Most Recent Visit: July 2023 Prior to the foundation of the classical city of Messene in the 4th century BCE, the southern slope of Mount Ithome (Ithomi) was the location of a settlement that itself seems to have been named Ithome, which had been occupied since at least the Bronze Age. Messene was the name…
Read More
Most Recent Visit: July 2023 Little is known of Venusia (today modern Venosa in Italy’s Basilicata region) prior to conquest by the Romans, though according to legend it was founded by Diomedes after his arrival in Italy. He dedicated the city to Aphrodite in hopes of making amends with the goddess after he wounded her…
Read More
Continued From Diocletianopolis, Thracia – Part I Continuing on at the Camel Gate, inside the Camel Gate, located just to the west, are the remains of barracks abutting the fortification wall. These barracks were constructed in the late 4th or early 5th century CE. Originally the barracks built at this time along nearly the entirety…
Read More
Most Recent Visit: July 2019 Among the modern town of Hisarya, Bulgaria are the remains of what was once the Roman settlement of Diocletianopolis. Habitation at the site of Diocletianopolis seems to date back at least 6,000 years. The prevalent mineral hot springs there likely attracted attention to this particular location. By the 5th century…
Read More
Continued From Asturica Augusta, Hispania Tarraconensis – Part I Continuing out through the northeast exit of the Jardín de La Sinagoga, and then north on Calle Padres Redentoristas, is the Domus del Mosaico del Oso y los Pájaros, the Domus of the Mosaic of the Bear and Birds. Located at Calle Padres Redentoristas 19, the…
Read More
Most Recent Visit: July 2022 Located today among the modern city of Astorga, in the province of León in northeastern Spain, was once the Roman settlement of Asturica Augusta. The area of the settlement was inhabited by the Amaci, a Celtic population that was incorporated into the tribal confederation of the Astures at some point…
Read More
Most Recent Visit: June 2022 Little is known about the history of the Roman and pre-Roman settlement that preceded the Castrum Divionense; Divio (Modern Dijon, France). The name seems to derive from a word relating to a sacred fountain, which may have been present there. Evidence suggests habitation in the area from at least the…
Read More
Most Recent Visit: July 2023 The Roman city of Brundisium (modern Brindisi), located on the Adriatic coast of Calabria (modern Apulia) seems to have begun life as a settlement of the Messapi; though legends have the city being founded by the mythic king Diomedes of Thrace. The Messapi are thought to have originated in the…
Read More
Most Recent Visit: June 2021 The Greek settlement of Chalcis (also Chalkis or Χαλκίς in Greek) is located about midway up the western coast of the island of Euboea (modern Evia), at the narrowest point of the Euripus, the body of water that separates Euboea from mainland Greece. The name is alternatively attributed to either…
Read More
Continued From Aquincum, Pannonia Inferior – Part V With the civilian and military settlements of Aquincum wrapped up, there are a few more interesting things to see closer to central Budapest, nearly 5 kilometers south of the military amphitheater. In antiquity, the site of the Erzsébet híd, the Erzsébet Bridge connecting the central parts of…
Read More