Ancient Rome

General, Pic of the Day, You Don't Get This On the Bus Tour

Life, B.C. (Before Charmin): Toilet Practices in the Roman World (Or “How I Learned to Love the COVID-19 Toilet Paper Crisis”)

In these extraordinary times, it is hard to know where the world is going. But, as the children’s book title proclaims, Everyone Poops, so the world has to go somewhere. Apparently, this is innate knowledge to judge from the panic buying and hoarding of toilet paper (or “rolls” for the UK audience). But (pun possibly … Continue reading Life, B.C. (Before Charmin): Toilet Practices in the Roman World (Or “How I Learned to Love the COVID-19 Toilet Paper Crisis”)

General, Memorials to Dead Romans, Monuments to Dead Romans, Pic of the Day

Beware the Ides of March: the Hazards of Tax Day & a Monument to a Dead Roman

This is actually a revised rerun of a post from a bit less than a year ago. I realized this date (15 March) was more appropriate for it and that the original was not tagged with my subsequently inaugurated occasional series, “Monuments to Dead Romans.” Also, since the COVID-19 scare has given everyone something else … Continue reading Beware the Ides of March: the Hazards of Tax Day & a Monument to a Dead Roman

General, Memorials to Dead Romans, Monuments to Dead Romans, Pic of the Day

The Influence of the Memory of Romans who Died while Traveling: the Maison Carrée

I have always been fascinated by monuments or memorials to the deceased and the psychology behind them, as well as the physical structures themselves. This post initiates an occasional series on monuments to long-dead Romans and other figures of antiquity by looking at the Şekerhane Köşkü; very likely the platform for a temple of the Deified Emperor Trajan . . .

General, Memorials to Dead Romans, Monuments to Dead Romans, Pic of the Day, You Don't Get This On the Bus Tour

What Might Have Been: The Gaius Caesar Cenotaph at Limyra

Today (21 February 2020) marks the 2016th anniversary of the passing of Gaius Caesar. “Who?”—you ask? He was once the presumed heir to the throne of the new Roman Empire; now largely forgotten, much as his monumental cenotaph in Turkey. This brief remembrance of that structure is the latest in an apparently very occasional series … Continue reading What Might Have Been: The Gaius Caesar Cenotaph at Limyra

General, Monuments to Dead Romans, Pic of the Day, You Don't Get This On the Bus Tour

An August Mausoleum or August?

The first Emperor of Rome, Caesar Augustus, died on this day, 19 August, AD 14.[1] Occasioned by the 2005th anniversary of that event, this post is a brief follow-up to “Monuments to Dead Romans: The Şekerhane Köşkü,” featuring a probable Temple to the Deified Emperor Trajan (d. AD 117). Since that entry (first in a … Continue reading An August Mausoleum or August?