We’ve Invented Nothing!: Products, Commerce and Gastronomy in Ancient Rome, On n’a rien inventé ! Produits, Commerce et Gastronomie dans l’antiquité romaine, Museum of Marseille’s History, Marseille, France Sometimes it feels like the modern world has an obsession with food which is unlike anything European society has experienced before. Social media is playing its part in exaggerating the natural…
Lugdunum Museum, Lugdunum Musée, Lyon, France If you first approach the Lugdunum Museum from the base of the Roman Theatre, you may be struck by the bunker-like quality of the architecture. Depending on your aesthetic sense, your heart may drop. You may get a flashback to the days of the Cold War. You may think, ‘Why? O why?’ But don’t…
The Theatre and Odeon of Lugdunum, Lyon, France France is blessed with many fine Roman archaeological sites. So many cities in the south of the country have ancient origins and by just walking around the streets you can see evidence of the Roman period in dramatic remains like amphitheatres, or more mundane sights such as reused stones in houses. On…
The Nora Archaeological Site, Area Archeologica di Nora, Pula, Sardinia Finding out that there was a Roman site to visit near the Sardinian city of Cagliari was quite exciting. Finding out that it was next to the sea made it even better – having visited a number of sites along the Turkish coast, I figured that I’d be in for…
Lapidarium, Lapidaire, Narbonne, France On this blog, I have all too frequently written about exhibitions after they have closed, but now I’ve outdone myself: this post is on a museum that no longer exists. Yes, it closed down, not long after I visited – the collection going to be rehoused in a new museum in 2020. No matter how good…
The Old Archbishops’ Palace, Narbonne, France The formidable Roman history of the French city of Narbonne was, until recently, covered in the Old Palace building by the cathedral. It was a fitting home, but it is, sadly, no more. Come 2020, the objects will be in their new home, the NarboVia museum. This is not a bad thing, because while…
Lagoon Navigation: 2000 Years of Secrets Revealed by the Archaeology Museum of Catalonia, La navigation lagunaire. 2000 ans de secrets révélés par le musée d’archéologie de Catalogne, Henri Prades Museum, Lattes, France An unexpectedly excellent exhibition on Roman ships at the museum of Lattes in the summer of 2018 was extremely educational. Not only were there some fascinating survivors of…
Triumphal Arch of Orange, Arc de triomphe d’Orange, Orange, France If you walk out of the main heart of Orange, going north, you’ll get to what I thought was the most interesting place in the town. It is the oldest surviving triple Roman Arch that still has some of its decoration visible. Though maybe not as impressive or as dense with…
Roman Theatre of Orange, Théâtre antique d’Orange, Orange, France As part of my summer trip to the South of France, after over twenty years of eager anticipation, I finally made it to the Roman Theatre in Orange. And, crushingly, I was disappointed. The theatre is widely publicised as being one of the best preserved Roman theatres of Europe, but somehow it…
Gladiators: heroes of the Colosseum, Gladiateurs, héros du Colisée, at the Musée de la Romanité, Nîmes, France In my usual not-very-efficient way, I’m writing about an exhibition which has now closed. It was, however, a very neat and well thought out exhibition at the Musée de la Romanité about gladiators in the Roman world, possibly because it’s been on a world tour…
Musée de la Romanité, Nîmes, France In June 2018, the new Musée de la Romanité opened up in Nîmes. The news was all over the media and they generated much hype which I, as a Roman fan, was surprised but very happy to see. I was therefore doubly pleased that Nîmes was on my list of cities to visit in…
Nîmes, France Nîmes is a very elegant, confident little French town – probably the classiest that I visited on my summer trip. It has a great ‘French’ feeling, with higgledy-piggledy roads, each as charming as the last, and each pulling you in to be explored. The problem was that it was very hot when we visited, and I’m not very…