A version of this essay first appeared in The Swell, Salon's culture newsletter. Sign up for early access to articles like this, for more culture that's made to last. Two years ago, a viral trend tore ...

It probably sucked to be a Roman soldier guarding Hadrian’s Wall circa the third century CE. W.H. Auden imagined the likely harsh conditions in his poem “Roman Wall Blues,” in which a soldier laments ...

Back in 2023, we reported on MIT scientists’ conclusion that the ancient Romans employed “hot mixing” with quicklime, among other strategies, to make their famous concrete, giving the material ...

"Completing the Roman observatory brings us to a defining moment for the agency." When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. NASA's Nancy ...

Archaeologists excavating the ancient Roman city of Gabii have uncovered a massive stone-lined basin that may represent one of Rome’s earliest monumental civic structures. Its central placement hints ...

A remarkably well-preserved Roman sarcophagus has been unearthed in Hungary's capital, offering a rare window into the life of the young woman inside and the world she inhabited around 1,700 years ago ...

Posts circulating on social media claim Mamdani is expected to introduce new rules when he becomes New York Mayor in 2026 that will require all public elementary schools in the state to learn Arabic ...

In mid-November 2025, a rumor spread on X that New York City's Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani would be introducing "Arabic numerals" to schools in the city. One post from the account of the prediction ...

All roads may have once led to Rome — but those roads stretched 50% longer than previously known, according to a new digital atlas published this week. The study, called Itiner-e, mapped nearly ...

Researchers have launched Itiner-e, an interactive digital map tracing 300,000 kilometers of ancient Roman roads. The project reveals a far more extensive Roman network than previously believed, ...

Ray Laurence does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their ...

They say all roads lead to Rome—but exactly how many Roman roads were there? According to new research, potentially over 68,000 miles (over 110,000 kilometers) more than previously known. Meet ...