Earlier this week, the LDS Church announced its plans to dismantle the foundation of the old Provo Tabernacle and donate its stones to the city. The nineteenth-century foundation was uncovered in preparation for the construction of a new tabernacle. Now a team of concerned citizens are circulating a petition asking to leave the foundation in place. “If this was in Salt Lake it would be preserved,” said Provo resident Raquel Smith Callis.

Here’s a quick history of Empúries, the westernmost of the ancient Greek colonies, in Catalonia, Spain.

The European Union has agreed to a plan to help Italy rescue Pompeii from collapse. “We gave our approval to this important restoration work that is not only in the interest of Italy, but for all of Europe’s historic patrimony,” said Johannes Hahn, European Union Commissioner for Regional Policy.

Costumed gladiators and centurions will no longer be allowed to ask tourists for money for posing for pictures around Rome’s Colosseum.

Operation Nightingale, a rehabilitation program for injured veterans, helped uncover a Roman building in Wales. “There are a lot of transferable skills that we have learned within the military that we’re able to transfer to archaeology,” said Steven Winterton, who was injured in Afghanistan.

A new translation of an inscription from the Roman city of Oinoanda in southwestern Turkey reveals that an athlete named Lucius Septimius Flavianus Flavillianus, who was a champion at wrestling and pankration, worked as a military recruiter for the Roman army. He was so successful at his job that he was made a cult figure after his death. “A celebrity would have a greater ability to drum up support and large numbers of volunteers than somebody who was not a celebrity,” said Nicholas Milner of the British Institute at Ankara.

The location of Pike’s Cantonment, where Zebulon Pike’s 15^th Regiment camped during the winter of 1812-13, has been found in Plattsburgh, New York.

This entry was posted by Jessica E. Saraceni on Friday, March 30, 2012. Discussion of this blog entry is now closed.

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