The Roman home front

Our first encounter with Romans is often a film or TV series depicting soldiers marching in armour, being tough, shouting and thrusting a sword into some barbarian in a dark, wet and enemy-infested wood. Or perhaps we think about the ruins left of magnificent imperial or public buildings?

But what about the calmer side of […]

Roman dishwashing

Ancient Roman kitchen (Museum of London reconstruction) Author photo

When our dishwasher broke down, we ended up washing and rinsing by hand – glass, cutlery, crockery, kitchen casseroles, pots and pans – and it provoked thoughts about Roman kitchens and cleaning the dishes two thousand years ago.

Memories of camping washing-up in my […]

An apology and light at the end of the tunnel – EXSILIUM

EXSILIUM coming soon

Underground tunnel in Naples

To my horror, I spotted that I hadn’t written a post since September. You have my apologies, my sincere ones.

But I have a good excuse. Well, I think it’s a good excuse. I’ve been in the last quarter of the 4th century (again!) but this time at the […]