Hodie est Non. Iun. 2772 AUC ~ 15 Thargelion in the third year of the 699th Olympiad

In the News

• Unique Trajan statue restored

In Case You Missed It

• Nuova scoperta a Pompei nei giorni della riapertura
• Radiocarbon dating and microarchaeology untangle the history of Jerusalem’s Temple Mount: A view from Wilson’s Arch
• A Pristine Mosaic Floor From a Roman Villa Is Uncovered in Italy

Classics and Classicists in the News

• Greek students hold online seminar for ancient Greek values and modern theatre | Neos Kosmos

Greek/Latin News

• [Ephemeris] REGIO SYRTICA RECEPTA.

Fresh Bloggery

• Autism and Classical Myth: CIRSIE talk, Primary Schools Partnership Newsletter and unexpectedly reading about “a fantastic and hilarious adventure”
• A Lie To Kill A Tyrant – SENTENTIAE ANTIQUAE
• Comfort Classics: Phil Perkins – Classical Studies Support
• A cataclysm sentence for classics? – Rome and all that…
• AWOL – The Ancient World Online: Database of Classical Scholars
• Revisiting the UK’s Dealing in Cultural Objects (Offences) Act of 2003 ~ ARCAblog
• Surprise! Wolf Slaughters Lamb on Slight Pretext – SENTENTIAE ANTIQUAE
• Alexander’s Successors – Mainzer Beobachter

Fresh Podcastery

• Sanctuaries in ancient Greece – Ancient World Magazine

Inspired by a recent thread on Reddit about what everyday life was like at an ancient Greek sanctuary, the team got together to talk about sanctuaries in ancient Greece. We define what a “sanctuary” is and what kind of sacred places there in the ancient Greek world. We then give a chronological overview of developments in Greek religion and sanctuaries from the Late Bronze Age onwards…

• BBC Radio 4 – Start the Week, Classics and class

Edith Hall and Ansgar Allen challenge assumptions about the classics and class, with Tom Sutcliffe

• Curse tablet from Chamalières (Greg Woolf) by Open Material Religion

Professor Greg Woolf tells us about a small inscribed lead curse tablet dedicated to the god Maponus, which was found in a sacred spring in central France.

• ‎Ancient Warfare Podcast: AWA – How did Generals learn their craft? on Apple Podcasts

In Ancient Warfare Answers, Jasper (editor of Ancient Warfare Magazine) and Murray (deputy editor) tackle your questions on ancient military topics. In this episode Murray tells us about how Generals learned their craft.

Book Reviews

• [BMCR] Thierry Petit, La naissance des cités-royaumes cypriotes. . Oxford: Archaeopress, 2019.
• [BMCR] Steele Brand, Killing for the Republic: citizen-soldiers and the Roman way of war. . Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2019.

Alia

• “Not just lions in the Colosseum” – How the Romans acquired wild animals – Ancient World Magazine
• Scholarships Available for English-Language Greek Antiquity BA Degree | USA.GreekReporter.com
• Ermine Street: the ancient Roman route worth exploring this weekend
• Odysseus unlocks the most Iliad-like Trojan Horse in A Total War Saga: Troy | PCGamesN
• Came, saw and lingered: the Romans never really left us | News | The Times
• Egyptian archaeologists rely on technology to preserve past
• How To Thrive If You Have A Boss Like Caligula

‘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 bad things for those in charge of villages and towns.

… 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)

Hodie est pr. Non. Iun. 2772 AUC ~ 14 Thargelion in the third year of the 699th Olympiad

In the News

• New study dates Temple arch at 2,000-years-old – The Jerusalem Post

In Case You Missed It

• Ancient sarcophagus depicts Trojan War through intricate engravings  | Daily Sabah
• [documentary hype] Archaeologist uncovers ‘amazing’ ancient temple of Goddess Nemesis in Greece | World | News | Express.co.uk

