Roman artifacts found in Swedish graves

GOTHENBURG, Sweden, Nov. 9 (UPI) -- Shards of Roman ceramics found in ancient graves in western Sweden suggest there was more contact between the Romans and Swedes than thought.

Archaeologists at the site in Stenungsund, around 30 miles north of Gothenburg, found the ceramic pieces along with some charred bones from two people, which were dated between the years 1 and 300 AD, said Bengt Nordqvist, who is leading the dig for Sweden's National Heritage Board.

He told Sweden's English-language newspaper The Local the finds challenge previous migration theories.

"The discovery shows that contact between Sweden and the Roman Empire was possibly much greater than we used to believe," Nordqvist said.

The excavation was ordered before the town granted permission to turn the land into soccer fields, the newspaper said.

Armchair Archaeology boosted

Google Earth, Satellite Maps Boost Armchair Archaeology
Brian Handwerk
November 7, 2006

Satellite images are giving archaeologists a bird's-eye view of our past—by helping them quickly identify ancient sites from space.

Scott Madry, an archaeologist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, has been pinpointing possible archaeological sites in France with the popular desktop program Google Earth.

The freely available software is a virtual globe created with a collection of mixed-resolution images from both government and private satellite sources.

"Frankly I was floored," Madry said. "I was just shocked at the results that I was able to get."

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Blemished Roman Treasure

By Alan Riding
The New York Times
Published: October 26, 2006

LONDON: Since last week, scores of scholars, museum curators and collectors have been discreetly filing into a well-guarded gallery of the Bonhams auction house here to admire 14 richly decorated silver objects that lay buried for 1,500 years in a forgotten corner of what was once the Roman Empire.

The excitement is palpable. Only once before - for one brief morning in 1990 in New York - has the so- called Sevso Treasure been displayed in public. Now, the solid silver plates, ewers, basins and caskets, thought to be worth more than $187 million, are again living up to their reputation as one of the finest collections of ancient Roman silver ever found.

Dated from A.D. 350 to 450, the treasure takes its name from a dedication on a 22-pound, or 10-kilogram, hunting plate, which reads in Latin: "May these, O Sevso, yours for many ages be, small vessels fit to serve your offspring worthily."

This work and others carry intricate designs and detailed reliefs of boar and bear hunting, feasting and mythological stories, as well as delicate geometric forms.

Yet, all this beauty carries a blemish.

While the works are on display at Bonhams with a view to an eventual sale, they remain tainted by uncertainty over their provenance and by an outstanding claim by Hungary that they were illegally removed from its territory. At most, then, this private exhibition - viewing is by invitation or special request - is intended as a first step toward the treasure's rehabilitation.


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Roman Focus Group, Vancouver Island

The inaugural meeting of an outreach activity, organized by Gaia Aurelia Falco Silvana, was held on October 25th 2006. This aimed at increasing awareness of Romanitas within the geographic area of Vancouver Island. Discussion followed on the direction that the group should take.

Pompeii brothel reopened -- for tourists

POMPEII, Italy, Oct. 25 (UPI) -- The ancient brothel of Pompeii has been reopened after a complete restoration carried out in the name of archaeology.

The attraction's famous frescos -- depicting the wide variety of services offered by the friendly staff pre-volcano -- have been freshened up for viewing in the ruins of the ancient Roman city that was buried virtually intact when Mount Vesuvius erupted in A.D. 49.

The Italian news agency ANSA said the brothel, known as the Lupanare, was reopened to visitors Thursday after being closed for a year. It is expected to return quickly to its position among the top attractions in Pompeii.

Speaking of positions, ANSA said the art works include depictions of the sex acts available from the prostitutes, who were known as "Lupa" back in the day. Lupa is the Latin word for "wolf."

What the Romans did to Wales

Our interest in ancient Rome shows no sign of abating, as a major new programme starring Michael Sheen as the Emperor Nero begins tonight. Here Duncan Higgitt looks back at the Romans' influence in Wales - and how this country played a large part in bringing their wrath down upon the Britons

IT was 42AD and a tribesman who would soon become a Welsh hero was sitting uncomfortably in the thoughts of the Roman emperor.

Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, better known just as Claudius, was stuttering and spluttering his way through his indignation, the disabled administrator - whom many had underestimated to their cost - apoplectic with rage, an anger directed at the head of relatively unremarkable Essex tribe dwellers known as the Catuvellaunis.

