Happy 1st day of October! October takes its name from being the eighth month of the ten-month Roman calendar (octō = eight). October marked the end of both the military and farming seasons. October was under the protection of Mars, the god of war and the protector of agriculture and fertility.

#EpigraphyTuesday - Inscription by soldiers of the legion XIII Gemina at the entrance to the archaeological site of Oudhna, ancient Uthina, in modern-day Tunisia. Uthina was founded by Augustus, who granted the town to the veterans of Legio XIII Gemina as a reward for their services.

Antinous as Aristaeus, god of the shepherds and bee-keeping (Louvre Museum, Paris). ❤️ This statue was part of the collection of antique sculptures purchased in Rome by Cardinal Richelieu (1585–1642) for his château in Poitou.

[New post] Uthina followinghadrianphotography.com/2025/09/29/u...

#AncientSiteSunday - Little Petra, located 6 km north of Petra, was a key stop on the Nabataean caravan route. The 350-metre canyon, mainly carved in the 1st century AD, features rock-cut cultic structures, including temples, cave dwellings and a biclinium decorated with Nabataean wall paintings.

#WorldRiversDay - Silver, partly gold-plated, fibula (disc brooch) with the depiction of the River God Danuvius (Danube). From Vindobona (Roman Vienna), dated to AD 150-250. Römermuseum, Wien.

#WorldRiversDay - The Danube River in Austria. The Danube is a large and historically important river that flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, originating in the Black Forest, and then flowing southward to the Black Sea. It was a frontier of the Roman Empire.

#WorldRiversDay - Altar dedicated to Rhenus Pater ("Father Rhine") by legatus Augusti Oppius Severus. Dated AD 122-134. Musée archéologique de Strasbourg, France.

#WorldRiversDayWorldRiversDay - Stone sculpture of the River god Rhenus (Rhine), part of a tomb from the 2nd century AD.

#WorldRiversDay - The Rhine River in Germany, a major European waterway flowing 1,232 km from its source in the Swiss Alps to the North Sea. The name "Rhine" comes from the Gaulish name Rēnos, which was adapted into Latin as Rhenus during the Roman period.

#WorldRiversDay - Statue from Hadrian's Villa of the Tiber River with Romulus and Remus, an allegory of the river that waters the city of Rome. The Tiber is depicted as a middle-aged man, bearded and reclining, in accordance with the typical pattern for representations of river gods.

#WorldRiversDay - The river-god Euphrates depicted as a reclining man leaning on a vase/jar from which the water flows. Mosaic from Zeugma, dated to the 2nd-3rd century AD. Zeugma Mosaic Museum, Gaziantep, Turkey.

Marking #WorldRiversDay with photos of the Euphrates River in Turkey.

#RomanSiteSaturday - The New Forum of Mactaris (Makthar, Tunisia), a stone-paved square, laid out in the 2nd century AD. Porticoes on three sides surrounded the 1,500 m² forum square, and an arch dedicated to Trajan formed its entrance. In one corner of the forum is a small market square (macellum).

#WorldTourismDay ✈️ Exploring Mount Nemrut - A Meeting Point Between East & West www.worldhistory.org/article/1589...

#WorldTourismDay ✈️ Top 10 Sights along Hadrian's Wall www.worldhistory.org/article/2074...

#WorldTourismDay ✈️ Exploring Western Crete's Archaeological Treasures www.worldhistory.org/article/1391...

#WorldTourismDay ✈️ Ancient Cyprus: A Travel Guide www.worldhistory.org/article/1351...

#OnThisDay in 46 BC, Julius Caesar dedicated the Temple of Venus Genetrix in Rome to Venus, the mythical ancestor of his family, fulfilling a vow he had made at the Battle of Pharsalus in Central Greece.

#FrescoFriday - Fresco depicting a Cupid hunting. From the cryptoporticus of the House of the Deer in Herculaneum.

[New post] Mactaris (Makthar) followinghadrianphotography.com/2025/09/24/m...

Late September AD 117 – Hadrian receives the Senate’s response to his letter reporting his accession to the throne. followinghadrian.com/2017/09/24/l...

Portrait head of Hadrian from a larger-than-life-size statue of the emperor. Provenance unknown, probably produced in Asia Minor or Egypt, AD 117-138. This head is remarkable both in the material used (many Greco-Roman bronzes were melted down and lost forever) and in the style of representation.

A bronze head of Hadrian was found in the River Thames in London in 1834. It belonged to a larger-than-life-size statue that may have been created and erected to commemorate Hadrian’s visit to Britain in AD 122. www.britishmuseum.org/collection/o...

Happy #WorldRhinoDay! 🦏 Here's a two-horned African rhinoceros depicted on the Nilotic mosaic from the Sanctuary of Fortuna Primigenia at Praeneste. Palestrina Museo Archeologico.

Happy first day of #Autumn! 🍁🍂 Here are some autumnal scenes from a mosaic depicting a rustic calendar. The panels show scenes of harvest, grape pressing, apple picking, field ploughing and sowing. Found in Saint-Romain-en-Gal (France), dated to the 3rd century AD. #FallEquinox

[New post] Bulla Regia followinghadrianphotography.com/2025/09/21/b...