Public Facing Classics

• The ancient Greeks would not have spared Dominic Cummings | The Spectator

Fresh Bloggery

• The French Phallus – Pompeian Connections
• No Love for Aristotle – SENTENTIAE ANTIQUAE
• Wicked Game | Sphinx
• I’m Not A Dictator… – SENTENTIAE ANTIQUAE
• Comfort Classics: Jennie Baillie – Classical Studies Support
• Another piece of an elegant puzzle – Poseidon’s Altar in Didyma | Turkish Archaeological News
• Portable Antiquity Collecting and Heritage Issues: Time Team Professor Miffed by Guardian Article
• Roman Times: Romans, though disciplined, still tender towards their children
• empire, slavery, violence and Roman politics | Georgy Kantor’s blog
• Scoundrels, Fools, and Failing States – SENTENTIAE ANTIQUAE
• Laudator Temporis Acti: Prayer for Concord
• A Tale of Two Creons: Black tragedies, White anxieties, and the Necessity of Abolition
• AWOL – The Ancient World Online: One Off Journal Issues: Bronzes grecs et romains : études récentes sur la statuaire antique

Fresh Podcastery

• ‎Emperors of Rome: Episode CXLII – Deification on Apple Podcasts

When an emperor passed away it gave the Roman empire a chance to reflect on his reign. If he wasn’t terrible and the circumstances allowed it, he would be deified and worshiped as a god throughout the empire. Guest: Associate Professor Rhiannon Evans (Classics and Ancient History, La Trobe University)

• Everything you want to know about the Dead Sea Scrolls: History, conservation, and digitization – The Times of Israel Podcasts

This week the prestigious Cell journal has put on its cover a really cool new study of ancient animal DNA that was taken from Dead Sea Scrolls’ parchment. There are a lot of surprising findings so we’re speaking with Pnina Shor, the founding Curator and Head of the Dead Sea Scrolls unit in the Israel Antiquities Authority to get some background.
In a super interesting, but quite lengthy conversation, Shor gives a Dead Sea Scrolls 101 and explains the many iterations of her unit’s conservation and digitization efforts since the scrolls were found in a chance discovery by a Beduin shepherd in 1947.

• ‎Young Heretics: Ep. 3: Birth of an Empire on Apple Podcasts

At the Battle of Actium, the fabled lovers Antony and Cleopatra made a doomed last stand against Julius Caesar’s heir, Octavian. In this episode of Young Heretics, Spencer Klavan and Cornell historian Barry Strauss talk through the battle that ended the Roman republic, and the sex, treachery, and feuding that transformed the world.

Professional Matters

• Virtual Conference 15th–16th June, 2020 [preliminary programme] – The Lying Pen of Scribes
• Statement on Police Brutality, Systemic Racism, and the Death of George Floyd | Society for Classical Studies
• News – AIA Statement on Archaeology and Social Justice – Archaeological Institute of America AIA News

Alia

• Greco-Roman civilisation has dominated ancient history for too long | The Spectator
• 1,800 years on, water channels in Turkey’s southeast remain mystery
• The problem of the Picts – Current Archaeology
• The Stoicism of Augustus – The Good Men Project
• Fascination with Ancient Greek Lit Featured in Cherwell, Oxford’s Student Newspaper | culture & arts , literature | The National Herald
• Amber Portwood Is A Huge Fan Of Stoic Philosophy – She’s Changing Her Life | Celebrity Insider
• The Deep Dig: Discover Ancient Rome, Pompeii, and Herculaneum – Part 1 | West Philly Local
• A Total War Saga: Troy Launches Exclusively On Epic Games Store; Free For First 24 Hours | Player.One

‘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 clouds and rain leading to mouldy dampness and rotting fruit crops.

… 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)

Hodie est a.d. III Non. Iun. 2772 AUC ~ 13 Thargelion in the third year of the 699th Olympiad

In the News

• Statue of woman found in Patara
• Piecing together the Dead Sea Scrolls with DNA evidence | EurekAlert! Science News

In Case You Missed It

• ‘Spectacular’ Roman bath found in Baden  – SWI swissinfo.ch
• Biblical village where Jesus fed the 5,000 is UNDERWATER as floods force experts to abandon dig site | Daily Mail Online
• Greece Opens Ancient Shipwrecks, Submerged Sites to Scuba Divers | GreekReporter.com

