Kate Sheehan-Finn
@katesfwriter.bsky.social
Writer, Untold Stories/Perspectives, Historical Fiction, Roman Archaeology, Ancient History, Pottery, Books, Travel, Gardens, Walking, Landscapes, #UNWC 2023/24, Winner #FNL #LFOW24 Jericho Writers
Funerary altar of A. Egrillus Magnus, from a tomb near #OstiaAntica, AD 50-100, carved in marble.
From a tomb like the one that fronts the main road leading into ancient Ostia, which was Rome’s main port near the mouth of the Tiber.
#AncientRome #RomanEmpire
#TombTuesday
📸 my own
From a tomb like the one that fronts the main road leading into ancient Ostia, which was Rome’s main port near the mouth of the Tiber.
#AncientRome #RomanEmpire
#TombTuesday
📸 my own
November 11, 2025 at 8:30 AM
Funerary altar of A. Egrillus Magnus, from a tomb near #OstiaAntica, AD 50-100, carved in marble.
From a tomb like the one that fronts the main road leading into ancient Ostia, which was Rome’s main port near the mouth of the Tiber.
#AncientRome #RomanEmpire
#TombTuesday
📸 my own
From a tomb like the one that fronts the main road leading into ancient Ostia, which was Rome’s main port near the mouth of the Tiber.
#AncientRome #RomanEmpire
#TombTuesday
📸 my own
You are made of the sea and the stars, and one day, you are going to find yourself again.
From Saltwater by Finn Butler.
#Poetry #QOTD #Writing #Inspiration
From Saltwater by Finn Butler.
#Poetry #QOTD #Writing #Inspiration
November 10, 2025 at 8:40 PM
You are made of the sea and the stars, and one day, you are going to find yourself again.
From Saltwater by Finn Butler.
#Poetry #QOTD #Writing #Inspiration
From Saltwater by Finn Butler.
#Poetry #QOTD #Writing #Inspiration
Piazzale delle Corporazioni #OstiaAntica faces the river Tiber.
Floor mosaics were laid in rooms flanking the square. Motifs were linked to commercial activities. Inscriptions name corporations of traders, ship-owners & entrepreneurs from Ostia & other significant trading communities.
#MosaicMonday
Floor mosaics were laid in rooms flanking the square. Motifs were linked to commercial activities. Inscriptions name corporations of traders, ship-owners & entrepreneurs from Ostia & other significant trading communities.
#MosaicMonday
November 10, 2025 at 10:37 AM
Piazzale delle Corporazioni #OstiaAntica faces the river Tiber.
Floor mosaics were laid in rooms flanking the square. Motifs were linked to commercial activities. Inscriptions name corporations of traders, ship-owners & entrepreneurs from Ostia & other significant trading communities.
#MosaicMonday
Floor mosaics were laid in rooms flanking the square. Motifs were linked to commercial activities. Inscriptions name corporations of traders, ship-owners & entrepreneurs from Ostia & other significant trading communities.
#MosaicMonday
Marble clad toilet seats in an ancient #Roman latrina in Ostia Antica - Toilets were shared spaces.
Nobody worried about sitting side by side and doing their business more publicly than we are comfortable with today.
#RomanSiteSaturday #AncientRome #Archaeology
📸 my own, #OstiaAntica.
Nobody worried about sitting side by side and doing their business more publicly than we are comfortable with today.
#RomanSiteSaturday #AncientRome #Archaeology
📸 my own, #OstiaAntica.
November 8, 2025 at 3:19 PM
Marble clad toilet seats in an ancient #Roman latrina in Ostia Antica - Toilets were shared spaces.
Nobody worried about sitting side by side and doing their business more publicly than we are comfortable with today.
#RomanSiteSaturday #AncientRome #Archaeology
📸 my own, #OstiaAntica.
Nobody worried about sitting side by side and doing their business more publicly than we are comfortable with today.
