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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.

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...
Security: The Long History of the Lock and Key
24 May, 2021 - 19:01 Bipin Dimri

Security: The Long History of the Lock and Key

The modern-era definition states that a lock is a mechanical device or innovation that is used for fastening any physical entity. This lock is triggered and released with the use of an object called...
Ancient Roman refrigerator found at Novae Roman settlement, Bulgaria. Source: P. Dyczek / PAP
30 September, 2022 - 22:53 Nathan Falde

Archaeologists Unearth First Century Roman Refrigerator in Bulgaria

Over the last few decades, archaeologists from Bulgaria and Poland have been performing excavations at the site where the Roman legionary fortress of Novae once stood. The ruins of the fortress can...
Relief from a scribe's tomb found in Flavia Solva. (Public Domain) Background: Latin stone inscription.
23 December, 2017 - 13:58 dhwty

Acta Diurna: The Telegraph of Ancient Rome, Bringing You All the Latest Gladiator Combat News

‘Roman emperor conquers new lands !’ ‘Five new ways to use your fish paste .’ ‘When do the stars say you will marry ?’ ‘ Viae militares expand our reach to foreign lands.’ These may have been some of...
Roman dodecahedra
12 January, 2021 - 22:58 Federico Cataldo

The Enigma of the Roman Dodecahedra

The Roman dodecahedron is a small, hollow object made of bronze or (more rarely) stone, with a geometrical shape that has 12 flat faces. Each face is a pentagon, a five-sided shape. The Roman...
The Holey Jar restored.
27 December, 2018 - 14:00 dhwty

The Riddle of the Roman Holey Jar – Why Would A Vessel Be Full of Holes?

One of the most unusual pieces of Roman pottery around is a regular looking jar but for the feature of having many holes in its body. Since it’s restoration from a pile of broken pieces found in a...
The bronze plate pieces of the Roman military diploma found in the ancient Anatolian city of Perre or modern-day Adiyaman, Turkey. Source: Anadolu Agency
4 January, 2022 - 18:00 Sahir

1,898-year-old Roman Military Diploma Gives Citizenship Rights

Archaeologists have found an ancient Roman military diploma dating to 123 AD in Turkey’s ancient city of Perre (modern day Adiyaman). The latest round of excavations, which have been carried out...
The helmet of a gladiator
26 April, 2018 - 14:02 dhwty

Gladiator Helmets: Fit for Purpose, Not Just Protection

The gladiator is most likely the first image one calls to mind when thinking about entertainment in ancient Rome. As most would already know, gladiators fought either each other or wild animals, in...
Medieval wooden catapult
26 February, 2021 - 18:06 dhwty

Catapult: The Long-Reaching History of a Prominent Medieval Siege Engine

One of the most iconic images of the European Middle Ages is the castle. This defensive structure was often heavily fortified and provided its inhabitants with much-needed safety. It was usually...
An ancient Roman road at Leptis Magna, Libya
17 January, 2016 - 04:12 victor labate

Ancient Journeys: What was Travel Like for the Romans?

It was not uncommon for the ancient Romans to travel long distances all across Europe. Actually during the Roman Empire, Rome had an incredible road network which extended from northern England all...
This 2,000-year-old villa had luxurious ancient Roman underfloor heating. Source: Karl-Josef Hildenbrand/dpa
6 November, 2022 - 13:50 ashley cowie

2,000-Year-Old Roman Villa Found in Germany had Luxurious Underfloor Heating

In 15 BC the Roman Emperor Nero Claudius Drusus Germanicus, and his brother Tiberius attacked, subdued, and destroyed a Celtic settlement and founded the city of Cambodunum. Today, the foundations of...
Roman Bridge Pont du Gard in France. Credit: JackF / Adobe Stock
10 October, 2020 - 13:47 John S. Richardson

6 Ways Roman Engineers Were Way Ahead of Their Time

Ancient Roman engineers were able to construct many different kinds of remarkable structures which have stood the test to time. In many places around the world we can still see and admire their...
This iron sword, now fragmentary and corroded, was discovered in 1993 in the Byzantine city of Amorium. Its surviving hilt with the ringed pommel is unique. Source: Amorium Excavation Project
7 February, 2022 - 18:00 Sahir

Unique Ring Pommeled Byzantine Swords Discovered at Amorium

In classical antiquity, Amorium was an important, strategically located city in the kingdom of Phrygia in the west central part of Anatolia, in what is now Asian Turkey. Amorium was founded in the...
Roman glass (not the legendary flexible glass). Landesmuseum Württemberg, Stuttgart.
18 January, 2018 - 01:50 dhwty

An Unbreakable Story: The Lost Roman Invention of Flexible Glass

Imagine a glass you can bend and then watch it return to its original form. A glass that you drop but it doesn’t break. Stories say that an ancient Roman glassmaker had the technology to create a...
Shallow shipwreck found in Turkey waters
30 December, 2014 - 22:08 Mark Miller

Byzantine shipwrecks reveal advanced shipbuilding techniques

A trove of ancient Byzantine ships found in waters near Istanbul, Turkey, displayed more advanced construction than scholars previously knew for that era. The ships include two unique Byzantine...
2000-Year-Old Bronze Toy Provides Clues on How the Best Roman Chariots were Constructed to Win Races
15 January, 2017 - 00:48 Mark Miller

2000-Year-Old Bronze Toy Provides Clues on How the Best Roman Chariots were Constructed to Win Races

Toy models have fascinated kids since ancient times and the more realistic they look, the better. One rich kid in ancient Rome had a very special model toy chariot made of bronze. The model was found...
A Roman Swiss Army Knife? 200-300 AD.
15 June, 2018 - 22:51 Carly Silver

The Original Swiss Army Knife: Check Out This Must Have Gadget for Guys on the Go

The modern Swiss Army Knife didn’t make its debut until the nineteenth century, revolutionizing convenient tools on the go. But, as with so many other things, the ancient Romans did it first! Meet...
One of the naval Roman battering rams being hoisted from the sea near Ustica Island, Italy. Source: RPM Nautical Foundation
1 September, 2021 - 18:55 ashley cowie

Divers Find Four Naval Roman Battering Rams From the 241 BC Punic War

Four ancient bronze Roman battering rams, the kind used at the front of a battleship, have been discovered by divers near Ustica Island, north of Palermo, Italy. These rare artifacts of ancient naval...
Roman weapons were vital to protecting and conquering the ancient world.
12 January, 2019 - 18:48 Ed Whelan

Roman Weapons: Sharp Blades to Conquer the Ancient World

The Romans were arguably one of the most successful conquerors of the ancient world. At the height of their power, the Roman Empire stretched from the British Isles in the north to Egypt in the south...

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