Michael Poliakoff (classicist and an administrative bigwig at UColorado) comments on 300 as #5 on National Review‘s list of the Best Conservative movies of the past 25 years:

During the Bush years, Hollywood neglected the heroism of American soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan—but it did release this action film about martial honor, unflinching courage, and the oft-ignored truth that freedom isn’t free. Beneath a layer of egregious non-history—including goblin-like creatures that belong in a fantasy epic—is a stylized story about the ancient battle of Thermopylae and the Spartan defense of the West’s fledgling institutions. It contrasts a small band of Spartans, motivated by their convictions and a commitment to the law, with a Persian horde that is driven forward by whips. In the words recorded by the real-life Herodotus: “Law is their master, which they fear more than your men[, Xerxes,] fear you.”

The Guardian reports on a row going on in Athens over plans to erect a statue of Alexander the Great … inter alia:

Seventeen years after its acquisition by the Greek culture ministry, the rendition of the military commander has been gathering dust in a basement storeroom because of fierce controversy over where to put the sculpture. Nationalist-minded politicians, on both sides of the spectrum, believe the statue “rightfully” belongs to a prominent square in the heart of ancient Athens. There, they say, the Macedonian king would not only receive maximum viewing but the reverence he deserves from a people who see themselves as his rightful descendants.

Had it not been for archaeologists, that might have happened. But the purveyors of Greece’s past – a powerful lobby in this antiquities-rich country – have strongly resisted the move, saying Alexander came to the capital “as a conqueror”. The row might have gone unnoticed had it not been for the recently reinvigorated intensity of the name dispute between Athens and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.

… I wonder if that report a couple of weeks ago of plans to erect a statue of Al at Arbela is prompting a similar reaction there …

• Greeks argue over status and statue of Alexander

As often, the Italian press is full of discoveries which never make it to the English press, alas …

Politicamente Correto reports on the discovery of a monumental lion sculpture from Modena, dating to the second half or so of the first century:

• Nuove scoperte archeologiche dagli scavi lungo la Via Emilia a Fossalta

PatrimonionSOS has a letter suggesting the protests of archaeologists at Ostia are getting more serious:

• Scavi di Ostia Antica chiusi al pubblico. Il personale in assemblea: NO al Commissariamento

cf:

• ROMA: GIRO, SU AREA ARCHEOLOGICA TUTELA PREROGATIVA AFFIDATA A SOPRINTENDENTI (Libero)

A piece in Articolo 21 seems to suggest it goes beyond Ostia:

• Roma: archeologi e architetti dchiarano stato di agistazione permanente

Cetona reports on the impending ‘continuation’ (for want of a better word) of the search for the tomb of Lars Porsenna:

• Indiana Jones e la ricerca della misteriosa tomba di Porsenna

L’Unione Sarda on the excavation of some nuraghi and other sites (a bit vague):

• San Vito: Recupero dei siti archeologici

At Archaeogate there resides an article about remains of an Etruscan aquaduct at Bolsena (the pdf of the article is on the right side of the page):

• Acquedotto etrusco del V secolo a.C. scoperto a Bolsena

Plans for an archaeological park in Lecce make mention of a pile of finds from various periods, including some well-preserved Roman baths:

• Lecce rivela le Terme romane (Il Paese Nuovo)

Toscana TV reports on the arrest of a 72-year-old man in possession of some Dressel amphoras which eventually led to the discovery of a shipwreck site off the coast of Arrezzo:

• Scoperto ricettatore e trovato un sito archeologico mai censito

• Recuperate anfore romane Denunciato pensionato 72enne (La Nazione)

Manduria Oggi has a report (with some photos) on the discovery of a Messapic burial dating to the 4th/3rd century B.C.:

• Straordinario rinvenimento a Manduria: una tomba messapica integra del IV sec. a.C.

HENDERSON, Aristophanes: Fragments

BAGNALL, Egypt in the Byzantine World: 300-700

GUIA, Ripensando Tacito (e Ronald Syme): Storia e storiografia

MURRELL, Cicero and the Roman Republic

CLAUGHTON, Herodotus and the Persian Wars

TREGGIARI, Terentia, Tullia and Publilia: The Women in Cicero’s Family

McKEOWN, The Invention of Ancient Slavery?

STRAY, Oxford Classics: Teaching and Learning 1800–2000