Saturnalia - serious Roman festival or free for all?

The Temple of Saturn, Rome

Saturnalia was one of the most important Roman festivals.

Heavy on feasting, fun and gifts, it was originally celebrated in the early days of Ancient Rome for one day only around 17 December.However, it became so popular that it expanded into a week or even longer, despite Augustus’ […]

Limonum or Lemonum? (Poitiers to you and me)

Funerary goods, Antran (Author photo)

Earlier this week I took an afternoon off and went visiting Romans in Poitiers, about an hour’s drive south of where I live. France is rich in Roman archaeology and you can trip over remains in almost every town even if the experts can’t quite agree the site […]

Ostia Antica and its importance in Roman sea trading

The Romans were organised, truly organised in complex ways not seen again until at least the 18th and 19th centuries. Trade was vital to Ancient Rome. The empire cost a vast sum of money to run and trade brought in much of that money. The population of the city of Rome grew to over one […]