The Blog

If you go to Rome, you might notice Monte Testaccio, a green hill in the middle of the sprawling city. But what you might not know, is...

The fun thing about history is the amount of stuff that doesn’t get recorded. Like, it’s so common that nobody writes it down, because...

Since I'm at the dentist today, for a routine checkup and clean, I thought it'd be fun to do a post about Ancient Roman dentistry. For...

My apologies for a short post this fortnight! My alter ego is back from two back-to-back book signings in Sydney and Melbourne, and my...

This fortnight, instead of doing a shallow dive into Roman history, I thought I'd actually post the opening of Sub Rosa. I really do have...

I have tried the garum! I picked the easiest recipe I could find, which in this case was Soft-Boiled Eggs in Pine-Nut sauce, and gave it...

It’s a running theme in my blog posts that the Ancient Romans were pretty much like we were, just in funny clothes and sandals. But when...

Sometimes, when we look at an ancient culture, so much of it seems so totally foreign to us that it can be difficult to see that we have...

If you've ever dug around in any Ancient Roman recipes, one thing that you'll see listed over and over again is garum, or liquamen. These...

We’ve all heard the saying that all roads lead to Rome, but do you know where exactly in Rome they led to? The Milliarium Aureum, the...

Have you ever wondered how the Ancient Romans celebrated New Year? Well, they initially celebrated it on March 1, until they smartened up...

Or, as the Romans would say, “Io, Saturnalia!” Saturnalia is the holiday celebrated from December 17 – 23, in honour of the god Saturn,...

One of the most fascinating things to me about any ancient city like Rome is that things are lost over time, and then sometimes even...

Childbirth in ancient Rome is a hazardous undertaking. To safeguard the delivery of a baby, there are at least thirty different gods you...

There is a common misconception that the Ancient Romans patricians were a moralistic, dull bunch of blokes who spent their lives orating...

I love ancient polytheism. A god for every occasion. If I ever start a cult based on the ancient Roman model, I will have T-shirts made...

Roman names, generally speaking, can be divided into three categories—the praenomen (personal name), the nomen (family name), and the...

A million years ago I had a blogspot blog, which was terrible. But to kick off this new one, which (fingers crossed) will be much, much...