Massive shoes discovered in ancient Roman fort in the UK
During a recent dig at the ruins of a first-century Roman fort in Northern England, researchers discovered 34 shoes in the remains of a stone barrier, with eight of those larger than the equivalent of a men's size 13 shoe.
Researchers suggest the large pairs might have belonged to large troops used to guard the Roman fortress.
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Herald Malaysia
25 minutes ago
- Herald Malaysia
Witnesses of faith on a Jubilee pilgrimage of hope
Three young pilgrims of hope offer powerful testimonies of faith, rediscovery, and love at the pre-vigil of the Jubilee of Youth in Tor Vergata, Rome. Their stories, different in language and life experience, converge in a shared desire to respond to God's love with their own lives. Aug 03, 2025 By Linda BordoniIn the warmth of the setting Roman sun, hundreds of thousands of young pilgrims of hope awaited the arrival of Pope Leo XIV in Rome's Tor Vergata space, giving life to an evening of prayer, music, remembrance and sharing on the eve of the culmination of their Jubilee on Sunday morning. From different countries, cultures and in different idioms, they all spoke the language of faith and fraternity; and joined in their love for Christ, they effortlessly reached out to their peers from all over the world with the passion of youth and the joy of belonging. Antoine: 'I met Christ and everything changed' Antoine Saint-Claire, 18, from France, began his story by painting the image of a happy childhood in a loving Christian family. Faith, he said, was always present, yet somewhat routine: Mass on Sundays, catechism, the sacraments shared with friends. It was during his teenage years, he added, that a deeper yearning began to stir in him. 'I looked at other young people and saw something more,' he said. 'They wept during adoration, they had favourite Bible verses, they spoke to God like a friend, and I wondered why I didn't feel that way.' With these questions within, Antoine attended the FRAT pilgrimage to Lourdes in 2023. There, he said, during a moment of adoration after confession, something shifted: 'I knelt before the Blessed Sacrament, and in my heart I heard the Lord say: 'One day, you will see my love.'' A few months later, in the silence of his home, he continued, he had a profound spiritual encounter with Jesus, a moment of peace, love, and deep joy. 'That encounter gave meaning to my life,' Antoine affirmed. 'I now know I am loved, and I want to love in return, with all I am.' 'Let us open our hearts,' Antoine urged at the end of his testimony, 'each one different, but all capable of receiving love and spreading it. By God's grace, we will succeed. Amen.' Gustavo: "I want to sing the praises of the Lord" Gustavo Eterno, a Brazilian member of the Shalom Catholic Community, spoke about how, for the past 22 years, he has been consecrated in the Shalom Community. 'Fifteen of those years I lived as a celibate. Today, I walk the path of a seminarian, and with God's grace, I hope to one day be ordained to the priesthood,' he said, introducing himself. Gustavo described how music played a significant role in his spiritual and personal journey. In his youth, he said, music was a private refuge, a way to express emotions and find solace amid personal struggles. Over time, he added, this interior world began to lose meaning for him, explaining that as he sought love and freedom in secular experiences, ultimately he felt disoriented and distant from God. 'I came to the point of no longer believing in the possibility of true love,' he recalled. 'The songs that once spoke of life and friendship began to speak of death.' His turning point came during a moment of Eucharistic adoration. 'My eyes were opened, like the disciples on the road to Emmaus,' he said. 'There, I encountered the love I had been seeking.'Eterno concluded by expressing his desire to share this experience through music and witness: 'Every second of my life that God allows me to live on this earth, I want to sing the praises of the Lord and help others encounter the same joy that He poured into my life.' Olimpia: 'Chosen to love' Olimpia Iacono, a physician from Ischia, Italy, offered a deeply personal witness of her vocation to love, not only as a doctor, but as a Christian woman called to serve with her heart. After completing her medical degree, Olimpia's life seemed on track, but she added that a sudden breakup and an unexpected move left her disoriented. A mission trip to Argentina became a turning point. During a moment of prayer, inspired by the Gospel of the blind man of Jericho, she said she heard a message whispered to her: 'The Lord has chosen you to love.' 'I had always thought my vocation was to be a good doctor or a good wife,' she noted, 'But I had never considered the universal vocation of every baptised person: the call to love.' This call took concrete form when Olimpia met Francesco, a terminally ill patient in her hospital. Through simple gestures, she narrated how she accompanied him through his final weeks. 'His hospital room became a small church,' she recalled. On his birthday, Francesco entered eternal life, she said: 'That day, I understood that what seemed like useless suffering had become a time of grace.'--Vatican News
