Tag: Rome

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Did the Romans hunt whales?

A gray area Due to centuries of whaling, the North Atlantic right whale (Eubalaena glacialis) is currently a threatened species, congregating off eastern North America. The Atlantic gray whale (Eschrichtius robustus) has completely disappeared from the North Atlantic and can only be found in the North Pacific. Neither is found in the Mediterranean today. In fact, it has long been assumed that the Mediterranean was outside the historical range for both species. You can read more about the history of whaling here. [caption id="attachment_8733" align="aligncenter" width="536"] Atlantic Northern Right Whale mother and calf. Credit: Wikimedia Commons[/caption]

Calving season in the Med

Due to the migratory nature of both species of whale, their presence east of Gibraltar means that they would have entered calving season in the Mediterranean Sea. Co-author of the study Dr Camilla Speller, from the University of York, says: “Our study shows that these two species were once part of the Mediterranean marine ecosystem and probably used the sheltered basin as a calving ground. “The findings contribute to the debate on whether, alongside catching large fish such as tuna, the Romans had a form of whaling industry.”

Roman scandal

The paper speculates that small rowing boats and hand harpoons could have been used to capture the creatures; similar to the medieval Basque whaling methods used in the following centuries. Lead author of the study Dr Ana Rodrigues, from the French National Centre for Scientific Research, adds: “[The] Romans did not have the necessary technology to capture the types of large whales currently found in the Mediterranean, which are high-seas species. But right and gray whales and their calves would have come very close to shore, making them tempting targets for local fishermen.”

The ripple effect: what this means for other research

If coastal whales were in fact present in the Mediterranean, some previously perplexing sources suddenly make a lot more sense. Anne Charpentier, lecturer at the University of Montpellier and co-author in the study, said: “We can finally understand a 1st-Century description by the famous Roman naturalist Pliny the Elder, of killer whales attacking whales and their new-born calves in the Cadiz bay. “It doesn’t match anything that can be seen there today, but it fits perfectly with the ecology if right and gray whales used to be present.” As a result, the authors of the study are urging historians and archaeologists to re-examine their material in light of the knowledge that coastal whales were once part of the Mediterranean marine ecosystem. [caption id="attachment_8812" align="aligncenter" width="500"] A Roman mosaic with fishing scene, found in Hippolytus House in greater Madrid, Spain. Credit: Alberto Paredes/Alamy Stock Photo[/caption]

The forgotten calving grounds

“It seems incredible that we could have lost and then forgotten two large whale species in a region as well-studied as the Mediterranean. It makes you wonder what else we have forgotten,” concludes Dr Rodriguez.]]>

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History News of the Week – USS Indianapolis Discovered

USS_Indianapolis_(CA-35)_underway_at_sea,_in_1943-1944_(NH_124466)

