ante diem ix kalendas maias
In case you’re at Cambridge a few hours from now:
Professor Kathleen Coleman, Professor of Latin at Harvard University and renowned author on Latin literature and history will give Newnham’s biennial Jane Harrison Memorial Lecture on Friday, 23 April 2010.
She’ll argue that pushy parents and a competitive society driving youngsters to extremes to succeed is far from a modern phenomenon.
Entitled “Fatal ambitions: the hazards of educating the gifted and talented in Ancient Rome”, Professor Coleman will discuss how literary, musical, and athletic contests with special categories for children were imported from Greece to Rome. She’ll reveal how less wealthy classes embraced these competitions, with an eager eye on the advantages to be gained from success, but that even then, some educators worried that the children were being pushed too hard and in some cases, to the grave.
Professor Coleman received her graduate education at Oxford University and joined the faculty of Harvard University in 1998 after a teaching career in Africa and Ireland. She has published extensively in the areas of Latin literature and history. She has also been active in the media, contributing to programmes on the BBC, National Public Radio, the Discovery Channel, Grenada Television, and the History Channel. Professor Coleman was appointed special consultant to Hollywood’s Dreamworks studio when it produced the cinema blockbuster ‘Gladiator’, but she asked for her name to be removed from the film’s credits because she felt her advice wasn’t reflected in it when it was released.
In her lecture she’ll suggest that while precocious children and ambitious parents are a universal phenomenon in advanced societies, culturally specific circumstances were also factors in ancient Rome. With children regarded as mini-adults, and literacy seen as the key to social advancement; Professor Coleman argues that the ability to perform at virtuoso level was one of the hallmarks of Roman culture and that the accompanying pressure to do so blighted the lives of the gifted and talented children of Ancient Rome.
The Newnham Jane Harrison Memorial has been hosted by Newnham since 1928. It was created to honour the memory of Jane Ellen Harrison (1850-1928) who studied and lectured in Classics at Newnham. She was renowned for her public lectures on Greek art and for her unconventional and outspoken views. As a pioneering female scholar, Harrison was at the centre of a revolution in the study of Greek culture and religion, undermining the conventional view of Greek culture as essentially intellectual and “rational”; while at the same time deploying French anthropological theory in the attempt to understand Greek religion. She wrote on a wide variety of subjects, from Russian language and literature to women’s suffrage and herself.
The Jane Harrison Memorial Lecture: “Fatal Ambitions: The Hazards of Educating the Gifted and Talented in Ancient Rome” will be given in LG17, the Law Faculty, Sidgwick site on Friday 23 April at 5.30pm. All are welcome and no booking is required.
via Pushy parents in a competitive society: how ancient Roman teens had it tough too | Physorg.
Most of the interesting stuff is in the first couple sentences of this one … a sixth-century female burial along with an iron fibula and amber necklace …
Una tomba a tumulo di eta’ preromana e’ stata rinvenuta a Foligno nel corso dei lavori di realizzazione della Variante Nord della citta’; all’interno della tomba e’ stata individuata una sepoltura femminile risalente al VI secolo avanti Cristo. Ritrovato anche il corredo, composto da fibule in ferro, una collana d’ambra, vasellame in impasto…
More: FOLIGNO SCOPERTA TOMBA ETA PREROMANA CON CORREDO E VASELLAME – Agenzia di stampa Asca.
Interesting incipit from the UDallas University paper:
On Thursday, at 7:30 p.m. in the Art History Auditorium, the Rome office gave the third installment of the Rome Walking Tour in Irving, a series of lectures designed to both prepare future Romers for their semester abroad and enhance the Rome experience for past Romers, as well as for people who have never yet gone to Rome. Dr. David Davies of the English and classics departments spoke on “Archaeological Traces of Literary Traditions I: Facts of Fiction.”
Davies began his lecture by holding up a dollar bill and explaining that the eagle on the back is the bird of Zeus, accented with the olive branch and the brace of arrows. That this image appears on the bill is representative of the government’s use of art to speak to the nation. As such, the eagle represents an independent power capable of both peace and war. Also on the back of the dollar bill is the Latin phrase, “Annuit coeptus” – “he has nodded at our beginnings,” a line from the Aeneid describing the foundation of the Roman people.
