to Thrace. But there arose a disagreement on this because Crixus, the Gaul, did not want to return to his homeland and was content to stay in the Italian peninsula and play the brigand. In the fall of 73 B.C. the rebels move back to the south.

3. The consul Gellius attacks the German rebel faction and soundly defeats them.

4. At the same time Lentulus attacks the rebel force led by Spartacus and sees his officers defeated.

In the spring of 72 B.C. the rebels again moved north.

5. The praetor Cassius attacks Spartacus with 10,000 men and is defeated at Mutina(?).

Meanwhile, an angry Senate gives Crassus the job of defeating Spartacus.

6. Stationed at Picenum, Crassus sends his lieutenant Mummius with two legions to observe and not attack the rebels. Spartacus is able to draw Mummius into battle and the Romans are routed.

A furious Crassus proceeds to decimate his army while Spartacus retreats down through Lucania into the toe of Italy. The latter attempts to cross into Sicily with the aid of Cilician pirates but they deceive him and sail away. Spartacus settles his army near Rhegium.

After arriving at the Italian toe, Crassus orders that a wall be build across the isthmus to prevent a rebel escape. The resulting wall is 37 miles long!

More to read at Mike Anderson's Ancient History Blog: Spartacus and the Slave Revolt of 73-71 B.C.

http://www.mikeanderson.biz/2012/02/spartacus-and-slave-revolt-of-73-71-bc.html

Subway excavations yield countless treasures

2012-02-11T15:37:00.001+01:00

Greek Macedonians discovered a valuable treasure hidden in the bowels of the earth, thanks to the methodical excavations undertaken in the construction of the Thessaloniki metro.

Many artifacts found in the archaeology excavation, from items such as gold hoops, benches, and thousands of everyday objects, up to whole churches, remnants of the glorious, long history of Thessaloniki, have come to light. The excavations were completed by the end of the year, leaving behind thousands of "mosaics" of cultures that flourished in the city.

Archaeologists are revealing a palimpsest of the city, a city that has undergone constant and continuous phases of occupation from the 4th century BC, when it was founded in Thessaloniki, until now! "In Byzantium, Thessalonica was described as the second city of Constantinople, precisely because of its extremely important historical position in the region."

They emphasized, among other things, that the general secretary of the Ministry of Culture, Lina Mendoni, spoke to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Economic Affairs of the House, ahead of signing an additional contract to perform archaeological work.

"In terms of area stations, there are mainly archaeological investigations in the order of 17,000 sq.m. In essence, speaking of the area of archaeology excavation, we speak about 28,000 square meters, "explained Ms. Mendoni.

Roman Era

Continuing the narration of the general secretary of the Ministry of Culture, he said that the thriving city of Thessaloniki, especially in the Roman period and Byzantine times, as revealed by the excavations of the subway, were much like today's Egnatia Street, both sides filled with dense structures.

"I remind you that you may know from the novels the Avenue of the Byzantines. It is the old Egnatia, the Roman Egnatia, as revealed, that the marble paved road running through the city exactly where the metro passes. I want to say that especially the Byzantine Thessaloniki, unlike other modern eras for the cities of medieval Europe, has a drainage system that exists in no other medieval city. A large part of the culture of a city is evident in where its trash and waste ends up. This indicates the developed level of Byzantine Thessaloniki with a unique drainage system, which is revealed, "said Mr. Mendoni.

More to read at Subway excavations yield countless treasures

http://archaeologyexcavations.blogspot.com/2012/02/subway-excavations-yield-countless.html

What did the Romans do for Cumbria?

2012-02-11T15:34:00.001+01:00

Jupiter was the king of the Roman gods, the mighty god of thunder and lightening. Ruling over laws and social order, the Romans believed he led their armies to victory.

From left, curator of the Senhouse Roman Museum Jane Laskey, project director Professor Ian Haynes of Newcastle University, site director Tony Wilmott and Dr Nigel Mills, director of world heritage at Hadrian's Wall Heritage Ltd

It's fitting perhaps that evidence of Jupiter's importance to a 2,000-year-old civilisation was found, buried on a hill close to the Roman fort in Maryport.

The 17 altar stones discovered in the area around Maryport's Camp Farm in 1870 are of international significance.

They are the only altar stones known to have been buried, quite deliberately, perhaps by the people of the fort or civilian encampment nearby.

The altars, preserved and recorded under the instruction of the then estate owner Humphrey Senhouse, are now housed in the town's Senhouse Roman Museum. They are also the largest collection ever found in a single site and much of what is known about the Roman armies comes from what has been learned from them.

More to read at Longtownlocal | What did the Romans do for Cumbria?

http://www.longtownlocal.co.uk/what-did-the-romans-do-for-cumbria-1.842463?referrerPath=home

The Dissemination of Divination in Roman Republican Times – A Cognitive Approach

2012-02-11T15:32:00.001+01:00

The Dissemination of Divination in Roman Republican Times – A Cognitive Approach

By Anders Lisdorf

PhD Dissertation, University of Copenhagen, 2007

Introduction: At the climax of the play Casina by the Roman playwright Plautus, there is a scene, where the two slaves Olympio and Chalinus have to reach a decision on which of them gets to marry the beautiful Casina. Today one might expect that the female part be heard in such a case, but Roman times were different, so they choose to decide it like real men: by drawing lots! But that is not all; when Olympio eventually wins the draw, he thanks the gods for the decision. This makes, what was already a strange situation, even more puzzling to the modern reader, since we just heard that the decision was made by the use of a random draw of lots. This is not an isolated funny story from an obscure playwright. Quite the contrary; Plautus was very popular in his time and following centuries and his plays were attended by everyone from the lowest to the highest classes. The scene points to something very central about the ancient Romans, namely that divination pervaded their culture from top to bottom.

The basic question of this thesis follows from this example "why did divination pervade Roman culture through centuries?" I will argue that in order to answer this question a general theoretical model of divination must first be constructed. This will be done by investigating the cognitive basis of divination. The thesis will therefore fall in two parts of more or less equal size, one theoretical the other empirical.

Click here to read this article from the Archive of Religion and Cognition

The Dissemination of Divination in Roman Republican Times – A Cognitive Approach
http://historyoftheancientworld.com/2012/02/the-dissemination-of-divination-in-roman-republican-times-%E2%80%93-a-cognitive-approach/

Découverte d’un site hydraulique Gallo-Romain à Luxé en Charente

2012-02-11T15:30:00.001+01:00

Cette semaine, Laurent Vaudin et Claude Brège, deux prospecteurs bénévoles travaillant pour le service régional d'archéologie, ont mis au jour un mur gallo-romain percé d'un système hydraulique, dans un état de conservation exceptionnel.

Cette découverte a été faite sur un chantier de consolidation d'une route départementale, près du village de La Terne (commune de Luxé), situé à une trentaine de kilomètres au nord d'Angoulême.
Le site a révélé deux canaux hydrauliques datant du Ier au IIème siècle de notre ère, l'un recouvert d'une sorte d'enduit qui devait être utilisé au transport de l'eau et l'autre qui devait servir d'égout.

Découvert sur une longueur de 7,5m, le mur devrait selon ses inventeurs mesurer en fait près de 30 mètres. Cet ouvrage a pu être un ouvrage portuaire, accréditant la thèse que la Charente coulait à cet endroit au début de notre ère. Reste au service régional d'archéologie de décider d'ouvrir des fouilles pour vérifier ces hypothèses.

Ces dernier mois, à la suite des travaux de la LGV (Ligne Grande Vitesse), un domaine agricole gallo-romain et une nécropole mérovingienne ont été mis au jour à Luxé.

Découverte d'un site hydraulique Gallo-Romain à Luxé en Charente

http://www.info-histoire.com/actualite/antiquite/10141/site-gallo-romain-decouvert-a-luxe-en-charente/

Camille Jullian - Vercingétorix _ Chap. VII \ p. 1, 2 & 3

2012-02-08T23:11:00.001+01:00

Vercingétorix

Chapitre VII - Le nom de Vercingétorix.

1. Ce n'est pas un nom de fonction, mais de personne.

Vercingétorix avait alors moins de trente ans. Il était né, croyait-on, à Gergovie, la principale ville des Arvernes.

Il n'y a pas longtemps encore, on regardait ce nom de Vercingétorix, non pas comme le nom propre et personnel du fils de Celtill, mais comme le titre de la magistrature suprême qu'il avait revêtue à la tête de la Gaule soulevée. Le chef arverne avait été le vercingétorix, c'est-à-dire (c'est ainsi qu'on traduisait ce mot) le généralissime ou le dictateur fédéral : César, qui ne savait pas le gaulois, a pris le nom de la fonction pour celui du chef. Dans les livres de lecture historique les plus populaires au temps où régnait le romantisme, la chose était présentée de cette manière, et l'on faisait ainsi du vaincu d'Alésia le champion anonyme et mystérieux de la liberté gauloise : l'homme s'effaçait et disparaissait derrière le héros symbolique. Michelet avait couramment écrit le vercingétorix dans son Histoire romaine et dans son Histoire de France, Amédée Thierry, dont les jugements eurent longtemps force de loi, avait lui-même accepté celte doctrine ; et si, dans son Histoire des Gaulois, il fait de Vercingétorix le nom du célèbre guerrier, c'est, dit-il, pour rendre la narration plus vivante, et parce qu'il est fastidieux de raconter en détail l'histoire d'un héros sans nom. En quoi Thierry avait tort, car l'historien ne doit pas ruser avec la vérité pour écrire un récit plus agréable, mais le présenter avec le plus grand degré de vraisemblance qu'il peut atteindre.

Ce qui donnait une apparence de raison à cette théorie sur le nom de Vercingétorix, c'est qu'il semble signifier en gaulois précisément chef supérieur ou quelque chose d'approchant. Rix, c'est, comme le latin rex ou l'irlandais ri, le mot roi : ver est un préfixe qui renferme l'idée de grandeur ou de prééminence ; cinget, enfin, signifierait celui ou ceux qui marchent, les guerriers, comme l'irlandais cing veut dire combattant. Vercingétorix deviendrait par là le grand roi des braves ou le roi très fort, et on a même dit le grand chef des cent têtes, comme Gingétorix (nous avons parlé de ce chef trévire) serait un simple roi des guerriers.

Plus à Camille Jullian - Vercingétorix _ Chap. VII p. 1, 2 & 3 - Le blog de LUTECE

http://www.e-stoire.net/article-camille-jullian-vercingetorix-_-chap-vii-p-1-2-3-98460597.html

Des vestiges antiques et médiévaux dans le jardin

2012-02-08T23:09:00.001+01:00

Un diagnostic archéologique, réalisé avant des travaux d'extension, a révélé des choses intéressantes. Des fouilles pourraient avoir lieu.

Des vestiges d'un château médiéval et de l'époque gallo-romaine de Saintes se cacheraient-ils dans le sous-sol de l'un des jardins de l'Ehpad (Établissement d'hébergement pour personnes âgées dépendantes) La Providence ? C'est ce que laisserait supposer un diagnostic archéologique mené par l'archéologue de l'Inrap (Institut national de recherches Archéologiques préventives) Jean-Philippe Baigl, qui a eu lieu ces derniers jours.

Certaines découvertes pourraient même provenir d'un forum gallo-romain qui était alors le cœur commercial, social, administratif, religieux et politique de Mediolanum Santonum, nom donné à Saintes dans l'Antiquité. C'était un espace entouré de colonnades et de portiques où se trouvaient quelques bâtiments administratifs et religieux. Il faudra attendre les conclusions du rapport de l'archéologue et, peut-être, une campagne de fouilles pour le savoir.

En tout cas, des murs, des niveaux de circulation, des pièces de monnaie ou encore des morceaux de mosaïque sont apparus. Le diagnostic a été diligenté par la Drac (Direction régionale des affaires culturelles) dans le cadre d'un projet d'extension de la maison de retraite médicalisée située dans les hauteurs de Saintes, esplanade du Capitole. Un nouveau bâtiment doit en effet être construit à l'arrière, dans un jardin, pour créer une unité ouverte Alzheimer et des chambres supplémentaires.

