#roman archeology

[666candies]

adam and eve apple. quote translates to “I am your half”

[reasonsforhope]

This is kind of a weird reason for hope, honestly, but it genuinely changed how I think about catastrophe.

Historical fact that you probably do not know:

At least 30-50% of the population of Pompeii survived.

Maybe even the majority of the people of Pompeii survived.

(The numbers 30-50% there are according Professor J. Theodore Peña, a professor of ancient Roman archeology who studies Pompeii, whom I took a class on Pompeii with in 2018. The numbers of "maybe even the majority" are from articles linked below.)

Yes, that Pompeii, the one where the entire city was swallowed by a volcanic eruption.

And no, I'm not kidding. x, x, x, x, x, x

So how this is possible, that anyone could survive, when the entire city was literally buried in volcanic ash? And the answer is that the eruption actually took place over the course of almost 24 hours, as the earthquakes and clouds of smoke emitting from Pompeii gradually got worse and worse, followed by the ejection of ash and giant stones that gradually escalated, until the fifth pyroclastic flow (aka giant wave of searing hot ash) hit the city.

So, people had a bit less than 24 hours to flee the city. And many of them did, whether by boat or cart or horse or foot. And many of them made it.

Pompeii is the iconic, ultimate example we have, culturally, for a natural disaster that causes complete annihilation.

But it never caused complete annihilation at all. Not of the people who lived there.

I think climate change, ultimately, is going to be like Pompeii. Yes, there will be natural disasters. Yes, it will keep getting worse for a while.

Yes, people will die, and yes, we do need to act fast, and we need to do all that we can to save every single living being that we can.

But unlike the people of Pompeii, we have the ability to fix most of the effects of climate change. We have the ability to cool the planet down from whatever temperature it ultimately hits. (Masterpost on this here.)

Natural disasters fucking suck. But as the true story of Pompeii exemplifies, they are often a lot more survivable than we think. And we have benefits and resources and technology and knowledge above all communication that the people of Pompeii never did - in fact, we're getting so good at building for and detecting and warning for natural disasters that the number of people dying from natural disasters has been plummeting, even as natural disasters are getting worse and worse (x).

We are going to survive climate change (x). We are going to fix as much of it as we can (x). And we are going to rebuild afterward.

Because as the many survivors of Pompeii show, that's what humans do.

[theancientwayoflife]

~ Helmet of Gladiator.

Date: A.D. 1st century

Medium: Bronze

[blueiscoool]

Roman Glass Bowl 1st century B.C. The J. Paul Getty Museum.

[archaeologicalnews]

Roman-era silver 'toilet spoon' discovered in Wales

A Roman-era silver "toilet spoon" discovered by a metal detectorist in the U.K. has been declared a "treasure" by experts.

Valentinas Avdejevas made the peculiar finding in 2020 while exploring Vale of Glamorgan, a county in Wales. He surrendered the metal artifact to the Portable Antiquities Scheme for Wales, a local authority that works directly with metal detectorists who have unearthed artifacts. The utensil is currently in the possession of Amgueddfa Cymru – Museum Wales, according to a statement.

The narrow silver spoon (also known as a Roman ligula) contains a shallow, circular bowl attached to a thin, bent handle and would have been used to scoop out cosmetics and perfume from long-necked bottles. Read more.

[thatshowthingstarted]

A Roman Red Jasper Ringstone with a Chariot Race,

Circa 1ST Century A.D.

7/8 in. (2 cm.) wide; ring size 9.

Courtesy: Christie's

[ancientcharm]

Necklace of gold, emerald and pearls, from the House of Julia Felix in Pompeii. Exhibition "Pompeii, Journey to Beauty", Musei nazionali di Matera - Sede Ridola, Italy. Photography by Antonio Esposito Marroccella

[wandering-italy]

Streets of Pompeii.

March 2024

[viagginterstellari]

Roman street - Timgad, 2022

[katerinaaqu]

Heracles and Dionysus Drinking contest (Early 2nd AD century, Antioch, Imperial Roman mosaic)

This mosaic from an Atrium House in Antioch depicts a funny small story known in classical art as a drinking contest between Heracles (Hercules) and Dionysus (Bacchus). According to the story, Heracles challenges Dionysus in a drinking contest and of course loses. The result of their contest seems to be an anecdotal story that he joins his Thiasus for a short while.

In this mosaic we can spot Heracles naked and kneeling while chugging down from his cup (the lion mane and club resting before his knees). To the far left we can detect the figure of a double-flute playing menad while we see Dionysus casually resting upon pillows, holding a thyrsus/spear to his hand and showing his own empty cup to Heracles while being surrounded by the satyr Silenus (far right) and his cup-bearer, the little satyriscus to the center. One can also detect the golden-colored crater in the middle.

