The document summarizes the author's experiences traveling to 14 provinces of the Roman Empire that were visited by Emperor Hadrian, including major Roman cities in Europe. It also details the author's participation in an archaeological dig in Bulgaria excavating a 2nd century Roman bathhouse, where they gained experience in excavation techniques and artifact identification, documentation, and preservation over four weeks. Additionally, the author took a two-week course in Latin epigraphy to learn about translating Latin inscriptions.

1. Following in Hadrian’s Footsteps: A Roman Summer
by Matt Hughes
Part 1: Exploring the Empire
Part 2: Archaeological Dig
Class of 2016
Hadrian was the Emperor of Rome from 117136 CE. During his reign he rebuilt the city of
Athens, and managed to travel to every
province of the Roman Empire, and he did this
when Rome was at its greatest extent. As
someone with a budding interest in the Roman
Empire I decided to walk where Hadrian
walked and visit a larger part of what was the
Roman Empire in 117 CE. I was able to make it
into 14 of the provinces. It was an incredible
experience. I was able to visit the Roman cities
of
Londinium
(London),
Lutetia
(Paris), Aquinicum (Budapest), Serdica
(Sofia), Athenae (Athens), Thessalonica
(Thessaloniki), and Turicum (Zurich) to name a
few. The amazing thing about Europe is that
the Roman Empire is everywhere. I was able to
see Roman ruins stretching across the
continent from London to Athens. Of course, I
trekked to the heart of the Empire, Rome
herself. Coupled with my extensive travel
around the continent, I dedicated much of my
free time to reading Edward Gibbon’s
mammoth modern history of the Empire; The
History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman
Empire. These experiences were incredible as I
vastly enlarged my knowledge through primary
and secondary sources on the Roman Empire.
Roman Provinces
Visited:
Brittania
Lungdunesis
Germania
Superior
Raetia
Noricum
Pannonia
Superior
Pannonia Inferior
Italia
Dacia
Moesia Superior
Thracia
Macdeonia
Achaia
Creta
Roman Terme Diocletianopolis
The second part of my project was based out of
Hisarya, Bulgaria. Here I worked with the Hisar
Archaeological Museum and Dr. Mitko Madjarov
excavating a 2nd century CE Roman terme, or
bathhouse. We dug for four weeks at the site for 5
hours per day. On the dig I learned how to identify
different types of pottery and other artifacts, how
to use various archaeological instruments
including the Total Station and a program to
document finds, and basic excavating techniques.
Every day we took back out finds to the museum
where we cleaned, labeled, and catalogued them.
This was a painstakingly slow process but
necessary if the artifacts were to be displayed in
the museum. Over the four weeks we dug 2.13
meters (almost 7 feet) down uncovering a
beautiful archway. We had to dig through the
modern and medieval layers before we came to
the Roman layer.
Day 1
Small Finds
Animal bone
with cut marks
Medieval belt buckle
Day 29
Latin Epigraphy
I also worked with Dr. Kalin Stoev and took
his 2 week course on Latin Epigraphy, which
deals with Latin inscriptions. I learned how
to translate certain abbreviations as well as
read rudimentary Latin inscriptions. This was
a very cool experience for me and prompted
me to take Latin this semester and study it
more.