Last Days of Pompeii
Something a little different this year … here’s the final clip of the 1960 Last Days of Pompeii (it’s the part where the volcano erupts etc. … very cheesy): If you want to watch the whole thing … begin here (then click the links in the info boxes). Wired has a nice feature on the [...]
This Day in Ancient History: ante diem ix kalendas septembres
ante diem ix kalendas septembres rites in honour of Luna at the Graecostasis mundus patet — the mundus was a ritual pit which had a sort of vaulted cover on it. Three times a year the Romans removed this cover (August 24, Oct. 5 and November 8th ) at which time the gates of the [...]
Greek Fires
Here’s a photo from the BBC: Memories of Persian invasions, no doubt … More here … A growing slideshow of photos at Yahoo too …
NEA ‘Zone’
Among assorted recipients of NEA grants for translation projects is Charlotte Mandell … here’s her project: To support the translation from French of the novel Zone by Mathias Énard. Written in a single sentence and based on the structure of The Iliad, Zone is more than 500 pages long, and was a critical success in [...]
Roman-era Thracian Tomb from Krushare
Some interesting finds from a Roman-era Thracian tomb … the first report (August 16) from Novinite: Bulgarian archeologists have found a unique golden wreath in an unnamed mound near the South-East village of Krushare, Sliven District. This has been announced Sunday by the archeologist Diana Dimitrova, who was wife of the late great Bulgarian archeologist, [...]
Samian Ware from Impington
From the BBC: Archaeological excavations at the site of a former plant nursery, set to be developed for housing, have found evidence of Iron Age and Roman use. The dig at the former Unwins Nursery at Impington, Cambridgeshire, found occupation dating from about 100BC with evidence of an Iron Age roundhouse. The site was developed [...]
Temple of Apollo on Geronisos
Brief item from Bloomberg: Archaeologists in Cyprus found evidence that an island off the Mediterranean country’s south- west coast was the site of a temple for worshiping Apollo, the ancient Greek god of light, prophecy, music and healing. Excavations led by New York University on Geronisos unearthed fragments of pithoi, or storage vessels probably used [...]
Lusitanian Pottery
Tacked on to the end of a semi (very semi)-related piece in Portugal News: Meanwhile, in related news, another archeological team has confirmed that remnants of artifacts unearthed in the furnaces of Morraçal da Ajuda, Peniche, are in fact the first examples of Lusitanian pottery and are believed to have been used for storing fish [...]
CFP: ANIMALS IN THE GREEK AND ROMAN WORLD
Seen on the Classicists list: Animals in the Greek and Roman World Chairs: Sarah Hitch (Bristol) and Chiara Thumiger (UCL) To form a conference panel at the sixth Celtic Conference in Classics, Edinburgh, 28-31 July 2010. From Homeric similes to recipes for fishcakes, descriptions and discussions of animals abound in ancient sources in a variety [...]
CFP: Work-in-Progress seminar series at the Institute of Classical Studies, London
Seen on the Classicists list: CALL FOR PAPERS for the Work-in-Progress seminar series at the Institute of Classical Studies, London. The series organisers would like to invite postgraduates to present a paper at one of our weekly seminars, beginning in October and running through early December and resuming in January 2010. The Work-in-Progress series: The [...]
CONF: Classics & Robert Graves research workshops
Seen on the Classicists list: "Classics and Robert Graves: a relationship in literature, translation and adaptation" 19th September, 31st October, 21st November 2009 This series of three interdisciplinary workshops in the School of Classics, University of St Andrews will allow for the discussion and re-evaluation of the work of Robert Graves in relation to the [...]
Jewish ‘Temple’ from Andriake
From Today’s Zaman (I’m a bit late with this one): Ongoing excavations at the ancient port city of Andriake in Lycia — located in Antalya’s Demre district — have uncovered a centuries-old Jewish temple. Site chief Dr. Nevzat Çevik, an archaeology professor at Akdeniz University, told the Anatolia news agency that his team believes the [...]
