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For centuries, concrete was everywhere in Roman Italy: in the awesomely durable breakwaters of artificial harbors, in the soaring vaults of great baths, in the foundations of the Colosseum, and - of course - in the spectacular dome of the Pantheon. But during late antiquity, concrete all but vanished from the Mediterranean world, and would not be used widely again until the twentieth century. This video explains why.Chapters:0:00 Introduction0:39 Understanding Roman concrete1:29 Early experiments2:25 The apogee3:33 Squarespace!4:19 Geographic limits of Roman concrete5:00 The decline of concrete6:28 Final notices7:26 Not forgotten, but goneWhy was Roman Concrete Forgotten during the Middle Ages?...

An archaeological site in northern Israel is now thought to possibly contain a lost Roman temple. The temple, which was housed within a larger ancient Roman complex, would have been built by King Herod, who presided over the province of Judea for 33 years, between 37 B.C.E. and 4 B.C.E. The structure is located within Omrit, an archeological site that is also home to the remains of other buildings with Roman influences. Though Omrit is not very accessible to the public today due to its remote locale, the site was once highly trafficked by international visitors and researchers throughout the...

Two complete statues of a woman and a man, along with the head of a child, were found at the site of the old St Mary's Norman church in Stoke Mandeville, Buckinghamshire, south east England, while archeologists were excavating a ditch around the foundations of an Anglo-Saxon tower. As experts working on the High Speed 2 (HS2) project dug down, they found the three "stylistically Roman" busts, Two of the busts were made up of a head and torso which had been split apart, which experts say "is not entirely unusual," because statues were commonly vandalized before being torn down....

In the years following the victory of Constantine the Great over Maxentius at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge outside Rome in AD 312, something unprecedented in human history happened. A religion embraced by a small, despised, unwarlike minority cult became the dominant faith of the mighty Roman Empire. How this happened has been the subject of endless scholarly debate ever after. Did the ascendant Christians impose their faith on the multitude of pagans by brute force? Did examples of miraculous events or prophecies play a role? Or did the Christian emperors simply make it so advantageous to become a...

A Roman sandstone altarpiece featuring a naked horseman has been uncovered at the Vindolanda archaeological site in northern England. Vindolanda, a fort just below Hadrian’s Wall, was periodically occupied by Romans between 85 C.E. to 370 C.E. It is most famous for ink tablets found there. Written on thin pieces of wood, they offer a series of firsthand accounts by the Romans who once inhabited the fort. The site has provided a wealth of archaeological material, including structures like military barracks and residences, as well as artifacts such as Roman sandals, combs, textiles, swords, arrowheads, pottery, bronze figurines, and even...

SALISBURY, N.C. (WBTV) - A Salisbury man told police that he thought he had been shot in the behind by a Roman candle. It turns out he was shot with a gun and there was a bullet lodged in his buttocks. According to the police report, the 53-year-old man said that he was at the Sports Complex on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Avenue on Friday at approximately 1:00 a.m. He said that some boys were there shooting fireworks. The man said he felt something hit his left buttock, but “didn’t think much about it.” The next morning when he...

You have to go back to 458 B.C. to find the legendary Roman leader who inspired the greatest act of America’s first president. Baltimore’s Washington Monument, located in the city’s Mount Vernon neighborhood, is less famous than its Washington D.C. counterpart. But it’s arguably more interesting. The Monument is a 180-foot tower with a 15-foot George Washington statue on top. But Washington isn’t depicted in his military uniform. Instead, he’s dressed in a Roman toga, and he’s laying down a scroll he holds in his hand. Why a toga instead of a tri-cornered hat? The artist knew the story of...

A missing finger from a giant statue of the Roman emperor Constantine has been reunited with the hand it came from, roughly 550 years after being separated. The 38cm long index finger was recently sent to the Capitoline Museums in Rome by the Louvre Museum in Paris. This week the piece was finally being returned to its rightful position on the hand, which sits in the museum alongside the colossal bronze bust of Constantine.

A touristic visit to the beautiful ancient Roman ruins of Djémila in Algeria. Founded in AD 96 as a Roman military garrison, the ancient town of Cuicul is set on a hillside with grand vistas. It is a UNESCO world heritage site - as "an interesting example of Roman town planning adapted to a mountain location".This video features views of the ruins including overall views, the Cardo Maximums (main street), the forum, arches, basilica, curia, temples, Christian Quarter, fountains, markets, theater, baths and latrine. The site has is in a remarkable state of preservation and it shows how the...

A group of Catholic priests has come out in support of a bill that would require all adoption agencies that receive federal funding to place children with same-sex couples.The Association of U.S. Catholic Priests, which describes itself as “a pastoral voice of compassion, hope and joy in our pilgrim church and world,” has expressed support for the "Every Child Deserves a Family Act."According to the Lepanto Institute, a research and education organization dedicated to preserving the traditional teachings of the Catholic Church, the bill “would effectively shut down the adoption services of Catholic Charities by mandating homosexual adoptions as well...

