#FrescoFriday - The magnificent Garden Fresco from the triclinium of Livia's villa at Prima Porta. This Second-Style fresco depicts a variety of plants, fruits, flowers, and birds rendered in a naturalistic way. It is one of the most stunning frescoes from the Roman world!

Happy New Year and Happy January! The month of Ianuarius, as the Romans called it, was named after Janus, the two-faced god of beginnings, endings, gates, and time. One face looks to the past, the other to the future.

Wishing you Health, Life, Joy, Peace, Good Cheer, Hope. This lovely ancient message was inscribed in Greek on a mosaic in Halicarnassus 1600 years ago. #2026NewYear

Wishing all my friends and followers a great 2026! 🎉 #2026NewYear Annum novum faustum felicem! A happy and prosperous New Year! Here are some New Year’s wishes from Roman oil lamps, which were traditionally given as presents on New Year’s Day.

#OnThisDay in AD 192, Emperor Commodus was murdered in his bath by a wrestler named Narcissus after an attempt to poison him failed. Commodus’s death ended his tyrannical rule and ushered in the so-called Year of the Five Emperors, a period of chaos and power struggles in the Roman Empire.

EpigraphyTuesday - Inscription commemorating the restoration of Surrentum's horologium (clock) by the Emperor Titus after the earthquake of AD 79. Museo Correale di Terranova, Sorrento. AE 1902, 00040 edh.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/edh/inschrif...

Happy birthday to Emperor Titus, born #OnThisDay in 39 AD in Rome.

#MosaicMonday - Mosaic pavement from Sepphoris (Diocaesarea), Israel, depicting a centaur draped in a leopard-skin cloak and holding a large bowl inscribed with the Greek phrase "Helpful God". Dated to the 5th century AD.

#OnThisDay in AD 537, the construction of the new church of Hagia Sophia was completed and inaugurated by Justinian I, who supposedly exclaimed, "Oh Solomon, I have outdone you!"

What a wonderful Christmas gift! I can’t wait to get it! 💀

Relief with a Tauroctony scene and a dedicated inscription to Sol Invictus. Emperor Aurelian dedicated a temple in Rome to Sol Invictus, the unconquered Sun, #OnThisDay in AD 274. Sol Invictus became an increasingly important deity, with his festival day occurring on the 25th of December.

Hadrian and his mother-in-law, Matidia. Today marks the 1906th anniversary of Matidia's consecration following her death in December AD 119. Hadrian granted her extravagant honours. Read more 👉 followinghadrian.com/2019/12/23/2...

It's the last day of the Saturnalia festival. Io, io! 🌟🌟 December 23 was a day of gift-giving when candles and small clay or wax figurines (sigillariae) were exchanged. followinghadrian.com/2017/12/17/i... #Saturnalia 🪔

#OnThisDay in 119, Hadrian says farewell to his beloved mother-in-law, Salonia Matidia. followinghadrian.com/2019/12/23/2...

#MosaicMonday - Mosaic panel from Hadrian's Villa depicting a rocky landscape with goats by a stream and a statue of Dionysus. Musei Vaticani, Gabinetto delle Maschere.

Happy #WinterSolstice! Here's Winter depicted on the Mosaic of the Four Seasons from Ain Beida near Timgad, 2nd century AD. National Museum of Antiquities, Algiers, Algeria.

It's the third day of the Saturnalia festival. Io, io! 🪔 Drinking and being drunk in public was an important part of the festival. These 4th-century AD Roman glass cage-cups bear the inscription BIBE VIVAS MULTIS ANNIS - 'Drink and live many years!' 🍷 followinghadrian.com/2017/12/17/i...

It's the second day of the #Saturnalia festival. Io, io! 🌟 Celebrations continued at home, where individuals conducted their private religious rituals. People bathed early, made a sacrifice and ate a suckling pig, a Saturnalia favourite! 🐷 followinghadrian.com/2017/12/17/i...

What are you doing to celebrate the start of the Saturnalia festival? I am having my traditional Saturnalia feast with some delicious ancient Roman food and wine! 🍷 #Saturnalia 🪔

Io Saturnalia!🌟🪔 "Long awaited, the seven Saturnalia are now at hand." Macrobius #Saturnalia was an ancient Roman festival in honour of the god Saturn, beginning on December 17. It was a time of feasting, drinking, games, gift-giving, and role reversal. followinghadrian.com/2017/12/17/i...

It's Saturnalia Eve! 🌟🌟 How are you going to celebrate tomorrow? I will have my traditional Saturnalia feast with some delicious ancient Roman food and wine! #Saturnalia 🪔

Happy birthday, Lucius Verus! 🎂 Lucius Verus was born #OnThisDay in AD 130. He was the son of Lucius Aelius Caesar, Hadrian’s first intended successor. Lucius Verus ruled jointly with Marcus Aurelius for eight years, from AD 161 to 169. worldhistory.org/Lucius_Verus/

#MosaicMonday - Detail of a Roman floor mosaic with a glass bottle protected by a sheath of straw, and a glass cup. From Thysdrus (El Jem), dated to the 3rd century AD. National Museum of Bardo, Tunisia.

Only 3 days to go until the start of the Saturnalia celebrations! 🌟 Getting ready for our Saturnalia feast on Wednesday with some delicious food and wine from Apicius. #Saturnalia 🪔 followinghadrian.com/2017/12/17/i...

