Roman

The Vitruvian Basilica is the “holy grail” of Roman architecture. Also a huge enigma that we have finally solved

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If there is one thing that abounds in the presentations of archaeological finds (no matter where, when or who makes them) they are superlatives. Each discovery is the most important, the definitive one, the last missing piece to complete the puzzle. Another thing is that it really is like that. In the province of Pesaro and Urbino (Italy) the authorities they just announced a finding in which the opposite occurs: yes, there are superlatives, but they fall short. In the end, what they have unearthed there is neither more nor less than the “holy grail” of Roman architecture. In a stroke of luck, archaeologists have found the basilica erected 2,000 years ago by Marcus Vitruvius, which concludes a search for more than five centuries. What has happened? That Italy has put an end to a 500 year adventurethe time that archaeologists, architects and historians have been searching for perhaps the “holy grail” of Roman architecture: the legendary Vitruvian Basilica. Scholars placed it in Fanum Fortunae (current city of Fano) and for decades they probed its soil in search of vestiges or at least some indication. In vain. things changed about three years agowhen during the renovation works of the market square they found themselves (shortly half a meter deep) some remains that, we now know, belong to the basilica. “Millimeter correspondence”. What we have found under the cobblestones of Fano are Roman columns. So far nothing exceptional considering that we are talking about an ancient coastal city in the Marche region of Italy. The curious thing is that these vestiges fit closely with the description that Marcus Vitruvius left us of the basilica in his famous treatise. ‘Of Architecture’. The columns, their arrangement, the shape and layout of the nave coincide. The “definitive confirmation”, clarify from the Italian Ministry of Culture, arrived after the discovery of a fifth pillar that confirms both the position and orientation of the property. A planimetric reconstruction based on the description left by Vitruvius finally provided the guide. The coincidence is so precise that the authorities speak of a “millimeter correspondence”. “Imposing structures”. “The columns, around five Roman feet in diameter (147-150 cm) and about 15 meters high, rest on pillars and pilasters that supported an upper floor,” points out the Italian Government, which recalls that in 2022 experts were on the trail after discovering some “imposing masonry structures and marble floors” on Via Vitruvio. The confirmation that the remains belong to the old basilica does not complete the work. In fact, Cultura is already advancing that it will continue researching with the support of community funds. “Everything necessary will be done to recover and promote this exceptional find,” guarantees the regional president, Francesco Acquaroli. “Like Tutankhamun’s tomb”. During the presentation neither Francesco Acquaroli, nor the Minister of Culture, Alessandro Giuli, nor certainly the mayor of the town, Luca Serfilippi, spared praise (and superlatives). “The column behind us changes the history of the region. It is a discovery comparable to that of Tutankhamun’s tomb,” celebrated the regional leader. Giuli has used similar effusiveness, for whom the location of the mythical Roman basilica, erected ago two millenniabrand “a before and after” in archaeological history. “History books and not just journalistic chronicles will document this day and everything that will be studied about this exceptional discovery in the coming years. The scientific value is of absolute caliber,” he emphasized the Minister of Culture. “The vestiges discovered clearly demonstrate that Fano was and is the heart of the oldest architectural wisdom of Western civilization.” Is it so relevant? Whether the discovery of the Vitruvian basilica is comparable to that of Tutankhamun’s tomb may perhaps be discussed, of course what is undeniable is that it is one of the great archaeological news of the year (and that at the very least). The reason is not only the value of the building but that of its creator, Marcus Vitruvius (1st century BC), architect, engineer, treatise writer and author of ‘Of Architecture’a fundamental manual to understand Renaissance architecture. In his treatise Vitruvius addresses the three axes that would mark architecture for centuries: firmitas (firmness), utilities (functionality) and venustas (beauty). His work influenced, among others, León Battista Alberti, Andrea Palladio and Leonardo Da Vinci, who was inspired by its proportions to create one of the most iconic (and recognizable) drawings of all time: the ‘Vitruvian Man’. In ‘De Architectura’ the Roman architect does something else: he describes in detail the basilica that has now been found (finally) in Fano, a project in which was directly involved. In fact, the Ministry of Culture remember that it is the “only building attributable with certainty” to the Roman writer. Now we no longer need to imagine it. Images | Office Stampa e Comunicazione MiC In Xataka | We have discovered (again) the secret of Roman concrete. It’s less impressive than it seems

At last we know what the slaves of Roman Hispania ate. Exactly the opposite of the landowners

