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Soldier’s wrist purse discovered at Roman legionary camp(heritagedaily.com)
108 points by bookofjoe 7 days ago | 31 comments
  • cyrusmg3 days ago

    Better photos available e.g. at https://www.ceskenoviny.cz/zpravy/2688552

  • donatj3 days ago

    Keep in mind the bright shiny copper color one is just a modern interpretation of what it may have looked like when it was complete, and what was found was just the small fragment next to it.

    The article just neglects to mention this directly.

    The model seems to make a lot of assumptions based on such a small fragment.

    • jihadjihad3 days ago |parent

      It's a "highly detailed reconstruction" (bottom of TFA). Agreed that TFA is light on details and annoyingly disables text selection, which is something I haven't been annoyed by since 2007.

      • voidUpdate3 days ago |parent

        Not only does it manually disable text selection, it also disables the right click menu and most ways of opening the dev tools... for some reason... (you can still reach dev tools using the top right menu on chrome though)

      • donatj3 days ago |parent

        Using "Find" in my browser says those words are on the page somewhere but I cannot find them anywhere.

        • 3 days ago |parent
          [deleted]
        • jihadjihad3 days ago |parent

          Weird. It's the last sentence in TFA.

          • donatj3 days ago |parent

            I think it actually slipped under the ad. Using a browser with Adblock I see it.

    • permo-w3 days ago |parent

      >The model seems to make a lot of assumptions based on such a small fragment

      this could be said about a shocking amount of historical study

    • piombisallow3 days ago |parent

      It would have been bright and shiny when new back then too

  • apples_oranges3 days ago

    Personal items of dead people always make me emotional.. do you know what I mean? Even ~2000 years after the fact.. This person's life ended and all that he was and thought and felt is now gone.. so we do not know much, except that this item was important to him.

    • coldtea3 days ago |parent

      You might enjoy this then:

        Davenports and kettle drums
        And swallowtail coats
        Tablecloths and patent leather shoes
        Bathing suits and bowling balls
        And clarinets and rings
        And all this radio really needs is a fuse
      
        A tinker, a tailor, a soldier's things
        His rifle, his boots full of rocks
        And this one is for bravery and this one is for  me 
        And everything's a dollar in this box
      
        Cuff links and hubcaps
        Trophies and paperbacks
        It's good transportation
        But the brakes aren't so hot
        Neckties and boxing gloves
        This jackknife is rusted
        You can pound that dent out on the hood
      
        A tinker or tailor, a soldier's things
        His rifle, his boots full of rocks
        Oh, and this one is for bravery, oh, and this one is for me
        And everything's a dollar in this box
      
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNwC8ETa0pg
      • apples_oranges2 days ago |parent

        thank you for that :)

    • MrBuddyCasino3 days ago |parent

      Someone loved that child very much: https://greekreporter.com/2024/07/02/ancient-greek-girl-buri...

      • fhsm3 days ago |parent

        I expected the link to be to they https://www.dw.com/en/they-called-her-jamila-the-mystery-of-...

    • ljf3 days ago |parent

      I often find myself overcome with sonder and dustsceawung (the infinite complexity of others lives, and that the dust all around me is made from the lives and civilisations before us [and alongside us])

      https://www.dictionary.com/browse/sonder https://medium.com/etch-to-their-own/dustsceawung-866aff795a...

    • DragonStrength3 days ago |parent

      I most definitely am reminded of how few people leave an archaeological mark when I read these. Though from my perspective, I see him as one of the special ones, even if we know very little. There are so few folks remembered even a generation later -- even the wealthiest industrialists and movie stars quickly fade.

    • bloqs3 days ago |parent

      agree. its quite an intimately human thing

  • kaonwarb3 days ago

    The single photo is remarkably elegant - a spare, almost modernist design.

    • andrewflnr3 days ago |parent

      Pretty slick and functional given the materials of the time. I wonder if it could be made to work today. I think adapting it to cards and cash would make it an awkward package, but maybe if you lay them out along the arm it could work.

      • hoseja3 days ago |parent

        Bronze is a VERY nice material. It's a shame it's actually too expensive to see much use in our modern consumerist lives.

        • is_true3 days ago |parent

          It's also easy to steal

          • andrewflnr3 days ago |parent

            Not when it's a solid band around your wrist. Materials in isolation don't tend to have an inherent difficulty level of theft.

  • thaumasiotes3 days ago

    > The camp was established by the 10th Legion, who was stationed in the area between AD 172 and 180

    This is interesting wording. I have a strong urge toward saying either of two other options:

    - "The camp was established by the 10th Legion, who were stationed in the area between..." [The Legion is a collection of people]

    - "The camp was established by the 10th Legion, which was stationed in the area between..." [The Legion is not a person]

    I have difficulty interpreting the Legion as a single person, though. Does the wording in the article work for other people?

    ---

    As to the item itself, I find it a little odd to call it a "purse", since it's reconstructed as a solid metal object. That sounds inconvenient and uncomfortable at best.

  • volemo3 days ago

    Damn, I’ve read “pulse” and was both very confused and very excited!

  • voidUpdate3 days ago

    How do you get that over your hand, and simultaneously have it tight enough to hold the little flap closed?

  • dfedbeef3 days ago

    Seems jingley

    • ggm3 days ago |parent

      Wrap the silver in cloth. Can't open without removing from arm so within limits stops petty theft.

    • gtecjit3 days ago |parent

      [dead]

  • gtecjit3 days ago

    [dead]

  • aaron6953 days ago

    [dead]