Lyceum Opening Next Month

July 9, 2009 ~ David Meadows ~ rogueclassicist ~ 1 Comment

Brief item from ANA:

The archaeological site of the 4th century BC Lyceum of Aristotle, in downtown Athens, will open to the public in late July.

The Lyceum, named after its 6th century BC sanctuary to Apollo Lyceus (the “wolf-god”, from the word “lykos”, or wolf), had long been a place of philosophical discussion and debate, and had had been the meeting place of the Athenian assembly before the stablishment of a permanent meeting area on Pnyx hill in the 5th century BC.

But the Lyceum is mostly renowned for the philosophical school founded there by Aristotle upon his return to Athens in 335 BC after being the private tutror of the then young prince Alexander of Macedon, the future Alexander the Great, since 343 BC.

After his return to Athens in 335 BC and up to his death in 322 BC, Aristotle rented some buildings in the Lyceum and established a school there where he lectured, wrote most of his philosophical treatises and dialogues, and systematically collected books that comprised the first library in European history. Since Aristotle liked to walk around the grounds as he lectured, surrounded by his students, the philosophical school he founded was called Peripatetic (from ‘peripatos’, which means stroll or walkabout in Greek).

Situated just outside the walls of ancient Athens, the Lyceum was brutally sacked and razed to the ground by the Roman general Lucius Cornelius Sulla in 86 BC, but was later rebuilt.

The site’s location remained unknown for centuries until it was rediscovered in 1996 during excavations for Athens’ new Museum of Modern Art.

… hmmm … I wonder if the previously-announced plans to cover it are still a go …

Ancient Lyceum of Aristotle to open to public in late July

This Day in Ancient History

July 9, 2009July 9, 2009 ~ David Meadows ~ rogueclassicist ~ Leave a comment

ante diem vii idus quinctilias

ludi Apollinares (day 4)

597 B.C. — date for Thales’ eclipse (or so it was thought in several 19th century (and earlier) sources

118 A.D. — Hadrian finally arrives in Rome as emperor

Apoxyomenos Appropriations

July 8, 2009 ~ David Meadows ~ rogueclassicist ~ Leave a comment

This one’s just starting to hit the papers; apparently other fields learned from an Apoxyomenos discovery back in 1998 as well … here’s Eurekalert’s take:

The restoration of a 2,000-year-old bronze sculpture of the famed ancient Greek athlete Apoxyomenos may help modern scientists understand how to prevent metal corrosion, discover the safest ways to permanently store nuclear waste, and understand other perplexing problems. That’s the conclusion of a new study on the so-called “biomineralization” of Apoxyomenos appearing in the current issue of ACS’ Crystal Growth & Design, a bi-monthly journal. Best known as “The Scraper,” the statue depicts an athlete scraping sweat and dust from his body with a small curved instrument.

In the report, Davorin Medakovic and colleagues point out that Apoxyomenos was discovered in 1998 on floor of the Adriatic Sea. While the discovery was a bonanza for archaeologists and art historians, it also proved to be an unexpected boon to scientists trying to understand biomineralization. That’s the process in which animals and plants use minerals from their surroundings and form shells and bone. Apoxyomenos was encrusted with such deposits.

“As studies of long-term biofouled manmade structures are limited, the finding of an ancient sculpture immersed for two millennia in the sea provided a unique opportunity to probe the long-term impact of a specific artificial substrate on biomineralizng organisms and the effects of biocorrosion,” the report said. By evaluating the mineral layers and fossilized organisms on the statue, the researchers were able to evaluate how underwater fouling organisms and communities interacted with the statue as well as how certain mineral deposits on the bronze sculpture slowed its deterioration.

From the Italian Press

July 8, 2009July 10, 2009 ~ David Meadows ~ rogueclassicist ~ 1 Comment

… the last bit of the backlog! woohoo!