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Since the times of Roman Hispania Many things have changed on the peninsula, but there is something that remains unchanged, immune to the passing of centuries and the fall of empires: what you eat is directly related to the amount of money you have in your pocket. The more zeros in the bank, the greater the probability (probability) that you will eat better quality foods. It happens today and it happened in the 5th century, in the times of the town of Nohedaa settlement located 18 km from what is now Cuenca. When analyzing their remains, archaeologists have found that what their landowners ate had nothing to do with the diet on which slaves and workers subsisted. In a place in Castilla-La Mancha… One of the most fascinating Roman sites on the peninsula is located: the ancient town of Nohedalocated just under 20 kilometers from Cuenca and which was inhabited between the 1st centuries BC and 6th AD It may not be the best known in Spain, but the enclave stands out for several reasons, mainly, as remember from the centerfor hosting “one of the most spectacular figurative mosaics of the Roman Empire.” Another of the peculiarities of Noheda is that it is a relatively ‘young’ site. That there was a Roman settlement in the area was something known since ancient times: A map from 1554 is preserved in which the area is already cited as “Villar de la Vila” and references from 1893 about the complex and its mosaics. However, the phase of more detailed studies it’s recentwhich has allowed experts to peer into its remains with the tools offered by modern science. What did its inhabitants eat? In Noheda, researchers have not only found a thermal areaa impressive mosaic preserved and remains of what was the residential area (urban pars) and farmers’ homes (pars rustica). Archaeologists have also found a large number of bones, vessels with organic remains and a small necropolis, apparently unconnected pieces but which, together, hide the answer to a fascinating question: What did the inhabitants of the village eat? And above all, were there differences between the urban pars and the rustic? Did the diet vary a lot between the rich and the humble? Science to the rescue. To answer these unknowns, archaeologists have had a wide (and above all diverse) toolbox at their disposal. That the questions are posed today, in the 21st century, has allowed them to resort to techniques that analyze seeds, wood remains, pollen, bones, human collagen… a wide amalgam of clues that include, remember The Country Miguel Ángel Valero, director of the site, remains of oysters or even bird bones in which the teeth of humans and dogs can still be seen. Tell me what social class you are… And I’ll tell you what you eat, which is basically what the Noheda archaeologists have been analyzing, where they have confirmed the clear differences that existed between the wealthiest families, housed in the urban parsand the slaves and field workers who lived in the pars rustica. The research has also yielded striking conclusions, such as the one advanced a few days ago the SER chain. In the town, experts have found remains that tell us of a high consumption of young donkey meat. Is it something new? Yes. And no. Archaeologists knew that in late ancient times this type of meat was consumed, especially among the humblest classes, but it was a little-known practice on the peninsula. The study of the remains has also revealed hunting and agricultural patterns and, above all, how the locals adapted their diet as the town went into decline. As explains Valeroits objective is not only to peek into the life of luxury of the town’s potentates, but to understand the routine of the “ordinary people” and those residents who repopulated the abandoned buildings. And what did they eat? Tasty stews or chewy meats. Depends. Wealthy families treated their palates to fish, poultry, sheep and roasted young goats. Everything was well watered with Syrian wine that arrived to the town in amphorae. If we talk about the most humble inhabitants of Noheda, the slaves and field workers, things were different. They fed on ox, goats and sheep that had once been used for farming or obtaining wool and were now too old for the tasks. Their meat was aged and required longer cooking than the young cattle reserved for landowners. To drink, in his case he passed on Syrian wine to the fool. More than archeology. Noheda’s study is interesting for another reason. In addition to revealing the culinary secrets of those who lived in the Roman town between the 4th and 5th centuries AD, it is offering experts valuable information that aspires to move from museums and laboratories… to the table. After all, not only archaeologists collaborate at the site. The investigation is being carried out with the help of butchers, doctors, dentists… and Jesús Segura, chef at the head of a Michelin-starred restaurant. The objective: that the secrets of the villa serve as a basis to dishes inspired by Roman Hispania. Images | Wikipedia 1 and 2 and Government of Castilla-La Mancha (Flickr) Via | The Country In Xataka | A 2,000-year-old glass has revealed an unexpected facet of the Egyptians: psychedelic mixologists

The soldiers of the Roman Empire crushed Hannibal and Viriatus, but they were unable to defeat a fearsome enemy: diarrhea.

