Romans, features and articles | Educational Science

Jul 27, 2023

Ruins of ancient Roman emperor Nero's theater unearthed in 'exceptional' discovery in Rome

Archaeologists in Rome think they may have found the ruins of Nero's theater, a first-century imperial performance space that was widely described in ancient Roman texts but whose whereabouts had remained largely elusive. The theater is named after Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, who served as Roman emperor from A.D....

Aug 2, 2023

'Exceptional' winged Medusa discovered in Roman-era mosaic in Spain

Archaeologists in Spain have unearthed an exceptional mosaic featuring the mythical gorgon Medusa in the remains of a lavish house from the Roman era. The mosaic, found at the Huerta de Otero archaeological site in western Spain, depicts Medusa at the center of a patterned octagon, meant to represent the...

Aug 3, 2023

Rare 'Ides of March' dagger coin minted by Brutus after Julius Caesar's murder goes to auction

Just two years after Julius Caesar's murder in ancient Rome, one of his assassins minted a coin celebrating the would-be dictator's death, with daggers emblazoned on its tails side. Only about 100 of these coins survive today, and now a rare silver specimen is going to auction this month. The...

Aug 4, 2023

Ancient Roman boat from empire's frontier unearthed in Serbian coal mine

Coal miners in Serbia have discovered the remains of a large wooden boat likely used by the Romans to supply a nearby city and military headquarters on the empire's frontier. Archaeologists are waiting for radiocarbon dates of wood from the remains, but they think it may be from the third...

Aug 28, 2023

8-year-old unearths Roman-era silver coin in school sandbox

An 8-year-old boy playing in a sandbox at his elementary school in Germany unearthed an 1,800-year-old silver coin minted during the Roman Empire's Pax Romana. Overwhelmed with excitement for literally finding buried treasure in the schoolyard, the fourth grader — identified only by his first name, Bjarne — rushed home...

Aug 29, 2023

Ancient Roman walls discovered in Swiss Alps are an 'archaeological sensation'

Archaeologists in Switzerland have discovered the remains of 2,000-year-old Roman walls in the foothills of the Alps. The walls, which once protected a Roman building complex, were found during the excavation of a gravel pit in Cham in the canton, or state, of Zug in central Switzerland. So far, archaeologists...

Sep 6, 2023

'It's a dream': 4 Roman swords likely stolen as war booty 1,900 years ago discovered in Israeli cave

Archaeologists in Israel have discovered four well-preserved 1,900-year-old Roman swords lodged in a crevice inside a cave in the Judaean Desert — weapons that rebel Jewish forces likely seized in battle and later hid. Of the four rare weapons, three with iron blades were still protected in their wooden and...

Sep 21, 2023

2 rare Roman cavalry swords from 1,800 years ago discovered by UK metal detectorist

A metal detectorist discovered two 1,800-year-old Roman cavalry swords still protected in remnants of their wooden scabbards, or sheaths in the North Cotswolds, England. Glenn Manning found the artifacts in March while participating in a metal detectorist rally, according to BBC News. Archaeologists determined that due to their long, straight-edged...

Oct 4, 2023

'Exceptional' 1,800-year-old sarcophagus unearthed in France held woman of 'special status'

Archaeologists excavating an ancient necropolis in northeastern France have discovered an unlooted, unopened Roman-era sarcophagus dating to the second century A.D. The tomb likely holds the remains of an elite woman, archaeologists said. The rough limestone sarcophagus was sealed shut with eight iron clasps, and its contents were hidden beneath...

Oct 6, 2023

Battered Roman-era skull with signs of violent trauma and a possible brain tumor unearthed in Spain

Archaeologists in Spain have unearthed a battered Roman-era skull that bears scars of violent trauma and may harbor signs of a brain tumor. However, not everyone is convinced that this battle-scarred man had a tumor, with one expert telling Live Science the findings are ambiguous. The skull, discovered in 2019...

Oct 14, 2023

Mythical hellhound and sea-centaurs painted on 2,200-year-old tomb discovered in Italy

Archaeologists in Italy have unearthed a 2,200-year-old tomb painted with two uncommon mythical creatures: a pair of ichthyocentaurs, or sea-centaurs, which have the head and torso of a man, the lower body of a horse and the tail of a fish. During excavation for infrastructure work near Naples, archaeologists noticed...

Oct 17, 2023

AI reveals scroll's lost text after it was scorched by Mount Vesuvius eruption 2,000 years ago

For the first time, an entire word and several letters have been decoded from a scorched and carbonized scroll that barely survived the eruption of Mount Vesuvius' in A.D. 79. That word — πορφύραc in ancient Greek — means purple dye or clothes of purple, a new artificial intelligence (AI)...

Oct 25, 2023

2,000-year-old decorated Roman sandal unearthed in Spain

Thousands of years ago, a person was cleaning out a well in Roman Spain when one of their leather sandals slipped off their foot. Now, 2,000 years later, archaeologists have found the well cleaner's missing shoe. Archaeologists made the discovery this summer while excavating a Roman settlement in northern Spain...

Oct 26, 2023

Cold War satellite images reveal nearly 400 Roman forts in the Middle East

Declassified images from Cold War spy satellites have revealed hundreds of previously undiscovered Roman forts in Iraq and Syria — and their existence suggests the eastern border of the ancient empire wasn't as violent as initially thought, a new study finds. Researchers already knew about a series of forts —...

Oct 28, 2023

Rare 2,100-year-old gold coin bears name of obscure ruler from pre-Roman Britain

A gold coin minted by a little-known ruler in ancient Britain — an Iron Age man who said he was as mighty as a god — has been found by a metal detectorist and auctioned off in England. The rare coin was discovered in March 2023 in Hampshire county and...