With this beginning, Davies explained that he wanted to make his audience aware of the many images from the Lit Trad I poems scattered around, specifically in Rome. “The audience of the poems was so captivated that they wanted artistic representations of them to remind them.” Davies said that he wanted to make some suggestions on how to understand these images. Therefore, the first part of his lecture he called “Art, or how to look at it.” First, he cited the example of Pasquino, one of the seven “talking” statues of Rome, a badly worn marble statue which, in the middle ages, Romans would scribble messages near to voice their dissatisfaction with the reigning powers. Davies explained that the guide books will alert the tourist of this story, but will fail to identify the statue as a representation of Menelaus defending the fallen Patroclus. “You have to know the stories from which the artists took their inspiration,” Davies said.
The rest: Davies gives lecture on archaeological traces of Lit Trad I – News.
Article in Canada’s Maclean’s magazine … nothing really new here for most of us, but a good little summary:
The incipit of Mary Beard’s latest:
One of the smart ideas of the ancient Athenian democracy was the system of ostracism. If the people wanted to decide between the policies of two different politicians, and they were deadlocked — they had a vote and simply exiled one of them…
More: A Dons Life by Mary Beard – Times Online – A three-cornered election: the ancient Athenian solution.
Just a little fyi tidbit … something may have been lost in translation:
Tens of Romanians established in Italy came to Circo Massimo and in the streets of Rome in order to applaud and encourage the „Dacians” and the „Romans” of the Terra Dacica Aeterna Association in Cluj-Napoca (north-western Romania), who participated in the Natale di Roma history festival that was held over April 16-21.Likewise, many Romanians accompanied the „Dacians” and the „Romans” in Cluj-Napoca to the Trajan’s Column monument, which displays scenes from the wars between the Dacians and the Romans that occurred 19 centuries ago.One of the festival’s important moments was the parade, attended by almost 1,700 participants. They wore costumes identical to the ones worn 2,000 years ago, they marched in the streets of the ancient Rome area and presented their honours to the officials.
via Romanians living in Italy congratulate „Dacians” and „Romans” in Cluj | Financiarul.
Dear Socrates,How does it feel to be so great and historic a personage? I feel unworthy to be writing a letter to you. Instead, if I were capable of it, I should be composing a paean.
Yours in deepest humility,
A Mere Plebeian
via Philosophy Now | Dear Socrates. [go there to see Socrates' response, of course]
Lots of coverage of this one, but all of it very brief:
Archaeologists have uncovered bronze coins bearing the image of ancient Egyptian ruler King Ptolemy III in an oasis south of the capital, the culture ministry announced on Thursday.Also found by the Egyptian team were necklaces made of ostrich eggshell, it said.The 383 items dating back more than 2,250 years were found near Lake Qarun in Fayum oasis, around 120 kilometres (75 miles) from Cairo, the ministry said in a statement, adding that they were in excellent condition.The coins weighed 32 grams (1.12 ounces) each, with one face depicting the god Amun and the other the words “king” and “Ptolemy III” in Greek along with his effigy, the statement said.
Other objects from different periods were also found during the dig, in addition to parts of a whale skeleton around 42 million years old, it added.
The ministry said it was the first time Egyptian archaeologists had found necklaces made from ostrich eggshell at Fayum.
Of Greek origin, the Ptolemaic dynasty ruled from around 330 BC to 30 BC and was Egypt’s last before the country fell under Roman rule. Queen Cleopatra was the dynasty’s final sovereign.
via Egypt unearths coins more than 2,250 years old |Middle East Online.
… we’ll be updating this later with more coverage and any photos I manage to find.
Great quote from teacher Deirdre Salmon:
“It’s like going from a tiny black-and-white television from the 1950s to a huge color plasma flat-screen television,” Salmon said. “It opens up your world that much.”
Kind of surprising that a country so ‘archaeology conscious’ as Bulgaria could have this happen:
Specialists from the Yambol History Museum have prevented the destruction of a valuable archaeological site during road construction in Southeastern Bulgaria.On Monday, employees of the local “Mining Company” started to expand a road running past the Ancient Thrace town of Kabile without a permission from the Tundzha Municipality.