The Herald Scotland
an hour ago
- The Herald Scotland
At long last, John Swinney has seen what grown-up politics is about
Mr Swinney and his fellow SNP ministers routinely like to churn out anti-Trump rhetoric seemingly because they think that'll garner them a few votes. But the reality of grown-up politics in which Mr Swinney has been obliged to indulge for just a few hours is that dialogue, pragmatism and diplomacy are key weapons in the armoury of a successful politician, not the kind of puerile sidelines sniping that's characteristic of the [[SNP]]. [[Donald Trump]] isn't my cup of tea either, but let's not forget that he leads the world's largest economy. I'm certain Keir Starmer has multiple reservations about Mr Trump, yet he, unlike Mr Swinney, heads up a sovereign state and has both a domestic and international remit – he can't wallow in Swinney-style futile populist virtue-signalling. Martin Redfern, Melrose. Knocking Labour off course Labour is on the way to running out of road for its long-term ambitions. All the MPs were elected on the same ticket with a destination in view and a driver to steer them in the right direction. They all want to reach the same destination but many of them differ with the driver on how fast they should proceed and what is the best route to reach their goal. It all boils down to how much they trust the driver and whether they can accept his gradualist approach. In today's world it would appear that everyone knows better than the people in charge and would like to impose their opinions on the ones whose skill got them on to the bus of government. In every walk of life you have to tailor your ambitions to fit in with the means at your disposal to hit those heights. Furthermore no one wishes to be compared to reckless teenagers who scream from the back of the bus for the driver to go faster, to take chances or to take a more direct route. Paying attention to excited MPs could lead to totalling the whole project the Government is trying to put in place. Do those MPs really want to jeopardise their chances of a second term in government with their short-sighted perspectives by showing that they cannot see the woods for the trees? Failure to take the global picture into consideration will run their bus off the road with regard to the Government's ambitions to improve the running of the UK for every level of the electorate. There is an old Roman tale about how the different organs and functions of the human body need to work together in harmony to achieve its desired results. It would be well worth the time of Labour MPs to reflect upon that. Denis Bruce, Bishopbriggs. Read more letters Why not protest something important? So activists have been dangling themselves off the Forth Road Bridge over another issue which is of marginal, if any, concern to the rest of us ("Police arrest 10 Greenpeace activists after bridge protest", July 27). When have we seen such activists glueing themselves to the highway, roosting on motorway gantries, or dangling from bridges and buildings over anything that matters to the Many? Over out of control immigration? The housing shortage? The cost of living crisis? Lack of opportunities for our young people? The epidemic of stabbings and other lawlessness? The answer, of course, is that the narcissistic Few are completely indifferent to the plight of ordinary people. Whether they perform as Just Stop Oil, Climate Rebellion, Stand Up To Racism, or under whatever name, the extreme demands and their callous disregard for the interests of the Many are always the same. Otto Inglis, Crossgates, Fife. Such a sad life story Richard Holloway's life story ("The Bishop who abandoned God", July 27) is one of the saddest I have read. He is caught up in an orthodox version of the Christian world, and seemingly missing the most basic and fundamental uniqueness of this faith; put off by tradition and hypocrisy that he encountered in the various stages of his religious career. It strikes me that his experience of religious life is strikingly similar to the religious pomposity of the Pharisees of the 1st century, when Jesus was alive. Their religion was one of rules and regulations, burdensome traditions and rituals