A piece of a Roman column was found in a drain during sewer work in Naples (I think):

ARCHEOLOGIA: TROVATA COLONNA ROMANA IN UN CANTIERE (Espresso)

Excavations in the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence have revealed remains of a first century theatre:

Novità negli scavi sotto Palazzo Vecchio (Nazione)

… and bits from a Temple of Isis and a pile of other remains too:

FRAMMENTI DEL TEMPIO DI ISIDE SOTTO IL TRIBUNALE E NUOVE SCOPERTE IN PALAZZO VECCHIO

Some funerary statuary from a first century necropolis near Naples:

ARCHEOLOGIA: DUE STATUE FUNERARIE EMERGONO DALLA NECROPOLI DI VIA NICOTERA A VICO EQUENSE

Remains of a Roman villa from Albettone:

A sorpresa i resti di una villa d’età romana

A section of Etruscan/Roman road from Perugia:

ARCHEOLOGIA: RESTI STRADA ROMANA VENUTI ALLA LUCE A PERUGIA

Evidence from a necropolis in Ischitella suggests (maybe) an Etruscan presence there:

Scoperta necropoli ad Ischitella. Ci furono gli etruschi sul Gargano?

Organic finds from Pompeii are going to be kept in a special climate-controlled space:

ARCHEOLOGIA: REPERTI SCAVI VESUVIANI IN CAMERA CLIMATIZZATA (AGI)

They’re talking (again) of an underpass between the Temple sites at Agrigento:

Valle dei Templi, si realizza il sottopasso per l’accesso dalla porta V

… and of an archaeological park for Selinunte:

Parco archeologico di Selinunte

Big hopes for a dig at the Vicus Martis Tudertium:

Al via la seconda campagna di scavi archeologici al Vicus Martis Tudertium

A statue of Minerva Tritonia has been restored and is on display:

ARCHEOLOGIA: A POMEZIA LA STATUA DELLA MINERVA ‘TRITONIA’ (AGI)

The Domus Aurea will reopen within a couple of years:

La Domus Aurea sarà riaperta fra due anni (Il Giornale)

Breviaria Miscellaneaque

July 8, 2009July 8, 2009 ~ David Meadows ~ rogueclassicist ~ Leave a comment

I’m hoping to get the last of the backlog out of my system over the course of the day … here’s a pile of items which, for various reasons, I didn’t really get a chance to get to (again, some might be a bit old):

How’s your Classical education?:

Do you need a better classical education? Take our quiz…. (Times)

If you didn’t do well:

Is the ancient world all Greek (or Latin) to you? Read on… (Yorkshire Post)

I can’t remember if I mentioned this report about Rome opening up assorted underground sites like the Ludus Magnus to the public, so just in case:

Rome opens up underground wonders of the ancient world to tourists (Times)

Underground Rome sites open to visitors (Stuff)

Similarly, I’m not sure whether I mentioned the vandalism attack on the Ara Pacis museum a while ago:

Vandals Attack Roman Museum (NYT)

Vandals Deface Controversial Rome Museum, AP Reports (Bloomberg)

An update of sorts on the Oded Golan trial:

Oded Golan: I never faked any antiquity (JPost)

On the Roman contribution to comedy:

Ladies and gentlemen, give it up for your headliner… Cicero (Chortle)

In case you missed the Astronomy Picture of the Day of the sun rising over the Parthenon … Robert Barron has a nice list of Classically-themed APODs at his blog …

Mary Beard stepped outside her blog to compare Silvio Berlusconi to a well-known emperor:

If the emperor has no clothes, history will expose him (Times)

Tom Holland had an interesting review of the influence of Arthur Evans’ excavations on other branches of the humanities:

Modernist minotaurs (Times)

Plenty of Romans in a top ten list of extravagant emperors:

The 10 most extravagant emperors (Times)

Rather less Classcon in a top ten list of literary shipwrecks:

Ten of the best shipwrecks (Guardian)

… and since we’re doing Top Tens, we should alert folks to Mary Beard’s recent:

10 Latin quotes for the underground (Times)

I’m still trying to figure out what, exactly, Examiner.com is (an open group blog masquerading as a newspaper?) but it turns up almost daily in my scans with articles of various interest … here’s a handful of recent ones: