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Top Secret Location this time, as I get a unique opportunity to inspect an ultra rare Medieval Wayside Cross, next to a lost Roman road, deep on a private estate with no public access. Believed to have been erected in the 13th or 14th centuries to provide reassurance for Christians travelling the ancient Roman road, this remarkable survivor has never been seen on video before and it speaks of the afterlife of the Roman road, before it disappeared from view. Along the way we get to see a well-defined surviving section of the road in the form of a causeway...

Hezbollah missile hits ancient Byzantine church in Nahariya, 1,400-year-old site damaged. A missile fired from Lebanon struck the remains of a 1,400-year-old Byzantine church in Nahariya, damaging the protective structure; the ancient mosaic survived intact, the Israel Antiquities Authority said.

Rome is one of the most famous cities in history. But it did not rise in an empty land. Before empire, before marble, before the Roman world takes over the map, central Italy is already crowded with graves, hilltop communities, powerful neighbors, painted tombs, and cities of the dead. This episode explores the older world that shaped Rome before Rome shaped the Mediterranean. This map-based history documentary covers early Rome and central Italy from 800 to 500 BC, including Villanovan culture, hut urns, Veii, Tarquinia, Cerveteri, Pyrgi, Pontecagnano, and the growth of Rome in the 6th century BC. Using archaeology,...

Visitors to Rome's Colosseum now have a new chance to step back into history thanks to a renovation project that's unearthed several entrance columns that have been buried for hundreds of years. Italy’s most iconic landmark has been given a remarkable new look. The Colosseum in Rome has undergone a major restoration, revealing parts of its original structure that have been hidden for centuries. New travertine marble blocks have been installed outside the arena, marking where grand entrance columns once stood. The project restores the monument’s perimeter and highlights details long buried underground, including original entrance numbers that guided spectators...

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

SummaryEver since the early years of the twentieth century, with the largely accidental discovery and subsequent raising (mostly from the Aegean sea bed) of a significant number of wrecks whose main cargo was works of art, researchers in the field of Greco-Roman archaeology have concentrated their most enthusiastic efforts on stylistic studies of these artefacts, while at the same time attempting to establish exactly when the ships transporting them sank. That these shipments of beautifully crafted masterpieces (mainly bronzes), coming from the Eastern Aegean, were destined for Rome, a city rapidly emerging into the historical spotlight, has always been and...

According to a Gizmodo report, analysis of residue samples taken from an incense burner previously unearthed near Pompeii has identified an offering used in ancient Rome. "We've long known from ancient writers that the Romans burnt frankincense in their sacrifices," said Johannes Eber of the University of Zurich. "Preserved ashes and traces of fragrant resins from a domestic shrine near Pompeii provides tangible proof and a striking reminder of just how globalized the ancient world truly was," he added. The terracotta censer, decorated with an appliqué of a reclining woman, came from a domestic shrine at a rural villa north...

For a millennium, Gortyn was the most important city on Crete. Its ruins - largely unexcavated - are scattered across a picturesque landscape of stony hills and olive groves. Scenic Routes to the Past | 58.2K subscribers | 4,704 views | March 27, 2026 0:00 Introduction 0:34 Agios Titos 1:09 Law code of Gortyn 2:30 Acropolis 4:33 Unexcavated area 5:35 Two temples 6:48 Praetorium 7:18 Metropolitan basilica 8:11 Baths

12 years on Time Team returns to the Roman Fort at Brancaster to tackle one of its biggest challenges yet: can you uncover an entire fort without digging? Armed with cutting-edge geophysics, John Gater, Jimmy Adcock and their teams survey the land, revealing vast hidden structures beneath the surface. From magnetometry to ground-penetrating radar, billions of data points begin to map out walls, roads and buildings lost for centuries. But as the digital picture emerges, a new question arises -- how do you interpret a Roman fort you can’t yet see? Brancaster Geofizz Challenge | Time Team (2026) | 1:05:26...

Egyptian archaeologists recently unearthed the remnants of a Christian monastic site from the 5th century — some 400 years after the time of Jesus Christ. The Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities wrote in a translated statement on March 23 that a building was recently found in the Qallaya area in Egypt’s Beheira Governorate. The structure, likely a guesthouse used to host visitors, is a remnant of the “early beginnings of Coptic monasticism,” the release said. Previous buildings have also been found at the site, and the newly discovered structure had 13 multipurpose rooms used for “hospitality and teaching …...

