Free Republic

Unlike in the progressive modern world where one can become a part of the high-society and idolized by mindless plebs simply by the merit of being a (famous) actor, the ancient Romans had the exact opposite stance. Actors in the Roman world were considered the lowest of the low, being on roughly the same social status as slaves. That the Romans had a low opinion on actors should not come as a surprise, as actors by definition, act. In a society where honesty, merit, personal accomplishments and pursuit of civic virtue were in high regard, it is thus understandable that...

CHAMONIX, France - French President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday the melting of Mont Blanc’s main glacier is irrefutable proof of global warming, as he sought to burnish his environmentalist credentials ahead of municipal elections next month. During a visit to the “Mer de Glace” (sea of ice) - France’s largest glacier which has shrunk dramatically in recent years - Macron met scientists and announced new protective measures for the area, including higher fines for littering. “What we are seeing with the evolution of the glacier is irrefutable proof of global warming and climate change and the toppling of an...

What is considered to be a unique discovery has been made in Taman, South Russia, at the Black Sea. The ruins of an ancient Greek city, dated around the 6th century BC, came to light. Archeologists are stunned both by the number of the findingsand the condition they were found in. The excavations are proceeding with extreme caution, in order to avoid damaging the city's ancient fortress. According to historians, it is assumed that the ruins are the temple of Dimitra, the ancient goddess of fertility and agriculture, while they were able to determine the very spot of the altar....

"You want to know who I was, posterity? Then listen…" The Roman poet Ovid never doubted his own genius - his autobiography is brought to life by Simon Russell Beale, starting with his early life in Sulmona, Italy. | Ovid: The Poet and the Emperor (trailer) | Release date:14 November 2017

Catapult-makers were once ye olde celebrities July 05 2004 at 08:24AM London - Catapult designers were the celebrity scientists of the ancient world, according to a British expert. Until the discovery of gunpowder, the catapult was the most powerful weapon in existence, said historian Serafina Cuomo. The machines, capable of hurling large projectiles long distances, were in high demand during the time of the ancient Greeks and Romans - and so were their makers. But the construction of catapults was no easy task, requiring great mathematical and engineering skill. It became a science in itself, known as "belopoietics" from the...

A new study suggests the Mediterranean Sea was the warmest during the Roman Empire than any other time in the past 2,000 years The research, published in Scientific Reports, notes the Mediterranean was 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit (2 degrees Celsius) warmer "than average values for the late centuries for the Sicily and Western Mediterranean regions.

Balestrino, LiguriaOf all the ghost towns in Italy Balestrino is probably the most mysterious one. It is not quite certain when the town was founded, nor exactly what happened and why it is was abandoned. However, one of the earth quakes that struck the region in 1887 coincides with a drop in population, so that may be a plausible explanation. Before the earthquake that the population amounted to 800-850 inhabitants, mainly farmers. In 1953 the town was completely abandoned due to 'geological instabilility'. The remaining inhabitants (about 400) were moved to a safer area to the west of the...

      LOS ANGELES – A Palmdale resident was charged today with illegally importing a mosaic depicting the Roman god Hercules that is believed to have been made nearly two millennia ago.          Yassin Alcharihi, 53, was named in an indictment that charges him with one count of entry of goods falsely classified.         The indictment alleges that Alcharihi claimed he was importing a mosaic and other items valued at $2,199, when in fact he was importing an ancient mosaic worth more than that. The indictment also alleges that he misrepresented the quality of the mosaic and what the artwork depicted.         The charges in the...

The cat paw print on the Roman roof tile. David Rice ================================================================================================================== Paw prints made by a cat 2,000 years ago have been found on a Roman roof tile kept at a museum in south west England. Dug up in Gloucester in 1969, the tile fragment had long lain unnoticed at Gloucester City Museum. Only recently, a researcher spotted the cat’s paw on the tile while going through the finds from the 1969 archaeological excavation. “At that time the archaeologists seem to have been more interested in digging things up than looking at what they found,” David Rice, curator at...

A colossal statue of Atlas, buried for centuries among ancient ruins, will soon take its rightful place among the ancient Greek temples of Agrigento on Sicily. The city's archaeological park announced that the artwork, one of the most celebrated sculptures on the island, will be raised upright in front of the Temple of Zeus. In Greek mythology, Atlas was a Titan or god who was forced to bear the sky on his shoulders after being defeated by Zeus, one of the next generation of gods called Olympians. The statue, eight metres high and built in the 5th century BC, was...

A loner and a hunter with highly developed territorial instincts, a cruel carnivore, a disobedient individual: the cat. These features make the species averse to domestication. Even so, we did it. Nowadays, about 500 million cats live in households all around the world; it is also difficult to estimate the amount of the homeless and the feral ones. Although the common history of cats and people began 10,000 years ago, the origins of the relation still remain unknown... Scientists from the Institute of Archaeology at the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Torun have outstanding merits in this field. An article discussing...

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',...

Last spring, York's Guildhall found itself in dire straits. Water dripped from the 15th-century meeting hall's ceiling, and cracks in one of its walls were so large that visitors could stick a hand straight through them, reported David Dunning for local radio station Minster FM at the time. That fall, the local government launched a £16.5-million construction project aimed at restoring the historic building -- which has stood on the banks of the River Ouse in the northeastern English city for more than 500 years -- to its former glory. But the work has revealed more than just dilapidated walls:...

Why the American Revolution gave birth to the greatest form of government in all of recorded history https://banned.video/watch?id=5f00d539672706002f402db0  

Villa Romana del Casale, Sicily, Italy in 4K (UHD) HDR

The object found was a large lead ingot or 'pig' (about half a metre long, weighing 63 kilograms). The 'writing' reported by Mr Jones was a cast Latin inscription confirming that it was Roman and about 2,000 years old... The exploitation of Britain's natural resources was one of the reasons cited by Roman authors for the invasion of Britain by the Emperor Claudius in AD 43... Lead ore or galena contains silver as well as lead, and both were valuable commodities for the Romans. Less than a hundred lead ingots of this type are known from the mines of Roman...

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.

Caius Cestius, a very wealthy Roman, chose for his tomb a pyramidal shape rather than the traditional circular one (see Tomba di Cecilia Metella, which was built at approximately the same time); we know that he had been praetor (an annually elected magistrate), tribune of the people and epulonum, a member of a group of seven priests who supervised the solemn sacrificial banquets; he was a brother of the Cestius who built a bridge at Isola Tiberina and he was a friend of Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, son-in-law of Emperor Augustus. An inscription found in the burial chamber inside the pyramid...

Unearthed in 2007 in a salvage excavation before roadworks near Shlomi and Kibbutz Hanita, the remains of the Byzantine settlement at Pi Mazuva are located in modern Israel's northwest corner on the border with Lebanon. The finds include Christian iconography, a large house and a colorful, high-quality, partially preserved mosaic floor... According to the open-source Hebrew-language publication, the settlement was mentioned in the 4th-5th century Jerusalem Talmud as being part of "forbidden territories," and according to Jewish law (halacha), were not considered part of Jewish territory. At the same time, certain commandments for Jews located in the Land of Israel...