Hilary Wilson on… Bread, beer, and economics – Part 2
Hilary Wilson shows how the ancient Egyptians were paid in food and drink.
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Homage to Gallarus Oratory
Fifty years ago, one of the most daring expeditions in modern times left Ireland’s Dingle Peninsula. Tim Severin set out with a crew of three in a curragh – a skin-boat shaped
From the fringes of the Roman Empire: Locally crafted empires
In our high-speed modern world, it can be easy to forget that the ancient world was experienced at a slower speed. Rubina Raja shares the insights that can spring from exploring the edges of the Roman world on foot.
Sicily: An isle of myth
The impressive ancient temples, villas, and theatres of Sicily understandably attract the attention of many visitors, but looking beyond the monuments to their spectacular natural surroundings and the stories they inspired also offers a way to understand the island’s ancient societies. David Stuttard guides us through Sicily’s mythological landscapes.
Western Macedonia: forgotten highlands of Greece
The archaeological gems on show in a neglected region of Greece help to shed light on the success of Alexander the Great, as Alex Rowson reveals.
Grama Bay: where the Ionian blue begins
Richard Hodges has been following in the wake of generations of mariners by investigating the extraordinary concentration of inscriptions carved into the rock of Grama Bay, Albania.
Asterix’s legacy at Alésia
Richard Hodges explores Alésia in Burgundy and the legacy of Julius Caesar’s defeat of Vercingétorix and the Gauls.
Aquincum: a museum and archaeological park in an urban setting
On 10 May 1894, Aquincum Museum in Budapest opened its doors to the public. Here, in anticipation of the forthcoming anniversary of that event, David Breeze recounts his connection to the museum and its archaeological park.
Touring the ancient theatres of Epirus, Greece
The mountains and forests of Epirus offer a dramatic backdrop for a tour through the theatres of the Greek region’s ancient cities. Diana Bentley finds stories of a famed oracle and a celebrated victory along the way.
Travels in an antique land: the Temple of Nekhbet-Hathor at Elkab
Each issue, AE magazine goes off the beaten track to explore some of Egypt’s lesser known sites, new museums, and newly opened monuments, with tips to help the independent traveller. In this issue, the intrepid Karl Harris searches for a small New Kingdom temple in the Wadi Hilal at Elkab.
The British Institute at Ankara: 75 years researching Turkey
As the British Institute at Ankara celebrates a major birthday, CWA casts an eye over what it has achieved, and where it is heading.
Clare Tuffy and Newgrange
I would restore the great chambers of Boyne, prepare a sepulchre under the cupmarked stones. Seamus Heaney, ‘Funeral Rites’
Narbo Via Archaeological Museum
The city of Narbonne in southern France has opened a brand new archaeological museum. Roger Wilson is our guide.
Sexten, Italy: meditations on a moment of madness
Richard Hodges has been visiting Sexten, where the alpine scenery still bears the traces of fighting in the First World War.
Underground Naples
The layers of tunnels under Naples preserve traces of Greek life and death in ancient Italy. Dalu Jones heads beneath the surface to visit ongoing restoration work that is making an ancient tomb and its rare surviving Greek paintings accessible to the public.
881: Sacking San Vincenzo al Volturno
In the conclusion to this two-part article, Richard Hodges examines the circumstances surrounding the attack on the Benedictine monastery of San Vincenzo al Volturno in AD 881.
881: a 9th-century feudal calamity
In the first of a two-part piece, Richard Hodges explores the story of San Vincenzo al Volturno.
Tracy Roberts and LoveItaly
Based in Rome, LoveItaly is now in its seventh year and its accent is decidedly American and not patrician. It owes everything to the dynamism of a Californian who is every bit as Roman as the Romans.
Who beheaded the emperors of Chiragan?
One of the finest collections of Roman emperors is to be found hidden away in the Musée Saint-Raymond, the archaeological museum of Toulouse, in south-western France. But where did they come from, and how did such a magnificent collection of Roman emperors come to lose their heads?
The Lost City of Norchia
Upper Palaeolithic flints, Eneolithic tombs, and remains of a Bronze Age semicircular hut, as well as a tomb with a Villanovan shield, show that the place evolved over time, before being bafflingly abandoned in the earlier Iron Age.
Queen Adelaide’s castle in the Tuscan marches
Thanks to modern scientific analyses, the every-day circumstances of Tuscany’s Dark Age peoples are no longer mute. One thing is certain from this excavation: objects and nature played an active part in transforming the primitive experiences of Tuscany’s 9th-century peasants and their early feudal masters into some of the most sophisticated lifestyles in Europe by the 12th century.
Esfahan, Iran
Esfahan is little known in the West, but it has some of the world’s great architecture – not only mosques, but also its palaces, its gardens, and last but not least, its fine bridges.
Sailing to Ithaca?
Is Ithaca, in fact, Odysseus’ island, where Penelope faithfully weaved, steadfastly waiting for her mischievous prince in their well-appointed palace?