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Full Shell of 2,000-Year-Old Roman Ship Discovered on Croatian Riverbed

Full Shell of 2,000-Year-Old Roman Ship Discovered on Croatian Riverbed

Archaeologists working on the banks of the Zadar River at the Barbir site have stumbled upon a remarkable discovery that has come after 6 concerted years of research and labor – a 1st century Roman...
This 2,000-year-old villa had luxurious ancient Roman underfloor heating. Source: Karl-Josef Hildenbrand/dpa

2,000-Year-Old Roman Villa Found in Germany had Luxurious Underfloor Heating

In 15 BC the Roman Emperor Nero Claudius Drusus Germanicus, and his brother Tiberius attacked, subdued, and destroyed a Celtic settlement and founded the city of Cambodunum. Today, the foundations of...
Source: Anadolu Agency

Take Heed Of The Jovial Roman Skeleton

We’re back in Turkey for the second time this week. Having told the story of the excavation of the oldest church in the world, now we are covering the ancient Roman “Jovial skeleton”. Earlier this...
Unique 2,000-Year-Old Roman Road Accidentally Uncovered in Worcestershire

Unique 2,000-Year-Old Roman Road Accidentally Uncovered in Worcestershire

What is thought to be a Roman road, potentially dating back 2,000 years, has been uncovered in a field in Worcestershire in the UK. An expert has assessed it to likely be a cobbled ford, and the...
The Vikings copied the riding spurs from Roman times, and similar spurs have only been found far down in Central Europe. Source: Mårten Teigen/Kulturhistorisk Museum, UiO/CC-BY-SA 4.0

Late Viking Age Grave Imitating A Roman Age Grave, Not Just Allusion to Power

A grave found in Late Viking Age eastern Norway looks uncannily similar to one of the most immaculate graves from the Roman Age in Norway, from the Hunn burial site in Østfold. A rich burial site, it...
A Pompeii brothel mural.

Spintriae, The Roman Sex Coins That Showed What Was on The Menu

There is a curiosity that belongs to ancient Roman history which historians are yet to solve; there exists a collection of Roman brass coins or tokens that depict sexual acts on one side and a...
Left: Barbary apes can are intelligent, nimble, and can get pretty angry. But were they used as military monkeys in ancient times? Right: It’s not unheard of for monkeys to have thoughtful burials. Shown: An Indian monkey buried like a child in Egypt. Source: Left: Peter Mazlan / Adobe Stock, Right: Marta Osypińska / Science in Poland

Ancient Monkey Soldiers? Romans Buried Barbary Ape with Military Offerings

Militaries from many countries past and present have used animals in their work. Whether using horses to carry men, or dogs to track and patrol, the use of animals has been significant throughout...
Part of the Novae Roman military camp. (Kleo73 / CC BY-SA 3.0) Insert: Ancient Roman fridge found at the site. Source: P. Dyczek / PAP

Ancient Fridge Unearthed at Roman Military Camp in Bulgaria Kept Food Cool

Polish archaeologists excavating a Roman military camp in Bulgaria expected to discover some coins; and they weren’t really surprised by the hoards of day-to-day tools and the expansive ancient water...
The golden sarcophagus of Tutankhamun (David Biagi / Adobe Stock)

20 Awesome Sarcophagi of the Ancient World

A s arcophagus is a receptacle, usually made of stone, that is made to hold a coffin or corpse. Unlike coffins, which are buried, sarcophagi are usually displayed above the ground and for this reason...
Ancient Roman refrigerator found at Novae Roman settlement, Bulgaria. Source: P. Dyczek / PAP

Archaeologists Unearth First Century Roman Refrigerator in Bulgaria

Over the last few decades, archaeologists from Bulgaria and Poland have been performing excavations at the site where the Roman legionary fortress of Novae once stood. The ruins of the fortress can...
This rare Roman anchor was just found off the English coast during a windfarm construction project

Rare Roman Navy Anchor Recovered Off English Coast

Since 2019 maritime archaeologists exploring the sea floor below an offshore wind farm in the North Sea have discovered many ancient artifacts. Now, what is believed to be a rare Roman anchor has...
Greek god Dionysus with wine. Source: rudall30 / Adobe Stock

Romans Added Lead Sweetener to Their Wine and it Killed Them

How far did ancient people go to enhance the flavor of their food and drinks? Would they consume toxic substances if it made things a little more appetizing? Well, the Romans did, by adding a sweet...
Glassblowing processs, with a ball of glass being heated by a kiln. Source: SvetlanaSF / Adobe Stock

Heat, Blow, and Roll: The History of Glassblowing

One of the most fascinating crafts in the art world is the practice of glassblowing. Glassblowing is the art of creating beautiful pieces of glassware by blowing air into semi-molten glass through a...
Decimation was the cruelest punishment in the Roman army. Source: vukkostic / Adobe Stock

Roman Decimation: The Cruelest Form of Punishment in History?

