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 […]

The Mysterious Youth of Magdalensberg

Modern copy in the collection of the Landesmuseum Kärnten at Magdalensberg

When I was writing JULIA PRIMA, my research about her hometown of Virunum uncovered the story of the Youth of Magdalensberg (Der Jüngling vom Magdalensberg), an ancient Roman bronze statue dating to the first century BC. Now, Romans, statues – […]