USS Indianapolis Shipwreck Discovered 72 years after its sinking, the wreckage of the USS Indianapolis has been discovered 18,000 feet beneath the surface of the Philippine Sea, according to the New York Times. In July 1945, in the final months of the Second World War, the USS Indianapolis was sunk by a Japanese torpedo, as it returned from a secret mission to deliver parts that were used in the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima. The ship’s sinking was the worst loss of life in the history of the US Navy. Of the 1,196 crew on board, just 316 were rescued. Although somewhere between 800 and 900 people escaped the sinking ship, no distress signal was sent. When the survivors were found by chance four days later in shark infested waters, just a fraction were left alive. On Saturday 19th September, a civilian team led by Paul G. Allen, the co-founder of Microsoft, announced that it had found unmistakable wreckage of the Indianapolis. They had been directed to the site by new research from a naval historian which determined a specific region of the ocean where the ship had been sited the night before its destruction. “To be able to honour the brave men of the USS Indianapolis and their families through the discovery of a ship that played such a significant role during World War Two is truly humbling,” Allen told the BBC. Ancient Pompeii’s Water Supply was Poisonous New research claims that the water transported through the pipelines of the ancient Roman city of Pompeii was probably poisonous on a scale that would have likely led to diarrhea, vomiting and liver and kidney damage for anyone who drank it. Kaare Lund, a chemist from the Southern University of Denmark (SDU), analysed water pipes from Pompeii and found high levels of the toxic element antimony, which he believes may have poisoned the drinking water. Antimony is acutely toxic, meaning it causes a quick reaction in anyone who consumes it. According to a statement from SDU, the element is particularly irritating to the bowels, and the reactions are excessive vomiting and diarrhea that can lead to dehydration. In severe cases it can also affect the liver and kidneys and, in the worst-case scenario, can cause cardiac arrest. Pompeii’s location, close to Mount Vesuvius, likely meant the concentration of antimony was higher there than elsewhere in the Roman Empire, as the toxic chemical element naturally occurs in groundwater close to volcanoes. Lund and colleagues’ findings have been published in the journal Toxicology Letters. Hannibal’s defeat and the rise of Rome written in coins Chemical analysis of Roman coins has found that the defeat of Hannibal led to a flood of wealth through the Empire from the silver mines of Spain. According to scientists, the discovery tracks Rome’s transition from regional power to empire. Regarded as a key event in European history, the Second Punic War saw Hannibal lead his formidable Carthaginian army across the Alps in 218 BCE in a failed assault on Rome. Hannibal’s defeat saw the Romans conquer the Iberian Peninsula, with the Romans slowly gaining control over the region’s lucrative silver mines circa 211 BCE. War reparations from Carthage combined with the revenue taken from the Spanish mines ultimately funded Rome’s rapid territorial expansion. The new geochemical analysis has now provided clear proof of the importance of the Spanish silver in funding Roman conquest. A group of scientists based in Germany and Denmark and led by Prof Fleur Kemmers and Dr Katrin Westner (Institute for Archaeological Sciences, Goethe University, Frankfurt) analysed 70 Roman coins dating from 310-300 BCE to 101 BCE, the period surrounding the Second Punic War. Using Mass Spectrometry, the team determined that the lead in the coins from after 209 BCE had distinctive isotope signatures which identified them as presumably originating from Spain. “Before the war we find that the Roman coins are made of silver from the same sources as the coinage issued by Greek cities in Italy and Sicily2. In other words the lead isotope signatures of the coins correspond to those of silver ores and metallurgical products from the Aegean region”, said Katrin Westner. “But the defeat of Carthage led to huge reparation payments to Rome, as well as Rome gaining high amounts of booty and ownership of the rich Spanish silver mines. From 209 B.C. we see that the majority of Roman coins show geochemical signatures typical for Iberian silver”. “This massive influx of Iberian silver significantly changed Rome’s economy, allowing it to become the superpower of its day. We know this from the histories of Livy and Polybius and others, but our work gives contemporary scientific proof of the rise of Rome. What our work shows is that the defeat of Hannibal and the rise of Rome is written in the coins of the Roman Empire.” ]]>

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Attila The Hun Integrated as Well as Obliterated on the Roman Frontier

