Robin Fleming
@robin-f.bsky.social
Historian of Roman and early medieval Britain @ Boston College. Writes history from archaeology/material culture. Recently finished a book on Roman dogs. Distracting myself from thinking about the US political Hellscape by thinking about 5th c Britain.
The cover of my forthcoming book, out in February/March. #dogs #Roman-Britain #animalturm #archaeology
November 12, 2025 at 5:12 PM
The cover of my forthcoming book, out in February/March. #dogs #Roman-Britain #animalturm #archaeology
An early medieval traffic bollard (!??!) sighted outside a T-station in Cambridge, Mass.
November 10, 2025 at 2:08 PM
An early medieval traffic bollard (!??!) sighted outside a T-station in Cambridge, Mass.
Somebody who really understood the art of potting in fifth-century Hampshire and somebody who really didn’t. The one on the left from a cemetery at Itchen Abbess, the one on the right from Alton.
July 23, 2025 at 1:15 PM
Somebody who really understood the art of potting in fifth-century Hampshire and somebody who really didn’t. The one on the left from a cemetery at Itchen Abbess, the one on the right from Alton.
Three late-Roman objects from Hampshire, decorated—as so many LR objects in Britain are—with dolphins. At the Hampshire City Museum.
June 30, 2025 at 2:16 PM
Three late-Roman objects from Hampshire, decorated—as so many LR objects in Britain are—with dolphins. At the Hampshire City Museum.
Just got back from a very fun protest at the downtown Boston Tesla dealership. Well attended, raucous, and a great antidepressant.
March 15, 2025 at 6:39 PM
Just got back from a very fun protest at the downtown Boston Tesla dealership. Well attended, raucous, and a great antidepressant.
Ugh. The arrival of my books, freshly translated for the Chinese market, is perfectly in sync with today's launch of Trump's trade war with China.
March 10, 2025 at 1:05 PM
Ugh. The arrival of my books, freshly translated for the Chinese market, is perfectly in sync with today's launch of Trump's trade war with China.
Time to find a copy since it’s now happening here: apnews.com/article/dei-...
March 7, 2025 at 12:21 PM
Time to find a copy since it’s now happening here: apnews.com/article/dei-...
12th-century feline-shaped incense burner from Iran. Seen at the exhibit “Wonders of Creation: Art, Science, and Innovation in the Islamic World” at @bostoncollege.bsky.social.
March 6, 2025 at 12:02 PM
12th-century feline-shaped incense burner from Iran. Seen at the exhibit “Wonders of Creation: Art, Science, and Innovation in the Islamic World” at @bostoncollege.bsky.social.
A hard-working equid from a fourteenth-century Egyptian manuscript. Seen at the exhibit “Wonders of Creation: Art, Science, and Innovation in the Islamic World” at @bostoncollege.bsky.social .
March 4, 2025 at 12:20 PM
A hard-working equid from a fourteenth-century Egyptian manuscript. Seen at the exhibit “Wonders of Creation: Art, Science, and Innovation in the Islamic World” at @bostoncollege.bsky.social .
12th-c bath scraper from Afghanistan. One of many highlights at @bostoncollege.bsky.social ‘s McMullen Museum show on Islamic science.
March 3, 2025 at 1:17 PM
12th-c bath scraper from Afghanistan. One of many highlights at @bostoncollege.bsky.social ‘s McMullen Museum show on Islamic science.
Flood Google
1. Google Gulf of Mexico.
2. it says Gulf of America
3. Click three little dots to the right of it
4. hit "Send Feedback"
5. hit "Gulf Of America"
6. hit "Inaccurate content".
7. hit "Incorrect", then tell them its name: ‘This body of water is the Gulf of Mexico’
8. Repeat.
1. Google Gulf of Mexico.
2. it says Gulf of America
3. Click three little dots to the right of it
4. hit "Send Feedback"
5. hit "Gulf Of America"
6. hit "Inaccurate content".
7. hit "Incorrect", then tell them its name: ‘This body of water is the Gulf of Mexico’
8. Repeat.
February 13, 2025 at 1:49 AM
Flood Google
1. Google Gulf of Mexico.
2. it says Gulf of America
3. Click three little dots to the right of it
4. hit "Send Feedback"
5. hit "Gulf Of America"
6. hit "Inaccurate content".