Plus à Des vestiges antiques et médiévaux dans le jardin - SudOuest.fr

http://www.sudouest.fr/2012/01/30/des-vestiges-antiques-et-medievaux-dans-le-jardin-619405-1531.php

Reconstruction of Herod’s Tomb Criticized

2012-02-08T23:07:00.001+01:00

Last week a model of Herod's tomb was erected at the Herodium. The 13-foot (4-m) high structure cost $13,000 and is made of light plastic. Plans have been drawn up to create a full-size replica of the entire mausoleum which would serve as a visitor's center.

Haaretz runs the story with the headline "Top archaeologists condemn Israeli plan to rebuild ancient tomb." Unfortunately the story doesn't support the headline. The primary criticism cited comes from an archaeologist who asked to remain anonymous. Journalistic ethics should preclude Haaretz from quoting an anonymous source on a subject of this nature. A named critic is Haim Goldfus, the head of the archaeology department at Ben Gurion University, who believes that a reconstruction would only be a distraction. Gideon Foerster observes that there are still too many unknowns to justify a reconstruction.

Whether or not a monument that helps the public to visualize the tomb (and thus increases visits to the site) is a good thing or not can be debated. Haaretz misleads, however, in suggesting that there is a widespread movement among archaeologists against a plastic model. A more accurate headline would be: "Two archaeologists condemn Israeli plan to rebuild ancient tomb."

An unmentioned factor in the story is the contention that the tomb of the "king of the Jews" belongs to the Palestinians because Arab armies held this territory at the conclusion of the War of 1948. Thus Israeli archaeologists should not be excavating, let alone reconstructing, any site in the West Bank.

Tom Powers provides another perspective on his blog.

More at BiblePlaces Blog: Reconstruction of Herod's Tomb Criticized

http://blog.bibleplaces.com/2012/01/reconstruction-of-herods-tomb.html

Romans Conquer York!

2012-02-08T22:58:00.001+01:00

Take eight intrepid staff and volunteers from YAC and the CBA, add in Roman tunics, helmets, spears, shields, swords, a standard and a replica Roman trumpet and you have a crack Roman unit, otherwise known as a contubernium, ready to conquer six laps of York's City Walls in aid of the Dig Deep for YAC campaign! And conquer it we did on Wednesday 1st February!

Setting off at first light (well eight o'clock) on a chilly but clear morning we entered York's City Walls at Bootham Bar without any resistance from the locals. In fact those driving past in their cars were more inclined to offer friendly, if bemused, waves! We had a long way to go to cover the distance a Roman soldier walked in a day but we were up for the challenge. With a rallying call on our trumpet we marched our first lap and soon realised just how fit Roman soldiers were. Our helmets, shields and spears grew heavier on each lap and our trumpet calls became less impressive as the day wore on. We certainly needed our Roman army rations of oat cakes and dried fruit to keep our aching muscles moving.

By lap three we had met many people and spread the word of the Dig Deep for YAC campaign aimed at saving the fantastic UK-wide network of YAC Branches for young people up to the age of seventeen. Our Dig Deep for YAC banner, in the form of a Roman standard, was held aloft above the walls for the passing traffic to see and the occasional toots of car horns spurred us on. Many tourists will be returning home with interesting photos of their day out on York's walls and their Roman encounter. Though to answer one person's question, no, we don't do this every day but we certainly now admire those Roman soldiers who did!

More at Romans Conquer York! | The Council for British Archaeology

http://www.britarch.ac.uk/news/120203-romanconquest

The Rise of the Gladiators and Their Athletic Training

2012-02-08T22:56:00.001+01:00

Posted on 3rd February, by admin in General Fitness, Inspiration, Wisdom. No Comments

From the Kubrick's thoughtful 1960 film "Spartacus," to Russell Crowe's brooding performance in "Gladiator," to the sexy gore-fest otherwise known as the Starz drama "Spartacus: Blood and Sand," gladiators have long been a favorite subject in popular culture.

Though the reality of gladiatorial life may have differed significantly from that of the oiled-up poster boys featured in many modern portrayals, several facets of gladiators' athletic training have survived the test of time. In fact, many of today's professional athletes follow training regimens that mimic those common in ancient Rome.

But the similarities don't stop there; in addition to intense, regimented training, gladiators also followed certain nutritional guidelines and enjoyed public adulation — much like modern athletes.

The first gladiatorial events were performed to honor the dead; games were called "munera," a term that connotes duties paid to deceased ancestors. The first recorded gladiatorial event took place in 264 BC, a funeral rite in which three pairs of gladiators fought to the death.

Early matches had great religious significance. The gladiators were believed to act as armed attendants, accompanying the dead to the next world and appeasing the spirits of the dead with their blood.

The real fun — for the spectators, anyway — didn't start until the munera's religious significance was replaced by political influence. Once a rite performed to honor the passing of important men, gladiatorial combat became a spectacle designed increase the power of the ruling class. The Carthaginian theologian Tertullian described this phenomenon as "public entertainment [that] has passed from being a compliment to the dead to being a compliment to the living."

The gladiators themselves were mostly drawn from the lower classes; their ranks were filled with slaves, captured fugitives, criminals, prisoners of war and others who had no choice in the matter. However, some free men — known as "auctorati" — actually volunteered; by the fall of the Roman Empire, as many as half of all gladiators joined voluntarily.

More at The Rise of the Gladiators and Their Athletic Training

http://www.androsform.com/2012/02/03/rise-gladiators-athletic-training/

Archaeologists discover unique 'wing' shaped building

2012-02-08T22:54:00.001+01:00

(PhysOrg.com) — A unique 'wing' shaped building discovered close to the ancient capital of the Iceni in Norfolk is mystifying archaeologists.

A building without obvious parallel in Roman Britain or the rest of the Roman Empire — that is how archaeologists at The University of Nottingham have described the discovery south of the Roman site of Venta Icenorum, which is known today as Caistor St. Edmund, in Norfolk.

Trial excavations suggest the building dates to around the third century AD. The preliminary findings have been published in the most recent edition of the Journal of Roman Archaeology.

Dr. Will Bowden, from the Department of Archaeology, said: "This building is a mystery to us. We don't know what function it would have had although a temple seems the most likely explanation. It is of a design that is very unusual for Britain and indeed the rest of the Roman Empire. It is particularly intriguing to find such a structure in the former territory of the Iceni (the tribe of Boudica) as villas and other monumental structures are relatively rare in this area."

The structure, built 1800 years ago, was discovered in 2007 during a particularly unusual spell of very wet then very dry weather. This resulted in a series of crop marks appearing at the highest part of the site. These crop marks indicated the presence of a 'winged' building that had never been seen by archaeologists before.

It was first identified through aerial photographs taken by Mike Page who regularly records archaeological sites in Norfolk.

The mystery building is of a particularly unusual design with two angled wings converging on a central structure.

More at Archaeologists discover unique 'wing' shaped building

http://www.physorg.com/news/2012-02-archaeologists-unique-wing.html

Gladiator Skeletons Arrive In Durham

2012-02-08T22:46:00.001+01:00

The Gladiators: A Cemetery of Secrets exhibition is the result of a joint venture between York Archaeological Trust and Durham County Council. The exhibition occupies the former Visitor Information Centre at Millennium Place and will run until March 31st 2012.

The skeletons, which were the subject of a Channel 4 documentary aired last year, were first uncovered by York Archaeological Trust archaeologists at Driffield Terrace in York during an excavation that ran between 2004 and 2005. 80 burials were excavated at the site, of which 60 were mostly complete skeletons. Almost all were male and the majority were adults.

An expert from Durham University has played a key role in the latest research into the origins of the Driffield Terrace skeletons. Teaching fellow in the Department of Archaeology, Dr Anwen Caffell, worked with Malin Holst of York Osteoarchaeology Ltd to review some of the injuries, illnesses and ages of selected skeletons. Their work has helped prove some existing theories, but has also introduced further debate about the evidence.

Says Kurt Hunter-Mann, field officer at York Archaeological Trust who led the original excavation, "The skeletons have been the centre of much global interest over the last year and have been the subject of ongoing debate as to how they came to be lying decapitated in the large cemetery site.

More at Gladiator Skeletons Arrive In Durham - This is Durham

http://www.thisisdurham.com/news/2012/2/2/gladiator-skeletons-arrive-in-durham-a3683

What Lies Beneath…the Trevi Fountain?

2012-02-08T22:44:00.001+01:00

The Trevi Fountain. At 85.3 feet high and 65.6 feet wide, this tower of travertine is a big, wet dream. No, not that kind. One of the most recognized monuments in Rome, it's where Anita Ekberg took a dip in her famous black dress in La Dolce Vita and where throwing in a coin means you'll return to the eternal city.

But what's beneath this fantastic facade? Turns out, the Trevi fountain is still fed by the Acqua Virgo, an ancient acqueduct built in the first century AD by Marcus Agrippa, and resides right above an ancient Roman street- the Vicus Caprarius. Although the Vicus Caprarius no longer remains, a HUGE complex of ancient ruins lie hidden beneath the Trevi fountain, dating to the Imperial age.

Pictures and more at What Lies Beneath…the Trevi Fountain? | younginrome

http://younginrome.wordpress.com/2012/02/02/what-lies-beneath-the-trevi-fountain/

Spend ‘A Day in Pompeii’ at the Museum of Science

2012-02-06T22:01:00.001+01:00

Imagine a city buried under pyroclastic debris, a city frozen in time for nearly 2,000 years. That city is Pompeii and right now you can see preserved pieces of life from two millennia ago at the Boston Museum of Science. The exhibit, "A Day in Pompeii," which leaves Boston after Feb. 12, contains pieces from Pompeii that shed light on how people lived in the first century C.E. of the Roman Empire and educational videos detailing life in Pompeii.

Pompeii, a city located to the southwest of Mount Vesuvius in Italy (near Naples), was completely buried by Vesuvius' eruption in 79 C.E. When one thinks of volcanoes, one often thinks of flowing rivers of lava. Vesuvius' eruption was pyroclastic, however, meaning that there was no lava; the city was buried under soot, ash and other bits of debris from the exploding mountaintop. While this was surely horrifying for the people still in Pompeii at the time of the eruption—many had fled due to a series of earthquakes preceding the eruption—it is a boon to archaeologists because the pyroclastic debris perfectly preserved many artifacts and prevented many thieves from being able to make off with Pompeii's treasures.

The exhibit, for which one must buy a special ticket, contains two well-made videos. The first, which you will see right when you walk in, explains some of the commonalities of Roman life in Pompeii, explaining common jobs, religious beliefs, etc. This video is useful to put the rest of the exhibit into context. The second video, however, is much more engaging; it shows a computer simulation of what happened to Pompeii in the two days it took for Pompeii to erupt completely. It begins with an earthquake and then shows buildings toppling as heavy debris rains down on them and eventually ends with the burying of Pompeii.

More at The Brandeis Hoot » Spend 'A Day in Pompeii' at the Museum of Science

http://thebrandeishoot.com/articles/11521

Construire sa propre lorica segmentata… épisode 1

2012-02-06T21:58:00.001+01:00

Il n'est pas particulièrement difficile d'assembler une lorica segmentata. Réaliser les pièces détachées que vous allez assembler est plus complexe, et nécessite davantage d'outillage, mais n'est en rien insurmontable pour peu que que vous ayez quelques conseils pour débuter, un plan correct pour éviter les impasses, et surtout que vous procédiez dans l'ordre de complexité croissante…

Pour vous donner une idée de la situation, fabriquer les huit charnières, les huit boucles et les 24 crochets du type Kalkriese nécessite environ 20 heures de travail. La préparation des plaques dure moins d'une demi journée, et l'assemblage à proprement parler 20 heures environ. Cintrer les bandes de métal, riveter en utilisant des rivets à mater, ou réaliser les « ourlets » des plaques peut sembler compliqué, mais les gestes viennent finalement assez vite.

Le choix du modèle de segmentata à réaliser compte aussi. Les Newsteads ont beaucoup moins de pièces, mais nécessitent de réels talents de chaudronnerie pour former les épaules. Les Corbridges tardives sont assez simples à assembler, mais les boucles et charnières ont des formes complexes, difficiles à fabriquer. Le modèle le plus simple est sans nul doute le type Kalkriese… et c'est de celui-ci dont nous allons parler !

Les plans et les cotes correspondent à ce type, mais vous pouvez naturellement les adapter pour une Corbridge, en rétrécissant les deux plaques pectorales et les pièces mobiles qui les couvrent. La taille est prévue pour une personne mesurant 1m75, avec un tour de poitrine de 100cm et une largeur d'épaule de 50cm (rajoutez ou enlevez en conséquence). Il va sans dire que l'armure étant cylindrique, son port nécessite une certaine… ligne.

Commençons par la partie la plus simple, la protection de l'abdomen…

Cette phase est extrêmement courte si vous vous procurez directement les bandes de tôle (1mm d'épaisseur) découpées à la bonne largeur. Cette prestation est en général peu coûteuse si vous vous adressez à un fournisseur industriel. Coupez les bandes aux bonnes longueurs (la scie sauteuse est le plus efficace), et arrondissez les angles (avec un touret vous en aurez pour une heure). Arrondissez les arêtes vives des bords en dégrossissant au touret et en finissant à la lime.

Construire sa propre lorica segmentata… épisode 1 | Armae
http://www.armae.com/blog/construire-sa-propre-lorica-segmentata-episode-1.html

Spartacus Vengeance: Fugitivus

2012-02-06T21:56:00.001+01:00

Spartacus is back! Yay! With more blood and tits than ever. OK, that's probably not physically possible - with just as much blood and tits as ever. The new subtitle isn't fooling anyone - this is still Spartacus: Blood and Tits.

If you haven't read any of my Spartacus reviews before, I should probably mention that I tend to use nicknames for most of the main characters, partly because I have a Christmas-cracker style sense of humour but mostly because I have trouble remembering everyone's names. There are a few exceptions, of which Crixus is one. He's got an easy name. Anyway, they're mostly fairly self-explanatory, but just in case:

DSG = Oenomaus (it stands for Drill Sergeant Guy, because that's the role he used to play in the ludus in Seasons 1 and, er, 0.5).
Xena = Lucretia (Lucy Lawless)
Paris Hilton = Ilithyia, because her character reminds me of Paris Hilton and tends to provoke similar… emotions… in the audience
Haldir = Glaber (Craig Parker)
Neighbours Reject = Varro, Spartacus' late and not overly lamented friend from the ludus from Season 1

I think that's everyone who appears in this episode.

Obviously, since the tragic death of Andy Whitfield, Spartacus is now played by Liam McIntyre. He actually looks a bit like Whitfield, albeit a little stockier, but that's not really the point. His performance as Spartacus is spot on - the character is a little changed, mostly due to his changed circumstances, but McIntyre slips into the role easily. The physical resemblence is quite useful in that it protects the writers from any temptation to have him say the line 'I'm Spartacus' - this was Rome's solution to a change of actor for much less tragic reasons, but in the case of Spartacus, that line holds so much meaning that under the circumstances such a usage might risk looking disrespectful to Whitfield. Also, I suspect they're saving that line for bigger and better things, particularly given that we were reminded towards the end of the episode that it was a name given to him by the Romans, not his birth name.

More at Pop Classics: Spartacus Vengeance: Fugitivus

http://popclassicsjg.blogspot.com/2012/02/spartacus-vengeance-fugitivus.html

Une crise urbaine à la fin du Haut-Empire ?

2012-02-06T21:54:00.001+01:00

Les organisateurs de cette rencontre proposent d'engager une réflexion sur l'occupation et l'évolution des espaces civiques comme élément de compréhension de l'histoire urbaine et municipale dans les provinces occidentales de l'Empire entre le IIe siècle et IVe siècle.

L'histoire des communautés civiques, entre le Haut-Empire et l'Antiquité tardive, a longtemps été écrite comme celle d'un déclin progressif. Depuis plusieurs années déjà, quelques études ont montré que le modèle civique n'avait pas disparu avec la « crise » du IIIe siècle. Les difficultés qui sont apparues dans le cours de la vie des cités, parfois dès le IIe siècle, particulièrement dans les provinces d'Hispanie, signalent plutôt l'entrée de quelques cités dans une récession longue, qu'une ruine définitive de l'institution civique. La cité est restée, encore au IVe siècle, le premier cadre de vie des provinciaux et la cellule administrative fondamentale de l'Empire.

Néanmoins, l'image laissée par les communautés civiques se trouble progressivement entre le IIe siècle et le IVe siècle. La documentation tardive, peu abondante, souvent de nature juridique ou ecclésiastique et de portée générale, rend compte de la permanence globale de la vie municipale, mais la disparition progressive de la documentation épigraphique ne permet plus de cerner sa diversité et sa richesse. L'histoire individuelle des cités s'écrit souvent au regard de la seule documentation archéologique issue de la fouille des espaces civiques, entendus comme les lieux d'expression de la vie municipale. Or, les vestiges archéologiques livrent un tableau contrasté de l'évolution des espaces civiques. Si leur occupation semble se pérenniser sans changement significatif dans quelques grandes cités, ailleurs la dégradation de monuments et de lieux publics ou l'occupation des espaces civiques par des activités privées, voire leur abandon pur et simple, signalent des processus de changement dans l'activité civique qui tranche avec la perception actuelle de la pérennité de la vie civique. Alors qu'il n'est plus possible aujourd'hui de parler de crise ou de déclin de la civilisation municipale, comment faut-il interpréter ces changements ? S'agit-il de phénomènes localisés traduisant une sélection du réseau des cités ? Faut-il y voir le témoignage d'une transformation de la pratique civique et un changement dans l'utilisation des espaces dédiés à la vie de la communauté ?

Plus à Calenda - Une crise urbaine à la fin du Haut-Empire ?

http://calenda.revues.org/nouvelle22591.html

The Etruscans: A Population-Genetic Study

2012-02-06T21:52:00.001+01:00

By Cristiano Vernesi et al.

American Journal of Human Genetics, Vol.74:4 (2004)

Abstract: The origins of the Etruscans, a non-Indo-European population of preclassical Italy, are unclear. There is broad agreement that their culture developed locally, but the Etruscans' evolutionary and migrational relationships are largely unknown. In this study, we determined mitochondrial DNA sequences in multiple clones derived from bone samples of 80 Etruscans who lived between the 7th and the 3rd centuries b.c. In the first phase of the study, we eliminated all specimens for which any of nine tests for validation of ancient DNA data raised the suspicion that either degradation or contamination by modern DNA might have occurred. On the basis of data from the remaining 30 individuals, the Etruscans appeared as genetically variable as modern populations. No significant heterogeneity emerged among archaeological sites or time periods, suggesting that different Etruscan communities shared not only a culture but also a mitochondrial gene pool. Genetic distances and sequence comparisons show closer evolutionary relationships with the eastern Mediterranean shores for the Etruscans than for modern Italian populations. All mitochondrial lineages observed among the Etruscans appear typically European or West Asian, but only a few haplotypes were found to have an exact match in a modern mitochondrial database, raising new questions about the Etruscans' fate after their assimilation into the Roman state.

Click here to read this article from PubMed Central

Swift Action Preserves Roman Past for the Future

2012-02-06T21:51:00.003+01:00

The team from Gallagher Group, the Maidstone-based building, civil engineering, quarrying and property business, has helped local archaeologists preserve a Roman building through the winter.

Answering the call from the Maidstone Area Archaeological Group to safeguard its excavation of a Roman building in East Farleigh, Gallagher Group carefully backfilled the site after donating one of its mechanical diggers and staff for the day.

Linda Weeks, Honorary Secretary of the Maidstone Area Archaeological Group, said: "We are very grateful to Gallagher Group for their generosity in supplying us the men and equipment for our excavation at East Farleigh.

"We were concerned that the ragstone walls of the Roman buildings would have been damaged by the winter frosts, but Gallagher's timely intervention has meant that these walls have now been preserved. The members of our group who attended were impressed with the speed and professionalism shown by the men."

More at Swift Action Preserves Roman Past for the Future
http://www.onlykent.com/20120202/swift-action-preserves-roman-past-for-the-future/

Swift Action Preserves Roman Past for the Future

2012-02-06T21:51:00.001+01:00

The team from Gallagher Group, the Maidstone-based building, civil engineering, quarrying and property business, has helped local archaeologists preserve a Roman building through the winter.

More at Swift Action Preserves Roman Past for the Future
http://www.onlykent.com/20120202/swift-action-preserves-roman-past-for-the-future/

Une conférence sur les portraits impériaux sur les monnaies romaines

2012-02-06T21:47:00.001+01:00

Une conférence sur les portraits impériaux sur les monnaies romaines | L'histoire de la Bible et des religions
http://www.mondedelabible.com/non-classe/une-conference-sur-les-portraits-imperiaux-sur-les-monnaies-romaines/

Imago! L'empereur et ses monnaies: de Nerva à Commode A Toulouse (31000) Musée Saint-Raymond- Musée des Antiques de Toulouse 3, place Saint-Sernin
Tél./ 05 61 22 31 44
http://www.SaintRaymond.toulouse.fr Le 9 février, à 17h
Une conférence de Vincent Geneviève, archéologue à l »INRAP
Réservation conseillée

Raiders plundering Byzantine treasures

2012-02-06T21:45:00.001+01:00

Treasure hunters and looters have been plundering a Byzantine cemetery and the İnceğiz caves in Istanbul's Çatalca district for many years, despite the area's recognition as a protected archeological site of the first degree. Unlicensed excavations take place inside the graves in Çatalca district [Credit: Hurriyet] "Grave diggers have swarmed into the region when the excavation work in the cemetery came to an end in 1995 upon the order of the Archeology Museum. Unlicensed excavations take place inside the graves that were carved into stone, after [the looters] break the stone lids. History is being destroyed," said Ahmet Rasim Yücel, the head of the Çatalca Culture and Tourism Association.

Despite constant patrols by gendarmerie forces, controls are still lax because the area in question is too wide, according to Çatalca District Gov. Nevzat Taşdan, who also complained about the lack of means available to them in combating treasure hunters, the daily Akşam reported.

"There is no redress for the damage unless rescue excavations are undertaken. We expect Culture and Tourism Minister Ertuğrul Günay to take charge and claim this inheritance. The borders of the protected cemetery also ought to be widened," Yücel said.

The Archaeology News Network: Raiders plundering Byzantine treasures
http://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2012/01/raiders-plundering-byzantine-treasures.html

Arab leaders boost Dominican archaeologist’s quest for Cleopatra

2012-02-06T21:39:00.001+01:00

SANTO DOMINGO.- Egypt's new military authorities have reissued the license to Dominican archaeologist Kathleen Martinez to resume the excavations in the historic search for the tomb of Cleopatra, an investigation that has piqued the interest and obtained the support of the leaders of the United Arab Emirates.

Martinez made the announcement Friday, but also revealed the theft of many of the artifacts she had already unearthed and the "disappearance" of the excavation equipment during the year-long turmoil in Egypt.

She said the process to recover her excavation license has already passed through several departments, "so we are ready to return and resume the investigation."

Martinez said the she was invited to a private audience by the sheiks of the United Arab Emirates, where its royal facility discussed the project with her.

The attorney turned tomb hunter said on expressing her concerns over the protection of her archaeological finds, the UAE leaders encouraged her to continue her search, "and let the world worry about protecting your discoveries."

"They invited me and honored me with encouragement to continue with my search," she said, interviewed by Huchi Lora on Channel 11.

Close to Cleopatra

Explaining the progress in her quest, Martinez was upbeat despite the year-long hiatus forced by the revolt in Egypt. "We found the plaque of the tomb of Isis, this confirms my theory of Cleopatra's burial site."

