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Ancient Origins Tour IRAQ

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Pliny

Augustus and Cornelius Cinna Magnus Bozetto by Louis André Gabriel Bouchet (1819) Versailles Musée National du Chateau et des Trianons (Public Domain)

Papyrus Rolls Roling From Egypt To The Roman Empire

By the first century AD, papyrus paper was available throughout the Roman Empire, a market that consisted of the area stretching from Hadrian’s Wall in the northern wilds of Caledonia, east to the...
The prodigious death of Pliny the Elder, in which his body was reduced to ash by the flames of Vesuvius, could be a false representation of the reality of his death. Source: Wellcome Images / CC BY 4.0

Curiosity Killed Pliny the Elder During the Eruption of Mount Vesuvius

Remembered for having written the world’s first encyclopedia, Pliny the Elder’s curiosity got the best of him as he watched clouds of smoke emerging from Mount Vesuvius during its famed eruption in...
Archaeologists in Rome believe they have found the remains of the Theater of Nero in Rome. Source: Soprintendenza Speciale Roma

Long-Lost Legendary Theater of Nero Finally Excavated in Central Rome

One of the ancient world’s most searched-for Roman structures has finally been found. That is the Theater of Nero, a large private entertainment venue built by Rome’s notorious emperor during his...
Gladiatoren im Kolosseum by Eugène Delacroix (Public Domain)

Big Cats For The Fat Cats Of Ancient Rome

Emperor Caracalla kept a favorite lion, Acinaces, as a pet, but not all Romans’ obsession for big feline predators boded well for the animals. “It is believed that a dying lion bites the earth and...
The hands of a person with leprosy. Source: paul salmon/EyeEm / Adobe Stock

Leprosy Was Treated with Ass Fat, Bull Gallbladder and Steamed Flies!

It wasn’t until the 1970s that scientists developed an effective cure for leprosy . Up until then this terrible disease was feared not just for its awful symptoms, but also for the stigma that came...
Ground nutmeg, used through history as powerful drug. Source: oksix / Adobe Stock

Nutmeg Poisoning: A Deadly Addition to the Kitchen Cabinet?

A low-cost, high-risk drug hiding in plain sight – in your kitchen cabinet! This is a highly aromatic spice that can change the trajectory of your food, and is sometimes used as a healing agent in...
Giovanni Battista Tiepolo's famous painting of The Banquet of Cleopatra (painted 1743–44) shows Cleopatra's pearl above the tall glass of vinegar as Mark Antony looks on.	Source: Giovanni Battista Tiepolo / Public domain

Roman Historian’s Cleopatra’s Pearl Story: Is It Fact or Fiction?

“Cleopatra’s Pearl” is a story told by the Roman author Pliny the Elder in his famous long-read book Natural History . According to this tale, the last Ptolemaic ruler of Egypt, Cleopatra VII, drank...
Volcano-blasted Herculaneum Roman Soldier Tells His Ancient Secrets

Volcano-blasted Herculaneum Roman Soldier Tells His Ancient Secrets

Archaeologists in Italy are studying the remains of a Roman soldier who was thrust face-first into the sand at Herculaneum when Mount Vesuvius erupted on October 24th 79 AD. The presence of this...
Morning Prayers

The Essenes: The Mystery Holy Men Behind the Dead Sea Scrolls?

The Essenes were a Jewish sect that flourished around the end of the Second Temple Period, i.e. between the 2nd century BC and the 1st century AD. The main source of information regarding this...
Pliny the Elder

The Illustrious Life of Pliny the Elder, Ancient Historian and Roman Commander

Gaius Plinius Secundus, better known in history as Pliny the Elder, was an influential administrator, officer, and author during his life. Although he was only fifty-six years old at the time of his...
Roman glass (not the legendary flexible glass). Landesmuseum Württemberg, Stuttgart.

An Unbreakable Story: The Lost Roman Invention of Flexible Glass

Imagine a glass you can bend and then watch it return to its original form. A glass that you drop but it doesn’t break. Stories say that an ancient Roman glassmaker had the technology to create a...
Detail of ‘Man eating noodles’ (1656) by Jan Vermeer van Utrecht.

A Deadly Bite: The Plight of the Ancient Food Taster

Poison was a potent weapon that could be used by would-be assassins to get rid of their targets. This was especially useful when the target was a person in power and was surrounded by bodyguards. One...
Scene of destruction in the film “Pompeii 3d” (2014). (La Stampa/CC BY NC ND) Insert: Remains of a skull attributed to Pliny the Elder from the Museo di Storia dell'Arte Sanitaria in Rome.

Researchers Look to Crowdfunding to Identify the Skull of Pompeii Hero Pliny the Elder

Gaius Plinius Secundus, better known as Pliny the Elder, was an influential administrator, officer, and author in ancient Rome. His life ended suddenly with the deadly eruption of Mount Vesuvius in...
‘Still life with glass bowl of fruit and vases’ by a Pompeian painter in 70 AD, Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Naples, Italy. Insert: Mosaic depicting a man labelled as the gourmand Marcus Gavius Apicius.

Marcus Gavius Apicius: Top Gourmand of the Roman World

Marcus Gavius Apicius is one of those Roman names that have (almost) been lost to the ravages of time. The characteristic that has allowed Apicius to stick out from the rest of the crowd of obscure...