Dra. Silvia Orlandi (Sapienza, Università di Roma).
Cycle “Dialogues with the classical world”, September 6 to December 20, 2017.
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The Tresminas mining area is one of the most spectacular cultural landscapes in northwest Hispania. About 2000 years ago, a detachment of one of the powerful Roman legions settled in the Serra da Pradela to organise and control the large-scale gold mining of Tresminas and Jales (Vila Pouca de Aguiar, Vila Real, Portugal).
The spectacular traces of this exploitation can still be seen at Tresminas: two large mining cuttings (Covas and Ribeirinha) and a smaller one (Lagoinhos), as well as deep galleries dug mainly to allow the treatment and evacuation of all the extracted rock and an extensive network of water supply channels for the mines, which start in dams and end in storage reservoirs.
Galeria dos Alargamentos
There are also enormous dumps that fill the valleys and one of the most characteristic elements of this mining area: a large number of granite pestle and mortar mills used in the final grinding of the ore.
But there also remain important testimonies of the men and women who lived and worked in Tresminas, and who died there in the first two centuries of our Era. As a result of the activity carried out there for more than 200 years, these gold mines have become one of the most important in the entire Roman Empire. Today, the gold mining territory of Tresminas, being the most complex and best preserved and extending over several kilometres, is the most important in Roman Portugal.
On the occasion of the publication of the book Corrupta Roma, by Dr. Pedro Ángel Fernández-Vega, the Museum is organising a round table discussion that will offer a portrait of corruption in ancient Rome and the mechanisms that dealt with it. Bribes, influence peddling, misappropriation, electoral scuffles between political factions, elections won with votes bought in the circus, trials of dubious impartiality… Woven into networks of patronage that linked business groups with the political class, corruption emerged in the form of scandals, as it became endemic in the system. “Those who steal from a private individual spend their lives between handcuffs and shackles; those who steal from the state, between gold and purple” (Marcus Porcius Cato).
did you know that Roman women did not have their own names like men, and that all the sisters of the same family were called the same, just by their surname? Or that they were incorporated into the labour market in traditionally “male” professions such as blacksmiths, bricklayers or shipwrights? Coinciding with the premiere on Movistar+ of the series El corazón del Imperio, created by Santiago Posteguillo and starring Aitana Sánchez-Gijón, we invite you to attend this round table discussion on the history of women in Rome with the participation of Patricia González Gutiérrez, author of the book Soror. Women in Rome, Israel del Santo, director of The Heart of the Empire, Sandra Escacena, actress of The Heart of the Empire and the journalist and author Elisa McCausland.
The town of Sisapo, identified with the site of La Bienvenida (Ciudad Real), is part of a systematic research project that has been underway for more than three decades.
In addition to its intrinsic interest as a thriving centre since its foundation at the end of the Late Bronze Age, it is also a mining capital that managed the cinnabar and silver resources of the rich northern regions of Sierra Morena in Roman times.
The archaeological excavations carried out over the last decade in different sectors of the Neapolis have considerably renewed and expanded our knowledge of the early stages of the Greek emporium. The work carried out in the central area of the city, in the agoraestoa sector and also in the northwest area, has provided new data on the urban planning and urban configuration of the 6th-5th centuries BC, as well as on the connection between the city and the ancient natural harbour that extended between the Neapolis and the foundational nucleus of the Palaia Polis.
The launch of a new archaeological research project (2018-2021) focused on the study of the port areas of Emporion, which includes the excavation of the port district of the Neapolis and the structures currently preserved on the coastal façade, as well as various prospecting and geological surveys, is an excellent opportunity to renew the current historical discourse and to propose new hypotheses for future work.
Rome has left a strong influence on today’s world, and modern society is undoubtedly indebted to ancient Rome: the ways of accessing and using power; public services; medicine; forms of entertainment; eating habits, etc. These are all aspects that have left their mark on our society. Over the course of eight lectures, we will look at some of these aspects of the life and customs of the ancient Romans. The upbringing and education of children, the toys and games of chance that the Romans were so fond of, food, jewellery, clothing, places of worship, the organisation of time, political participation and health. All these aspects were part of a society that marked the history of Europe and the world.
The town of Medellín in Badajoz is currently one of the most important archaeological sites in Extremadura. The first archaeological excavation campaign was carried out in 1969. Since then, considerable progress has been made in the knowledge of the diachrony of occupation of this enclave, with prehistoric, Oriental, Roman, Muslim, Christian and modern-contemporary remains being documented. The archaeological work carried out in recent years has made it possible to transform the abandoned ruins of the Roman theatre of Metellinum into one of the main monuments of this autonomous community. Also, the declaration of Medellín as an Asset of Cultural Interest has made it necessary to carry out archaeological interventions in the works being carried out in that town, and this has made it possible to locate other important archaeological remains of which their existence was unknown.
The discovery and excavation of an Iberian monumental aristocratic complex near Cabra, the remains of a Caesarian battlefield in Montemayor, and the burial of an Iberian chariot of the ‘bastetano’ type in this municipality are opening new perspectives on the Iberian Culture in the Cordovan countryside and the process of Roman conquest between the end of the 3rd and middle of the 1st century BC, all within the framework of the project ‘Iberian cities and aristocratic complexes in the Roman conquest of Upper Andalusia’ (HAR 2017-8806-P). I century BC, all within the framework of the project ‘Iberian cities and aristocratic complexes in the Roman conquest of Upper Andalusia’ (HAR 2017-82806-P).
Our satellite is an integral part of our culture, an inexhaustible source of mythology and symbolism, and has also been fundamental to the advancement of science. From synergy comes knowledge: the only way for the Babylonian eclipse lists to make sense is to accept that the days in 500 BC were shorter than they are today. The clay markings of an ancient civilisation contain extremely precise astronomical information that we know how to interpret because we have placed scientific instruments on the surface of the Moon. No other celestial body is so ubiquitous in human cultures. They have all named it after themselves (Diana, Artemis, Thoth, Chandra, Chang’e, Nanna). The Moon will take us by the hand on this journey of human cultures with scientific knowledge.
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This project has been funded with support from the European Commission.
This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
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