Their chieftain, Caratacus, whom some have since said most closely resembles legendary Welsh warrior Caradog in history, had set his face against Roman rule. His campaigning in southern England had forced the Roman vassal Verica to flee to Rome, and had thrown the British Isles into anarchy.

To Claudius, who was succeeded by his adoptive son Nero, there was only one answer to this upstart: invasion. He dispatched four battle-hardened legions - II Augusta, IX Hispana, XIV Gemina and XX Valeria Victrix - totalling some 20,000 men, to bring the rebellious isle back under boot.

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Bombs shatter Lebanon's Roman legacy

Rob Sharp
The Observer

Monuments in two of the world's most important heritage sites are in need of 'urgent repair' as a result of the recent conflict in Lebanon, a United Nations mission to the region has discovered.

A Roman tomb in Tyre and a medieval tower in Byblos have been significantly damaged by the war, the official leading a survey of Lebanese archaeological sites told The Observer late last week.

Unesco, the educational, scientific and cultural arm of the United Nations, is set to announce the results of its damage assessment mission tomorrow. The survey was launched after the international archaeological community, including the director of the British Museum, Neil MacGregor, urged the organisation to investigate the effects of bombing on one of the planet's most heritage-rich countries.

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Alberni District Fall Fair, BC

An outreach promotional activity at the Alberni District Fall Fair, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada was organized by Gaia Aurelia Falco Silvana. The fair ran from the 7th to the 10th September 2006.

This involved use of display space, which was generously offered for the duration of the fair that annually sees some 20,000 visitors. The display promoted Roman history, the Roman virtues, and Roman literature, with handouts being made available.

5th Nova Roman Conventus

The 5th Nova Roman Conventus in Europe was held at Carlisle and Hadrian's Wall in the UK between the 3rd and 9th of August 2006.

For a full report use the link above.

Roman mosaic floor rediscovered

Archaeologists have discovered fresh insights into a geometric mosaic of a Roman Villa in Norfolk.

Gayton Thorpe was first excavated in 1923, but was covered over in the 1960s after it fell into disrepair.

A team of up to 30 archaeologists are now using new techniques to re-expose the extensive multi-coloured tiles which formed the villa's floor.

Michael de Bootman, who is part of the team, said the site could be about 50% larger than was initially documented.

Mr de Bootman, geophysical overseer of the site, said the villa could also include up to five well-preserved masonry buildings, a detached bath house and possibly a gatehouse.

"The site is the only exposed Roman mosaic recorded in Norfolk in situ," he said.

He said the excavation work was on-going and could reveal further insights into the make-up and size of the villa.

The team are now appealing to the public for help to rediscover the villa.

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Roman village found in Bonn

Archaeologists on Wednesday said they had found the remains of a Roman village and baths near the government offices in the former West German capital Bonn.

The site is a "sort of single street village," roughly the size of two football fields, that was home to about 2,000 people and was built more than 2,000 years ago, archaeologist Nora Andrikopoulo-Strack said.

It lies close to the former German chancellery and archaeologists have found the remains of a "vicus," the Latin word for a path, that linked the village to others in nearby Cologne and Koblenz.

The team of 50 archaeologists who have been digging on the site since May have found four horse skeletons, a comb made out of bone and a cup with an erotic carving.

The excavation is financed by South Korean investor SMI Hyundai to the tune of 1.6 million euros ($2 million).

It is planning to build a new hotel and congress center on the site and the archaeological work must be completed before construction begins at the end of October.

Birthplace of Augustus found

A team of archaeologists say they have uncovered part of what they believe is the birthplace of Rome's first emperor Augustus.

Leading archaeologist Clementina Panella said the team has dug up part of a corridor and other fragments under Rome's Palatine Hill, which she described today as "a very ancient aristocratic house."

Panella said that she could not yet be certain that the house was where Augustus was born in 63 BC, but added that historical cross-checks and other findings nearby have shown that the emperor was particularly fond of the area, she said.

Excavations on the Palatine in recent decades have turned up wonders such as another renewed Augustus' house, including two rooms with frescoes of masked figures and pine branches.

Panella said there were at least two houses on the Palatine where the emperor was known to have lived.

