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We know from historical texts that most gladiator fights did not end with the killing of the loser. The highly trained fighters were far too valuable to kill off in such numbers. Fascinating evidence from the recently discovered, and only known gladiator cemetery, near Ephesus in Turkey, adds further proof that gladiators adhered to strict rules in the arena. A good number of the skeletons found were executed by a single blow to the head from a blunt weapon – after their helmet had been removed. Read the fascinating article here. Expect more articles about this cemetery and the wealth of  new information it has provided in the last five years or so.

Rome’s trade with India existed from the 1st Century BC, and continued for many hundreds of years after that. Driven by the desire for spices, and particularly black pepper, ships sailed with the monsoon once a year in each direction, to Egypt. Of course other things were traded too – hardwoods, tortoiseshell and ivory. And, as some of you may have read in The Silver Eagle, maybe a passenger or two….

Archaeologists think that they may have found the main trading city where Roman traders went. Click here to see the article.

Garum, the strong tasting fish sauce so beloved of the Romans, was traditionally made in Italy. Consisting of fermented fish in brine, sometimes with added wine, herbs and spices, it was a staple of the Roman diet. Pompeii was one of the towns where the ‘best’ versions of it was made (see Mary Beard’s excellent book Pompeii), but it was also made in Spain. Around 50 AD, a ship carrying over 1200 amphorae of it sank off the Spanish coast. It wasn’t found again until 2000. See an interesting National Geographic article on it here.

When I’ve visited Rome, one of the highlights of every visit has always been the Pantheon, the enormous domed building which was possibly used as a temple to all the gods. Or was it an enormous sundial? New research suggests this may have been a possibility: click here to check out an interesting article from the New Scientist on it.

It appears that nothing much changes in 2000 years – recently translated evidence from the writing tablets found near Hadrian’s Wall suggests that expenses were being fiddled even then! Check out the link – Roman expenses.

The answer to the competition question was: gladius hispaniensis. Many of you wrote in saying just ‘gladius’ so I emailed back and said I needed more. That weeded out a fair few, but nearly 20 people got it right, and after writing down the names on bits of paper and putting them in a box, I pulled out two pieces. One was for Mr Robin Carter, of Nottinghamshire, and the other was for Sue L., who lives near Bristol. Congratulations! Hard luck to the rest of you, but keep an eye out for more competitions in the not too distant future.