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>Bog water typically has a pH range of 3.3 - 5.5, and transitional bog waters have a pH in the range of 4.5 - 6.0. Numerous studies at Sifton Bog have shown the pH to be quite variable and infrequently less than 4.5.

What you get if you google the PH of Peat bogs, specifically from a website called Thames river :D

That sounds like it could be Sidonius Apollinaris. Dozens of his letters survive and provide an interesting view of 5th century Gaul.

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I can't find the exact quote but it's something like "I am a Roman, a soldier, and a Frank."

"I think the acidity of peat bogs is about a PH of 3 or 4" - u/rosefiend

I think the acidity of peat bogs is about a pH of 3 or 4 ... don't quote me though.

Thank you. I’ve listened to quite a few of those. Once in a while In Our Time covers a Roman individual.

The line "glass degrades in the acidic soil" or whatever is confusing. There's not many acids that can damage glass I don't think. Peat bogs I don't think are that acidic, at least not enough to damage glass. Am I wrong?

The History of Rome Podcast by Mike Duncan

I remember in a history class I took in college we saw a picture of an inscription on a tomb that referred to the guy as a (a frank I think? Idk one of the 'barbarians') and a Roman.

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Has anyone tried to recreate this in modern buildings? I'm actually semi-interested in building a house

I doubt it. By the time Rome finally collapsed it had been in decline for a couple centuries. Populations declined throughout the Italian peninsula during this period, that's why it was conquerable in the first place. By the time the Ostrogoths overran Italy the peninsula was a shadow of its former self and there were few people left to flee. That, and the Ostrogothic Kingdom functioned nominally as a suzerainty of the eastern empire so there wasn't a tremendous change in the daily life of the Italian peoples.

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Are there any podcasts on the Roman Empire you might recommend?

Well, we know there were links between Scotland and the Islamic world in the twelfth century. In 1105, king Edgar of Scotland gave a gift of a camel (described by the Annals of Inisfallen as animal mirae magnitudinis, “an animal of remarkable size”) to Muirchertach Ua Briain, then the most powerful king in Ireland. It can’t have been fun for the camel.

I mean, it's not that difficult:

• The glass was made during the Crusades period.
• The castle could've hosted Islamic Commanders convening with Scottish Commanders talking strategy.
• Vikings traded with Islamic countries and some of their jewelry was found in Viking tombs dating back to the 12th century. Maybe some Scottish merchants did too?

No. Odoacer deposed the last Western Roman Emperor (but spared his life), and had been the head of the Foederati for some time - he knew Roman politics and appealed to the Senate for legitimacy, making the existing Roman Senate more important than it had been in a long time and regularly consulting with it, nominating consuls, etc. So as a Italian elite, you were suddenly doing significantly better; he appointed several prominent old Roman families to important positions and issued new coinage.

The Eastern Roman Emperor (Zeno) was afraid that Odoacer might head East as well and convinced Theodoric the Ostrogoth to take his armies and go attack Odoacer. Theodoric was also a romanized "barbarian" who had been raised in Constantinople with the Emperor's kids as a hostage, and had actually been named as a consul by the Eastern Roman Emperor (although he felt like he was not properly rewarded and his people were betrayed by a newer emperor, Zeno, which put him on the attack).

Anyway, Theodoric beat Odoacer and also upheld roman law and administration, and there was actually a flourishing. He instituted a new building program and expanded out his kingdom and made peace with several key "barbarian" allies. He rebuilt the walls of Rome and the Roman Senate built him a statue in celebration.

Ironically, it was the effort of the Eastern Roman Empire to reconquer Italy after Theodoric's death that led to a substantial depopulation as warring armies traded cities back and forth, subjecting them to repeated sacks.

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Squared stone blocks are expensive to make. Cheaper and easier to take them from some abandoned building. Rome went from maybe 500,000 plus to 20,000 over two centuries, and stayed at 20,000 for several centuries more. Basically a mid-size town in the middle of a large field of ruins.

That's some dark science stuff right there. I'm in!

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