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If there is a civilization to which the Spanish collective imagination dedicates festivities and various events, that is the Roman empire. Nevertheless, they were more than six centuries in the Iberian Peninsula thanks to its magnificent expansion work. In its heyday, Rome It covered three continents: from Great Britain to the Carpathians in Europe, North Africa and Asia Minor. To carry out such an extension, his legions had great conflicts in the form of the Punic Wars, the battle of Cannae or the Battle of Pydna. The tough battle for intestinal well-being. As if life on the front was not hard enough, the soldiers guarding the northwest border of the Roman Empire had to confront a tough guerrilla war that is not epic enough to appear in the history books but that also caused casualties: that of intestinal parasites. More specifically, in the north of England, near Hadrian’s Wall. Because a team of researchers from the University of Oxford and Cambridge has discovered After analyzing the sewage system of the Roman fort of Vindolanda three types of intestinal parasites: intestinal worms, whipworm and giardia duodenalis. In fact, it is the first time that the giardia in Roman Britain. The three intestinal parasites, under the microscope. Intestinal worms, the whipworm or whipworm and the protozoan known as giardia lamblia, intestinalis either duodenalis They are three parasites of the digestive system that are spread by poor hygiene or by contact between infected human feces with food, drinks and hands. The intestinal worms They are a helminth that measures between 20 and 30 centimeters in length and lives in the intestine. The most common among humans are pinworms and ascariasis. Its presence in the intestine can cause abdominal pain, fever and diarrhea. The whipworms They are nematodes that are about five centimeters long. An adult whipworm can consume 0.0005 ml of blood per day, so a high presence of this parasite can translate into severe anemia. Likewise, they can cause rectal prolapse, appendicitis and diarrhea if accompanied by a bacterial invasion. A whipworm infection is more common in children and in warm, humid locations, as well as in places with poor sanitary and/or hygiene conditions. The giardia intestinal parasites is a type of microscopic parasite that still causes serious outbreaks of diarrhea today. Symptoms of a giardia infection are abdominal cramps, bloating, upset stomach, and loose stools. According to the Mayo Clinicgiardiasis is one of the most common causes of waterborne illnesses in the United States. The least they had was malnutrition and diarrhea. The three types of parasites, which today are easily diagnosed and treatable for a complete recovery, were not so so in ancient Rome. As explains Study co-author and University of Cambridge archaeologist Marissa Ledger: “Although the Romans were aware of intestinal worms, their doctors could do little to eliminate these infections or help those suffering from diarrhea, so symptoms could persist and worsen. These chronic infections likely weakened soldiers and reduced their ability to serve.” Vindolanda Fort is a true gem for history and archeology professionals. Located between present-day Carlisle and Corbridge, in Northumberland, it was built at the beginning of the 2nd century AD to protect the province from attacks by northern tribes and monitor the imposing Hadrian’s wallwhich extends from the North Sea to the Irish Sea, with forts and towers distributed along its length. In the fort there were infantry, archer and cavalry units from all over the Empire. Beyond the magnificence of the construction, the most interesting thing is the juice that Vindolanda has offered to history lovers because thanks to its water-saturated soil a large number of organic objects have been preserved: thousand wooden slats that served as a kind of logbook, more than 5,000 leather sandals and also fecal remains. Sediments from a 3rd century drain from a latrine in the thermal complex have been the source of this research. The wall watchers They defecated alive. From 50 sediment samples taken along the conduit, about nine meters long, they found everything from Roman beads to ceramics to animal bones. And under the microscope, a whole intestinal fauna. Approximately 28% of the samples had worm or whipworm eggs, and one of them had both. Using the biomolecular technique ELISA they detected the giardia. Likewise, they analyzed a sample from another fort built in 85 AD and abandoned in 92 AD, where they found worms and whipworms. Thus they deduced that the soldiers suffered from dehydration and became ill with outbreaks of giardia in summer, normally associated with contaminated and rapidly expanding water. It could be worse. The high load of intestinal parasites detected in Vindolanda is not an isolated fact, as they are similar to other Roman military enclaves such as Valkenburg (Netherlands), Carnuntum (Austria) or Bearsden (Scotland). And they even had to give thanks, because in urban sites like London and York the parasite diversity was greater, including tapeworms. It wasn’t as pretty as it looks.. While there may be preconceptions and romanticisations about what it was like to be a Roman soldier, Dr Andrew Birley, chief executive of the Vindolanda Charitable Trust is clear “Excavations at Vindolanda continue to uncover new evidence that helps us understand the incredible difficulties faced by those posted to this northwestern frontier of the Roman Empire almost 2,000 years ago, challenging our preconceptions about what life in a Roman fort and frontier town was really like.” In Xataka | The death of one empire is the birth of another: the graph that reviews the history of civilizations from 4,000 years ago In Xataka | We have been calling Christians ‘thieves’ for decades for taking Christmas from the Romans. But the story wasn’t exactly like that. Cover | Photo of 709am in Unsplash

We have been fascinated, confused and intrigued by Roman “concrete” for three decades. Pompeii is going to solve it for us

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Almost 2,000 years have passed since Mount Vesuvius unleashed a pyroclastic hell that devastated everything that was around it. That was what ended Pompeii, but it was also what gave it eternity. The Roman city began to be excavated in 1739 and, we believe, a third of the city is still underground. That’s why it still continues to surprise us. A work half done. That week in the summer of the year 79 AD, the first domes of the X insula of the IX regio was under construction. This is not surprising, of course. All of Pompeii had been under construction for almost two decades (since the earthquake of 62). However, the curious thing is that on the night of August 24, the workers were caught with everything bogged down. Plumb lines, chisels and weights; stacked tiles, tufa bricks; amphorae filled with lime, reused demolition materials and piles of pozzolans scattered on the ground. Everything has remained there, untouched, until a team from the MIT Department of Civil Engineering found and cataloged them. “The weapon of crime.” By reconstructing the scene and studying the processes, researchers concluded that these masons left incontrovertible evidence of how they mixed “hot” quicklime with volcanic ash to create concrete capable of repairing itself. In fact, as Miguel Ángel Criado collectsthings go further: the chemical and crystallographic analysis of the materials reveals quicklime (calcium oxide) in the structural concrete and slaked lime (calcium hydroxide) in the finishing mortars, thus confirming a double differentiated use. Have we finally found the key to Roman concrete? A recurring question. In 2023, I already said that “Every so often, the world rediscovers Roman concrete and is amazed by the durability of a material that allows Agrippa’s Pantheon to stand for 2,000 years.” “While modern concrete cracks after a few decades,” they usually add. By the way, “almost with the same regularity, there is some scientist or engineer who claims to have found the key secret to making this so.” But the truth, the true truth, is that despite its undoubted historiographical interest (and its potential for illuminate our knowledge of the masonry practices of 1st century Rome), the hype is always unjustified. The two mistakes of Roman concrete. When talking about Roman concrete, a lot of mistakes are usually made, but there are two recurring ones: the first is “the survivor’s bias.” As Manuel F. Herrador reminded usprofessor of Structural Concrete at the School of Civil Engineering of the Universidade da Coruña, the idea of ​​the extraordinary quality of Roman concrete comes from studying, precisely, the best structures they made, the ones that have been best preserved. Instead, most of what the Romans built has already completely disappeared and cannot be studied. The second error is even more basic and is based on ignoring that with Roman concrete we couldn’t do even a tenth of the things we do today with modern concrete. For example, today we can make long and relatively narrow “pieces” thanks to reinforced concrete. That was impossible with Roman construction techniques and is what makes our structures corrode faster. Who wouldn’t like a Roman concrete…? We already knew that Roman concrete is not a single miraculous material, but a family of recipes adapted to local environments and resources (ports, temples, roads, thermal baths). This finding only confirms it; but, in a calculated way, it is used to take advantage of the expectation that this material generates in the public imagination. And if it weren’t for making invisible the excellent work of contemporary researchers, it wouldn’t be a problem either. Because what is evident is that we do not make “Roman-style concrete” not because of ignorance; we don’t do it because we don’t want tobecause it does not serve the world we want to build. Image | Andy Holmes In Xataka | We have a problem with concrete: the same technology that allowed us to build the modern world threatens its future

