Hodie est id. Sextiles (Augustas) 2772 AUC ~  13 Metageitnion in the third year of the 699th Olympiad.

In the News

• Pompeii archaeologists uncover ‘sorcerer’s treasure trove’ – BBC News
• Ancient Tombs Unearthed in Nemea, Greece Shed Light on Mycenaean Civilization | GreekReporter.com 
• Punic Wars: Tombs of Iberian prince and 24 aristocrats unearthed in Spain | In English | EL PAÍS 
• Tornos News | Unique intact Hellenistic tomb found in Kozani of northern Greece 
• Race to preserve rare Mosaic of Ancient Greek Synagogue – Diaspora – Jerusalem Post 
• Archaeologists exiled from Syria mourn the cost of war 

In Case You Missed It

• Scientists recreate Cleopatra’s 2,000-year-old perfume | World | The Times 

Public Facing Classics

• [Mary Beard] Have a nice day? Lessons from a funeral – TheTLS 

Fresh Bloggery

• The Outrage Machine | Sphinx
• Plague and the End of Antiquity | Summertime Fragments 
• Madness, Prophecy, Poetry – SENTENTIAE ANTIQUAE 
• Experience Harvard’s “Ancient Greek Hero” MOOC | The Kosmos Society 
• Be Smart, Don’t Fart: The Pythagorean Prohibition on Beans – SENTENTIAE ANTIQUAE 

Fresh Podcasts

• ‎Ancient History Hound: Kings of Rome. Numa Pompilius. 

In this episode I continue the theme of early Rome by looking at its second King. Numa Pompilius. I talk about how he came to the throne, what religious initiatives he set in place and how the sources handled their accounts of him. As ever there are some curious tangents involving dancing, possible magic, thunderstorms and stinking charms.

Book Reviews

• [BMCR] Hartmut Leppin, Die frühen Christen: Von den Anfängen bis Konstantin. Historische Bibliothek der Gerda Henkel Stiftung. 
• [BMCR] Philip Michael Forness, Preaching Christology in the Roman Near East: A Study of Jacob of Serugh. Oxford early Christian studies. 
• [BMCR] Paul Erdkamp, Claire Holleran (ed.), The Routledge Handbook of Diet and Nutrition in the Roman World. 
• [BMCR] David Walsh, The Cult of Mithras in Late Antiquity. Development, Decline and Demise ca. A.D. 270-430. Late Antique Archaeology (Supplementary Series), volume 2. 

Professional Matters

• CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS FOR  CAMWS 2020 | CAMWS 

Alia

• [Piranesi] Prisons of the mind – The Statesman 
• How Far Did Ancient Rome Spread? – HISTORY 
• New catalogue presents virtuosity of Neo-Classicist goldsmith Luigi Valadier | The Art Newspaper 
• [Niall Ferguson] No, this isn’t the fall of Rome – The Boston Globe 

‘Sorting’ Out Your Day:

• Homeromanteion | Online Homeric Oracle
• Sortes Virgilianae (English)
• Sortes Virgilianae (Latin)
• Consult the Oracle at UCL

Today on the Etruscan Brontoscopic Calendar:

If it should thunder today, it portends plague upon the bodies of both humans and animals.

… adapted from the text and translation of:

Jean MacIntosh Turfa, The Etruscan Brontoscopic Calendar, in Nancy Thomson de Grummond and Erika Simon (eds.), The Religion of the Etruscans. University of Texas Press, 2006. (Kindle edition)