From my photo archive for #RomanSiteSaturday - the sunken Mithraeum Temple outside the southwest corner of Brocolitia Roman Fort on #HadriansWall in early spring with its replica stone altars. This place is often atmospheric especially around sunset. #RomanBritain

Doing a little dance of joy because my nose has finally stopped running. I have survived the lurgy from hell.

My photo shows the decorated rear and handle of a Roman bronze mirror, dated AD 50-70. The mirror was discovered in a pit during excavation of a Roman Villa in Devon. Roman mirror ‘glass’ was typically highly polished tin or silver. #FindsFriday #RomanBritain #Archaeology 📸 my own.

Head of the pin in the form of a #Roman lady An intricate bust of a Roman lady has been carved into this #hairpin from the Roman town of Caerwent, south-east #Wales. #VentaSilurum #RomanBritain #FindsFriday #Archaeology

My writing in 2026: Show up for 1 hour per day. Draft at least 250 words. Read from a book that resonates before lights out. Eavesdrop and observe. Fill a notebook. Walk in my protagonist’s shoes. Finish Draft by April/First Edit by December. And tell the lie that reveals a truth. #WriteCBC

Happy New Year #WritingCommunity! 🎊 It's time for #WriteCBC, share your writing goal for 2026. Tell us in the replies to this post and you might win a course worth £230! Enter by 10am Fri 9 Jan. Get some inspiration (and read T&Cs) here: www.curtisbrowncreative.co.uk/blog/10-writ...

Roman #NewYear was January 1st (Kalends) after Julius Caesar's calendar reform. Romans honored the 2-faced god Janus, who looked to both past and future. Feasting, gift-giving (honey, dates, coins for prosperity), new resolutions, wearing white togas, games, and public ceremonies for new consuls-my📸

The next 365-day dance around the sun is about to begin. Who’s on the dance floor? #NewYear2026 #HappyNewYear 📸 my own, #Northumberland

Trieste Cathedral was built over a Roman temple next to the forum and retains the original mosaic floor. #TilesOnTuesday 🗃️🏺

I’ve been quiet on BlueSky for the month of December. Was very busy before Christmas like everyone else. Preparing, parties, etc. Then came down with Flu on Boxing Day. Still in bed on NYE and feeling fatigued, nauseous, just miserable. This isn’t a ‘pity me’ post. It’s a Happy New Year post!

I've made a small donation to help make a big difference to an underrepresented writer's career: www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding...

A #Roman rock crystal ring decorated with a crescent and stars inlaid with gold foil - it looks like an emoji 🤩, but for the Romans this wasn’t just decoration. The motif was associated with death: crescent and stars were symbols for eternity and afterlife. Rock crystal was valued...🧵1/2 📷 me 🏺

Erasmus is back.🤩 #BrexitHasFailed.

Floor mosaics in a luxurious second century AD townhouse in #Italica, Santaponce, near Seville, Spain. Italica was lavishly expanded during the reign of Emperor Hadrian (emperor AD 117-138). He was born there on 24th January AD 76. Emperor Trajan also came from Italica. #MosaicMonday #Archaeology

One of two chambered tombs near Newton Stewart, Galloway - this is Cairnholy I. Tombs for ancestors were important to farming communities that lived here in the neolithic period, 6000- 4000 years ago. A curving facade of standing stones fronts the tomb. #StandingStoneSunday #Archaeology 📸 my own.

✨ Head to our Member Events space in Circle to RSVP ✨ Join us at 5pm GMT for an hour of joyful celebration, together. We've exciting new events lined up for 2026! More on this coming soon... Looking for a supportive writing community? Come join us at #BeingAWriter!

So, I get a bit overwhelmed by life sometimes. I go quiet when it happens. I seek solitude, and space to breathe. A tactical retreat works for me. And it is also when I get my best writing ideas. And it can be 5 minutes if that’s all I can manage. #MentalHealth #AmWriting #SlowDown #WritingLife

Sunsets come early in #Northumberland in December. This was yesterday, 12th December, at 3.21 pm. Ten minutes later, the sun dipped below the hills. 📸 my own. #SunsetPhotography #Photography

Roman marble bust of a woman with an elaborate hairstyle. 2nd C AD in date. It is known as the Fonseca bust because it was gifted by Father Fonseca to Pope Benedict XIV. Now on display in the Capitoline Museums in #Rome. No idea how Father Fonseca came to own this. 📸 my own #Archaeology #AncientRome

Roman marble urn that contained the ashes of Lucius Torquatus and was found in Tomb 19 of the Necropolis on the Isola Sacra, #OstiaAntica. Tomb 19 is a large tomb that was built to commemorate the deceased members of a household. Dated 2nd C AD. #TombTuesday #EpigraphyTuesday #Archaeology 📸 my own.

