Submitted by Bija Knowles on Fri, 03/19/2010 - 13:36
Like many people, the offer of food is always enough to tempt me to visit somewhere new – and I suspect that the publicity machine of Pompeii's archaeological site are fully aware of this, as they promise an authentic Roman snack to the 300 randomly selected individuals who will take part in a one-off tour of the site this Sunday.
The event marks the restoration and re-opening of one of the Roman town's thermopolia (cafés), after having undergone an excavation and preservation process.
The ancient Latin city of Gabii was a city-state that was both a neighbour of, and a rival to, Rome in the first millennium BC. Gabii is located in the region of Italy once known as Latium. The site of Gabii was occupied since at least the 10th century BC until its decline in the second and third centuries AD. Major excavations have been carried out on the cemetery of Osteria dell'Osa in Gabii. These tombs have been divided into 14 groups, with each group exhibiting a set of distinctive traditions and each believed to represent a different community which has settled in the area.
Constantine III was a Roman general who proclaimed himself Western Roman Emperor in 407. He reigned from 407 and was abdicated in 411, where he was captured and executed shortly afterwards. He was a regular soldier in the garrison of Britain who came to power during the tumultuous times following the mutiny against the rule of Honorius.
He attempted to conquor Italy, however in his attempt to overthrow the city against Honorius (who was the Roman Emperor at the time), he was forced to resign as emperor and had himself ordained as a priest, hoping this might save his life. However, as the city fell, he was captured and sent back to Ravenna were Honorius had him executed.
Charlemagne was king of the Franks from 768 until his death on the 28th of January 814. He is best known for his expansion of the Frankish Kingdom into a Frankish Empire which was made up of most of western and central Europe. He was crowned Imperator Augustus by Pope Leo III after he conquered Italy.
Today he is regarded not only as the founding father of french and German monarchies, but as father of Europe, as his empire united most of Western Europe for the first time since the Romans. The Carolingian renaissance was also during his rule, which lead to a revival of art, religion, and culture through the medium of the Catholic Church. This renaissance is thought to have encouraged the formation of a common European identity.
Roman consul and historian, Cassius Dio, is most well known for his historical writings on Rome, written in Greek. Dio started his literary activity in the 190's and wrote his Roman History in the years 211-233. Thus over 22 years, Dio wrote and published a history of Rome in 80 volumes, beginning with the legendary arrival of Aeneas in Italy and the founding of Rome. The book spans over a period of about 1,400 years. He has provided modern scholars with a detailed perspective on Roman history as many of the 80 books survive into the modern age intact or as fragments.
A team of researchers annouced a surprising discovery during a scholarly presentation in Toronto last Friday. The research team, based at McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada, has been helping to excavate an ancient Roman cemetery at the site of Vagnari in southern Italy. Led by Professor Tracy Prowse, they’ve been analyzing the skeletons found there by performing DNA and oxygen isotope tests.
The surprise is that the DNA tests show that one of the skeletons, a man, has an East Asian ancestry – on his mother’s side. This appears to be the first time that a skeleton with an East Asian ancestry has been discovered in the Roman Empire.
However, it seems like this contact between east and west did not go well.
Professor, Dept of Anthropology, McMaster University
Tracy Prowse is professor of anthropology at McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada. She holds a PhD from the same institution.
Her expertise is in bio-archaeology, the study of past cultures through their skeletal and archaeological remains. She has conducted extensive research on Imperial Rome, analyzing skeletons in Italy at the sites of Isola Sacra and Vagnari.
At Vagnari her team found a skeleton whose DNA indicates that he had East Asian ancestry. The skeleton dates to the 1st-2nd centuries AD – the time of the early Roman Empire. It appears to be the first time that a skeleton with an East Asian ancestry has been found in Roman territory.
Post-Doctoral Fellow, Dept of Anthropology, Washington State University
Dr. Jodi Barta is a post-doctoral fellow in the Department of Anthropology at Washington State University in the United States.
Dr. Barta holds a PhD from McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada. While there she conducted bio-archaeology research on the site of Vagnari in southern Italy. Archaeologists have unearthed 70 skeletons at the site so far. Vagnari holds an Imperial Roman estate that produced textiles and iron implements, some of the workers were slaves.
She conducted DNA analysis on the skeletons. Most of the skeletons are from the local area, but one turned out to be very unique. The skeleton’s DNA indicates that he was of East Asian ancestry on his mother’s side. He appears to be the first example of a person with East Asian ancestry found buried in the Roman Empire.
Barta is also doing archaeological research on the Northwest coast of North America where she is looking at dog bones. Dogs existed there before European contact and can provide researchers with clues as to how human lifestyles changed over time.
A team of researchers annouced a surprising discovery during a scholarly presentation in Toronto last Friday. The research team, based at McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada, has been helping to excavate an ancient Roman cemetery at the site of Vagnari in southern Italy. Led by Professor 