Much has yet to be uncovered, hidden in underground passageways.

Dinnington Villa's mosaic secret

The site was first excavated as part of the Time Team TV programme
Archaeologists excavating part of a Roman villa in Somerset have unearthed a mosaic of Daphne and Apollo.

The mosaic, which dates back to the 4th Century, is part of the Dinnington Roman Villa site near Ilminster.

It is thought to be the only one of its kind in the country to feature the figures from Greek mythology.

The treasure was uncovered by a team of experts from Somerset County Council and students from Winchester University and Taunton's Richard Huish College.

Dinnington Roman Villa was first discovered when a plough turned up pieces of mosaic tile.

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Gens Galeria meeting

Members of the Gens Galeria met in Nashville TN, over the weekend of the 1st to 2nd July 2006, for an Italian lunch, a trip to the Parthenon and finally a relaxing evening in a local German restaurant.

A Roman road to nowhere in the UK

The Romans were a methodical people, not given to acts of folly - so why did they apparently build a road to nowhere? Known as the Peddars Way, it is a typically straight track marching from near Thetford directly through the heart of west Norfolk until it peters out at an isolated coastal spot at Holme, and is now favoured by walkers and cyclists.

But just what its original purpose was when it was built around 2,000 years ago is a question that has long perplexed historians.

Andrew McCloy is the latest to investigate. He devotes a chapter of his new book, Exploring Roman Britain, to the Peddars Way, and has reached a tentative conclusion.

"Usually the routes ended at a fort or garrison, or had another obvious destination," he says.

"Here you come out at Holme, and you think, Why? Where were the Romans going?"

There was a Roman settlement at nearby Brancaster, known as Branodunum, but if that had been the destination they would surely have gone straight there instead of hitting the coastline and then meandering eastwards for a couple of miles.

Instead, Andrew suggests: "I think probably it was a ferry port for a boat across the Wash to the other side. They might have gone across the Wash and up to Boston."

But above all, he suspects, it was a statement of intent - a sign from the occupying forces that they were not to be messed with.

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Skeleton found under Caesar's forum

ROME - Archaeologists say they have dug up a woman skeleton dating to the 10th century B.C. in an ancient necropolis in the heart of Rome.

The well-preserved skeleton appears to be that of a woman aged about 30, said archaeologist Anna De Santis, who took part in the excavations under Caesar's Forum, part of the sprawling complex of the Imperial Forums in central Rome.

An amber necklace and four pins also were found near the 5-foot-3-inch-long (160-centimeter-long) skeleton, she said Tuesday.

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Druids, President Bush and Caesar

Terry Jones: Blood and circuses

Terry Jones, Python turned historian, travelled from Ireland to Iran to debunk the myths of Rome. Boyd Tonkin talks to him about imperial power - then and now

Published: 19 May 2006

Terry Jones is rather keen on Druids, whom he sees not as sheet-draped shamans squinting at the sun but as a highly trained "class of professional intellectuals" entrusted with all the learning and lore of Celtic societies. So you might imagine that a born-again Druid in search of a blessed location would like nothing better than an airy modernistic dwelling tucked away down a sort of enchanted grove, just a sacred bough's throw away from Hampstead Heath. Jones, of course, is no professional historian, but the Monty Python veteran does rank as an unusually gifted amateur. As birds twitter around his secluded patio, he explains that "What fascinates me about history is turning received opinions on their head". Other subversive raids on the past have resulted in cliché-busting documentaries and books on medieval themes: Crusades, chivalry and Chaucer. Now, the guerrilla scholar-entertainer has dared take on the might of Rome.

Co-written with producer Alan Ereira, Terry Jones's Barbarians (BBC Books, £18.99) partners the four-part TV series - made by Oxford Films - that begins its run on BBC2 a week today. To say that his project aims to cast doubt on the virtue of the Roman Empire and the value of its legacy is rather like suggesting that Queen Boudica of the Iceni - inevitably, one star of this show - had a few tiny contractual niggles with her overlords. After almost two millennia, it's payback time.

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Latin resurgence

Dead language alive at Monmouth-Roseville

Saturday, May 20, 2006
BY CIGI ROSS

The Register-MailA poster reading "Latin didn't fall with Rome" hung in a room at the top of the stairs on Monmouth-Roseville High School's third floor.

