Translated from french (please notify us of errors) Discovery of a drug stash in the Netherlands! In 2017, archaeologists excavating the Roman site of Houten‑Castellum uncovered something unusual. In a well dating to the late 1st century CE, they found a sheep or goat femur carefully hollowed out to form a 72 mm‑long cylinder. Sealed with […]
Baths, Wine and Sex
Translated from french (please notify us of errors) In this 13-hectare complex, equipped with swimming pools, gymnasiums, libraries and food stalls, three thousand people thronged daily. No, we are not in a contemporary spa resort, but in the Baths of Diocletian, at the heart of imperial Rome. In the 4th century, the capital boasted no […]
Famous women of Antiquity
Translated from french with Deepl (please notify us of errors) Ancient societies were resolutely patriarchal, leaving little room for women outside the domestic sphere. Yet some of them were able to break out of this mould and make their mark in a wide variety of fields, including science, philosophy, poetry, sport, politics and strategy. They […]
If a flamingo’s tongue could talk…
Translated from french with Deepl (please notify us of errors) Giraffe necks, elephant trunks, flamingo tongues… Tales of the culinary extravagances of the Romans have long fed the collective imagination. Pure invention? While the consumption of the first two ingredients finds no support in ancient sources, that of flamingo tongues, on the other hand, is […]
Lentils in the New Year, luck all year round!
Translated from french with Deepl (please notify us of errors) Lentils have been cultivated since the birth of agriculture in Mesopotamia, around 10,000 years ago. With their rich nutritional qualities (in particular their high protein content), these leguminous plant seeds were part of the staple diet of all ancient peoples: Egyptians, Jews, Greeks and Romans. […]
Roman doctors and cooks in the service of health
Translated from french with Deepl (please notify us of errors) French historian Dimitri Tilloi d’Ambrosi is a specialist in Roman food. In his latest book, which has just been published, he looks at the intimate links between cuisine and health in ancient Rome. He answers our questions. Nunc est bibendum: Isn’t it anachronistic to talk […]
The fork, an utensil with teeth for success
Translated from french with Deepl (please notify us of errors) Two, then three, then four: the fork doesn’t lose its teeth over time like humans do. Contrary to popular belief, the fork is not a medieval or Renaissance invention. Its existence is attested in the Roman Empire, between the 1st and 4th centuries AD. Although […]
In search of the lost torch
Translated from french with Deepl (please notify us of errors) It’s an object almost as mysterious as the famous Roman dodecahedron[1]… A handle about a cubit long, with five or seven claws at the top, arranged in a star shape around a ring. Many museums have examples on display, including the Musée d’Art et d’Histoire […]
Roman finger game, from fun to fate
Translated from french with Deepl (please notify us of errors) We have our ‘Rock Paper Scissors’, the Romans had their digitis micare[1], literally ‘waving your fingers around’. The principle is very simple: two people face each other, fist clenched. At the same time, they extend a certain number of fingers while shouting out a number […]
Grapes on his heels
Translated from french with Deepl (please notify us of errors) Ancient job advertisement: “prestigious Peloponnesian city seeks young single men under 30 to organise a festival for four years in a row, during which they will be required to run around dressed in bunches of grapes”. In Sparta, this curious custom of the staphylodromoi (σταφυλοδρόμοι, […]