Breviaria Archaeologica
Some assorted items caught in the screen: Will Bowden is fighting to have a buried Roman villa site in Notthingham preserved from development: Archaeologist joins call to save unique Roman Villa A bit out of the period of our purview, but likely of interest, is a report of a mosaic from a synagogue at Ma’On [...]
Centurion Update
An excerpt from Jessica Barnes’ piece at Cinematical: Centurion centers on the famed 9th Legion fighting for their lives behind enemy lines after a devastating guerrilla attack, and joining Kurylenko for the hacking and slashing are Michael Fassbender (Inglorious Basterds), who plays the title character, Dominic West, and Noel Clarke. Marshall spoke with Empire during [...]
Breviaria 04/04/09
Assorted items which have caught my eye of late: The headline says it all: Applying the wisdom of Alexander the Great to Business Intelligence Some sort of 3d modelling project for the Acropolis was recently undertaken: LPS Instrumental in 3D Modeling of the Acropolis We linked to several of Suzan Mazur’s posts relating to Robert [...]
More Roman Humour
Mary Beard continues to make the rounds talking about ancient humour, and it appears she was asked about who she believed was the funniest Roman. She decided it was Cicero (!) and you can read the Times coverage to find out why … I’m using this as an excuse to excerpt the chunk which shows [...]
‘Jesus Ossuary’ Trial Update
In case you were wondering … the trial of all those folks associated with the so-called ‘Jesus Ossuary’ has ‘stalled’ (for want of a better term, I suppose). The Jerusalem Post has a lengthy piece … here’s the interesting bits: According to the Antiquities Authority, Deutsch and Golan conspired to forge an ancient decanter, several [...]
Hannibal Flick Update
Vin Diesel’s Fast and the Furious is getting a pile of reviews right now … at the end of the one in the LA Times (and probably elsewhere) we read: And for the last six years, Diesel has remained relentlessly dedicated to bringing a biopic about the Carthaginian military commander Hannibal to the screen. Over [...]
Lucy Lawless in Spartacus Flick?
Variety reports (inter alia): Lucy Lawless is returning to her action-hour roots, signing on to star in the new fantasy-and-fighting series from “Xena: Warrior Princess” masterminds Rob Tapert and Sam Raimi. The previously announced project from Starz Media, “Spartacus: Blood and Sand,” will feature the New Zealand-bred thesp, who starred in “Xena” from 1995-2001, as [...]
Hellenistic Harbour Remains from Ptolemais/Akko/Acre
By whatever name you recognize it, this is interesting … the Israel Antiquities Authority has issued a press release (and photos) of evidence of a floor (pavement is probably a better word) one metre below the water level in the harbour at Akko, the erstwhile Ptolemais. An excerpt from the press release: As part of [...]
Restoring Philip II’s Palace
ANA has a brief item on the restoration work ongoing at Philip II’s palace at Aigai. From the conclusion: The restoration of the two-storey gallery (stoa) in the building’s front section was a “revelation” for archaeologists’ studying ancient architecture, as it contradicted earlier beliefs according to which such galleries were a later practice, dating in [...]
Classicists in the News 04/04/09
Richard Martin’s approach to Homer was the subject of a press release from UWSTL: Classics professor presents Homeric poetry as performance art for the Assembly Series Michael Halleran is now provost at William and Mary: Halleran appointed provost of College
Exhibition: Etruscan Treasures from Tuscany
From the Temple and the Tomb: Etruscan Treasures from Tuscany January 25-May 17 Meadows Museum (SMU Dallas) Exhibition website (not much there; a few general images; elsewhere SMU has a slideshow): From the Temple and the Tomb: Etruscan Treasures from Tuscany Reviews/Press Coverage: Meadows Museum Opens Most Comprehensive Exhibition of Etruscan Art Ever Shown in [...]
Training Legions
Another claim about the ancient world, this time from something called Total Health Breakthroughs: Rocky Marciano did it. Muhammad Ali did it. And many, many other old-time boxers(and old time wrestlers for that matter) did it too. But maybe the most unique and unusual group to use this exercise — that you never heard of [...]
Hypatia Flick
Not sure if we’ve mentioned this Hypatia flick yet, mention of which I had misfiled quite a while ago. Agora appears to be a movie about Hypatia, set in the late 4th century A.D. and possibly portraying a Christian-inspired burning of the Library of Alexandria. There’s an official website, but all it seems to have [...]
Pet Peeve
I am always bugged when newspapers, which presumably have authors, spellcheckers, and editors, mess up the spelling of a less-than-obscure name from the ancient world, to wit, a review of a Galileo exhibition in the Financial Times (emphasis mine): Ancient Greek scientific advances did nothing to diminish the power of celestial deities. Pythagorus’s conception of [...]
Roman Pollution in Iceland?
Science Direct has an abstract of an article (which folks can get the full version of if they have the right access, of course) as follows: We report a record of atmospheric Pb deposition at a coastal site in western Iceland that spans the last two millennia. The elemental concentrations of Pb, Al, Li and [...]
Goalkeeper’s Reading
The Independent has an item on books read by assorted Premier League footballers/soccer players … Robert Green’s seems appropriate: Robert Green, the West Ham and England goalkeeper, selected Homer’s The Iliad – a departure from 2007′s list, when he plumped for Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Rooney’s is Harry Potter, but whose is [...]
CONF: Ports and Canals of the Roman World
PORTS AND CANALS OF THE ROMAN WORLD: INFRASTRUCTURE AND TRADE University of Oxford Ioannou Centre for Classical and Byzantine StudiesSaturday 9th May, 2009 The Oxford Roman Economy Project PROGRAMME 14.00-14.35 Constructing Port Hierarchies: harbours asindicators of global and Katia Schörle local interconnectivity 14.35-15.10 ImportedBuilding Materials of SebastosHarbour, Caesarea Greg Votruba Maritima 15.10-15.45 Shipping Stone: Roman [...]
CONF: Classics, Theatre and Thought in Frances
The ARCHIVE OF PERFORMANCES OF GREEK AND ROMAN DRAMA, UNIVERSITY OF OXFORDin partnership with, THE CENTRE FOR THE RECEPTION OF GREECE & ROME, ROYALHOLLOWAY, UNIVERSITY OF LONDON, is please to announce a Bastille DaySymposium 2009 (220 years on) Classics, Theatre and Thought in France Confirmed Speakers: Froma Zeitlin, Brigitte le Guen, Amy Wygant, Dominic Glynn, [...]
Harvard Marketing Classics (etc.)
Some excerpts from a lengthy piece in the Boston Globe: When Harvard was founded nearly four centuries ago, all students read and spoke Latin. They had to: Lectures were delivered primarily in the ancient tongue, and the classics was pretty much all they could study. Today, the number of students conversant in Cicero and Plato [...]
