Tag Archives: Roman Civilization

One day in the year 79, Pompeii came under fire. The explosion of nearby Mount Vesuvius sent a mushroom cloud of ash and rock into the atmosphere, pummeling the ancient Roman trading hub and resort in a ceaseless hail of tiny volcanic rocks. Many residents ran for their lives, trying to find safety with their loved ones before searing volcanic …

Gladiators battled lions and other wild animals in the arenas of the Roman Empire. But for all the tales of glorious combat depicted in ancient texts, marble reliefs and mosaics and then retold in movies and other modern media, archaeologists have never found direct physical evidence, like the skeletons of gladiators bearing animal-induced wounds. At last, proof of classical combat …

It may not have been the tax-evasion trial of the century — the second century, that is — but it was of such gravity that the defendants faced charges of forgery, fiscal fraud and the sham sale of slaves. Tax dodging is as old as taxation itself, but these particular offenses were considered so serious under Roman law that penalties …