iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Rob Edmunds @robedmunds.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

My novel about the Chindit campaign in Burma during the 2nd World War is now available. It traces the journey of a British soldier prior, during and after the conflict. It features cameos from several notable figures and covers aspects of the conflict not previously fictionalised. amzn.eu/d/0859HGWm

This is a picture of both the e-book and paperback of my latest novel, "Wild in the hot blind earth." It includes a number of photographs. The only anonymous one features soldiers from the Nigerian Spider Brigades. The other three are of the actors Bill Travers, Jackie Coogan and Paulette Goddard, the middle figure in a group of three woman in military dress. All are most likely taken in 1944 in Burma or India, the time period during which the novel is set. There are also two patch military insignias of the Chindits and Spider Brigades. The first, worn by the Chindit brigades, resembles a hybrid half lion, half dragon which guards, in statue form, many temples and pagodas in Burma, modern Myanmar. The other is of a brown spider on a yellow square patch. I’m presuming this is in honour of the Ashanti trickster god Anansi, and was worn as a shoulder patch by soldiers the Spider brigades.

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Rob Edmunds @robedmunds.bsky.social · 14/11/2024

A relief of Dionysus, discovered in 1907 in a shipwreck off the coast of Mahdia, ancient Aphrodisium, in Tunisia. Archaeologists believe the ship was sunk in the 1st century BC, and its cargo, which contains other important statues, may have been stolen during the sack of Athens by Sulla in 86BC. 🏺

A relief of the Greek god Dionysus or Bacchus in the Roman pantheon. Appropriately, there are decorative berries in the figures hair. Otherwise, their hair is neat and curled with a tendril lying across the right shoulder. The figure is quite androgynous in appearance and has a narrow headband across its forehead. There is slight discoloration to the bronze with hints of verdigris at the temple but the features are remarkably well preserved. There is a suggestion of yellow paint of some kind in the right eyeball. I’m not sure if that may have originally indicated a little dissolution! It seems unusual and it may be a darkening change of color over time. The head is attached to a longer piece of bronze which may have been part of a ships figurehead or prow.

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Rob Edmunds @robedmunds.bsky.social · 04/07/2024

The Roman city gate Porta Nigra in Trier, Germany. It is the finest surviving Roman building north of the Alps. Construction began after 170AD. In 1030 Saint Simeon was enclosed in a cell there. He died 5 years later and was buried in his cell. Miracles were reported at his tomb shortly after. 🏺

The Porta Nigra has twin semi-circular watchtowers which would have allowed sentries on three floors a wide field of vision against any approaches from beyond the Roman frontier. The walls show plenty of wear but are extremely well preserved. The roof is flat and without any obvious crenellations. It appears more of a residence or an administrative building rather than a fortification. A little incongruously, there are a pair of small palm trees in the foreground.

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Rob Edmunds @robedmunds.bsky.social · 11/04/2024

The giant Basalt lion sculpture from the Ain Dara temple complex in Syria. The temple itself dates from around the 13th century BC and was discovered in 1955. The site was largely destroyed in 2018/19 and the lion sculpture was stolen, it’s condition and whereabouts are now unknown. ancientbluesky 🏺

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Rob Edmunds @robedmunds.bsky.social · 05/03/2024

The poet Apollinaire in 1916 after he was wounded during Word War I. He coined the term Surrealism in 1917 to describe that new art movement “When man resolved to imitate walking, he invented the wheel, which does not look like a leg. In doing this, he was practicing surrealism without knowing it.”

A colorized photograph of the French poet, playwright and novelist Guillaume Apollinaire. He would have been in his mid-thirties at the time it was taken. The top of his head is visible and his hair is closely shaven and dark. The top part of his head is bandaged as he had been injured at the front line during World War One and had suffered a shrapnel wound to his temple. He sports a reasonably well trimmed goatee beard and looks at the camera or just beyond it with an uncertain expression. His eyes look curious but perhaps wary and his mouth is slightly open as if he is about to speak or exclaim rather than pose. He wears the pale blue uniform of the French infantry of the period. An epaulette is visible but nothing is visibly indicated on it. At the tip of his collar is the number 96 which may indicate the regiment he served with. He died a couple of years later on the 9th of November 1918, two days before Armistice Day which ended hostilities on the Western Front.

