Ancient Rome | Alison Morton's Thrillers

Debunking the 'Roman salute'

Oath of the Horatii (Jean-Louis David, 1784)

Recently, a prominent social media personality thrust his arm in the air in a straight arm salute that caused an earthquake of reaction, mostly shuddering. For many, it recalled fascists, Nazis and ultra nationalism of every kind. According to legend, this fascist gesture was based on […]

Roman emperors – The good, the bad and ugly

Hadrian is bearded – powerful in the spirit of the Greek god Hercules. Constantine the Great is clean shaven – a strong military leader. Vespasian is just Vespasian, Septimius Severus styles himself on his favourite god Serapis. (Author photo at the Yorkshire Museum)

At a rough count there were around a hundred Roman […]

A passion for maps, and Julia's journey

I love maps. Even in the digital age, I still have a print road atlas. I was recently given an Ordnance Survey map of Roman Britain; I haven’t seen one since I was a kid. And, yes, it did cost 7/6 in old money at a time when a standard OS map of your local […]