Hodie est a.d. XIII Kal. Sept. 2772 AUC ~ 2 Metageitnion in the fourth year of the 699th Olympiad

In the News

• Archaeology: Fortified Hellenistic centre found at Bulgaria’s Cape Chiroza site | The Sofia Globe
• Archaeologists propose new identification for biblical Tel Rosh – The Jerusalem Post
• Colosseum-like structure unearthed in western Turkey

In Case You Missed It

• Roman Temple Foundation Uncovered in Malta – Archaeology Magazine

Classicists and Classics in the News

• [Paywalled] Paolo Giorgio Ferri obituary | Register | The Times
• Political Science’s Joel Schlosser Turns to Herodotus ‘Histories’ to Examine the Modern Era | Bryn Mawr College

Fresh Bloggery

• PaleoJudaica.com: Strontium mapping of ancient human etc. movements
• AWOL – The Ancient World Online: ASCSA Digital Collections
• PaleoJudaica.com: Hebrew Manuscripts going on display at the British Library
• Laudator Temporis Acti: Victory
• F**k Donatus, Shakespeare’s Got Talent [FTS Week] – SENTENTIAE ANTIQUAE
• Siteless Survey and Intensive Data Collection in an Artifact Rich Environment (15 Years Later) | Archaeology of the Mediterranean World
• Roman Times: Senhouse Roman Museum reopens!
• Screwing Up, Some Proverbs for FTS Week – SENTENTIAE ANTIQUAE
• A Debate for the Panopticon: Live Unknown or Out-loud – SENTENTIAE ANTIQUAE
• F**k Modernity – Give Me Pagan Antiquity! [FTS Week] – SENTENTIAE ANTIQUAE
• My route into classics – Mixed up in Classics
• The Legend Of The Noseless First Settlers Of Rhinocolura | The Historian’s Hut
• Mike Anderson’s Ancient History Blog: What Happens to Democracy?
• Roman Legionnaire Modesty Shields – Washington, D.C. – Atlas Obscura

Fresh Podcasts

• ‎The Ancients: The Battle of Thermopylae on Apple Podcasts

2,499 years ago the Persian ‘Great King’ Xerxes launched history’s largest amphibious invasion of Europe before D-Day. Accompanied by a huge army and navy he crossed the Hellespont (modern day Dardanelles), intent on punishing the city-state of Athens and any other Hellenic powers that dared to resist. It was during this campaign that one of history’s most famous battles was fought, at the Pass of Thermopylae in central Greece. King Leonidas, his 300 (or so) Spartans and their Hellenic allies fought off against King Xerxes’ mighty Persian army for three days. To talk through this fascinating battle I’m chatting with Paul Cartledge, a professor from the University of Cambridge and one of the World’s leading experts on ancient Sparta. In this fascinating chat, Paul sorts the fact from the fiction about the doomed Thermopylae defence. He starts by explaining the conflict’s background, before moving on to the battle itself. We finish off by discussing how this famous battle ultimately created what we now know as ‘the Spartan mirage’.

• ‎Ancient History Fangirl: Spartacus Part 3: World on Fire on Apple Podcasts

After defeating Glaber on the slopes of Mt. Vesuvius, Spartacus and his rebels enjoyed a glorious Italian summer—taming wild ponies for their infantry, attracting new recruits, and raiding in the rich Italian farmlands. But all good summers come to an end. The Roman Senate continued to send more experienced generals against Spartacus–even as he struggled to reign in his followers’ worst instincts toward violence. And meanwhile, Rome’s foreign wars were winding down. The clock was ticking.

Book Reviews

• [BMCR] P. J. Rhodes, Herodotus. Histories. Book V. Aris & Phillips classical texts. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 2019.
• [BMCR] Ghislaine van der Ploeg, The impact of the Roman Empire on the cult of Asclepius. Impact of empire, volume 30. Leiden; Boston: Brill, 2018.
• (L)Ibida Slava Rusă | Spartokos a lu
• [Classical Journal ~ PDF] Greek Myth and the Bible 
• [Classical Journal ~ PDF] A Naval History of the Peloponnesian War: Ships, Men, and Money in the War at Sea, 431-404 BC 
• [Ancient History Bulletin ~ PDF] Avshalom Laniado reviewing Laura Carrara, Mischa Meier and Christine Radki-Jansen (eds.), Die Weltchronik des Johannes Malalas: Quellenfragen (=Malalas Studien 2) (13-17) 
• [Ancient History Bulletin ~ PDF] Mark Woolmer reviewing J. G. Manning, The Open Sea: the economic life of the ancient Mediterranean world from the Iron Age to the rise of Rome (18-22) 

Professional Matters

• CANADIAN CLASSICAL BULLETIN – BULLETIN CANADIEN DES ÉTUDES ANCIENNES

Alia

• What would Seneca say? Six Stoic tips for surviving lockdown
• The real gladiators were well funded, well fed egotists – The Big Smoke
• Hades is coming to Nintendo Switch this Fall!
• The Battle Of Thermopylae – Greek City Times
• [Paywalled] The Latest Project to Preserve Pompeii Reveals New Treasures – WSJ
• A Total War Saga: Troy Review – My Kingdom For A Centaur – GameSpot
• The Romans welcomed migrants with open arms | The Spectator
• The Mystery of the Oldest Throne in Europe at the Cretan Palace of Knossos | 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 a plague among the cattle and disorder in affairs of the state.

… 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)