Month: February 2020

#Thelxinoe ~ Classical Social Media for February 17, 2020

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Hodie est a.d. XIII Id. Mart. 2772 AUC ~ 24 Gamelion in the third year of the 699th Olympiad

In the News

Classicists and Classics in the News

Public Facing Classics

Fresh Bloggery

Fresh Podcasts

Though initially a critical failure upon release, subsequent re-cuts of the 2004 “Alexander” film by director Oliver Stone has been more positively received, and it has been praised as one of the most historically accurate films to depict the ancient world thanks to the historical consultant Robin Lane Fox. In this loosely-structured episode, we are joined by Trevor Culley of the “History of Persia Podcast” to give our thoughts on the movie and analyze it from both a technical and (more importantly) a historical perspective.

Dramatic Receptions

Professional Matters

Alia

‘Sorting’ Out Your Day:

Today on the Etruscan Brontoscopic Calendar:

If it thunders today, it portends a very fruitful summer.

… 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)

#Thelxinoe ~ Catching Up With Classical Social Media ~ Weekend Edition February 16, 2020

~ David Meadows ~ rogueclassicist ~ Leave a comment

Hodie est a.d. XIV Id. Mart. 2772 AUC ~ 23 Gamelion in the third year of the 699th Olympiad

In the News

In Case You Missed It

Classics and Classicists in the News

Greek/Latin News

Fresh Bloggery

Fresh Podcastery

Synopsis: Demetrius II returns to Syria, but his unpopularity – and support for the Egyptian Queen Cleopatra II – results in a usurper named Alexander Zabinas taking most of his kingdom.  Fleeing a military defeat, Demetrius is denied entry to Ptolemais-Akko by Cleopatra Thea, an act that leads to his death.  The elevation of their son Seleucus V results in a darker tragedy…

In 39 CE, Caligula walked into the Senate and tore them all a new one. The gloves came off. The nice guy act was over. He criticized them for enabling Sejanus’ persecution of his family and for criticizing Tiberius when in fact they urged him on. Then he reinstated majestas. The Senate responded by thanking him and singing his praises.

Returning to the narrative, Hamilcar Barca, continuing his campaigns into the Spanish interior, died suddenly battling against hostile tribes in 228 BC. With Hamilcar’s eldest son, the famous Hannibal, still in his teens, Hamilcar’s son-in-law, Hasdrubal the Fair, succeeded the great Barcid leader in Spain. Charming, sophisticated, and diplomatic, Hasdrubal consolidated Hamilcar’s foothold in southern Spain by a series of treaties, guest-friendships, and political marriages along with occasional judicious campaigns. His newly-established capital, New Carthage, quickly grew to be one of the greatest cities of the burgeoning Carthaginian empire due to its natural harbor and ready access to the markets of Spain and North Africa. By the time of Hasdrubal’s own death in 221 BC, the Carthaginian army and cities in Spain had been forged into a formidable power base which would serve the young Hannibal well in the trials to come…

This program is about the Roman writer Decimus Iunius Iuvenalis, known to us as today Juvenal, who, between about 100 and 130 CE, wrote some of history’s most influential works of satire. Juvenal’s sixteen satires, though they vary in length and content, are today perhaps most famous for their ruthless, obscene, snarling criticism of Roman culture – specifically, the culture of Rome during the late Flavian and early Nerva-Antonine dynasties. In a sentence, Juvenal’s satires are an angry denunciation of Roman decadence – of the grotesque materialism, hedonism, and disingenuousness of Roman culture during the opening decades of the 100s CE, and to a lesser extent, a nostalgic threnody for the lost republican past. A conservative, and a critic of social change, Juvenal looked at the world around him and saw decay, sensualism, and vice.

Landscape Modery

Dramatic Receptions

Professional Matters

Alia

‘Sorting’ Out Your Day:

Today on the Etruscan Brontoscopic Calendar:

If it thunders today, it portends positive things for the people, but bad things will come for the powerful out of the discord.