ROME — The Vatican’s Apostolic Penitentiary has issued a decree granting special plenary indulgences, that is, full elimination of temporal punishment in Purgatory for a forgiven sin, during the “Year of St. Joseph.” The practice, which dates back to medieval times, has been deemed unbiblical by evangelicals.On Dec. 8, Jorge Bergoglio, also known as “Pope Francis,” announced a special “Year of St. Joseph” to mark the 150th anniversary of Pope Pius IX’s proclamation of Joseph, the earthly father of Jesus, as the “patron of the Universal Church.”He made the announcement in a Patris Corde (translated “Heart of the Father”) letter...

New simulations show that NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will be able to reveal myriad rogue planets – freely floating bodies that drift through our galaxy untethered to a star. Studying these island worlds will help us understand more about how planetary systems form, evolve, and break apart. Astronomers discovered planets beyond our solar system, known as exoplanets, in the 1990s. We quickly went from knowing of only our own planetary system to realizing that planets likely outnumber the hundreds of billions of stars in our galaxy. Now, a team of scientists is finding ways to improve our understanding...

The British Museum has added a Roman-era oil lamp depicting a scene of lesbian sex and other LGBTQ+ cultural objects to its permanent exhibition. The museum, which is currently closed due the coronavirus pandemic but usually attracts about six million visitors a year, already runs popular LGBTQ-themed tours. Five new objects, including the lamp, a novelty 'nine bob note', a Greek coin depicting Sappho, Kabuki prints and a medallion from a cross-dressing spy will go on display in the museum.

Scientists say a massive volcanic eruption in Alaska more than 2,500 years ago triggered a global climate shock on the other side of the Earth that led to the fall of the Roman Republic. The eruption of Mount Okmok on an Alaskan island in the year 43 BC – an event known as 'Okmok II' – spewed ash particles that cooled the planet by shading incoming solar radiation. Scientists say this caused with a spell of extreme cold in the Mediterranean during the European summer – the second-coldest of the last 2,500 years.

he COVID-19 pandemic has brought the global economy to a halt. The geopolitical upheavals yet to come will dramatically change world history, in unpredictable ways. The United States is only three months into its struggle with coronavirus, and is experiencing an Icarus-like plummet from the economic heights. The tiny coronavirus will ravage the nations, and may even cause empires to fall. We have been here before. In his 2017 book The Fate Of Rome: Climate, Disease, and the End of an Empire, Oklahoma University historian Kyle Harper examined the roles that climate instability and plague played in weakening the Roman...

What you may consider to be a quintessentially American invention is actually mentioned in an ancient Roman cookbook called Apicius. The text was written by an unknown author sometime between the late 4th and 5th century AD and contains lots of recipes. One of those recipes describes a dish called 'Isicia Omentata'. It details how a cook should use minced meat, pepper, pine nuts and a rich fish-based sauce and form them all into a patty shape. This Roman delicacy looks very similar to modern day burgers once cooked. The Romans are also credited for being big users of 'fast...

I hate long drives, but the one redeeming aspect of them is that I get to do something I never do otherwise: listen to audiobooks. Driving to and from Dallas is a 16-hours-plus trip from Baton Rouge. I made it with my wife and kids this past weekend, for a wedding. On my son Matt’s recommendation, I listened to historian Tom Holland’s book Dominion: How The Christian Revolution Remade The World. Before I say anything about the book, I want to recommend a cool piece of technology. It’s illegal to drive with standard earbuds in, so Matt let me borrow...

A Roman mosaic depicting a mythical chariot race has been fully uncovered in a Berkshire village - and it could be one of Britain's most exciting archaeological discoveries. The 1,600-year-old mosaic, which was found in Boxford in 2017 but only fully uncovered recently, is one of only three of its kind in the world and is 'totally unknown' in Britain, experts said. It depicts a chariot race involving Greek mythological figure Pelops, who is racing to win the hand of love interest Princess Hippodamia. ... The mosaic will now be covered over once more to protect it and to allow...

The Roman Ninth Legion's mysterious loss 16 March 2011 The disappearance of Rome's Ninth Legion has long baffled historians, but could a brutal ambush have been the event that forged the England-Scotland border, asks archaeologist Dr Miles Russell, of Bournemouth University. One of the most enduring legends of Roman Britain concerns the disappearance of the Ninth Legion. The theory that 5,000 of Rome's finest soldiers were lost in the swirling mists of Caledonia, as they marched north to put down a rebellion, forms the basis of a new film, The Eagle, but how much of it is true? It is...

A 1700-year-old letter that was recently discovered is said to reveal the way Christians actually lived centuries ago.230 AD The Papyrus P.Bas. 2.43 was written by a man named Arrianus to his brother Paulus, who was believed to be named after the apostle Paul. The letter has been dated to 230s AD and is thus older than all previously known Christian documentary evidence from Roman Egypt.It describes day-to-day family matters and provides insight into the world of the first Christians in the Roman Empire.“The earliest Christians in the Roman Empire are usually portrayed as eccentrics who withdrew from the world...