12 Mar 2026

Vincit qui patitur

('He conquers who endures'): Annalee Newitz on an ancient refuge in Sardinia

A drone’s-eye view of the excavation at Tharros. To the left is a medieval castle, unrelated to the site. Image courtesy of the Tharros Project.

Today: Science journalist, columnist, podcast host, and science fiction writer Annalee Newitz, author of Stories Are Weapons: Psychological Warfare and the American Mind, The Terraformers, and the recently published Automatic Noodle.

Issue No. 521

Fuck the Roman Empire
Annalee Newitz

Fuck the Roman Empire

by Annalee Newitz

On the west coast of the island of Sardinia, on a tiny finger of land that points south into the Gulf of Oristano, three civilizations once met in a pleasant seaside village called Tharros. None of them survived. Or perhaps all of them did, depending on how you look at it.

The road to Tharros was paved by colonizers two thousand years ago, and today it is much the same. Italians flock here in summer; pleasant, grassy hills slope down to beaches full of families with picnic baskets and umbrellas. Cafés along the route to the ancient city sell icy, foam-topped shakeratos and chilled wine. Most people grab their snacks and take one of the many paths down to the water. Not me. On a hot day last June, I slathered on sunscreen, grabbed my water bottle and computer, and trudged past the beachgoers until I was alone on a rocky path that led toward the margins of the Roman Empire.