#RomanSiteSaturday #AncientRome #Archaeology
📸 my own, #OstiaAntica.
It is 15 degrees Celsius in Northumberland this lunchtime.
Normal this isn’t.
#COP30 #Brazil
#ClimateCrisis #Weather
📸 my own.
Normal this isn’t.
#COP30 #Brazil
#ClimateCrisis #Weather
📸 my own.
November 8, 2025 at 1:44 PM
It is 15 degrees Celsius in Northumberland this lunchtime.
Normal this isn’t.
#COP30 #Brazil
#ClimateCrisis #Weather
📸 my own.
Normal this isn’t.
#COP30 #Brazil
#ClimateCrisis #Weather
📸 my own.
So warm today, 18 degrees Celsius in Northumberland - the trees know it’s late autumn 🍂 and that winter is coming, but the climate seems to have missed the memo.
#ClimateCrisis #Weather #Autumn
#ClimateCrisis #Weather #Autumn
November 6, 2025 at 11:05 PM
So warm today, 18 degrees Celsius in Northumberland - the trees know it’s late autumn 🍂 and that winter is coming, but the climate seems to have missed the memo.
#ClimateCrisis #Weather #Autumn
#ClimateCrisis #Weather #Autumn
When we think about Roman forts & fortresses we imagine them full of soldiers like these in a marble relief depicting Praetorians (imperial guard, AD 51-2).
Women & children were present too as evidenced by this woman’s slipper & child’s boot, #Vindolanda, c.AD 100-105.
#RomanFortThursday
📸 my own
Women & children were present too as evidenced by this woman’s slipper & child’s boot, #Vindolanda, c.AD 100-105.
#RomanFortThursday
📸 my own
November 6, 2025 at 11:07 AM
When we think about Roman forts & fortresses we imagine them full of soldiers like these in a marble relief depicting Praetorians (imperial guard, AD 51-2).
Women & children were present too as evidenced by this woman’s slipper & child’s boot, #Vindolanda, c.AD 100-105.
#RomanFortThursday
📸 my own
Women & children were present too as evidenced by this woman’s slipper & child’s boot, #Vindolanda, c.AD 100-105.
#RomanFortThursday
📸 my own
Who has read Boudicca’s Daughter? I’m half way through. This isn’t at all what I expected having been a fan of Amara’s story in The Wolf Den trilogy. But I’m enjoying this novel by Elodie Harper.
#AmReading #BookSky #ReadingCommunity
#AmReading #BookSky #ReadingCommunity
November 4, 2025 at 8:32 PM
Who has read Boudicca’s Daughter? I’m half way through. This isn’t at all what I expected having been a fan of Amara’s story in The Wolf Den trilogy. But I’m enjoying this novel by Elodie Harper.
#AmReading #BookSky #ReadingCommunity
#AmReading #BookSky #ReadingCommunity
1/
A 3rd C AD bilingual inscription and relief dedicated to Palmyrene gods, Aglibol (right) and Malakbel (left). Depicted in a niche shaking hands. Palmyra in Roman Syria was at the heart of the ancient silk roads. Translations follow in this🧵
#EpigraphyTuesday #AncientRome #Archaeology
📸 my own.
A 3rd C AD bilingual inscription and relief dedicated to Palmyrene gods, Aglibol (right) and Malakbel (left). Depicted in a niche shaking hands. Palmyra in Roman Syria was at the heart of the ancient silk roads. Translations follow in this🧵
#EpigraphyTuesday #AncientRome #Archaeology
📸 my own.
November 4, 2025 at 10:13 AM
1/
A 3rd C AD bilingual inscription and relief dedicated to Palmyrene gods, Aglibol (right) and Malakbel (left). Depicted in a niche shaking hands. Palmyra in Roman Syria was at the heart of the ancient silk roads. Translations follow in this🧵
#EpigraphyTuesday #AncientRome #Archaeology
📸 my own.
