From a Bucknell University press release: Two Bucknell University professors have been selected to lead the first joint Greek-American archaeological dig in the ancient city of Thebes, Greece – the first such excavation of the historic Ismenion Hill area in nearly a century. Bucknell classics professors Stephanie Larson and Kevin Daly, together with Vassilis Aravantinos, [...]

Cressida Ryan has been up to something interesting … from an Oxford press release: It is seen by many as an unofficial British national anthem – but an Oxford University academic believes she has discovered that Rule Britannia was heavily influenced by Greek literature. Dr Cressida Ryan of Oxford University’s Classics Faculty has found clear [...]

This is a long-developing — and still incomplete, it seems — story which should be of great interest. A couple of years ago, Diana Wright related in her blog how she was part of a group who were given access to a number of inscriptions from Herodes Atticus’ villa, one of which she described thusly: [...]

They’re chatting about this over on the Classics list: Most of the chat is about whether Bellum Stellarum is an appropriate translation of ‘Star Wars’ … Bellum Stellarum, of course, literally means ‘War of the Stars’ … Ralph Hancock suggested De bellis sidereis, which seems a bit better, perhaps. I always thought ‘Star Wars’ in [...]

A while ago we mentioned plans of assorted groups to try to prevent the covering-up of the recently-refound Altar of the Twelve Gods in Athens … Kathimerini has an update for us: An Athens court on Friday ordered the temporary suspension of railway works aimed at covering up a significant archaeological find in Monastiraki, central [...]

From Monsters and Critics: Enthusiasts launched a replica of a Roman military riverboat Thursday and plan to test it next month to assess the striking power of legions on the German Rhine. The Lusoria Rhenana took a year to construct out of oak planks. It was designed by computer, modelled on the wrecks of 1,700-year-old [...]

Adrian Murdoch continues the series with the ‘goodest’ of the Five Good Emperors: #16 Marcus Aurelius: Emperors of Rome We should also note (in case you miss it when you visit Adrian’s site) that you can download/subscribe to these in iTunes … salient info: I mentioned a while ago that you could get the Emperors [...]

ante diem xiv kalendas maias ludi Cereri continue (day 7) 359 A.D. — birth of the future emperor Gratian

Rising above the Acropolis – Constellation “Draco” signalled beginning of Athenian athletic festival http://bit.ly/i4yi8i #archaeology— Owen Jarus (@ojarus) April 17, 2011

Have heard of a few ‘epic’ readings these past couple of weeks and just learned of this ‘coordinating company’ which folks might be interested in: The Readers of Homer.

Brief item from a Romanian publication (I think): A temple built by Roman legions at the end of the second or start of the third century has been discovered within the Alba Iulia citadel, reports Mediafax news wire. The intricate detail of this discovery consists in the fact that a sacred temple was rarely, if [...]

Interesting find, albeit technically not ‘Roman’ (but I’m sure we’ll be hearing more from this site) … from the Gazette: ARCHAEOLOGISTS believe they have uncovered the remains of two Roman soldiers beneath one of Colchester’s former barracks. The remains of two spearmen, laid to rest on their backs with their weapons and armour, have been [...]

This is another one of those BBC reports with an unfriendly-to-embed video … it is mostly about finds from Vergina, with sort of a tease about the Alexander exhibition at the Ashmolean: here’s the short blurb that accompanies it: Some of the finest ancient treasures of Greece have gone on display, in Oxford’s Ashmolean Museum [...]

Bibliography: Homosexuality in Greece and Rome | Ancient World Open Bibliographies.

I can’t seem to embed this one in a friendly way (if I do it via vimeo, it automatically plays every time you visit rc … annoying), so go to the following page to see a very nice BBC report of the chariot racing (and other Roman activities) in the restored Hippodrome at Jerash … [...]

Bibliography: Tibullus | Ancient World Open Bibliographies.

Bibliography: Lactantius | Ancient World Open Bibliographies.

Sixty Minutes asks some folks what they would save if they could only save one thing from the Vatican Library if it caught fire … the second person is Christopher Celenza, who is the current director of the American Academy in Rome: … I think most Classicists would picture themselves in that scene from In [...]

via: Better Book Titles.

ante diem xvii kalendas maias ludi Cereri continue (day 4)– games in honour of the grain goddess Ceres, instituted by/before 202 B.C. Fordicidia — an obvious fertility ritual in which a pregnant cow would be sacrificed to the earth goddess Tellus 421 B.C. — Peace of Nikias brings the first phase of the Peloponnesian war [...]

Adrian Murdoch continues the series with another wall builder: Antoninus Pius: Emperors of Rome

Clearly the month of April has ushered in a new era of idiocy … in addition to the  lead codices (I’ll do a round up of the latest in the next few days), and the ‘gay caveman’ (which has already been debunked), we now have Naked Archaeologist Simcha Jacobovici claiming — in the context of [...]

pridie idus apriles ludi Cereri (day 1) — games in honour of the grain goddess Ceres, instituted by/before 202 B.C. 65 A.D. — death of Seneca (according to one reckoning) [this needs fixing] 250 A.D. — martyrdom of Vissa (or Vissia) at Fermo 300 A.D. — martyrdom of Victor in what would become Portugal