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Littlecote Roman Villa
Littlecote Roman Villa is an extensive and exceptional Roman villa, with associated religious complex, at Littlecote Park in Ramsbury, Wiltshire. It has been excavated and is on display to the public in the grounds of the estate. It was situated 8 km west of the Roman town of Cunetio towards Marlborough. Discovery and Excavation In 1727-8 William George discovered the Orpheus mosaic whilst digging post-holes, and it was reported as "the finest pavement that the sun ever shone upon in England". An engraving and drawing were made and the villa was reburied. Its location eventually disappeared from memory. It was rediscovered in 1976 and the mosaic fully restored by 1980. Excavations of the rest of the site continued under the direction of Bryn Walters till 1991 and the mosaic was protected by a roof in 2000. Since 2018 a new team has taken care of the site and the visible remains have again been restored after a period of neglect. Description At its height, the villa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ramsbury
Ramsbury is a village and civil parish in the English county of Wiltshire. The village is in the Kennet Valley near the Berkshire boundary. The nearest towns are Hungerford about east and Marlborough about west. The much larger town of Swindon is about to the north. The civil parish includes the hamlet of Axford about west of Ramsbury, and three smaller hamlets: New Town, close to Ramsbury to the southeast, and Knighton and Whittonditch, both about to the east. The 2011 Census recorded a parish population of 1,989. History The Domesday Book of 1086 recorded a large settlement of 156 households at ''Ramesberie''. Littlecote Roman Villa is in the parish. The earliest written history of Ramsbury can be traced from the Saxon era when the bishopric of Ramsbury was created in 909 AD. Between 1942 and 1946, during World War II, there was a Royal Air Force airfield known as RAF Ramsbury on a ridge of high ground to the south of the village. Fairs Throughout the Middle A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cult
In modern English, ''cult'' is usually a pejorative term for a social group that is defined by its unusual religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals, or its common interest in a particular personality, object, or goal. This sense of the term is controversial and weakly defined—having divergent definitions both in popular culture and academia—and has also been an ongoing source of contention among scholars across several fields of study. Richardson, James T. 1993. "Definitions of Cult: From Sociological-Technical to Popular-Negative." '' Review of Religious Research'' 34(4):348–56. . . An older sense of the word involves a set of religious devotional practices that are conventional within their culture, related to a particular figure, and often associated with a particular place. References to the "cult" of a particular Catholic saint, or the imperial cult of ancient Rome, for example, use this sense of the word. While the literal and origin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mildenhall, Wiltshire
Mildenhall ( ) is a village and civil parish in the Kennet Valley in Wiltshire, England, immediately east of the market town of Marlborough. The village is about east of the centre of Marlborough, on the minor road which follows the River Kennet towards Ramsbury. The parish also contains the hamlets of Poulton and Stitchcombe. The name has often been written as Minal, and this is continued in the present-day pronunciation. History The toponym is derived from the Old English but the site has been occupied since the Roman occupation of Britain, when the town of Cunetio (later a fortress) stood at an important road junction, on the opposite side of the river from the later village. No remains of this town are now standing, but they are clearly visible on aerial photographs. The Cunetio Hoard of Roman coins was discovered here in 1978.Nigel Kerton''C4's Time Team dig in at Mildenhall'' at ''gazetteandherald.co.uk'', Friday 4 September 2009 The name of the River Kennet, which r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sub-Roman Britain
Sub-Roman Britain is the period of late antiquity in Great Britain between the end of Roman rule and the Anglo-Saxon settlement. The term was originally used to describe archaeological remains found in 5th- and 6th-century AD sites that hinted at the decay of locally made wares from a previous higher standard under the Roman Empire. It is now used to describe the period that commenced with the evacuation of Roman troops to Gaul by Constantine III in 407 and to have concluded with the Battle of Deorham in 577. Meaning of terms The period of sub-Roman Britain traditionally covers the history of the area which subsequently became England from the end of Roman imperial rule, traditionally dated to be in 410, to the arrival of Saint Augustine in 597. The date taken for the end of this period is arbitrary in that the sub-Roman culture continued in northern England until the merger of Rheged (the kingdom of the Brigantes) with Northumbria by dynastic marriage in 633, and long ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roman Withdrawal From Britain
The end of Roman rule in Britain was the transition from Roman Britain to post-Roman Britain. Roman rule ended in different parts of Britain at different times, and under different circumstances. In 383, the usurper Magnus Maximus withdrew troops from northern and western Britain, probably leaving local warlords in charge. Around 410, the Romano-British expelled the magistrates of the usurper Constantine III. He had previously stripped the Roman garrison from Britain and taken it to Gaul in response to the Crossing of the Rhine in late 406, leaving the island a victim to barbarian attacks. Roman Emperor Honorius replied to a request for assistance with the ''Rescript of Honorius'', telling the Roman cities to see to their own defence, a tacit acceptance of temporary British self-government. Honorius was fighting a large-scale war in Italy against the Visigoths under their leader Alaric, with Rome itself under siege. No forces could be spared to protect distant Britain. Tho ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Theodosius I
