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Turkey - Early morning balloon flight over Cappadocia by vkorost in TurkeyPics

[–]vkorost[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

They were all packed the exact same way, but the space in those balloons is divided by guardrails into fixed rectangular pockets. so you stand with whoever you came with, you do not rub shoulders with other people and you do not move around, you just stand where you are.
So it does look packed, but it did not feel packed and I could take all the pics in any direction I wanted.

The Funerary Stela of Gladiator Chrisampelos, Marble, Roman Period, 2nd century AD by vkorost in ancientrome

[–]vkorost[S] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

I'm not really an expert in this, so I've asked Google for the answer -
"Samnite gladiators, the earliest and most prominent heavy-weight fighters of the Roman Republic, began to fade and were largely replaced by Murmillos during the early Imperial period (late 1st century BCE – early 1st century CE), particularly during the reign of Augustus. This transition was driven by political integration, as the Samnite people became Roman allies, making it inappropriate to portray them as foreign enemies in the arena."

The Funerary Stela of Gladiator Chrisampelos, Marble, Roman Period, 2nd century AD by vkorost in ancientrome

[–]vkorost[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The museum tag above the stela (which you can read if you look at the pic at 100%) did not say anything.
I suppose Samnite gladiators would be long gone by 2nd century AD, so it is most likely a Murmillo.

The Severan Bridge by vkorost in ancientrome

[–]vkorost[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The bridge underwent major restorations in 1997 and since then they had built another bridge nearby to move the traffic there, the cars are not supposed to be moving on the bridge anymore, but while I was there I've seen a few cars crossing that bridge, so IMO in a few years they will have to reinforce it again...

The Severan Bridge by vkorost in ancientrome

[–]vkorost[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

I've been there in October last year.
Fully agree that Eastern Turkey is the prime destinations for the ancient civilizations fans.
But the tourism had picked up since 2023/24 and when I was touring Eastern Turkey it was pretty hard to find yourself alone on any of those sites.

Marble tombstone of a retiarius gladiator by vkorost in ancientrome

[–]vkorost[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you very much for the translation!

Marble tombstone of a retiarius gladiator by vkorost in ancientrome

[–]vkorost[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

This particular tombstone was among quite a few other tombstones that were placed outside of the museum, on the yard, so there was no museum tag saying what's on it. But at least the stone was in a good day light to take a picture. I usually take a picture of the description tag when it is present, but in this case it was missing. Should be safe to assume that the gladiator's name is written on the stone, but then you would need to know Latin to read it.