The parallels between the two figures seem to be incredible:

Both are sons of Zeus and both are arguably the youngest of their classes (Dionysus is the youngest god of the Olympians born by Zeus and Heracles according to some roman sources is the last demi-god from the last mortal lover Zeus takes)

Both are born by a mortal woman (Alcmene and Semele respectably)

Both have been induced in madness by Hera (Dionysus repeatedly while Heracles was turned mad and threw his children with Megara in the fire), and continusly targeted by the wrath of the goddess

Both become divine just in different ways (Dionysus is established as one of the 12 gods of Olympus while Heracles becomes a god post-mortem)

Both seem associated with Elysian mysteries

Both are associated one way or another with theater or role-playing (Dionysus being the god of theater among others while Heracles had at some point dress as a woman while living with Omphale)

One is associated with strength and power (Heracles) while the other is associated with art but also Madness (Dionysus)

Both are associated with the youth (Heracles for his war achievements while Dionysus is also portrayed as a youth many times)

Dionysus according to some myths is married to a god-made woman (Ariadne) while god-made Heracles marries a goddess (Hebe)

Both figures travel to the underworld (Heracles during his 12 labors when he goes to take Cerberus while Dionysus according to orphic traditions as Zagreus descends to the underworld to come back out as Dionysus through Semele)

Consequently to above, both figures suffered a painful death (Dionysus as Zagreus being torn to pieces and/or eaten by Titans, Heracles poisoned by Hydra's poison in Nessus's blood through his marital chiton and consequently burnt)

Both figures have been iconically depicted in association with a wild animal (Heracles wearing a lion skin, Dionysus either riding or wearing a leopard)

Both figures have myths that associate them with non-human creatures (Heracles having good time with the Centaurs, Dionysus being followed by Satyrs)

I find it interesting how we do not have more art or talk about these two iconic mythological figures!

[metanoias-substack]

When you think of ancient Greece or the Roman Empire, visions of white togas, ivory temples and sand-coloured amphitheatres likely come to mind.

If so, you might be in for a surprise.

Because this off-white and eggshell-dominated palette, which inspired the pristine surfaces of Renaissance sculptures and the blank facades of Neoclassical buildings, is… a lie.

We now know the ancient world was steeped in colour. It was, perhaps, a tad too colourful for our modern sensibilities — even borderline garish at times.

Click here to learn why generations of scholars and artists believed in a monochrome Classical Antiquity and see historically accurate reconstructions of ancient statues and buildings in all their glorious peacockery.

[city-of-ladies]

"Centuries ago, two people were buried arm in arm on top of a horse in what is now Austria. The unique burial prompted archaeologists to think that the two were a male-female married couple from medieval times. But it turns out they couldn't have been more wrong.

A new analysis of the remains suggests that the couple was actually a mother-daughter pair who died around 1,800 years ago during the Roman era.

"It's the first genetically proven mother-daughter burial in Austria in Roman times," study senior author Sylvia Kirchengast, a professor of evolutionary anthropology at the University of Vienna, told Live Science. "We also disprove a long-held misconception about the kind of relation between the two individuals.

In the new study the researchers re-evaluated the remains via radiocarbon dating, ancient DNA analysis and a visual inspection. They found that the bones belonged to individuals whose ages at death were 20 to 25 and 40 to 60 years old and lived around A.D. 200 when the Roman Empire held sway over the region. In a twist, both human skeletons turned out to be females, according to an anatomical analysis. DNA results confirmed their biological female status and showed they were first-degree relatives — meaning they were either sisters or mother and daughter, according to the study, which was published in the May issue of the Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports.

Due to the pair's DNA results, their age difference and other factors, the researchers concluded that individuals were mother and daughter, with the daughter embracing the mother in the grave. "It's very unlikely that two sisters have an age difference of 20 years during those times. So we felt that it's more likely that they are a mother-daughter pair," Kirchengast said. 

The inclusion of a horse and gold pendants strongly hints that the women were of high social status. It also indicates they were non-Roman elites. "To our knowledge it's extremely uncommon for Roman people to be buried with horses. They were not a 'horse-people'," study lead author Dominik Hagmann, an archaeologist at University of Vienna, told Live Science. He suspected these two individuals were from a Celtic culture still existing in Roman times. The Celts were more commonly buried horses with their owners.

There are other signs that the deceased were familiar with horses. "What I find odd is that the older skeleton shows signs of frequent horse riding," Kirchengast said. "Maybe both women were enthusiastic horse-riders.""

[qu4lc0s41ncu1cr3d3r3]

📍Museo Archeologico di Aquileia, Aquileja (UD)

[theancientwayoflife]

~ Statue of Tyche.

Date: A.D. 2nd century

Medium: Marble

Provinience: Istanbul, Archaeological Museum.

[blueiscoool]

A Roman Bronze Romping Dog Circa 1st Century B.C.-1st Century A.D.

[archaeologicalnews]

Nearly 400 ancient medical tools from Turkey hint at rare Roman doctors' offices

Hundreds of Roman-era medical instruments now being examined by scientists may come from one of the earliest known examples of a group medical practice, or at least a place where health care workers congregated to treat people.

A total of 348 artifacts linked to medicine were found at the site of Allianoi, an ancient town that also hosted a large spa-like bath in what is now Turkey. The vast number of the 1,800-year-old artifacts may indicate the site once featured an ancient medical center. The instruments were discovered during rescue excavations that were carried out between 1998 and 2006, before the construction of a dam that flooded the site. Most of the artifacts, which have been studied over the years, were found within two buildings in a larger complex. Read more.