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Saw these nice photos of (mainly) gladiator helmets from an exhibition in Rome on another forum. Have a look here.

On another note, I have very nearly reached 120,000 words in the manuscript of Soldier of Carthage. All being well, I will finish the first draft this month – about 145-150k words, and then start editing. I aim to have it all done in May/June, and it will hopefully be coming out in the early part of 2011 here in the UK. It concerns 7 main protagonists – a young Carthaginian called Hanno, his 2 brothers and father, and a young Roman called Quintus, his sister Aurelia, and father. Set in 220 BC, it follows their story right up until the battle at the Trebia in late 218 BC. The second novel, Legionary, will run from the end of the first book, until the aftermath of Cannae…

It’s not an item about the Romans, but I can’t help myself with this one. Last summer, excavations for a relief road near the town of Weymouth, in Dorset, came up with the most extraordinary discovery: the mass grave of more than 50 Vikings, all of whom had been beheaded! It appears that the Vikings didn’t always come out victorious. What a scene it would make for a book. Read about it here and here. The photo of the jaw bone broken by a sword blow (at the bottom of the second article) is chilling.

Some of you may have already heard of this, but I thought it was worth putting up anyway. An American TV channel called STARZ has recently released a new series called Spartacus: Blood and Sand. It’s a no holds barred, fast moving and extremely graphic depiction of gladiatorial life. You can watch the first two episodes free here. Despite the multiple historical inaccuracies, academics are praising the series, which is very intriguing. Read an interesting article from the London Times here. Those who live in the UK might be keen to know that the TV station Bravo has acquired the first two series. Apparently they will start running in the summer on pay-per-view TV, but will then be available over the Internet (free, I think). I, for one, will be watching.

I love how finds like this can keep happening, even today. Two articles, the first one with lots of pictures here, and the second one here.

I love love love archaeology. Every so often, they find something which expands our knowledge of the ancient world, and we can say: ‘Wow, the Romans/Greeks/Egyptians did know how to do this/that/the other’!

Check out the link here

The paperback of The Forgotten Legion was released in the USA on the 5th of January, and I’ve got some ads promoting the novel on book blogs. If you’ve come here from one of those, welcome! Please have a look around, and if you have any comments, email me on ben@benkane.net Thanks!