Free Republic

Archaeologists working to install a lift and restore the ground floor of Split City Museum got more than they bargained for when they unearthed sizeable Roman baths underneath the building's reception. The museum in Croatia's second largest city was founded in 1946 and is held inside the Dominik Papalic palace—the former home of the affluent Papalic family who settled in Split during the 14th century.The baths are in a well-preserved condition and include a pool, mosaic floors, ancient underfloor heating, an oil and grape press, and a furnace. Communal bathing was common across the Roman Empire, and baths acted as...

Less lavish than amphitheaters for the civilian population, the military amphitheaters were used for training and entertainment by the troops.Archaeologists excavating at the base of the Legio VI Ferrata Roman Legion near Megiddo (known as Legio) believe they have found evidence of the first military amphitheater to be identified in the Southern Levant.While remains of over 230 Roman civilian amphitheaters have been found throughout what was the territory of the Roman Empire, fewer military amphitheaters have been excavated, and most of those are in the western regions of the empire...The archaeological project at Legio is conducted under the auspices of...

It is a common these days to hear folks opine about how the glories of ancient science were snuffed out ignominiously by triumphalist, fanatical Christians sometime in the Dark Ages. Normally, specific instances of this destruction are not called out, save for the case of Hypatia of Alexandria who has been elevated by modern audiences to a sort of proto-feminist demi-goddess of science for her slaying at the hands of a Christian mob. Yet, for those who maintain the trope that Christianity was responsible for the destruction of centuries of amazing scientific advancements wrought by Greco-Roman civilization, please allow me...

Roman triumphs, those vast and glorious celebrations that followed Roman military victories, are beloved of Hollywood directors and epic novelists alike. The vision of the conquering hero riding in a chariot car pulled by a quadriga of white horses with his soldiers marching behind, leading a train of captive enemies through cheering throngs of grateful citizens, scattering coins and good will all around while colossal statues and monuments loom overhead and a humble slave whispers in his ear, “remember thou art mortal” — it is an irresistible scene full of vibrant colors and superlative contrasts. For the record, I thoroughly...

Marcus Aurelius Valerius Maxentius, more commonly known as simply Maxentius, ruled in Rome as a usurper from AD 306 until AD 312. His reign came to an abrupt end when he drowned in the Tiber after being defeated at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge by Constantine the Great. As usurpers go, Maxentius had some impressive familial connections. He was the son of the emperor Maximian Herculius, who was raised to the status of co-Augustus by Diocletian in AD 286. He was also the son-in-law of the emperor Galerius, whom Diocletian would create Caesar in AD 293 and name as...

The Nafah IDF base recently made headlines in an Israeli TV series on the 1973 Yom Kippur War which was bought by HBO, Valley of Tears. Now an archaeological excavation conducted on the Golan Heights reveals for the first time that the name Nafah was given to the site as early as 1700 years ago. A boundary stone inscribed in Greek was discovered during an archaeological excavation conducted by the Israel Antiquities Authority ahead of the Mekorot Water Company project to install a water pipeline in Nafah. At some point, the boundary stone was re-purposed as a tombstone... According to...

An international team of researchers have found a way to determine the origin of colourless glass from the Roman period. Using isotopes of the rare element hafnium, they confirm that the prestigious 'Alexandrian' glass was indeed made in Egypt... The Roman glass industry was prolific, producing wares for drinking and dining, window panes and coloured glass 'stones' for wall mosaics. One of its outstanding achievements was the production of large quantities of a colourless and clear glass, which was particularly favoured for high-quality cut drinking vessels. The fourth-century Price Edict of the emperor Diocletian refers to colourless glass as 'Alexandrian',...

...Skull binding spread across central Asia in the second century B.C., expanded into Europe around the second and third centuries A.D. and became increasingly popular in central Europe by the first half of the fifth century A.D., according to the authors... For the new study, researchers examined 51 elongated skulls from burials in the Mözs graveyard, in what was once a Roman province known as Pannonia Valeria. The graves, 96 in all, were divided into three groups and represented three generations, from A.D. 430 until the cemetery was abandoned in A.D. 470. The first burial group is thought to be...

The walls stand up to 20 feet tall. It was built at the start of the 4th century AD, as part of defensive works for a limes Arabicus, and held a cavalry unit of perhaps 120-150 men. The building inscription survives:Optimis maximisque principibus nostris Caio AurelioValerio Diocletiano Pio Felici Invicto Augusto etMarco Aurelio Valerio Maximiano Pio Felici Invicto Augusto etFlavio Valerio Constantio et Galerio Valerio Maximianonobilissimis Caesaribus Castra Praetorii Mobeni fossamentisAurelius Asclepiades praeses provinciae Arabiaeperfici curavit.Which tells us that the fort was called Mobene, and was constructed by the Praeses of the province of Arabia, a chap named Aurelius Asclepiades,...

