Bread and Circuses

Cicero and the first credit crunch

In today's Guardian, monetary historian Philip Kay, fellow of Wolfson College, Oxford, talks about Cicero and the first credit crunch:

[Cicero] told his audience: "Defend the republic from this danger and believe me when I tell you - what you see for yourselves - that this system of monies, which operates at Rome in the Forum, is bound up in, and is linked with, those Asian monies; the loss of one inevitably undermines the other and causes its collapse."

Kay said the words were "remarkable" for their contemporary tone. "Substitute US sub-prime for 'the Asian monies' and the UK banking system for 'the system of monies which operates in the Roman Forum' and it could have been written about the current credit crisis," said Kay.

Full story here. The Guardian seems to have a bit of a love-in with Cicero at the moment. On Wednesday, Charlotte Higgins had Obama as the new Cicero. Story here.

A new visitor centre for Senhouse Roman Museum, Cumbria

The development of Roman remains in the North of England continues apace. Hadrian's Wall Heritage has bought land next to Senhouse Roman Museum, in Maryport, Cumbria, which it intends to develop into a visitor centre. From the Times & Star:

Maryport is one step closer this week to a multi-million-pound Roman heritage development that could create up to 120 jobs in the town.

Hadrian’s Wall Heritage Ltd has announced that it has bought part of Camp Farm, next to the Senhouse Roman Museum.

The land is one of Cumbria’s most important ancient sites.

Hadrian’s Wall Heritage can now start looking at plans to build a visitor centre.

Full story here.

The fort at Maryport, probably Alauna Carvetiorum, was part of, and possibly the administrative centre for the western sea defences. Although not especially well-preserved, it has been the source of a huge number of inscriptions.

Image: aerial photograph of the fort and the museum (top center), looking west. Photograph by Simon Ledingham courtesy of www.visitcumbria.com.

Fr Michele Piccirillo RIP

Obituary of the expert in Byzantine mosaics in the Middle East. Today's Independent:

Michele Piccirillo, the Franciscan father and professor of archaeology, who has lost his battle with pancreatic cancer, was an enthusiastic and dynamic character who took forward the study of early Byzantine archaeology, particularly mosaics, in Jordan, Palestine and Syria. He was an inspiration to all he came into contact with.

Full story here.

The struggle to preserve the Hagia Sophia

A splendid piece in The Smithsonian magazine about the struggle to preserve the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul:

Zeynep Ahunbay led me through the massive cathedral's cavernous nave and shadowy arcades, pointing out its fading splendors. Under the great dome, filtered amber light revealed vaulted arches, galleries and semi-domes, refracted from exquisite mosaics depicting the Virgin Mary and infant Jesus as well as long-vanished patriarchs, emperors and saints. Yet the overall impression was one of dingy neglect and piecemeal repair. I gazed up at patches of moisture and peeling paint; bricked-up windows; marble panels, their incised surfaces obscured under layers of grime; and walls covered in mustard-colored paint applied by restorers after golden mosaics had fallen away. The depressing effect was magnified by a tower of cast-iron scaffolding that cluttered the nave, testament to a lagging, intermittent campaign to stabilize the beleaguered monument.

Full article here. There is also a 360 degree tour that you can take.

Elsewhere PhDiva posted a magnificent series of photographs (here, here, here and here) to celebrate Justinian's birthday on November 14, while David Derrick at the Toynbee Convector was lucky enough to fly over the monument in a helicopter a couple of weeks ago.

Gareth Hoskins wins controversial competition to transform Housesteads

Gareth Hoskins Architects, famous for its work at Culloden Battlefield in Scotland, has won the competition to build a £4bn visitor centre at Housesteads on Hadrian's Wall which will open in 2012.

The experience of visiting one of the North East’s most popular historic sites is to be transformed under plans revealed yesterday.

Housesteads in Northumberland is the best-preserved and most dramatically positioned of all Roman forts on Hadrian’s Wall.

Now the National Trust, English Heritage and Hadrian’s Wall Heritage Ltd say they plan to deliver a world-class visitor experience worthy of, and sensitive to, the fort’s setting within a World Heritage Site.

The need to improve access, interpretation and visitor facilities at Housesteads has been confirmed by recent audience research.

More at The Journal. 

But not everyone is happy at how The National Trust and English Heritage ran the competition. The Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland was particularly vocal in mid September after the deadline for expressions of interest had passed:

The deadline for submissions was 9am that day, and the RIBA [Royal Institute of British Architects] and RIAS have joined architects in calling on the trust to explain its actions. “I would challenge [the National Trust] to publish its marking on this,” RIAS president Arnie Dunn said. “Without doing this, it has not allowed the due process you need to get the quality criteria such organisations ask for.

He said he was “astounded” that the panel assessing submissions did not include an architect. “Lots of people would do this kind of work for free.”

Murphy said he too was amazed at the speed of the National Trust’s turnaround. “When I was on the jury for the Beamish Open Air Museum, we had about 80-90 brochures and spent at least two days whittling it down to a shortlist of six. But they have done this in a matter of hours,” he said.

Full report in Building Design with an update here.

The Fall of Wall Street

Nicely timed humour from the FT's Alphaville comparing the financial collapse to the fall of the Roman empire:

“One of Hollywood’s periodic infatuations with the decadence of Imperial Wall street Rome. After murdering the economy his father, Emperor Marcus Aurelius Commodus drifts into a life of wanton depravity as sovereign wealth funds Gothic hordes gather at the Empire’s borders. THE FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE is a Hollywood spectacular in the grand tradition, but Bernanke Mann manages to elicit some terrific performances amongst the Senate Banking Committeemob scenes.”