ED: Minkova/Tunberg Webinars, September 23rd and 30th
Andrew Reinhard posted this to the Latinteach list a while back: It is with great pleasure that Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers announces two upcoming webinars from Milena Minkova and Terence Tunberg of the University of Kentucky: "Training Techniques for Spoken Latin Expression" September 23, 2009 6-8 PM Eastern The presenters maintain that the active use of Latin [...]
rogueclassicist’s Twitter Feed
For folks who are interested in such things, I’ve added a section in my sidebar carrying my Twitterfeed (below the Explorator Twitterfeed) … I’m finding that the items I post there often have ClassCon of some sort which I’d normally file away somewhere, hoping to figure out how to get them appropriately into this blog, [...]
This Day in Ancient History: ante diem xii kalendas septembres
ante diem xii kalendas septembres Consualia — festival involving games/chariot races in honour of Consus and other assorted divinities; one of the races apparently featured chariots pulled by mules 753 B.C.(?) – rape of the Sabine women (which traditionally happened during the celebration of the above)
Hadrian’s Wooden Wall?
Very interesting item from the Hexham Courant: A HEXHAM archaeologist has challenged perceived wisdom with startling claims that Hadrian’s Wall was originally built of wood. In a 65,000 word thesis published on his website, Geoff Carter says his hypothesis answers some age-old questions. Archaeologists have long wondered why the ditch that runs parallel is several [...]
CFP: Penn-Leiden Colloquium on Ancient Values (VI): Aesthetic Value in Classical Antiquity
Seen on the Classicists list: PENN-LEIDEN COLLOQUIUM ON ANCIENT VALUES (VI) We are pleased to announce a Call for Papers for the sixth Penn-Leiden Colloquium: AESTHETIC VALUE IN CLASSICAL ANTIQUITY University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA June 25-27, 2010 Greek and Roman cultures were alive with the arts and deeply interested in questions of aesthetic [...]
CONF: Don Fowler’s Unrolling the Text ten years on
Seen on various lists: Text/Performance: Provisional Programme A workshop organised by the editors of Don Fowler’s unpublished Unrolling the Text to assess the place of this work in the field of Classics ten years since the author’s death. The workshop will be held on 22nd and 23rd September 2009 in the Ioannou Centre for Classical [...]
Kulturzeit Extra … in Latin!
This one’s been making the rounds of various lists these past days … it’s a German television program entirely in Latin (except for the German subtitles); it isn’t that difficult to understand, especially with the accompanying visuals …
Say What?
Wading through assorted items my spiders dragged back to me, I note the following excerpt at Official Spin … I’ve emphasized what caught my eye: Beta-galactosidase is widely used as a reporter gene in the life sciences, and detection is typically performed with a colorimetric substrate. Recently, a near-infrared (NIR) fluorescent beta-galactosidase activity assay for [...]
ED: Reception of Thucydides: Research Assistant and Studentships
Seen on the Classicists list: Thucydides: reception, reinterpretation and influence This four-year, AHRC-funded research project at the University of Bristol, led by Professor Neville Morley, will explore the history of the reception of Thucydides and his work since the Renaissance, including the history of scholarship and criticism on the text, the changing interpretative frameworks and [...]
Ancient Bathonea Found?
This one is making the rounds of the ‘eastern’ papers … here’s the ANI version via Daily India: A team of archaeologists has discovered the ancient port city of Bathonea, located in Istanbul’s Kucukcekmece basin in Turkey, which is estimated to be 1,600 years old. According to a report in Today’s Zaman, Dr. Sengul Aydingun [...]
Aphrodite (et alia) at Susita
Interesting item from Ha’aretz … some excerpts: Remains of an ancient cult to the goddess of love have come to light in the southern Golan Heights site of Susita At the site, on a 350 meter-high-plateau overlooking the eastern shore of Lake Kinneret, archaeologists found a cache of three figurines of Aphrodite (whom the Romans [...]
This Day in Ancient History: ante diem xiii kalendas septembres
ante diem xiii kalendas septembres 2 A.D. — death of Augustus’ grandson/adoptive son Lucius Caesar in Massalia
This Day in Ancient History:ante diem xiv kalendas septembres
ante diem xiv kalendas septembres Vinalia — the second major wine festival of this name celebrated by the Romans 43 B.C. — the future emperor Octavian enters his first consulship; Octavian’s adoption by Julius Caesar formally recognized 14 A.D. — Augustus dies at Nola 232 A.D. — birth of the future emperor Probus 304 A.D. [...]