modified-skull-1

PLOS ONE, the new study from the University of Cambridge looks at fifth century gravesite remains in the Roman frontier of Pannonia (in what is now Hungary) to reveal how ordinary people might have dealt with the arrival of the Huns. One remarkable discovery points to the Huns recruiting from the Roman frontiers. Biochemical analyses of teeth and bones suggest some farmers gave up their homesteads on the edge of the Roman Empire to become roaming herdsmen like the Huns. This raises the possibility that some of these farmers may have taken up arms and fought for the Hun tribes. The cultural exchange between Huns and farmers was far from a one way process, however. Nitrogen and carbon isotopes in remains can allow researchers to distinguish between agricultural and pastoral diets. Based on this, the team found a significant dietary shift in some sets of remains, suggesting that some Huns gave up on their nomadic lifestyle and elected to settle into an agricultural one. According to lead researcher Dr Susanne Hakenbeck, the Huns may have introduced farmers to ways of life some found appealing, but they also learnt from and occasionally settled among the locals. “We know from contemporary accounts that this was a time when treaties between tribes and Romans were forged and fractured, loyalties sworn and broken. The lifestyle shifts we see in the skeletons may reflect that turmoil,” said Hakenbeck, in a press release. “However, while written accounts of the last century of the Roman Empire focus on convulsions of violence, our new data appear to show some degree of cooperation and coexistence of people living in the frontier zone. Far from being a clash of cultures, alternating between lifestyles may have been an insurance policy in unstable political times.” Hakenbeck’s team analysed the carbon, nitrogen, strontium and oxygen isotopes of bones and teeth from the fifth century graves in Hungary. Those were then compared with sites in Germany known to have been home to typical farmer communities, and sites in Siberia and Mongolia known to have been home to nomadic herders. Unlike the other sites, Pannonia showed signs of both nomadic and agricultural lifestyles, as well as individuals that switched between the lifestyles during their life times. “The exchange of subsistence strategies is evidence for a way of life we don’t see anywhere else in Europe at this time,” said Hakenbeck. The results paint a picture of the Hun incursions markedly different to those offered by Roman authors from the period. As Hakenbeck explained: “While Roman authors considered them incomprehensibly uncivilised and barely human, it seems many citizens at the edge of Rome’s empire were drawn to the Hun lifestyle, just as some nomads took to a more settled way of life” . Image courtesy of Susan Hakenbeck ]]>

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Archaeological Dig at Colosseum Yields Horse Skull

colosseum

The Local. But hold your horses – this isn’t a Roman-era chariot horse the likes of which you would imagine in scenes reminiscent of Ben-Hur. Chariot races, of course, would have been held at Rome’s nearby Circus Maximus, not the Colosseum, which was primarily the home of gladiatorial combat (though this could have incorporated mounted combat at times). Instead, archaeozoologists say that the equine skull dates back to the twelfth or thirteenth century, well after the fall of the Roman Empire and placing it well out of reach of any bloodsport. In fact, the remains were discovered during routine cleaning of the steps leading down to the massive amphitheater’s basement levels, with the skull being found nearby, according to a statement made by Francesco Prosperetti, the Superintendent for Archaeology for Rome. For now, it’s unclear the age of the horse when it died, the state of health it was in, or just what it might have been doing in the neighborhood. During the twelfth century, large portions of the massive monument were rented out for commercial or residential use, which could have been why a horse would have been within the confines of the Colosseum. Meanwhile, from the late twelfth to the middle of the thirteenth century, the influential Frangipani family of Rome wrested control of the amphitheater away from other tenants, partially transforming the Colosseum into a fortress-like edifice, even going so far as to connect several family houses throughout Rome to the Colosseum by underground tunnel. If the horse skull comes from the period that the Frangipani were the lords of the Colosseum, the horse may have belonged to the family. The Frangipani would have been considered incredibly powerful during their heyday in early thirteenth century Rome. Originally known as the Onicii in the eighth century, the family changed its name to Frangipani. With the name bearing links to the Latin phrase for “breaking bread”, historians believe the family might have gained local fame for distributing food to the masses during a harsh famine. The tactic was widely used by influential families during the time period as a way to garner support among the populace. Whatever the Frangipani did seemed to have worked; the family played a pivotal role in the election of Pope Honorious II in 1124 CE. The family used a combination of bribery to pay off rival houses that supported the choice of Celestine II for the position and outright violence by literally physically attacking Celestine II during the ceremony that would have seen him become Pope officially. Whatever the case may be, the equine skull will need to undergo more thorough analysis before a clearer indication can be made. Once identified more definitively, the animal remains may join others found near the monument, which are on display at the Colosseum’s nearby museum. ]]>

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Newly-Restored Remnant of Circus Maximus Opened to Public

