Imperial Rome - The Houston Museum of Natural Science
On a recent business trip to Houston I had a couple of spare hours between meetings so I dropped in to view the Imperial Rome exhibit at the Houston Museum of Natural Science. The exhibit includes hundreds of artifacts, including ancient ceramics, terracottas, portraits, reliefs, sarcophagi, urns, jewelry, and bronze and marble statues, reveal the brilliance of Roman art and culture while showcasing the Roman influences still prevalent in modern society
Luckily a tour was just about to start when I dropped in and it truly made the exhibit worthwhile. Without the tour guide, all I'd have seen was a bunch of artifacts with no context. With the tour guide I got a detailed history of this powerful civilization whose last remnants finally disappeared just a few years before Columbus sailed for the Americas.
Artifacts include:
A Roman Military Diploma. This diploma was an important document because it awarded Roman citizenship to foreign veterans and their children after 25 years of service.
A Roman sarcophagi for a wealth merchant and his wife that held their ashes. Roman sarcophagi of the wealthy were frequently placed on the Appian way.
Beautiful Roman Glass. The Romans had figured out how to create large glass objects. They added metal to all their glasswork. A tradition that continues today.
