Before the fatal  volcanic eruption of Vesuvius in AD 79, a devastating earthquake (of 5-6 magnitude) hit Pompeii in AD 62. A stolen marble relief depicting this earlier event has been found in a wall of a Belgium home.

https://arkeonews.net/2000-year-old-genuine-pompeii-marble-relief-installed-in-a-wall-lining-the-staircase-leading-down-to-the-basement-in-a-belgium-home/

An alter at the House of Lucius Caecilius lucundus at Pompeii depicts this earlier earthquake of AD 62.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/AD_62_Pompeii_earthquake

Archaeological discovery upends what we thought we knew about fall of Roman empire (msn.com)

Recent excavations at Pompeii have uncovered 13 terracotta figurines measuring around 15 cm (about six inches) 

https://www.heritagedaily.com/2023/12/terracotta-figurines-found-during-excavations-at-pompeii/150014

A recent excavation near the colosseum produced a luxury home and a wonderful mosaic. 
 

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The mosaic features an array of shells, Egyptian blue tesserae, precious glass, and fragments of white marble, depicting tridents, warships, and Celtic-style trumpets. 

A particularly intriguing aspect of the mosaic is the representation of a coastal city with small towers and porticoes, surrounded by vines and lotus leaves. 

This scene, crafted with meticulous attention to detail using travertine rock, is set against a backdrop of three large ships sailing across a sea with raised sails. 

"The representation of a coastal city could allude to a warlike conquest by the owner of the domus, belonging to an aristocratic personage, presumably of senatorial rank," the ministry said.

 

https://www.independent.co.uk/tv/culture/ancient-roman-home-unearthed-italy-b2464005.html

https://www.euronews.com/culture/2023/12/14/archaeologists-unearth-luxurious-roman-home-with-unparalleled-mosaic-near-colosseum?utm_source=yahoo&utm_campaign=feeds_articles2022&utm_medium=referral

Split, Croatia was the retirement seaside palace of Diocletian in AD 305. Roman mosaics and baths have been recently found at the palace grounds.

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What makes this discovery particularly noteworthy is its contradiction to long-held assumptions about the purpose of the northern part of Diocletian’s Palace. Historians and archaeologists had previously believed it housed barracks and training grounds for Diocletian’s personal guard and staff. Cingeli suggests that the pools and cisterns imply the existence of thermal baths in the northern part of the palace.

https://archaeologymag.com/2023/12/roman-baths-and-mosaics-under-split-city-museum-croatia/

Modern recreation of Diocletian’s Palace.

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ROME, Dec 8 (Reuters) - Archaeologists in the ancient Roman city of Pompeii have discovered a "bakery-prison" where slaves and donkeys were locked up to grind the grain needed to make bread, the archaeological site said on Friday.

A cramped room with no view of the outside world and small windows high in the wall with iron bars was uncovered during the excavations, which are part of a larger project to secure the slopes around the unexplored areas of the city.

 

https://news.rthk.hk/rthk/en/component/k2/1731469-20231209.htm?spTabChangeable=0

https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/bakery-prison-uncovered-ancient-romes-pompeii-2023-12-08/

Here is a video on the find:

https://youtu.be/jFnKLBe3NY8?si=ec65TVuokU1JN6V4

The Etruscan bronze statuettes from the San Casciano excavation are finally on display. They have been well preserved, along with votive offerings and fantastic coins, by the mineral condition of the thermal baths where they were found (see posts below). (Thanks Dr Tom for bringing this latest video to my attention.)

The Roman spa at San Casciano dei Bagni in Tuscany has been the source of many new discoveries (see below). Archaeologists have found a marble statue of Apollo Sauroctonos, also known as the “Lizard Killer.”

https://www.heritagedaily.com/2023/11/statue-of-apollo-lizard-killer-found-at-etruscan-and-roman-spa/149706

More information about Apollo Sauroctonos:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_Sauroctonos

Archaeologists have unearthed two temples and a sacrificial pit at a Roman military camp at Halteran in Northwestern Germany:

https://www.livescience.com/archaeology/romans/cult-temples-and-sacrificial-pit-unearthed-at-ancient-roman-camp-in-germany

A tintinnabulum is a Roman wind chime, often taking  the appearance of a phallus. Archaeologists have unearthed a phallus wind chime at the ancient city of Viminacium, about 100 km (70 miles) east of Belgrade.

https://arkeonews.net/magical-roman-phallus-wind-chime-unearthed-in-serbia/

https://www.heritagedaily.com/2023/11/phallus-wind-chime-found-at-roman-viminacium/149237

An example of a phallus tintinnabulum found in Pompeii: These may have been used to ward off evil and bring good luck.

After it’s original discovery in 2021 in the Turkish province of Kayseri, a giant 4th century AD mosaic has been shown to have been 600-square-meters in size (larger than the original estimates of 300 square meters).

https://arkeonews.net/the-largest-floor-mosaic-in-cappadocia-and-central-anatolia-region-uncovered-600-square-meters/

Article about original study in 2021:

https://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/largest-floor-mosaic-in-central-anatolia-found-in-kayseri-168958

A second century AD Roman site has been uncovered near Rabat, Morocco. It is thought that the area was first settled by the Phoenicians. In fact. bricks inscribed in neo-Punic were discovered at the site.

https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/morocco-unearths-roman-era-second-century-site-rabat-2023-11-03/?rpc=401&

There have been several threads before on the Herculaneum scrolls, the only intact (but unread) library from antiquity (see below). Here is an excellent video on the recent digitally “unraveling” of the scrolls:

It's one thing to have due process with a genuine debate, but the attitude now seems to be guilty unless proven innocent. Museums seem eager to empty their shelves in a hurry to prove their virtue, vs blue collar Ohio city that knows the value of things hard won. I was just reading about how that attitude nourished it's rock musicians (R & R museum there). P.S. you may wonder why the top notch Cleveland sitcom "Drew Cary" show is no longer rerun, and it because they worked in so much local rock which subsequently became such classics that they cannot afford to license replay.

