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Ancient Rome

Five of the World’s Most Fascinating Topiary Gardens

Whimsical gardens in surprising shapes decorate homes, churches and cemeteries around the world. We’ve rounded up five of the most extraordinary

Pasquino in Rome

Cool Finds

Have Something Rude to Say? Put it on This 2300-Year Old Statue in Rome

A cardinal started the tradition of decorating this statue with snarky poems and insults

A wolf enters the Colosseum via the lift in the hypogeum.

A New Recreation Shows How Ancient Romans Lifted Wild Animals Into the Colosseum

An elaborate system of elevators and trap doors lifted ferocious beasts onto the Colosseum floor

New Research

How Much Water Did Rome’s Aqueducts Really Carry?

Not as much as previously thought

The sewer museum in Paris.

Urban Explorations

Urine for a Treat With a Tour of These Five Sewer Systems

Tunnels, drains and other wastewater structures to explore, from ancient Rome to present-day New York

Illustration of a Greek vase shows Dionysus leading three revelers toward likely hangovers

Cool Finds

Recently Translated Papyrus Details 1,900-Year-Old Hangover Cure

Those disappointed by the effectiveness of this 1,900-year old remedy can instead peruse the eye surgery techniques in other ancient texts

In an eerie green hue, this upside-down Medusa head threatens to turn onlookers to stone. The color seems to come partly from a slick covering of algae.

Europe

Two Eerie Medusa Heads Watch Over Turkey’s Waterways

Why the Greek monster stares out from an ancient cistern in Istanbul

This detail from Rome's Trajan's Column hints at what the Roman soldiers who built the fort recently discovered near Trieste may have looked like.

New Research

The Oldest Known Ancient Roman Fort Has Been Discovered in Italy

Researchers use laser scanners to identify a Roman military camp that may have initiated the settlement of the modern Italian city of Trieste

Trending Today

Sorry, ‘Ben-Hur’ Remake…No Circus Maximus for You

Rome blocks the remake from filming at the historic stadium

Cool Finds

Evidence of a Seating Plan Discovered at the Colosseum

Restoration efforts reveal the red-painted numbers that would help ancient Romans find their status-dictated seats

A closeup of a Herculaneum papyrus scroll used in an international scanning project.

Ancient Scrolls Blackened by Vesuvius Are Readable at Last

X-ray scans can just tease out letters on the warped documents from a library at Herculaneum

The Claudio Aqueduct was built in the 1st century along the Appian Way in Rome.

Anthropocene

Ancient Roman Water Networks Made the Empire Vulnerable

A model of ancient water movement shows how trade practices might affect today’s urban centers as the climate changes

New Research

Why the Pantheon Hasn’t Crumbled

Ancient Roman concrete has some benefits over modern equivalents

Cool Finds

The Largest Manmade Block Ever Was Just Discovered in Lebanon

The block was never used, likely because it was too big to transport

New Research

Did the Gladiators Drink an Energy Drink Made of Ash?

Gladiators were getting extra calcium in their diet

Turn of the century thespians play their roles wearing Roman togas.

Halloween

No Costume? Grab A Sheet And Rock a Toga

Costume designer Mariah Hale explains how to wrap the perfect last-minute toga

A fresco from Augustus' house in Rome

Cool Finds

Visitors to Emperor Augustus’ Home Can Now See the Same Frescos He Did

Just in time for the 2,000th anniversary of Augustus’ death, new wings of Augustus’ home are opened

Washington, D.C.

The Colosseum Was a Housing Complex in Medieval Times

Recent archeological digs have found that people lived in the Colosseum during the medieval era

Constructed between 510 and 500 B.C., the base of a funerary kouros in Athens is decorated with the image of wrestlers fighting.

Document Deep Dive

Wrestling Was Fixed, Even in Ancient Rome

New analysis of an ancient document reveals classical roots of fake wrestling

Roman Forum

Cool Finds

Ancient Walls Show That Rome Is Older Than Legend

Romulus and Remus were 100 years late to the party

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