Four days to go before the start of the Saturnalia celebrations, and Hadrian is already wearing his pileus! #Saturnalia The pileus was a Greek-style conical felt cap given to Roman slaves upon freedom. During Saturnalia, everyone, including slaves, could wear it, creating a temporary role reversal.

#FrescoFriday - Fresco from Herculaneum showing a wine advertisement with four jars (cucumae) of various colours and prices, ranging from cheap wine to premium quality. The advertisement was painted at the entrance of a wine shop called "Ad Cucumas" ('At the Jugs').

#EpigraphyTuesday - Inscription in Greek honouring Plancia Magna as the daughter of M. Plancius Varus, niece of King Alexander, and wife of Gaius Julius Cornutus Tertullus. Erected by her freedman, M. Plancius Pius. Found in the public square in front of the Hellenistic city gate.

Here's an up-to-date map showing all the archaeological sites and museums I have visited in Turkey with links to my Flickr photo collections and blog articles. #ArchaeologyTravel #Turkey www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/e...

#MosaicMonday - Central panel of a mosaic floor with the head of Medusa. From Rome, via Ardeatina. Dated to the 1st-2nd century AD. National Museum of Rome, Baths of Diocletian, Rome.

#FrescoFriday -Fresco depicting Saint Nicholas, a 4th-century Christian saint and Bishop of Myra, Lycia. The fresco adorns the St. Nicholas Church in Demre (Turkey), built in AD 520 on the site of an earlier Christian church where St. Nicholas served as a bishop and is buried. Tomorrow is his feast.

[New post] Plancia Magna and the role of a Roman benefactress in Perge followinghadrian.com/2025/12/04/p...

I recently visited the archaeological site of Perge! I took tons of photos, especially of everything connected to Plancia Magna, who never ceases to fascinate me. I’m now diving into writing an article about her for my FH blog. Aurelia Paulina will also get a well-deserved mention! Stay tuned!

#EpigraphyTuesday - Legionary insignia of Legio X Fretensis and tabula ansata with inscription dedicated to Hadrian. From the High Level Aqueduct of Caesarea at Beit Hananya (Israel). The Tenth legion took part in the building of the new aqueduct commissioned by Hadrian in AD 130.

Happy December! December was originally the 10th month in the Roman calendar (from the Latin decem, meaning ten). When the calendar was reformed to add January and February, December became the 12th month but retained its name. Now looking forward to the Saturnalia celebrations! 🌟🌟🌟

As is tradition, I am celebrating Antinous' birthday 🎂 with a bottle of Mantinia Moschofilero, a dry white wine from Arcadia in the Peloponnese in Greece. 🍷 semeliestate.gr/wine/mantinia/ 🍇 Moschofilero 🍷 Mantinia (Mantineia) PDO

Exhibition: ‘A Portrait of Antinous, in Two Parts’ in Rome. followinghadrian.com/2017/02/12/a...

Exhibition: ‘Hadrian and Antinous: an encounter, 19 centuries later’ at the National Archaeological Museum of Athens. followinghadrian.com/2018/06/18/e...

Exhibition: ‘Antinous: Boy made God’ at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford (UK). followinghadrian.com/2019/03/06/e...

Life-size marble statue of Antinous in the guise of Apollo, discovered in 1894 during excavations in Delphi, dated AD 130-138. Aphrodisian workshop, crafted in Göktepe marble from the province of Asia. Height 180 cm. From the temple of Apollo at Delphi. Delphi Archaeological Museum.

Happy birthday, Antinous! 🎉 antigonejournal.com/2022/02/look...

Happy birthday to Antinous, born #OnThisDay ca. AD 110 to a Greek family in a rural locality called Mantineion, just outside the metropolis of Bithynion-Claudiopolis in Bithynia. 🎂

#MosaicMonday The Lucky Hunchback mosaic from Antioch. The inscription reads "you also" in Greek. This image of an ithyphallic hunchback has apotropaic symbolism against the evil eye and wishes good fortune to those entering or leaving the house. Hatay Archaeology Museum, Turkey.

#RomanSiteSaturday - The Fullonica of Stephanus, one of the laundries in Pompeii, with large masonry tanks to rinse fabrics. The textiles were washed in basins by trampling them after soaking in urine-containing liquid. Rooms featured frescoes with red panels and architectural motifs.

#FrescoFriday - Wall painting depicting a riot that broke out between Pompeians and inhabitants of Nuceria in Pompeii in AD 59 during a gladiatorial show. According to Tacitus, many Nucerians were wounded, and the event led to the amphitheatre's closure for 10 years.

The Roman emperor who died from eating too much cheese. www.nationalgeographic.com/history/arti...

Greek-era vineyards found north of Marseille, two kilometers from the ancient walls of Massalia. www.labrujulaverde.com/en/2025/10/g...

Happy #WorldToiletDay! 🚽 How the Romans did their business: images of Latrines throughout the Roman world. followinghadrian.com/2013/05/09/h...

#WorldToiletDay 🚽 A single latrine in the Lupanar of Pompeii. followinghadrian.com/2013/05/09/h...

#WorldToiletDay 🚽 The latrine of the Great Baths complex at Ancient Dion in Greece, constructed for the convenience of visitors to the city and people staying at the nearby guesthouse. followinghadrian.com/2013/05/09/h...

#WorldToiletDay 🚽 The public latrine in the Agora of Scythopolis in Judaea featured an open, colonnaded, courtyard, a paved floor, and a mosaic floor. The latrine was part of a larger bathhouse complex. followinghadrian.com/2013/05/09/h...