A 3rd C AD bilingual inscription and relief dedicated to Palmyrene gods, Aglibol (right) and Malakbel (left). Depicted in a niche shaking hands. Palmyra in Roman Syria was at the heart of the ancient silk roads. Translations follow in this🧵
#EpigraphyTuesday #AncientRome #Archaeology
📸 my own.
At the AD 3rd C Baths of Caracalla scraps of floor mosaics lean casually against the ancient walls.
#AncientRome #MosaicMonday #Archaeology
📸 my own, Rome.
#AncientRome #MosaicMonday #Archaeology
📸 my own, Rome.
November 3, 2025 at 9:39 PM
At the AD 3rd C Baths of Caracalla scraps of floor mosaics lean casually against the ancient walls.
#AncientRome #MosaicMonday #Archaeology
📸 my own, Rome.
#AncientRome #MosaicMonday #Archaeology
📸 my own, Rome.
The Spinario is a bronze statue of a boy examining a thorn embedded in the sole of his foot.
Dated 50-1 BC.
His first hint that he is mortal? A lesson that youth and beauty are temporary? Or that life involves pain?
inv. S 1186, Capitoline Museums.
📸 my own.
#AncientRome #Archaeology
#Sculpture
Dated 50-1 BC.
His first hint that he is mortal? A lesson that youth and beauty are temporary? Or that life involves pain?
inv. S 1186, Capitoline Museums.
📸 my own.
#AncientRome #Archaeology
#Sculpture
November 2, 2025 at 10:08 AM
The Spinario is a bronze statue of a boy examining a thorn embedded in the sole of his foot.
Dated 50-1 BC.
His first hint that he is mortal? A lesson that youth and beauty are temporary? Or that life involves pain?
inv. S 1186, Capitoline Museums.
📸 my own.
#AncientRome #Archaeology
#Sculpture
Dated 50-1 BC.
His first hint that he is mortal? A lesson that youth and beauty are temporary? Or that life involves pain?
inv. S 1186, Capitoline Museums.
📸 my own.
#AncientRome #Archaeology
#Sculpture
I’ve been collecting #stories, #myths, and #legends about #HadriansWall.
Here’s one from #Haltwhistle, #Northumberland.
Folklore tells of a wild hunt passing through, driving all the local pets mad. Eric Maple refers to the hunters as Norse huntsmen, but other sources are less specific.
Here’s one from #Haltwhistle, #Northumberland.
Folklore tells of a wild hunt passing through, driving all the local pets mad. Eric Maple refers to the hunters as Norse huntsmen, but other sources are less specific.
November 1, 2025 at 5:14 PM
I’ve been collecting #stories, #myths, and #legends about #HadriansWall.
Here’s one from #Haltwhistle, #Northumberland.
Folklore tells of a wild hunt passing through, driving all the local pets mad. Eric Maple refers to the hunters as Norse huntsmen, but other sources are less specific.
Here’s one from #Haltwhistle, #Northumberland.
Folklore tells of a wild hunt passing through, driving all the local pets mad. Eric Maple refers to the hunters as Norse huntsmen, but other sources are less specific.
I love this statue head. She’s hypnotic. Here are my photos of Sulis Minerva.
#FindsFriday #RomanBritain #RomanBath
#FindsFriday #RomanBritain #RomanBath
October 31, 2025 at 9:52 AM
I love this statue head. She’s hypnotic. Here are my photos of Sulis Minerva.
#FindsFriday #RomanBritain #RomanBath
#FindsFriday #RomanBritain #RomanBath
These frescoes decorate a room in the house of Vigna Guidi, c. AD 130s. It was partly destroyed & buried, like the whole neighborhood adjacent to Porta Capena, to make way for the great complex of the Baths of Caracalla, built above it from 212 AD on.
