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In 1938, a statue was discovered at Pompeii, subsequently known as "The Pompeii Lakshmi". It is a sycretistic statue, combining elements of the Roman Venus, and the Hindu Lakshmi, and is our main evidence for aspects of Hinduism, or at least Hindu deities, in the Roman world. Hinduism in the Roman Empire: A Quick Overview | 2:41 The Historian's Craft | 132K subscribers | 10,254 views | April 6, 2026

The Buddha statue depicts Siddhartha Gautama, who lived in South Asia around 2,550 years ago. Born a prince, he would later renounce his worldly wealth and seek out enlightenment, eventually becoming the Buddha, a Sanskrit-derived word that means "the enlightened one," according to Buddhist tradition...The newfound statue dates to between A.D. 90 and 140, said Steven Sidebotham, a history professor at the University of Delaware who is co-director of the Berenike Project, told Live Science in an email.The 28-inch-tall (71 centimeters) statue shows the Buddha standing and holding parts of his robes in his left hand, representatives from the Egyptian...

For more than two centuries, much of northern India was ruled by Greek kings. Eventually, these kings and many of their Greek subjects converted to Buddhism, with far-reaching historical consequences.Chapters:0:00 Introduction1:16 Alexander in India2:00 The Indo-Greek Kingdom3:28 Buddhism in Mauryan India4:18 Greek converts to Buddhism5:41 Contacts between India and the Roman Empire6:46 Buddhism in classical texts7:32 Buddhism and Greek Skepticism8:27 The Greek influence on Buddhist art9:54 Conclusion

Live Science reports that about 30 inscriptions written in three ancient Indian languages have been studied in six different tombs in Egypt’s Valley of the Kings. Ingo Strauch of the University of Lausanne said that these inscriptions have been dated to between the first and third centuries A.D., when Egypt was a province of the Roman Empire and a tourist destination. One inscription, written in Sanskrit, was left by a man named Indranandin, who identified himself as a messenger of King Kshaharata. "It is possible that Indranandin arrived by ship at Berenike [on the east coast of Egypt], perhaps together...

An exploration of Rome's travels in the far east. Get "The Book: The Ultimate Guide to Rebuilding Civilization" https://mdsh.io/invictahistory and use code "Invicta" for 10% off.In this history documentary we seek to answer how far to the east did the Romans go? In previous episodes we covered the preceding links between the east and west which had been formed. Now we follow Roman traders into India, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, China, and beyond! How Far East Did the Romans Go? (India, Vietnam, China?) DOCUMENTARY | 29:11 Invicta | 1.66M subscribers | 131,135 views | February 1, 2026

For centuries, one of the most important cities of the ancient world lay hidden beneath dust, war zones, and shifting rivers. Alexandria on the Tigris—once a thriving center of long-distance trade connecting Mesopotamia with India and beyond—vanished from historical memory after late antiquity. Now, an international research team led by Professor Stefan Hauser of the University of Konstanz has successfully rediscovered and reinterpreted this lost metropolis, revealing its crucial role in ancient global commerce.A City Founded by Alexander the Great In the 4th century BCE, Alexander the Great conquered the Achaemenid Persian Empire, reshaping the political and economic landscape of...

The Romans sailed south to Zanzibar, north to the Hebrides, and east to China. The Most Distant Places Visited by the Romans | 14:52 toldinstone | 608K subscribers | 1,216,082 views | July 29, 2022 0:00 Introduction 0:48 The world known to the Romans 2:37 ClickUp 3:50 Arabia 4:38 East Africa and the Nile 5:39 West Africa and the Sahara 6:58 The Canaries and Madeira 7:42 Britain 8:23 Thule 8:59 Around the Baltic 9:39 Around the Black and Caspian Seas 10:15 Central and northern Asia 10:55 India 12:20 China

Ancient Chinese written documents record that by the second century a.d., a vast trade network had already been established connecting peoples and goods from the Mediterranean, the Near East, India, and Asia. This has been confirmed by archaeological excavations throughout Southeast Asia, which have uncovered various items such as Indian jewelry, Roman glass, and Persian pottery. According to a Science News Today report, however, a comprehensive new study has revealed that silver coinage may be the key to truly understanding just how interconnected these distant regions actually were. Found at many archaeological sites across this region, the coins feature a...

Rome's love for pepper and incense fueled a global trade network. This episode follows their journey -- from Arabian deserts and Indian coasts, through Petra and Red Sea ports, to Mediterranean hubs -- ending in the spice markets of the Eternal City, including the Horrea Piperataria. From Desert to Rome: the Spice Roads of the Ancient World | 8:35 Ancient Rome Live | 80K subscribers | 475 views | August 11, 2025

Dr. Lakshmi Panagiotakopoulos, a pediatric infectious disease expert and top CDC official, resigned on Tuesday as co-leader of the agency’s group that oversees updates to COVID-19 jab recommendations. Reuters first reported her resignation. This is the start to a great Birthday!!🎂 CDC official overseeing COVID-19 vaccine recommendations resigns – CBS News https://t.co/bNn66H01Cg — Brian Tyson, MD 🇺🇸 (@btysonmd) June 4, 2025 Per Reuters: Panagiotakopoulos said in an email to work group colleagues that her decision to step down was based on the belief she is “no longer able to help the most vulnerable members” of the U.S. population. In her...