In August, a New York judge had ordered the return of this priceless headless sculpture from a Cleveland museum (see post below). The museum is now suing to have that order dismissed. The museum contests the Turkish claims it was a statue of Marcus Aurelius that originated in Turkey. In fact, the museum states the statue was much older (150-200 BCE) and probably is not of Turkish origin. Experts have suggested that the sculpture is, instead, of Sophocles, the Greek writer of tragedies..

The sculpture remains in Cleveland but is “seized in state.”

https://www.cleveland.com/arts/2023/10/cleveland-museum-of-art-sues-new-york-district-attorney-over-seizure-of-statue-valued-at-20-million.html?outputType=amp

https://news.artnet.com/art-world/cleveland-museum-lawsuit-sculpture-2381754/amp-page

There has been some breakthrough with AI in reading the texts of the charred scrolls at Herculaneum. There are some 600 texts to be examined.
 

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Luke Farritor, who is at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, developed a machine-learning algorithm that has detected Greek letters on several lines of the rolled-up papyrus, including πορϕυρας (porphyras), meaning ‘purple’. Farritor used subtle, small-scale differences in surface texture to train his neural network and highlight the ink.

Here is some background information about the Vesuvius Challenge:

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The Vesuvius Challenge offers a series of awards, leading to a main prize of US$700,000 for reading four or more passages from a rolled-up scroll. On 12 October, the organizers announced that Farritor has won the ‘first letters’ prize of $40,000 for reading more than 10 characters in a 4-square-centimetre area of papyrus. Youssef Nader, a graduate student at the Free University of Berlin, is awarded $10,000 for coming second.

https://arkeonews.net/researchers-use-ai-to-read-words-on-ancient-herculaneum-scroll-burned-by-vesuvius/

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-03212-1

A tomb of a woman and her son have found along the Appian Way. I’m still looking for further details but this is an interesting find, nevertheless.

https://archaeonewsnet.com/the-epigraph-of-a-tomb-belonging-to-a-woman-and-her-son-found-in-the-excavation-of-romes-appian-way/

This discovery was not far from the recent discovery of the life-sized statue of Hercules along the Appian Way.

Israeli archeologists have uncovered a 300-meter-long (984-foot) section of an ancient aqueduct  thought possibly built by Pontius Pilate. It was thought to have been heavily damaged during the First Jewish-Roman War (66-73) and later repaired by the Romans.

Twenty-five coins in the plaster have been uncovered, too. It is thought they were placed there as a good luck charm.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/300-meter-stretch-of-aqueduct-from-late-second-temple-period-uncovered-in-jerusalem/amp/
 

https://www.haaretz.com/archaeology/2023-08-29/ty-article/longest-stretch-of-ancient-jerusalems-upper-aqueduct-revealed/0000018a-4168-d435-a59e-cfeaaed40000

Political inscriptions have been found inside a home in Pompeii. Inscriptions were usually found on exterior facades of buildings.

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The team discovered electoral inscriptions in support of Aulus Rustius Verus, a candidate for the position of aedile. Aediles were in charge of maintaining public buildings (aedēs) and regulating public festivals. The office of the aediles was typically held by young men aspiring to high political office, traditionally after their quaestorship but before their praetorship.

 Aulus Rustius Verus’s name appears in other inscriptions and is known in Pompeii for having held the highest public office in the city in the seventies of the 1st century AD, along with Giulio Polibius, owner of a splendid house on the Avenue of Abundance. , that of duovirea degree that was accessed after having been aedile, so archaeologists deduce that the newly discovered inscriptions are ancient and that Aulus Rustius Verus probably won those elections.

 

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According to the press announcement: “Normally, these writings are found on the external facades of buildings, where the people could read the names of the candidates for the city’s magistrates. The presence inside the home was likely for events such as dinners to support candidates with the aim of promoting the campaign electoral to their guests”

The house owner was apparently a supporter of Aulus Rustius Verus, further evidenced with the discovery of a millstone placed in the atrium of the house inscribed with the candidates initials, ARV.

 

https://www.heritagedaily.com/2023/09/electoral-inscriptions-found-in-pompeii-house/148739

https://arkeonews.net/electoral-inscriptions-discovered-in-pompeii-reveal-clientelism-in-ancient-rome/

An unlooted Roman sarcophagus from the second century AD has been found in Northeastern France.

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During the recent excavation, scientists discovered a lime sarcophagus limestone that measures 3.3 feet high, 5.4 feet long, and 2.6 feet wide, with a 1,700-pound lid held in place by iron pegs sealed with lead. The archaeologists first did X-rays on the sarcophagus then used an endoscopic camera. They found a skeleton of a woman inside, alongside a number of other objects, including a mirror.

“The skeleton occupied the entire space of the [5-foot] tank, the individual must have been around 40 years old and had a special status. Four oil lamps were found near her legs and shoulders, as well as a small mirror, an amber ring and a comb,” Balmelle added.

 

https://arkeonews.net/extraordinary-discovery-in-france-an-unlooted-1800-year-old-roman-sarcophagus-discovered/