#romanempire

#romanempire

This Is an Ancient Roman Dice TowerDice towers are commonly used in modern times by people playing tabletop role-playing games, such as Dungeons & Dragons, to ensure that dice throws are random but confined to the table. No one should have to chase after an errant twenty-sider.I had thought that dice towers were a fairly recent invention, but here’s one that dates back to, as far as archaeologists can discern, the Fourth Century A.D. It’s Roman and the text says, when translated from Latin, “The Picts are defeated, the enemy is destroyed, let us play carefree.” The Picts lived in what is now Scotland and were sometimes defeated but never conquered by the Romans.This dice tower, though, was found not in Britain, but near the German villages of Vettweiss and Froitzheim in 1985. It resides at the Landes Museum of Bonn, an archaeological establishment in the Cold War era German capital city.-via Sarah Bond #RomanEmpire #AncientRome #dice

The Roman Pyramid of CestiusAncient people built pyramids all over the world, although the most famous ones are in Egypt and date back more than four thousand years. Modern people build them as well, although the one in Memphis, Tennessee, probably won't last as long as the ancient stone structures. You may be surprised to know that the Romans built pyramids, too! The Pyramid of Cestius was built in Rome around 18 to 12 BC for Gaius Cestius Epulo. Cestius wasn't an emperor, but he was a wealthy and powerful politician and a priest besides, and wanted to be buried in a pyramid. It was the fashionable thing to do, as Rome was undergoing somewhat of an Egyptian craze at the time. The tomb was built in the countryside outside of Rome, but the city overtook the pyramid over time. At one point, it was even incorporated as part of a wall. The pyramid was vandalized, then excavated, in the Middle Ages, and was mistakenly ascribed to someone else. Read the story of Rome's pyramid at Amusing Planet.(Image credit: Flickr user Dennis Jarvis) #pyramid #Rome #RomanEmpire #Cestius

The Last Roman Gladiator Arena Discovered in SwitzerlandA third Roman-era amphitheater was uncovered by archaeologists in Switzerland last December 2021. The discovery was announced by the Department of Education, Culture, and Sport in the Swiss canton of Aargau on January 19.However, compared to the previous two amphitheaters discovered, this one probably holds some special significance; this may have been the last gladiator arena ever built, dating to the 4th century A.D. The age was based on two things. The first was the discovery of a coin dating between A.D 337 and 341. The second was the composition of the structure's materials (stone blocks and mortar).Archaeologists never expected to discover this, as they were only at the site to monitor the construction work of a new boathouse.Amphitheaters were a common sight during the Roman Empire. It is said that there are over 200 of these scattered across the Empire.(Image Credit: Kantonsarchäologie Aargau/ Kanton Aargau via Live Science)#Archaeology #RomanEmpire #Amphitheater #gladiator

Hungry Badger Led to the Discovery of Roman Coins in a Spanish CaveWhen archeologists received a phone call about what turned out to be the largest Roman hoard to have been discovered in a Spanish cave, the caller was a local man, but the culprit was no other than a badger.Archeologist Alfonso Fanjul Peraza and colleagues uncovered 209 coins from the Late Roman period (200-400 AD) which could have possibly been hidden by Romans fleeing from barbarians. Of these coins, the badger had dug out nearly half. The coins were found lying around the hole leading to the badger's nest in the La Cuesta cave in the Asturias region of northwest Spain.For the badger, it might have been a mundane week of nest-building and food-hunting, but for humanity, it may help expand our knowledge on the eventual fall of the Roman Empire.#archaeology #coin #RomanCoin #RomanEmpire #badger

Roman Emperor: A Very Dangerous JobWould you accept a new position if you knew that the two guys who had that job before you died while on duty? No, you wouldn't, even if the job brought immense power and staggering riches. But Roman Emperors often didn't have a choice, and life was short anyway. The Roman Empire was ruled by 175 men, excluding those who only ruled as minors or had to share the position. Of those, 30% died in battle, of suicide, or were murdered. If you exclude the rulers of the Eastern, or Byzantine, Empire, there were 69 emperors. Of those 69, only one in four died of natural causes! Researchers crunched the numbers at the University of São Paulo's Institute of Mathematical and Computer Sciences in São Carlos, Brazil. They found that the most dangerous times for an emperor came right at the beginning of their rule, in which some were found to be weak or incompetent, and at the 13-year point of rule. Why 13 years? While some possible reasons are given, further research is needed. One may think that after 13 years, the people around the emperor were just tired of his shenanigans. Read about the patterns of longevity among rulers of the Roman Empire at Phys Org. (Image credit: Osama Shukir Muhammed Amin FRCP) #RomanEmpire #emperor #murder