Romanes eunt domus | Racist attack in East Belfast | July 2014

Surprisingly, this is not the work of a member of the People's Front of Judea. It was carried out as part of a series of racist attacks on Romanian families last night (28th July 2014) in East Belfast – not far from my house. It’s dispiriting enough that we live in a society where such attacks are becoming relatively commonplace, but even more so when the perpetrators lack the basic education to even spell the name of the country they hate - much less realise that at least one of the families they terrorised was actually Slovakian!

My apologies, as this has precious little to do with the usual themes of this blog, beyond tickling my rather dark sense of archaeology-related humour. However, sometimes you have to take a stand and say – I do not support this, it is not done in my name: it is despicable and it is disgusting. Shame on those who carry out such attacks and shame on those who support them. Not that there's much that can be described as a ‘bright side’ to these attacks (Life of Brian references aside), but it does give the opportunity to see the culprits for what they are - illiterate thugs, willing to terrorise defenseless families in their own homes.

Worry not - my normal fare of archaeological wanderings, meanderings, and general madness will resume shortly.

PS: Those with a better grasp of Latin grammar will, of course, be aware that the correct translation for the term ‘Romans go home’ is Romani ite domum.

BBC report here.