More at:
http://www.dominicantoday.com/dr/world/2012/1/27/42463/Arab-leaders-boost-Dominican-archaeologists-quest-for-Cleopatra

Effort to Recreate Herod’s Tomb Criticized

2012-02-04T22:40:00.000+01:00

A plan by the Israel Nature and Parks Authority to create a life-size recreation of Herod's tomb at the site of Herodium is coming under fire from some archaeologists. The plan, which is also being promoted by the Gush Etzion Regional Council that oversees and administers Jewish settlements in the area, calls for the building of an 80-foot-tall plastic structure that will attempt to recreate the size, grandeur and architectural details of Herod's mausoleum, which some believe was discovered by the late Ehud Netzer several years ago.* Already this week, the Parks Authority erected a 13-foot-tall model of the tomb at the site (pictured). Some archaeologists, however, are critical of the plan and suggest that the details of Herod's tomb are still too sketchy to develop an accurate understanding of what the mausoleum actually looked like. "The Herodium is impressive on its own, and the new structure will only distract from the real thing," said Haim Goldfus, the head of Ben Gurion University's archaeology department. "A public committee should be established to decide on such a move."

A plan by the Israel Nature and Parks Authority to create a life-size recreation of Herod's tomb at the site of Herodium is coming under fire from some archaeologists.

Effort to Recreate Herod's Tomb Criticized – Bible History Daily
http://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/news/effort-to-recreate-herod%E2%80%99s-tomb-criticized/

Structure of a Formal Roman Ritual

2012-02-04T22:37:00.001+01:00

The Roman caeremonium is composed of a number of stages, each stage composed of one or more rituals. The arrangement of these stages, and the order in which they may appear, can vary according to the kind of caeremonium. Here I follow a model posed by John North of University College London for the structure of Roman ritual, on which I have expanded some of the details.

I. – PRAEFATIO

The preliminary stage of a formal Roman ritual begins with a praeco (herald) calling for people's attention by announcing "Hoc age!" The main celebrant then appoints his assistants, with the most important assistant being the minister sacrificii. An important feature in a Roman ceremony is the dialogue that takes place between the celebrants. The main celebrant, called the praesus or the praesul, is responsible for ordering or authorizing the other celebrants to do their parts. No action is taken during a ceremony without a person asking permission and the praesul authorizing him to proceed. An example from a private ritual is where Cato the Elder wrote:

"The proper way to purify the grain fields is in this manner. Order a piglet, a lamb, and a calf to (suovitaurilia) be led around, using these words: 'With the favor of the Gods, everything may turn out well, so I bid you, Manius, to take care to purify my farm, my field, my land with this suovetaurilia, may you lead or carry as many of the sacrificial victims as you wish aroundwhatever part of my estate, my field, and my land as you think best (De Agricultura 141)."

Another example is give by Cicero in the case of taking auspices. Here the praesul asks, "Quintus Fabius, I wish you to be (an assistant) to me at the auspices." To this, Fabius answers, "Audivi." "(Thus) I have heard, (De Divinatione 2.71)."

A ritual purification is then made by the praesul with the assistance of a camillus. This was a child, which for Romans could be anyone up to the age of thirty, but was usually a prepubescent boy or girl whose parents were still living and still married to one another. By law, the camillus had to hold a bowl in his or her left hand and with the right foot forward for good luck the camillus would pour pure water from a vessel over the hands of the praesul, who in turn would sprinkle the water three times over his forehead.

An initial sacrifice of incense, wine, and possible a cake of grain, might be offered at this time to call upon certain deities to act as witnesses to the initial rituals.

II. – POMPA

The pompa is a procession. It is a ritual all to itself. Pompae are arranged differently for military triumphs, funeral processions, for when games were being held in honor of the Gods, and for other kinds of occasions. That is, the arrangement of a pompa, how the various components of the procession were placed, characterized what type of ritual was being celebrated. In general, though, you may think of it as the procession in which offerings are carried or led to the altar. I shall cover the pompa in more detail in a later post.

More at Structure of a Formal Roman Ritual | Religio et Pietas

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/religioromana/2012/01/structure-of-a-formal-roman-ritual/

Les fouilles reprendront cet été au Port antique de Narbonne

2012-02-04T22:33:00.001+01:00

Le passé de la ville passionne toujours autant, à en juger par la foule qui s'est pressée en fin de semaine dernière, aux Synodes. Corinne Sanchez, chargée de recherches au CNRS, et Marie-Pierre Jezegou, ingénieur au Département des recherches archéologiques subaquatiques, ont évoqué il est vrai, le Port de Narbonne. Cette fenêtre vers la Méditerranée qui ne s'est jamais tout à fait refermée…

Le professeur Jacques Michaud a souligné l'importance des recherches menées au Grand Castelou, avant de céder la parole aux conférencières, qui ont détaillé ce que les fouilles ont mis au jour, notamment l'année dernière.
"Le Grand Castelou est un port qui prend le relais de La Nautique à partir de l'an 70. Est-ce dû au changement du cours du fleuve ? De l'ensablement ? En tout cas, cela prouve que nous avons là un des ports des plus importants de l'empire romain. Le plus vaste après Ostie (Rome)", indique Corinne Sanchez.
Les découvertes concernent autant les installations portuaires que des fragments de bateaux, et divers objets d'époque : "Nous avons trouvé des amphores bien sûr, mais également du verre brut qui était importé, du minerai de fer, des céramiques, et surtout tout le bois est conservé, des berges aux fragments d'embarcations". Avec tous les éléments recueillis, le fonctionnement du port est étudié dans son ensemble.

"Vivement la suite"

Le Grand Castelou (avec la chaussée de Mandirac) fait partie des quatre points stratégiques de fouilles, avec La Nautique, l'île Saint-Martin et l'île Sainte-Lucie. Des fouilles appelées à se poursuivre. Corinne Sanchez confirme, avec une impatience non dissimulée : "Nous allons continuer le chantier de fouilles au Grand Castelou dès cet été. Et nous avons effectivement hâte d'y être. Vivement la suite". Avec le secret espoir de tomber par exemple, sur un bateau avec sa cargaison en bon état de conservation ! En attendant d'en savoir plus sur l'activité portuaire, liée notamment aux productions de la Narbonnaise de jadis, les auditeurs sont repartis de la Commission archéologique avec un bel imaginaire dans la tête. Les images d'un Narbo au coeur maritime…

Les fouilles reprendront cet été au Port antique de Narbonne - Lindependant
http://www.lindependant.fr/2012/02/01/les-fouilles-reprendront-cet-ete-au-port-antique-de-narbonne-entre-digue-et-voies-romaines,113088.php

Camille Jullian - Vercingétorix _ Chap. VI \ p. 6 & 7

2012-02-04T22:31:00.001+01:00

Chapitre VI - Vercingétorix, ami de César.

6. Ce que les Gaulois pouvaient penser de l'amitié de César.

Les calculs de César devaient être déjoués. Il jugea les Gaulois plus naïfs et plus crédules qu'ils ne l'étaient. Il les traitait trop volontiers en enfants qu'un hochet fait rester tranquilles.

L'aimable et triomphant proconsul n'apporta pas toujours, dans son appréciation des hommes, la science subtile et froide qui convenait à un manieur de peuples. Lui qui passa sa vie à réagir en vainqueur contre l'univers entier, il s'égara jusqu'à la veille de sa mort sur les sentiments de ses amis et de ses familiers. Sa confiance le perdit à Rome et faillit le perdre en Gaule. Aucun de ces chefs auxquels il donna le titre d'ami ne se crut tenu à une éternelle amitié. C'était pour eux une précaution contre les incertitudes du lendemain, un moyen de donner le change et de voir venir.

Ni Dumnorix, ni Ambiorix, ni Commios l'Atrébate, ni Vercingétorix n'entendirent engager leur parole qu'autant que le chef romain demeurerait véritablement l'ami de la Gaule, l'ami et non le maître. Quand tous ces satellites politiques de César se retournèrent contre lui, l'un après l'autre, aucun ne pensa violer la foi jurée : ils avaient mille motifs de croire que le proconsul y avait manqué le premier. S'il se plaignit, c'est qu'il se montrait un bienfaiteur ingrat : en le servant un ou deux ans, les Gaulois avaient suffisamment donné en échange d'un vain litre. Car, depuis 61, on avait tellement abusé de ce mot d'ami du peuple romain que les Gaulois avaient fini par l'estimer à sa juste valeur, et par le coter à peu près aussi exactement que les Romains eux-mêmes. Tous étaient prêts à lui déclarer ce que lui avait dit Arioviste, ami lui aussi du peuple romain de par la grâce de Jules César : Me croit-on assez barbare et assez innocent pour ne pas savoir ce que vaut une pareille amitié ? A-t-elle servi aux Éduens ? Ce litre n'a jamais été pour Rome qu'un prétexte à mettre des armées en marche. Les Gaulois pensèrent de même, jusqu'au jour où César leur eut montré que, si l'amitié du peuple romain était une formule de soumission, l'inimitié de César était une menace de mort.

7. Progrès continus du parti national : Dumnorix, Indutiomar, Ambiorix.

C'est qu'en effet la Gaule n'avait pas accepté comme un fait accompli la mainmise du proconsul sur ses libertés. Elle fut surprise, elle ne fut pas domptée. En dépit de cinq années de défaites partielles (de 58 à 84), le regret de la liberté, loin de s'atténuer, ne fit que grandir. Je ne parle pas seulement des blessures d'amour-propre que causèrent les pratiques politiques de César, favorable tour à tour aux sénats et à la royauté, débarrassant d'abord les cités de la crainte des tyrans et la leur infligeant ensuite. Mais il y a eu, depuis l'automne de 58 jusqu'aux révoltes générales, un progrès continu du patriotisme gaulois.

Plus à lire à Camille Jullian - Vercingétorix _ Chap. VI p. 6 & 7 - Le blog de LUTECE

http://www.e-stoire.net/article-camille-jullian-vercingetorix-_-chap-vi-p-6-7-98321561.html

L'Europe, d'Athènes à Rome, petite histoire à méditer

2012-02-04T22:27:00.001+01:00

À l'heure où les dirigeants européens tentent sommet après sommet… de la dernière chance, de sauver sinon l'Union, du moins son rejeton, l'euro, il convient de prendre un peu de recul afin de mieux saisir la page d'histoire qui se déroule sous nos yeux. L'Europe est, en effet aujourd'hui, dans une situation étonnamment comparable à celle connue par l'Empire romain à un moment clé de son histoire : la fin du règne de Constantin.

Nous sommes en 337 apr. J.-C. : Constantin vient de mourir dans sa ville, l'actuelle Istanbul. À cette époque déjà, une monnaie unique a cours de l'Atlantique à la Mer Noire : le sesterce*.

Constantin, premier empereur chrétien, avait en effet réussi à réunifier l'Empire après la bataille du Pont Milvius (312) et sa victoire sur Maxence. Cette réunification avait conduit l'Empire à réinstaurer la monnaie unique.
L'utilisation de cette monnaie finit par créer des tensions entre zones riches et pauvres, les zones riches centrales (Italie, Espagne, Provence) accusant les régions périphériques pauvres (la Dacie, la Macédoine et la Grèce, déjà) d'acheter leur pain à bas coût en ayant recours à "la planche à billets" de l'époque. Ainsi la Grèce, bien dotée en minerais, ne lésine pas sur la fabrication de sesterces, car cela lui permet d'acquérir à bon compte les denrées produites en Espagne.

Cette situation alimente naturellement l'inflation et provoque le ressentiment des classes modestes envers "la monnaie unique". Des expéditions hasardeuses, notamment en Asie Mineure et en Perse, également financée par la création monétaire, renforcent ces phénomènes. La Dacie, qui correspond à l'actuelle Roumanie, procède de même, mais peine bientôt à trouver de nouvelles mines. Elle s'endette pour financer son train de vie, jusqu'à se trouver en situation de faillite. Rome refusant de la sauver, la Dacie sort du système monétaire impérial vers 350-352.

