Faces of Cleopatra and Antony's Twin Babies Revealed   Live Science - April 22, 2012

Cleopatra's twin babies now have a face. An Italian Egyptologist has rediscovered a sculpture of Alexander Helios and Cleopatra Selene, the offspring of Mark Antony and Cleopatra VII, at the Egyptian museum in Cairo. Discovered in 1918 near the temple of Dendera on the west bank of the Nile, the sandstone statue was acquired by the Egyptian Museum in Cairo but has remained largely overlooked. The back of the the 33-foot sculpture, catalogued as JE 46278 at the Egyptian museum, features some engraved stars -- likely indicating that the stone was originally part of a ceiling. Overall, the rest of the statue appears to be quite unusual.

Roman-era couple held hands for 1,500 years   MSNBC - October 22, 2011

Two skeletons found in central-northern Italy reveal the couple was buried holding hands some 1,500 years ago. The skeletal remains of a Roman-era couple reveal the pair has been holding hands for 1,500 years. Italian archaeologists say the man and woman were buried at the same time between the 5th and 6th century A.D. in central-northern Italy. Wearing a bronze ring, the woman is positioned so she appears to be gazing at her male partner.

Sacks of Human Waste Reveal Secrets of Ancient Rome   National Geographic - June 25, 2011

Now excavated, an ancient Roman chamber once held tons of decayed garbage and human waste. Flushed down sewers from apartment blocks and shops, the deposit - the largest collection of ancient Roman garbage and human waste ever found, researchers say - dates to about A.D. 79. That year a catastrophic volcanic eruption of Mount Vesuvius buried Herculaneum, along with its more famous neighbor, Pompeii. Lost jewelry, coins, and semiprecious stones from a gem shop have been found, along with discarded household items such as broken lamps and pottery, according to Wallace-Hadrill, director of the Herculaneum Conservation Project, a Packard Humanities Institute initiative. And, coming from a onetime district of shopkeepers and artisans, the organic material has revealed just what your run-of the-mill Roman might have eaten in this coastal town, according to project scientists, who collaborated with the British School at Rome and the archaeological authorities for Naples and Pompeii.

Roman rise and fall 'recorded in trees'   BBC - January 14, 2011
An extensive study of tree growth rings says there could be a link between the rise and fall of past civilizations and sudden shifts in Europe's climate. A team of researchers based their findings on data from 9,000 wooden artifacts from the past 2,500 years. They found that periods of warm, wet summers coincided with prosperity, while political turmoil occurred during times of climate instability.

Archaeologists hail unique find in Albania   PhysOrg - August 20, 2010

A marble bus of an athlete dating back to the Roman era, has been unearthed in the ancient city of Apollonia, 120 kms from Tirana. A team of French and Albanian archaeologists digging at the scene are studying how Apollonia evolved from a Greek colony founded in the 7th century BC to a Roman settlement in the 3rd century AD.

Remains of Roman villa near Aberystwyth discovered   BBC - July 26, 2010

Pictures: Oldest Apostle Images Revealed by Laser   National Geographic - June 26, 2010
Archaeologists Find Oldest Paintings of Apostles in Roman Catacombs   PhysOrg - June 23, 2010

Mysterious ancient altar found in Roman fort   MSNBC - July 24, 2009

Archaeologists using sonar scan five pristine ancient Roman shipwrecks   MSNBC - July 23, 2009

Giant, Bulging-Eyed Roman Emperor Statue Found National Geographic - August 27, 2008

Huge statue of Roman ruler found BBC - August 25, 2008

Roman temple found under church BBC - August 12, 2008
Ancient Roman Ruins Discovered in Jewish Capital Live Science - August 12, 2008

Ancient Rome's Earliest Temple Reconstructed National Geographic - March 14, 2008

Rome Subway Digs Reveal Medieval, Renaissance Treasures National Geographic - March 10, 2008

Roman Throne Preserved in Lava, Ash National Geographic - December 5, 2007

Hailed as the most significant piece of wooden furniture ever discovered, the throne was entombed under 82 feet of volcanic mud by the same eruption of Mount Vesuvius that buried the nearby towns of Pompeii and Stabiae in 79 A.D.

Grotto of Rome's Founders Revealed National Geographic - November 21, 2007

Pristine Pre-Roman Tomb Discovered in Italy National Geographic - September 1, 2007

Giant statue of Roman Emperor Hadrian unearthed BBC - August 10, 2007

Sacred Cave of Rome's Founders Discovered, Archaeologists Say National Geographic - January 26, 2007
Lupercale - the sacred cave where, according to legend, a she-wolf nursed the twin founders of Rome and where the city itself was born.

Sacred Cave of Rome's Founders Discovered, Archaeologists Say National Geographic - January 26, 2007
Lupercale - the sacred cave where, according to legend, a she-wolf nursed the twin founders of Rome and where the city itself was born.

Archaeologists exploring one of Rome's oldest catacombs have discovered more than 1,000 skeletons dressed in elegant togas Scotsman.com - June 26, 2006

Royal Roman ruins go back to age of myth MSNBC - February 2005

Ancient Roman cosmetic secrets revealed BBC - November 2004

Romans responsible for a rudimentary version of virtual reality May 2003 - BBC News

The Romans invented many things but it may come as a surprise to some that they could also be responsible for a rudimentary version of virtual reality.

Rome obelisk struck by lightning BBC - May 2002

An ancient obelisk which has been at the center of a dispute between Italy and Ethiopia has been damaged.

September 16, 2000 - AP - London

A young woman cremated and buried with costly goods centuries ago in Roman London may be the first found female gladiator, archaeologists said. The woman in her 20s, identified by a fragment of a pelvis, was buried with one dish decorated with the image a fallen gladiator, and other vessels with symbols associated with gladiators, said Hedley Swain, head of the Early Department at the Museum of London. Specialists at the museum believe it may be the first discovery of a female gladiator's grave anywhere in the world. "There is evidence of a very exotic and high-status feast, including dates, almonds, figs and a dove," Swain said. There were also remains of pine cones imported from the Mediterranean, which apparently were burned as incense. Three lamps found in the grave were decorated with images of the Egyptian god Anubis. This jackal-headed deity was associated with the Roman god Mercury, and Swain noted that slaves dressed as Mercury were employed to drag away the bodies from amphitheaters.

Jenny Hall, curator of early London history at the museum, estimated there was a 70 percent chance this was a female gladiator. "The fact that we have this association with gladiators indicates that she was a gladiator, or someone deeply involved with gladiators," Hall said. It has long been known that women fought as gladiators.There is an inscription in Pompeii which refers to women in the arena, and to the Emperor Septimius Severus, who ruled from A.D. 193 to 211. Gladiator graves have been excavated at Trier, Germany, but these did not include the trappings of wealth, Hall said. The grave was found within a walled Roman cemetery on the south bank of the Thames, in what is now Southwark. Archaeologists from the museum also continue to analyze the results of their excavations of the Roman amphitheater found near the Guildhall in the financial district. That amphitheater had room for 7,000 spectators, which would have been about a third of the population of Roman London.

August 2, 2000 - Discovery

This letter written by a Florentine trader in 1536 contains what is the earliest known example of the @ sign, the quintessential symbol of the Internet. According to an Italian scholar, the symbol stands for "amphora," which was a weight unit used by ancient Greeks and Romans. An Italian scholar has discovered that "amphora," a word referring to a weight unit used by ancient Greeks and Romans, is the real name for the Internet's ubiquitous squiggle, the @ sign used in email communications.

Giorgio Stabile, who teaches the history of science at Rome's La Sapienza University, traced the origin of the @ sign to at least 500 years ago, when Italian merchants invented it. The evidence was hidden in the archives at the Francesco Datini Institute of Economic History in Prato, near Florence: a letter written by Francesco Lapi, a Florentine trader, on May 4, 1536, clearly shows what is the earliest known example of the quintessential symbol of the Internet.

Describing the arrival in Spain of three ships bearing gold and silver from Latin America, Lapi writes: "there an @ of wine, which is one thirtieth of a barrel, is worth 70 or 80 ducats." "In the document, the @ sign is the abbreviation for amphora, a measure of capacity based on the terracotta jars used for transportation in the ancient Mediterranean world," said Stabile, who will publish his finding in a book for the Treccani Encyclopedia by the end of the year.

The sign has been a central part of the Internet since Ray Tomlinson chose it as a separator in email addresses in 1972. Cybernauts of various countries have given the sign nicknames from snail to strudel and monkey's tail, but the @ sign was believed to derive from the Latin word "ad," meaning "to, toward, at."

The story goes that in late medieval cursive writing the upright stroke of the "d" curved over to the left making a loop around the "a." "This theory has no support from a paleographic point of view. In my research, I ignored the metaphors related to the sign and considered the only two denominations with a historical background: the English "commercial at" and the Spanish "arroba," said Stabile.

Searching the commercial paleography, Stabile stumbled into a Spanish-Latin dictionary of 1492: the word "arroba" was translated as "amphora," showing that the amphora weight unit was known both in the Greek-Latin and in the Arab-Hispanic world. The amphora was long used as a measuring unit in Venice and along trade Routes running to Northern Europe. There, it acquired its contemporary commercial meaning, "at the price of." "The story of the Latin roots of the sign was completely wrong," said Armando Petrucci, professor of Latin Paleography at Pisa University. "Finally, Stabile's discovery sheds light on the history of this successful sign."

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