Lyre of Hermes
About once a year we hear of someone reproducing this or that ancient instrument. This time around, it’s the so-called “Lyre of Hermes”, which is the lyre you often see depicted on Hellenistic pottery. Dixit Serkan Çelik (a lecturer at Ege University Turkish Music Conservatory): “Some depictions were not too clear, that’s why we had [...]
Queen’s Firsts
One of the fun aspects of going to Queen’s (where I did my M.A.) was reading the local paper, which had the great name Whig-Standard (which is almost as good as Times-Picayune) and I note a letter to the editor this past week from R. Drew Griffith, one of my former professors and current head [...]
Mac Classics Redux (sort of)
Every so often you start to wonder whether ‘outsiders’ are seeking attention from rogueclassicism — and assorted parts of my brain usually kick in to set my head straight. But in the wake of our Mac Classics post last week, I can’t help but wonder whether Digital Daily is looking for some rogueclassicism love … [...]
Romans At Silbury Hill?
A piece in the Telegraph suggests (n regards to Silbury Hill), inter alia: So the mound wasn’t simply some ghostly feature that became abandoned in prehistoric times, says Rob Harding, the English Heritage project manager for the site. According to Harding, there is also evidence of Roman usage in the platforms along the side of [...]
Extraterrestrial Rome
Can’t resist this one … a piece at io9 relates a dozen science fiction “Romes”, including the one in the “Bread and Circuses” episode of Star Trek, Isaac Asimov’s Foundation series, and even the “Problem with Popplers” episode of Futurama — in regards to the latter, Classicists might appreciate the involvement of the “Omicronians” too. [...]
From the Italian Press
Well, now that I’m full of espresso, it seems appropriate to peruse what our friends in Italy have been reading about: Authorities have discovered evidence of tombaroli operating around Ragusa: ARCHEOLOGIA: TOMBAROLI IN AZIONE NEL RAGUSANO, INDAGINI (AGI) They’re going to be sprucing (cypressing? decypressing?) up Augustus’ mausoleum: Archeologia, all’Ara Pacis il progetto ‘Urbs et [...]
Centurion Flick in the Works
According to Hollywood Reporter: Michael Fassbender, Dominic West and Bond girl Olga Kurylenko are girding their loins for Neil Marshall’s Britain-set sword-and-sandals thriller “Centurion,” for “Slumdog Millionaire” producer Christian Colson of Celador Films. The movie, billed as a thriller set during the Roman invasion of Britain in A.D. 117, tells the story of Quintus Dias, [...]
Classical (?) Accessories
Okay … so a couple of weeks ago I get an item in my mailbox about some guy who makes handbags with Classical names. I sat on the item for a while, then decided not to bother with it (it did get mentioned on one of the lists) and now I can’t find it again. [...]
Shipwrecks Off Albania
Not sure why the only source for this seems to be the rather obscure Owen Sound Sun Times, but it appears there has been a rather major shipwreck discovery off the coast of Albania. Adding to the mystery (for me) is why most of the article seems to quote people who weren’t directly involved. Dixit [...]
Greek Shipwrecks at Risk
A while back we mentioned that the Greek goverment was opening up a pile of potential underwater archaeological sites to scuba access … an excerpt from a piece in the Guardian: “Greek waters are some of the richest in antiquities in the world,” said the marine archaeologist Katerina Dellaporta. “Thanks to very stringent controls over [...]
Pantheon Sundial?
Alun Salt mentioned this on Twitter and I finally have time to explore it a bit … A piece in New Scientist relates Robert Hannah’s suggestion that the Pantheon served as a sundial of some sort. Here’s an excerpt: When Robert Hannah of the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand, visited the Pantheon in [...]
“Lost” Latin Found
It’s been the buzz of all the lists over the past week, so if you missed it, ecce: prisoner type one: Quare non sunt vestitus eis? prisoner type two: Tace! blonde: Cognoscitis qui sumus? … there was apparently some later as well; I can’t find that one yet, but the blond (the character’s name is [...]