The company also failed to inform the regional history museum of the Yambol District.
As the road construction started, the digging machines destroyed tiles and pottery from the Ancient Thrace settlement within a 50-meter long and several meters wide area along the road in question.
The firm management said it was not aware that it was trying to expand the road through the Kabile Archeaological Reserve. A local resident, however, contacted the Yambol museum, whose director Iliya Iliev reacted immediately.The Yambol Museum is going to refer the case to Bulgaria’s National Institute for Culture Monuments.
The digging machines of the mining company came very close to destroying four graves of Thracian nobles. However, the digging was stopped in time, leaving the graves barely affected.In 341, BC the town of Kabile, a former Neolithic settlement, was founded anew by Philip II of Macedon. It was under the rule of Philip II, Alexander the Great and Lysimachus from 341 BC up to 280 BC, when it came under the control of the Thracian Odrysian kingdom from 280 BC, thus becoming one of the most important cities in Ancient Thrace.
via Bulgaria: Bulgarian Builders Almost Ruin Thrace Archaeology Site | Novinite.com .
More Coverage:
ante diem x kalendas maias
… and what better way to celebrate — or at least start off the celebrations — than with a bit o’ death metal from Ex Deo:
… if you’re not into death metal, just mute the sound and watch the video; it picks up a lot of the Romulus and Remus legend …
ante diem xi kalendas maias
Folks on Aegeanet already know this, but the KOSMOS conference — which was adversely affected by that unpronounceable volcano — is going to be made available online for those who have been prevented from attending (and presumably others as well). Here’s something posted to Aegeanet if you’re interested:
Dear colleagues,
You can follow KOSMOS tomorrow, Wednesday at
We start broadcasting Wednesday 21th April 2010 at 13:00-19:00 GMT
Scandinavia and Western Europe 14:00-20:00
Greece 15:00-21:00
Philadelphia 8:00-14:00
Austin 7:00-13:00
Melbourne 22:00-04:00
NB: Thursday and Friday we will start two hours earlier to make room for all the papers which you have sent!!
Summary of Video
Marie-Louise Nosch: Dear Colleagues and dear Aegeanists. We are very sorry that you cannot be with us here in Copenhagen. Fortunately you have been so generous to share your research results and your power points with us. We will now turn the Kosmos Conference into a global event on the internet. From Wednesday we will broadcast you presentations here from the University of Copenhagen. We cannot yet tell you what internet address you must use and how to enter – we will post this information later. Please follow CTR’s homepage (http://ctr.hum.ku.dk/), so you will know how to get access. We are very sorry for this, but on the other hand, this is a great opportunity to try a new way of communication and we hope to see you all another time.
Robert Laffineur: I am very disappointed, as you might imagine, not to be able to have you all with us here in Copenhagen. This is the first time in 30 years of personal activity in Aegean Research, that a conference has to be cancelled. Maybe we should have done as the organisers of car races, who never use no. 13! But it is not a reason to lament and we decided to turn the meeting into the first experience of virtual meeting in our field. Only the papers which have been sent to us will be presented, of course, and consequently there will not be the hundred papers, which we had anticipated, but the audience will be much greater, thanks to the online presentations. I would like to thank all the people who made this possible: Marie-Louise andher collaborators in the CTR, as well as the staff of the Computer Service of University of Copenhagen. Maybe this is the beginning of a new era and maybe Aegean Research has finally entered the 21st Century.
Marie-Louise Nosch: Please join us all on Wednesday when we start the broadcast of the Aegean research on the subject of KOSMOS, Jewellery, Adornment and Textiles. It will start at 13:00 in Greenwich time, 14:00 in Western Europe, 15:00 in Greece, 08:00 in the Philadelphia and 22:00 Wednesday evening in Melbourne.
We miss you and we really hope to see you soon somewhere else in the next year.
Robert Laffineur: Thank you.
