Hodie est a.d. XIV Kal. Iun. 2772 AUC ~ 27 Mounichion in the third year of the 699th Olympiad

In the News

• Pompeii Live: they didn’t see catastrophe coming – and neither did we | Culture | The Guardian
• Civil action filed to forfeit rare cuneiform tablet from Hobby Lobby | ICE

In Case You Missed It

• Feast of snails and pig sheds life on Hellenist life in ancient Galilee – The Jerusalem Post
• Rome unearths ancient Roman sarcophagus at Ostia Antica
• When the Romans turned Jerusalem into a pagan city, Jews revolted and minted this coin | Live Science
• ‘Blank’ Dead Sea Scrolls Actually Contain Writing | History | Smithsonian Magazine
• Greece reopens the Acropolis along with hundreds of other ancient sites | Neos Kosmos

Classicists and Classics in the News

• News – Bringing ancient Sparta back to life during lockdown – University of Nottingham
• MIT Literature Professor Takes a New Look at Ancient Books

Greek/Latin News

• [Ephemeris] LEGATVS MORTVVS 

Public Facing Classics

• When is a (Roman) mouse not a mouse? – Column – Mary Beard: A Don’s life – TLS

Fresh Bloggery

• New Comic: Heracles’ Labours map, YouTube lessons, and Blossom discount! | Greek Myth Comix
• AWOL – The Ancient World Online: Odyssey-A-Day
• MoM | Patronen van misinformatie (3) – Mainzer Beobachter
• Comfort Classics: Katie Low – Classical Studies Support
• Being a “Senior Scholar” and Hope | Archaeology of the Mediterranean World
• Roman Times: Those who desire not to rule but to dominate
• Three Tragedians and One Poll – SENTENTIAE ANTIQUAE
• Roman Times: Seventh century BCE Armor Fit For The Gods!
• Roman Archaeology Blog: Historical city travel guide: Rome, 1st century AD
• Western Imperialism in the Classics Classroom – EIDOLON
• Perfume and power: Killing Eve and the Roman emperors
• Theodosius Cistern | Turkish Archaeological News
• Laudator Temporis Acti: Nothing New Under the Sun
• Graeco-Roman and ‘Byzantine’ views on obesity – Novo Scriptorium
• AWOL – The Ancient World Online: Aeschylus Agamemnon Catalogue: A bibliography of the Agamemnon from 1518 to present
• Old Dudes, Keep on Bragging! – SENTENTIAE ANTIQUAE
• Classics at the Intersections: Correcting Nonsense about the Ancient Greco-Roman Past
• Classics in Sarasota: Notes on Persuasion in Eumenides

Fresh Podcasts

• Episode 31: Heroes in the Time of COVID

We’re baaack! We’ve been hearing a lot about heroes in the news lately and it’s got us thinking. The word’s being used to describe doctors, nurses, paramedics, delivery people, truck drivers, and grocery store workers– all the people who are keeping our society going through the COVID-19 pandemic. But what do we really mean when we call someone a hero? Do our heroes today resemble the heroes of myth? Or are we using the label “hero” to escape societal responsibilities?

• ‎The Exploress Podcast: Cleopatra: She Came, She Saw, She Conquered, Part 2 on Apple Podcasts

In Part 1, we saw Cleopatra grow up in Alexandria amid luxury, excess, and the threat of death by family member. When her pharaoh father fled Egypt, she went with him, experiencing Rome for the very first time. Years later, he did something unfortunate: he left Egypt to Cleopatra AND her annoying brother Ptolemy XIII, and then he ALSO put them under Rome’s guardianship. She ruled well, but her brother conspired against her. Now Cleo’s a 21-year-old exile. How will she find her way back to greatness?

Book Reviews

• [BMCR] Carina Hasenzagl, North Tunisian red slip ware: from production sites in the Salomonson Survey (1960-1972). Babesch supplement, 37. Leuven: Peeters, 2019.
• [BMCR] M. David Litwa, How the Gospels became history: Jesus and Mediterranean myths. Synkrisis. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2019.
• BATRACHOMYOMACHIA (Battle of the Frogs and Mice): Introduction, Text, Translation, and Commentary – Classics for All
• MoD | Patronen van misinformatie (4) – Mainzer Beobachter

Dramatic Receptions

• Diamond Theatre of Ligonier Holds Virtual Auditions for GREECE LIGHTNING THE MUSICAL

Alia

• How Boxing Became a Popular Sport in Ancient Greece | GreekReporter.com
• Antikythera Mechanism: The Ancient Greek Artifact that Continues to Amaze Scientists | GreekReporter.com
• Gladiator Is Still the Era’s Defining Swords & Sandals Epic | CBR
• Why The First Roman Emperor’s Motto Matters: Move Slowly To Move Quickly
• War and Power in Classical Greece: Lessons for Superpowers and the World – CounterPunch.org
• Past plagues offer lessons for society after the coronavirus pandemic | Science News
• Lessons from Antiquity for Our Current Pandemic | Merion West

‘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 someone will be raised to the height of good fortune with the approval of the citizens.

… 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)