7. hit "Incorrect", then tell them its name: ‘This body of water is the Gulf of Mexico’
8. Repeat.
1. Google Gulf of Mexico.
2. it says Gulf of America
3. Click three little dots to the right of it
4. hit "Send Feedback"
5. hit "Gulf Of America"
6. hit "Inaccurate content".
7. hit "Incorrect", then tell them its name: ‘This body of water is the Gulf of Mexico’
8. Repeat.
An apt illustration of America’s unfolding political crisis for #MosaicMonday: Jonah being eaten by a fish being eaten by a bigger fish being eaten by an even bigger fish. Fifth-century mosaic from a synagogue in Huqoq.
February 3, 2025 at 1:22 PM
An apt illustration of America’s unfolding political crisis for #MosaicMonday: Jonah being eaten by a fish being eaten by a bigger fish being eaten by an even bigger fish. Fifth-century mosaic from a synagogue in Huqoq.
For #MosaicMonday, a late Roman woman feeding her ducks and chickens. Oderzo, Italy.
January 20, 2025 at 7:28 PM
For #MosaicMonday, a late Roman woman feeding her ducks and chickens. Oderzo, Italy.
For #MosaicMonday, symbols of imperial largess and prosperity along with a line from the Aeneid on this wonderful late Roman mosaic from the villa of La Noguera (Estada, Huesca, Spain). Now in the Zaragoza Museum.
December 31, 2024 at 1:39 AM
For #MosaicMonday, symbols of imperial largess and prosperity along with a line from the Aeneid on this wonderful late Roman mosaic from the villa of La Noguera (Estada, Huesca, Spain). Now in the Zaragoza Museum.
For #MosaicMonday, a charming, if inaccurate 1930s restoration of of a patch of Roman mosaic in Volubilis, Morocco.
December 23, 2024 at 2:28 PM
For #MosaicMonday, a charming, if inaccurate 1930s restoration of of a patch of Roman mosaic in Volubilis, Morocco.
Remains of a 5th/6th c. woolen robe. It’s decorated with Late Roman motifs but was found in a tomb in Central Asia. A closer look reveals some Central Asian designs as well, so this textile is a real late-antique mashup (Abegg-Stiftung inv. no. 5073/5175).
December 20, 2024 at 1:46 PM
Remains of a 5th/6th c. woolen robe. It’s decorated with Late Roman motifs but was found in a tomb in Central Asia. A closer look reveals some Central Asian designs as well, so this textile is a real late-antique mashup (Abegg-Stiftung inv. no. 5073/5175).
A little Late Antique holiday cheer. A 5th-6th c. textile Nativity with Jesus in a stone-built manger, perhaps made in Syria (Metropolitan Museum, NYC, MMA 90.5.11a-e).
December 18, 2024 at 3:10 PM
A little Late Antique holiday cheer. A 5th-6th c. textile Nativity with Jesus in a stone-built manger, perhaps made in Syria (Metropolitan Museum, NYC, MMA 90.5.11a-e).
For #MosaicMonday. Noah’s ark from Misis/Yakapinar, Turkey, now in the Adana Archaeology Museum.
December 16, 2024 at 2:35 PM
For #MosaicMonday. Noah’s ark from Misis/Yakapinar, Turkey, now in the Adana Archaeology Museum.
Amazon warriors. Looks like the creation of an early 20th-c. Fauvist, but made in Egypt c. 420–560 CE (Museum of Cultures, Basel.)
December 13, 2024 at 1:27 PM
Amazon warriors. Looks like the creation of an early 20th-c. Fauvist, but made in Egypt c. 420–560 CE (Museum of Cultures, Basel.)
A 4th c. CE neo-Egyptian mosaic in the Museo Nazionale Romano in Rome for "MosaicMonday.
December 9, 2024 at 8:52 PM
A 4th c. CE neo-Egyptian mosaic in the Museo Nazionale Romano in Rome for "MosaicMonday.