The poster is very funny

Bonekickers buried by BBC after one series

It seems to have been loathed by everyone, but Bonekickers made me laugh. Although a second series had been promised, according various reports, Jay Hunt, the new controller of BBC1 was not a fan, and writers Ashley Pharoah and Matthew Graham (who also wrote Life on Mars) are now pursuing other projects. Shame.

BBC1 has axed its archaeology drama Bonekickers after just one series following a critical mauling and declining ratings.

The drama, about a team of West Country archaeologists who uncover historical mysteries, launched with 6.8 million viewers in July but had slumped to 4.3 million by the end of its six episodes in August.

Bonekickers also polarised opinion, receiving a mauling from most critics but also pulling in a loyal band of fans.

The Guardian's TV reviewer Gareth McLean branded it "mind-boggingly dreadful", while James Walton in the Daily Telegraph said it was all a "bit daft". However, Andrew Billen in the Times described it as "watchable bunk".

Bonekickers, which starred Adrian Lester, Julie Graham and Hugh Bonneville, was originally commissioned by the former BBC1 controller Peter Fincham before he moved to ITV.

Main story at the Guardian, more at Broadcastnow and Digital Spy.

Nestorian church in the UAE

A piece in The National about Abu Dhabi's Sir Bani Yas island and the seventh century remains of a Nestorian church and monastery.

To the untrained eye they may look like rubble. But the ruins of a monastery and church discovered in Abu Dhabi tell a fascinating tale about a little-known period in the region’s history.

When the foundations were built, the Roman empire had just come to an end, Christianity was sweeping the world and Islam had not yet been born.

Now, 1,600 years later, the ruins – unearthed on Sir Bani Yas island in the 1990s – are to be resurrected and turned into a tourist attraction.

The monastery and church, survivors of a Nestorian Christian period, are just two of 36 archaeological troves on the island. Others include the remains of villas with stucco decorations, pottery and basic furnishings, providing a glimpse into life in pre-Islam times.

“This particular time period is very interesting as we have a real overlap of documentation and archaeology which throws up some fascinating contradictions,” said Mark Beech, an archaeologist from the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage (Adach).

Full story here. There are more details from the Abu Dhabi Archaeological Survey with a decent bibliography.

There is also a good summary in Joseph Elders, "Nestorians in the Gulf: Just Passing Through? Recent Discoveries on the Island of Sir Bani Yas, Abu Dhabi Emirate, UAE," in ed Daniel Potts, Hasan Al Naboodah, Peter Hellyer, Archaeology of the United Arab Emirates: Proceedings of the First International Conference on the Archaeology of the U.A.E, (Trident, 2003), 230-236. Handily, it can be read online here.

One of the plaster panels from the Nestorian monastery at site SBY9 on Sir Bani Yas: photograph copyright Dr Mark Beech, Abu Dhabi Archaeological Survey

In search of Barathes

A lyrical feature by Robin Yassin-Kassab, the friend of a friend, in The National, in search of Barathes, a Syrian merchant who was buried near Corbridge, just south of Hadrian's Wall:

Walking out along the wall stirred the imagination: I was walking in the steps of ancient Syrians. A tombstone found at Housesteads depicts an archer armed with an oriental-style recurved bow. Texts found elsewhere show that a cohort of 500 bowmen from the Syrian city of Hama served in Britain, and spent some of their time on the wall, perhaps shooting game for the garrison to eat.

To me, this was of more than academic interest. We moved only recently to this area from Oman, and we still lack a sense of belonging. Castle Douglas, our damp little town, seems very monocultural, and my family, being multicultural – my wife is Syrian, from Damascus and perhaps originally Palmyra, and I am an Anglo-Syrian mix – seem correspondingly out of place. Yet all those centuries ago there had been Syrians here, and north Africans, and Europeans of all descriptions. I wanted to learn more, so after crisps and coffee at the cafe we drove on to visit the Roman ruins at Corbridge, where Barathes died.

Before my grandfather died he told me that a Syrian soldier was buried on the wall. Clutching at straws in my Scottish isolation, I trawled the internet for information on this lost countryman. I didn’t find a soldier but Barathes, an itinerant Syrian merchant, entombed just south of the wall in Corbridge. My wife was particularly pleased with my discovery, for Barathes was, like her, originally from Palmyra. The presence of a Palmyran at this northern fort means the Syrian archers were not alone; there were Syrian businessmen and even Syrian religious officials in Roman Britain. An altar dedicated to Syrian goddesses has been excavated at Catterick in Yorkshire, bearing the inscription: “For the Goddesses of the city of Hama, Sabinus has made this.” And in some strange way in cold Castle Douglas, Barathes’s proximity made us feel that we too were not alone.

On holiday in Ravenna

The Telegraph has a useful tourist guide to Ravenna:

What is today a charming, cultivated, provincial Italian town, fringed by miles of pinewoods and long sandy beaches, had its golden age in the 5th and 6th centuries as the wealthy western capital of Byzantium under the Emperors Honorius, Theodoric and Justinian. It was a meeting place of Roman and Byzantine cultures that has left the town scattered with an astonishing legacy of mosaics, which are still mesmerising today.

Even though there is no mention of Romulus Augustulus (sic), it is a story worth clipping.