
Place of empires
Janice Kinory examines an early photograph of a Roman emperor’s palace.

Janice Kinory examines an early photograph of a Roman emperor’s palace.

In 2011, excavations at the site of the Roman-period city of Mursa (modern-day Osijek) in Croatia came across an ancient water well containing the complete skeletons of seven individuals. The results of analysis recently published in the journal PLOS One…

Few experiences seem to bring us closer to people in the past than literally following in their footsteps on the streets of abandoned ancient cities, among the ruins of what they once called home. The effect can be dampened, though, when we reflect that these remains only exist because at some point the population left their houses, temples, palaces, and plazas for better or – more likely – worse.

Patrick Skinner sets out from the country's capital on a voyage of archaeological discovery.