#FrescoFriday #FindsFriday #AncientRome
📸 my own
#FrescoFriday #FindsFriday #AncientRome
📸 my own
October 31, 2025 at 9:45 AM
These frescoes decorate a room in the house of Vigna Guidi, c. AD 130s. It was partly destroyed & buried, like the whole neighborhood adjacent to Porta Capena, to make way for the great complex of the Baths of Caracalla, built above it from 212 AD on.
#FrescoFriday #FindsFriday #AncientRome
📸 my own
#FrescoFriday #FindsFriday #AncientRome
📸 my own
This dinner set of #Roman Samian Ware/Terra Sigillata was made at La Graufesenque potteries near modern Millau, France.
Potters marks date the manufacture to just before AD 90. It was unused and dumped into the ditch of a late 1st C fort at #Vindolanda.
#RomanFortThursday #RomanBritain
📸 my own
Potters marks date the manufacture to just before AD 90. It was unused and dumped into the ditch of a late 1st C fort at #Vindolanda.
#RomanFortThursday #RomanBritain
📸 my own
October 30, 2025 at 5:23 PM
This dinner set of #Roman Samian Ware/Terra Sigillata was made at La Graufesenque potteries near modern Millau, France.
Potters marks date the manufacture to just before AD 90. It was unused and dumped into the ditch of a late 1st C fort at #Vindolanda.
#RomanFortThursday #RomanBritain
📸 my own
Potters marks date the manufacture to just before AD 90. It was unused and dumped into the ditch of a late 1st C fort at #Vindolanda.
#RomanFortThursday #RomanBritain
📸 my own
A marble monumental Roman Sarcophagus, AD 200-250.
Found in 1582 in the mausoleum, Monte del Grano on the Via Tuscolana. The deceased recline on a couch (the lid). Sarcophagus shows scenes from the life of Achilles.
#TombTuesday
#AncientRome
#Archaeology
📸 my own, Capitoline Museums, #Rome.
Found in 1582 in the mausoleum, Monte del Grano on the Via Tuscolana. The deceased recline on a couch (the lid). Sarcophagus shows scenes from the life of Achilles.
#TombTuesday
#AncientRome
#Archaeology
📸 my own, Capitoline Museums, #Rome.
October 28, 2025 at 1:22 PM
A marble monumental Roman Sarcophagus, AD 200-250.
Found in 1582 in the mausoleum, Monte del Grano on the Via Tuscolana. The deceased recline on a couch (the lid). Sarcophagus shows scenes from the life of Achilles.
#TombTuesday
#AncientRome
#Archaeology
📸 my own, Capitoline Museums, #Rome.
Found in 1582 in the mausoleum, Monte del Grano on the Via Tuscolana. The deceased recline on a couch (the lid). Sarcophagus shows scenes from the life of Achilles.
#TombTuesday
#AncientRome
#Archaeology
📸 my own, Capitoline Museums, #Rome.
A statue base dedicated to Emperor Hadrian in AD 136.
This monument is significant because it lists on the sides 5 of the 14 Augustan districts and names the magistrates.
In the 15th C it was displayed on the Capitoline Hill showing the Renaissance interest in #AncientRome.
#EpigraphyTuesday
My 📸
This monument is significant because it lists on the sides 5 of the 14 Augustan districts and names the magistrates.
In the 15th C it was displayed on the Capitoline Hill showing the Renaissance interest in #AncientRome.
#EpigraphyTuesday
My 📸
October 28, 2025 at 11:35 AM
A statue base dedicated to Emperor Hadrian in AD 136.
This monument is significant because it lists on the sides 5 of the 14 Augustan districts and names the magistrates.
In the 15th C it was displayed on the Capitoline Hill showing the Renaissance interest in #AncientRome.
#EpigraphyTuesday
My 📸
This monument is significant because it lists on the sides 5 of the 14 Augustan districts and names the magistrates.
In the 15th C it was displayed on the Capitoline Hill showing the Renaissance interest in #AncientRome.