En quittant le sesterce et l'Empire, la Dacie brise l'idée même d'une Union toujours plus aboutie, telle que se veut l'objectif de l'Union européenne. Elle brise un tabou, celui de l'invincibilité de l'Empire. En acceptant cette scission, l'Empereur Galien, par ailleurs dépravé et corrompu, achète en quelque sorte "la paix sociale", mais ouvre, par la même, la porte à la remise en question du statut de Rome (et de Constantinople).

En quittant la Pax Romana, la Dacie, maillon faible de l'Empire, sert, au début du IVe siècle de notre ère, de plateforme pour les armées d'Alaric et d'Attila. Ceci est à méditer quand on sait qu'à Berlin s'échafaudent, pour la Grèce, des plans de sortie de l'euro.

25 ans après ce début de désagrégation monétaire, le système monétaire impérial est dissous, l'anarchie prédomine.

60 ans plus tard (410), Rome est saccagée par les Wisigoths, l'Empire entre en déliquescence.

75 ans plus tard, Attila et ses hordes, défiant le limes (la stratégie militaire romaine fondée par César et qui n'avait pas été remodelée depuis 500 ans…), détruisent l'idée même de Pax Romana.

120 ans plus tard, en 476 exactement, Odoacre dépose le dernier empereur et envoie les insignes impériaux à Constantinople. L'Empire d'Occident n'est plus, l'Europe entre dans le Moyen Âge. Les royaumes barbares n'auront de cesse de vouloir reprendre l'héritage impérial à leur compte, sans parvenir à réunifier l'Europe, malgré les tentatives infructueuses de Charlemagne ou des Kaisers du Saint-Empire romain germanique.

Pendant mille ans, la population de l'Europe n'augmentera pas - ce sera la seule région du monde dans ce cas - et elle se retrouvera à la remorque des autres civilisations. C'est l'époque de la dominance de la Chine des Song et du Califat. Songez : en 632, le prophète meurt à Médine. 100 ans plus tard, ses descendants sont arrêtés à Poitiers…

Aujourd'hui, le vieux continent est à la croisée des chemins. La crise commencée en 2007 n'est pas comparable à la bulle internet ou aux chocs pétroliers, mais à 1929 : une crise systémique. Si 1929 a ultimement débouché sur l'horreur nazie, les mêmes causes ne produisent pas toujours les mêmes effets.

Plus à lire à L'Europe, d'Athènes à Rome, petite histoire à méditer

http://lecercle.lesechos.fr/economie-societe/international/europe/221142847/europe-athenes-a-rome-petite-histoire-a-mediter

Cocidius, the Cumbrian god

2012-02-04T22:20:00.001+01:00

Sometimes it's easy to forget that there were people here before the Romans. But they were here, leaving echoes of their lives and beliefs through place names, 5,800-year-old tools and 2,000-year-old weapons. When the Romans first encountered us 2,000 years ago, they wrote down some of the things they discovered. They said that there was a people in northern Cumbria called the Carvetii, 'the deer people', who were a sub-group of a large northern tribe called the Brigantes – at least that's what the Romans called them; we don't know what they called themselves – and we had a number of local gods.

The Romans had an impressively egalitarian approach to the religions they encountered as they travelled the world. They believed the same set of gods was present everywhere but just known by different names. When they came across a native god, they looked in their own pantheon for the Roman equivalent, which is how Lugus – after whom Carlisle is named – came to be seen as a different name for their own god, Mercury. Every native god in turn was partnered with its Roman equivalent, and this is how we get to hear about the northern British god, Cocidius.

There are no less than nine carved images and 25 inscribed dedications to Cocidius on Hadrian's Wall, some from Netherby and Carlisle and others found by Cumberland Quarries (exact site unknown). There are no less than six inscriptions from Bewcastle fort in Cumbria, where he is described as 'Mars Cocidius', which means the owner of the altar believed that Cocidius was the native name for the Roman god of war, Mars. Two silver plaques found at Bewcastle show Cocidius wearing a helmet and holding a shield and a club or spear.

The Ravenna Cosmography – a 7^th-century summary of all towns that had been in the Roman empire – mentions Fanum Cocidius, which means Cocidius's Temple. It says that it was between Maia (Bowness-on-Solway) and Brovacum (Brougham). Given this description and the number of inscriptions found, it's tempting to believe that this site was Bewcastle.

At the eastern end of Hadrian's wall, Cocidius is linked to forests, and hence to hunting. In an inscription at Ebchester in County Durham, he is 'Cocidius Vernostonus' – Cocidius of the alder tree – and at Housesteads Fort and Risingham, he is 'Sylvanus Cocidius'. Sylvanus was the Roman god of wild forests. An intaglio found at Habitancum Roman Fort on Dere Street at Risingham shows Cocidius surrounded by leafy branches, holding a hare, accompanied by a dog. A further north-eastern image at Yardhope at the tantalisingly-named 'Holystone Burn' (the name pre-dates the discovery of the carving in 1980!) shows Cocidius with hat, spear and shield, legs akimbo, arms wide.

More to read at Cocidius, the Cumbrian god

Les mines de Doura Europos, et l’énigme des romains morts…

2012-02-04T22:17:00.001+01:00

Au milieu du IIIème siècle, l'empire romain est en pleine anarchie militaire. Les empereurs succèdent aux empereurs et les guerres civiles aux affrontements fratricides. C'est dans ce contexte troublé que les perses conduits par Shapur I décident d'envahir la riche province de Syrie.

Le premier obstacle sur leur chemin est la ville fortifiée de Doura Europos, au bord de l'Euphrate, à la limite de l'actuelle Syrie et de l'Irak. Cette ville commerciale fondée par les grecs séleucides était occupée par une cohorte auxiliaire de cavalarie palmyrénienne (XX palmyrorum) et très certainement un détachement légionnaire. L'attaque aura lieu en 256/257 et se soldera par la prise de la ville.

Durant le siège, les assaillants vont utiliser la plupart des techniques à leur disposition : une rampe sera construite, toujours visible de nos jours, et de nombreuses mines auront pour objet de saper les remparts, qui résisteront toujours peu ou prou. L'une de ces attaques de sape fait toujours l'objet d'une vive controverse…

Les Perses entreprennent de saper les fondations d'une des tours, en construisant une galerie sous celle-ci. L'objectif est comme toujours de mettre le feu aux étais supportant le toit de la mine pour provoquer un tassement de terrain qui doit mettre la tour à bas. Alertés soit par le bruit soit par les déblais extraits du sol, les romains réalisent une contremine, qui finira par déboucher dans la galerie perse. Pour autant, les perses réussissent à mettre le feu à leur sape, mais en ne faisant qu'endommager la tour qui s'affaisse légèrement.

Plus à Les mines de Doura Europos, et l'énigme des romains morts…

http://www.armae.com/blog/les-mines-de-doura-europos-et-lenigme-des-romains-morts.html

Stella Antinoi, Antinous the Navigator

2012-02-04T22:11:00.001+01:00

In noctis caelo primus Hadrianus Videbat stella Antinoi Clara stella obscura

Captus in Aquila
Divina caelestis haec flamma

Dona nobis lucem obscuritati!

Ex opera eius Inferna Ave Victor Ave Antinoe nunc emerge! Archon Domini subiecti
Ave Antinoe
Liberamurque in aeternum victore!

Ave Ave Victor Antinoe!

Annorum Decies Centena
Millia Scapha
Ad stellam obscuram perducta

Navigator Antinoe custodi nos!

First in the night's sky Hadrian Saw Antinous' star A clear, dark star
Grasped in Aquila—
this divine heavenly fire—

Give us light for darkness!

From his toils in the Underworld— Hail, Victorious One, Hail! — Emerge now, O Antinous! The Lord Archons are subjected—
Hail Antinous! —
and we are liberated eternally by (your) victory!

Hail, Hail, Antinous the Victorious!

The Boat
of Millions of Years
is guided toward the dark star.

Antinous the Navigator protect us!

*****

The above text is from the Antinoan Metrical Calendar that I wrote many years back, and which was published in Devotio Antinoo; due to various reasons having to do with revisions, calendrical changes, and the like, it is the longest individual entry in the metrical calendar. That version of the calendar (there is a prose version preceding it, which gives explanations of each holy occasion) is meant not only for shorthand usage–despite it not including every festival throughout the year–but it is also meant to be used for prayer, hymnic, or meditative purposes on each day in absence of anything else that you might have developed. It is also hoped that the metrical calendar will be the basis for the eventual book of days that I intend to produce. But, more on that later.

It occurs to me that some of the feasts we've observed in relation to Antinous this month thus far can possibly be seen to have a kind of development toward today in terms of the syncretisms that have been honored–and, technically, since Foundation Day as well. As Foundation Day and the days following it officially marks the entrance of Antinous the Liberator into his strongest period, and that period ends today with the transfer over to Antinous the Navigator, many of the syncretisms that are honored between early November and the present play into that liberating aspect quite nicely. We celebrate Antinous' Dionysian syncretism toward late December on the 21st of that month, a little more than halfway through this period; Dionysos is the liberator in Greek mythology, if ever there was one. Then, on January 1st, we celebrate his syncretism with Asklepios; as a god of healing, freedom from physical ailment is certainly an experience of liberation. Next, we acknowledge Antinous' syncretism with Pan; if Dionysos is the liberator of Greek mythology, then Pan is probably the most liberated of that pantheon's deities, and the uninhibited wildness and exuberance of nature is therefore celebrated in that syncretism. On the 21st, we then mark Antinous' syncretism with Ganymede, who is an interesting further example of liberation, but this time as the mortal beneficiary of such liberation and immortalization. On the 23rd, we celebrate the syncretism of Antinous with Agathos Daimon, which is not only a deity in its own right, but also that aspect of ourselves that seeks to be liberated, and upon which any and all future and further foundations for spiritual work and liberation are built. And, on the 27th, we have one of the festivals of the syncretism of Antinous with the Dioskouroi, who were the liberators and saviors of so many people in the ancient Mediterranean world.

More at Stella Antinoi, Antinous the Navigator

http://aediculaantinoi.wordpress.com/2012/01/29/stella-antinoi-antinous-the-navigator/

Spartacus : Vengeance - Premières impressions

2012-02-04T22:08:00.001+01:00

Presque deux ans après le sanglant final de Spartacus : Blood and Sand, le temps de la vengeance est finalement arrivé pour les ex-gladiateurs de Batiatus.

Par Vivien LEJEUNE - publié le 30 janvier 2012 à 00h01 ,
MAJ le 30 janvier 2012 à 11h19 - 0 commentaire(s)

Les malheureuses circonstances entourant la gestation difficile de la seconde saison de Spartacus : Blood and Sand sont bien connues : après le succès de leur première année consacrée aux origines de la rébellion du plus célèbre des gladiateurs, les créateurs / producteurs de la série évènement ont du faire face à la maladie, puis au décès, de leur acteur principal… Une épreuve forcément très difficile, qui aura repoussé d'un an la quête de liberté de ces "dieux de l'arène" avant de pouvoir, finalement, offrir son nouveau visage au héros de la déjà fort bien nommée Spartacus : Vengeance.

Dans le rôle-titre, l'australien Liam McIntyre succède donc au regretté gallois Andy Whitfield et devient, à son tour, le meneur de l'un des plus sanglants soulèvements qu'ait pu connaître l'Empire Romain au cœur de son dernier siècle d'Histoire avant Jésus Christ. Bien qu'il soit plus jeune d'une dizaine d'années, sa ressemblance physique avec son prédécesseur se révèle suffisamment évidente pour assurer une réelle continuité à l'ensemble de la série ; et ce dès les premières secondes ensanglantées de cet épisode d'ouverture ne tardant naturellement pas à inonder l'écran de ses désormais emblématiques surenchères visuelles… mais sans toutefois parvenir à totalement restituer ce regard à la fois implacable, triste et si envoûtant, qui témoignait si bien des ultimes lueurs d'humanité d'un Spartacus toujours plus endeuillé ; à présent libéré et plus que jamais en quête de justice.

