Could the relationship between the Roman army and local communities living in the shadow of Hadrian’s Wall hold the key to understanding this remarkable monument? Current Archaeology's Matthew Symonds investigates why it was built.
Symonds provides a particularly accessible and entertaining overview of this complex monument, including the history of its construction and the role of the Wall in later history.
Hadrian’s Wall stretches for 80 Roman miles from coast to coast. How many modern miles does this equate to?
The British Museum claims it will present Nero, who was also widely admired for popular policies, extravagant games, and building projects, in a balanced light and allow visitors to make up their own minds.
‘Nero: the man behind the myth’ promises to challenge ‘traditional preconceptions’ about the figure.
What remains of Palmyra’s substantial ruins, stretching across 3km, gives a sense of the city’s prosperity and grandeur, especially between the 1st and 3rd centuries AD.
Famously (or infamously), the Roman Ninth Legion is believed to have disappeared around the end of the 1st century AD, a view made popular by Rosemary Sutcliff in her fictionalised account of the story in The Eagle of the Ninth.…
This is a Roman ‘horse and rider’ figurine, made of copper alloy and probably dating to between the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD. It was found in 2015 near Penllyn, Wales. While the object is quite corroded, it is largely…
Worcester, like many historic cities, has had its share of undistinguished 20th-century development. As this has come up for redevelopment, it has afforded numerous opportunities for archaeological investigations, which have revealed the city’s Roman origins. Roman Worcester developed on the…
Detailing excavations at Brooklyn House in Norton-on-Derwent, carried out by JB Archaeological Services between 2015 and 2016, this comprehensive site report sheds new light on this area of Roman Britain. Lying north-west of York, the modern town of Norton is…
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.
This latest book in the ’50 Finds’ series from the Portable Antiquities Scheme is the first to focus on a specific artefact type rather than on a region or period. Roman coinage is a fitting choice for this new approach,…
Classical Caledonia explores the antiquarian rediscovery of Scotland’s Roman remains, and how these have influenced and continue to influence Scottish identity, impacting on our interpretation of Roman Scotland today. Various populist and misleading tropes, such as Hadrian’s Wall forming the…
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…
The report on this significant site is most welcome. While earlier and later prehistoric features were present, as well as a small Roman cemetery, the chief interest lies with the mid-Saxon oven/grain-dryer complex. This feature was clearly explored most determinedly,…
The archaeological societies founded in the 19th century embraced all aspects of the discipline, and from about the beginning of the 20th century societies came to be formed. In recent years, they have been joined by more-specialist societies and journals.…
Do we need another book on Hadrian’s Wall? The answer in this case is a resounding ‘yes’. The authors curate the magnificent collections derived from several centuries of research, excavation, and antiquarian collection along the frontier. Their expertise and knowledge…
The Gallic War is one of the most famous ancient conflicts, and raged across north-west Europe for almost a decade. Andrew Fitzpatrick explores the archaeology of those dramatic events and their aftermath.
Nero’s spectacular palace in Rome, the Domus Aurea or ‘Golden House’, was rediscovered in the Renaissance. Dalu Jones describes how the opulent designs of its ancient halls inspired some of the most celebrated artists of the 15th and 16th centuries.
During the 2019 Pilgrimage of Hadrian’s Wall (see CA 353), participants considered a key question relating to the ancient fortification: did the eponymous emperor who commissioned its construction live to see it completed? David Breeze and Erik Graafstal explore the evidence.
Best-selling children’s writer Caroline Lawrence tells Diana Bentley where she finds the inspiration for her pacy, impeccably crafted novels and why young and old alike continue to be fascinated by the ancient world
![Legion versus Legion The Late Republican legionary [below] was a heavily armoured, highly drilled, citizen soldier equipped with shield (scutum), javelins (pila), and short stabbing sword (gladius). The soldiers depicted on the Altar of Domitius Ahenobarbus [above] are the basis for Peter Connolly’s reconstruction. Those shown on the Mainz relief [right] are somewhat later Imperial legionaries, but they are depicted wielding scutum and gladius in close quarters action in a manner that would have been familiar to Caesar’s men.](https://i0.wp.com/the-past.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/post-1_image3-16.jpg?fit=768%2C286&ssl=1)
MHM Editor Neil Faulkner analyses Caesar’s greatest victory.
Guy de la Bédoyère tracks the Roman women who were held in high esteem because they exemplified the virtues of the state and thereby ensured the succession of the Julio-Claudian dynasty.
Lucy Shackleton lifts the lid on bee-keeping in the ancient world and sees how Virgil’s presentation of bees symbolises the role of the collective over the individual in Augustan Rome
As a dozen Renaissance gilded silver treasures, the Aldobrandini Tazze or Twelve Caesars, go on show at Waddesdon Manor, Professor Mary Beard unscrews the puzzle of how the Roman emperors and dishes got mixed up
A new exhibition, displayed amid the remains of London’s Roman amphitheatre, tells the story of the gladiators who fought in its arena. Carly Hilts spoke to Kate Sumnall about what light the material record can shed on the lives and deaths of these men.
The former frontiers of the Roman Empire are set to become the world’s biggest single archaeological site. UNESCO World Heritage Site status is now in prospect for the frontiers as a whole. Historic Scotland’s David Breeze is a leading advocate of the move. Neil Faulkner asked him to explain why the Roman imperial frontiers deserve such special treatment.