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Ludi: ancient Greek and Roman games
Continuing the series 'Ludi', and following on from ancient Egypt, here are selection of games played by ancient Greeks and Romans. Pente...

Tastes Of History
May 9, 2022

Dispelling Some Myths: Romans in the Americas
The mosaic floor pictured ( right ) is housed in a gallery dedicated to ancient Roman frescoes and mosaics on the second floor of the...

Tastes Of History
Apr 19, 2022

What’s in a Name: ‘Barbarian’
In April 2022 social media, specifically Twitter (now X), was awash with criticism of the UK’s Conservative government’s plans to...

Tastes Of History
Apr 14, 2022

Dispelling Some Myths: 'ancient Roman trebuchets'?
A recent search of the internet for information on Roman artillery machines returned, amongst other results, a website with a page...
Tastes Of History
Mar 29, 2022

Dispelling Some Myths: Cooking in a Shield?
Farinata (‘made of flour’), a classic Italian street food, apparently enjoys two provenance myths according to BBC History Magazine [1]...
Tastes Of History
Mar 2, 2022

Educating Romans
In ancient Rome ludus (pl. ludi) referred to a private school outside the home where a teacher (called a litterator or a magister ludi),...
Tastes Of History
Oct 27, 2021

A Century equals Eighty?
With the title ‘5 Facts You DIDN’T KNOW About The Romans’ a recent YouTube video sounded intriguing. In ascending order, the first fact,...
Tastes Of History
Oct 14, 2021

Vaguely 'Historical' Costume
We think it is great for children to dress up but many of the products for sale are, to the trained eye, rather dubious. What follows is...
Tastes Of History
Oct 10, 2021

What did the Romans ever do for us? Roman Food
In Britain, many of the foods we eat today, and perhaps take for granted, were actually introduced from further afield during the Roman...
Tastes Of History
Aug 26, 2021

What did the Romans ever do for us? Naming the Months
If you are an English speaker, have you ever wondered where the names of the months of the year came from? Well wonder no longer as,...
Tastes Of History
Aug 13, 2021

How to: Make a simple Egyptian, Greek or Roman costume
This 'How to' guide is for those readers wishing to recreate simple yet effective historical costume. It is primarily aimed at teachers...
Tastes Of History
Jul 7, 2021

Roman Fast Food
The popular representation of Roman dining is that of reclining on benches enjoying a buffet style meal. This image, however, only really...
Tastes Of History
Apr 14, 2021

Pompeii, Bodies and Assumptions
Last year, on Saturday November 21st, 2020, the Italian culture ministry announced to the world’s media that archaeologists had...
Tastes Of History
Apr 12, 2021

A Brief History of Food: Roman Wines
It may be reassuring to know that the wine gods continue to flourish. While many narcotics are now illegal, the Roman god of wine Bacchus...
Tastes Of History
Apr 9, 2021

Whistling Death
Burnswark Hill Approaching across the gentle surrounding Dumfriesshire countryside it is hard to miss the brooding eminence of Burnswark...
Tastes Of History
Apr 7, 2021

Pay in the Legions
From the time of the Consul Gaius Marius onwards, legionaries received 10 assēs a day or 225 denarii a year (equal to 900 sestertii)....
Tastes Of History
Mar 9, 2021

Kitchenalia: Roman Testum
In 'Kitchenalia' we introduce objects from different historical periods, discover a bit about their history and find out how each was...
Tastes Of History
Mar 1, 2021

Kitchenalia: Roman Mortarium
Most people are probably familiar with a pestle and mortar. They come in many different guises: board-like, bowl-shaped or, more...
Tastes Of History
Mar 1, 2021

Kitchenalia: Roman Glirarium
In 'Kitchenalia' we introduce objects from different historical periods, discover a bit about their history and find out how each was...
Tastes Of History
Mar 1, 2021

A Brief History of Food: The Mysterious Silphium
Silphium may have looked unimpressive, with stout roots, stumpy leaves and bunches of small yellow flowers, but it was much prized in the...
Tastes Of History
Feb 18, 2021
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