It would be fair to say that Nero’s reputation survives him. But could it be that this notorious imperial bad boy has been unfairly condemned by history? While the charge sheet levelled against him by the ancient historians is truly horrifying, archaeology paints a more nuanced picture, as Thorsten Opper told Current World Archaeology's Matthew Symonds.
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.
Robert C L Holmes analyses a decisive collision between two very different ways of war in the early medieval period.
Patrick Mercer recalls a grim battle between two military elites, British Guards and Waffen SS, on the heavily fortified Gothic Line in northern Italy.
The Romans’ passion for fine dining is well known – now a mouth-watering new exhibition at the Ashmolean Museum shows how the production, distribution and consumption for food and wine coloured every aspect of Roman life, as its curator Paul Roberts explains
And pretty Samos, and the palace of Croesus at Sardis,What of Smyrna and Colophon – better or worse than their fame?Or are they all as dirt beside the Campus and the Tiber’s stream?Or does one of the cities of Attalus…
This dramatic work has been acquired by the J Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, where it is now on view. Artemisia trained with her father Orazio Gentileschi, and her Lucretia joins two of his works in the Getty collection.
A 38cm-long bronze finger has rejoined the hand of Constantine the Great in the Capitoline Museums in Rome. The ancient digit, once part of a 12m-high statue of Constantine of which several sizeable fragments survive, was acquired by the Louvre…
Roman literature gives us an overwhelmingly negative view of Nero, but was there any good to this matricidal ruler? As a new exhibition on the emperor opens at the British Museum, Minerva's Editor Lucia Marchini speaks to curators Thorsten Opper and Francesca Bologna to find out more about how and why this figure, popular with the people, came to be known as an enemy of the Senate and the state.
What was the name of Nero’s mother, who later became Claudius’ fourth wife and plotted to secure the throne for her teenage son in AD 54?
His talents may have been limited and he may have been fundamentally lazy: but was he bad? Could we not say that he made the best use of his limited talents – and the empire flourished?
A round-up of three Archaeological news stories from around the world, including the discovery of a chariot near Pompeii, new Dead Sea Scrolls in the Judean Desert, and early rock art in Australia.
This is a unique find, representing the only vehicle of this type found in Italy to date.
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.
Immediately beyond the Porta Maggiore in Rome, at a busy intersection, lies the impressive tomb of Eurysaces, a baker who lived through the last days of the Roman Republic. In the ensuing centuries, his lavish funerary monument was swallowed up…
The project aims to restore the image of the arena as it was in the 1st century AD.
World news stories covering the restoration of the Mausoleum of Augusts (Rome), the restoration of the Ghent Altarpiece (Belgium), and a sculpture of the capital of the Kingdom of Ghana.
After it was discovered hidden in a Roman temple with other works of art, a bronze statue of Victory attracted the attention of rulers and writers, who praised and sought copies of the ancient masterpiece. Now restored, the winged statue is back on view in its former home. Dalu Jones tells the story of Brixia’s beautiful bronzes.
Excavations at the Roman villa of Civita Giuliana have uncovered a remarkable four-wheeled ceremonial chariot.
The sculptures making up the Torlonia marbles provide a potent glimpse of life in ancient Rome. But this 19th-century collection is also an artefact in its own right.
While there are impressive artefacts from all periods within, including a fantasy courtyard made from sculptural fragments of Roman Florentia, its glory is really the series of Etruscan antiquities.
The author is a renowned scholar of the Roman Army and has written many books, both on this topic and related Roman subjects. The present work will be an absolute delight for those who are fascinated by the life and…
Victims of Vesuvius Excavations at a large villa in Civita Guiliana, 700m north-west of Pompeii’s city walls, have uncovered two more victims of the eruption of Vesuvius that destroyed many settlements in this region of Italy in AD 79. The…
Recent excavations in the Regio V district of Pompeii have unearthed a well-preserved Roman thermopolium – a hot-food shop – in its entirety. The counter, with a painting of a Nereid (a sea nymph) riding on a seahorse was partially…
Buried by Vesuvius in AD 79, the Roman seaside resort of Stabiae and its opulent villas have long been overshadowed by nearby Pompeii and Herculaneum. As Dalu Jones reports, a new museum puts this ancient playground of the rich in the spotlight.
Medical stories have dominated the news this past year. While the pandemic is closing museums, some are heading online. A new virtual exhibition by the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World sheds light on the life and accomplishments of Galen, the Roman physician who worked during a deadly ancient plague. Geraldine Fabrikant finds out more.
The great epic by Roman poet Virgil (or Vergil; 70-19 BC) became an instant classic. His Aeneid was celebrated by other poets and the imperial family, and taught in schools in antiquity (indeed, it is still taught in some schools…
One of the most lavish dwellings in Roman Herculaneum, the House of the Bicentenary reopened to the public in 2019 after decades of conservation efforts. Francesco Sirano, Director of the Parco Archeologico di Ercolano, and Leslie Rainer from the Getty Conservation Institute tell the story of this magnificent house, its discovery, its decline, and how it has been brought to life once more.
When the Etruscans expanded to the south and the vast plains of Campania, they found a land of cultural connections and confrontations, as luxurious grave goods found across the region reveal. An exhibition at the National Archaeological Museum in Naples sheds light on these ancient Italians at the frontier. Paolo Giulierini, director of the museum, is our guide.
The remains of two individuals who died during the eruption of Vesuvius have been found at a suburban villa near Pompeii.
City walls are the largest structures associated with cities in the Roman Empire, but they seem still to be far from understood – maybe simply because they are such large structures and dating is a topic open to discussion and…
Oliver Gilkes contemplates an ancient masterpiece plucked from the sea.
Sicily was famed in antiquity for its agricultural prosperity. An eloquent witness of its late Roman wealth is provided by the great villa near Piazza Armerina, a UNESCO World Heritage site. But the villa, built c.AD 320/330, is not unique in Sicily. Tucked away in the south-east corner of the island in the province of Syracuse, 5km south of the wonderful baroque town of Noto, is another rich Roman villa. It is not as large, but it was also constructed in the 4th century and also boasts fine mosaics. The site is little known, however, and barely gets any visitors at all. Roger Wilson is our guide.
Review of James Holland's 'Sicily ’43: the assault on Fortress Europe'.
Late Neanderthal tooth Investigation into a canine tooth found at Riparo Broion, a rock shelter in Vicenza, north-eastern Italy, has revealed that it may represent an important piece of direct evidence for late Neanderthal occupation in the area. The tooth…
In a small city on Italy’s Adriatic coast, faces of all-powerful emperors, empresses, and bishops gaze out from glittering mosaics. But why are these magnificent decorations here? Judith Herrin explores the history of Ravenna, a well-connected city and one-time capital of the Western Roman Empire.