rogueclassicism

Roman Necropolis from Tunisia

Tip o’ the pileus to Francesca Tronchin for picking up this piece — with some really run-on sentences — from ANSA:

An ancient Roman cemetery has been uncovered by archeologists in Tunisia south of the capital, Tunis. The cemetery was found in Lamta, near the coastal town of Monastir, 160 km south of the capital, and is believed to be the only one of its kind discovered in the North African country. Tunisia has a rich history that dates back to the 12th century BC and until recent political unrest the country’s ancient ruins from the Punic era and the Roman Empire attracted tourists from all over the world.

Rome Mayor Gianni Alemanno on Thursday pledged to promote the country’s tourism and support its fledgling democracy after the overthrow of the country’s president Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali during political upheaval in January. “We should do everything possible to support the economy and tourism and the push for democracy in Tunisia,” Alemanno said. The latest archeological treasure was discovered by a team of experts led by Ne’jib Belazreg, director of archeological sites at Lamta and Bekalta. The cemetery was found near funerary rooms linked to the Punic civilisation based in the Tunisian city of Carthage which was conquered by the Romans in the Punic Wars that ended in 146 BC. The find confirmed previous studies that showed that Romans preferred cremation until the third century A.D and preserved the ashes in terracotta urns.

Tunisia has a number of ancient Roman sites including Dougga in the country’s north.

In 1997 Dougga was named a World Heritage Site by UNESCO who described it as “the best-preserved small Roman town in North Africa”. Mayor Alemanno met representatives from the Tunisian General Labour Union (UGTT) at the Town Hall in the Italian capital. Luigi Scardaone, from the Italian Workers Union accompanied the Tunisian officials. “As Europeans we must take action to save Tunisia’s tourism which represents more than 60% of the country’s GDP and supports 400,000 families,” he said.

• via La Gazzetta del Mezzogiorno.it | Ancient Roman cemetery discovered in Tunisia.

Not quite sure what “the only one of its kind” refers to … there’s a mighty huge Roman necropolis at Hammamet (which is in Tunisia, right?).

Also Seen: Pre-Classical Greece Bibliography

• Bibliographies: Pre-Classical Greece | Ancient World Open Bibliographies.

Also Seen: Ovid Bibliography

• Bibliographies: Ovid | Ancient World Open Bibliographies.

Emperors of Rome: Didius Julianus

Adrian Murdoch continues his series with the guy I like to call J Diddy:

• #19 Didius Julianus: Emperors of Rome

This Day in Ancient History: ante diem vii idus maias

ante diem vii idus maias

• Lemuria (day 1) — a festival involving assorted rituals to keep the ghosts of one’s ancestors happy

Classic Fail

The incipit of a piece from some small town newspaper in Ontario:

The ancient Greeks had a saying: “Carpe diem,” which means “Capture the day” or “seize the moment.”

That is precisely what the Pembroke Lumber Kings want to do tonight when they take on the Camrose Kodiaks in a semifinal game at the Royal Bank Cup, Canada’s national Junior A hockey championship. [etc.]

• via Win or go home for Pembroke – The Daily Observer – Ontario, CA.

… more evidence of the general lack of basic Classical knowledge up here in the Great White North, alas …

Also Seen: Ancient Rhetoric Bibliography

• Bibliographies: Ancient Rhetoric | Ancient World Open Bibliographies.

Another Homerathon … at the Getty

A report from a participant:

• via: ‘Iliad’ Gets a Reading of Epic Proportions | Patch.

The Trojan Peep

In recent years the Washington Post has been sponsoring a ‘Peep Show’ wherein contestants use Peeps to recreate famous (or not so famous) scenes … here’s one from the Aeneid … I admit having to look at it for a while before figuring it out:

The official description:

The famous scene from “The Aeneid” was created by professor Virginia Haufler, 51, of Silver Spring, and the wooden Trojan Peep was constructed by her sister Marge Haufler, 48, who lives in Conshohocken, Pa. Marge mailed the Trojan Peep to Virginia, who whipped up the rest in a weekend. “Everyone particularly liked Helen of Troy sitting in the corner overseeing the scene, with her gold belt and flowing hair,” Virginia says.

