Santorini - Thera

The Greek Island of Santorini was in the headlines in early 2025 because of a swarm of severe earthquakes. The earthquake swarm prompted an exodus from the island. Santorini, classically Thera, is an island in the southern Aegean Sea, about 200 km (120 mi) southeast of Greece's mainland. It is the remnant of a volcanic caldera.

The eruption of Thera was a catastrophic eruption which is thought to have occurred some 3,400 years ago at the height of the Minoan civilization. It was the largest volcanic event on Earth in recorded history. The eruption devastated the island of Thera, and may have led to the collapse of the Minoan civilization on Crete.

Kolumbo is a submerged active volcano. Its most recent eruption in 1650 CE, generated a tsunami causing destruction in the islands of Santorini, Ios, and Sikinos, while the poisonous gas emitted from the eruption killed 70 in Santorini.

Kolumbo’s edifice was created by at least five eruptive cycles, the earliest dating back more than 1M years.

New research into ancient tree rings from half a world away helped settle lingering questions about when Thera erupted. Scientists believe the volcano erupted in the 16th century B.C., about 3,400 years ago, blowing some 24 cubic miles of rock and ash into the atmosphere. The eruption had long lasting and wide ranging effects world wide. Researchers were able to determine colder years in the tree rings of Irish oaks and bristlecone pines in California. Scientists believed that the eruption happened between 1600 and 1525 B.C.

Evidence of a catastrophic tsunami that followed the eruption of Thera was found at Çesme-Bağlararası on Turkey’s Aegean coast, more than 100 miles north-northeast of Santorini.

Researchers found an articulated skeleton of a man (and his dog) believed to have been killed by the tidal wave following the eruption that devastated the Aegean island. Calibrated radiocarbon ages found within the tsunami deposit say the remains date no earlier than 1612 BCE. The eruption left a large caldera surrounded by volcanic ash deposits hundreds of metres deep.

The myth of Atlantis, described by Plato, may be based upon the Santorini eruption. Excavations in 1967 at Akrotiri made Thera the best-known Minoan site outside Crete.

Only the southern tip of a large town was uncovered, yet it revealed complexes of multi-level buildings, streets, and squares with remains of walls standing as high as eight metres, all entombed in the solidified ash. Pipes with running water and water closets found at Akrotiri are the oldest ever discovered.

The advanced architecture, and the layout of Akrotiri resemble Plato's description of the legendary lost city of Atlantis.

Dense patches of crocus flowers on the fresco ‘The Saffron Gatherers’ from Santorini suggest cultivation. Saffron crocuses are effectively clones dating back to saffron’s emergence in ancient times.

In 2015 archaeologists discovered 39 ingots scattered across the sea floor near a 2,600-year-old shipwreck off the coast of Sicily. The ingots were made from orichalcum, a cast metal which ancient Greek philosopher Plato wrote was from the legendary city of Atlantis. X-ray fluorescence analysis indicate the ingots were made from a mixture of zinc (15-20 per cent), charcoal and copper (75-80 per cent) with traces of nickel, lead and iron. Orichalcum is a brass-like alloy, which was made in antiquity through the process of cementation, which was achieved through the reaction of zinc ore, charcoal and copper metal in a crucible.

In Plato's Critias, orichalcum was described as a lustrous metal second only to gold in value. It was used to cover the walls of the inner sanctuary in the Temple of Poseidon in Atlantis. Roman coins were made of orichalcum. Orichalcum was officially valued higher than bronze, but sat just below silver and gold.

Battle of Abrittus

Gaius Messius Quintus Trajanus Decius, known as Trajan Decius or simply Decius was Roman emperor from 249 to 251. Decius is remembered for instituting the first empire-wide persecution of Christians. A distinguished politician during the reign of Philip the Arab, Decius was proclaimed emperor by his troops after putting down a rebellion in Moesia. In 249, he defeated and killed Philip near Verona and was recognized as emperor by the Senate. Aureus was struck at the Rome mint, AD 249-250. EF, lustrous. Est $15k, sold for $30k.

The Battle of Abritus occurred near Abritus (modern Razgrad) in the Roman province of Moesia Inferior in the summer of 251. It was fought between the Romans and a federation of Gothic and Scythian tribesmen under the Gothic king Cniva. The Roman army was soundly defeated, and Roman emperors Decius and Herennius Etruscus, his son, were both killed in battle. It was among the worst defeats suffered by the Roman Empire against the Germanic tribes. Decius' forces initially easily defeated their opponents in the front line, but made the fatal mistake of pursuing their fleeing enemy into the swamp, where they were ambushed by waiting warriors and completely annilated.

The immense slaughter that followed marked one of the most catastrophic defeats in the history of the Roman Empire. Tens of thousands were killed.Decius and Herennius died in the midst of the battle, buried under the mud.

