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Roman Artifacts

Welcome to our section on Roman artifacts! Here you will find articles on the many fascinating and diverse objects produced during the Roman period. From finely crafted jewelry to impressive weaponry, Roman artifacts provide us with a window into the ancient world, revealing much about Roman life, culture, and society.

The fragment of pottery with the Virgil quote overlaid. Source: Iván González Tobar/Labex Archimède; University of Córdoba
22 June, 2023 - 18:54 Sahir

1800-Year-Old Roman Amphora of Olive Oil Contains Quote from the Legendary Virgil

A fragment of an amphora of olive oil, dated to the Roman period in southern Spain 1,800 years ago, has astounded the archaeological community at large. Plucked from the earth during prospecting...
Roman sculpture showing detachable head. Source: giorgio/ Adobe Stock
18 June, 2023 - 22:53 Cecilia Bogaard

Romans Cleverly Used Interchangeable Heads on Their Statues

Museums are filled with the captivating spectacle of bodiless heads and headless bodies dating back to Roman times. “Headless, these statues invoke a sense of mystery and fragmentation, allowing us...
Two Roman statue heads found at Carlisle Cricket Club Roman site. Source: Geraldine Moore/Cumberland Council
25 May, 2023 - 19:02 Sahir

Carlisle Cricket Club Bathhouse Site Reveals Colossal Roman Sculptures of Imperial Class

The site of a Roman bathhouse or mansion, the ruins at Carlisle Cricket Club have revealed more in the latest round of excavations – two exquisitely preserved head sculptures depicting Roman gods,...
Stylus with old Roman joke found in London.
30 July, 2019 - 01:57 Ed Whelan

Roman Pen Inscribed With Precursor to Modern Classic Joke Found in London

An expert on inscriptions has deciphered some Roman writing on a pen as a witticism left by its owner, with a sentiment remarkably similar to those found on tongue in cheek souvenirs of today...
Trajan's Column and The Church of the Most Holy Name of Mary at the Trajan Forum, Rome, Italy.
3 September, 2019 - 17:37 Riley Winters

Trajan's Column: An Unyielding Pillar of Imperial Strength

A pillar of Emperor Trajan's military victories, the Column of Trajan is as much a benchmark of Rome's strength as an empire as it is a monument to Trajan's success as a leader. Situated at the...
Sumerian Artifact with the Tree of Life. (swisshippo / Adobe Stock)
6 February, 2020 - 04:28 Roberto Volterri

In Rome, I Saw Written On Top Of A Door

In Rome "I saw written on top of a door." ( Inferno , III, v. 11, Dante) In Rome, hidden a corner of Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II, one will find the last remnant of the Academia dell’ Arcadia , an...
Roman shipwreck artifacts found in the Spanish fish shop. Source: Civil Guard
23 July, 2020 - 23:00 Ed Whelan

Illegal Roman Shipwreck Artifacts Found in a Spanish Fish Shop

During a recent routine inspection of a seafood store, Spanish authorities came across a number of important historical artifacts that date to the Roman Empire . They found over a dozen storage...
Stav Meir, holding the 1,500-year-old Byzantine inscription that he discovered near Caesarea. Source: Karem Said/ Israel Antiquities Authority
22 January, 2020 - 22:56 Ed Whelan

13-year-old Israeli Boy Stumbles Upon Ancient Byzantine Inscription

Many important archaeological finds have been made by accident down the years. In Israel, a lucky boy came across a very important historic artifact while out searching for mushrooms. He found an...
Huge Roman Silver Hoard Unearthed in Augsburg, Germany
17 November, 2021 - 17:53 Sahir

Huge Roman Silver Hoard Unearthed in Augsburg, Germany

A massive stash of Roman silver dating to the first and second centuries AD has been discovered in the Bavarian city of Augsburg in Germany. The cache, which includes 15 kg (33 pounds) of silver...
A fragment of the Forma Urbis Romae map
7 March, 2016 - 03:40 mrreese

New Piece of a 2,200-Year-Old Roman Puzzle Emerges, Bringing Together Ancient Map of Rome

Maps are a useful modern tool, telling us how to get places, showing us where borders lie, and illustrating the distance between two places. While modern technology has made the creation of and...
Three of the Roman intaglios, engraved semi-precious stones discovered by archaeologists near Hadrian’s Wall. Source: Anna Giecco//Wardell Armstrong
30 January, 2023 - 17:59 Sahir

30 Stunning Roman Intaglios Discovered at Hadrian's Wall Bathhouse Site

Two thousand years ago, beautifully carved Roman stones taken into an ancient pool were lost by the bathers. Now they have been recovered during archaeological excavations in Carlisle, adjacent to...
The restored horse head is on view for the first time since its discovery in 2009
30 August, 2018 - 14:04 Alicia McDermott

Bronze Horse Head of Waldgirmes Emphasizes that Germanic Tribes and Romans Sometimes Played Nice

Last week a rare Roman bronze horse’s head made international headlines because it gained a German farmer a pretty penny. Now the sculpture fragment is back in the limelight because archaeologists...
Ryedale Roman Bronze Artifacts Found By Detectorists Head for Auction
23 April, 2021 - 14:52 Prisha Aug

