Bread and Circuses

Total War: Rome II The Battle of Teutoburg Forest

This looks fun. A new scenario for Total War: Rome II out later this year is set at the Battle of Teutoburg Forest.

 

Jesus: Rise to Power on National Geographic

More as details become available, but just had a note that Jesus: Rise to Power is airing on National Geographic at the end of March. It is a three-parter presented by Michael Scott. The subject matter is pretty self explanatory, but for those who are interested, I witter on about why Julian the Apostate never had a chance and how Theodosius I turned Christianity into a tool for Roman imperialism in the final episode. It airs on March 30.

Monumental Roman Building in Xanten

Archaeologists in Xanten, the Roman town of Colonia Ulpia Traiana, are excavating a large - 2,00sq m - building that dates to the beginning of the 3rd century. They have, however, no idea what the building was. There is a porticus, a small hall which leads to an inner courtyard which itself leads to a 800sq m large hall. That hall was divided into two parts with a stone roof. The structure is unique.

Sicher ist: Die Halle gehört für die archäologische Forschung zu den ungewöhnlichsten Funden. Sie ist in ihrer Dimension und Konstruktion einzigartig. Im gesamten Gebiet des römischen Reiches wurde bisher nichts Vergleichbares gefunden. Sicher ist auch, dass das Gebäude im Randbereich der Stadt eine wichtige Rolle im Leben der Bewohner der Colonia Ulpia Traiana gespielt haben muss. Denn die Römer ließen sich den Bau einiges kosten. Das Trachyt-Gestein der Fundamente wurde mit Kähnen über den Rhein vom Drachenfeld herbeigeschafft. Basaltblöcke und Tuffstein kamen aus der Vulkaneifel.

Full story in Der Westen.

Best of Kalkriese 2012

The Osnabrücker Zeitung has a piece on results of the excavations around Kalkriese, the site of the Battle of Teutoburg Forest in AD9, last year. Work focused on a Germanic settlement around 2km west of the battle. Highlights include a Germanic residential barn house, shards of pottery, Roman coins and brooches, and nails from Legionary sandals as well as pieces of glass and pieces of equipment.

Interpretation remains open:

Doch wie sind diese Funde zu interpretieren? Sind die gefundenen Objekte in die Siedlung verschleppte Beute? Oder sind sie Hinweise auf Kampfhandlungen an diesen Stellen? Die Auswertung der Grabungsarbeiten hat gerade erst begonnen. Nun gilt es, die keramischen Funde weiter zu untersuchen und mittels C-14-Analysen das Alter der in den Gruben der Siedlungsstelle gefundenen Holzkohlestücke zu bestimmen.

Full story here with some great photos.

Settlement of Noricum Required Many Soldiers

New research from a dig at Gurina suggests that the Roman conquest of Noricum in 15BC was not quite the walkover as previously thought and required a large military presence. A brief story in Austria's Keine Zeitung notes:

Mit dem Wissen aus den archäologischen Funden in der Gurina-Siedlung konnten die Forscher flächendeckend für ganz Noricum herausarbeiten, dass die Römer hier mehr Truppen hatten, als bisher angenommen. "Die große Schlacht hat es nicht gegeben", sagte Gleirscher, "aber die Noriker haben schon ein Jahr vor der Okkupation 'eins drübergezogen bekommen', als sie sich in Istrien einem Aufstand gegen die Römer anschlossen". Die "friedliche Eroberung des Ostalpenraums" sei ein Widerspruch in sich und die Ausgrabungen in Kärnten hätten gezeigt, dass die Romanisierung dieses Gebiets so friedlich gar nicht war, erklärte er. Das vor Kurzem abgeschlossene Projekt wurde vom Wissenschaftsfonds (FWF) gefördert.

Full story here.

Perfect Storms: Battle of Teutoburg Forest

Entertainment One’s series Perfect Storms: Disasters that Changed the World is going to show in the UK, on the channel Yesterday. As well as episodes on the “Great Galveston Hurricane” of 1900, the 1755 earthquake and tsunami in Lisbon, 1923′s earthquake in Kanto and the 1941 Battle of Moscow, there is also an episode on the Battle of Teutoburg Forest which was immense fun to shoot last summer. It is likely to screen in Q2. Full story here.

Late Antiquity Links of the Day 5/2/13

While much of the world is focused on a car park in Leicester, a good number of stories on late antiquity have emerged. First off, the BBC has a story about the Traprain Law hoard, the largest hoard of chopped up silver ever discovered. Discovered East of Edinburgh in 1919, the silverware was buried in the fifth century. Full story with some splendid pix at the BBC.

Elsewhere, History of the Ancient World has a fantastic article by David Woods from CQ 47 called Ammianus and some Tribuni Scholarum Palatinarum c. A.D. 353-364 which reconstructs an almost complete list of their commanders for the period. Full story here. 

Also yesterday History of the Ancient World had the Durham MA thesis: From periphery to centre: pagan continuity and revival in Britain and Rome during the late fourth century AD. Link here. 

And finally a couple of relevant book articles at BMCR. First Peter Walsh and Christopher Husch's One Hundred Latin Hymns: Ambrose to Aquinas reviewed by Scott Bruce, University of Colorado at Boulder:

The volume begins with fourteen hymns (nos. 1-14) by Ambrose of Milan (d. 397), who according to Augustine composed many moving hymns for antiphonal singing "according to the customs of the East." There follows another early hymn by an anonymous imitator of Ambrose (no. 15), three long hymns (nos. 16-18) by Prudentius (d. 410), and another (no. 19) by Sedulius, the fifth-century author of the Carmen Paschale. The volume continues with two hymns (nos. 20-21) by Venantius Fortunatus (d. 610), written to celebrate the arrival of a relic of the True Cross to the city of Poitiers, followed by thirteen poems (nos. 22-35) from the Old Hymnal, a sixth- century collection of hymns for the monastic offices, major feast days and in praise of saints and martyrs, and twenty-eight poems (nos. 36-63) from the New Hymnal, which replaced the Old Hymnal throughout most of Europe (except at the city of Milan) by the tenth century.

And John Noël Dillon's The Justice of Constantine: Law, Communication, and Control. Law and society in the ancient world reviewed by Charles Aull, Indiana University:

For Dillon, the reign of Constantine represents a significant departure from Millar's notion of passive emperorship characteristic of the High Empire. Dillon suggests that Constantine transformed the office of emperor "into a relatively proactive, popularizing autocracy that would persist long after his reign" (p. 6). Dillon proves his arguments brilliantly. His book presents a nuanced reading of Roman law and a provocative portrait of Constantine's reign.

All articles worth looking at.