New Scientist reports today that inhabitants of the former Roman Empire have much lower levels of a gene variant that protects against the virus that causes AIDS - CCR5-Delta32 to be exact. Previously, this genetic mutation had been attributed to the spread of the Black Death.
posted by Lizc on Sep 4, 2008 - 16 comments

Theoi Greek Mythology is an internet encyclopedia with over 1500 pages on various characters from classical myth, covering everything from famous gods and goddesses to obscure nymphs, titans and monsters. If the confusing familial relations of the Greek gods vex you, there are 10 different family trees to help you make sense of it all. There's also an extensive library of ancient works concerning classical mythology and a bibliography should you long for more to read. Last but not least, Theoi has a gallery of over 1200 artworks from antiquity, which I have been happily browsing for a good while.
posted by Kattullus on Feb 14, 2008 - 23 comments

O Hammers, Head : discussion of a freakish reference in Philodemus's On Methods of Inference, found in the Villa of the Papyri at Herculaneum. [more inside]
posted by paduasoy on Jan 25, 2008 - 42 comments

CDX: great Flash adventure by BBC History (in association with Preloaded) for their "Ancient Rome" series.
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane on Sep 24, 2006 - 9 comments

Before the Berlin Wall, there was Hadrian's Wall, one of the most successful attempts ever to keep noisy neighbours at bay. It's still an impressive sight, even though most of its stone has been recycled over the centuries. Nothing beats walking it in person, but thanks to the web you can see a 3D VRML model of one of its forts, read about the digital imaging of thousands of written documents unearthed at another, and even read a 2000-year-old request to "send me some cash as soon as possible".
posted by rory on Sep 19, 2002 - 9 comments

Mmmmm. Hu-ming. A British archaeologist finds evidence that cannibalism still existed amongst the Celts as recently as two thousand years ago, during Roman Times.

One grisly find includes a femur which had been split lengthways in order to scrape the marrow out. Tastemungus mates :)
posted by zeoslap on Feb 28, 2001 - 6 comments

Happy Saturnalia, everyone. (See also "The Saturnalia: its Legacies")
posted by D.C. on Dec 17, 2000 - 0 comments