The incipit of an interesting item from ANSA:

Rome’s underground network of catacombs is set to reveal more secrets thanks to the creation of a new laser mapping tool.

A team of 10 researchers, led by archaeologist Norbert Zimmermann from the Vienna Academy of Sciences, has produced a scanner that is able to create a three-dimensional model of the catacombs from above ground.

After three years of work, the group has produced a complete 3D model of the catacombs of Domitilla, giving archaeologists a full overview of the labyrinth of underground tunnels. ”We have known about the catacombs for around 400 years but in all that time, no precise map has ever been made,” said Zimmermann. The data produced by the scanner has been combined with existing photographs.

This enables people using the model to not only ”wander” through the virtual tunnels, but also to explore the individual tombs and examine wall paintings that are normally shrouded in darkness. In the next stage of the project, which lasts until 2011, the researchers want to count the exact number of tombs within the catacombs, as well as documenting the funerary paintings that have not yet undergone full scientific studies. Zimmermann said he hoped the votive inscriptions would provide interesting new sociological detail that could later be added to the model, such the age of the individuals buried in each tomb. There are around 40 Rome catacombs, dating back to the 2nd-century AD, which began life as secret Christian burial place.

• Rome catacombs to reveal secrets

According to Variety (just the intro):

Thesp Michael Chiklis is launching a new take on Greek gods in the form of a comicbook: He’s partnered with IDW Publishing to create the graphic novel series “Olympus.”

Based on an idea by Anny Simon Beck, series will tell the story of ancient Greek gods who return to a ravaged, chaotic present-day Earth where they battle for the future of mankind against the Titans.

• Michael Chiklis to create ‘Olympus’

• Fantastic Four star Chiklis to launch new comic book (Telegraph)

Call for papers – contents of previous attachment now in body of the email

Seminar to be held at the Institutum Romanum Finlandiae,

That the study of Roman Republican Historiography is a very dynamic field of
research is evident from the incessant and ever increasing stream of
scholarly publications pertaining to this area. Recent years have seen the
appearance of several new fragment editions of Roman Historians as well as
of numerous studies in many languages. The last few years have also
witnessed a number of international seminars dedicated to Republican
Historiography. There is no doubt that progress is constantly being made and
that the whole field benefits from frequent encounters between its major
players.

We, the undersigned, propose to organize a seminar on historical writing in
the Roman Republic at the Finnish Institute in Rome, during two full days in
Late April. We are looking for original contributions dealing with all
aspects of republican historiography as well as with various kinds of
historical documentation and recording in the republican period. – We would
be especially interested in new insights into problems pertaining to the
following topics:

1.      Historical Documentation before Historians:
Documentary Evidence and Oral Traditions
Long before there was a literary culture in Rome writing was used for
various purposes. Epigraphically preserved documents from the Early Republic
are rare, but ancient writers provide a host of references to inscribed
texts of alleged great antiquity. To what extent did genuine written
documents survive from the early periods of Roman history? To what extent
were they used and understood by historians and antiquarians? These are
essential questions for assessing the factual underpinning of the
construction of Roman history. And what accounts for the phenomenon known as
the Expansion of the Past? The Annales Maximi still stir controversy as to
their significance for the formation of the historical traditions
encountered in Roman literature. This informs a whole range of other
discussions such as the nature of so-called antiquarian information, the
reliability of names, and the narrative of Roman expansion.– And is there
anything new to be said about the Oral Traditions pertaining to Early Rome.

2.      Histories before Historians?
Q. Fabius Pictor and other Roman senators writing their works in Greek prose
around 200 BC and shortly thereafter are usually regarded as the first
historians of Rome. Ennius, who composed his Annales in the same period, and
Naevius, who may have finished his Bellum Punicum even earlier, are assigned
to another literary tradition and another genre of literature, but is it
possible that the conventional distinction between epic history and an
allegedly more scientific prose history is, to some degree, anachronistic,
or imported from a different Greek tradition, and arbitrarily conditioning
too much the way we look at the writing of history in that period?

3.      Drama and Early Rome
We know of many plays of the third and second centuries BC set in the
historical past. The evidence we possess for this dramatic literature has
always attracted less attention than the testimonia for the lost historical
works. Does this represent an overlooked material? Can it yield new
information on how the Romans related to history and historical writing?

4.      Lawyers and Grammarians:
The Beginnings of Antiquarian Writing at Rome
Some of the earliest writing about Rome is what we might call Antiquarian
Writing, but we can also see an early interest in and attention to the
explanation of Law. Relatively little attention has been given to what we
can derive from this concern, both in terms of the nature of the society of
early Rome, and in terms of the historical information this may have contained.

5.      The Monumental Past:
Epigraphic, Artistic and Architectural Commemoration in Early Rome
As is well known, the cityscape of republican Rome was full of lieux de
mémoires and some of these reliably date to the archaic period.
Understanding the mechanisms by which Romans thought about their past
requires an understanding of their ongoing living relationship with the
city, and a broader appreciation of the individual achievements of scholars,
especially in Rome itself, to identify and contextualize this architectural
history.

The maximum duration of the presentations – which can be delivered in
English, French, German or Italian – is set to 45 minutes. Participants will
be required to publish their contributions in the proceedings volume that
will be released by the Finnish Institute in its series Acta Instituti
Romani Finlandiae. Scholars interested to participate in the seminar are
invited to submit titles and short abstracts of their prospective talks by
Friday, February 27, 2009 to info AT irfrome.org

Having reviewed all submissions we reserve the right to select the
participants, the total number of which – given the time frame – cannot
exceed 16 persons. Participants travelling from locations outside Italy will
receive a contribution of 200 euros towards the expenses of travel and
accommodation.

Rome and St Andrews, January 7, 2009

Kaj Sandberg
Director Institutum Romanum Finlandiae
Tel. +39 0668801674
sandberg AT irfrome.org

Christopher J. Smith
Professor of Ancient History
University of St Andrews
Tel. +44 1334462492
cjs6 AT st-andrews.ac.uk