The Goths captured Decius' treasury of tons of gold and many weapons which were discovered across Gothic territories. Gallus became emperor upon Decius' death. He negotiated a poor treaty with the Goths under duress, which allowed them to keep their booty and return to their homes.

Ancient gold returned to Romania

The first of what archaeologists called the 'most sensational finds of the last century' surfaced not in a museum but at Christie's New York. Among pieces of ancient jewelry for sale on December 8, 1999, was Lot 26, a spiraling, snake-shaped gold bracelet that the auction house identified as a "massive Greek or Thracian gold armband."

Lot 26, "a massive Greek or Thracian gold arm band" circa 2nd-1st BCE.

Christie's estimated it would sell for as much as $100k. When bidding stalled at $65k, the sale was called off, and the bracelet and its owner disappeared back into the underworld of stolen ancient artifacts.

Lot 26 set off an international search to recover the lost heirlooms of Dacia, an empire that was once a rival to ancient Rome. After nearly a decade by everyone from FBI to Interpol investigators and Romanian prosecutors, more than a dozen similar bracelets were found, along with hundreds of gold and silver coins. Their discovery has led to new insights into Dacia. Sarmizegetusa was once the capital and sacred center of the Dacians, a civilization crushed by Trajan in two bloody wars. The victory yielded one of the largest treasures the ancient world had ever seen: half a million pounds of gold and a million pounds of silver.

Trajan took the spoils to Rome, where they paid for his famous forum. In the complex the Roman Senate erected a column dedicated to Trajan and illustrating the story of the wars. Sarmizegetusa was leveled and forgotten for centuries. But stories of Dacia's gold lived on, inspiring peasants who lived nearby to dig in the steep valleys. It wasn't until Romania's communist dictatorship collapsed in 1989 that dreams of striking it rich came true. Groups of local treasure hunters started using metal detectors (unavailable in communist times) to hunt for artifacts in the thick forests at the rugged site. Treasure hunters hit the mother lode in May 2000, according to Romanian police.

Their metal detector pinged over a stone slab about two feet wide, embedded in a steep hillside. Underneath, in a small chamber made of flat stones propped against each other, they found ten spiraling, elaborately decorated Dacian bracelets—all solid gold. One weighed 1.2kg. Over the next two years looters found at least 14 more bracelets at Sarmizegetusa.

The bracelets are now on display in Bucharest.

Sarmizegetusa's stolen gold was nearly lost. Recovering it involved authorities in Europe and the US and a decade of dogged sleuthing. Romanian authorities recovered 13 hammered gold bracelets and more than 27.5 pounds (12.5kg) of gold.

The braclets on display are only ones of their kind ever found in Romania. At least another dozen, including the one still known as Lot 26, remain missing.

Canis Pugnax

The Canis Pugnax, Latin for “fighting dog,” was the living weapon of the Roman legions. A massive and ferocious breed descended from the Molossian hounds of Epirus, they were the same war dogs used by Alexander the Great.

The fierce mastiff-like dogs were used for guarding, hunting, and as combat weapons. They weren't mascots, the dogs were trained as specialized shock troops. They often were outfitted with spiked collars, leather armor, or even chainmail. Released in packs before infantry advances, they charged directly into enemy lines, targeting cavalry horses to unseat their riders. Their role was to sow panic and chaos in the moments before the Roman assault. Roman historians describe them as “braver than lions and more faithful than men”. They offer high praise for their courage, loyalty, and effectiveness. At night the dogs guarded camps. They also tracked deserters.

When the Western Roman Empire fell, the breed didn't vanish; its bloodline survived and eventually resurfaced centuries later in modern Italian mastiff breeds like the Cane Corso and Neapolitan Mastiff. Canis Pugnax retain a legacy as Rome’s most loyal and terrifying soldiers. They embodied Roman ideals of virtus (courage) and fides. (loyalty)

Roman wine

The Roman belief that wine was a daily necessity made it ubiquitous. It was readily available to slaves, peasants and aristocrats, men and women alike.

Ancient Roman wine was a daily staple, not a luxury. It was cloudy, highly acidic, and stored in large clay jars called dolia. With no modern preservation methods, Romans heavily diluted it with water, spices, or honey. Romans fermented and aged wine in large, partially buried earthenware clay vessels. The porous clay and egg-like shapes allowed for micro-oxygenation, which gave the wine grassy, nutty, and dried fruit flavors.

Conditum Paradoxum was a popular sweet, spiced wine made by boiling wine with honey, black pepper, laurel, saffron, and mastic. Posca was a drink for soldiers and the lower classes made by mixing water with soured wine or vinegar. Premium wines were highly prized and expensive. Falernian was a sweet, strong white wine that was the most expensive drink in the empire. Produced on the slopes of Mount Falernus (modern-day Monte Massico) in the Campania/Lazio region of Italy, it was a symbol of luxury for the Roman elite.