Theodosius I ( grc-gre, Θεοδόσιος ; 11 January 347 – 17 January 395), also called Theodosius the Great, was Roman emperor from 379 to 395. During his reign, he succeeded in a crucial war against the Goths, as well as in two civil wars, and recognized the Catholic orthodoxy of Nicene Christians as the Roman Empire's state religion. Theodosius was the last emperor to rule the entire Roman Empire before its administration was permanently split between two separate courts (one western, the other eastern). Born in Hispania, Theodosius was the son of a high-ranking general, Theodosius the Elder, under whose guidance he rose through the ranks of the Roman Army. Theodosius held independent command in Moesia in 374, where he had some success against the invading Sarmatians. Not long afterwards, he was forced into retirement, and his father was executed under obscure circumstances. Theodosius soon regained his position following a series of intrigues and execu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Numismatics
Numismatics is the study or collection of currency, including coins, tokens, paper money, medals and related objects. Specialists, known as numismatists, are often characterized as students or collectors of coins, but the discipline also includes the broader study of money and other means of payment used to resolve debts and exchange goods. The earliest forms of money used by people are categorised by collectors as "Odd and Curious", but the use of other goods in barter exchange is excluded, even where used as a circulating currency (e.g., cigarettes or instant noodles in prison). As an example, the Kyrgyz people used horses as the principal currency unit, and gave small change in lambskins; the lambskins may be suitable for numismatic study, but the horses are not. Many objects have been used for centuries, such as cowry shells, precious metals, cocoa beans, large stones, and gems. Etymology First attested in English 1829, the word ''numismatics'' comes from the adje ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Orpheus Mosaic
Orpheus mosaics are found throughout the Roman Empire, normally in large Roman villas. The scene normally shown is Orpheus playing his lyre, and attracting birds and animals of many species to gather around him. Orpheus was a popular subject in classical art, and was also used in Early Christian art as a symbol for Christ. The standard depiction in Roman mosaic scenes (for the Romano-British variant see below) shows him seated and playing a lyre or cithara, wearing a Phrygian cap, often beside a tree, and includes many animals drawn and pacified by his playing. The fox was considered Orpheus's special animal and may be placed beside him. In large examples the animals spread to occupy the whole floor of a room. Titles such as ''Orpheus Charming/Taming the Beasts'' may be used. Usually the whole scene occupies the same space, but sometimes Orpheus and the animals are each in compartments separated by borders with geometrical decoration. An example of the usual composition wit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Triconch
A tetraconch, from the Greek for "four shells", is a building, usually a church or other religious building, with four apses, one in each direction, usually of equal size. The basic ground plan of the building is therefore a Greek cross. They are most common in Byzantine, and related schools such as Armenian and Georgian architecture. It has been argued that they were developed in these areas or Syria, and the issue is a matter of contention between the two nations in the Caucasus. Apart from churches, the form is suitable for a mausoleum or baptistery. Normally, there will be a higher central dome over the central space. Overview The Basilica of San Lorenzo, Milan (370) is possibly the first example of a grander type, the "aisled tetraconch", with an outer ambulatory. In middle Byzantine architecture, the cross-in-square plan was developed, essentially filling out the tetraconch to form a square-ish exterior. Either of these types may also be described less precisely as "cross- ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Apodyterium
In ancient Rome, the apodyterium (from grc, ἀποδυτήριον "undressing room") was the primary entry in the public baths, composed of a large changing room with cubicles or shelves where citizens could store clothing and other belongings while bathing.PBS https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/lostempires/roman/apodyterium.html Privately owned slaves, or one hired at the baths (called a capsarius), would look after belongings while citizens enjoyed the pleasures of the baths. A contemporary Roman schoolbook quotes a wealthy young Roman schoolboy who entered the baths, leaving his slave behind in the apodyterium: "Do not fall asleep, on account of the thieves" (''ne addormias propter fures, ''CGL 3.651.10). A wealthy person might even bring more than one slave along, as parading one's slaves at the baths was a way to show one's elevated social status. For wealthy free men and women slaves carried the bathing paraphernalia: exercise and bathing garments, sandals, linen towels, and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Frigidarium
A frigidarium is one of the three main bath chambers of a Roman bath or ''thermae'', namely the cold room. It often contains a swimming pool. The succession of bathing activities in the ''thermae'' is not known with certainty, but it is thought that the bather would first go through the apodyterium, where he would undress and store his clothes, and then enter the ''elaeothesium'' or ''unctuarium'' to be anointed with oil. After exercising in a special room or court, he would enjoy the hot room, known as ''calidarium'' or ''caldarium'', then the steam room (a moist ''sudatorium'' or a dry ''laconicum''), where he would most likely scrape the by now grimy oil with the help of a curved metal ''strigil'' off his skin, before finally moving to the ''frigidarium'' with its small pool of cold water or sometimes with a large swimming pool (though this, differently from the '' piscina natatoria'', was usually covered). The water could be also kept cold by using snow. The bather would finis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Laconicum
The ''laconicum'' (i.e. Spartan, ''sc.'' ''balneum'', bath). Cf. Greek ''pyriaterion to lakonikon'' "the Laconian vapour-bath"; , . was the dry sweating room of the Roman ''thermae'', contiguous to the ''caldarium'' or hot room. The name was given to it as being the only form of warm bath that the Spartans admitted. The ''laconicum'' was usually a circular room with niches in the axes of the diagonals and was covered by a conical roof with a circular opening at the top, according to Vitruvius (v. 10), from which a brazen shield is suspended by chains, capable of being so lowered and raised as to regulate the temperature. It is similar to a sudatorium, or steam bath, where water is added to produce steam. Sometimes, as in the old baths at Pompeii, the ''laconicum'' was provided in an apse at one end of the ''caldarium'', but as a rule it was a separate room raised to a higher temperature and had no bath in it. In addition to the hypocaust under the floor, the wall was lined wi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
