Rome

A Texas-Born Princess and Former Scandalous Washington Wife May Lose Roman Villa in Epic Inheritance Fight

Princess Rita Boncompagni-Ludovisi, born Rita Carpenter, the former wife of Congressman John Jenrette, has worked for 19 years to make Rome's Villa Aurora accessible to scholars. 

The Original Storming of the Capitol

by Stephen Dando-Collins

The January 6, 2021 siege of the Capitol in Washington DC has eerie parallels with a much earlier event, the AD 69 siege of the Capitoline Mount in Rome.

Ancient Rome Has an Urgent Warning for Us

by Kyle Harper

It's simplistic to look to the classics as instructions for political or social conduct, but the study of the past should inform our awareness of the power of nature to affect social and political life. 

What Would Cicero See In American Governance Today?

by Edward Watts

"The United States now approaches the tipping point between a republic governed by law and the polity of violence, governed by mutual fear, that Cicero described over two millennia ago."

If Trump Is Caligula, There Could Be Some Unexpected Benefits

How the story of a Roman emperor planning to appoint his horse as consul relates to the Trump administration, with input from historian Aloys Winterling.

The Vandals sacked Rome, but do they deserve their reputation?

Their name is synonymous with destruction, but the group may not deserve such a harsh legacy.

You Can Now Tour the Tunnels Beneath Rome’s Baths of Caracalla

by Meilan Solly

The newly opened underground network features a brick oven once used to heat the baths’ caldarium, as well as a contemporary video art installation.  

Remembering Rome's Liberation

by Gregory Sumner

Amid the anniversary of the D-Day invasion, it is important to note, too, the anniversary of an event that unfolded just two days earlier: the Allied liberation of Rome. 

Women in Ancient Rome Didn’t Have Equal Rights. They Still Changed History

by Barry Strauss

If we look hard at the history, we discover some women who made their mark, either working within their prescribed gender roles as wives, lovers, mothers, sisters or daughters, or exercising so much political, religious or, even in a few cases, military power that they smashed those roles altogether and struck out on their own. 

Roman Military Commander's Sprawling Home Found Beneath Subway System

Archaeologists in Rome have discovered the remains of a sprawling residence of a Roman military commander dating back 1,900 years and holding several rooms covered in ornate mosaic floors with geometric patterns, along with pools and fountains.

The Most Amazing Artifacts Discovered While Building Rome’s Subway

The city of Rome is over 2,700 years old. Dig into the ground and you’ll eventually bump into what the old residents left behind.

Secret pagan basilica in Rome emerges from the shadows after 2,000 years

An underground chamber that was a place of worship for a mysterious cult 2,000 years ago has opened to the public for the first time.

Roman Gladiators ate a mostly vegetarian diet and drank a tonic of ashes after training

These are the findings of anthropological investigations carried out on bones of warriors found during excavations in the ancient city of Ephesos.

Archaeologists' findings may prove Rome a century older than thought

As Italian capital approaches 2,767th birthday, excavation reveals wall built long before official founding year of 753BC.

"Secret" Labyrinth of Tunnels under Rome Mapped

To predict and prevent the collapse of streets in Rome, geoscientists mapped high-risk areas of the quarry system.

Archaeologists uncover secrets of Portus, once gateway to Rome

University of Southampton team finds evidence explaining why opulent Roman empire port was dismantled in 6th century.

Hi-tech aqueduct explorers map Rome's 'final frontier'

These urban explorers are mapping Rome's subterranean secrets.

Rome’s start to architectural hubris

Granted that Rome was not built in a day, the unresolved question among scholars has been just how long did it take. How early, before Julius Caesar came, saw and conquered, did Romans begin adopting a monumental architecture reflecting the grandeur of their ambitions?Most historians agree that early Rome had nothing to compare to the sublime temples of Greece and was not a particularly splendid city, like Alexandria in Egypt.Any definitive insight into the formative stages of Roman architectural hubris lies irretrievable beneath layers of the city’s repeated renovations through the time of caesars, popes and the Renaissance. The most imposing ruin of the early Roman imperial period is the Colosseum, erected in the first century A.D.

Road through Roman history creates colossal headache

ROME — Via dei Fori Imperiali, a multilane artery running through the heart of Rome, is typically a frenzy of swerving Vespas, zipping Smart cars and honking Fiat taxis.But Mayor Ignazio Marino is seeking to transform the avenue to something calmer, where Gucci loafers and sensible sneakers would rule.Mr. Marino’s plan to ban private traffic on the roadway, which bisects a vast archaeological site, from the central Piazza Venezia to the Colosseum, has prompted grousing and histrionic debate over a project that conservators say would solidify the world’s largest urban archaeological area.This being Rome, the first high-impact initiative of his seven-week-old administration, which goes into effect on Saturday, has provoked its share of unfavorable comparisons with the overweening ambitions of emperors past. “The mayor’s job is not to pass into history, but to work for his citizens,” said Luciano Canfora, a professor of classics at the University of Bari. “We already had Nero, that’s more than enough.”...

Unrepentant Nazi criminal Priebke chills Rome

There has been a renewed call in Italy for one of the oldest surviving Nazi war criminals to repent.It came on the eve of the 100th birthday of Erich Priebke, who has never expressed remorse for his part in a World War ll massacre at the Ardeatine Caves, on the outskirts of Rome.The former SS officer is actually still in the Italian capital.He lives under house arrest in what some in the city regard as conditions that are far too comfortable and lenient....