Greek/Latin News

• [Ephemeris] IVGVLATVS EST 

Fresh Bloggery

• Distracted from Justice by Profit – SENTENTIAE ANTIQUAE
• AWOL – The Ancient World Online: Filming Antiquity
• Laudator Temporis Acti: Urns and Ashes
• AWOL – The Ancient World Online: Roman Law Resources
• Roman Times: Insight provided by Roman funerary inscriptions
• Teaching Tuesday: Thinking about My Fall Classes | Archaeology of the Mediterranean World
• Informers, Flatterers, and Figs: On Sycophants – SENTENTIAE ANTIQUAE
• Chief Minister of Bullsh*t – SENTENTIAE ANTIQUAE
• Viroconium – Wroxeter Roman City – HeritageDaily – Archaeology News
• Roman Times: The erroneous mythology of the Renaissance
• Venta Icenorum – Caistor Roman Town – HeritageDaily – Archaeology News
• Illiterate bishops decided the canon of the New Testament! Or did they? – Roger Pearse
• Reading Like a Scholar (i.e. Like a Boss) – SENTENTIAE ANTIQUAE
• Martialis compleet – Mainzer Beobachter
• Should an OCT Have a Table of Contents? | Curculio – Michael Hendry

Book Reviews

• Katheryn C. Twiss. 2019. The archaeology of food: identity, politics, and ideology in the prehistoric and historic past.
• Petites collections de vases antiques dans les musées russes | Spartokos a lu

Professional Matters

• Job Vacancy: IT Officer at the British School at Athens – British School at Athens
• Bordeaux 2022 – XVI Congressus Internationalis Epigraphiae Graecae et Latinae – Current Epigraphy
• UCL Greek and Latin Essay Competition 2020 (for secondary school children) | Department of Greek & Latin – UCL – University College London

Alia

• The Awe-Inspiring Helmet of Legendary Ancient Greek Warrior Miltiades | GreekReporter.com
• The Parthenon Marbles Should Be Returned | archive , opinions , letter to the editor | The National Herald
• ‘Teen Mom’s’ Amber Portwood is super into Ancient Greek philosophy
• Wrecked: How Hannibal Smashed Rome at the Battle of Cannae | The National Interest

‘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 a wind so hot that soft fruits will dry up.

… 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)

Hodie est a.d. IV Non. Iun. 2772 AUC ~ 12 Thargelion in the third year of the 699th Olympiad

In the News

• Talmud comes alive in 1,800-year-old marble face found in Galilee – The Jerusalem Post
• Gold Necklace From Roman Times Found In a Forest Near Brno – Brno Daily
• Mersin’s Roman-era tombs defy time

In Case You Missed It

• Archaeologists Excavate Roman Villa at Pompeii – HeritageDaily – Archaeology News
• Was Philip of Macedon Even Greater Than His Son Alexander? | History | Smithsonian Magazine
• Italy’s landmark Colosseum reopens  | Daily Sabah

Fresh Bloggery

• Dishonoring the Gods – SENTENTIAE ANTIQUAE
• Laudator Temporis Acti: Roman and Greek Historians Compared
• Porta Carmentalis: A Coalescence of Mythos, Tragedy and Triumph
• Comfort Classics: John O’Flaherty – Classical Studies Support
• Did the mythical Amazons actually exist? – Bad Ancient
• Book Club | June 2020: Quintus Smyrnaeus Fall of Troy 1–4 | The Kosmos Society
• AWOL – The Ancient World Online: LatinOWL
• AWOL – The Ancient World Online: Teaching Classics in the Digital Age
• The First African to Have Attended a European University
• Roman Times: Giambologna brings Heracles to Life
• * Peacocks! * Pythagoras! * Homer! * Ennius! * (Featuring the Loser Euphorbus) – SENTENTIAE ANTIQUAE
• Australasian BLOG TAKEOVER #8 | CRSN
• Philanthropy or Fine Sniffing – SENTENTIAE ANTIQUAE
• Laudator Temporis Acti: Oil and Vinegar
• Viroconium – Wroxeter Roman City – HeritageDaily – Archaeology News
• Livius Nieuwsbrief | Juni 2020 – Mainzer Beobachter
• Dictatorships, Tyrants, and Kings – SENTENTIAE ANTIQUAE
• PaleoJudaica.com: Biblical Studies Carnival 171
• Laudator Temporis Acti: Runts
• PaleoJudaica.com: Is the MOTB winning over Jewish scholars?

Fresh Podcastery

• ‎History of the World podcast: 24: Vol 3 Ep 24 – SUMMARY – Ancient Greece, Part Two on Apple Podcasts

336 – 30 BCE – A deeper look at the chronology of the Hellenistic world with special attention to some of the academic advances.

