A visit to Mediolanum Santonum (Saintes, France)

Having had my trip to ‘Roma Nova’ cancelled in June, I was thirsty for some Roman input. But it’s not easy going on a trip in the middle of a raging world pandemic.

However Saintes, in Charente Maritime, is only two hours by fast autoroute from where I live and still in the green zone […]

Roma Nova trip was cancelled but now rebooked!

View from the Magdelensberg

(This post dates originally from 2020 – rinsed and repeated for 2021 and 2022, but the good news is that I AM going there in May/June 2023!)

At last! I was going to Roma Nova for my holiday in June; from 8-23 June 2020 to be precise.

Okay, I […]

Who were the Roman cops?

Modern Roman cops – Carabinieri (Author photo)

Thinking about police, gendarmes and emergency services in the past few days brought me to the law enforcers of Ancient Rome.

Faced with terrorist attack (or riot, revolt and rebellion), they would have been robust in their attitude and actions. So who policed Rome?

Vigiles as […]