Romans, features and articles | Educational Science

Jan 26, 2023

Mysterious 12-sided Roman object found in Belgium may have been used for magical rituals

A metal detectorist in Belgium has unearthed a fragment of a mysterious bronze artifact known as a Roman dodecahedron that is thought to be more than 1,600 years old. More than a hundred of the puzzling objects — hollow, 12-sided geometric shells of cast metal about the size of baseballs,...

Jan 30, 2023

Vast subterranean aqueduct in Naples once 'served elite Roman villas'

Forty years ago, when children in Naples were playing in caves and tunnels under the hill of Posillipo in Italy, they didn't know their playground was actually a Roman aqueduct. When they shared their memories with archaeological authorities recently, it kicked off an exploration of one of the longest, most...

Feb 1, 2023

Stockpile of 2,000-year-old gemstones found in Roman bathhouse drain

Archaeologists recently uncovered a stockpile of 2,000-year-old glittering gemstones clogging the drain of a Roman bathhouse near Hadrian's Wall in Carlisle, England. The 30 engraved, semi-precious stones — known as intaglios — likely dropped out of the ring settings worn by bathers who took to the waters sometime during the...

Feb 3, 2023

When did Rome fall?

The Fall of Rome usually refers to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the fifth century A.D. But historians don't agree about the exact date, nor about its causes. And some historians argue that the Roman Empire lasted until it fell in the East, centuries later. At its...

Feb 6, 2023

Statue of slain Roman emperor dressed as Hercules found near sewer in Rome

A newly found statue in Rome appears to depict a slain Roman emperor dressed as Hercules. It may offer insight to the viewpoint of a Roman emperor who embraced traditional Greco-Roman gods at a time when Christianity was spreading throughout the empire. Gaius Messius Quintus Trajanus Decius, also known as...

Feb 28, 2023

Ancient Roman 'spike defenses' made famous by Julius Caesar found in Germany

In 52 B.C., Julius Caesar used an ingenious system of ditches and stakes to defend his soldiers from an encroaching Gallic army in modern-day central France. More than two millennia later, archaeologists have discovered the first preserved example of similar defensive stakes, which likely protected an ancient silver mine. A...

Mar 9, 2023

Gladiators fought in Roman Britain, action-packed cremation urn carvings reveal

Vivid depictions of battling gladiators on a clay vase are the first concrete evidence that these combatants duked it out in Roman Britain, new research finds. The vessel, known as the Colchester vase, is well known to researchers; it was discovered in a Roman-era grave in Britain in 1853 and...

Mar 27, 2023

Roman-era trash dump containing naked Venus statue and other artifacts unearthed in France

Archaeologists in France have discovered a trove of up to 1,800-year-old artifacts — including statuettes of the goddess Venus, a potter's kiln, coins and clothing pins — in a rare location: a Roman shale quarry that was later repurposed into a trash pit in what is now the city of...

Apr 5, 2023

Mysterious mosaics depicting Medusa uncovered at 2nd-century Roman villa

While excavating a villa used by ancient Roman emperors in Italy, archaeologists uncovered something unexpected: two mosaics that depict the Greek mythological figure Medusa, whose hair was made of snakes and whose gaze was said could turn people into stone. The team found the mosaics in a circular room in...

Apr 13, 2023

Mystery of Roman coins discovered on shipwreck island has archaeologists baffled

Archaeologists are baffled but excited by the discovery of two silver coins from the Roman Empire on a remote island in the Baltic Sea, halfway between Sweden and Estonia. No clues reveal how the coins got there, but they may have been left by Norse traders, lost in a shipwreck...

Apr 20, 2023

2,000-year-old hoard of Roman coins may have been hidden by a soldier during a bloody civil war in Italy

A hoard of 175 silver coins unearthed in a forest in Italy may have been buried for safe keeping during a Roman civil war. The coins seem to date from 82 B.C., the year the Roman general Lucius Cornelius Sulla fought a bloody war across Italy against his enemies among...

Apr 24, 2023

'Lost' 2nd-century Roman fort discovered in Scotland

Archaeologists have discovered the foundations of a lost second-century Roman fort in western Scotland — part of an ill-fated effort to extend the empire's control throughout Britain. The fort was one of up to 41 defensive structures built along the Antonine Wall — a fortification of mainly earthworks and wood...

Apr 28, 2023

Ancient necropolis unearthed just feet away from bustling Paris train station

A forgotten necropolis packed with 50 graves has been discovered near a bustling train station in central Paris by archeologists excavating the site ahead of construction work. Thousands of commuters have been unknowingly treading the ground just 10 feet (3 meters) above the 2,000-year-old graves, which belong to the largest...

May 1, 2023

Ancient 'urine flasks' for smelling (and tasting) pee uncovered in trash dump at Caesar's forum in Rome

A Renaissance-era trash dump discovered inside the Forum of Caesar in Rome is brimming with old medical supplies, including 500-year-old medicine bottles and urine flasks — containers used to collect patients' pee for medical analysis, a new study finds. Initially excavated in 2021, the 16th-century medical waste dump was found...

May 3, 2023

Ancient Roman camps from secret military mission spotted using Google Earth

Three ancient Roman camps in the Jordanian desert, possibly built during a secret military mission in the second century A.D., have been discovered by an archaeologist using satellite images from Google Earth. Only a handful of Roman camps have been found in the Middle East — unlike in Roman territories...