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Roman Empire

A coin bearing the likeness of the fourth-century C.E. Western Roman emperor Magnus Maximus, overlaid atop a page from a medieval manuscript of the Mabinogion

Cool Finds

Legend Has It That This Roman Emperor Established a Camp in Wales. A Newly Discovered Fort May Offer Proof That It Really Existed

An archaeologist has uncovered an ancient fortification linked to Magnus Maximus, a fourth-century ruler who is immortalized in the medieval “Mabinogion” stories as Macsen Wledig

The tomb's entrance is inscribed with protective funerary spells.

Cool Finds

Archaeologists in Egypt Discover a Mud-Brick Tomb Featuring a Heartbreaking Elegy to an Ancient Man’s Father

The 19-line poem was inscribed on a stone slab in the Bir al-Shaghala necropolis. The lament “is a highly literary and original epigram,” a scholar says

The tettina was found broken into pieces in 2011.

Cool Finds

Mourners Placed an Ancient Sippy Cup in a Roman Toddler’s Grave. It May Have Been Meant to Sustain the Child on the Journey to the Afterlife

Fragments of the spouted cup, known as a “tettina,” were unearthed in England over a decade ago. It has recently been restored and put on display for the first time

An underwater archaeologist examines a bronze signet ring discovered off the coast of Alexandria, Egypt.

Cool Finds

This One-of-a-Kind Bronze Ring Offers a Tantalizing Glimpse at the Lighthouse of Alexandria, a Lost Wonder of the Ancient World

Archaeologists in Egypt discovered the signet ring while conducting excavations on the island of Antirhodos, which once housed a lavish Ptolemaic palace

Archaeologists have been digging at the Kapersburg fort for many years.

Cool Finds

Just Inches Below the Forest Floor, Archaeologists in Germany Unearthed a Roman Temple Likely Dedicated to Mars, the God of War

Researchers found the structure’s remains, as well as fragments of statues, while excavating near the Kapersburg fort, an ancient Roman military fortification on the outskirts of modern-day Frankfurt

The dishes were packed carefully, and many remained intact.

Cool Finds

A Ship Carrying Stacks of Ancient Dishware Sank Off the Coast of Turkey 2,100 Years Ago. Its Ceramic Cargo Is Still Remarkably Intact

Researchers believe that the vessel’s plates and bowls were made in the ancient city of Rhosus, once praised by Roman statesman Cicero for its “fine pottery”

A portrait sculpture of the emperor Tiberius, whose toga was originally painted pink, is the new exhibition's thematic centerpiece.

A New Exhibition Reveals How Hot Pink Togas and Floral Perfumes Conveyed Power in the Roman Empire

The show in Copenhagen explores the relationship between fashion and influence in ancient Rome

Researchers say their geophysical surveys are only the beginning. 

The Roman City of Claudivium Disappeared From Historical Records Almost 2,000 Years Ago. It May Have Been Hiding in Austria

Archaeologists have discovered a previously unknown settlement on the banks of the Danube River

A few of the ancient Roman artifacts found beneath the Bath Assembly Rooms

When Jane Austen Took a Turn About the Ballroom in Bath, Ancient Roman Artifacts Were Hiding Beneath Her Feet. Now, Archaeologists Have Finally Found Them

Recent excavations at the Bath Assembly Rooms in England revealed Roman-era coins, roof tiles, pottery, glassware, a network of ditches and a fragment of a military helmet

The wall is made of stone and wood; initial radiocarbon dating places its origin between 200 B.C.E. and 10 B.C.E.

Two Thousand Years Ago, Julius Caesar Conquered the Settlement That Eventually Became Paris. Archaeologists May Have Just Found It

While conducting excavations at a hospital on the Île de la Cité, in the Seine River, researchers discovered part of a wall that may have once protected Lutetia, the Gallic precursor to France’s capital

Together the coins weigh nearly seven pounds.

A Metal Detectorist Exploring a Field in Germany Was Stunned to Discover a Massive Hoard of Roman Coins

Together, the 943 silver denarii span nearly 300 years of Roman history, from 148 B.C.E. to 124 or 125 C.E.

Via Appia is considered the oldest great Roman road.

New Research

Researchers Have Analyzed the Roman Empire’s 190,000-Mile Network of Roads. Turns Out, Not All of Them Led to Rome

For a new study, archaeologists attempted to answer age-old questions about Rome’s roads, including how connected the capital was and whether current motorways trace Roman routes

The Great Mosaic is 33 feet high and 52 feet wide.

Ancient Rome’s Largest Fresco and Mosaic Complex, Featuring Depictions of a Mysterious Maritime City, Opens to the Public After 2,000 Years

The massive artworks, created in the first century C.E., were discovered in the 1990s during excavations of the Baths of Trajan

Egyptian officials announced the new discoveries last week.

Cool Finds

Archaeologists Discover a 4,000-Year-Old Tomb With a False Door at Egypt’s Ancient Saqqara Necropolis

In addition to the tomb, which once belonged to a high-ranking official, excavations revealed a network of burial shafts that still held human remains and funerary objects

Researchers documenting and analyzing the inscriptions

Deep Inside a Spanish Cave, Roman Women May Have Worshipped a Mysterious Goddess

Best known for its Paleolithic art, Valencia’s Cova de les Dones also contains a Roman sanctuary where researchers say women appear to have played an active role in the worship of a female deity

The Ilovik-Paržine 1 shipwreck, with logs and amphorae visible in the foreground

A Brittle Coating on a 2,200-Year-Old Roman Shipwreck Reveals How Ancient Sailors Kept Their Ships Afloat

Traces of pine tar and beeswax preserved on the vessel reveal the painstaking techniques shipbuilders millennia ago used to protect their ships from the briny deep

An aerial view of the mass grave, which was found beneath a soccer field in Vienna in October 2024

New Research

Construction in Austria Revealed a Roman-Era Mass Grave Beneath a Soccer Field. New Research Suggests That the Men’s Enemies Targeted Their ‘Sensitive Areas’

No written records mention a fight in this specific part of Vienna at the time of the men’s deaths. But the brutal nature of their injuries, particularly to the pelvis area, indicates that these individuals died on the battlefield

The artifact’s original owner may have viewed the penis-topped fingernail cleaner as a good luck charm.

Cool Finds

Archaeologists in England Preparing for Road Construction Unearthed a Roman-Era Fingernail Cleaner With a Handle Shaped Like a Penis

The Romans considered the phallus a symbol of good luck and used it to decorate objects, mark walls and inspire sculptures

Amphorae from the Macquarie University history museum

Off the Coast of Sicily, Divers Discovered a Roman-Era Shipwreck With Hundreds of Amphorae, Ancient Jars Frequently Used to Hold Wine

The site could offer fresh insights into Mediterranean trade routes more than 2,000 years ago

The seven-foot-tall sculpture was broken into two pieces and buried facedown. The figure holds a fruit, probably a quince, in his right hand.

Cool Finds

Why Did the Ancient Romans Bury This Monumental Marble Statue Facedown? They Wanted to Repurpose It as a Paving Stone

Archaeologists discovered the roughly 2,500-year-old sculpture of a young man while conducting excavations at Sardis in western Turkey. The artwork reflects the different cultures that wielded control over the city in the first millennium B.C.E.

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