Book Reviews

• PaleoJudaica.com: Review of Sivan, Jewish Childhood in the Roman World
• A COMMENTARY ON QUINTUS OF SMYRNA, POSTHOMERICA 14 – Classics for All

Dramatic Receptions

• Medea Play Reading Presented by Syracuse Stage

Professional Matters

• FIEC: Support papyri.info

Alia

• Tombstones: A Source to Different Facets of Emotions in Roman Society
• Brown: Carpe Diem, Roman antiquity and a covidian retrospect | Opinion | mainlinemedianews.com
• ‘Uncut Gems’ ending explained: A Greek myth reveals the movie’s meaning
• Wrecked: How Hannibal Smashed Rome at the Battle of Cannae

‘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 easy labour for women, but miscarriages for cattle; still, there will be an abundance of fish.

… 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)

Hodie est Kal. Iun. 2772 AUC ~ 11 Thargelion in the third year of the 699th Olympiad

In the News

Another sleepy Monday for news …

In Case You Missed It

• Archaeologists discover remarkably intact ancient shipwreck

Greek/Latin News

• [AkropolisWorldNews] Ταραχὴ ἐν τῇ Minessota 

Fresh Bloggery

• Reasons for Revolutions: Wanting To Be Equal Vs. Wanting Just More – SENTENTIAE ANTIQUAE
• Roman Archaeology Blog: Antiques Roadshow presenter stunned to discover ancient Roman site in garden
• Roman Archaeology Blog: Well-preserved Roman mosaic unearthed in Italian vineyard
• Roman Archaeology Blog: Coal Mine in Serbia Gives up New Roman Treasure
• HEY SISTER! Translingual messages on spindle whorls from Autun
• Polybius on the decay of states – Novo Scriptorium
• Emperor Justinian’s codification of the laws & his work as a builder – Novo Scriptorium
• Classics in Sarasota: Prosaic Peripeteia: How could Aeschylus be so undramatic?
• MoM | Dendroklimatologie – Mainzer Beobachter
• Archaeologists Excavate Roman Villa at Pompeii – HeritageDaily – Archaeology News
• Persepolis – Ceremonial Capital of the Achaemenid Empire – HeritageDaily – Archaeology News
• May 2020 in Turkish archaeology | Turkish Archaeological News
• Taking Sides | Sphinx
• Deep Purple: dyeing Egyptian textiles – Papyrus Stories
• PaleoJudaica.com: Ink, writing surfaces, and fakes

Fresh Podcasts

• ‎History Today Podcast: Thebes: The Forgotten City on Apple Podcasts

The city of Thebes was central to the ancient Greeks’ achievements in politics and culture. For many centuries it has been largely – and often deliberately – forgotten. Join Paul Cartledge in conversation with History Today Editor, Paul Lay, as they discuss Paul Cartledge’s article on ‘Thebes: The Forgotten City’, which is in the June issue of History Today.

• ‎Ancient History Hound: Kings of Rome. Tarquin and his expulsion. on Apple Podcasts

It’s time for the final King, Tarquinius Superbus. I chat about his reign, the expulsion and the emergence of the Republic. Tarquin was a King who did as much inside Rome as outside of it. Plenty to talk about. (content includes reference to sexual assault).

• ‎The Hellenistic Age Podcast: Interview: On the Wars of the Diadochi w/ John McTavish on Apple Podcasts

In this episode we are joined by historian and Cornell PhD student John McTavish to discuss the Wars of the Diadochi, where the Successors of Alexander the Great fought over a period of 40 years to carve apart his empire and found their own kingdoms, giving birth to the Hellenistic World as we know it. We discuss the problems of early Hellenistic sources and chronology,  diagnose the causes of the empire’s rapid disintegration, and look at the major players and indigenous peoples responses to the power vacuum left by Alexander’s death.

Dramatic Receptions

• Burg Review: Open Stage brings “masterful” “Iliad” to modern times, to your living room – TheBurg

Alia

• Tombstone Epitaphs and the Meaning of Funerary Inscriptions in Ancient Rome
• Cyrenaica, the Greek region of Libya | Neos Kosmos

‘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 an abundance of fruit with the exception of barley; there will be an outbreak of dangerous diseases.

… 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)