Continued from Philippopolis Part II Theater The ancient theater of Philippopolis is located on the saddle between Taksim Hill and Dzhambaz Hill (two of the three hills of Trimontium) straddling Boulevard Tsar Boris III Obedinitel, which runs through the hill directly below the theater. The actual address of the theater is Tsar Ivaylo Street 4….
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Continued from Philippopolis Part I Not far to the northeast of the northern part of Philippopolis’ forum is the area of the Great Basilica or the Bishop’s Basilica. When I first visited in 2017, the area was exposed but inaccessible. It appeared to be in an active state of excavation and conservation. Many of the…
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Located on a plateau atop the Monti Lepini (Volscian Mountains), an anti-Apennine mountain range overlooking the Agro Pontino (Pomptinus Ager in antiquity; the land of the Pontine Marshes), sits the ancient settlement of Norba. The settlement’s commanding presence over the Pomptinus Ager made it a particularly important location in the control of the area. The…
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Situated along the present day Adige River (the Athesis in antiquity) is the city of Verona, bearing the same name in the Roman period as it does today. The pre-Roman origins of settlement in the area are a matter of some debate. By some accounts it was the territory of the Euganei, a semi-historical italic…
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History Located on the northeast coast of the Sardinia, Olbia is today, as it was in antiquity, the primary city on the eastern coast of the island. The city has taken on a number of names throughout history; Civita, Phausania, and Terranova Pausania, before being changed back to Olbia under Mussolini. Historically, the founding of…
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History The exact date of the founding of Forum Julii, the ancient predecessor to modern Fréjus, is a bit unclear. The name suggests that it was founded by Julius Caesar, and as such, it is likely that it was founded somewhere around 49 BCE, perhaps as some sort of camp or supply station during Caesar’s…
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History Located near the present day town of Gallargues-le-Montueux is the Gallo-Roman settlement of Ambrussum. The site was occupied as far back as the second millennium BCE, but the Gallic oppidium seems to have been constructed about 300 BCE. Like nearby Nemausus, the oppidum at Ambrussum was in the territory of the Volcae Arecomici. Shortly…
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Continued From Nemausus Part I About 800 meters to the west (as the crow flies; it’s nearly a kilometer following streets) of the Porte de France, there is a small section of the Nemausus city wall that is heavily conserved and probably largely of later construction at the intersection of Avenue Kennedy and Rue Armand…
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History As was the case at Glanum, the origins of the settlement of Nemausus seem to lie in the presence of a sacred spring and sanctuary dedicated to that deity of the spring. Located in the territory of the Volcae Arecomici, a settlement grew in the area during the 3rd and 2nd centuries BCE,…
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Most Recent Visit: June 2017. Continued From Panormus Part I In the central part of the city, at Piazza Olivella 24, is the Museo Archaeologico Regionale ‘Antonino Salinas’. Along with the museums in Agrigento and Syracuse, the museum here is one of the primary collections of archaeological material on the island. With the exception of…
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