We have found the oldest living tree in the EU. It is on Teide and almost coincided with the Roman Empire

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Spain is a tourism monster, and one of the most visited points is Teide. The territory of the volcano is imposing, and Bárbol hides on one of its slopes. As the character of ‘The Lord of the Rings‘, Treebeard, a Canary Islands cedar that was the oldest living tree in the European Union. And we say “was” because it has just been surpassed by one of its own species. One that is estimated to be 1,544 years old. Clonal or non-clonal, that is the question. Before we get into the discovery, let’s clarify an important concept when talking about the oldest living trees. There are two categories main: clonal and non-clonal. And understanding them is quite simple: A non-clonal tree is an individual, the traditional concept of a tree that grows from a seed. It is a unique individual with its root system and a main trunk. A clonal tree is one that is born from a root system. For example, some roots can give rise to a tree that grows and dies, and from those same roots, another tree is then born, being a “clone” of the original. Another Canary cedar. Found by researchers from the School of Forestry, Agronomic and Bioengineering Industry Engineering at the Duques de Soria Campus and by experts from the University Institute of Sustainable Forest Management at the University of Valladolid, the newly discovered specimen is a whopping 1,544 years old and is, like Bárbol, a Canary Islands cedar. He overcomes it by several years, since esteem that Bárbol is 1,481 years old, and fortunately for these two specimens, they are very far from tourist areas and human influence. This has allowed them to spend a millennium and a half in the same place where they were born, without worrying about the deforestation of the area caused by humans, and they have not been affected by the eruptions of the volcano. To access the new specimen, the researchers had to be assisted by local climbers to access these remote areas of the Teide National Park to be able to take the samples. This is how they found Treebeard Importance. Thus, they have been able to carry out an inventory of ancient cedars located in these areas that are difficult to access. Of the 25 specimens analyzed with the carbon 14 techniquethe existence of eight millennia has been evidenced, three of them exceeding 1,500 years. They are the witness of an ancient population of cedars that would have covered a large part of the park. The team has commented that it is one of the most important concentrations of ancient trees in the European Union and, furthermore, that “its persistence is due to the inaccessibility of the rocks in which they live.” Lucky. Its scientific value is also enormous, since it is like a historical record of the climate. Studying rings of ancient trees allows us to reconstruct the climatic history of the region, obtaining data on rainfall and drought patterns, tracing an evolution of temperatures and, in the case of Teide, identifying the frequency of volcanic events. It all depends on the “portage”. Those responsible for this discovery are the same ones who already dated to Treebeard in 2022, and it must be said that in Finland they found a juniper with a century more on its bark. Baptized as Utsjoki, in a first analysis in 2021 it was given 1,242 years, but after the discovery of Bárbol, they repeated the analysis and they found with which he was many more: 1,647 years old. But since technicalities have their importance in these things, it must be said that… everyone is right in stating that “theirs” is the longest-lived. The difference is in the arboreal habit of each subject. Both are non-clonal, but while the Finnish juniper had a bushy appearance, the canary has an arboreal appearance. And… well, it must also be said that the juniper died in 1906, so the two canaries are the longest living trees. That’s how they found Utsjoki. | Photo: UTU, Marco Carrer Legends. It is evident that there is a “competition” to find the oldest tree, but this is not a race to turn it into something touristy, as if it can happen with other finds, but rather to have new specimens that allow us to obtain a historical x-ray of the land on which they are. Apart from the specimens studied with methods such as carbon 14 belonging to this classification of non-clonal trees, we have specimens such as Old Tjikko Swedish 9,560 years old. The “trap” is that it is a clonal specimen, so the root system is almost 10,000 years old, but the trunks that appear from time to time only last a few centuries. And finally, those that belong to “folklore”, such as the yew Llangernyw in Wales which, located in the cemetery of a church, is estimated to be about 5,000 years old or the yew tree Fortingall in Scotland between 3,000 and 9,000 years old. Too wide a range. Images | Jens SteckertUVa In Xataka | Even when Spain does it well, it goes wrong: becoming the third most forested country in Europe has become a problem

