The Horror of Herculaneum
Years ago I walked around Herculaneum and was impressed by how well preserved it was. I could see wood, plaster and more. You could see how the rooms looked. It is much smaller than Pompei but it is still worth visiting
A 2000 Year old Greek Mosaic in Turkey
I like archeological twitter because it shows us curiousities every day of the week, several times a day. I like the image of the mosaic below because you see that it was quite deep, and hidden. Imagine digging down and coming across such a sight and site.
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.
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.
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
Roman Fish Salting in the Mediterranean
For years I heard about Roman pisciculture baths near the sea in Spain and I thought that this is where they would keep fish for eating, like they did in medieval Europe. That idea is wrong. The pisciculture that you have near Javea, Cadiz, and other parts of the Mediterranean coast were for the production of Garum and other salted fish versions.
If you walk by the coast you can see this channel, and you can even walk along it. If you look out to see it looks like this. If you look the other way it has been filled in and exploration would require excavation, and that would require a permit. This is one of the smaller channels.
The channels are deep enough for me to stand in. The experience is interesting because they block the sound of the sea. Someone who has studied the process in depth should produce sketches to give us an idea of how this would have looked. I feel no need to know how it smelled.
This channel Is at least two meters wide and three or more meters deep. I don’t know which way water would have flowed.
You can see one of the tanks in this satellite image.
Another satellite image to give you some context
For a better understanding of Fish satling during Roman times I recommend reading this paper. .
The answer to the question of why the really large salting factories are found in the western
Mediterranean, Brittany and the Black Sea, but not in the Eastern Mediterranean
probably lies in the fact that the large-scale factories were designed to handle the
massive catches of migratory species along particular routes. They are therefore found
chiefly on the key migration routes along the Straits of Gibraltar and the North
African coast; through the Kimmerian Bosphoros; and in the Bay of Douarnenez
(Brittany) where there are migrant shoals of sardinesQuantification of fish-salting infrastructure capacity in the Roman world
The site is accessible on foot, as long as you are wearing good shoes.
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.