Ryedale Roman Bronze Artifacts Found By Detectorists Head for Auction

A marvelous collection of Roman bronze artifacts that were unearthed in the year 2020 by detectorists in Yorkshire, England, is set to be auctioned next month. The rare Roman bronze collection,...
Selection of items from the Yorkshire Museum Collection including the mysterious Roman object.
24 October, 2018 - 22:54 Ed Whelan

Mysterious Roman Object Identified After 150 Years is One of Only 23 in the World

There are many curious and mysterious objects that have been unearthed by archaeologists down the years. Many of them have baffled experts for a long time. One of these enigmatic objects was a small...
Artifact Reveals People Were Fed To Lions In Roman Britain
12 August, 2021 - 18:47 ashley cowie

Artifact Reveals People Were Fed To Lions In Roman Britain

Archaeologists have presented gory visual evidence that problematic people were fed to lions in Roman Britain. Excavations at a Roman house in Leicester, England in 2017 unearthed a dirt-caked bronze...
Shot of an archaeologist holding the leather prank mouse found in the Roman fort of Vindolanda. Source: Vindolanda Trust
18 May, 2020 - 18:53 ashley cowie

The Romans’ Playful Side Revealed By Prank Mouse in Vindolanda

A 2,000-year-old ‘prank mouse’ has been discovered in a bag of Roman period leather offcuts in a collection of artifacts in Northumberland’s Vindolanda Museum. The life-sized leather mouse, measuring...
Dr. Eitan Klein, Archeologist and Deputy Director of the Antiquities Theft Prevention Unit for Israel Antiquities Authority, holding the Byzantine-amulet under investigation.
27 May, 2021 - 14:57 ashley cowie

Is This Byzantine-Era Demon-Repellent Amulet Jewish or Gnostic?

A Byzantine-era amulet unearthed 40 years ago in Arbel, Israel, has been returned to the authorities. Archaeologists have calculated that the 1,500-year-old magical bronze amulet was definitely used...
1,753 Roman denarii coins were found in total spread out over Mariusz Dyl’s farm near Lublin and they have been described as “the crown of Polish archaeology.” Source: Stanisław Staszic / Muzeum Hrubieszow
1 April, 2020 - 05:56 Ed Whelan

The Massive Roman Denarii Hoard From the ‘Vandals’ Last Stand’

In 2020, Polish archaeologists uncovered a treasure trove of Roman denarii coins. They date from the first and the second century BC, and they probably belonged to a member of a Germanic people who...
Four-sided die from a Roman game found in Norway. Source: University of Bergen
29 May, 2020 - 03:25 ashley cowie

Rare Roman Game Die Unearthed At Norwegian Burial Cairn

In April 2020, Norwegian archaeologists from the University Museum of Bergen were excavating the remains of a small Early Iron Age burial cairn near the village of Ytre Fosse, overlooking Alversund...
Detail of The Boxer at Rest, Greek Hellenistic bronze sculpture of a sitting nude boxer at rest. Credit: giorgio / Adobe Stock
9 February, 2020 - 18:40 dhwty

Boxer at Rest: The Most Iconic Ancient Bronze Statue in the World

The Boxer at Rest is a bronze sculpture from the Hellenistic period , the most iconic ancient bronze statue in the world. When it was discovered in Rome during an excavation in the 19th century it...
The Roman chandelier discovered in Spain. Source: Antonio M. Poveda
29 August, 2021 - 14:57 ashley cowie

2,000-Year-Old Roman-Era Chandelier is One-of-a-Kind!

An exceptionally rare, 2,000-year-old Roman-era chandelier has been unearthed at an archeological dig in Spain’s Elda Valley. The now preserved ancient artifact once swung from the ceiling of a large...
Three silver-gilt Roman piperatoria or pepper pots (CC BY NC SA 4.0), a gold body chain (Mike Peel/CC BY SA 4.0), toiletry items (Fæ/CC BY SA 3.0), two gold bracelets (Fæ/CC BY SA 3.0), and spoons (CC BY NC SA 4.0) found in the Hoxne hoard.
4 August, 2018 - 13:52 dhwty

The Hoxne Hoard: How a Mislaid Hammer Led to the Largest Roman Treasure in Britain

The Hoxne Hoard is a huge treasure from the late Roman period. To date, this is the largest hoard of late Roman gold and silver that has been found in the UK, and indeed, anywhere in the Roman world...
Inscribed lead Roman curse tablet. Source: British Museum / CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
1 December, 2022 - 21:50 Lex Leigh

8 Hilarious Curse Tablets from the Roman World

The Roman Empire was famous for many things, but did you know they were also famous for their curse tablets? These tablets, called defixiones by researchers, were a way for ancient Romans to express...
The silver artifact, dubbed a “paranormal paracetamol,” may date back to the reign of Roman Emperor Constantine. Source: Peter Beasley.
19 January, 2022 - 17:32 ashley cowie

Detectorists Find “Paranormal Paracetamol” in Fossilized Human Waste

A pair of metal detectorists in England have made the rare discovery of a solid silver Roman oddity dating back to the time of Roman Emperor Constantine (306 to 337 AD), remembered for making...

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