… 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)

#Thelxinoe ~ Classical Conversation Starters ~ February 14, 2020

~ David Meadows ~ rogueclassicist ~ Leave a comment

Hodie est a.d. XVI Id. Mart. 2772 AUC ~ 21Gamelion in the third year of the 699th Olympiad

In the News

In Case You Missed It

Classicists and Classics in the News

Greek/Latin News

Public Facing Classics

Fresh Bloggery

Fresh Podcasts

750 – 550 BCE – For a couple of centuries, the people of the Greek poleis all jumped into their boats and scattered in all directions.  Where were they going?  What were they doing?  Why were they doing it?

She wove such fine wool; she kept such a fine house; she was so very chaste and never made her father look bad! They weren’t welcome in the public sphere of governance. They couldn’t vote or hold office. Theirs was a distinctly patriarchal world, true fame and public achievement was supposed to be reserved for men. 

Where there’s a will, there’s a way, and in a society that coveted public glory, ambitious women found their way into the history books too, even if just in scraps and unflattering snatches. The tales we get of their lives come from male writers with their own agendas and prejudices, who treat them as cautionary tales and side stories as they write about important men. But when you read between the lines, we find women who stepped out from behind the shadows of their husbands and fathers to grasp real power and influence…

In this episode, we discuss the years 415-414 BC of the Peloponnesian War, including the Athenian attempt at blockading Syracuse, the death of Lamachos, the tactical blunders of Nikias, the arrival of Gylippus, and the “Birds” of Aristophanes

Book Reviews

Professional Matters

Alia

‘Sorting’ Out Your Day:

Today on the Etruscan Brontoscopic Calendar:

If it thunders today, it threatens a loss of offspring and an outbreak of poisonous reptiles.

… 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)

#Thelxinoe ~ The Classical Coffee Chat ~ February 13, 2020

~ David Meadows ~ rogueclassicist ~ Leave a comment

Hodie est Id. Feb. 2772 AUC ~ 20 Gamelion in the third year of the 699th Olympiad

In the News

In Case You Missed It

Classicists and Classics in the News

Public Facing Classics

Fresh Bloggery

Fresh Podcasts

In this episode, we trace the development of roads from their pre-historic roots (or routes) to the development of the massive arterial network of the Roman Empire.

Alexander the Great invaded what is today Afghanistan in 330 BC as part of war against Persia. Comprising the easternmost satrapies of Persia, Afghanistan provided some challenging battles in his conquest of the remaining lands of Persia.

In this episode of the Ancient Warfare Magazine Podcast team discuss Alexander the Great in Afghanistan.

In Greek Sicily, the rule of law was dominated by the tyrant, and no tyrant was more infamous than Agathocles (361 – 289 B.C.). For over three decades he ruled the city of Syracuse as both a tyrant and king, bringing it into a golden age. At the same time, Agathocles enacted political massacres and acts of brutality to ensure his control, and he waged war against the Phoenician city-state of Carthage, taking the battle to the shores of Africa in a bloody campaign that served as a precursor to the Punic Wars.

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the Germanic tribes’ destruction of three legions of the Roman general Varus in 9 AD, so limiting the expansion of the Roman Empire across the Rhine.

Book Reviews

Dramatic Receptions

Professional Matters

Alia

‘Sorting’ Out Your Day:

Today on the Etruscan Brontoscopic Calendar:

If it thunders today, it portends a time of plenty, but also of political unrest.

… 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)

#Thelxinoe ~ The Classical Water Cooler ~ February 12, 2020

~ David Meadows ~ rogueclassicist ~ Leave a comment

Hodie est  pr.  Id. Feb. 2772 AUC ~ 19 Gamelion in the third year of the 699th Olympiad

In the News

In Case You Missed It

Fresh Bloggery

Fresh Podcasts

Tres amici ad argumentum de anulis magicis revertuntur.

Book Reviews

Dramatic Receptions

Professional Matters

Alia

‘Sorting’ Out Your Day:

Today on the Etruscan Brontoscopic Calendar:

If it thunders today, it portends widespread death and unseasonable winds.

… 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)