Hacker News with Generative AI: Ancient Rome

Traces of London's first Roman basilica found beneath office basement (heritagedaily.com)
Archaeologists from the Museum of London Archaeology (MOLA) have discovered traces of London’s first Roman basilica, dating back nearly 2,000-years.

Archaeology, History, London, Ancient Rome

25 points by janpot 9 days ago | 3 comments

AI helps researchers read ancient scroll burned to a crisp in Vesuvius eruption (theguardian.com)
Researchers have peered inside an ancient scroll that was burned to a crisp in the volcanic eruption that destroyed Pompeii nearly 2,000 years ago.

Artificial Intelligence, Archaeology, History, Ancient Rome, Disaster Recovery

7 points by pseudolus 14 days ago | 0 comments

First glimpse inside burnt scroll after 2k years (bbc.co.uk)
A badly burnt scroll from the Roman town of Herculaneum has been digitally "unwrapped", providing the first look inside for 2,000 years.

Archaeology, History, Technology, Ancient Rome

144 points by goodcanadian 17 days ago | 81 comments

The 22-Year-Old Who Unlocked the Secrets of Ancient Rome (thefp.com)
While driving to his SpaceX internship in Texas in March 2023, 22-year-old Luke Farritor was listening to a podcast about a niche use of artificial intelligence: deciphering ancient scrolls. Then, he heard about a new competition—called the Vesuvius Challenge—being offered to the first person who could use AI to decode an ancient scroll from the ruins near Pompeii.

Artificial Intelligence, History, Ancient Rome

12 points by dsr12 18 days ago | 3 comments

Curse tablet found in Roman-era grave in France targets enemies by invoking Mars (livescience.com)

Archaeology, History, Ancient Rome, France, Religion

32 points by diodorus 32 days ago | 14 comments

'Once-in-a-century' discovery reveals luxury of Pompeii (bbc.com)
After lying hidden beneath metres of volcanic rock and ash for 2,000 years, a "once-in-a-century" find has been unearthed in the ancient Roman city of Pompeii in Italy.

Archaeology, History, Pompeii, Italy, Ancient Rome

177 points by pseudolus 36 days ago | 135 comments

'Once-in-a-century' discovery reveals luxury of Pompeii (bbc.co.uk)
After lying hidden beneath metres of volcanic rock and ash for 2,000 years, a "once-in-a-century" find has been unearthed in the ancient Roman city of Pompeii in Italy.

Archaeology, History, Ancient Rome, Italy

12 points by gadders 36 days ago | 0 comments

What Roman Coins Reveal About the People Who Made Them (lithub.com)
“In a way the coin is our superior. The hardness of its metal secures for it ‘eternal’ existence. A coin does not grow, it issues ready-made from the mint and should remain as it then is; it should never change.” –Elias Canetti, Crowds and Power

History, Archaeology, Numismatics, Ancient Rome

23 points by bookofjoe 37 days ago | 2 comments

2k-year-old wine and the uncanny immediacy of the past (resobscura.substack.com)
In 2019, construction workers in Carmona, Spain uncovered something remarkable underneath a very old house: an access shaft that led them to a Roman tomb which had remained perfectly sealed for two thousand years.

History, Archaeology, Ancient Rome

244 points by benbreen 37 days ago | 90 comments

'Barbarians' May Have Been Inspired by Opium When Attacking Rome, Study Suggests (haaretz.com)
The Romans thought the barbarian monsters on their borders should settle for alcohol, but the drug spoons the Germanic warriors carried into battle suggest they didn't agree

History, Ancient Rome, Drugs, Anthropology

10 points by wslh 52 days ago | 0 comments

Nitpicking Gladiator II, Part II (acoup.blog)
Last week, we started our nitpicking of Gladiator II (2024) by looking at the problems with the films chronology and its portrayal of the Roman army of the early third century, both in its equipment and in its battle tactics.

Film Criticism, History, Ancient Rome

11 points by Tomte 70 days ago | 0 comments

Famous Roman siege thought to have lasted years ended in 'mere weeks'-New study (independent.co.uk)
The Roman siege of Masada at the end of the First Jewish-Roman War lasted “mere weeks” overturning previous beliefs of a drawn-out battle ove several years, according to a new study.

History, Archaeology, Ancient Rome, Israel

14 points by historynops 161 days ago | 4 comments

The Badass Female Gladiators of Ancient Rome (atlasobscura.com)

History, Ancient Rome, Women, Gender

12 points by BerislavLopac 206 days ago | 2 comments

Dyēus (wikipedia.org)

Mythology, Religion, Ancient Rome

9 points by danielam 208 days ago | 6 comments

how do you 'accurately' speak English in ancient Rome? (text.npr.org)

Language, History, Linguistics, Ancient Rome

23 points by rntn 211 days ago | 96 comments

Human parasites in the Roman World: health consequences of conquering an empire (cambridge.org)