home.social

#romanempire — Public Fediverse posts

Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #romanempire, aggregated by home.social.

  1. Roman emperor’s lavish bath found hidden inside a palace tower in Serbia

    Archaeologists working at Vrelo-Šarkamen in eastern Serbia have uncovered a lavish Roman bath built inside a palace tower. The bath belonged to an imperial residence linked to Maximinus Daza, a Roman emperor who ruled from 310 to 313...

    Photo © Krajina Museum

    More information: archaeologymag.com/2026/09/rom

    Follow @archaeology

    #archaeology #archeology #archaeologynews #romanempire #romanarchitecture #romanbath

  2. Roman emperor’s lavish bath found hidden inside a palace tower in Serbia

    Archaeologists working at Vrelo-Šarkamen in eastern Serbia have uncovered a lavish Roman bath built inside a palace tower. The bath belonged to an imperial residence linked to Maximinus Daza, a Roman emperor who ruled from 310 to 313...

    Photo © Krajina Museum

    More information: archaeologymag.com/2026/09/rom

    Follow @archaeology

  3. 4 million Roman coins reveal how money helped unite the expanding Republic

    A study of nearly 4 million Roman coins shows how money moved across the Republic as Rome expanded. The pattern points to roads, cities, ports, and institutions as key forces behind economic ties. Researchers used spatial models and digital archaeology databases to trace coin circulation from 155 BCE to 2 CE...

    More info: archaeologymag.com/2026/09/rom

    Follow @archaeology

    #archaeology #romanempire #romancoins #numismatics

  4. 2,000-year-old Roman lead fishing weights reveal how people fished in ancient Spain

    Ancient Mellaria in southern Spain was known for mining, but nearby rivers also helped support daily life. A new study of 17 lead fishing weights points to small-scale river fishing as part of the local economy. The objects were found during excavations at the Mellaria site near Fuente Obejuna, Córdoba...

    More information: archaeologymag.com/2026/09/rom

    Follow @archaeology
    #archaeology #fishing #romanempire

  5. Spirituality & Religious Studies @spiritualityreligiousstudies.wordpress.com@spiritualityreligiousstudies.wordpress.com ·

    Rex Sacrorum

    In ancient Roman religion, the rex sacrorum (“king of the sacred things,” sometimes called rex sacrificulus) was a senatorial priesthood reserved for patricians. The rex sacrorum was based in the Regia.

    During the Roman Republic, the rex sacrorum was chosen by the pontifex maximus (the chief high priest of the College of Pontiffs in ancient Rome) from a list of patricians (patricians were originally a group of ruling-class families in ancient Rome) submitted by the College of Pontiffs.

    A further requirement was that he be born to parents married through the ritual of confarreatio. This was also the form of marriage he himself had to enter. His wife (the regina sacrorum) also performed religious duties specific to her role. Marriage was such a fundamental part of the priesthood that if the regina died, the rex had to resign. The rex sacrorum was above the pontifex maximus. Although he was more or less a powerless figurehead.

    The rex sacrorum wore a toga, the undecorated soft “shoeboot” (calceus), & carried a ceremonial axe. As a priest of the archaic Roman religion, he sacrificed capite velato, with head covered.

    The rex held a sacrifice on the Kalends of each month. Kalends is the 1st day of every month in the Roman Calendar. The word ‘calendar’ comes from this word. On the Nones (the Roman Calendar used by the Roman Kingdom & Roman Republic), he announced the dates of festivals for the month.

    On March 24 & May 24, he held a sacrifice in the Comitium. The Comitium was the original open-air public meeting space of ancient Rome & had major religious & prophetic significance. In addition to these duties, the rex sacrorum seems to have functioned as the high priest of Janus.

    In Rome, the priesthood was deliberately depoliticized. The rex sacrorum wasn’t elected. His inauguration was merely witnessed by a comitia calata, an assembly called for the purpose. The rex was barred from a political & military command. After the overthrow of the Roman kings, the office of rex sacrorum fulfilled at least some of the sacral duties of kingship, with the consuls assuming political power & military command, as well as some sacral functions.

    As the wife of the rex sacrorum, the regina sacrorum (“queen of the sacred things”) was a high priestess who carried out ritual duties only she could perform. On the Kalends of every month, the regina presided at the sacrifice of a sow (porca) or female lamb (agna) to Juno. The reginas were equal to their male partners. These 2 priesthood were gender-balanced & had shared duties.

    While performing her rituals, the regina wore a headdress called the arculum, formed from a garland of pomegranate twigs tied up with a white woolen thread. The rex & regina sacrorum were required to marry by the ritual of confarreatio, originally reserved for patricians. But after the Lex Canuleia of 445 BC, it’s possible that the regina could’ve been plebeian. Plebeians/plebs were the general body of the free Roman citizens who weren’t patricians.

    The office of Rex Sacrorum wasn’t a highly coveted position among the patricians. Although the rex sacrorum was technically superior to the pontiffs, the rank conferred no real political gain. Because of this, there would be some years without a rex sacrorum at all.

    By the time of Antony’s civil war, the office was entirely in disuse. But seems to have been revived later by Augustus, as there was mention of it during the empire until it was probably abolished by Theodosius I.

    Make a one-time donation

    Your contribution is appreciated.

    Donate

    Make a monthly donation

    Your contribution is appreciated.

    Donate monthly

    Make a yearly donation

    Your contribution is appreciated.

    Donate yearly

    Rate this:

    #445BC #Agna #AncientRome #Antony #Arculum #Augustus #Calceus #CapiteVelato #CollegeOfPontiffs #Comitium #Confarreatio #HighPriest #HighPriestess #history #Janus #Juno #Kalends #LexCanuleia #March24 #May24 #Nones #Patricians #philosophy #Plebeian #Plebs #PontifexMaximus #Pontiffs #Porca #Regia #ReginaSacrorum #RexSacrificulus #RexSacrorum #RomanEmpire #RomanKingdom #RomanKings #RomanRepublic #Rome #SenatorialPriesthood #TheodosiusI #Toga