#RomanSiteSaturday - Located in Bulla Regia, Tunisia, the House of the New Hunt boasts rooms arranged around a peristyle and a hunting mosaic that lends the house its name, showing the owner and his servants on a hunting expedition. Downstairs, a five-column hall boasts a swirling geometric floor.

#ReliefWednesday - Bas-relief from Hadrian's Villa depicting a boy with a horse, probably Castor taming his horse, accompanied by a dog. Gavin Hamilton found it in the Pantanello of Hadrian's Villa at Tivoli around 1769, later joining the Towneley Marbles collection at the British Museum.

#MosaicMonday - Central medallion of the Megalopsychia Hunt of Antioch mosaic depicting the allegorical figure of Megalopsyche (greatness of soul, an ancient virtue). Dated to the late 5th century AD, found in the village of Yakto near Daphne. Hatay Archaeology Museum, Antakya.

#AncientSiteSunday - Labraunda, the site of the Sanctuary of Zeus Labraundos, situated in the mountains that overlook the Milas plain. It was a major sanctuary in Caria, particularly during the 4th century BC, when King Mausolus, the satrap of Caria, made Labraunda his family’s sanctuary.

RIP to Emperor Augustus, who died #OnThisDay in 14 AD of natural causes while visiting Nola. He was 75.

Today is #WorldPhotographyDay 📷, a wonderful opportunity to remind scholars in Classics that all my photographs of archaeological sites and museums are available on Flickr under the Creative Commons licence. 👉 flickr.com/photos/carol...

#MosaicMonday - The Cross of Sbeitla, a Byzantine mosaic from a Christian basilica in Sufetula in modern-day Tunisia. Dated to the 5th-6th century AD. Sbeitla Archaeological Museum, Tunisia.

Between 10 December AD 118 and 9 December AD 119, Rhône river boatmen offered to Emperor Hadrian by erecting a statue in Tournus, at the confluence of the Rhône and the Doux. followinghadrian.com/2020/08/17/a...

#FrescoFriday - Two fresco fragments showing marine life with rowers in a boat on the River Tiber. Dated to the 2nd quarter of the 2nd century AD. Palazzo Massimo alle Terme, Rome.

For #WorldLizardDay 🦎, a bronze lizard sculpture from the Hellenistic era with glass blue eyes. Beneath the lizard, a hollow in the block contains an object, possibly the remains of the tamed lizard, making this object a memorial. Cinquantenaire Museum, Brussels.

Happy #InternationalWolfDay! 🐺 The connection between Rome and the wolf comes from its foundation myth, one of the most famous legends in Roman culture.

[New Post] Sufetula (Sbeitla) followinghadrianphotography.com/2025/08/13/s...

#OnThisDay in AD 117, Marcus Ulpius Phaedimus, a twenty-eight-year-old freedman and personal servant of Trajan, dies in Selinus, just a few days after his master. followinghadrian.com/2017/08/12/1...

Happy #WorldElephantDay 🐘

As we celebrate the 1908th anniversary of Hadrian's accession to the imperial throne, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to the late Anthony R. Birley, whose fabulous 1997 biography of Hadrian guides my #Hadrian1900 project! 13 more years to go! 👉 followinghadrian.com/category/had...

#MosaicMonday - Mosaic depicting the Judgment of Paris from Antioch on the Orontes, the former capital of the kingdom of Syria, where Hadrian became Emperor #OnthisDay in AD 117. Dated AD 115 - 150. This mosaic adorned a dining room in the house of a wealthy Antiochian family. Louvre Museum, Paris.

Hadrian became Roman emperor #OnThisDay in AD 117 in Antioch, succeeding his adoptive father, Trajan. Read more 👉 followinghadrian.com/2017/08/11/1... 📷 Hadrian in colour, by History in 3D

Hail the new Emperor! Today marks the 1908th anniversary of Hadrian's accession (his dies imperii). Three days after Trajan's death at Selinus, Hadrian was proclaimed emperor by the legions in Antioch #OnthisDay in AD 117 at the age of 41. 👉 followinghadrian.com/2017/08/11/1...

#AncientSiteSunday - Butrint (ancient Buthrotum), Albania’s first designated UNESCO World Heritage Site. Located opposite Corfu, Butrint combines historic ruins and natural beauty. Its well-preserved ruins are in a marshy area between a lagoon and the Ionian Sea, surrounded by forested hills.

Happy #WorldLionDay! 🦁 Here are some images of lions from the ancient world.

#RomanSiteSaturday - The Temple of Trajan on the Upper Acropolis of Pergamon. Built ca. AD 114 during Trajan's reign and completed under Hadrian, it served as a place of worship for both emperors and Zeus Philios. The temple was built on a high podium and was surrounded by marble Corinthian columns.

#OnThisDay in AD 117, Hadrian was adopted by Trajan. Hadrian was now Caesar. followinghadrian.com/2017/08/09/9...

Paying my respects to the deified Trajan, who died #OnThisDay in AD 117 at Selinus in Cilicia. His death later prompted the temporary renaming of the city as Trajanopolis. A large rectangular building is thought to have been built as a cenotaph for Trajan. 👉 followinghadrian.com/2017/08/08/8...