A delicate #Roman glass bird, in a lovely shade of cobalt blue: it would originally have held perfume

Two Lego #Roman soldiers guarding the streets of #Rome still (well, the street outside the Lego shop, at least...)

One of my most favourite glass vessels: A marvellous Roman vessel in the form of a pig, made of blue glass. It was used to hold ointment or perfume. Found in a burial in Cologne. Dating late 2nd/early 3rd century AD 📷 Römisch-Germanisches Museum Köln 🏺 #archaeology

#FindsFriday A mystery stone head on display at Castell Henllys Iron Age fort in Pembrokeshire, found locally in north Pembrokeshire Not a typical 'Celtic' head but nonetheless possesses many features which could suggest an Iron Age date 🧐🤔 📷 My own, last week

This small bronze figurine of a naked Gaulish woman projects great vulnerability - which was certainly the point, but not in a good way. She's identified by her torc and represents the eroticization of a conquered people. 🏺 Found in the River Seine, Paris. Roman, 100-200 CE. #BritishMuseum 📸 me

A beautiful #Roman glass bowl, cobalt blue with an irregular white swirling pattern - it must have looked fantastic on an ancient table! (📷 Bonhams) 🏺 #AncientBlueSky

Fascinating glimpse into everyday Roman life: This samian ware bowl was repaired with lead rivets, clear evidence that it was valued enough to mend rather than discard. The repair reflects either the practical mindset and economic realities of a Roman household, or it may have been a...🧵1/3 📷 me 🏺

Dedication stone from Roman Bath to the goddess Sulis which was set up by Priscus, a stonemason and tribesman of the Carnutes (a tribe in Gaul). Now part of the museum collections at The Roman Baths in Bath. 📸 My own. #EpigraphyTuesday #RomanBritain #Bath

Loved recording this episode with @ancientblogger.bsky.social, all about the Northwest African bandit-turned-rebel Tacfarinas!

A #Roman necklace plaited gold set with sapphires & garnets, with a lovely butterfly pendant, also set with precious stones. Hard to believe this piece of jewellery is about 1800-2000 years old! 🏺 #AncientBlueSky

A #Roman glass bottle, made about 2000 years ago & probably used to store perfume or perfumed oil #AncientBlueSky

The Nijmegen Helmet - a #Roman 'cavalry sports' helmet with a slightly chilling face mask attached. It is about 1900-2000 years old, & was found in the Waal river near Nijmegen (Netherlands) in 1915 #AncientBlueSky

Another hilltop 360 for #HillfortsWednesday, this time from Mither Tap, Bennachie, Aberdeenshire, taken 2 weeks ago. I do declare that each Scottish hillfort I ascend is windier than the last, & this was definitely windier than Eildon Hill, which was pretty windy, tbf.

🏺🗃️ Thinking back to my Italy trip a year ago, here are some of the most beautiful works I saw in the Naples museum: rare paintings on marble from Herculaneum & Pompeii, their colours faded, yet with a delicacy that recalls Dante Gabriel Rossetti.

A dog’s paw print on a Roman clay tile 🐾 🐕 😍 About 2,000 years-ago, a dog made its mark for ‘pawsterity’ when it wandered across the wet tile laid out to dry before firing. From Richborough Roman fort 📷 by me #TilesonTuesday #Archaeology

I think I’m just going to keep posting pictures of decorative Roman cavalry horse chamfrons from @vindolandatrust.bsky.social and @trimontiumtrust.bsky.social until people start blocking me. Have some. 1/

Fancy a #grasshoppers on a ring? The #Romans did. Between the 1st century BC and the 1st century AD, grasshoppers seem to have been pretty fashionable amongst the subjects carved on #intaglios.

A #Roman wooden ship, excavated from the bottom of the Rhine near Utrecht (Netherlands) in 2003. It sank about 1850-1800 years ago - probably very quickly, as a lot of artefacts were found inside, suggesting the crew were not able to salvage them in time 🏺 #AncientBlueSky

A mummy portrait from #Roman Egypt, depicting a bearded young man dressed in a white tunic with dark red stripes. We don't know his name, but he probably lived & died towards the end of the C2nd AD, & may well have been a soldier in life 🏺 #AncientBlueSky

A Roman glass funerary urn that was found during excavations in the Botchergate area of Carlisle. Dating to the 1st century AD, the urn can be viewed in Carlisle Cathedral’s treasury. 📸 My own. #FindsFriday #RomanBritain #CarlisleCathedral

The base of a 2,000 year old, Late Iron Age Durotrigian style Black Burnished Ware bowl from Winterborne Kingston #Dorset A series of squiggles were scored into the fabric prior to firing - decoration, doodle or pot-makers mark? 📷 during cleaning in June 2013 #FindsFriday

A fragment of #Roman pottery, into which a sketch of a rowing ship has been incised - I love the little details, like the oars coming down into the water, & the ram at the front of the ship. A lovely piece of everyday art, made nearly 2000 years ago 🏺 #AncientBlueSky

A #Roman glass bottle, in blue, white, & green glass with gold gilt decoration. It was probably once used to hold perfume or perfumed oil, about 1800-2000 years ago.

A selection of Roman glassware, mostly from the eastern provinces & made 1600-2000 years ago - and a clear demonstration of how much the Romans like a bit of colour in their homes!

