Search Results for: roman ruins “What did the Romans ever do for us?” I love that line from Monty Python’s Life of Brian and have thought it appropriate in many circumstances. Naturally, it came to mind when I was wandering through the magnificent Roman ruins of Jerash – Ancient Gerasa or Garshu – in northern Jordan. These extensive ruins, so […]  The expanse of the Roman Empire always astonishes me. From Hadrian’s Wall and the Antonine Wall in Great Britain, to the southern reaches of what is now Egypt; from the Atlantic Ocean to territories west of the Mediterranean – at its largest, the Empire ruled over 5 million square kilometres (almost 2 million square miles). But […]  I was never very good at history at school: I could never remember the names and dates required. Walking around European cities, with layers of history in the stones around me or under my feet: that is a completely different story. Bearing witness to the slow march of people over time into new regions of the […]  It’s autumn in Australia at the moment, which makes me think of spring in the Northern Hemisphere. Defies logic, I know, but there is something about the freshness of the air this change-of-season that has me humming: “I love Paris in the springtime…” and thinking of my last time in France, back in the spring […]  The home of the Delphi Oracle has a mystic resonance. The air is electric, infused with the smell of mountain herbs, and full of possibility. Of course, it might have just been the heat, or the early start. Whatever it was, I felt an energy at the Sanctuary of Apollo in Ancient Delphi that I […] |
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