Après la parenthèse qu'aura été la mini série "flashback" Gods of the Arena, Spartacus : Vengeance reprend le cours des évènements là où Blood and Sand les avait laissés et s'éloigne de l'incontournable schéma "entraînement, huilage / entrecuissage, complot et effusions de sang" - si caractéristique de la première saison -, au profit d'une intrigue aux ficelles un peu moins redondantes ; aux enjeux accrus et propices à de multiples "surprises" et autres revirements de situations… à commencer par le retour de la toujours aussi fantastique Lucy Lawless. En incarnant à présent une Lucretia blessée, meurtrie et effrayée, la comédienne se voit offrir une nouvelle opportunité de montrer toute l'étendue de son talent et s'impose, une fois encore, comme la principale valeur ajoutée de cette "tragédie guerrière" revisitée, où les romains l'emportent d'ailleurs amplement en nuances et en intérêt sur les insurgés… qui, de leur côté, continuent (Manu "Crixus" Bennett en tête) de systématiquement chuchoter de leurs voix graves comme pour mieux appuyer l'importance de chacun de leurs échanges entre deux démembrements.

Plus à Spartacus : Vengeance - Premières impressions
http://www.excessif.com/serie-tv/actu-series/dossiers/spartacus-vengeance-premieres-impressions-6958043-760.html

Classicists Rule!!!

2012-02-04T21:59:00.001+01:00

A couple of items of interest which coincidentaly passed under my caerulean gaze this week … first, one of the Discover Magazine blogs confirmed (based on GRE matters) what we all know (but which appears to be a surprise to some): Classicists are Smart! … inter alia:

I looked at the average verbal and mathematical score for each discipline. Then I converted them to standard deviation units away from the mean. This is useful because there's an unfortunate compression and inflation on the mathematical scores. Disciplines which are stronger in math are going to have a greater average because the math averages are higher all around. You can see that I divided the chart into quadrants. There are no great surprises. People who want to pursue a doctorate in physical education are in the bottom left quadrant. Sorry. As in my previous post physicists, economists, and philosophers do rather well. But there were some surprises at the more detailed scale. Historians of science, and those graduate students who wish to pursue classics or classical languages are very bright. Budding historians of science have a relatively balanced intellectual profile, and the strongest writing scores of any group except for philosophers. I think I know why: many of these individuals have a science background, but later became interested in history. They are by nature relatively broad generalists. I have no idea why people drawn to traditionally classical fields are bright, but I wonder if it is because these are not "sexy" domains, to the point where you have to have a proactive interest in the intellectual enterprise.

… one really has to read the whole thing to get the full effect. One of the comments (by ClassicsPhD) pretty much says what most of us are probably thinking:

As a Classics PhD (Berkeley; BAs in Philosophy and Classics) and professor of Classics, the only thing I find surprising—or rather, we're chuckling at it here at the dept.—in the article above is the author's apparent surprise at the overarching intelligence of Classicists.

A few observations:

Classical Languages should be in the plural; no one studies but one in grad school. Although we generally specialize, as researchers, in one or the other (i.e., Latin or Greek), both languages are studied and examined equally in grad school (as are, of course, the modern scholarly languages required).

I am unclear on the differentiation between "Classics" and "Classical Language (sic)" here; there are no PhD programs that allow one to earn an advanced degree in "Classics" without the Classical languages (there are "Classical Studies" BAs that may require only two years in one of the languages, but such degrees do not lead to graduate study). I suspect that this may have something to do with the ways in which reporting depts. identify themselves, but I am not at all sure.

Emil: "I am surprised to see classicists up there… [though] I have never spoken with one." Indeed.

More at Classicists Rule!!!

http://rogueclassicism.com/2012/01/28/classicists-rule/

Wall Mile 35

2012-02-04T21:55:00.001+01:00

The curtain wall, beneath the by-now-familiar field wall, descends into Busy Gap and is breached by a modern gateway called the King's Wicket which seems to have a history. Busy Gap was a traditional route through the wall in the medieval and post-medieval period, ne'er-do-wells who used it for their nefarious activities earning the nickname Busy Gap Rogues (a term of abuse that remained in use into the 19th century). It has an even older significance, however, as an earthwork dyke that may date as far back as the Bronze Age runs through the gap and on towards what is now Scotland. Once again, the Roman Wall merrily slices across a traditional landscape. The angle between the wall and the dyke is adapted into a triangular enclosure by the earthwork known as Black Dyke, here thought to be used as a post-medieval stock enclosure associated with the passage through the wall. The Wall ditch reappears across Busy Gap, recognising its tactical vulnerability but terminates again once it begins to ascend Sewingshields Crags.

We follow the wall up, passing the site of Turret 35b and, once we achieve the summit, can pause to look back to the west, where we can see Broomlee Lough, Greenlee Lough beyond it, and Housesteads Crags, with Crag Lough and Peel Crags in the distance. At the top, a short length of curtain wall emerges from underneath its guardian field wall, just to remind you of its existence

Before long we stumble unexpectedly on Turret 35a (Sewingshields). Constructed on a broad gauge foundation but with a narrow gauge curtain wall, this turret, with its entrance at the eastern end of the south wall, was only briefly occupied before being demolished and its recess filled in.

The next stretch of curtain wall we find has a rather nicely consolidated expansion near its eastern end, confirming that these were not just a product of the imagination of Clayton's workman but were a genuine feature of the south face of the curtain wall, along the Central Sector at least.

More at Wall Mile 35

http://perlineamvalli.wordpress.com/2012/01/29/wall-mile-35/

Roman Provincial Coinage Online

2012-02-01T23:54:00.001+01:00

The aim of the project is to produce a standard typology of the provincial coinage of the Roman Empire in the period AD 138–192. Coins are mass-produced objects, so that from the historical point of view it does not make sense to confine consideration to the collection in any one museum. The project is based on the ten most important and accessible collections in the world (the 'core collections' — see table), and on all published material. This represents the first systematic treatment of the civic coinage at the height of the Roman empire, and will have great importance for the study of cultural, religious, political, economic, and administrative history at both a local and an imperial level.

The material is relevant to a wide range of taught courses under both Classics and Archaeology, at both a graduate and undergraduate level. It is also a vital resource for the international research community and other interested parties.

The project is based in the Heberden Coin Room of the Ashmolean Museum, which is part of the University of Oxford.
Identification search Identify a coin and/or find a standard reference for it. Iconographic search Investigate the types of imagery used on coins either for all mints or by region. Advanced search Choose search criteria for any purpose. Some experience of the material may be necessary.

Other facilities

Purse Gather and hold on to selected coins for the duration of your session. Submit a new coin type Send us details of any Antonine coin type you believe not to be included in this database. Abbreviations A table of the abbreviations used in the database.

Posted by Charles Jones at 6:57 PM Labels: numismatics Location: Ashmolean, University of Oxford, Beaumont St, Oxford, Oxfordshire OX1 2PH, UK

More at Roman Provincial Coinage Online

http://ancientworldonline.blogspot.com/2012/01/roman-provincial-coinage-online.html

La route des amphores

2012-02-01T23:50:00.001+01:00

La route des amphores
http://www.chasses-au-tresor.com/actualites/la-route-des-amphores.html

Un reportage diffusé sur ARTE au sujet de La Route des amphores : une histoire de la conquête romaine ce samedi 28 janvier 2012 à 20h45.

Présentation de ARTE :

Où l'on reconstitue la conquête des Gaules en suivant à la trace le vin romain consommé par les futurs vaincus.

Avant de conquérir la Méditerranée au début de notre ère, les Romains l'ont dominée commercialement. On retrouve d'énormes quantités d'amphores à vin dans les épaves qui jalonnent les côtes, ainsi qu'un peu partout à terre. Les calculs montrent que, pendant le siècle qui a précédé la bataille d'Alésia et la reddition de Vercingétorix, les Gaulois ont vidé plus de cent millions d'amphores de vingt-cinq litres de vin romain. C'est ainsi que les archéologues reconstituent la route des amphores, la route d'une « première » conquête des Gaules.

Rediffusions le 29 janvier 2012 à 14:00 et le 08 février 2012 à 10:45.

Wall Mile 36

2012-02-01T23:47:00.001+01:00

Leaving Milecastle 37, we head east towards the plantation and a rare treat: the only chance to actually walk on the wall. Once upon a time, walkers merrily yomped along the top of the curtain wall in the central sector without giving much thought to the damage they were doing. Increases in visitor numbers mean such access has had to be limited to one carefully controlled section, here in the woods immediately west of Housesteads fort. It should be pointed out that the drop to the north is a bit hairy, so the vertiginously inclined can walk on a path immediately to the south of the curtain wall. There is a popular climbing pitch along here and occasionally richly accoutred climbers will pop up whilst you are heading along the top. Smile benignly at them and pass on.

Before long, we exit the plantation and a gate on the right takes you down past the fort to pay for a ticket at the small museum to examine Houses reads itself, whilst the Trail itself rather grumpily lurches to the left and would take you along the northern wall of the fort and down a rather steep and badly eroded slope without a chance of a peek at this most impressive of forts. The museum has a small display about the site and some of the finds, as well as a bijou shopportunity.

More at Wall Mile 36

http://perlineamvalli.wordpress.com/2012/01/28/wall-mile-36/

Rites, Rituals, and Ceremonies

2012-02-01T23:44:00.001+01:00

The Latin term ritus means means a rite that is performed in the customary and usual Roman manner (Festus s. v.). More specifically ritus refers to a Roman rite where prayers are correctly spoken, and the customary gestures and actions of Roman ritual are used. It is a marriage of prayer and action where the words giving meaning to an action and the action gives substance to the words. Furthermore a Roman ritus can be said to be composed of four parts:

I The Approach

II The Gesture and Prayer

III The Request

IV The Reply

One ought to know which God or Goddess he is calling upon, what are appropriate offerings to bring for the deity, how to address a particular God or Goddess, when and where to perform the ritual and other considerations. This can be a little complicated in any polytheistic tradition, but there is always a certain internal logic in a tradition that aids a worshiper when approaching a God. In the Roman tradition there is even a traditional manner of approach when you do not know what God or Goddess might be present in a place. The prayer and gesture is generally specific to the kind of rite being performed, where as a request may be more specific to the occasion or desire. Not always, but during a formal Roman rite one also takes a moment to see whether any sign appears to indicate whether one's offerings have been accepted or reject in reply to your request. This sounds more complicated than it actually is in practice.

A relatively simple rite is called the adoratio. It may involve a simple greeting such as saying "Ave, Ave, Di parenti." This greeting is coupled with a gesture where in one kisses the back of the right hand just behind the knuckle of the index finger, and then touches the finger tips onto an altar or an image. It is specifically used when addressing one's ancestors, so one approaches a family member's tomb, or the family lararium within the home, or sometimes it might be a tree or other outdoor shrine. The adoratio was so closely associated with rites for deceased family members, that is could be used interchangeably for the annual ritual owed to the dead in a parentatio. An adoratio can also be used with certain celestial deities when They are approached in a parental way. One example from Roman literature is where a woman would stop by each shrine and image of Venus, calling upon the Goddess to lend her daughter beauty and poise. In word and action the mother both promised Venus sacrifices in the future while reminding Her of past sacrifices, while at the same time she was including Venus as a parental figure to her daughter and thereby asked Venus to take a special interest in the welfare of her daughter.

More at Patheos

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/religioromana/2012/01/rites-rituals-and-ceremonies/

Camille Jullian - Vercingétorix _ Chap. VI \ p. 4 & 5

2012-02-01T23:41:00.001+01:00

Chapitre VI - Vercingétorix, ami de César.