• Peeps Show II – The Washington Post.

There are about 40 different scenes there (not Aeneid-related) … maybe this can be a class project for someone.

CFP: Cloelia Newsletter

Seen on various lists:

"Cloelia: Women’s Classical Caucus Newsletter" is the official annual publication of the Women’s Classical Caucus (WCC: http://www.wccaucus.org/), which was founded to “foster feminist and gender-informed perspectives in the study and teaching of all aspects of ancient Mediterranean cultures and classical antiquity.” The WCC is an affiliate of the American Philological Association.

For the Fall 2011 Issue, we seek the following submissions (deadline: August 15, 2011):

1. A List of Dissertations (completed or in progress, 2008-present) on topics related to the WCC mandate.

2. A List of Publications (2008-present/forthcoming) on topics related to the WCC mandate.

3. General Submissions as described below.

All submissions should be sent by email to the new editor, Dr. Alison Jeppesen-Wigelsworth (Cloelia.WCC AT gmail.com).

*General Submissions:* All items should be submitted by email to the editor as .html, .doc, or .rtf attachments. We are always happy to receive articles, reports, news items, reviews, and announcements of interest to WCC members. Essays (700-800 words) describing issues or situations in which the WCC may become involved are welcome. Essays on more general or theoretical topics should be limited to 1200 words. Writers interested in contributing should contact the editor as soon as possible to inform her of their intentions. Readers who know of potential writers may suggest them to the editor who will contact the writer about the suggested topic. Announcements and calls (100-300 words) should include a title, all relevant dates, address and email of contact people, and a brief description.

This Day in Ancient History: pridie nonas maias

71 New Ovid Manuscripts? Wow!

Image via Wikipedia

Saw this mentioned on the new APA Blog … via EuroWeekly:

EXPERTS from Huelva University have discovered 71 unknown manuscripts of Roman poet Ovid (43BC-17AD). The manuscripts, most of them codices and fragments which were not known to even exist, have been found in different libraries around the world and most of them belong to Ovid’s greatest work, The Metamorphosis.

The professor of Latin Philology at the university, Luis Rivero, commented that these are versions or interpretations of the work which date from ancient times to the modern age, and almost complete the collection of all manuscripts concerning the author and his work, amounting to 538.

This makes Huelva a reference point for researchers of Ovid worldwide.

• via 71 unknown manuscripts discovered in Huelva | Euro Weekly News.

… clearly this is one we’d like to have quite a few more details about … El Mundo‘s coverage adds a few:

Expertos de la Universidad de Huelva (UHU), pertenecientes al grupo de investigación Nicolaus Heinsus, ha descubierto 71 nuevos manuscritos del poeta latino Ovidio (43 a. C.-17 d. C.) repartidos por distintas bibliotecas de todo el mundo. La mayoría de ellos pertenecen a su obra magna, Las metamorfosis.

Se trata de códices o fragmentos “cuya existencia no se conocía”, según explicó el catedrático de Filología Latina de la UHU, Luis Rivero, y que recogen distintas versiones e interpretaciones de esta obra desde la antigüedad hasta la época contemporánea.

Gracias a esta labor investigadora se consigue recopilar casi todos los manuscritos y ediciones críticas que existen de Ovidio, especialmente de Las metamorfosis. Así, a los ya conocidos, se han podido añadir más de 71 manuscrutos, entre los que destaca el ‘Dertusensis 134′, “el más antiguo manuscrito de los españoles que data de finales del siglo XII”, dijo Rivero.

Estos nuevos códices, junto con los 467 ya conocidos, amplían el catálogo hasta los 538. “Ahora somos una referencia para los investigadores de todo el mundo en el texto de Ovidio”, afirmó el catedrático de Filología Latina.