Roman roads changed the world. And this Google Maps from 2,000 years ago allows you to explore them

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What have the Romans given us? It’s not a question I ask myself when I can’t sleep, but the brilliant satire that Monty Python captured in ‘Brian’s life‘. He aqueductsewage, education, irrigation, health, wine, public baths… and roads. At its peak, it is estimated that The empire’s network expanded over 120,000 kilometersbut as excavation has been carried out, more and more remains of Roman roads have been found. On some occasions we have brought some “Google Maps” of the Roman Empirebut what we have in our hands today is the culmination of an anthological work that compiles some of the most important sources of the arteries of the empire and captures those roads is an impressive interactive map with almost 300,000 kilometers of roads. The tool is called itiner-eand it is something that can absorb us for hours and hours. The Google Maps of the Roman Empire If you have already taken a tour of the mapyou should know that it is a living element. As discoveries are made and the location of the tracks is determined, the team will update the map. But what we currently have is the result of more than five years of work carried out by a team with members from both the Autonomous University of Barcelona and the Aarhus University of Denmark. In it study published in Naturedetail that it is “the most detailed and complete digital data set of roads in the entire Roman Empire” published so far. In fact, it exceeds the known length of Roman roads by more than 100,000 km thanks to both greater coverage at the focus and better spatial precision. Previously, the Digital Atlas of Roman and Medieval Civilizations (DARMC) mapped 188,554.7 kilometers. To do this, the researchers identified both the most important routes and the paths of archaeological and historical sources, locating them using both historical and current topographic maps. The main sources have been the Antonine Itinerary and the Tabula Peutingeriana, but the “milestones” and settlements close to each other (for example, limits of the empire, such as those near Hadrian’s Wall) are what have allowed researchers to assume the existence of roads that connected them. Other sources include summaries of the Roman road network in specific regions, maps from the Mapping Past Societies, the Barrington Atlas or the Tabula Imperii Romani, among many others. As a result of this work, the new map includes 299,171 kilometers of roads (to connect a territory of more than four million square kilometers), and they are divided as follows: 103,478 kilometers of main roads, 34.6% of the total. 195,693 kilometers of secondary roads, 65.4% of the total. And it is not that more than 100,000 kilometers have been taken out of the bag, but that roads that previously crossed rivers or were simple straight lines, have now been drawn with greater precision, adapting to the topographical peculiarities of the terrain. Now, although the work is amazing and we can see by playing with the different layers of information that many of the main roads coincide with current roads, the researchers confess that “only” the location of 2.737% of the Roman roads is known with certainty. That is why the vast majority of itiner-e roads show the legend “hypothetical” or “conjecture”, just before detailing the record from which they took the data. This certainty depends on: Certainty: segments well documented in the sources, which have been digitized with high spatial precision. Guess: segments with lower spatial precision due to a lower level of documentation. Hypothetical: paths that are speculated to have existed, but for which there is insufficient evidence to classify them within one of the above groups. For example, roads in desert areas where the infrastructure was less fixed and where several parallel roads have been found. But beyond satisfying our curiosity, something we can do with this map is… play. The team has including a function that is still in beta status and allows you to explore the time these routes took. To do this, we have to select between several points and select between four modes of land transportation: On foot at a speed of 4 km/h. By oxcart at 2 km/2. In an animal like a donkey at 4.5 km/h. And on horseback at 6 km/h. We can also select maritime routes with speeds of 2.5 km/h downstream and 0.6 km/h upstream. In the end, that rebel group from ‘Life of Brian’ was quite right when it came to saying that one of the most important things the Romans had done for them had been the deployment of roads. Because they were fundamental to speed up transportation within the empire’s domains, and that work is noticeable even today. They were the foundations on which we build our roads and urban centers. It is something that becomes clear when we observe that the only place in the empire in which there was not such an important or meticulous deployment, such as Africa and the Middle East, where trade on wheels was abandoned in favor of camel caravans in the 4th-6th centuries, has consequences today. Images | itiner-e In Xataka | Forma Urbis Romae: the gigantic map of Ancient Rome conceived in 1901 and still unsurpassed today

Marcus Licinius Crassus was the richest man in the Roman Empire thanks to an old business: real estate speculation

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Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg and Larry Ellison are the richest people in the world. Your personal assets It exceeds the annual GDP of many countries, which gives an idea of ​​the size of their wealth. However, that proportion of wealth is not exclusive to modern fortunes. Marcus Licinius Crassus was one of the richest men of the Roman Empire and his fortune was estimated to be equivalent to the entire annual budget of the Roman treasury. The most curious thing about the history of this Roman millionaire is that the way in which he amassed his fortune would not be out of place in Spain in the 20th or 21st century. Millionaire on father’s side The historian Plutarch was responsible for recording the life and work of Crassus in different chapters of ‘Parallel lives‘. Thanks to this work we know that Crassus amassed one of the most formidable fortunes in Ancient Rome. Marcus Licinius Crassus was born around the year 115 BC in Rome, into the Licinia gens, a family of plebeians with roots in the early days of the Roman Republic, so, although they did not enjoy a great fortune, let’s say that their economic situation was comfortable. His family had already held important consulates during the Republic, so they had a certain presence in Roman political life. His father, Publius Licinius Crassuswas consul in 97 BC, but during the civil war between the supporters of Gaius Marius and Lucius Cornelius Sulla (which took place between 88 and 82 BC), his father and brother were killed in those clashes, and the family lost their property. Bust of Marcus Licinius Crassus After the death of his family, Crassus inherited a small fortune, but had to flee to Hispania, where he hid for months. Later, he joined the side of the general and dictator Lucius Cornelius Sulla, a Roman general and dictator who defeated his rival Gaius Marius and ruled Rome from around 82 BC. Sulla supervised the entry of Marcus Crassus into the Senate and thus opened a way for Crassus to start building your wealth from a position of power and began to be known as Dives“the rich one.” According to his biographer Plutarch, Crassus began his political career with a fortune of 300 talents. According to the inventory of his fortune on the eve of his last campaign, his fortune reached 7,100 talents. Real estate speculation is not a modern invention The basis of Crassus’s extraordinary wealth was the massive purchase of property confiscated from political enemies during Sulla’s rule. When Lucius Cornelius Sulla took control of Rome, those who opposed him lost their properties, and these were sold at very low prices. Crassus bought almost all of them for prices well below the market price. In Rome it was common for the insulaebuildings built of wood and cement crowded together on several floors, they would burn to make fire inside, and it would jump from building to building burning entire neighborhoods. Remains of a Roman insulae As his fortune grew, Marcus Crassus bought more and more slaves that he would use to make his fortune grow even more, forming a small army of more than 500 highly qualified slaves such as architects, bricklayers, carpenters, etc. The Roman millionaire, aware that the fires of the insulae They used to extend to several buildings, he created a brigade of slaves who acted as firefighters and, it was rumored, also arsonists. As and how did he count The CountryCrassus arrived at the fires and offered the owners of the burning buildings and their neighbors ridiculous amounts of money for the property. Faced with the imminence of being left with nothing left over from the flames or having it collapse, they could at least recover part of their investment, so many accepted the sale. Only at that moment, his army of slaves went into action and put out the fire. Afterwards, the rest of the slave architects and builders restored the building, and then resold it, making an enormous profit from its sale because, after all, slave labor was free. As and how do they count In National Geographic, his slaves were even more valuable than the silver mines and land he also owned. According to Plutarch’s story, this strategy helped the skillful negotiator Crassus to gain a good part of the insulae from Rome. Plutarch said that Crassus always built for speculation, never for his own enjoyment. Crassus’ excessive ambition led him to negotiate with Julius Caesar and Pompey the creation of the First Triumvirate, although in reality Crassus’ aspirations were more about obtaining the granting of public contracts and perks for his businesses than the good government of Rome. In fact, hated Pompey. His downfall: exchanging ambition for envy However, as his fortune and political position increased, Crassus yearned for more than wealth. He sought military glory. In 72 BC he received command to end the slave rebellion led by Spartacuswhich had the support of an army made up of between 70,000 and 120,000 slaves who rose up. Marcus Crassus managed to defeat a large part of the rebels and crucified 6,000 slaves along 200 km of the Appian Way as punishment and warning to the rest of the rebels. However, many of them managed to escape, and it was his hated political partner Pompey who managed to hunt them down, putting an end to all the work that Crassus had done. By giving the final blow to the revolt, Pompey took all the credit for the victory, being received in Rome with all the honors of the laurel crown, while Crassus had to settle for a discreet owatta minor recognition. Orodes II, king of the Parthians Crassus did not give up in his attempt to demonstrate his superiority against Pompey and tried to expand his conquests and fortune by facing Pompey. to births in Syriabut his defeat in the Battle of Carras (53 BC) was catastrophic on a strategic level. There he died along with … Read more