#EpigraphyTuesday
My 📸
I could not stand here without thinking about those who stood here long ago.
Human terror still leaches from the underworld beneath the #Colosseum floor.
We tourists stand on solid ground that was once sand to soak up blood.
📸 my own
#Colosseum #AncientRome #RomanSiteSaturday
Human terror still leaches from the underworld beneath the #Colosseum floor.
We tourists stand on solid ground that was once sand to soak up blood.
📸 my own
#Colosseum #AncientRome #RomanSiteSaturday
October 25, 2025 at 10:08 AM
I could not stand here without thinking about those who stood here long ago.
Human terror still leaches from the underworld beneath the #Colosseum floor.
We tourists stand on solid ground that was once sand to soak up blood.
📸 my own
#Colosseum #AncientRome #RomanSiteSaturday
Human terror still leaches from the underworld beneath the #Colosseum floor.
We tourists stand on solid ground that was once sand to soak up blood.
📸 my own
#Colosseum #AncientRome #RomanSiteSaturday
For #RomanSiteSaturday here is the Flavian amphitheatre, aka the #Colosseum, #Rome. Emperor Vespasian initiated the project. His son and heir, Titus, finished the building and oversaw the opening.
Ave Imperator, morituri te salutant (Suetonius)
📸 my own.
#AncientRome #Archaeology #RomanEmpire
Ave Imperator, morituri te salutant (Suetonius)
📸 my own.
#AncientRome #Archaeology #RomanEmpire
October 25, 2025 at 9:51 AM
For #RomanSiteSaturday here is the Flavian amphitheatre, aka the #Colosseum, #Rome. Emperor Vespasian initiated the project. His son and heir, Titus, finished the building and oversaw the opening.
Ave Imperator, morituri te salutant (Suetonius)
📸 my own.
#AncientRome #Archaeology #RomanEmpire
Ave Imperator, morituri te salutant (Suetonius)
📸 my own.
#AncientRome #Archaeology #RomanEmpire
A beautiful cameo showing Livia, empress of Rome, and wife of Augustus. He was probably the second figure on the left, now missing.
AD 1st C.
📸 my own, Capitoline Museums, Rome.
#FindsFriday #AncientRome #Archaeology #RomanEmpire
AD 1st C.
📸 my own, Capitoline Museums, Rome.
#FindsFriday #AncientRome #Archaeology #RomanEmpire
October 23, 2025 at 7:19 PM
A beautiful cameo showing Livia, empress of Rome, and wife of Augustus. He was probably the second figure on the left, now missing.
AD 1st C.
📸 my own, Capitoline Museums, Rome.
#FindsFriday #AncientRome #Archaeology #RomanEmpire
AD 1st C.
📸 my own, Capitoline Museums, Rome.
#FindsFriday #AncientRome #Archaeology #RomanEmpire
Back writing and it is strange to sit still after walking Rome’s streets every day for a whole week.
I made detailed setting notes for my novel. Also got some brilliant ideas for the plot and characters.
#AmWriting #WritingLife
#AncientRome
📸 my own, Capitoline She-Wolf nursing Romulus & Remus.
I made detailed setting notes for my novel. Also got some brilliant ideas for the plot and characters.
#AmWriting #WritingLife
#AncientRome
📸 my own, Capitoline She-Wolf nursing Romulus & Remus.
October 23, 2025 at 6:14 PM
Back writing and it is strange to sit still after walking Rome’s streets every day for a whole week.
I made detailed setting notes for my novel. Also got some brilliant ideas for the plot and characters.
#AmWriting #WritingLife
#AncientRome
📸 my own, Capitoline She-Wolf nursing Romulus & Remus.
I made detailed setting notes for my novel. Also got some brilliant ideas for the plot and characters.
#AmWriting #WritingLife
#AncientRome
📸 my own, Capitoline She-Wolf nursing Romulus & Remus.