Uncover the sunken remains of a 4th-century basilica in Turkey. Submerged beneath the waters of Lake Iznik for hundreds of years, the church could reveal crucial insights into the early days of Christianity. Join a team of international researchers as they travel back through time—and grapple with Turkey’s many earthquakes, which could sink the structure deeper at any moment. Sunken Basilica Reveals Glimpse of Early Christianity | Full Episode Secrets of the Dead | 55:35 PBS | 1.69M subscribers | 23,809 views | March 18, 2026

According to the Greek Reporter, an ancient mosaic was discovered in central Athens during construction work on Evripidou Street. Large sections of the floor appear to remain intact. Archaeologists are examining the mosaic in an effort to date it and determine if the floor belonged to a private residence or a public area. To read about lead curse tablets unearthed at Athens' Kerameikos necropolis, go to "The Cursing Well."

As a general rule, once a city erects turnstiles to tourist attractions which were once free to visit, it is time to go elsewhere. Never more so than in the case of Rome. Last week the Italian capital introduced a €2 charge to visit the Trevi Fountain. Tight-fisted tourists like me will still be able to see the Trevi from a distance – it happens to stand in a public street. The charge will be only for sad Instagrammers who want to get close enough to chuck their coins in the water. The city’s tourism department has suggested the fee...

La Brújula Verde reports that the excavation of a necropolis in southwestern Italy by researchers from the Superintendence of Archaeology, Fine Arts, and Landscape for the Provinces of Salerno and Avellino has revealed 34 Samnite burials dated to between the fourth and third centuries B.C. The graves were grouped by family, and most of them consisted of a pit covered with tiles arranged like a small roof. Two of the burials had chambers lined with travertine blocks, while another had a tufa chamber. Graves holding the remains of men also contained spearheads or javelin points. Rings and brooches for fastening...

According to a La Brújula Verde report, eight burials at the Childrey Warren site in southeastern England have been analyzed. In all, the rural cemetery contained more than 30 burials. The eight burials in the study, including the remains of newborns and adults who were more than 45 years old at the time of death, have been dated to the fourth century A.D. One of the individuals had been beheaded, with the skull placed beneath the feet. Ancient DNA samples taken from these remains show that six of the eight people were closely related—sisters, paternal first cousins, and paternal and...

13 March 2026 7:54 PM Today the Ides of March survives as a powerful historical metaphor. What was once simply a day for settling debts and observing rituals became one of the most famous dates in historyFew dates in history carry the dramatic weight of the Ides of March. Falling on March 15, the phrase is forever tied to political intrigue, betrayal and the assassination of one of ancient Rome’s most powerful leaders, Julius Caesar. In the Roman calendar, the term “Ides” referred simply to the middle of the month. While the Ides fell on the 13th day in most...

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...

According to a statement released by the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB), the Romans extracted gold from alluvial deposits in the Eastern Pyrenees. Using optically stimulated luminescence dating techniques, Oriol Olesti Vila of the UAB and Jorge Sanjurjo-Sánchez of the University of A Coruña dated two samples of fill from the remains of an ancient hydraulic structure on the Segre River to the third and fourth centuries A.D. The researchers explained that Roman miners would have eroded gold deposits from the riverbanks with water, and then washed them, either by channeling water through the sediments or flooding the sediments with...

James Edwards, chief cashier for Leeds Transport Company in the 1950s, put aside any fake or foreign coins he found when gathering fares from the city's bus and tram drivers, before passing them to his grandson Peter.Peter, now 77, kept the coins safe for more than 70 years and has now discovered one of the collection is so old that Jesus hadn't even been born when it was minted.He found that the small coin was made in the 1st Century BC by the Carthaginians, an ancient Mediterranean civilisation with Phoenician roots, in Cádiz, Spain.On one side it bears the face...

Chapters 0:00 Introduction 0:42 Shakespeare's classical education 1:45 Shakespeare's sources 3:13 Anachronisms 4:26 The character of Caesar 5:38 The character of Brutus 7:46 Political messages 8:52 Timeless language 0:10 Julius Caesar was the first Shakespeare play that I read. It’s still one of my 0:15 favorites. Along with some of the most stirring speeches ever written, it presents what might be 0:22 the first attempt in English literature to really recreate the world of ancient Rome. 0:28 In today’s video, we’ll explore the historical accuracy of Shakespeare’s 0:34 best-known Roman play – and consider how the greatest English playwright used...