4. De quelle manière César commandait à la Gaule.

Ce semestre de campagnes militaires et politiques (avril-septembre 58) présente donc en raccourci toute l'œuvre que les Romains se sont assignée en Gaule ; les quatre années qui suivirent (57-54) furent consacrées par César à développer le programme qu'il avait d'abord tracé.

À l'intérieur, il imposa l'hégémonie romaine aux différentes ligues qui, en 58, n'avaient point suivi l'exemple des Séquanes et des Éduens : celles des Belges au delà de la Marne, de l'Armorique sur l'Océan, des Aquitains non gaulois au sud de la Garonne. Mais, plus encore qu'à cette tâche intérieure, César s'appliqua à fixer et protéger la frontière de la Gaule. Du côté des Alpes, la route fut ouverte vers l'Italie ; les Cantabres furent rejetés en Espagne ; les Bretons, menacés sur leur île, n'eurent plus la tentation de secourir la Gaule ; et les Germains, deux fois attaqués chez eux, finirent par comprendre que le Rhin allait être la limite sacrée de la chose romaine. Ainsi, avant que la Gaule eût été franchement conquise, César en avait pacifié les abords : la future province était créée, pour ainsi dire, par le dehors.

Périodiquement, les cités gauloises alliées de César envoyaient à son camp des délégués, qui formaient, sous sa présidence ou sous sa protection, le conseil général des Gaules. Elles entretenaient des otages auprès de lui ; il s'approvisionnait chez elles de blé, de fourrage, d'armes et de munitions ; il entrait librement dans leurs places- fortes. Leur noblesse formait dans l'armée romaine la cavalerie auxiliaire. C'était le proconsul qui fixait leur contingent militaire. Il était le chef suprême des armées gauloises unies à ses légions. Il ne commandait pas à la Gaule d'une manière très différente de celle d'un Celtill ou d'un Bituit.

Plus à Le blog de LUTECE

http://www.e-stoire.net/article-camille-jullian-vercingetorix-_-chap-vi-p-4-5-97972117.html

Bones on Milton Keynes building site 'could be Roman'

2012-02-01T23:37:00.002+01:00

A set of bones discovered on a building site in Milton Keynes could be Roman, said a council archaeologist.

The remains of more than one person have now been discovered at the Taylor Wimpey development in Oakridge Park.

The bones of one skeleton were first unearthed by workers on the site two weeks ago.

Forensic archaeologists established that the remains were not of recent origin and therefore not of police interest.

Shortly after the bones were first unearthed, the council's senior archaeological officer Nick Crank said that the only certainty was that the skeleton was older than about 70 years.

'Superficial similarities'

He said this was beyond the age that the police would be interested in them, but it was "highly possible" that they were much older.

More at BBC News

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-16739777

Bones on Milton Keynes building site 'could be Roman'

2012-02-01T23:37:00.001+01:00

A set of bones discovered on a building site in Milton Keynes could be Roman, said a council archaeologist.

The remains of more than one person have now been discovered at the Taylor Wimpey development in Oakridge Park.

The bones of one skeleton were first unearthed by workers on the site two weeks ago.

Forensic archaeologists established that the remains were not of recent origin and therefore not of police interest.

Shortly after the bones were first unearthed, the council's senior archaeological officer Nick Crank said that the only certainty was that the skeleton was older than about 70 years.

'Superficial similarities'

He said this was beyond the age that the police would be interested in them, but it was "highly possible" that they were much older.

More at BBC News

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-16739777

Archaeologists uncover evidence of large ancient shipyard near Rome

2012-02-01T23:35:00.001+01:00

University of Southampton and British School at Rome (BSR) archaeologists, leading an international excavation of Portus — the ancient port of Rome, believe they have discovered a large Roman shipyard.

The team, working with the Italian Archaeological Superintendancy of Rome, has uncovered the remains of a massive building close to the distinctive hexagonal basin or 'harbour', at the centre of the port complex.

University of Southampton Professor and Portus Project Director, Simon Keay comments, "At first we thought this large rectangular building was used as a warehouse, but our latest excavation has uncovered evidence that there may have been another, earlier use, connected to the building and maintenance of ships.

"Few Roman Imperial shipyards have been discovered and, if our identification is correct, this would be the largest of its kind in Italy or the Mediterranean."

It has long been known that Portus was a crucial trade gateway linking Rome to the Mediterranean throughout the Imperial period and the Portus Project1 team has been investigating the port's significance over a number of years. Until now, no major shipyard building for Rome has been identified, apart from the possibility of one on the Tiber near Monte Testaccio, and a smaller one recently claimed for the neighbouring river port at Ostia.

A recent new grant of £640,000 from the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) has made this latest phase of excavation possible. These AHRC funds, together with financial support from the Archaeological Superintendancy of Rome, the University of Southampton and the British School at Rome have allowed extensive excavation to be undertaken at the site this year.

More at Reference, Science & Technology News

http://techsciencenews.com/2012/archaeologists-uncover-evidence-of-large-ancient-shipyard-near-rome/

L-shaped Roman building a puzzle for archaeologist

2012-02-01T23:31:00.001+01:00

A recently discovered mysterious "winged" structure in England, which in the Roman period may have been used as a temple, presents a puzzle for archaeologists, who say the building has no known parallels.

Built around 1,800 years ago, the structure was discovered in Norfolk, in eastern England, just to the south of the ancient town of Venta Icenorum. The structure has two wings radiating out from a rectangular room that in turn leads to a central room.

"Generally speaking, [during] the Roman Empire people built within a fixed repertoire of architectural forms," said William Bowden, a professor at the University of Nottingham, who reported the find in the most recent edition of the Journal of Roman Archaeology. The investigation was carried out in conjunction with the Norfolk Archaeological and Historical Research Group.

The winged shape of the building appears to be unique in the Roman Empire, with no other example known. "It's very unusual to find a building like this where you have no known parallels for it," Bowden told LiveScience. "What they were trying to achieve by using this design is really very difficult to say."

The building appears to have been part of a complex that includes a villa to the north and at least two other structures to the northeast and northwest. An aerial photograph suggests the existence of an oval or polygonal building with an apse located to the east.

The winged building

The foundation of the two wings and the rectangular room was made of a thin layer of rammed clay and chalk. "This suggests that the superstructure of much of the building was quite light, probably timber and clay-lump walls with a thatched roof," writes Bowden. This raises the possibility that the building was not intended to be used long term. [Photos of Mysterious Stone Structures]

The central room, on the other hand, was made of stronger stuff, with its foundations crafted from lime mortar mixed with clay and small pieces of flint and brick. That section likely had a tiled roof. "Roman tiles are very large things, they're very heavy," Bowden said.

Sometime after the demise of this wing-shaped structure, another building, this one decorated, was built over it. Archaeologists found post holes from it with painted wall plaster inside.

Bowden said few artifacts were found at the site and none that could be linked to the winged structure with certainty. A plough had ripped through the site at some point, scattering debris. Also, metal detecting is a major problem in the Norfolk area, with people using metal detectors to locate and confiscate materials, something that may have happened at this site.

Still, even when the team found undisturbed layers, there was little in the way of artifacts. "This could suggest that it [the winged building] wasn't used for a very particularly long time," Bowden said.

More at ORDER OF THE CRITICAL BELIEVERS

http://criticalbelievers.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=ancienthistory&action=display&thread=14171&page=1

Intrepid Hairdressing Archaeologist

2012-01-30T22:33:00.001+01:00

Some time ago, I was wandering around the Internet nerding out over old things as is my wont when I came across the YouTube channel of a genius. Before my astounded eyes, professional hairstylist Janet Stephens recreated the hugely intricate hairstyle of Empress Julia Domna (170–217 A.D.), wife of Emperor Septimius Severus, using only period-appropriate tools and a sculpted bust of the empress as an example. No pins. No perms. No hairspray. Behold Janet's amazing skills in action:

Naturally I watched the rest of her videos in quick succession. Then I secured a copy of "Ancient Roman Hairdressing: On (hair) pins and needles," a paper she wrote that was published in the 2008 edition of the Journal of Roman Archaeology (JRA). The depth of her knowledge blew me away. She is fully conversant in the archaeology (including unpublished artifacts), ancient literary sources and published scholarship of Roman hairstyling, and not just Roman but Etruscan and Greek as well.

Her work in this field is unique because her experience as a stylist gives her particular insight into how hair works and what can be accomplished with what tools. She upends a number of assumptions — that Roman women must have used wigs to achieve their more elaborate hairstyles, that they used hairpins — and injects a whole new simplicity and accuracy to the very vocabulary of ancient hairdressing.

More at The History Blog » Blog Archive » Janet Stephens: Intrepid Hairdressing Archaeologist

http://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/14729

Looting Matters: Sabratha portrait head returned to Libya

2012-01-30T22:28:00.001+01:00

Looting Matters: Sabratha portrait head returned to Libya
http://lootingmatters.blogspot.com/2012/01/sabratha-portrait-head-returned-to.html

Source: MiBAC A Roman portrait of Domitilla Minor that was found at Sabratha in Libya will be returning home. The head had surfaced at Christie's in London where it appears to have been provided with a falsified collecting history that had placed it in a Swiss private collection in the 1970s. In fact the head had been stolen from the Sabratha Archaeological Museum in 1990.

The head was handed over by Professor Mario Monti, the Italian Prime Minister.

The return raises serious issues about the rigour of the due diligence process conducted by auction-house. Will Christie's be revisiting their procedures?

Latest building found at Roman town near Norwich looks like a spaceship

2012-01-30T22:26:00.001+01:00

By Rosa McMahon

Thursday, January 26, 2012
6:00 AM

A mysterious structure found at the Roman town at Caistor St Edmund, near Norwich, has been described by an archaeologist as 'looking like a spaceship'.

The Roman town of Venta Icenorum, meaning market of the Iceni people, was discovered during the 1929-35 excavations and has been a popular place of both local and national interest, with the BBC's Time Team filming there in 2010.

The latest revelation, dating back to third century AD, was discovered by the Norfolk Archaeological Historical Research Society and has recently been unveiled in an academic journal.

The structure shows two angled wings, meeting on a central structure, and is described by Professor Will Bowden, who has been working on the project from the University of Nottingham, as "an unusual and adventurous building on a very interesting site".

The plan of the building was identified through aerial photographs, after weather conditions in 2007 revealed a number of unusual crop markings showing a building, without any obvious similarities to other Roman Britain plans.

More at Latest building found at Roman town near Norwich looks like a spaceship - News - Norwich Advertiser

http://www.norwichadvertiser24.co.uk/news/latest_building_found_at_roman_town_near_norwich_looks_like_a_spaceship_1_1187593

Saint-Witz et sa colline sacrée

2012-01-30T22:24:00.001+01:00

Saint-Witz est une petite ville du Val d'Oise, comptant près de 3 000 habitants. Situé à une trentaine de kilomètres au nord-est de Paris et à 17 km de Chantilly, la commune aujourd'hui en plein expansion (pour le meilleur et pour le pire), est dominée par une colline. Celle-ci, au centre de grandes étendues plates, lui valut dès le IIe siècle, l'appellation de Mont-Médius (le Mont du milieu) donnée par les romains. Puis, au cours des siècles, le nom se transforme maintes fois en diverses dénominations, telles que Mont-Melianus, Montmilliant, Mons-Melii, Monsmediolanus ou Mons-Medius, jusqu'à devenir de nos jours Montmélian, non sans avoir subi différentes orthographes.

La colline de Montmélian fut un lieu de culte pour les Gaulois qui venait y vénérer Teutates. Le sommet de la colline, entièrement boisée, est couvert d'arbres feuillus, principalement chênes, ormes et châtaigniers. Or, pour les Gaulois, la forêt détenait un pouvoir sacré, c'était le centre de la vie religieuse. On y pratiquait le culte de Teutates, on s'y réunissait autour des druides pour les fêtes et les cérémonies. La forêt présentait aussi de nombreux avantages et offrait quantité de facilités : ses chênes fournissaient des glands dont se nourrissaient les porcs ; les fruits du cornouiller mis à fermenter donnaient la cervoise, boisson favorite des gaulois. De plus, elle abritait sangliers, cerfs et daims qui constituaient des mets particulièrement appréciés lors des fêtes. Les menuisiers et charpentiers, y trouvaient le bois nécessaire à la construction des habitations ou autres.