Roman marble bust of a woman with an elaborate hairstyle. 2nd C AD in date. It is known as the Fonseca bust because it was gifted by Father Fonseca to Pope Benedict XIV. Now on display in the Capitoline Museums in #Rome. No idea how Father Fonseca came to own this. 📸 my own #Archaeology #AncientRome

The Oscan bronze law inscription found at Oppido Lucano, ancient Bantia in 1790. The tablet bears a Latin inscription (CIL 1².583 = CIL 9.416; in image) dated to the late 2nd c. BC; on the reverse an Oscan legal text from the first decades of the 1st c. BC. #EpigraphyTuesday

Roman marble urn that contained the ashes of Lucius Torquatus and was found in Tomb 19 of the Necropolis on the Isola Sacra, #OstiaAntica. Tomb 19 is a large tomb that was built to commemorate the deceased members of a household. Dated 2nd C AD. #TombTuesday #EpigraphyTuesday #Archaeology 📸 my own.

A Roman dagger from a waterlogged environment at #Vindolanda Roman fort in #Northumberland. Every Roman soldier carried a dagger like this. The handle is missing - it may have been made of bone or wood. Early AD 2nd C. #Archaeology #RomanBritain 📸 my own.

Thanks so much for sending me this beautiful hardback, The Blackbirds of St Giles, by Lila Cain, a duo of authors, Marcia Hutchinson and Kate Griffin. I won a #BookGiveaway courtesy of @simonschusteruk.bsky.social and @histnovsoc.bsky.social P.S. There’ll be a sequel. #HistoricalFiction #BookSky

A Roman dagger from a waterlogged environment at #Vindolanda Roman fort in #Northumberland. Every Roman soldier carried a dagger like this. The handle is missing - it may have been made of bone or wood. Early AD 2nd C. #Archaeology #RomanBritain 📸 my own.

Early for #MosaicMonday - a conference on mosaics with online attendance possible. Sounds great! www.ucd.ie/arthistory/n...

Some details from black and white Roman floor mosaics from 2nd and 3rd century AD buildings in Roman Cordoba, Spain. These are now on display in the beautiful Moorish Alcazar Palace, Cordoba. 📸 my own #MosaicMonday #RomanEmpire #Archaeology

One of two chambered tombs near Newton Stewart, Galloway - this is Cairnholy I. Tombs for ancestors were important to farming communities that lived here in the neolithic period, 6000- 4000 years ago. A curving facade of standing stones fronts the tomb. #StandingStoneSunday #Archaeology 📸 my own.

This isn’t #Pompeii. These streets and buildings are part of #OstiaAntica, now an archaeological park. Ostia was the port of #AncientRome on the Tiber estuary. The town is enormous. Spent a day there in October. Need to go back again because I didn’t see it all. 📸 my own. #Archaeology #RomanEmpire

Exquisite Roman glass cup signed by master glassmaker ‘Ennion’. AD 30-70. Ennion was the first glassmaker to ‘brand’ his work by incorporating his name into the mould’s design, some 2000 years ago! Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Adria 📷 Leonardo.disimone #Archaeology

This isn’t #Pompeii. These streets and buildings are part of #OstiaAntica, now an archaeological park. Ostia was the port of #AncientRome on the Tiber estuary. The town is enormous. Spent a day there in October. Need to go back again because I didn’t see it all. 📸 my own. #Archaeology #RomanEmpire

Meet Reggie! Reggie visits my son’s pub, The Queen’s Head, Great Whittington, #Northumberland, with owner, Max. Reggie knows there is a jar of doggie treats kept on the bar. #Dogs

Roman #amphitheatre, #Italica, Santiponce, Spain. 1. Below ground was the holding area for gladiators, the condemned, animals. 2. On the arena floor, death was performance art. 3. In the seats the crowd cheered cruelty that was also entertainment. 📸 my own. #RomanSiteSaturday #RomanEmpire

May I suggest this? Of course it is harrowing - because Amera has suffered unspeakable loss - but it is also beautiful books.apple.com/gb/book/the-...