Both Buddhism and Stoicism emphasize self-control, ethical living, and the attainment of a passionless state. However, the Indian philosophy predated Stoicism by about 500 years. Did Buddhism influence Greek Stoicism and thought, and, if so, how did it do so a continent away? Similarities between Stoicism and Buddhism: A shared path to inner peace Practitioners of Stoicism and Buddhism deeply understand life’s impermanence and the need to overcome desires. The philosophies teach mental discipline and detachment from external circumstances as paths to inner peace. In Stoicism, “apatheia” means freedom from emotional disturbance, closely mirroring Buddhism’s “nirvana,” the liberation from suffering....

For those who think financial fraud or circulating fake currencies is a modern day phenomenon, an ancient Roman coin mould on display at the Department of Archaeology, Museums and Heritage in the city is a startling revelation. The Roman coin mould, which is being displayed for the first time since its excavation in 1993, indicates that fake coins were in circulation around 19 to 20 centuries ago. The terracotta mould is among the most important objects displayed at the exhibition, apart from terracotta figurines, iron objects, bronze dies, stone beads. M S Krishnamurthy, a retired professor of Archaeology who led...

Pattanam, a small village located 25 km north of Kochi, is the new pilgrimage spot on the international archaeological map. This quiet place, archaeologists now confirm, was once the flourishing port known to the Romans as Muziris and sung in praise by the Tamil Sangam poets as Muciri. Every year since 2005, excavations have yielded artefacts, structures and even a canoe in one instance to confirm this conclusion. This year has also been productive for archaeologists. A figure of a pouncing lion carved in great detail on a semi precious stone and a bright micro metal object with intricate designs...

Archaeologists unearth Roman era artefacts in Kerala From our ANI Correspondent Pattanam (Kerala), Mar 23: What began as exploratory studies in Kerala, has thrown up enough artefacts and structures of two millennia old Indo-Roman trade era to delight archaeologists, who are looking for the lost port of Muziris. Archaeological teams in Pattanam village, near the port city of Kochi have been working on a site, which has yielded pottery, amphora, beads and other artefacts that are reminiscent of the ancient Romans. "The initial studies carried out in this region have amply indicated that there was a Roman presence. The Roman...

PATTANAM, India -- Pottery shards, beads, Roman copper coins, and ancient wine bottles litter the strata beneath this small seaside village in India's southern Kerala state. The 250 families, mostly agricultural laborers, who live in Pattanam, 260 kilometers (161 miles) north of Kerala's capital Thiruvananthapuram, find the objects pretty, but would rather dig up the ground and build larger homes. But according to archaeologists K.P. Shajan and V. Selvakumar, they may be destroying the remnants of Muziris, a well-documented trading port where Rome and India met almost 3,000 years ago. They say that, based on remote sensing data, a river...

The first construction boom began about 2,000 years ago, when Ashoka the Great was founding the first Indian empire, when Julius Caesar reigned over Rome, when traders from the Mediterranean found their way to what is now an obscure Maharastra village... But another construction boom threatens the existence of an area they say could well reveal itself as "the Pompeii of India", the legendary Roman city buried by a volcano and lost for 1,600 years... A dusty village museum houses a treasure-trove of 23,852 pieces of stone and terracotta sculptures, replicas of Roman coins and lamps, miniature inkpots, jewellery and...

Coins dating from the Jewish revolt against the Roman Empire (66 CE-70 CE) were discovered by archeologists during excavations near the southern wall of the Temple Mount on Monday, according to the Israel Nature and Parks Authority. The archeological dig, run by Dr. Eilat Mazar of the Institute of Archaeology of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, uncovered dozens of bronze coins measuring approximately 1.5 cm., as well as numerous fragments of pottery vessels. The vessels, mainly jars and cooking pots, were left behind by Jewish residents who hid in a large cave that measured seven meters by 14 m. The...

One way to understand the implications of the archaeological discoveries at Pattanam is to delve into the amazing wealth of data from the excavations at the lost Ptolemic-Roman port city of Berenike, on Egypt's Red Sea coast. During the Ptolemic-Roman period (third century B.C. to sixth century A.D), Berenike served as a key transit port between ancient Egypt and Rome on one side and the Red Sea-Indian Ocean regions, including South Arabia, East Africa, India and Sri Lanka, on the other. This ancient port city was well-connected by roads from the Nile that passed through the Eastern Desert of Egypt...

Search for India's ancient city Roman amphora pieces abound in Pattanam Archaeologists working on India's south-west coast believe they may have solved the mystery of the location of a major port which was key to trade between India and the Roman Empire - Muziris, in the modern-day state of Kerala. For many years, people have been in search of the almost mythical port, known as Vanchi to locals. Much-recorded in Roman times, Muziris was a major centre for trade between Rome and southern India - but appeared to have simply disappeared. Now, however, an investigation by two archaeologists - KP...

Pompeii pottery may rewrite history Heather Catchpole ABC Science Online Monday, 8 November 2004 A broken plate is one of the pieces in the puzzle of how ancient cultures traded (Image: Jaye Pont) Archaeologists may need to change their view of Pompeii's role in trade and commerce, after a ceramics expert's recent discovery. Australian researcher Jaye Pont from the Museum of Ancient Cultures at Sydney's Macquarie University says people who lived in Pompeii bought their pottery locally and didn't import it. Pont said the find could "make waves" among archaeologists looking at trade in the Mediterranean. And she said researchers...