April 3 is the Catholic feast day of three sisters who were executed during the persecution of Diocletian in AD 303: Agape, Chionia and Irene. The three were citizens of the city of Thessalonica in Macedonia which was also the hometown of Diocletian's Caesar, or junior emperor, Galerius. It was Galerius who first instigated Diocletian to commence an empire-wide persecution of Christians, so it is perhaps not surprising to find the attack being pressed so vigorously there. We are fortunate that the authentic acts of these martyrs have come down to us from antiquity largely intact. The transcript of their...

In AD 303 on February 23, the Christian church of Nicomedia in Roman Bithynia was utterly destroyed. In this case, by “church” I am referring to the physical building as opposed to the human beings of Nicomedia who professed the Christian faith. Their destruction would come later. The pulling down of the church of Nicomedia marked the beginning of a violent, Roman Empire-wide repression of Christianity known to future generations as the Great Persecution. This state-sponsored attack would be the most violent, wide-ranging, and longest-lasting effort of the Roman government to wipe out the hated Christian sect. It would also...

Archaeologists have unearthed part of an unknown Roman Era public building in the southern Bulgarian city of Plovdiv which bears traces from the Invasion of the Roman Empire by the Goths in 250-251 AD when the Goths went as far south as Philipopolis (Plovdiv's predecessor) and ransacked it... emergency excavations at Plovdiv's Antiquity Odeon made headlines from the start when the archaeological team discovered a medieval grave from the 11th-12th century with an arrow in the chest of the buried person. Subsequent digs, however, revealed deeper a room from an unknown Antiquity building with three floor levels built one on...

Archaeologists in Turkey suspect the church may have been built in the year 325, following the First Council of Nicaea.The remains of a 1,600-year-old Byzantine basilica have been discovered at the site of the Councils of Nicaea, at the bottom of a lake in northwest Turkey. “We have found church remains. It is in a basilica plan and has three naves,” said Mustafa Şahin, an archaeology professor at Bursa Uludağ University, told Hurriyet News. Plans are now underway to open an underwater museum to allow tourists to view the foundation of the church, which was found lying in 5-7 feet...

Before us rose the three tiers of the amphitheater, of snowy marble, but then reflecting the western rays of a cloudless April evening, and arrayed in a vesture of pink like a sunset Alp.... “Oh, what perfect loveliness and peace!” said I to an Istrian priest who resided in the city, and who had come aboard at Rovigno. “And yet what different associations that amphitheater gives,” he replied.... The above snippet is taken from John Mason Neale's novella, The Daughters of Pola: Family Letters Relating to the Persecution of Diocletian which is about to be republished after being generally unavailable...

In the terminal collapse of the Roman Empire, there was perhaps no greater burden to the average citizen than the extreme taxes they were forced to pay. The tax ‘reforms’ of Emperor Diocletian in the 3rd century were so rigid and unwavering that many people were driven to starvation and bankruptcy. The state went so far as to chase around widows and children to collect taxes owed. By the 4th century, the Roman economy and tax structure were so dismal that many farmers abandoned their lands in order to receive public entitlements. At this point, the imperial government was spending...

Diocletian became emperor in 284. Early in his reign, he took a decidedly non-peaceful turn, purging the empire of any perceived threats to his power. He enlarged both the Empire’s military and civil forces, creating a greater threat to foreign leaders and a greater police state at home...

One of the earliest villas in Budapest is being excavated at Bécsi út 262 (District III), reports the Budapest History Museum. The site is of special importance, as it fits well into the line of villas previously found in the area, providing more information on the location and extension of villa farms around Aquincum, wrote Krisztián Anderkó, the archaeologist leading the excavations, on the museum's website. Ruins of the Roman building complex were discovered following several months of excavation work at a plot destined to become a hypermarket. The Office of Cultural Heritage had ordered the excavation to be carried...

Let My People Go  Christians versus Muslims in Modern Egypt: The Century-Long Struggle for Coptic EqualityBy S. S. HasanOxford University Press. 320 pp. $49.95.Reviewed by Robert W. ShaffernSana Hasan, an Egyptian scholar best known for her Enemy in the Promised Land, has written another important book in Christians versus Muslims in Modern Egypt—a book in which she honestly confronts the sorry condition of Christians in Egypt, where the “problems faced by the Christian minority are for many . . . a taboo subject.” Hasan courageously describes the discrimination and harm often visited upon one of Christianity’s oldest communions—the Coptic...

The engravings, which were discovered close to the Amoud al-Sawari monument, are said to date back to the times of Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius (ruled 161-180 AD.)... are six lines long and were found etched on an artefact measuring 50 centimetres long and 36 centimetres wide, which may perhaps be part of an ancient altar. The engravings are said to be writings glorifying the supreme ancient Greek deity Zeus along with several other Greek gods. The Amoud al-Sawari monument - also known as the Column of the Horsemen, or Pompey's Pillar - is located in the Karmouz district, which is...