Rob Calfee: Writing, Reading, Ancient History

Gladiator (2000)

A 3,200-year-old stone slab with an inscription that tells of a Trojan prince and may refer to the mysterious Sea People has been deciphered, archaeologists announced today (Oct. 7).

The stone inscription, which was 95 feet (29 meters) long, describes the rise of a powerful kingdom called Mira, which launched a military campaign led by a prince named Muksus from Troy.

The inscription is written in an ancient language called Luwian that just a few scholars, no more than 20 by some estimates, can read today. Those scholars include Eberhard Zangger, a geoarchaeologist who is president of the Luwian Studies foundation, and Fred Woudhuizen, an independent scholar, who have now deciphered a copy of the inscription. 

Fragment of a terracotta plate, Greek and Roman Art

Medium: Terracotta

Gift of Nicolas Koutoulakis, 1960 Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY

Glass flask, Greek and Roman Art

Medium: Glass

The Cesnola Collection, Purchased by subscription, 1874–76 Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY

Examples of Roman Samian ware (Terra Sigillata).

‘Samian ware’ is a type of mould-made pottery, and was the standard fine table ware of the Roman world during the early empire.

The 2nd image is a close up of the 1st bowl shown. Depicting hunting scenes, this piece of pottery was found in Kingsmead Quarry (Horton, England), and dates to about 120-145 CE. The mounded decoration in the 3rd image comes from a bowl found during excavations at the former County Hospital, Dorchester, Dorset (England). Next is a 1st century bowl found nearby at Greyhound Yard, and can now be viewed at the Dorset County Museum.

A Samian pottery stamp can be seen in the last image. It reads C.ATVLLVS with the ‘s’ reversed. As Wessex Archaeology note: “this is thought to relate to Catullus VI, a potter working in Trier, Western Germany during the second and third centuries AD. This is the inscription from one of two identical pieces of Samian ware discovered by the crew of the Arco Beck.”

PLACES IN THE ANCIENT WORLD: Metapontum/Metaponto (Italy) 

METAPONTUM, located on the southern coast of Basilicata, Italy, was an Achaean colony founded in the late 8th century BCE. Thriving on agriculture and trade, the city became one of the most prosperous colonies in Magna Graecia. Today, the best surviving evidence of Metapontum’s importance in antiquity is the 6th century BCE Temple of Hera with 15 of its Doric columns still standing.

Metapontum (Greek: Metapontion, modern name: Metaponto) is located on a fertile plain which stretches along the southern coastline of the Basilicata region of southern Italy. The city, situated at the mouths of the Bradano and Basento Rivers, was founded by the Achaeans of the Greek Peloponnese c. 720 BCE as part of the wave of Greek colonizationfrom the 8th century BCE onwards across the entire region of southern Italy.

Ring, Greek and Roman Art

Medium: Ivory

Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917 Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY

Georgian soldier in full suit of armor, 1877

Georgian soldier in full suit of armor, 1877

Roman Treasures Unearthed in England

Two incredible recent archaeological finds provide powerful and beautiful visual reminders of the presence of the Roman Empire in Great Britain.

Amateur archaeologists in southeast England discovered a Roman mosaic, dating back more than 1000 years in the small village of Boxford. The the dig led by the Boxford History Project and the Berkshire Archaeology Research Group has been excavating Roman sites in the area since 2015.

When the first, vibrant colors of the mosaic poked through the broken dirt of the excavation site, “I was stunned into silence,” said the leader of the Boxford History Project, Joy Appleton, in an interview with the New York Times.

The mosaic shows characters and beasts from Roman mythology, including Bellerophon and the chimera. The team has also unearthed jewelry, coins, and an entire barn.

Meanwhile in Gloucestershire metal detector users uncovered a hoard of ancient Roman bronze artefacts that includes a sculpture of a licking dog never found before in Britain. The licking dog is an example of a healing statue, and may be linked to a Roman healing temple at Lydney. The exact location of the discovery is not being disclosed.

Reference:  Sarah Gibbens. “Massive Roman Mosaic Unearthed in England.” National Geographic, 20 September 2017; and: Press Association. “Metal Detectorists Unearth Unique Hoard of Roman Artefacts.” The Guardian, 27 September 2017.

The bronze sculpture of a “licking dog’ discovered in Gloucestershire. Photograph: Gloucestershire County Council/PA.

Roman Terret (Rein Guide), c. 50. Found at East Anglia. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Nr. 6079.

Roman gladiator figurine, 1st or 2nd century. The British Museum, Nr. P&EE 1888 7-19 97.

Haltwhistle (Northumberland, England) – Hadrian’s Wall, Roman Britain, c 150. University of California, San Diego

Roman Provincial Statuettes of Gods and Goddesses. c. 200. Found Southbroom, Wiltshire. The British Museum

Roman Painting at Lullingstone Villa Chapel, c 350. The British Museum.

Further Reading: Adam Rogers. The Archaeology of Roman Britain: Biography and Identity. New York: Routledge, 2015. 

Ann Olga Koloski-Ostrow. The Archaeology of Sanitation in Roman Italy: Toilets, Sewers, and Water Systems. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 2015.