A largely intact gladiatorial school has been discovered within the ruins of the Roman city of Carnuntum. This has to go on the list of places to visit and study....Unique Roman Gladiator Ruins Unveiled in Austria

Rainstorm passing overhead without much fuss. Suddenly, after it seemed to have given up all its energy, it let loose with a sudden flash of lightning that struck nearby and a single thunderclap that not only shook the house but also set off all the car alarms in the neighbourhood. I confess a certain childish glee in that moment ( Read more... )

Today is the Feast of Perpetua and Felicitas, who continue to remain favourites of mine, although I haven't been able to fit them into my teaching schedule at Marquette in my Introduction To Theology course in the way that I featured them prominently in my high school Church History course. The edited text of their imprisonment, trial and ( Read more... )

I'm more than a little pleased and excited by the fact that the Milwaukee Public Museum is putting together an exhibition for this spring semester entitled Dead Sea Scrolls and the Bible: Ancient Artifacts, Timeless Treasures, which will cap off a great run of exhibitions during my time at Marquette University: The Quest for Immortality: Treasures ( Read more... )

Holy Moses! It is now being announced that in July, a massive, unprecedented hoard of Anglo-Saxon art in gold, silver, and precious stones was unearthed in Straffordshire. The "Staffordshire Hoard" is one of the great finds of my lifetime, tied only perhaps by the Ivory Pomegranate of the Temple of Solomon, the inscription of which is now debated ( Read more... )

A CNS story on the maintenance of the Christian catacombs around Rome that caught my eye as I just got back in. I enjoyed a long evening tonight with Dan, Amy, and Pat, Amy's mother, turning the conversation away from dissertating and just playing a recent incarnation of Trivial Pursuit, after enjoying a fashion show of Amy's dress purchases from ( Read more... )

I end my lunch break with the delightful news of a new archaeological discovery in Israel, with intact inscriptions, no less. Archaeologists Discover Ancient Church
Nov 5, 10:50 PM (ET ( Read more... )

I love it when media geniuses post an interesting story, even a small one, like this, and then don't think to include photographs. Objects of art are so much more compelling when left as brief, verbal descriptions, don't you think?
Archaeologists Unveil Pompeii Treasure
Jul 18, 8:27 AM (ET ( Read more... )

( Read more... )

This is BIG: potentially even conclave-big! One of my fellow theologians just sent me the following news item--the kind of thing I as an historian absolutely lust to hear:

From The Independent:
Eureka! Extraordinary discovery unlocks secrets of the ancients
By David Keys and Nicholas Pyke ( Read more... )