Plus à Saint-Witz et sa colline sacrée - Le blog de LUTECE

http://www.e-stoire.net/article-saint-witz-petit-village-gaulois-97386752.html

Coriolanus (dir. Ralph Fiennes, 2011)

2012-01-30T22:20:00.001+01:00

I mentioned this adaptation of Shakespeare's play way back last summer, after I went to a talk on it given by Ralph Fiennes at the Hay Literary Festival, and it's finally out. The film is brilliant - fantastic acting all round, pretty much as you'd expect from Ralph Fiennes and Vanessa Redgrave (and I think Gerard Butler has been underrated for too long) and Fiennes' direction is great too - visually interesting without distracting from the story. (The choice of a dragon tattoo as a motif was perhaps unfortunate given the timing of the film's release, but since it was made yonks ago, that's not his fault).

Spoilers follow - if you don't know the story and want to see the film, stay away until you've seen it!

OldHousemate(thecamelridingone) and I saw the play at Stratford years ago, following an impulse to get some use out of their under-25 offers before we outgrew them. (In fact, we saw one of the very last performances in the old theatre at Stratford before it was closed for renovation. The set was a simple but big and effective design involving columns going right from near the front of the stage to the back, and I was quite sad at the time knowing that the theatre was being redesigned in a way that would make sets like that impossible. I haven't been there since the new theatre opened, so I don't know how they're creating sets in the thrust-stage design).

The actor playing Coriolanus, William Houston, was excellent, and in a totally different way to Fiennes. From what I remember, the RSC actor went for a really manic energy, a man who could barely sit still with a quick temper. In the scene where Coriolanus meets the people, I seem to remember him acting basically as a huge snob, making fun of them (there were lots of lines about 'mocking' in the film, but I found it hard to see the mocking in the lines - I'm not sure whether the script had been over-edited, or I just drifted off for a moment and missed it). Fiennes' Coriolanus, though he can shout up a storm when he needs to, is much quieter and Fiennes-like at other times. He's intense in a slightly more slow-burning fashion (except in the middle of a fight, when he breaks out and screams the place down) and his problem with appeasing the people seems centred more in him being somewhat uncomfortable in his skin and too brash and honest to play games with them - whereas from what I remember from the other performance, it was more about him simply feeling utterly superior to the people and not caring what they thought. Either way works perfectly well, and both performances were equally effective.

More at Pop Classics: Coriolanus (dir. Ralph Fiennes, 2011)

http://popclassicsjg.blogspot.com/2012/01/coriolanus-dir-ralph-fiennes-2011.html

Late- and post-Roman Binchester

2012-01-30T22:18:00.001+01:00

I recently posted about the headquarters building in Late and/or post-Roman York, and by happy coincidence the current edition (February 2012) of Current Archaeology magazine has an interesting article on late and post-Roman Binchester. Post-Roman activity at Binchester was recognised in archaeological excavations in the 1970s and 1980s, and a new excavation programme has added new evidence.

Location

The Roman fort of Vinovia, modern name Binchester, is located slightly north of Bishop Auckland, where the main Roman road to the north, Dere Street, crosses the River Wear.

Map link: Binchester

So Binchester is north of the legionary base at York, and south of the frontier forts along Hadrian's Wall.

Brief description

The first fort on the Vinovia site was a large fort built in timber in around AD 70-80, which would coincide roughly with Agricola's campaign in Caledonia (roughly, what is now Scotland north of the Firths of Forth and Clyde). It was replaced by a smaller fort built in stone in the second century, and it is the remains of this smaller and later fort that are visible today.

The stone fort has the characteristic 'playing card' shape of a rectangle with rounded corners. Dere Street ran through the middle of the fort, and the praetorium (commanding officer's house) has been identified in archaeological excavations. A large vicus (civilian settlement) developed outside the fort and has been identified east of the fort and along the line of Dere Street to the north-west and south-east.

More at Carla Nayland Historical Fiction: Late- and post-Roman Binchester

http://carlanayland.blogspot.com/2012/01/late-and-post-roman-binchester.html

Hospital tests reveal the secrets of an Egyptian mummy

2012-01-30T22:15:00.001+01:00

Posted By ScienceFeed On Tuesday, January 24th 2012. Under Civilizations Tags: ancient egyptian mummy, body, child, world heritage museum

— An ancient Egyptian mummy has had quite an afterlife, traveling more than 6,000 miles, spending six decades in private hands, and finally, in 1989, finding a home at the World Heritage Museum (now the Spurlock Museum) at the University of Illinois. The mummy's travels did not end there, however. It has made two trips to a local hospital — once in 1990 and again this year — for some not-so-routine medical exams.

Egyptologists, a radiologist, a pathologist, a physical anthropologist and a mummy expert are using the best diagnostic tools available to learn about the mummy without unwrapping its red linen shroud or cutting into it. The team will discuss its findings during a symposium Nov. 2 at the museum in Urbana, Ill.

The first round of tests in 1990 included X-rays and CT scans, as well as an analysis of tiny fragments of cloth, insects and hardened resins collected from the fraying base of the mummy. Dr. Joseph Barkmeier, medical director of diagnostic services and regional outreach at Carle Foundation Hospital and Physician Group in Urbana, conducted the CT scans at the hospital. He repeated the scans this year at Carle with much-improved CT technology.

"Medical diagnostic technology has experienced tremendous advancements in the past two decades," Barkmeier said. "Image resolution is nearly 10 times greater than it was when we first imaged the mummy in 1990, and we can reconstruct images faster and view them from multiple vantage points."

More at Reference, Science & Technology News

http://techsciencenews.com/2012/hospital-tests-reveal-the-secrets-of-an-egyptian-mummy/

Treasures from the National Museum of Afghanistan on View at the British Museum

2012-01-30T22:13:00.001+01:00

Treasures from the National Museum of Afghanistan on View at the British Museum

A 1st century AD Roman Egyptian enameled glass goblet discovered in Begram, Afghanistan, is seen on display in an exhibition entitled 'Afghanistan: Crossroads of the Ancient World', at the British Museum in London, Tuesday, March 1, 2011. The exhibition is showcasing over 200 objects belonging to the National Museum of Afghanistan which is currently undergoing reconstruction and accompanied by selected items from the British Museum. AP Photo/Sang Tan.

By: Jill Lawless, Associated Press

LONDON (AP).- The British Museum's latest exhibition displays ancient artifacts in gold, glass, stone and ivory from Afghanistan, a country whose fortune, and curse, has long been to lie at a crossroads of cultures, traders, artists and armies.

That these objects have survived for thousands of years is remarkable. That they have survived the last three decades of Soviet invasion, civil war, Taliban vandalism and continuing conflict seems little short of a miracle.

The items in this touring show, whose London leg was being opened Tuesday by Afghan President Hamid Karzai, were thought lost in the destruction of the National Museum of Afghanistan in the 1990s. In fact, they had gone underground, hidden away just before the Soviet withdrawal in 1989 by museum staff, who kept the secret, despite personal risk, during the years of Taliban rule.

"Many times they brought forces to the National Museum (to ask) 'Where are these artifacts?'" said Abdul Wasey Feroozi of Afghanistan's institute of archaeology. "We said, 'We don't know.' Nobody gave answers to anybody about where these objects were."

Seventy percent of the museum's artifacts were wrecked or looted during the post-Soviet chaos or destroyed by the fundamentalist Taliban, who demolished much of the country's pre-Islamic art in the belief that it was idolatrous.

But two years after the Taliban regime was toppled by a U.S.-led 2001 invasion, Karzai announced that six safes full of objects had been found in an underground vault in the grounds of the presidential palace. When archeologists and museum curators cut into the cases with circular saws, they found a treasure trove — 22,000 gold items from a 2,000-year-old nomadic burial ground, some of which form the climax of the current exhibition.

More at Treasures from the National Museum of Afghanistan on View at the British Museum

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Unique Roman cavalry helmet pieced together 10 years after discovery

2012-01-30T22:10:00.002+01:00

A silver-gilt Roman cavalry helmet of international importance has been pieced together at the British Museum, from thousands of fragments of corroded metal lifted in a block of mud from a Leicestershire hillside more than 10 years ago.

The work has occupied a team of conservators for years. The arguments about the mystery of such a high status object – possibly buried in the year of the Roman invasion of Britain, together with a mass of Roman and British coins and guarded by three dead dogs – will last much longer.

Even after thousands of hours of work by conservator Marilyn Hockey and her team, the metal is too badly corroded to recover its original glitter. Although it is a unique find in Britain because most of the thin silver-gilt plating survives, and an exceptionally early example from anywhere in the Roman empire, the Hallaton helmet will never be as seductively beautiful as the Crosby Garrett helmet, excavated in Cumbria and controversially auctioned for £2m at Christies in 2010.

However, although valued at £300,000, it is far more valuable to archaeologists, with every scrap of context evidence scrupulously recovered and recorded.

"The Crosby Garrett is just a pretty toy compared to this; this is the real treasure," J D Hill, an Iron Age expert at the British Museum, said.

The original owner would have shone in the sun like a god when he appeared on horseback wearing the helmet, of elaborately decorated silver over an iron core. Such objects were costly pieces of swagger never intended for practical use, but often given as rewards for exceptional service – in this case a gift of imperial quality.

The intriguing possibility is that the owner may have been a member of the local tribe, the Corieltauvi, who left to fight in the imperial armies on the continent – and since the helmet was buried around AD 43, he may have returned as part of the Roman invasion of Britain, eventually coming home to make a stupendous offering to his native gods.

If that is true, his own people must have taken a dim view of the decoration, which includes a Roman emperor trampling a cowering barbarian under his horse's hoofs.

Other experts believe the helmet was traded, given as a reward for Corieltauvi submission to the invaders – or, as the finder believes, looted from the original owner, who is unlikely to have readily surrendered his most precious possession.

It was when Ken Wallace, a retired teacher and member of a local field archaeology group, saw a lifesize silver human ear in the mud in 2001, that he knew an already astonishing hoard had yielded up something extraordinary.

More at Gold Price

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Unique Roman cavalry helmet pieced together 10 years after discovery

2012-01-30T22:10:00.001+01:00

However, although valued at £300,000, it is far more valuable to archaeologists, with every scrap of context evidence scrupulously recovered and recorded.

"The Crosby Garrett is just a pretty toy compared to this; this is the real treasure," J D Hill, an Iron Age expert at the British Museum, said.

If that is true, his own people must have taken a dim view of the decoration, which includes a Roman emperor trampling a cowering barbarian under his horse's hoofs.

More at Gold Price

http://www.egoldprice.net/unique-roman-cavalry-helmet-pieced-together-10-years-after-discovery/

Gladiator Graveyard Discovered in Northern England

2012-01-30T22:05:00.001+01:00

Gladiator Graveyard Discovered in Northern England

A skeleton unearthed at a building site in York, England, is shown. Archaeologists said Monday that 80 headless skeletons excavated from the building site appear to be the remains of Roman gladiators. AP Photo/Channel 4 via Press Association.

By: Sylvia Hui, Associated Press Writer

LONDON (AP).- Dozens of headless skeletons excavated from a northern English building site appear to be the remains of Roman gladiators, one of whom had bites from a lion, tiger, bear or other large animal, archaeologists said Monday.

Experts said new forensic evidence suggests the bones belong to the professional fighters, who were often killed while entertaining spectators.

Most of the skeletons were male and appeared stronger and taller than the average Roman, with signs of arm-muscle stress that suggest weapons training that began in the men's teenage years.

The team investigating the remains said that one of the best clues was carnivore tooth marks found on the hip and shoulder of one of the skeletons.

More at http://www.artdaily.org/index.asp?int_sec=2&int_new=38534