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Ancient Rome

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

"The Murder of Caesar" by Karl von Piloty, 1865.

Explore Julius Caesar’s Rome

From his former neighborhood to the place where he met his demise, check out these spots associated with Rome’s most famous leader

Roman Soldiers

Cool Finds

Scholars Translate Ancient Guilt Trip in Letter From Soldier to Family

A new translation of an 1,800-year-old letter illustrates the hardships suffered by soldiers on the Roman frontier

The Forum was among the many sights in Rome that amazed Copley, who said he was “feasting my eyes.”

When Colonial America’s Greatest Painter Took His Brush to Europe

John Singleton Copley left for Europe on the eve of the American Revolution. A historian and her teenage son made the trip to see why

Tourists explore the Crescent Moon Spring along the historic Silk Road trade route.

How Third-Century China Saw Rome, a Land Ruled by “Minor Kings”

Translations of a 3rd century Chinese text describe Roman life

The Colosseum, inaugurated in A.D. 80, seated 50,000 and hosted gladiatorial games, ritual animal hunts, parades and executions.

The Secrets of Ancient Rome’s Buildings

What is it about Roman concrete that keeps the Pantheon and the Colosseum still standing?

Julius Caesar, the emperors Augustus and Tiberius and the statesman-philosopher Cicero all had homes in Stabiae.

Ancient Rome’s Forgotten Paradise

Stabiae’s seaside villas will soon be resurrected in one of the largest archaeological projects in Europe since World War II

Archaeologists have modeled Rome in three dimensions, and users can "fly" through the ancient city's winding streets, broad plazas, forums—even the Coliseum.

Rome Reborn

Archaeologists unveil a 3-D model of the great city circa A.D. 400

"Last Days of Pompeii" depicts an artist's rendering of the catastrophic final hours of Pompeii as the citizens were buried alive in ash.

Resurrecting Pompeii

A new exhibition brings the doomed residents of Pompeii and Herculaneum vividly to life

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Swords and Sandals

In Libya, again open to U.S. travelers after more than two decades, archaeologists have uncovered spectacular mosaics of the glories of Rome

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The Grandeur That Was Rome

A new exhibition at the Philadelphia Museum of Art showcases the Eternal City as the artistic and cultural capital of 18th-century Europe

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