Achaea and Rome: 192 B.C. – 146 B.C.

“Rome was simply too powerful. Yet Achaia could not accept the discrepancy in power without abandoning all pretence of independence.”[1] This post is based on part of my undergraduate dissertation. It deals with the relationship between the Achaean League and Rome, and how due to the changing nature of Roman foreign policy and the increasingly …

A Variety of Podcasts

Listening to podcasts is a great way to expand your knowledge and to learn more about the world in an easy going manner. I've found some excellent podcasts about archaeology and the ancient world that I want to share with you. Some have wide ranging topics, others are much more specialised, but all of them …

Two Arches, Two Emperors

A discussion of the Triumphal Arches of Augustus and Septimus Severus, located in the Forum Romanum The Forum Romanum was seen as the centre of the Roman World. During the principate the political centre shifted away from the forum, but the symbolism of it remained, especially during the Triumphal processions. The Triumph was a religious …

The Prima Porta Augustus and policy

The Prima Porta Augustus is often seen as the cover model (literally: Zanker (1980, 2001 print); Southern (2014, 2nd edition); Goldsworthy (2014)) of Augustus’ reign and all that it represents. The highly decorated statue was found 12km north of Rome in the Villa of Livia, Augustus’ wife. Current thought suggests that it was a marble …

The urban development of Rome in the Republic 400-100 BC

“Some would poke fun at their manners and customs, others at their achievements, others at the appearance of the city itself, which was not yet made beautiful in either its public or its private sections” – Livy, 40.5.7. This was the opinion of a Macedonian nobleman around 182 BC, and shows how some of the …

Rome in Late Antiquity

In this post I tackle issues relating to the city of Rome in Late Antiquity, and how the emperors continued to improve and innovate, and what factors motivated them to do so. To begin, I am going to tackle some of the issues regarding the archaeology of Late Antique Rome, in an effort to demonstrate …

Hadrian and Rome

Hadrian came to power after the death of his adopted father Trajan in 117 AD. In contrast to Trajan, Hadrian wished to consolidate the empire rather than expand it, and this is reflected in how he approached building projects in the city of Rome. A learned man, he sought to ensure stability and did this …

Early Italy’s Canals

When discussing the concept of identity in the ancient world, as historians we often group people by actions and achievements, as much as how they wanted to be seen. When discussing Early Rome, it has often been the case in the past to say that certain innovations, rather than natural developments, were due to the …

Romans, Wiltshire and Landscape Surveys

In my last post I discussed how survey archaeology is useful to gain an understanding of a city, in this one I want to show how it can be used to reconstruct the ancient landscape, in this case the landscape of Roman Wiltshire. Wiltshire is a good example for the benefits of landscape archaeology since …

Looking Death in the Face – Closing thoughts

When I embarked on this project, I didn’t realise the extent of the work I would have to do, in all honesty I expected to look at some tombstones and write a little bit about them. Instead I went on journey about how we view the past, and how we view ourselves. Chester seemed like …