[as a side note, I hope other conferences will take note at the logistics etc. of this (all done on very short notice, obviously) and perhaps ponder making conferences and/or sessions similarly available ... I've been hoping for this for years ...]
ante diem xii kalendas maias
… we also note today is the commemoration of an (undated) Roman soldier saint Expeditus
A well-preserved, priceless marble head of Octavius Augustus – part of a sculpture from the early Roman period – and a small torso were excavated Friday at Stobi archaeological site, which was visited by Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski together with Culture Minister Elizabeta Kanceska-Milevska and the director of the Department for Cultural Heritage Protection, Pasko Kuzman.
According to its features, the sculpture was intended to immortalize emperors and notable citizens from the first and second century A.D. It was housed in a temple, which was robbed soon after it was demolished in the classical era. [...]
via MINA Breaking News – Priceless Roman sculpture excavated in Stobi.
Wish that photo was a bit better … it ‘sort of’ looks like a young Augustus …
The gist: a house with several phases of construction ranging from the 1st/2nd century A.D. down to the 4th/6th with the later phases including bathing facilities. I assume it is the early phases which are decorated in a ‘Pompeii style’ and I have no idea what coccio pesto is (but it sounds tasty). Here’s the salient descriptive bit:
‘E’ un edificio – ha continuato Marino – collocabile tra il I ed il II secolo dopo Cristo, quindi in piena età romana imperiale. Il suo abbandono, invece, è databile dal IV al VI secolo. L’importanza della struttura, si rileva dalla presenza delle terme, ma anche dai marmi rinvenuti, che erano di grande qualità. L’edificio romano – ha precisato ancora il responsabile degli scavi – si estendeva su più livelli, con annesse scale; un altro indice di antichità è dato dal rinvenimento di tratti di opere reticolate. Gli intonaci, poi, erano in stile pompeiano e i pavimenti in coccio pesto’. Per il direttore del museo, inoltre, interessante è anche il sito della struttura, ‘in zona panoramica, di fronte il mare; se fosse un edificio pubblico, le terme sarebbero certamente collegate all’attività del porto.
via A Crotone emerge una Domus Romana di assoluto valore archeologico | Tropea .
UPDATE (a few hours later)… ANSA just came through with some English coverage (although the dating seems rather different):
A luxury complex dating back 2,000 years has emerged from a building site in Crotone, which archaeologists say could cast new light on the southern city’s past.
The remains, discovered in a raised part of the city centre near the port, reveal a multi-storey building that once enjoyed a panoramic view and boasted its own thermal baths. The scale and facilities of the complex are a clear indication the Crotone was a far more sophisticated settlement in ancient times than previously realized, explained Archaeology Museum Director Domenico Marino.
A building of this nature would only have been possible if the surrounding town had extensive and fully functioning drainage, an aqueduct and a cistern, in order to transport the water required to and from the premises “This is a revolutionary discovery for Crotone,” said Marino. “These remains tell us we are dealing with a large-scale Roman city, with buildings and public facilities of a certain significance. “We have made several important finds from Ancient Crotone in the past but this is the first ever discovery of such importance”. Builders were first alerted to the possibility of a big archaeological breakthrough at the end of February, when they discovered some floor fragments, a silo, walls and a tank. They informed the city council, which brought in its own experts to investigate the area more thoroughly.
An initial 30-day search was extended by a further 20 days and it was only towards the end of this second period that archaeologists realized the full scale of the find. So far, they have uncovered sections of marble flooring, Pompeian-style red and black plastered walls, an interior staircase and corridors with mosaic artwork on the floor. They are not yet sure when the complex was built but believe it might have been developed over several centuries, with the oldest part dating back to the 6th century BC and more recent sections to the 1st or 2nd century BC. The building was probably a residential complex but may also have been some kind of public building, said Marino. For now, the construction project on the central city road has been put on hold while archaeologists continue their work, causing traffic hold-ups and chaos for local residents. But Crotone Mayor Peppino Vallone said the value of the discovery meant investigations would continue and, if necessary, the construction might be halted indefinitely. “According to the city’s archaeology department this is an extraordinary find, one that completely changes Crotone’s history,” he said.
via Ancient complex found in Crotone | ANSA