that were impossible to follow. They made life so difficult for the layperson, and were 100% convinced they were right. Their superiority and controlling natures led them eventually to crucify Jesus Christ, whom they hated with a vengeance, because he did not fit in with their version of religion. Richard Holloway appears to be very knowledgeable about various religions, yet he clearly has missed the whole theme of the Bible, that God, the Creator, loves his creatures with an unending love, yet seeks truth and justice from his people. A God whose love is so immense that, to deal with the root problem of the human race, "sin", he allowed his one and only Son, Jesus, to die on that cross... taking all the pain and sorrow and evil of the world upon himself. This is, I admit, a profound mystery; yet it is the foundational truth that resonates throughout the whole Bible. This same God does not ask us to "obey rules" or to "follow religious traditions"... He asks us to trust him, and to commit our lives to him... he longs for a relationship with us humans; longs that we speak with him, listen to him, and experience the love, the joy, and the peace that comes with him. Trying, as so many do, like Richard Holloway, to follow Christ's teaching without following Christ, is actually impossible, for his teaching demands impossible standards that only he can help us meet, in the strength he provides. I could go on and on, for Richard Holloway's story is so incredibly sad. He says "religion left me"; but Jesus Christ says, "I came to seek out and to rescue those who are lost in this world" – and that is all of us. He has not yet given up on Richard Holloway, and my earnest prayer is that he will truly find the Lord, who died for him, and who was raised from the dead. Now, that truth makes Jesus unique, and worth following. May God bless Richard Holloway, and all who are yearning for truth, and true fulfilment; these are found in God himself. Alasdair HB Fyfe, Carmunnock. Richard Holloway, former Bishop of Edinburgh (Image: Newsquest) Reasons behind Russia's actions Ronald Cameron (Letters, July 27) says that "Ukraine has come close to destroying the Russian war machine". Mr Cameron has got it the wrong way round. Russia has come close to destroying Ukraine' s army. Ukraine is in the position Germany was in in 1944, fighting losing battles, the war effectively lost, but continuing to lash out with deadly but strategically pointless missile strikes. The writing is on the wall for President Zelenskyy and his gang. Mr Cameron repeats the false claim that Russia is going to invade Nato's eastern border, but the fact is that Russian fears invasion from the West more than we fear them. In 1812 Napoleon burned Moscow. In 1854 Britain and France invaded Crimea. In 1918 Germany invaded Russia and Russia lost one million square miles of territory at the subsequent Treaty of Brest Litovsk. Britain, Canada and the United States invaded Russia between 1918 and 1925. In 1941 German forces were at the gates of Moscow and on their retreat destroyed virtually everything. President Eisenhower, then Supreme Commander Allied Forces in Europe, wrote: "When we flew into Russia, in 1945, I did not see a house standing between the western borders of the country and the area around Moscow." Declassified official documents record that in February 1997 the then Prime Minister John Major said: "If I were Russian I too would be concerned that Nato might move up to Russia's borders." Since then Nato has expanded to 32 countries. Russia warned repeatedly from 2008 that Ukraine's admission to Nato was a red line. The coup of 2014 which brought a nationalist government hostile to Russia to power resulted in a civil war between the eastern Russian-speaking provinces and the Kiev regime, which bombed and shelled them for eight years. Russia invaded in their support and to prevent Nato forces on a border which geographically is difficult to defend. Flying the Ukraine flag is risible. William Loneskie, Lauder. • Ronald Cameron contradicts himself. First he writes that "we" (presumably the UK) must do "everything possible" to support Ukraine, but then "there are plenty of better things to spend the money on". Come on, money can't be spent twice, so which is it to be ? George Morton, Rosyth. Off pat Rab McNeil's excellent article on Dougie MacLean ('Singer made every ex-pat yearn for home … and a pint', July 27) was interesting but its headline ignored the fact that an ex-soldier is someone who used to be a soldier, an ex-teacher is someone who used to be teacher and an ex-pat is someone who used to be a pat. If text space is so scarce that an abbreviation for expatriate is needed, it is expat, no hyphen being involved. Peter Dryburgh, Edinburgh.
