Vineyard Mosaic In Italy
A few years ago we read about a vineyard where people had been digging. They discovered a vineyard that was well preserved. At least with a vineyard above there is no chance of a plow or other tool damaging the mosaic.
Funerary Relief – Colourised
When we have seen hundreds of statues and other objects over the decades of our lives, it is easy to assume that statues and other objects are just statues, that they have no colour, but of course they did. What was just a relief becomes a 3d painting after colour is added. It brings sculptures and reliefs back to life.
With 3d modelling it is easy to reproduce an exact replica of a painting or sculpture and then imagine how it would have been colouried. Tweets are frequently shared, that show statues and other objects as they would have looked when new. With mosaics we see them dry and dull, but with water they come back to life.
I considered playing with colours in photo editing software to bring colours from a mosaic back to vivid life.
The Romans in Croatia
When you walk in specific European cities you find that history is either very visible, or hidden just beneath the surface. In Rome and other places, every time someone digs they find ruins. As in the images below we see that the same is true, in this instance of Hvar, in Croatia. Imagine how many tens of thousands of people have walked along this street, without realising that there were mosaics.
What is nice in this instance, is that at least part of this ruin remains to be seen, protected by the street above. The buildings may have destroyed sections of this archeological site, but enough remains to allow people to take a glimpse into the past.
A Gladiator Mosaic at Santa Maria Nova
I have walked more than once along the Via Appia but I don’t remember seeing this mosaic. It shows a gladiator with a trident. The name of a gladiator equipped in this manner is Retiarius. Next time you are on the Appian Way consider visiting this Roman Villa, along with the various catacombs.
Spoonley Wood Roman Villa and Mosaic
Roman remains may be found and excavated but sometimes nature reclaims them. These ruins were discovered in 1882 but nature returned and hid them safely away again. Such tweets should inspire archeological departments, and film and TV or BA Media Studies to document the process of re-excavating these ruins, with photogrammetry and other modern tech used.
Scotland’s Roman Wall – Tweet
When I started writing about the Roman civilisation in the summer of 1996 content was still new on the web. Wikipedia didn’t exist and we still relied on books and encyclopedias. We still had to visit ruins and more. Today the web has matured to such an extent that you can find tweets about the Roman civilisation every day. This means that history is not updated when books or newspaper articles come out. It is updated on a weekly, or even hourly basis. The beauty of tweets, as opposed to blog posts or articles, is that you can share snippets of information, as you get them.
Cramond Tower in Scotland – Corner of a Roman Fort
Cramond tower which sits on the corner of a Roman fort. Located in Cramond village, just outside Edinburgh, the tower reuses much of the stone from the fort #Roman #archaeology #scotland pic.twitter.com/1LunLTDZEn
— Roman Scotland (@RomanScotland) February 12, 2022
The Romans on Twitter
Over a few months I have seen that tweeting about the Romans is growing in frequency. The accounts that I see are tweeting about Roman Britain. They share images of mosaics, digs and new discoveries. It is a way to follow archeology and Ancient history in a modern context.
By following tweets about the Romans in Britain it is a way of being reminded on a daily basis about new discoveries, new experiences, and new places to visit. It is a way of seeing how extensive Roman Britain was. People walk along the roads, show remnants of ruins and more. They also share the opening times of museums and areas of interest as well as events that may be taking place.
When I was writing about the Romans I had to write articles and posts. I had to do research and I had to make sure that the information I was providing was accurate, and correct. Now, with a tweet you can share information about the Romans without hours of research.
It is important to keep history alive, and it is important that such accounts exist because they are a way of making history life. Rather than read a few lines of text in a book we can see images, video and more. We also see that these are things we can experience, if we are at the right place at the right time.
England has a wealth of archeological sites that date back to the Romans so to follow tweets about the Romans in England, is a way of seeing that you do not need to travel to Europe to learn about Roman history. You can learn about it locally, if you know where to look. Accounts like Roman Britain News make this a simple task.