Landed in Carthage, Tunisia with my classical studies students to follow history from the Phoenicians to present day Tunisia. Check my tweets to find out where we are.
Everyone should participate in a dig once in their life-- and it might as well be in Rome. In June 2010, we'll be starting our fifth season of excavation at the Villa delle Vignacce, one of the greatest excavation sites in and around Rome. We're looking for people from all walks of life-- structural and computer engineers, architects, artists, poets, students, accountants and tennis players-- whatever your background and insights are, we want you-- especially if you are happy to spend 8 hours getting sweaty and dirty working to save the cultural heritage of Rome.
Here are some Q and A's that I have come up with based on questions we've been asked about our past summer digs. I hope this helps anyone who is interested in excavating with us this summer. And if there are other questions, please send them to me.
What is the project? Why is it important? The project is Villa delle Vignacce, fascinating because we still are working to grasp the purpose of the sprawling site-- is it a 2nd century villa or a public bath? Its importance is that it is a multi-storied, undocumented, unspoiled site. The materials are rich- marble veneer, glass paste mosaics in the vaults, precious statuary. The architecture is extraordinarily well preserved with a whole series of underground tunnels.
It doesn't happen very often-- and I swore I'd eternally regret missing when it next happened-- snow in Rome. And, as lady luck would have it (ahem, Fortuna was the subject of my dissertation, so we go way back) it snowed today-- the very day I took my students to the Roman Forum for the first time this semester. It couldn't have worked out better for all of us.
The light snow grew worse- but we managed to see our Republican houses on the Palatine hill. Then, we barreled down to the Roman Forum, where I had obtained permission to view the Forum from the very center of the piazza (hint: the public is not allowed here). You might think it doesn't make much difference, but I assure you it's one thing to look onto the piazza and another to be standing in the center, looking out. All of a sudden, you realize how much space there is and you can appreciate, up close, a series of monuments and traces of monuments on the pavement.
The light snowfall/ slight rainfall suddenly blasted into a full blown snowstorm. Not only were we forced to leave the central piazza, the guards quickly forced the entire public from the site (I counted about 80 people). The shutdown was rapid for safety's sake. Case in point, one custodian guard told me two tourists fell down by the Arch of Titus, and that was that. At least we'd all had our moment in the forum with the snow. It hadn't snowed like that in 25 years. The students were excused from giving their site presentations (to be made up next week)-- again, Fortuna favored the brave. And an hour later, we ran into each other by the Pantheon but the snow had already begun to melt in the steady drizzle of the light rain.
From what I hear, on Ancients Behaving Badly, heads are rolling. Apparently, its bloodbath in manga. I haven't seen the final product but I will admit that when I saw some of the graphic renderings, I immediately thought that this was not something for my kids (under 8). The truth is the world was and is a brutal place. And in Julius Caesar's day, the Romans were truly unstoppable on the battlefield.
Archaeologist, Professor and fly-by-night host on the History Channel series Ancients Behaving Badly.
Interested an excavation?
Would you like to participate in an excavation? Please visit www.saverome.org and look for Archaeology Field School. Or email saverome@romanculture.org
Everyone should participate in a dig once in their life-- and it might as well be in Rome. In June 2010, we'll be starting our fifth season of excavation at the Villa delle Vignacce, one of the greatest excavation sites in and around Rome. We're looking for people from all walks of life-- structural and computer engineers, architects, artists, poets, students, accountants and tennis players-- whatever your background and insights are, we want you-- especially if you are happy to spend 8 hours getting sweaty and dirty working to save the cultural heritage of Rome.
From what I hear, on Ancients Behaving Badly, heads are rolling. Apparently, its bloodbath in manga. I haven't seen the final product but I will admit that when I saw some of the graphic renderings, I immediately thought that this was not something for my kids (under 8). The truth is the world was and is a brutal place. And in Julius Caesar's day, the Romans were truly unstoppable on the battlefield.
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