New post this week starting a new series on (Colonia Martia Julia Valeria) Salona! The colony was established by Caesar in 47 BCE, and would later be the birthplace of Diocletian: www.roamintheempire.com/index.php/20... #RomanSiteSaturday #Archaeology #RomanArchaeology #AncientBlueSky 🏺

A #Roman wooden barrel, once used to bring supplies to the soldiers stationed at Bar Hill fort on the Antonine Wall (Scotland) - hopefully it was a little luxury that made frontier life a bit more bearable! #AncientBlueSky

A cat chilling in the #Roman ruins of #Pompeii.

A #Roman oil lamp in the shape of a gladiator helmet (of a Thraex gladiator); the green glaze makes it a really unusual example! #AncientBlueSky

A #Roman helmet with a bit of a decorative surprise - on the back, it features two little mice chasing after loaves of panis quadratus bread. Made about 1850 years ago, it once belonged to a soldier named Julius Mansuetus - did he choose this unusual decoration? 🐭 (📷Christies) 🏺 #AncientBlueSky

#MosaicMonday takes us back to the #MuseodelleCiviltà in #Rome, this time to look at the dazzling #opussectile floor of the #domus of #PortaMarina from #OstiaAntica, 385-388 CE. Its complex #geometric design makes it the most perfect floor of its kind in #LateAntiquity. #AncientBluesky 🏺

A tiny but very charming #Etruscan amber pendant in the shape of a squatting #monkey, height 4.7 cm. Found in Vetulonia, #Italy, dating late 8th/early 7th century BC. Photo: Soprintendenza per i Beni Archeologici della Toscana 🏺 #archaeology

A lovely #Roman mosaic found in the grounds of a villa in Rabat, Malta, with a popular 'drinking doves' design - two doves drinking from a large bowl #MosaicMonday #AncientBlueSky

The beautiful #Roman ruins of Ostia Antica, a port city located just a short distance from #Rome - such an amazing & well-preserved site! 🏺 #AncientBlueSky #AncientSiteSunday

The tombstone of a #Roman woman named Curatia Dinysia, who died at the age of 40 in Deva Victrix (modern #Chester, Britain); she is pictured on the stone in a banqueting scene. Her tombstone later became part of the city wall #AncientBlueSky

In the #Roman world, roads & crossroads had their own guardian spirits - the Lares Viales (roads) & the Lares Compitales (crossroads). Travellers would offer them sacrifices in the hope of arriving & then returning home safely (travel was dangerous back then!) 🏺 #AncientBlueSky #MythologyMonday

Such empathy with these huddled beasts on a 10th/11thC whalebone chesspiece, perhaps a rook or a bishop, snuggling up against cold and damp autumn days… www.britishmuseum.org/collection/o...

A beautiful #Roman glass bowl, with striped bands in blue, yellow, & clear/white glass. It was made about 2000 years ago, & was found in the area around Mount Vesuvius, after being buried in the AD 79 eruption 🏺 #AncientBlueSky #Archaeology

A beautiful #Roman glass bottle in a beautiful shade of amber-orange with white swirly decoration - a beautiful piece of ancient glass made more than 1600 years ago.

An adorable little #Roman figurine of a mouse playing a trumpet - because, why not? #Archaeology #AncientBlueSky

A #Roman figurine of a dog, shown lying down with its back legs curled underneath, looking at something behind it. Dogs feature quite prominently in Roman everyday art, associated with loyalty & healing, & valued for their companionship (just like today!) 🐶 🏺 #AncientBlueSky #Archaeology

I imagine this guy shouting at museum patrons with a squeaky little voice, ‘C’mon, you think you can take me? Look what I did with the last guy!’. This green-glazed terracotta gladiator is ready to rumble, but only his competitor’s foot remains. 🏺 1/ Roman, 1st c. CE, #BritishMuseum 📸 me

The story deepens! We now know the person who brought a #Roman tombstone to New Orleans was a US soldier stationed in Italy during WW2; I like to think that Sextus Congenius Verus - the tombstone 'owner', & a military man himself - would have understood... www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

A #Roman glass cup, in amber glass with irregular blue, red, & white splodgy decoration #Archaeology #RomanArchaeology #AncientBlueSky

Wow, #Roman tombstones really do get around - this one was rediscovered in New Orleans, after being transported across the Atlantic by unknown persons in the chaotic aftermath of WW2... www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Thinking today about some less well-known (but still important!) ancient #Roman deities: Cardea: goddess of door hinges Suadela: goddess of persuasion Fornax: divine personification of ovens & properly-baked bread Verminus: god who protected cattle from worms 🏺 #AncientBlueSky #MythologyMonday

#MosaicMonday As we move into Winter proper. A final look at summer 👀 Lullingstone floor mosaic depicts the mythical figure of Summer wearing a garland of corn. #AncientBlueSky🏺 #Archaeology #History

A 3,500 year-old Egyptian glass cosmetic jar with two little duck heads! Glass was a relatively new material at that time, so this jar would have been a precious possession. From Merit’s beauty case, found inside Theban tomb (TT8) of Merit and her husband Kha in 1906. 📷 Museo Egizio #Archaeology

A #Roman dodecahedron, found in the Netherlands; they look so cool - now if only we knew for sure what they were for! 🏺 #AncientBlueSky

A metal face mask from a #Roman cavalry helmet; the blank expression is quite off-putting even now, & must have been pretty intimidating in antiquity (whether or not they were ever worn in battle) 🏺 #AncientBlueSky

The Baths of the Seven Sages are a public bathing complex in Ostia Antica, ancient Rome’s port city. Named for frescoes depicting Greek philosophers, it features a rotunda with a well-preserved mosaic floor in its frigidarium (cold room) dating to the Hadrianic period (117-138 CE). #mosaicmonday