Hodie est pr. XIII Kal. Mai. 2772 AUC ~ 27 Elaphebolion in the third year of the 699th Olympiad

In the News

• Was the ‘Nazareth Inscription’ a Roman response to Jesus’ empty tomb? New evidence says it wasn’t. | Live Science
• Archaeologists find trove of treasure plundered by Isis fighters | World | The Times
• Sword-wielding scientists show how ancient fighting techniques spread across Bronze Age Europe | Science | AAAS
• New archaeological evidence from Nazareth reveals religious and political environment in era of Jesus | The Independent
• Ancient Roman castle in Turkey added to tentative list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites | Rudaw.net
• Disc-Like Copper Ingots Found in Ancient Shipwreck at Bulgaria’s Black Sea Coast Similar to Gelidonya, Uluburun Shipwrecks of Mediterranean Turkey – Archaeology in Bulgaria. and Beyond

In Case You Missed It

• Oxford professor arrested over theft of ‘priceless’ bible fragments which were sold to US museum | Daily Mail Online

Classics and Classicists in the News

• Leyland Hugh Sackett (13 August 1928 – 12 April 2020) – British School at Athens
• [Nigel Crowther] How to Train Like a Roman Gladiator, According to a Classics Professor – InsideHook
• 5 notes about taking Ancient Greek at Vassar – The Miscellany News

Greek/Latin News

• [AkropolisWorldNews] Ποῦ ἐστιν ὁ τῆς Βορείας Κορέας ἄρχων; 
• [Ephemeris] SORS IMMANIS De tempestate Africa 

Public Facing Classics

• [Mark Munn] Massive spending in a crisis brought bloody consequences in ancient Athens

Fresh Bloggery

• Censorship by the Oxford University or by Dirk Obbink’s law team? ~ ARCAblog
• Translation and Clear Thought – SENTENTIAE ANTIQUAE
• Misverstand: Via Belgica – Mainzer Beobachter
• I Always Preferred ‘Cum’ – SENTENTIAE ANTIQUAE
• Comfort Classics: Liz Gloyn – Classical Studies Support
• Modesty and Shame are For The Weak – SENTENTIAE ANTIQUAE
• Agamemnon Killed Klytemnestra’s First Husband (and Child!) – SENTENTIAE ANTIQUAE
• A Fantasy of Elsewhere « Classics « Cambridge Core Blog
• Laudator Temporis Acti: The Anabasis
• Blog: The Art of Translation: An Interview with Jinyu Liu | Society for Classical Studies
• Portable Antiquity Collecting and Heritage Issues: MoB Scholars Initiative Director Shows a Redaction of A Contract…
• AWOL – The Ancient World Online: The compilation ‘notitia dignitatum’ (Cnd)
• Pliny Says: F**k Your Wasted Time! – SENTENTIAE ANTIQUAE
• Budé – Mainzer Beobachter
• The Wrong Monkey: Literary Works Formerly Ascribed to Julius Caesar
• Portable Antiquity Collecting and Heritage Issues: Professor of Art Crime Takes On Timeline Auctions Over Poor Description, Poor Documentation and Blatant AntiqiFakes
• The Poor are Always Sick – SENTENTIAE ANTIQUAE
• Laudator Temporis Acti: Language, Literature, Life
• Understanding the chiaroscuro context of art crime and statistics ~ ARCAblog
• Misverstand? 547 v.Chr. – Mainzer Beobachter
• AWOL – The Ancient World Online: 700 Skarabäen und Verwandtes aus Palästina/Israel. Die Sammlung Keel
• Laudator Temporis Acti: Prayer for Deliverance
• A Lengthy Disquisition on Shit-Talking – SENTENTIAE ANTIQUAE
• Religious Rites in Ancient Rome |
• Narrative and Duality in Ovid’s ‘Medicamina Faciei Femineae’
• Hektor’s Bastards and His “Good” Wife – SENTENTIAE ANTIQUAE
• Core Vocab: mantis | The Kosmos Society
• Misverstand: Teutoburgerwoud – Mainzer Beobachter
• Blame it on the Comets – SENTENTIAE ANTIQUAE
• AWOL – The Ancient World Online: Loebolus: Open Access to all the public domain Loeb Classical Library volumes
• Ozymandias « Ancient Rome Refocused

Fresh Podcastery

• ‎The Layman’s Historian: Episode 35 – Into Gaul on Apple Podcasts

After he learned news of Rome’s dramatic declaration of war, Hannibal departed New Carthage in May 218 BC to bring the war to Rome’s heartland. Following a harrowing march through the Pyrenees, hostile Gallic tribes, and a major contested crossing of the Rhone River, Hannibal reached the fabled Alps where legend holds he declared: “I will find a way, or I will make one.”

• ‎History of Persia: Episode 32: Begun, the Greek Wars Have on Apple Podcasts

To prepare ourselves for their role in the coming wars between Persian the Greek city states, I’m explaining the history and politics of Archaic Athens, from their first adoption of oligarchy rather than monarchy, down through the adoption of democracy, the Peisistratid tyrants, and the final restoration of democracy by Cleisthenes. At the end of that long process, the Athenians and their Eretrian allies joined forces with the Ionian Greek cities of Anatolia in their revolt against the Persian Empire. In 498 BCE, the Greek army set out from Ephesus in a lightning raid to attack, and ultimately destroy, the Lydian capital at Sardis.

• ‎That’s Ancient History: S. 4. E. 4 Myth Digest: The Gorgon Medusa on Apple Podcasts

[no official description]

• ‎The History Network: 2804 The ubiquity of the Cretan Archer in Ancient Warfare – Part 1 on Apple Podcasts

When a contingent of archers is mentioned in the context of Greek and Roman armies, more often than not the culture associated with them is that of Crete. Indeed, when we just have archers mentioned in an army without a specified origin, Cretan archers are commonly assumed to be meant, so ubiquitous with archery and groups of mercenary archers were the Cretans.

Landscape Modery

Book Reviews

• [BMCR] Brian Oliver Murdoch, Reception of the legend of Hero and Leander. Brill’s companion to classical reception, 19. Leiden; Boston: Brill, 2019.
• [BMCR] François Paschoud, Histoire Auguste. Tome IV. 1re partie: Vies des deux Maximins, des trois Gordiens, de Maxime et Balbin. Collection des universités de France, 421. Paris: Les Belles Lettres, 2018.
• [BMCR] Andrei Timotin, La prière dans la tradition platonicienne, de Platon à Proclus. Recherches sur les rhétoriques religieuses, 22. Turnhout: Brepols, 2017.

Professional Matters

• CALL. 15.05.2020: In the Shadow of Hippocrates. International Online Congress on Ancient Medicine – Online

Alia

• When Brad Pitt donned the warrior look | IWMBuzz
• Classical Marble Sculptures Were Actually Painted, Lost Color Over Time
• 20 Movies based on Greek Mythology and History (on Netflix / Prime)
• The Roman Empire: Story Behind its Art and Architecture
• Emperor Augustus and the Art of Fusion
• Rome and Its Architectural Marvels
• Scottish stonemasons rewrite Roman history of Antonine Wall | Scotland | The Sunday Times
• April 19 Marks 196 Years Since Lord Byron Died for Greece | GreekReporter.com

‘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 thunders today, it portends that a powerful politician will be deprived both of reputation and property.

… 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)