The blue eyes were about to disappear under the Roman Empire. Now we know why

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About 35,000 years ago, in Buran-Kayato the north of the mountains of Crimea, the first person who knows that he had blue eyes died. Since then, the story of the Iris clear has been complex, violent and very interesting. Today, thanks to the improvement of genetic analysis techniques, we know many things. In recent years, it has been said that effectively The Vikings had blue eyesthat the eyes of the steppe peoples were surprisingly dark and that, during the Roman Empire, the clear eyes almost disappeared. How do we know all this? Davide Piffer used 4,133 old genomes (They covered 44,000 years) to explain when the blue eyes arose, how they were selected generation after generation and why today there are people who still have them. Why do we have blue eyes? At the genetic level, which is what interests us in this case, the explanation is simple: As Piffer himself explained“Blue eyes genetics focuses on two neighboring genes on chromosome 15: OCA2 that controls the production of melanin in the iris, and Herc2 which contains a regulatory element “. In the case of brown eyes, “Herc2 ‘active’ OCA2 effectively to produce enough pigment.” With blue eyes, the situation is different: a mutation in RS12913832 weakens HERC2 control and the least amount of melanin is perceived as bluish or greenish eyes. That is, there is a genetic ‘trace’ that allows us to dive in ancient DNA to know how (with a certain degree of variability) the eyes of our ancestors. What did you discover? This is how Piffer confirmed That the Vikings had mostly blue eyes, the steppe peoples had them darker than expected and that the current prevalence of clear eyes is due to fairly recent factors. He also discovered something curious: that the story of Rome is much more complicated than it seems. While in ancient Rome the blue eyes appear in 22.2%of the population and in medieval Rome in 21.4%, during the empire that figure fell 4.2%. What happened here? The best known explanation. For Pifferthis agrees with the increase in European northwestern descent during those periods. During the first period, although the genetic base is mostly anatolia, there was a high influence of Yamnas groups. During the last one, the arrival of Germanic groups “such as longobardos and ostrogods” would change the general genetic mix. On the other hand, during the years of Roman hegemony, the most purely Latin features had disproportionate prestige that caused a boom of brown eyes. For years, this has been part of the consensus of populations genetics. However, it is not so clear. The demograph Lyman Stone He analyzed exhaustively The Roman genomes of those 4,133 samples to determine if we really had sufficient data to talk about the eyes of the Romans. Their conclusions, between failures in dating and historical confusion, are that we do not have them. According to Stone, there are reasons to think that in the metropolitan area of ​​Rome the blue eyes were reduced (as a consequence of the increase in immigration). In the same way, it is very likely that in the empire there were more people with brown eyes in 200 d. C. that in 300 d. C. (After all, the Empire grew hugely). This is true even if Bologna’s genetics did not change at all. What about blue eyes, then? It is a question that, for the first time, we have technology to answer. However, we have no samples to do so. As Lyman saidold DNA is a fantastic tool, but it is still difficult to interpret correctly. So the answer to the initial question (why (do we believe) the Romans did not have blue eyes?) It is simple: because we do not have enough data. And this configures our world vision much more often than we are willing to admit. Image | Amanda Dalbjörn | Clemens van Lay In Xataka | Every time you think about everything the Romans managed to do, remember that they did it intoxicated with lead

If the question is how the struggles of the Roman gladiators were, the answer was in Serbia: they included bears

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Archaeologists (and also novelists and Of course Hollywood) Imagine the Roman amphaters full of gladiators, weapons and wild animalsbeasts captured to submit them in the circus sand. One thing is however imagine or intuit it based on what historical and mosaic stories tell us, and another very different is to find palpable evidence. That is what has achieved A team of archaeologists in Serbia, near the remains of the Roman amphitheater of Viminaciumformer province of Moesia. And the story he tells is fascinating. Much more than bones. What the researchers have found in the vicinity of the Viminacium Amphitheater, a wide venue built towards the second century DCoval, with high walls and capacity for some 7,000 people, was part of the skull of a brown bear. Nothing else. Nothing less. For the common of mortals the bones could have gone unnoticed, but Nemanja Marković and the rest of the researchers who They have just published his findings in AntiquityThey saw something else: a story that tells us about beasts, gladiators and struggles. Why’s that? Because beyond the characteristics of the bones, which reveal to what kind of animal they belonged to, the skull retains marks that tells us about its last days in Viminacium. What did he do, what treatment he received, where he lived and what the bear died. Thanks to the application of bone analysis techniques, radiographs, microscopic analysis and DNA sequencing, the first thing the archaeologists found is that the skull belonged to a Ursus arctosa male of about six years that the hunters probably arrested in the same region, in one of the forests that extend through the Balkans. The fact is interesting because it suggests that the Romans had a hunting network that supplied animals for their shows. It is nothing new. Other studies They have revealed how the Empire counted of a sufficiently greased, broad and efficient system to bring lions to Britannia. All for the purpose of supplying the amphitheaters where the elites and the people were distracted. What the wounds reveal. If the bones tell us things, much more do their wounds and brands, the great source of information to which Nemanja Marković and his colleagues have resorted. The first thing that caught their attention was an injury in the front of the skull, a broad wound in which the scientists appreciated two indications: one of healing, another of infection. That already tells us about a serious injury that the animal suffered for a season. The next question is evident: how was it? The other protagonist: the Venatore. To answer that issue, researchers have looked directly at the amphitheater and a very concrete type of show: the fighting between beasts and Venators (either Bestiarii), fighters who dedicated themselves to the sand with animals to delight the public. “The Roman amphitheats also organized ‘Beast Cacerías’ (Venation), which faced people against animals, a show that lasted from the republican period to late antiquity, ” They remembered Recently in Plos One The authors of another study that found another evidence of that kind of shows in Roman Britannia: the pelvis of a relatively young man (he was not more than 35 years old) who showed a clear and deep dentellada de León. Unraveling the story. “We cannot say with certainty if the bear died directly in the sand, but the evidence suggests that the trauma occurred during the shows and the subsequent infection significantly helped his death,” Marković explains in Live Science. The finding is relevant because until now historians only had references to use bears in this kind of shows. Do not test palpable. “This study provides the first direct osteological evidence of the participation of brown bears in Roman shows.” Not just that. Beyond the front wound caused perhaps by the spear of a Venatore, The researchers observed something else. The bear jaws also seemed to show traces of infection. And above all their canines were spent. The reason? The study slides that could be due to prolonged captivity during which the animal was dedicated to biting the bars of its cage. “It is likely that he has been in prison for years, not just weeks,” says the expert, which leads him to think that he participated in several Viminacium shows, where they came to reside several tens of thousands of people. One last mystery. That’s how it is. The bones hide a last mystery, a question that remains by driving at the archaeologists table: the skull of the brown bear was among the remains of a small building close to the entrance of the amphitheater. Was he buried there? And if so, why? “Previous investigations suggest that the dead animals in the sand were dismembered nearby, their meat was distributed and the bones were ruled out near the amphitheater, not buried in a formal animals cemetery,” Comment The Serbian researcher. “The fact that this bear was buried and not discarded as other animal remains suggests that the spectators or organizers of the games attributed some symbolic value. Perhaps respect, perhaps superstition. What is clear is that his death was not anonymous or banal,” Marković ditch in statements collected by National Geographic. Archaeologists too They discovered Part of the skeleton of a leopard in the same construction and bones of other wild animals, including brown bears, near the amphitheater. When analyzing these bone remains, the researchers dated them between approximately 240 and 350 AD Images | 🇸🇮 Janko Ferlič (Unsplash) and Wikipedia 1 and 2 In Xataka | The incendiary arrows are the favorite weapon of medieval fictions. They really didn’t serve anything

It is Cayo Apuleyo Diocles, Roman Auriga

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Current sport figures such as Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Rafa Nadal or Fernando Alonso themselves are respected for their abilities in their respective sports disciplines, and sponsors and clubs are responsible for reward them economically In line. However, none of them, not even gathering their fortunes, would never manage to match the richness that the most popular athlete in ancient Rome amassed: Cayo Apuleyo Diocles. In case you ask you in your Daily thought about the Roman Empirequadrigas races were the star event of any great celebration. The equivalent of a Formula 1 Grand Prize, but instead of cars with more than 1,000 hp of power, quadrigas pulled by four horses, trigas (by three horses) or bigos (by two horses) and grouped into four equipment or four FACTIONE: White, red, blue and green. These features came to be the current F1 shudges and the atcraigas were The pilots of those carsthey were revered as authentic superstars. However, although those athletes did not sign exclusive contracts with sponsors, They received authentic fortunes For winning each race. Cayo Apuleyo Diocles was one of the most successful aurigas in the empire, and managed to lift the laurel crown in 1,462 races. Each of those victories, in addition to its corresponding laurel crown of the champions, was accompanied by a substantial sum in metallic. His long career made him one of the best paid athletes of all time and came to treasure a fortune greater than that of the great athletes of our era (adjusting for inflation, of course). The Lusitano champion Despite having been one of the most recognized athletes in the ancient world, the story of Cayo Apuleyo Diocles has reached our days only for two sizes in which its history is told. The first and most important is a tombstone that experts suspect that it was placed in homage to their achievements on the walls of the Nero Circus, in the current city of the Vatican. In that slab they describe in detail the entire champion of the champion, as well as the economic amount that added all the races in which he was victorious. Cayo Apuleyo Diocles He was born in the Roman province of Lusitaniawhat today is Portugal, Extremadura and the south of Castilla y León. It could be born in the capital of that province, Augusta Emerita, which Today we know as Mérida. However, there is no written record of it. Roman Auriga What is known is that he was born in 104 and with only 18 years debuted in the sand. Only two years later he began to savor the honey of success by raising the champion laurels. The Lusitanian Auriga continued to feed the fervor of the fans for the next 24 years running in the most prestigious sands as the maximum circus of Rome, with capacity for 150,000 spectators. Sometimes, and for the sake of the show, the Auriga asked to leave from the last position to end up rising with the victory. As recorded in the wake found in the Nero Circus, Diocles retired with 42 years, 7 months and 23 daysconsolidating itself as one of the aurigas with the longest race of ancient Rome in a sport that stood out for its danger. Transcription of the wake of Cayo Apuleyo Diocles found in the Nero Circus Often, the cars collided during the race and the aurigas were dragged by their own horses, trampled by the horses of their rivals or hit by their cars. A risk that returns us to the formula 1 or motorcycle circuits today. Registrations leave testimony of An impressive palmraés Formed by 4,257 races in which he won 1,462 victories and was second in 1,438 competitions. Most of them got them by driving squares, but also won the victory in other disciplines in which cars thrown by up to seven horses participated. The registration that the tribute leaves testimony of the audacity of the Lusitanian Auriga specifying that in one of the events he participated in two races with cars thrown by three and six horses, ending victorious in both the same day. Adding the amount of all the awards achieved, Cayo Apuleyo Diocles gathered about 36 million seastercios. He Professor Peter Structfrom the University of Pennsylvania, has tried to adjust that fortune to inflation, and has determined that they would currently be the equivalent to 15,000 million dollarsso it would be among the 100 richest people in the world According to the Forbes list. The champion could enjoy his fortune in a golden retirement in Praeneste, which corresponds to the current Palestrina, a population near Rome. In the temple of the original fortune of that population, the basis of a sculpture was found in which mention is made, as a epitaphto the Lusitano champion who at his death left a son and a daughter: Cayo Apuleyo Nimfidiano and Nimfidia. In Xataka | The millionaire bias made to himself: inequality seems good to us if it is expressed individually In Xataka | The Romans had a megaindustria that helped them conquer Britania: that of beer and salt Image | Flickr (Luis Antonio Fernández Corral) *An earlier version of this article was published in September 2023

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