A map of Rome hung on the wall underneath.

Five students sat in plastic chairs behind wooden desks looking over white papers that had been marked in red over black ink.
Brian Tibbets, a lean 32-year-old in black pants and a white- and red-striped shirt, leaned against his desk at the front of the room, going over answers from a quiz with the juniors in his Latin III class.

Tibbets took over the Latin program at Monmouth three years ago after it was saved by a petition from parents and students who supported the program. Now, 76 of the school's 550 students are enrolled in the program.

Saving Latin
In 1999, there were only six freshman enrolled in the Latin program at Monmouth High School. The school board was ready to close the program, but several parents and students did not want to see it go.

"We begged for one more year," said Christine Ayers, a mother three, all of whom have taken Latin in Monmouth.

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Roman iron false teeth

Although this is an old article (1998) it certainly shows that the world lost a vast amount of knowledge with the demise of Rome, and not for nothing do we refer to the years following the collapse of the Western Empire as the Dark Ages.

That said, the demise of iron false teeth, with all the problems of rust, is undoubtedly a good thing!

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New issue Nova Roman sestertii

The new issue of Nova Roman sestertii has gone on sale. These can be purchased through:

The Harpax Store

Roman Paris

A Preface to Paris: New Clues to the Roman Legacy
The New York Times
By ALAN RIDING
Published: April 30, 2006

PARIS, April 29 — When the French look back today, they generally trace the stirrings of national glory to François I in the mid-16th century or perhaps to Louis XIV 150 years later. And when Parisians look around, they see mainly the city reshaped into broad avenues by Baron Georges-Eugène Haussmann in the 19th century.

On the Left Bank, scholars are studying a Roman road and ruins. This week, they were reminded of a far earlier Paris, one that was still called Lutetia. On a Left Bank hillside, which carries the name of Sainte-Geneviève, the patron saint of Paris, French archaeologists have found remnants of a road and several houses dating back some 2,000 years to when Rome ruled Gaul.

In one sense, it was not a surprise. Other Roman vestiges have been uncovered, notably those of a theater that could seat 15,000 and Roman thermal baths found beneath the 15th-century Abbey of Cluny. Yet the area of the new find, half a mile to the south, was so heavily built up in the early 20th century that it is hard to imagine space for excavation.

In this case, however, the Pierre and Marie Curie University decided to replace a temporary structure with a research building. And, by law, construction in central Paris cannot begin until archaeologists have had a chance to investigate. They started digging in early March and almost immediately made one of their best finds in recent years.

As it happens, the Convent of the Visitation covered the 4,400-square-foot plot from the early 17th century until 1910, when it was demolished. One long-buried wall of the convent has been uncovered. Further, the site is crossed by a large drainage pipe, confirmation that interest in preserving ancient ruins is fairly new.

However, now quite visible is a 20-foot-wide road, as well as the walls and floors of at least three houses. In one house, archaeologists have been able to identify an under-the-floor thermal heating system. And across the site, coins and ceramic shards have been found. Further, this area was inhabited long enough for stone walls to replace earlier adobelike clay-and-wood building material.

The significance of such finds, of course, is what they reveal about earlier times. It is known that early settlers around the Île de la Cité burned their houses before they were conquered by a Roman legion under Labienus in 52 B.C. But in the decades that followed, a new town was built on the Left Bank, which eventually had a population of 12,000 to 20,000.

Then, after the first barbarian incursions in A.D. 253, the population apparently withdrew from the hill of Sainte-Geneviève and sought refuge behind new walls on the Île de la Cité, which was called Paris, borrowing the name of the ancient Gallic Parisii tribe. Thus, because the archaeologists have found no traces of occupation of the site between the 4th and 17th centuries, they have been able to confirm that even an area little more than a mile from the Seine was long considered insecure for habitation.

"It was a neighborhood of the Augustan period," explained Didier Busson, the architect in charge of the dig. "It may have been founded by Gauls who had been in the Roman army and settled here, bringing with them their experience of building."

Today, the Rue Saint-Jacques follows the path of the Cardo Maximus, the north-south road that crossed the district. Still, for all the attention stirred by this find, archaeologists have only until late June to complete their studies because, after that, construction will begin on the site. But Mr. Busson is nonetheless satisfied with what has been achieved.

