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

A beautiful #Roman mosaic wall-niche, containing a garden scene with lush plants & birds, including a peacock. About 2000 years ago it decorated the garden or courtyard of a luxurious home in Baiae (near Naples, Italy) 🏺 #AncientBlueSky #MosaicMonday

A #Roman glass bowl in amber-brown & blue glass with white irregulat spots running through. A beautiful piece of ancient glassware made about 2000 years ago #AncientBluesky 🏺

A #Roman figurine of a lizard, carved from a single piece of hyaline quartz. It was found in a Gallo-Roman tomb in Belgium, where it was buried as part of an assortment of grave goods about 2000 years ago (📷 MFAH, Brussels) 🏺 AncientBlueSky #Archaeology #RomanArchaeology

The tombstone of a #Roman gladiator named Apollonios; the portrait identifies him as a retiarius, armed with a trident & fishing net. He was obviously good at what he did, with the inscription - dedicated by his wife Zosime - revealing that he won 48 combats in his career 🏺 AncientBlueSky

#ClassicsTober prompts for October ‘25 #ClassicsTober25

Roman horse terracotta figurine found in Rottweil, dating 2nd or 3rd century AD. Horse figurines served as offerings in sanctuaries or domestic shrines and occasionally as grave goods. Their use and meaning shift depending on context but reflect associations ... 🧵1/2 📷 me 🏺 #archaeology

Nothing makes me feel old like the start of a new semester. When I was an undergrad, I registered my module choices with a paper form. I took all my notes by hand. All my books were physical. I submitted my essays in print into a box outside the departmental secretary's office. Good times.

An #AncientGreek chicken on wheels - a child's toy made & first played with at least 2400 years ago in ancient Athens. If it wasn't made of terracotta it could probably pass for a modern toy; apparently the things kids find fun has not changed that much in over two millennia! AncientBlueSky

A #Roman ribbed glass bowl, in a pale shade of bluey-green. It is in beautiful condition despite being about 2000 years old; this type of glass vessel was very popular in the early Imperial period. AncientBlueSky #Archaeology #RomanArchaeology

Like a scene from "Ben Hur": For #ReliefWednesday a terracotta relief depicting an accident at a chariot-race at the Circus Maximus. The famous circus in #Rome can be recognised due to the seven movable dolphins on the central dividing barrier, the... 🧵1/2 🏺 #archaeology

For #EpigraphyTuesday an amazing #Roman gold fibula (a decorative pin for fastening garments/a brooch) carrying the Latin inscription VTERE FELIX - use this happily, one of the most common inscriptions on Roman finger rings and fibulae. From Ostrovany, Slovakia, late 3rd c. AD 📷 KHM Wien 🏺

Everybody likes a sailor. #MosaicMonday takes us to the Porto Fluviale or port of the #Tiber riverbank on the #Trastevere side across from #SanPaolofuorileMura. This #mosaic may have been part of a bath complex for the use of sailors and dock workers. #AncientBluesky 🏺

Got a craving to learn something completely new? Looking to explore the latest research on a period, theme or area of the world? Check out our online collections, with free and #OpenAccess #archaeology on all this and more! 🏺 antiquity.ac.uk/collections

A #Roman tile, stamped with the maker's mark of the infamous & somewhat mysterious 9th Legion Hispana #Archaeology #RomanArchaeology AncientBlueSky

A wild tortoise wandering through the ruins of the Library of Hadrian in Athens... wonderful that these ancient sites are still lived in! #Archaeology #RomanArchaeology #RomanSiteSaturday AncientBlueSky

A #Roman terracotta oil lamp, decorated with a four-horse chariot racing scene. A piece of merchandise for a fan of the races, perhaps..? #Archaeology #RomanArchaeology AncientBlueSky

A #Roman leather child's shoe, a miniature version of the shoes worn by adults. It was found at the #Vindolanda (Britain), & may once have belonged to one of the fort commander's children 🏺 AncientBlueSky #Archaeology #RomanFortThursday

A #Roman glass vessel in the shape of a fish - it has an adorable little face on what is technically the side/bottom of the vessel (it is shown in the museum lying horizontally). A bit impractical though, yes...

"If you go into the woods today....." There was certainly a surprise for Rome in the Teutoburg Forest around this time in AD 9. Listen to @drjeball.bsky.social talk all about it. #ancientrome #teutoburg open.spotify.com/episode/32Ki...

A #Roman two-handled glass cup, in a beautiful cobalt blue with white chips on the outside for extra decoration. Those Romans really knew a thing or two about glassware!

An... interesting attempt at an elephant from one ancient #Roman mosaic maker - not sure in this case that they had ever actually seen one before though! 🐘 #MosaicMonday #Archaeology AncientBlueSky

A #Roman mosaic panel showing Achilles dragging the body of the defeated Hector behind his two-horse chariot; it was laid in #Rome about 1800 years ago #MosaicMonday #Archaeology AncientBlueSky

A #Roman glass vessel in a bluey-green-aqua colour, with a large bulbous body & elaborately-curled handles. Such a beautiful piece of ancient glass!

#InternationalDogDay The interior of the House of Paquius Proculus, #Pompeii, #Italy, with its splendid 'cave canem' ('beware of the #dog') mosaic. 📷 My own 2019. #Archaeology #History #art #artwork #ancientbluesky

A bit late, but apparently, it's #InternationalDogDay - We all know: A life without #dogs is possible but pointless! A tiny yet marvellous #Celtic figurine of a #dog (height 1.6 cm) made of blue glass and decorated with yellow and white threads. The unique figurine...🧵1/2 🏺 #archaeology

Today is International Dog Day, here at Jewry Wall Marcellus and Ferrox take you on an immersive tour of Roman Leicester (Ratae Corieltauvorum), there is also evidence of their antics in the exhibition from nearly 2,000 years ago. #InternationalDogDay

Apparently it is #InternationalDogDay today, which is a perfect excuse to post this little chap - a small metal #Roman dog figurine, found on #HadriansWall, & looking remarkably like a Monopoly piece (but made more than 1500 years before the game was created!) 🐶 🏺AncientBlueSky

Good to see a #Roman soldier still guarding #HadriansWall on #RomanSiteSaturday...