Seen on the Classicists list: We would like to call your attention to the conference entitled "Latin, National Identity and the Language Question in Central Europe" organised by Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Neo-Latin Studies. The conference will take place in Innsbruck on 13-15 December 2012, the conference call is posted on the homepage of the [...]

Seen on the Classicists list: The fourth century was a pivotal age in the history of the Roman Empire, an age of transition: New residencies of imperial power emerged in both West and East, with Constantinople as upcoming principal court and stage for imperial triumphs and celebrations. The attitude of the emperors towards Christianity changed [...]

Seen on the Classicists list: Colloque international – International symposium Genre et sexualité dans la cité La politique du sexe dans les dialogues de Platon Gender and sexuality in the city Politics of sex in Plato’s Dialogues 1-3 mars 2012 INHA Auditorium 2, rue Vivienne, 75002 Paris Les dialogues de Platon constituent un espace propice [...]

A Theatre of Justice: Aspects of performance in Greco-Roman oratory and rhetoric University College London, 19-20 April 2012 (Gordon House, Room 106) The notion of “performance” has recently attracted considerable scholarly attention both in literary criticism and in cultural history. In fundamentally “performative” societies, such as the Greek and Roman, a “performance” approach seems to [...]

In the wake of Super Bowl shenanigans last week which seemed to eclipse the half time show in press coverage later,  Law Professor Ira Robbins was on NPR’s All Things Considered and suggesting that the gesture isn’t considered obscene any more … in the introductory bits he did give some history: CORNISH: So, to start, [...]

From the Wanderer: One of the big decisions for students entering Old Rochester Regional (ORR) Junior High School next fall is which foreign language they will elect to study for a year and a half. Usually this decision is heavily influenced by the advice of friends, parents, and older siblings, as the elementary schools do [...]

The Huffington Post had a burning question this week: via Togas On Metro: Do You Have Any Clue What These Dudes Were Up To?. .. I certainly have no idea, but the original article (with photo) has a really nice video on how to make and fold a toga …

A couple of brief items from Standart are — as often — tantalizingly vague. First: The strong hurricane which rages near the city of Bourgas made a favour to the Bulgarian archaeologists. The hurricane has unearthed an ancient Roman town,” mayor of Bourgas Dimitar Nikolov was happy to say. The merciless wave washed away tones [...]

Hot on the heels of our questioning of a claim over at Gizmodo (Camels in Greece? Really Gizmodo? Source? comes news of a paper on archaeological evidence for camel use in the Roman Empire in — of all places — Belgium! I first saw it in USA Today, but the abstract for the source article [...]

From a Cambridge press release (which is being picked up by other services) comes hype for a talk which will be part of the Darwin Lectures … this one’s by Michael Scott on life in ancient Greece: There’s a general feeling that we don’t get the Greeks – ancient or modern. Many, including heads of [...]

As long as we’re marking calendars and talking Latin, it seems like a good time to remind folks that National Latin Teachers Recruitment Week (in the U.S.) is coming up the first week of March and that their Facebook page has moved (which you might not be aware of). Of course, the place for all [...]

Seems like a great opportunity to hype Latin … here’s an item from the TES by John Gilmore on the ‘state of the language’ to get you in the mood, if needed: Alone on his island, Robinson Crusoe decided to put up a sign to attract the attention of any passing ship. He spent two [...]

Seen on rome-arch: DePauw University – Greencastle, IN The Department of Classical Studies invites applications for a one-year term position beginning August 2012. Rank and salary commensurate with experience. Ph.D. preferred. We seek a broadly trained classicist to teach Latin at all undergraduate levels and Classical Civilization courses in translation. Teaching load is 3/3. Commitment [...]

A few weeks ago we mentioned a find of a Roman relief on Santorini (Roman-era Relief from Santorini) and mentioned how it seemed a little ‘too clean’ … Lampros Kallenos recently posted to the Classics list a link to this video, which shows (it appears) the slab shortly after removal: So it emerged pretty clean, [...]