Year: 2009

CFP: Cultural Memory and Religion in the Ancient City

~ David Meadows ~ rogueclassicist ~ Leave a comment

Seen on various lists:

The University of Birmingham would like to invite papers from postgraduate
students and early career researchers for Day One of a colloquium, taking
place from the 5th to the 6th of July 2010 on:

‘Cultural Memory and Religion in the Ancient City’

The possibilities offered by Cultural Memory as a methodological tool
for reading and understanding modes of behaviour in antiquity have
been steadily gaining currency in recent years. The aim of this

interdisciplinary colloquium is to bring together scholars and research
students working on the texts and material culture of the ancient world
in order to exchange ideas and approaches relating to using Cultural

Memory to analyse religion in various ancient urban contexts.

The colloquium will be arranged over two days; papers given on the
first day will explore new research by postgraduates and early
careerists currently working on Cultural Memory in ancient societies.

On the second day we will turn our gaze on Rome as a case study
for lieux de mémoire with papers given by invited scholars.

Please see the Call for Papers on https://rogueclassicism.com/2009/10/12/cfp-cultural-memory-and-religion-in-the-ancient-city/

This Day in Ancient History: idus octobres

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idus octobres

  • festival of Jupiter — all ides were sacred to Jupiter
  • Rite of the ‘October Horse’ — one of the many rituals which makes the study of Roman religion so fascinating. On this day a race between two-horse chariots would be held in the Campus Martius, and the right hand horse of the victorious pair would be sacrificed by the flamen of Mars on an altar (in the Campus Martius, of course). After the sacrifice, people who lived in the Via Sacra neighbourhood would fight the people who lived in the Suburra for the right to the head. If the ‘via sacranites’ won, they’d display it on the Regia; if the Suburranites won, it would be displayed at the Turris Mamilia. Meanwhile, the cauda (tail – genitals) would be rushed to the Regia so the blood would drip on the sacred hearth; the Vestal Virgins also probably kept some of the blood for use at the Parilia on April 21.
  • ludi Capitolini — a somewhat obscure day of games which was unique in its not being ‘public’ (in the sense of being put on by a magistrate) but rather the ballywick of a collegium of ‘Capitolini’. Not much is known about what went on at these games save that an old man wearing the bulla of of a young boy was paraded about and mocked; there were possibly competitions in boxing and running as well.
  • 55 B.C. — death of Lucretius
  • 70 B.C. — birth of Publius Vergilius Maro, a.k.a. Vergil, a.k.a Virgil
  • 1999 — death of Don Fowler, fellow of Jesus College, Oxford and frequent contributor to the Classics list almost from its inception, among other things, of course

This Day in Ancient History: pridie idus octobres

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pridie idus octobres

  • rites in honour of the Penates Dei — the Penates Dei were originally the penates who watched over the storehouse of the king (when Rome had such, obviously); at some point, the Penates Dei came to be identified with Castor and Pollux, but they still had a temple under their own name on the Velian hill which was apparently restored by Augustus.
  • 223 A.D. — martyrdom of Calixtus

Temple of Nemesis Found

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From Thaindian:

Archaeologists have found traces of a temple built for the Greek goddess of divine retribution, Nemesis, during excavations in the ancient city of Agora in the Aegean port city of Izmir in Turkey.

According to a report in Hurriyet Daily News and Economic Review, Akin Ersoy of Dokuz Eylul University’s archaeology department and heading the archaeological excavations in the ancient city, said that there might be a temple built for Nemesis in the area.

“We found traces of such a temple during our excavations in Agora,” he said. “We want to concentrate our work to unearth the temple in the future,” he added.

This year’s archeological excavations have unearthed many important findings that belonged to the Ottoman era, including many pieces of Ottoman ceramics.

“There are several layers to be worked,” said Ersoy. “We will work on the Ottoman era first, followed by the Eastern Roman, Roman and then the earlier ages,” he added.

Ersoy said that it was during the excavation work when they found clues of a temple to Nemesis built in the ancient city.

“We think the temple is situated on the western side,” he said. “It might be under the Hurriyet Anatolian High School building. We hope to unearth it in coming years,” he added.

In Greek mythology, Nemesis was the spirit of divine retribution against those who succumb to hubris, vengeful fate, personified as a remorseless goddess.

Asterix at 50

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The incipit of a piece in the Independent

A map of France is cracked by a Roman standard driven into the ground. To one side a magnifying glass focuses on a “Gaulish village” surrounded by four Roman outposts: Aquarium, Totorum, Laudanum and Compendium. Who would have thought – given such adverse circumstances – that one of that village’s most famous denizens, namely, Asterix the Gaul, would live to reach the grand old age of 50?