"Thirty years ago, this site would have been destroyed even before we had a chance to excavate it," he said. "Maybe in 20 years it will be possible to preserve things as we find them."

Treasure myth inspires Cypriots to dig into past

TSERI, Cyprus (Reuters) - Residents of a Cypriot village, intrigued for decades by a tale of buried treasure and an underground flight of steps leading nowhere, have decided to get to the bottom of the mystery.

More than half a century after British colonial rulers forced them to abandon their last attempt to explore the site, residents of Tseri village in central Cyprus have begun excavating the 1,500-year-old tunnel and stairway.

Antiquities officials say the stone structure is part of an ancient irrigation network.

Residents romanticize, half jokingly, that it may lead to "Aphrodite's Golden Carriage" -- a euphemism for a hidden treasure dating from Roman times, between 58 BC and AD 330.

They speak of a little-known legend that the rulers of Cyprus would move treasures to the center of the island and hide them from raiders who plundered the coast in ancient times.

"It is a myth. We don't know if it is true. A myth is a myth. But without knowing, you cannot totally rule something out either," said Alkis Constantinou, community leader of Tseri, a community of 6,000 people 9.3 miles from the capital, Nicosia.

"It most likely leads to an underground reservoir, but it's unique for around here," said Constantinou as he stood above a gaping hole in the middle of an olive grove, exposing an arch of yellow sandstone, walls and a few steps.

The community intended to buy the field to pursue the explorations and ensure the site was properly preserved, he said.

HOARDS OF WEALTH
Tales of hoards of great wealth are heard in other communities across the guitar-shaped island, where the first signs of civilization date from 9,000 BC. It has been in thrall to a series of rulers from Alexander the Great to Cleopatra -- a gift from her lover Mark Antony -- and the Romans.

The most common myth is one of the Greek goddess of love, Aphrodite who, according to mythology, was born from the sea-foam in the west of the island.

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Senatorial villa in Torvaianica

Ancient Villa Found in Torvaianica

You never know what will you will find when you start digging in the area around Rome. Walk down a street in Rome and you will find roped off areas containing a column dating from ancient Rome.

Workers digging a new sewage system near Rome found the remains of a villa dating to the second-century. The villa belonged to two senators, Titus Flavius Claudius and Titus Flavius Sallustius.

It is expected that the villa in Torvaianica will become a tourist attraction once excavation has been completed. "We're uncovering a vast complex, in which we've found all sorts of vessels and ceramics which have been taken away to be catalogued", Filippo Avilia, the archaeologist in charge of the dig, told the Italian news agency ANSA.

The villa believed to have been used by the senators in the summer had a gymnasium, swimming pools and hot and cold baths. The area of the villa covers about a hectare. Torvaianica is a coastal resort south of Rome. According to the ancient poet Virgil, Trojan hero Aeneas landed at the ancient settlement of Lavinium (near Torvaianica)after fleeing his city, which had been sacked by the Greeks. Legend says the descendants of Aeneas founded the city of Rome. An ancient monument to Aeneas is located near Lavinio, the modern town on the site of Lavinium.

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UK export bar on disc

CULTURE MINISTER DEFERS EXPORT OF AN EXQUISITE ROMAN MILLEFIORI ENAMELLED DISC

Culture Minister, David Lammy, has placed a temporary export bar on a beautiful individually crafted Roman Millefiori enamelled disc. This will provide a last chance to raise the money to keep the disc in the United Kingdom.

The Minister's ruling follows a recommendation by the Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art and Objects of Cultural Interest, run by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council. The Committee recommended that the export decision be deferred on the grounds that the disk is of outstanding significance for the study of Roman millefiori and other enamel work.

The disc is one of just three known large decorative studs, all believed to be from Britain, which represent the finest workmanship in exquisite millefiori enamel inlay. It is thought that these may be fittings from high status horse gear and this disc could pay an important part in the study of such equipment. It is constructed with precision and elegance, retains intact almost all the minutely detailed inlay, and preserves the original colouring.

The decision on the export licence application for the disc will be deferred for a period ending on 19 June inclusive. This period may be extended until 19 August inclusive if a serious intention to raise funds with a view to making an offer to purchase the disc at the recommended price of £2260 is expressed.