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Rob Edmunds @robedmunds.bsky.social · 24/01/2024

This mural of Julius Caesar is located outside the Roman Walls of Lugo. The city walls are the most complete example of Roman military architecture within the Western Roman Empire. The mural was created by the graffiti and urban artist Diego AS. It was awarded the best mural in the world in 2022 🏺

A mural of Julius Caesar against the otherwise plain wall of a house or building of roughly six stories. The figure looks determined and heroic and wears a laurel crown. He has across his shoulders a flowing paludamentum, the Roman cape or cloak. His right forearm is raised forwards and obscures his upper body a little but an ornate cuirass of some kind is visible behind it. The mural is highly detailed and achromatic, in the extent that it blends in with the bluish grey colour of the building on which it was drawn. In stark contrast at ground level is a bright yellow mobile crane which must have been used by the artist to reach the higher points of the artwork.

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Rob Edmunds @robedmunds.bsky.social · 24/01/2024

The Roman wall surrounding the city of Lugo in Galicia is the only complete Roman wall remaining. According to legend the Romans built it to protect a forest and not a city, the“Sacred Forest of Augusto”. The walls still contain 85 towers and have survived intact for 18 centuries. ancientbluesky 🏺

Part of the pathway at the top of the Roman wall which encircles the Galician city of Lugo in Galicia. it is at quite an elevated position above a road to its right. The path is roughly sand in colour and is quite sinuous but appears to take a sharper curve to the left in the distance. To the left is the inner city with two church steeples being the most prominent features. The side wall of a house is visible to the right of the Roman wall with an indistinct mural of a young girl.

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Rob Edmunds @robedmunds.bsky.social · 12/12/2023

A section of the painting "Scipio presents gifts to the king of Numidia, Massinissa." by the Italian Baroque painter Lazzaro Baldi. (1624-1703) It depicts a scene that I also wrote about in my first novel about Masinissa (1 less S for me!) The jewels Scipio Africanus offers him really sparkle!

A section of the painting "Scipio presents gifts to the king of Numidia, Massinissa" with the two then opposing generals looking at one another. In their own ways, both look regal. Massinissa wears a flowing scarlet robe and an ornate helmet with what appears to be a dragon at its apex. Scipio wears a drabber robe but wears a pointed crown nestled in surprising blond curly hair. He is clutching his hand to his chest in a gesture that might be one of respect or appeal and with his right offers what looks like a belt or chain of gold and jewels. Massinissa also has his left hand on this item of jewellery. Below them is a figure of uncertain age and a pile of gold objects, including a helmet. Over Massinissa's left shoulder, two helmeted soldiers eye the gifts. The background is slightly murkier but there are outlines of a few other soldiers and a building of some kind.

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Rob Edmunds @robedmunds.bsky.social · 12/12/2023

A pair of Etruscan Bronze attachments, circa 5th Century B.C. They depict the 3rd and 4th Labours of Hercules, the capture of the Ceryneian Hind and the Erymanthian boar. The lion skin-clad Heracles is on the left and Iolaus, his charioteer and one of the Argonauts, is on the right. 🏺 ancientbluesky

A pair of bronze ornaments representing the ancient, mythical heroes Heracles and Iolaus. The two are very similar in design and feature the two men either side of their prey wielding clubs. The difference is that the one to the left has the Erymanthian boar in the centre and the one to the right has the Ceryneian hind. The men are standing on a radiating palmette, resembling a large palm leaf, of about the same height as the men.

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Rob Edmunds @robedmunds.bsky.social · 30/11/2023

The legacies of Roman Emperors can be varied. Vespasian, known for the Colosseum, is also more humbly associated with public toilets in Italy and France, known as Vespasiano and Vespasienne. This association arose as a result of a tax he imposed upon the collection of urine. ancientbluesky 🏺

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Rob Edmunds @robedmunds.bsky.social · 12/11/2023

'But now, for the first time, I see you are a man like me. I thought of your hand-grenades, of your bayonet, of your rifle; now I see your wife and your face and our fellowship. Forgive me, comrade. We always see it too late.' Erich Maria Remarque, All Quiet on the Western Front Remembrance

A German soldier lighting the cigarette of a British soldier during World War I. Both are gaunt and dirty and there may have been a recent battle. The Britiah soldier has some kkndnof field dressing on his neck. It is uncertain if either is a prisoner.