Hindustan Times
3 hours ago
- Hindustan Times
A spoof on Caligula's quirks and streaks of violence
MUMBAI: Theatre director Sunil Shanbag has a penchant for staging historical and semi-historical incidents to put the spotlight on contemporary times. Last year, he produced and directed the Utpal Dutt-written 'Barricade', which exposed Hitler's strategies for winning majority votes through a ruthless crushing of dissenters and a well-oiled propaganda machinery. This year, Shanbag will be showcasing 'The Horse', for Aadyam Theatre, an Aditya Birla Group initiative, which spoofs the Roman emperor Caligula's idiosyncrasies and streaks of violence. 'The Horse' is based on Hungarian playwright Julius Hay's play by the same name, written in 1962. A spoof on Caligula's quirks and streaks of violence Shanbag first read Hay's play in 1982 and, ever since, he has wanted to stage it but did not have the means earlier for mounting the large-scale production. 'The play struck me as a wonderful example of a biting satire, lampooning authoritative absurdity, blind sycophancy and the complicity of the elite; and I am very happy that I am able to stage it now,' he states, during a break in a rehearsal. Senior actor Akash Khurana, who essays the role of Caligula, says power and neurosis are the operative words for him are to understand the psyche of a man who has been looked upon differently by different people. Both characteristics are evident at the rehearsal, where his boot-licking coterie are seen horsing around, encouraging his mad ventures. Galloping across the floor to Kaizad Gherda's lively music, Caligula's sycophants celebrate the appointment of a horse that the whimsical emperor won in gambling, as Consul. Ridiculous obsequiousness is taken to another level when one toady suggests they should get the best of mares to please the new Consul. What is the play's relevance in today's times? 'History keeps repeating itself, so the play resonates with the audience in whichever period authoritarianism asserts itself,' replies Shanbag. 'Hay was responding to the occupation of East Europe by the USSR, while my version of his play, today, reflects a global phenomenon. I think the situation all over the world today is very scary and it is important to respond to that.' According to Shanbag, the horse in the play could stand for anything or anybody. 'The idea is to show something or someone as so sacred that it loses all perspective. The play is about our willingness to totally suspend rationality,' he states. While dramatists like William Shakespeare have depicted power-hungry figures through tragedies, Shanbag has chosen to present Caligula through a farcical comedy. 'I think contemporary theatre does not have enough comedies to project serious subjects,' he observes. 'But comedy can be a very powerful means of saying something important. 'The Horse' is a crazy, over-the-top comedy that tells a semi-fictitious, historical story to understand current times. Using humour and satire, it sharply dissects the absurdity of a world hurtling towards chaos.' Accentuating the underlying satire of the play are its songs, written by Asif Ali Beg who says it was a challenge for him to write them. 'I had not worked in the genre of political satire before this,' he points out. But discussions with Shanbag and background reading helped him to deliver just what was required. So, even in a tipsy scene in a tavern, the tipplers mouth words about Rome's decline. Written in limerick form, the song combines the lightness of a drunken ambience with the sharpness of satire. Putting Beg's words to music is Kaizad Gherda who has also composed the background score for some of the scenes. 'What I have composed is both grand and playful, mirroring the grandeur that was Rome and the farce that plays out against it,' shares Gherda. Adding to the entertainment quotient are choreographers and movement directors Shampa Gopikrishna and Bertwin Ravi Dsouza. 'After detailed discussions with Shanbag and watching some rehearsals we got an idea of the style, aesthetics and pulse of the play. After that we created movements and choreographed dances that would be most effective in conveying the spirited mood of the play,' they explain. This entailed studying the basic anatomy, movement pattern and nuances of a horse as well as conducting workshops with the cast in raw physical movement and dance. 'Thereafter, we let the actors play around with horse movements, letting them fuse their own style with it. It has been a lot of fun. There is a very challenging sequence of an entire horse race which the audience sees through the eyes and expressions of the actors who make it come alive,' add the duo. ('The Horse' will be staged at the Bal Gandharva Rang Mandir, Bandra, on August 9 and 10.)