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Stolen head returns to Italy

Statue goin' back Rome

BY ALISON GENDARDAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

A 1,000-year-old marble antiquity - stolen from a Roman villa where Benito Mussolini once lived - was returned to Italian officials yesterday.

The head of Dionysius, the Greek god of wine, went missing in 1983 from Villa Torlonia only to resurface in 2003 at a Christie's auction with a $25,000 price tag.

When Christie's got it, the auction house was suspicious about the piece and contacted the NYPD. Italian police and Interpol identified the curly haired head as a stolen antiquity.

After three years, the department's major case squad was able to trace the statue back to a defunct Japanese museum that acquired it sometime before 1990 - but nothing beyond that.

"We know from experience in these kinds of cases how difficult it is to trace them back," NYPD Commissioner Raymond Kelly said at a ceremony at the Italian Consulate on Park Ave. "The trails get murky and the stolen pieces simply show up in shops and auctions."

Cops closed the case this year without arrests paving the way for the return since it was no longer needed as evidence.

Consul General Antonio Bandini said the recovery was part of a broader trend of museums, auction houses and private collectors being willing to return works of art, and artifacts found to be stolen.

In a recent case, the Metropolitan Museum of Art agreed to return 21 looted items back to Italy.

"We're encouraged by the progress we have seen," Bandini said. "We have detected an amount of cooperation that simply had not been there even a few years or even a few months ago."

Dionysius' head, severed from the body of the statute, will be returned to the Villa Torlonia for display. The villa, a series of early 1800s buildings that Mussolini used as a presidential palace in the late 1920s, has been restored and only last week opened to the public.

"I think the mayor of Rome will be pleased to know that while he was restoring the villa, work was being done here to return something that had once been there," Bandini said.

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Ara Pacis museum opens in Rome

Modern building rises in heart of ancient Rome

ROME (Reuters) - After years of controversy, Rome on Friday unveiled the first modern building to rise in its ancient centre since dictator Benito Mussolini ruled Italy more than half a century ago.

Renowned U.S. architect Richard Meier was on hand for the inauguration of the Ara Pacis museum, a steel, glass and marble structure that has fired Roman passions with one critic comparing it to a giant petrol station.

"We've made something that is worthwhile," Meier responded to his critics at the gala opening. "To see it filled with people today is a great joy. Rome is a city where people walk and now this will be part of the itinerary," he told Reuters.

Meier's building -- the first to be erected in Rome since the 1930s -- was built to house the Ara Pacis, a 2,000-year-old altar commissioned by Roman Emperor Augustus to commemorate the pacification of what is today France and Spain.

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Bust in Houston

Visiting or living in Houston and bust for something Roman to do? Look no further...

Busting out

The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston,
puts a fresh face on ancient Rome

By BILL DAVENPORT
For the Chronicle

Nothing ought to be stuffier than a show tracing the stylistic development of ancient marble busts, but there's nothing stuffy about it when you're making your historical point using work of extraordinary quality. Great art can transcend scholarship, and despite its pedestrian educational theme, Reading the Roman Portrait Bust at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, is transcendent.

Eleven busts perch atop three rows of pedestals at natural head height, giving the disconcerting impression that you're standing in a crowd of people. Entering the gallery is like confronting a class of adult-ed students on the first day. You're greeted by a bunch of weird characters with frozen expressions.

The minimal installation and odd pearlescent blue walls give the show a clean modernity that invites comparisons with contemporary art. Reading the Roman Portrait Bust is energized by the viewer's personal relationship with the figures on display — much like ultracurrent works by Vanessa Beecroft, an Italian artist living in New York who makes pieces using living models as gallery props, or Duane Hanson, an American who sculpts ultralifelike mannequins.

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Vox Romana - inaugural Roman podcast

The first Roman podcast aired yesterday, most auspiciously on the date of the foundation of the city of Rome. Topics such as news and conversational latin were presented in a very smooth and polished presentation.

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5th Nova Roman Conventus

The fifth annual Conventus Novae Romae in Europa will be held at Hadrian's Wall in provincia Britannia between a. d. III Non. Sex. (Thursday the 3rd of August) and a. d. V Id. Sex. (Wednesday the 9th of August) this year.

This looks like it will be a great event, certainly very resonably priced and already packed with visits, meals, games, and apparently even chariot racing!