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Rob Edmunds @robedmunds.bsky.social · 09/11/2023

I'm not able to attest to the authenticity of the accents in this video but I was fascinated by the range of ancient languages spoken. The general style seems to resemble the Bee Gees in their heyday, millennia before hairdryers, let alone disco, had been invented! www.youtube.com/watch?v=slDJ...

youtube.com

The Sound of Ancient Languages. Full Version. You Haven't Seen Anything Like This Before!

Dive into the fascinating realm of ancient languages with our enthralling video. Encounter the alluring sounds of historical civilizations through the skillf...

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Rob Edmunds @robedmunds.bsky.social · 01/11/2023

The classical composers Johann Sebastian Bach and George Frideric Handel were born in the same year, 1685, and in the same country, Germany. Bach was born in Eisenach and Handel in Halle. The towns are approximately 80 miles apart. The two composers never met. 🎻

A statue of the classical composer Handel is to the right of the picture in the foreground. He is dressed in typical 17th century style. His coat is cropped but splays beneath his waist a little like a Scottish kilt and covers his thighs. He wears tights, boots and appears to have a sword, or perhaps a baton, on his left hip. His hair is long and the middle section falls between his shoulder blades. His right, heavily cuffed arm is resting on an ornate musical stand. He is facing away from the camera and towards the four towers of St Mary's Church. The church is in the late gothic style and the two pairs of towers contrast strikingly. The first two are octagonal and are linked at tge point of the bell towers by a bridge. The two behind are narrower and more like minarets.

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Rob Edmunds @robedmunds.bsky.social · 27/10/2023

This is a story written by Charles Amherst Milward (1859-1928) who was a sea captain for many years. His daughter intended to publish this and other stories about life at sea but they were never published in his name. It was a tale told from bitter experience. robedmunds.substack.com/p/man-overbo...

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Rob Edmunds @robedmunds.bsky.social · 26/10/2023

A bronze of the Etruscan sun god Usil, circa 500-475BC. It was possibly originally a chariot ornament. Usil was syncretized with the Roman god Sol and Greek Helios. This might be considered the ancient equivalent of a car hood ornament such as Rolls-Royce's The Spirit of Ecstasy. Ancientbluesky 🏺

A bronze of the Etruscan god Usil. He is facing forwards and his upper body has the proportions of a man. He does have a crown or beams of the sun behind his head and his arms and wings are splayed in a forceful manner. He wears a shawl around his shoulders. In his midriff, there are studs which could have been used to fix the ornament to a chariot. His lower body is enormous, swollen and out of proportion. There is some natural patination of the bronze, particularly in this part of the statue where exposure to the elements has made a section noticeably greener in colour.

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Rob Edmunds @robedmunds.bsky.social · 25/10/2023

Just a quick note of thanks to both Brisbane Libraries and South Australia Libraries for kindly adding my novels about the Numidian King Masinissa to their collections. I really appreciate it. It's quite a thrill to know I can find my books there!

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Rob Edmunds @robedmunds.bsky.social · 17/10/2023

My latest Substack post is about the World War II British Officer Brigadier Michael Calvert. He features in my latest novel which I'm currently querying. If anyone from the Writing Community or Independent Company has any suggestions for a good home! robedmunds.substack.com/p/brigadier-...

A picture of a young army officer in formal military uniform. He has four stars on the epaulettes on his shoulders and his tie is neatly made. He is clean shaven but for a clipped moustache. His hair is short and pomaded in some kind of wax. He is looking beyond the camera with an inscrutable, fixed expression.

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Rob Edmunds @robedmunds.bsky.social · 10/10/2023

The statue of the Assyrian King Ashurbanipal. He was crowned in 669BC and created the first systematically organized library in the world. Whilst library fashions have changed greatly over the centuries, it's reassuring to know that a fondness for cats and fastidiously maintained beards persists!

A statue of the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal. The statue appears to be made of a black granite and is very detailed. He is wearing a close fitting elaborate cap, has a stern expression and a very elaborate tied and braided beard. He wears a curved blade in a sash around his waist, is clutching what appears to be a small lion in his right arm and is holding and offering a thick clay tablet with what appears to be ancient writing on it in his left hand. The entrance to the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco is partially discernible in the background.

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Rob Edmunds @robedmunds.bsky.social · 06/10/2023

A salute to the favourite beverage of the #writingcommunity. A scene from a Luc Besson movie and writing advice from Douglas Adams. "The only real answer is to drink way too much coffee and buy yourself a desk that doesn't collapse when you beat your head against it." www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Pj0...