Roman #amphitheatre, #Italica, Santiponce, Spain. 1. Below ground was the holding area for gladiators, the condemned, animals. 2. On the arena floor, death was performance art. 3. In the seats the crowd cheered cruelty that was also entertainment. 📸 my own. #RomanSiteSaturday #RomanEmpire

renardpress.com/books/all-th... This is out 10/02/26 with pre-orders open now @renardpress.com

Imagine wearing this: An exquisite gold diadem with beads shaped like rods and discs flanking a central Heracles knot, with chain pendants. Found in Taranto, Italy, 1927, dated end 4th C to beginning 3rd C BCE. #FindsFriday #Archaeology #AncientBlueSky 📸 my own, Taranto Archaeological Museum.

The Lewis Chessmen These 12th-century chess pieces are packed with personality, and have such charmingly expressive eyes! ♟️ 👀 From a large gaming hoard discovered on the Isle of Lewis, Scotland, in 1831. 📷 by me #FindsFriday #Archaeology

So far this #December, #Winter is sodden, damp, and grey. But in the past it has been pink pastels and trees in frothy lace, and cold enough to make my skin glow. My photo shows the sort of winter’s day I love. 🥶⛄️❄️🌨️ #WinterIsHere but it’s not like this👇

Roman silver phalera depicting Medusa’s head from a barrack in a timber fort at #Vindolanda, AD 105-120. Phalerae decorated breastplates that soldiers wore on parade. Medusa’s gaze was said to turn people to stone, perfect to frighten enemies. #FindsFriday #Archaeology #RomanBritain 📸 my own.

Roman fresco from the Domus Fulminata, #OstiaAntica, AD 200-250. It depicts Odysseus in his ship. The house was built c. 70-75 AD but altered c. 150 AD and c. 250 AD. Inside the west wall an iron sword was found, perhaps a building sacrifice. #FrescoFriday #AncientRome #Archaeology 📸 my own.

When we think about Roman forts & fortresses we imagine them full of soldiers like these in a marble relief depicting Praetorians (imperial guard, AD 51-2). Women & children were present too as evidenced by this woman’s slipper & child’s boot, #Vindolanda, c.AD 100-105. #RomanFortThursday 📸 my own

Roman silver phalera depicting Medusa’s head from a barrack in a timber fort at #Vindolanda, AD 105-120. Phalerae decorated breastplates that soldiers wore on parade. Medusa’s gaze was said to turn people to stone, perfect to frighten enemies. #FindsFriday #Archaeology #RomanBritain 📸 my own.

Roman fresco from the Domus Fulminata, #OstiaAntica, AD 200-250. It depicts Odysseus in his ship. The house was built c. 70-75 AD but altered c. 150 AD and c. 250 AD. Inside the west wall an iron sword was found, perhaps a building sacrifice. #FrescoFriday #AncientRome #Archaeology 📸 my own.

Imagine wearing this: An exquisite gold diadem with beads shaped like rods and discs flanking a central Heracles knot, with chain pendants. Found in Taranto, Italy, 1927, dated end 4th C to beginning 3rd C BCE. #FindsFriday #Archaeology #AncientBlueSky 📸 my own, Taranto Archaeological Museum.

The #northernlights over #Northumberland last night, back lit by moonlight. Galileo Galilei coined the term #AuroraBorealis to describe them. He referred to the ancient Roman goddess of dawn, Aurora, and the ancient Greek god of the north wind, Boreas. 📸 my own near #HadriansWall

Lorica Segmentata from the Corbridge Hoard, Corbridge Roman Site Museum, Northumberland. #RomanFortThursday #Archaeology #Armour #RomanBritain #Corbridge #Photography

This is my illustration of the tiny bronze Minerva sculpture found at Cardean Roman fort in Angus, Scotland, which appears in my book 'The Road to Mons Graupius'. I am fascinated by the fact that images (and the worship) of Roman gods travelled so far north. #RomanFortThurdsday

This trio of headless figures were found at Vercovicium Roman Fort (Housesteads), Northumberland on Hadrian’s Wall. They represent Matres or mother-goddesses carrying cups & fruits. Roman military communities payed respect to local deities. #RomanBritain #Archaeology #RomanFortThursday 📸 my own.