3D animation of the reconstructed Roman projection device. I speculate that it may have been owned by a rich Roman collector in the provinces. It could have played a ceremonial role in a temple dedicated to Sol, the sun god, or may simply have been a...

THE CROATIAN TOWN OF ZADAR, LOCATED ON THE ADRIATIC, WAS ONE OF ANCIENT ROME’S MOST IMPORTANT PROVINCES. TWO THOUSAND YEARS LATER, EVIDENCE OF ROMAN CULTURE CAN BE SEEN THROUGHOUT THE TOWN – FROM THE AQUEDUCT, TO THE FORUM, TO THIS GATE, WHICH WAS THE MAIN...

IN 2011, I WAS VISITING ZAGREB’S HRELIC FLEA MARKET WHEN I SPOTTED AN UNUSUAL METAL OBJECT… THE VENDOR EXPLAINED THAT HE HAD FOUND THE OBJECT STICKING OUT OF THE SAND ON A BEACH IN THE NEARBY TOWN OF NIN. THE OBJECT, WHICH IS CAST IN...

It is sometimes said that the aim of the historian is to explain the past by "finding", "identifying", or "uncovering" stories that lie buried in chronicles; and that the difference between a "history"and "fiction" resides in the fact that the historian "finds" his stories, whereas...

THE FOLLOWING WEEK, I MADE THE TRIP TO NIN, TO THE EXACT LOCATION THE FLEA MARKET VENDOR HAD DESCRIBED. I CAREFULLY COMBED THE BEACH, WHICH WAS LITTERED WITH GARBAGE, CLAY SHARDS, AND OTHER ARTIFACTS , NEW AND OLD…. MOST OF WHAT I FOUND WAS WORTHLESS,...

FURTHER EXCAVATIONS LEAD TO THE DISCOVERY OF A CACHE CLAY POTS, COINS, AND MORE PAINTED GLASS SHARDS, WHICH I TOOK TO ZADAR’S MUSEUM OF ANCIENT GLASS TO BE EXAMINED. THE EXPERT'S COMMENTARY ENDS WITH: ..... “A SECOND THEORY SAYS THERE IS A CONNECTION IN THE...

THE CURATOR SEEMED TO IMPLY THE IMAGES WERE SEQUENTIAL, LIKE FRAMES IN AN ANIMATED FILM… BUT HE WASN’T CERTAIN… I DECIDED TO VISIT THE MUSEUM OF ARCHAEOLOGY, WHERE A METAL EXPERT HAD AGREED TO EXAMINE THE BRONZE OBJECT FROM THE FLEA MARKET. "THIS BRONZE OBJECT IS...

CONNECTED? BUT HOW? THERE WAS ONE FURTHER CLUE TO EXPLORE. AMONG THE OBJECTS DISCOVERED ON THE BEACH WERE COINS WITH DISTINCTIVE MARKINGS. I VISITED A LOCAL COIN EXPERT TO HAVE THEM ANALYZED. "THESE COINS ARE WHAT WE REFER TO AS ROMAN BARBAROUS COINS, WHICH MEANS...

      The images on the glass fragments were similar but different. Could the slight displacement of aspects of the image be an example of 'images in a sequence' ?

Coupled with evidence from the Roman “cinema” tokens and bronze “projector” parts found in the same archaeological cache in Nin, Croatia, Henry Jesionka speculates that the glass images are not mere multiples but “slides” intended to be projected in sequence.

While browsing in the Hrelić Flea Market in Zagreb Croatia, I came across a mysterious bronze object that the vendor told me was ancient. He had no idea what it was but directed me to the location of its discovery.