Rob Edmunds @robedmunds.bsky.social · 26/09/2023

The Iron Crown of Lombardy was made in the Middle Ages. Legend maintains its central band was beaten from a nail of the True Cross. It was used in the coronation of the first Holy Roman Emperor Charlemagne on Christmas day 800 and was worn again in 1805 by Napoleon when he was crowned King of Italy.

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Rob Edmunds @robedmunds.bsky.social · 19/09/2023

The poet Ovid was banished from Rome in 8AD to Tomis (modern Constanța in Romania) by the Emperor Augustus. The council of the city of Rome revoked his exile in December 2017, over 2000 years after his banishment. "My hopes are not always realized, but I always hope." Ovid ancientbluesky

A statue of the ancient Roman poet Ovid. He seems to be in middle age but appears to be still physically strong. His robes wrap his entire body with the exception of his bare arms. He holds a tablet of some kind in his left arm which is tucked across his midriff. His right hand is held to his chin and his gaze is downcast in apparent contemplation. His hair is cut short. The statue has a slight greenish patina, indicating that it's likely made of bronze. The plinth is of a cream stone. At the base of the statue is the name OVIDIVS

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Rob Edmunds @robedmunds.bsky.social · 05/09/2023

A magazine with an article about the first ever epic historical movie, Cabiria (1914). It depicted several historical figures who feature in my novels including Hannibal, Masinissa, Sophonisba, Scipio and Archimedes. Martin Scorsese described it as "the moment cinema became art." Ancientbluesky 🏺

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Rob Edmunds @robedmunds.bsky.social · 30/08/2023

Saint-Malo was the home town of the French writer Francois-Rene de Chateaubriand. "Every man carries within himself a world made up of all that he has seen and loved; and it is to this world that he returns, incessantly, though he may pass through and seem to inhabit a world quite foreign to it."

An aerial view of the old town of St-Malo in Brittany. The buildings are clustered in quite a compact arrangement in the centre of the picture with buildings broadly six or seven stories high. The steeple of the church is just discernible in the centre of the town. A dividing harbour wall is in the foreground and extends like a bridge to the town. This separates a shallow turquoise sea from a similarly calm harbour with multiple small boats anchored. There is a sandy beach to the left of the harbour wall and a wider semi horseshoe bay lies beyond the settlement with the rest of St Malo on its fringe. The day is bright with an azure sky and light cirrus clouds.

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Rob Edmunds @robedmunds.bsky.social · 27/08/2023

The forum and Byzantine fort in Madauros, Algeria. It became a Roman colony for veterans in the 1st century. It was the birthplace in 124AD of the Numidian Apuleius who wrote the only Latin Roman novel, "The Golden Ass", to survive intact. St Augustine of Hippo also studied there. Ancientbluesky 🏺

A picture of the ruined forum and fortress. To the left is a series of grey broken ancient columns. In the centre, there is a square that is paved but partially reclaimed by grass and to the right is the
ruined fortress. The fortress is built of a sandler stone than the columns. The entrance is more intact than the walls which are in slightly worse and ruined condition. The day is bright with sparse clouds and the columns cast shadows across the courtyard.

ruined fortress. The fortress is built of a sandler stone than the columns. e entrance is more intact than the walls which are in slightly worse and ruined condition. The day is bright with sparse clouds and the columns cast shadows across the courtyard.

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Rob Edmunds @robedmunds.bsky.social · 24/08/2023

A bust of Ptolemy of Mauretania. He was the last ruler of the fused Numidian and Ptolemaic dynasties. His ancestors included the Numidian King Masinissa and Pharaoh Ptolemy I Soter, successor of Alexander the Great. He was the grandson of Cleopatra. Caligula executed him in 40AD.

A bronze bust of a young man. His appearance is quite scholarly, youthful and innocent and he has quite a calm expression. His hair is cut short and neat. There is little sign of aging or damage in the sculpture.

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Rob Edmunds @robedmunds.bsky.social · 24/08/2023

Just a quick, slightly tentative, introduction. Hello everyone! I'm pretty sure I have a few friends here already who have migrated recently searching for pastures new. I'm looking forward to exploring around here, learning as I go, and sharing hopefully interesting and engaging content.

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