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the Telegraph, the seven-year-long excavation of the remaining corner of the Circus Maximus yielded massive archaeological finds. Items such as fragmented golden bracelets and necklaces, a gilded glass goblet with the image of a horse, and over 1,000 bronze coins dating to the third century CE were found within the ruins. Additional finds include the remains of a triumphal arch, constructed of Tuscan white marble, erected in honor of Emperor Titus’ quashing of the Jewish Rebellion in 70 CE. The arch itself would have been the largest of its kind at the time it was constructed, according to Marialetizia Buonfiglio, the archaeologist who spearheaded the excavation efforts. Its position drew the eyes of everyone within the arena, and was used as the spot where Roman emperors would enter the Circus Maximus, often to the roars of hundreds of thousands of patricians and plebeians alike. It is thought that the Circus Maximus was used for sporting events as far back as around 800 BCE, as Romulus, the mythical founder of Rome, is said to have hosted horse races on the central track. The Imperial Roman-era version of the complex was largely destroyed in 64 CE in a fire; subsequent emperors attempted to rebuild it, and the final touches were put on the reconstruction efforts – at great expense – by Emperor Trajan in 104 CE. Games continued to be held there until the sixth century CE. There is still plenty to discover by archaeologists when it comes to the Circus Maximus. The original chariot track, for example, is still buried beneath approximately 30 feet of accumulated soil and rubble, a result of the disused sports complex being repurposed as farming fields and even industrial factories by the nineteenth century. During the early to mid-twentieth century, the Circus Maximus was repurposed once again, most notably by Mussolini, as a parade ground for displays of fascist propaganda. ]]>

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Hannibal’s Route Across Alps Revealed by Microbiologists

Hannibal Crosses the Alps on an Elephant (2)

Archaeometry Image courtesy of Nicolas Poussin]]>

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Roman Fresco Unearthed by London Archaeologists

roman fresco

MOLA Featured Image © MOLA]]>

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Et Tu, Ectoparasites? Roman Empire Not So Sanitary

Roman Latrines from Lepcis Magna in Libya

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Proof Found Of Caesar's Presence in the Netherlands

Wien Parliament Julius Ceasar (1)

Commentarii de Bello Gallico is Caesar’s own firsthand account of the battles which took place in the Netherlands and is still considered the most important and comprehensive account of the conflict. The six volumes include battle descriptions and war-time intrigues which took place during the nine years he fought the local armies that opposed Roman domination in Gaul – Gaul is generally considered to have included modern day Belgium, France and parts of Switzerland. In the Commentarii de Bello Gallico the Roman invasion of Gaul is portrayed by Caesar as a defensive and preemptive action. Regardless of the personal motivations ascribed by historians, defeating Gaul was important to Rome in a military sense. Conquering Gaul provided Rome the means of securing a defensible natural border (the Rhone river) against its enemies to the north along the Rhine River, preventing ongoing attacks. Meanwhile, in Rome Caesar’s contemporaries had begun labeling him a war criminal, guilty of perpetrating what today would be considered genocide, and many were promoting the idea of charging and trying him for these war crimes. Much of the talk was generated by stories coming back from the battlefield regarding Caesar’s unwillingness to offer refuge to Gaul natives (specifically the Helvetii). Some claims stated that after Caesar turned them away, he followed them back into Gaul, executing soldiers and slaughtering entire villages. The campaigns Caesar led against the Helvetii are described and defended in great detail in the Commentarii de Bello Gallicoaccusations. The Helvetii were actually a coilition of approximately five related Gallic tribes living on the Swiss plateau, hemmed in by the Rhone and Rhine rivers and mountains. Because of the inhospitable landscape and increasing pressure from German forces from the north and east, by the start of the Gallic Wars the Helvetii were completing the planning and provisioning for a mass migration west. After a series of failed negotiations in which Caesar would have allowed the Helvetii to cross the Rhone and Roman territory on their way to the west coast, the tribe made several attempts to cross the Rhone river by force – each time being turned back by the Romans. The Helvetii then changed track and began moving west by negotiating with neighboring tribes and pillaging lands under Roman protection on their way to the river Arar (now named the Saône River). The river Arar is where Caesar eventually caught up to them. In the end and with massive loses on both sides, the Romans were victorious and accepted the Helvetii’s surrender (executing more than 6,000 soldiers who attempted to flee rather than surrender). In the Commentarii de Bello Gallico Caesar refers to a Greek census from that time which reported the Helvetii population as 368,000; only 110,000 survived to return to their homeland. ]]>

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1st Century Room Uncovered Beneath Roman Street

Rome from the air (2)