BLOG: Social Life in the Roman World

Magdala and International Trade

The city of Magdala plays a vital role in A Ram for Mars as the final stop on Marcus’s quest to find his mother and the place where he and Miriam decide to settle down…

Galilee of the Gentiles?

Galilee, the northern district of Israel, plays a vital role in A Ram for Mars as both the homeland of Marcus’s ancestors (through his grandmother)…

A Roman Island in a Jewish Sea

Golda Meir, former prime minister of Israel, once quipped, “Let me tell you the one thing I have against Moses…

The Wild, Wild—East?

Anyone who has heard anything about Jesus knows that he was crucified by Roman soldiers after being condemned by the Roman prefect Pontius Pilate…

Slavery in the Roman world

Mosaic of slaves preparing for or serving at a banquet I anticipate that many of my readers will be surprised to see the relatively…

Antioch-near-Pisidia

Map of modern Turkey showing the location of Antioch-near-Pisidia The city where much of this story takes place was one of 16 cities in…

Marking time with the Romans

Since the A Slave’s Story series is written from the vantage point of one of the characters in the story, I made a conscious effort to…

An empire of cities

Artist’s rendition of a typical Greek city One of the hardest things for modern readers to comprehend about the ancient world, at least…

To market, to market…

Ruins of the commercial agora in Ephesus, Turkey Did you ever wonder where people in the ancient world bought the things that they needed…

Sickness in the Roman world

Shared public toilets were a common channel for spreading disease in Greek and Roman cities It can be hard for citizens of modern Western…

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