Seen on Classicists: (please send any responses to the folks mentioned in the quoted text, not to rogueclassicism!):

The UK Ancient Historians’ Annual Meeting (the ‘Norman Baynes’ meeting) will be held on May 15/16th in Stevenage, Herts*.

The ‘Baynes meeting’ is the one opportunity in the year for all UK ancient historians, whatever their specialism, and whether in post or retired, to meet for both formal and informal discussion. Early-career ancient historians have particularly appreciated the opportunities to get to know other members of the profession and to exchange ideas, and are particularly encouraged to attend.

The event is open both to those with university posts and to others at post-doctoral level. As well as an opportunity to hear and discuss two papers, the meeting provides an excellent opportunity to learn about research projects, forthcoming publications and publishing initiatives, and to discuss other developments and concerns in teaching and research.

The cost (Dinner, bed and breakfast, lunch) will be £90. The cost for non-residents (i.e. only Saturday or only Sunday) will be £30.00. As last year there will be a £5 registration charge. No advance payment is required.

I would appreciate the earliest possible indications of interest (to ro225 AT cam.ac.uk); firm booking (to me) required by 9 a.m. on Friday May 7th.

PROGRAMME

Saturday 15 May

3.00 to 4.30 p.m. Defending Ancient History

The current budget squeeze on Universities is bringing both Classics and History departments under threat. This session will give a chance to compare the situation across UK Universities and to consider the best ways of defending the subject.

4.30 pm Tea

5.00-6.30 pm Dan Stewart (Leicester) ‘Sikyon, Pausanias and Historical Topography’

7.30 pm Dinner

Sunday 16 May

9.30-11.00 am Tom Stevenson (University of Queensland) ‘Imaginations of Ancient Rome in Nineteenth Century Historical Novels’

11.00 am Coffee

11.30 -12.30 Information exchange/business meeting

12.30 pm Lunch

The meeting will be held at theHoliday Inn Express Stevenage,DanestreteStevenage,Herts,SG1 1XB. This is less than half a mile from the railway station (on the East Coast mainline), and readily accessible from junction 7 of the A1(M). For directions see:http://www.hiexpress.com/hotels/gb/en/XVJUK/hoteldetail#Directions

*Knebworth House, the home of Edward Bulwer-Lytton, whose Last Days of Pompeii will be discussed by Tom Stevenson, is just two miles from Stevenage and will be open for visiting on either Saturday or Sunday from 12 noon to 5 p.m.

A correspondent writes to ask if there have been any developments in the Cavo Sideo development thing which we mentioned most recently back in November of 2008, so I decided to poke around. The most recent ‘hard news’ on this seems to come from January 2010:

The Environment Ministry has indicated it is unlikely to approve a controversial plan to build a large holiday complex and golf course on the eastern tip of Crete even though a final decision could take some time.

In response to a question from Coalition of the Radical Left (SYRIZA) MPs, Environment Minister Tina Birbili said the PASOK government is taking into account a decision last year by the Council of State, Greece highest administrative court, to halt the Cavo Sidero scheme. But she said a final decision would not be reached until the government has reviewed the present zoning plan for tourist resorts.

Protesters claim that the project – which would comprise five holiday villages, a string of luxury hotels and three golf courses – would damage the environment and be a heavy drain on water resources. British property developer Minoan Group (formerly Loyalward Limited) insists the 1.2-billion-euro project is environmentally sustainable.

via Cavo Sidero scheme on ice | ekathimerini.com .

Last month, an item in the Guardian seems somewhat ambiguous on whether the project is going ahead or not, although the government’s position seems to have changed … here’s the incipit:

A British property development company is planning five exclusive holiday villages, a string of “super luxury” hotels, three golf courses and a marina in one of the most remote and ecologically fragile areas of Greece.

The 7,000-bed development planned by Minoan Group on 10 square miles of the arid, windswept Sidero peninsula of north-eastern Crete would be one of the largest tourist developments in the Mediterranean. The £800m project is strongly backed by the Greek government, and the local monastery that owns the land.

But last night, international ecologists and archaeologists said the holiday development would do “immense and permanent damage to a part of Crete which is of European significance”.

Dr Oliver Rackham, professor of historical ecology and master of Corpus Christi College at Cambridge University, who has written a book on the making of the Cretan landscape, said: “The development is grotesquely unsuited to the environment of this part of Greece. This is one of the most arid places in Europe. The development is unsustainable because of the huge amounts of water that will be needed.

via UK firm plans vast resort on fragile coast | Guardian

The latter seems to be connected to numerous stock analysts’ reports of the earnings of Minoan (the company trying to get the development under way) and at least one blogger-analyst (John Levinson) seems to think Greece’s current financial situation might encourage the go-ahead for this one:

The book value of the Cavo Sidero Project was £33.8m and it’s development is a long running saga and proposals for its development including joint ventures are active. Whatever happens to the Greek Government and the financial challenges, Greece will need to encourage foreign investment, so the prospects for this project remain.

… and I suspect he’s right. But we appear to still be in wait-and-see mode on this one.