Gareth Harney

Moneta is out today in paperback! "Riveting ... An utterly original history of Rome that compels from start to finish. A wonderful read." ― Mail on Sunday "An excellent 1,000 year history of Rome told in an engaging new way ... well worth a few denarii." ― The Times

‘Perseus Skywalker’ by Jon Marro.

‘Good deeds can be quickly stated. Evil deeds require an excess of language to veil their wrongs.’ - Thucydides (Peloponnesian War, 3.67)

‘Even the best drunkards shorten their lives, never seeing the sun come up. Note their pale faces, sagging cheeks, red eyes and shaking hands that spill filled cups, breath reeking of last night’s wine jar, everything forgotten, memory dead. Soon any sleep they do have will be haunted, all their nights restless. Some people might call this ‘seizing the day’ – but while we all lose yesterday behind us, this lot ensure they lose tomorrow as well.’ Pliny the Elder, Natural History, 14. 147.

"Scipio used to say that Rome would not only provide roads to help the enemy in their retreat, but also ensure they were well paved." (Frontinus, Stratagems, 4.7.16)

Detail of the goats of Polyphemus wandering in the fantastical mythological landscape.

'The family household teaches us every form of constitution: paternal authority is the Royal, relationship between man and wife is the Aristocratic, and the bond of brothers is a Republic.' - Aristotle, Eudemian Ethics, 1241b.

Roman gold necklace with floral pendants containing aurei coins of emperors Lucius Verus, Severus Alexander, and empress Julia Domna. The ornate globular pulls for adjusting the necklace are decorated with theatrical masks. Roman Egypt, c.225 AD, The Met

Standing next to the original bronze doors of the Roman Senate house! The massive doors were taken from the ancient Curia Julia in 1660 by Pope Alexander VII and installed in the Basilica of St John Lateran.

5) A new memorial inscription was placed at the grave of the Roman girl. It reads: DIS MANIBVS PVELLA INCOGNITA LONDINIENSIS HIC SEPVLTA EST “To the spirits of the dead, the unknown young girl from Roman London lies buried here”

Update on the Mausoleum of Augustus that is supposed to open up this summer! @AncientRomeLive

21) The goddess is clothed in a light garment that adheres closely to her body, fastened by brooches at her shoulders. Around her hips is wrapped a heavier himation cloak, the folds of the cloth rendered with masterful precision..

1) The breathtaking marble wings of Victory. One of two pairs of wings unearthed since 2008 in a spolia pit on the Palatine Hill, thought to have once belonged to a pair of winged Victory statues that adorned the Roman imperial palace...

@russellcrowe The only acceptable tattoo:

I know I’m old and terrible and I do not mean this applies to the generation of earned tattoo’s … but these days , all these strange individual random kiddy paint tattoo images…wtf?

‘The testudo (tortoise) formation is so marvellously strong that men can walk upon it, and whenever they come to a narrow ravine, even horses and vehicles can be driven over it. Owing to the excellent shelter it affords, the troops often deploy the testudo as they approach some fort in a frontal assault, even using the shields as a ramp to scale the very walls.’ – Cassius Dio, 49.30. (Video: Lorica Romana re-enactment group at the Great Roman Games, Nîmes)

Ludus Magnus- the great gladiator school of imperial Rome. 1 of 4 on the Caelian. @AncientRomeLive

@Disclosure202 Amazing memories for your son, wonderful to see.

@OptimoPrincipi I was there two days ago! Pictured here, my son and my wife.

Taking a moment to admire the 14-foot gilded bronze equestrian statue of the emperor Marcus Aurelius, born on this day in 121 AD. A truly miraculous survival from ancient Rome, the statue has been preserved inside the Capitoline Museums since 1981 with a reproduction taking its place outside in Piazza del Campidoglio. Catalogues of Rome’s standing monuments compiled in the age of Constantine suggest that at least 22 of these ‘great horses’ (equi magni) – some many times bigger than this statue of Marcus – could be seen around the ancient city by the 4th century. The equestrian statue is not only the last of these remaining, it is the only complete equestrian bronze statue of an emperor to survive from the entire Roman world, spared from being melted down due to the mistaken belief that it depicted Constantine, the first ruler to convert to Christianity.

@OptimoPrincipi Video of that lovely equestrian aureus from a recent auction!

@JoeMC1966 If only they had got to some of the 20+ others that were melted down for their bronze in the middle ages.

@OptimoPrincipi Shocked, the Btitish didn't steal that either.

@davidmWats Yes, the Equus Traiani also estimated to have stood 30-36 feet in height.

@OptimoPrincipi The equestrian statue of emperor Theodosius atop the column of Justinian in Constantinople was almost twice as big as this by the way