ANTIQUE ENTERTAINMENT

Today I visited the regional museum 'Huis van Hilde' in Castricum, a small town north of the city of Velsen or Roman 'Flevum' in The Netherlands. It was one of the large military settlements or castra, the Romans built along the northern border of their Empire, the Rhine River, to defend themselves against invaders and to prepare for conquests with several legions, in this case fleet expeditions to the Wadden Sea, Ems and Elbe and the invasion of England. There was a harbour where several warships could dock. Unlike most smaller forts, this army camp was built north of the river.  Both Ptolemy, who refers to "Phleum," and Tacitus mention this fortress, but its exact location has long remained a subject of speculation. In the 1980s however, a small Roman castellum was excavated near Velsen, which, according to coin finds and radiocarbon dating, must have been destroyed in the year 28. It is assumed that this was the castellum Flevum.  The fortress played an imp...

This spring I visited the amphitheater of Lutetia in Paris. It is a very special place in a predominantly busy city. When I visited, parents were playing with their children, football was being played and there was rest.  What we see today is a Gallo-Roman mixed-used amphitheater with a stage. It consisted of an oval arena, two large lateral entryways and a cavea that did not completely encircle the arena. The missing section was taken up by a stage for mimes, pantomimes and singing performances. The arena was where gladiatorial combats (munera) took place and where wild beasts were hunted (venationes). The structure had an exterior gallery and a highly ornamented facade. It has an impressive size, 100 by 130,3 meters and it is one of the largest constructions of its kind in Gaul. Its total capacity is estimated at 17,000 spectators, so almost all inhabitants of the city that time could find a place there. It consisted of an oval arena, two large lateral entrywa...

Bij de Muur van Hadrianus in Engeland zijn twee leren bokshandschoenen van de Romeinen gevonden uit ongeveer 120 na Christus. Dat meldt The Guardian . Het zijn waarschijnlijk de enige exemplaren die de eeuwen hebben overleefd. De twee handschoenen, die op het oog geen paar vormen, zijn gevonden in een Romeinse legerplaats, die vorig jaar werd gevonden onder een stenen fort uit de vierde eeuw. Dat was het fort van Vindolanda ten zuiden van de muur van Hadrianus bij Hexham.  Boksen was een populaire sport bij de Romeinen, gezien de talloze verwijzingen ernaar in teksten en afbeeldingen uit die tijd. De leren bokshandschoenen waren eigenlijk een soort banden die om de knokkels van de hand zaten en die waren gevuld met natuurlijke materialen om schokken te absorberen. De handschoenen zijn niet vervormd en passen nog steeds om een normale hand. In één van de handschoenen zijn zelfs de afdrukken van de knokkels te zien. De grootste van de twee is ooit gerepareerd. In de opgegrav...