A partir de toda esa fuente documental, los miembros del proyecto emprenden ahora el comentario crítico textual de Las metamorfosis de Ovidio en el seno del proyecto de excelencia ‘Edición crítica de Las metamorfosis y opera minora de Ovidio’, financiado por la Consejería de Economía, Innovación y Ciencia con casi 158.000 euros, cuyos trabajos estarán culminados para 2013.

“Se trata de un objetivo ambicioso por la pretensión de incluir en ella los comentarios, incidencias y variantes de Las metamorfosis desde sus orígenes hasta la actualidad”, argumenta Luis Rivero. El objetivo último, por tanto, es dar a la luz la edición crítica de Las metamorfosis más completa e informada de cuantas se han realizado hasta el momento.

El poema ovidiano, que reúne en 15 libros una colección de relatos sobre mitología clásica, se ha convertido en una de las creaciones más populares de la literatura romana. Muy conocida por los escritores medievales y humanistas, sigue teniendo influencia en la literatura contemporánea, según se desprende de los diferentes estudios sobre Publio Ovidio Nasón.

Una de las ediciones más antiguas fue la realizada en 1471 en Roma por John Andreas. “Sin embargo, a día de hoy apenas se ha leído un centenar de manuscritos”, indica el investigador. “En el reciente comentario de la profesora S. Myers, al libro XIV de Las metamorfosis, en el año 2009, se domina a la perfección toda la bibliografía de los últimos 50 años pero no se ha leído ni un solo manuscrito y ni uno solo de los comentarios anteriores a 1950″, indica Antonio Ramírez de Verger, otro de los investigadores del grupo Nicolaus Heinsius.

Para el estudio pormenorizado de los 15 libros que constituyen la obra Las metamorfosis “se ha organizado el trabajo de manera que cada investigador se encargará de estudiar uno de ellos, con sus respectivas ediciones a lo largo de los siglos”, explica el Ramírez de Verger. Es un examen riguroso de un total de 12.000 versos en más de 500 versiones que se corresponden con cada uno de los manuscritos y ediciones críticas confeccionados desde la Antigüedad hasta la edad contemporánea.

• via: Descubiertos 71 manuscritos de Ovidio desconocidos | El Mundo

The Grupo de Investigación Nicolaus Heinsius has a nice website, if you want to investigate further, although it seems to be in the ‘initial stages’ of development …

Bin Laden and Greek Tragedy

I was wondering how long it would take to start seeing Classical connections in the papers for this one … from the Spokesman Review:

U.S. officials said they buried bin Laden at sea, and the controversy begins. According to an Associated Press story: “Muslim clerics said today that Osama bin Laden’s burial at sea was a violation of Islamic tradition that may further provoke militant calls for revenge attacks against American targets.”

Immediately, I thought of the Greek tragedies in which improper burials were important to the overall narrative.

Antigone, the main character of Sophocles’ ancient play by the same name, finally kills herself, after being condemned for giving her brother a proper burial. He was thought to be a traitor. Turns out, the gods were on his side. But by the time the word came down, too late for Antigone.

And in the Iliad, Achilles kills his enemy Hector,and drags the body behind his chariot, in a huge act of disrespect. In one of the Illiad’s most touching scenes, Hector’s father pleads with Achilles for a proper burial for his son and Achilles relents.

So this burial stuff is as ancient, and powerful, as the long-ago Greeks.

Antigone is still performed in high schools and colleges and students still read the Iliad. Brad Pitt played Achilles in the movie Troy in 2007. (See photo).

So this rage over bin Laden’s burial at sea isn’t going to go away soon.

• via Greek tragedies: the burial of bin Laden | Spokesman Review.

Emperors of Rome: Pertinax

Adrian Murdoch continues the series with rather pertinacious fellow:

• #18 Pertinax: Emperors of Rome

Online LSJ

The TLG folks have made a version of LSJ  available for free online — they were chatting about this on the Classics list a while back — the link takes you to the ‘first entry’ and you can pretty much figure it out from there.

• ἀάλιον.

If you’d prefer to go to the TLG homepage and work your way around:

• Thesaurus Linguae Graecae