Serpent Stone from the Roman town of Alauna in Britain, with Celtic and Roman symbols

Good morning! Here is the so-called Serpent Stone from the Roman civilian settlement of Alauna in Britain. The meeting of Celtic traditional beliefs and Roman symbolism looks for all the world like Aesculapius' serpent that has failed to coil itself around a phallus of considerable girth. Such stones may have been set up as defensive elements beside significant burials.

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September digest: archaeological finds, exhibitions, museums, theatre and the Church

In the finale of the Strugatskys' Roadside Picnic, the Golden Ball is told: "Happiness for everybody, free, and let nobody go away unsatisfied!" I do not promise to offend nobody, but the digest really does come free of charge. So, here is the main business of the

Frederic Leighton

Frederic Leighton. “Daedalus and Icarus”, 1869 Daedalus warns his son not to climb too high: the heat of the sun may melt the wax, but Icarus is already gazing into the distance, and the lamentations of a foolish old man interest him not in the least

Serpent Stone from the Roman town of Alauna in Britain, with Celtic and Roman symbols

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September digest: archaeological finds, exhibitions, museums, theatre and the Church

Frederic Leighton

Attempts to resolve the problems of many years of uncontrolled mass migration

Characters from Gogol's "Petersburg Tales" on the pedestal of the monument to Nikolai Gogol on Nikitsky Boulevard, photograph of the 1960s