A relief sculpture from an honorary monument dedicated to Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius showing his triumph following his victories along the northern frontiers.
AD 176-180.
📸 my own, Capitoline Museum, Rome.
#ReliefWednesday #Archaeology #AncientRome
AD 176-180.
📸 my own, Capitoline Museum, Rome.
#ReliefWednesday #Archaeology #AncientRome
October 22, 2025 at 12:07 PM
A relief sculpture from an honorary monument dedicated to Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius showing his triumph following his victories along the northern frontiers.
AD 176-180.
📸 my own, Capitoline Museum, Rome.
#ReliefWednesday #Archaeology #AncientRome
AD 176-180.
📸 my own, Capitoline Museum, Rome.
#ReliefWednesday #Archaeology #AncientRome
1/4
Funerary inscription of
Crescens, charioteer of the blue faction from Mauritania, 22 years old.
AD 1-50, Rome.
He achieved his first victory with a quadriga in the 24th race when L(ucius) Vipstanius Messalla held the consulship (115 AD)…
#EpigraphyTuesday
📸 my own, Capitoline Museum, Rome
Funerary inscription of
Crescens, charioteer of the blue faction from Mauritania, 22 years old.
AD 1-50, Rome.
He achieved his first victory with a quadriga in the 24th race when L(ucius) Vipstanius Messalla held the consulship (115 AD)…
#EpigraphyTuesday
📸 my own, Capitoline Museum, Rome
October 21, 2025 at 7:29 AM
1/4
Funerary inscription of
Crescens, charioteer of the blue faction from Mauritania, 22 years old.
AD 1-50, Rome.
He achieved his first victory with a quadriga in the 24th race when L(ucius) Vipstanius Messalla held the consulship (115 AD)…
#EpigraphyTuesday
📸 my own, Capitoline Museum, Rome
Funerary inscription of
Crescens, charioteer of the blue faction from Mauritania, 22 years old.
AD 1-50, Rome.
He achieved his first victory with a quadriga in the 24th race when L(ucius) Vipstanius Messalla held the consulship (115 AD)…
#EpigraphyTuesday
📸 my own, Capitoline Museum, Rome
Part of a #Roman floor showing doves drinking from a vase.
From the Domus (house) below the Caseggiato delle Taberne, #Ostia Antica, AD 1-50.
Opus vermiculatum (stone tesserae, lime)
#MosaicMonday #AncientRome
📸 my own, Ostia Antica.
From the Domus (house) below the Caseggiato delle Taberne, #Ostia Antica, AD 1-50.
Opus vermiculatum (stone tesserae, lime)
#MosaicMonday #AncientRome
📸 my own, Ostia Antica.
October 20, 2025 at 2:11 PM
Part of a #Roman floor showing doves drinking from a vase.
From the Domus (house) below the Caseggiato delle Taberne, #Ostia Antica, AD 1-50.
Opus vermiculatum (stone tesserae, lime)
#MosaicMonday #AncientRome
📸 my own, Ostia Antica.
From the Domus (house) below the Caseggiato delle Taberne, #Ostia Antica, AD 1-50.
Opus vermiculatum (stone tesserae, lime)
#MosaicMonday #AncientRome
📸 my own, Ostia Antica.
To celebrate #InternationalArchaeologyDay I’ve explored the incredible ruins of the Baths of Caracalla not far from ancient Rome’s Circus Maximus. Caracalla’s mega complex included exercise areas, a 50M long swimming pool, a temple to Mithras, and a space where 6,000 Romans could relax.
📸 my own.
📸 my own.
October 18, 2025 at 6:11 PM
To celebrate #InternationalArchaeologyDay I’ve explored the incredible ruins of the Baths of Caracalla not far from ancient Rome’s Circus Maximus. Caracalla’s mega complex included exercise areas, a 50M long swimming pool, a temple to Mithras, and a space where 6,000 Romans could relax.
📸 my own.
📸 my own.