The Roman army was one of the fiercest armies ever assembled. It was disciplined, well trained, and well equipped. This combination meant the Roman army played a crucial role in Rome’s expansion from...
Evidence of gladiator tombs found at the ancient city of Anavarza, which was controlled by the Roman Empire for many years. Over the centuries, Anavarza was either controlled or attacked by the Byzantine Empire, Abbasid Caliphate, and the Mamluks of Egypt. Source: Anadolu Agency

Roman Gladiator Tombs Found By Team of 54 “Dig Hunters” in Turkey

A team of fifty-four specialists in Turkey have been excavating in and around an ancient Roman amphitheater. They recently discovered an ornate burial area devoted to gladiator tombs. The setting of...
The Russian Compound excavation site in central Jerusalem and the Roman siege engine ballista stones found there, which were then used to plot the launch location of the projectiles. Source: Yoli Schwartz / Israel Antiquities Authority

Roman Siege Engines Tracked and Traced in Jerusalem

An Israeli archaeologist has been digging up and plotting the location of big roundish rocks in a specific area of ancient Jerusalem. But these are no building blocks, quite the opposite. They were...
This is the scene archaeologists found in the bedroom in the middle-class Pompeii House of the Larario, so-called because of the many Lares guardian deities found in the home’s well-decorated courtyard.  Source: Pompeii Sites

Bedroom Furnishings Offer a Glimpse of Middle-Class Life in Pompeii

Four new rooms discovered in a house in Pompeii provide a poignant picture of life as it existed for ordinary middle-class Pompeiians when the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79 brought everything...
Echo and Narcissus in a painting by John William Waterhouse, and one senses that Narcissus has already fallen in love with himself for all time.		Source: John William Waterhouse / Public domain

Narcissus: An Ancient Tragic Story with Many Modern Parallels

The Greek tale of the self-absorbed yet staggeringly handsome Narcissus is a famous and ancient one. Despite its age, the myth remains famous to this day and provides a moral warning against becoming...
A 1,800-year-old Roman coin portraying the goddess Luna was recovered from the Israeli Mediterranean. Source: Dafna Gazit / Israel Antiquities Authority

Rare Roman Coin Portraying Moon Goddess Luna Retrieved from Israeli Waters

A rare and beautiful bronze coin from the reign of Roman Emperor Antoninus Pius, who ruled as emperor between 138 and 161 AD, has been discovered off the coast of Haifa in Israel. The 1,850-year-old...
Mosaic being revealed at the recently discovered Roman city site of El Forau de la Tuta, in Zaragoza, Spain. Source: Gobierno de Aragón

A ‘Monumental’ Unknown Roman City Discovered In Spain

For over a decade, four teams of Spanish archaeologists have been digging at different excavation sites. Now they’ve realised it was all one thing - an enormous lost Roman city. You might never have...
Roman villa with mosaic uncovered in Hatay. Source: Anadolu Agency

Roman Villa with Floor Mosaic Uncovered in Turkey’s Mosaic Hotspot

The remains of a Roman villa have recently been unearthed in Defne district of southern Turkey’s Hatay province. The ruins consist of broken-down walls and a well-preserved floor mosaic with...
Roger Tomlin deciphering one of the 405 Bloomberg Tablets found at the heart of Roman Britain, Londinium, which are the oldest written documents ever found in the UK.

2,000-Year-Old Bloomberg Tablets Reveal London Life Under the Romans

When archaeologists began excavations on the site of the demolished Bucklesbury House, little did they know that they would uncover the earliest written documents found in Britain. Dating from...
Baths of Caracalla Source: Fabio Caricchia / Soprintendenza Speciale di Roma

2,000-Year-Old Frescoes Discovered Under the Baths of Caracalla

2,000-year-old frescoes dating back to the time of Emperor Hadrian will be on public display at the site of the Baths of Caracalla in Rome. The frescoes, which belong to different time periods and...
A new multidisciplinary study has looked at Roman winemaking from the ground up through the analysis of residues found at the bottom three Roman wine amphorae. A group of amphorae recovered from the sea off the coast of Tuscany, Italy. Source: Salvatore / Adobe Stock

Secrets of Roman Winemaking Revealed By Pollen-Charcoal Residue Analysis

The Roman empire has historically been associated with wine and winemaking. Now more about just how they produced the beverage that was consumed by practically all in the nation, rich or poor, has...

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