Falernian wine was a luxury product. A standard half-litre amphora cost about 25% of a Roman labourer’s daily wage.

Premium, well-aged vintages were very expensive. Pliny the Elder wrote that Falernian is the only wine that takes light when a flame is applied to it. To catch fire a liquid needs be at least 40% alcohol. Wine produced by fermentation tops out around 15 or 16%. It's suspected Romans were accidentally distilling it, concentrating the alcohol through a process they didn't fully understand. The grapes were harvested late, dried, fermented to maximum strength, then aged for fifteen to twenty years in clay amphorae. The wine trade drew merchants to do business with tribes native to Gaul and Germania, bringing Roman influences to these regions long before the arrival of the Roman military. Evidence of the trade and the significant ancient wine economy is found through amphorae – the ceramic jars used to store and transport wine and other goods. One of the most important wine centres in the Roman world was Pompeii, located on the Campanian coast. An expanse of farms and vineyards covered the slopes of Vesuvius, exploiting fertile soil to produce fine wines.

Trajan - optimus princeps

Trajan (Marcus Ulpius Traianus) was Roman emperor from 98 to 117 AD. He was officially declared by the Senate optimus princeps. ("the best ruler") Trajan is remembered as a successful soldier-emperor who presided over the greatest military expansion in Roman history, leading the empire to attain its maximum territorial extent by the time of his death. Trajan was the first emperor born outside Italy. Trajan is best known for his public building program, which reshaped Rome and left many landmarks such as Trajan's Forum, Trajan's Market and Trajan's Column.

Early in his reign, he annexed the Nabataean Kingdom, creating the province of Arabia Petraea. His conquest of Dacia enriched the empire greatly, and paid for many of Rome's monuments. Trajan's Column was the crowning glory of the Forum Traiani. Covered by a continuous frieze of the war's events, the column was capped with a gilded heroic statue of the emperor.

Trajan was succeeded by his adopted son Hadrian.

In 107 Trajan devalued Roman currency. He decreased the silver purity of the denarius from 93.5% to 89% – the actual silver weight dropping from 3.04 grams to 2.88 grams. This devaluation, coupled with the massive amount of gold and silver carried off after the Dacian Wars, allowed the emperor to mint a larger quantity of denarii than his predecessors. In late 117, while sailing back to Rome, Trajan fell ill and died of a stroke in the city of Selinus. He was deified by the Senate and his ashes were laid to rest under Trajan's Column.

In April 2025 a Trajan aureus, dating from 114-117 CE, was unearthed at Newstead in the Scottish Borders. The obverse features a portrait of the Emperor, while the reverse shows the Parthian king surrendering.

Rare and highly desired is an aureus struck circa 113-summer 114 showing Trajan's column.

The Roman Empire reached it's maximum extent under Trajan.

The Harpax - Battle of Naulochus

The naval Battle of Naulochus was fought on 3 September 36 BC between the fleets of Sextus Pompeius and Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, off Naulochus, Sicily. The victory of Agrippa, admiral of Octavian, marked the end of the Pompeian resistance to the Second Triumvirate. Both fleets were composed of 300 ships, all with artillery, but Agrippa commanded heavier units, armed with the harpax, a newer version of the corvus. It was invented by Agrippa himself. Agrippa used his new weapon to great success. Agrippa lost three ships, while 28 ships of Sextus were sunk. At least 17 ships of Sextus fled, and the others were burnt or captured. The battle marked Octavian's rise to power.

Sextus fled to Asia Minor where, in 35 BC, he was captured and executed without trial by general Marcus Titius on the orders of Mark Antony. Sextus Pompey was the youngest son Pompey the Great had with his third wife, Mucia Tertia, around 75 BC. The harpax was a grappling-iron. Its name is derived from the Greek verb harpazo (ἁρπάζω), meaning "to seize" or "to snatch". It was a versatile tool used in both ancient Greece and Rome. In warfare, the harpax took on a much larger and formidable form. They were large iron hooks designed to latch onto the rigging or hull of opposing vessels.

Once a harpax secured its hold on an enemy ship, it could be used to drag the ship closer, allowing for easier boarding. The harpax had a distinct advantage over the traditional naval boarding device, the corvus, as it was much lighter. The corvus boarding bridge is estimated to have weighed a ton. The harpax could be thrown long distances due its light weight. It was discharged by a ballista as if it were a heavy dart. The enemy was then winched in.

Sextus lost 183 of a total force of 300 warships. 28 were sunk by ramming and 155 by capture or destroyed by fire.

Agrippa's design of the harpax included iron bands that could not be cut, and the ropes could not be cut due to the length of the iron grapple. Appian notes "As this apparatus had never been known before, the enemy had not provided themselves with scythe-mounted poles."