r/ancientrome

Roman ruins in Zana El beida ( Batna province ) Algeria, i feel like the Romans really gave the region the best version of it !!!!

I moved to Spain last year and only recently ignited my love for Roman history. Stumbling on the theater in Zaragoza and then visiting the sites in Tarragona got me absolutely hooked.

This past week I was able to make a trip to the south and visited Baelo Claudia, Cádiz, Itálica, and Mérida. Baelo Claudia was unique as a standalone site in a picturesque bay, and the garum processing area by the sea was very cool. Cádiz was a bit of a stretch but the theater was cool and it's amazing they would conserve this given the lack of available land in the city. Itálica was impressive with sprawling grounds, much of it still not excavated. The amphitheater was way bigger than I imagined. I had a lot of expectations for Mérida and it did not disappoint though I felt it was more of a sum of its whole rather than one specific site. The aqueduct had unique red brick that I hadn't seen before.

I realized that I've gone all in when I got home and read there was an annual chariot race reenactment Mérida and got super excited browsing online for Roman costumes.

I can't recommend this circuit enough. My partner and I also have other interests beyond Rome (hard to believe, I know) and there are plenty of other activities and sites to see for those that aren't totally crazy about all the sites. The driving distances were very reasonable and the food all along the way is elite!

A funerary portrait of a woman from Egypt when part of the Roman empire. It was dated to the 4th century AD using the encaustic technique on wood. If this is a mummy mask, which the museum didn't specify, I don't remember seeing a later portrait of the type as the practice died out in that century. This is on display in the Diözesanmuseum Freising in Freising, Germany.

Working on a 3d model of Rome with a primary focus to create a 3d printable maquette.

My current approach has some severe limits, so allow me to start roasting myself:

• City plan is based on Paul Bigots attempt (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dessin\_de\_la\_Rome\_impériale\_au\_IVe\_siècle\_ap.\_J.-C.\_par\_Paul\_Bigot.jpg). This is about the only publicly available copy of a large part of rome that attempts to create a streetplan. But the drawing is a century old, and inaccurate. Plus the city blocks of generic buildings are completely made up by Paul and my model reflects that.
• I would like to have a "accurate" heightmap for 4th century rome but I can't find any sources so the height of the ground level is completely made up.
• Domus and Insulae are placed together without any thoughts. Have code running that attempts to place a somewhat convincing combination of buildings in generic city blocks. If anybody has any research into actual rome block layouts that would be awesome.
• The landmarks are constructed from basic shapes (cause I suck at modelling) and look derpy. Probably fine for small scale printing, but not ideal. Scale and accuracy is also all over the place.

If anyone has tips how to improve historic accuracy or just how to make it prettier I am happy to hear it.

OKAY weird one gang. My Mom got this weird glass thing at an antique store. It was marked as "Roman 1000 AD"

*ahem*

I highly doubt that, as did she. But it was so cheap and interesting that it was worth a gamble. Yall think it's even old? Personally I think at best it's early colonial. Theres zero other context for the piece. Is this the right place to ask? Anybody able to point me in the right direction?