Tag: rome

  • LITTLE JEWELS – ROMAN LOCRI Locri Epizephyrii

    The Roman Villa of Casignana A lavish mansion by the Ionian sea: overlooking the azure waters of the Costa dei Gelsomini, on the Eastern Coast of Calabria, are the magnificent remains of the Roman Villa of Casignana, one of the most significant Roman archaeological complexes in southern Italy. It is called the ‘Piazza Armerina of…

  • Two hearts, one destiny

    ‘Speaking Stones’ by Carla Vetere The Civic Museum “Guido Sutermeister” in Legnano, in western Lombardy, houses a small treasure from the 1st century AD: a terracotta hollow figurine found during excavations in 2015 in a tomb in Pogliano Milanese. The statuette is approximately 6.5 inches tall, 3 inches long, and 2 inches wide. It is…

  • LITTLE JEWELS – ROMAN ORDONA Herdonia

    The Pompeii of Apulia It has been called the ‘Pompeii of Apulia’, it is the Roman city that lived twice: Herdonia (today Ordona, near Foggia, in South-Eastern Italy) was burned and destroyed by Hannibal in 210 BC because it sided with the Romans in the battles against the Carthaginians fought in the area during the…

  • Seize the centuries! A unique testament to a poet in stone

    ‘Speaking Stones’ by Peter Stothard THIS IS THE FIRST ESSAY OF A NEW SECTION CALLED ‘SPEAKING STONES’, FOCUSED ON SINGLE ROMAN ARTEFACTS AND EPIGRAPHS Just occasionally there is an ancient Roman inscription that makes hardened scholars gasp. Many who write about the Roman past use the evidence of poetry but there is only one surviving…

  • ROMAN CANNE IN APULIA – Cannae

    The ‘Must see’ – The battlefield It is one of the most famous battles in Ancient history and it is still described in military textbooks: on the 2nd of August of 216 BC, on the plains near the Adriatic coast of Apulia, in southern Italy, Carthaginian commander Hannibal Barca’s outnumbered forces crushed a massive Roman…

  • ROMAN AQUILEIA -Aquileia

    The ‘Must See’ – The MAN, more than a museum Founded in 181 BC for defensive and commercial purposes, Aquileia soon became one of the main Roman ports on the Adriatic Sea, a great cosmopolitan city at a crossroads of religions and cultures. This city in the North-eastern region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia is only 10 km.…

  • LITTLE JEWELS – ROMAN FERENTINO Ferentinum

    A Roman Theatre restored to its ancient splendor, an acropolis with walls from the Sullan era, the testament of a Roman magistrate from the 1st century AD carved in limestone: these are some of the treasures of Ferentino, a town of 20,000 inhabitants near Frosinone, south of Rome. THE HISTORY – “If you like a…

  • ROMAN AOSTA Augusta Praetoria

    The ‘Must See’ – Cryptoporticus and Theatre THIS AOSTA SECTION IS PUBLISHED IN COOPERATION WITH THE FRANCESCO CORNI FOUNDATION Aosta, in the Italian north-western region of Valle D’Aosta, near the border with France,   is considered the “little Rome of the Alps” thanks to the extraordinary wealth of its archaeological sites from Roman times. Conquered…

  • ROMAN BRESCIA Brixia

    The ‘Must see’ – A Winged Victory on the Capitolium Brescia is a jewel of Eastern Lombardy nestled between lakes and valleys, in a strategic position halfway between Milan and Venice. Less famous than the near Bergamo and Mantua, it boasts the largest Roman archaeological area of northern Italy, spread over more than six hectares.…

  • UNEXPECTED ROME Tombs of Via Latina

    Romans buried their dead outside city walls. This tradition, inherited from Etruscan and Greeks, was also a practical measure to avoid the spread of disease. Burials were forbidden within the city’s pomerium, a sacred boundary that separated Rome from the rest of Italy. This is why many tombs lined the roads just outside Rome, with all…