Hodie est a.d. X Kal. Sept. 2772 AUC ~ 5 Metageitnion in the fourth year of the 699th Olympiad
In the News
- I Bronzi di Riace in origine erano 5 ed erano biondi – la Repubblica
- Roman fort given protection from Historic England | Story from Champnews
- Human-environment interaction in the hinterland of Ephesos – As deduced from an in-depth study of Lake Belevi, west Anatolia – ScienceDirect
- Destroyed ancient temple now open for virtual exploration
- In Iraq, Authorities Continue To Fight Uphill Battle Against Antiquities Plunder | WAMU
- Drone footage shows two ports side-by-side, but 2,500 years apart [Video]
- Archaeology: Fortified Hellenistic centre found at Bulgaria’s Cape Chiroza site | The Sofia Globe
- Coroner declares historic discoveries found in Shropshire as treasure | Shropshire Star
- Colosseum-like structure unearthed in western Turkey
In Case You Missed It
- After Hagia Sophia, Turkey’s historic Chora church also switched to mosque – Reuters
- How a designer used AI and Photoshop to bring ancient Roman emperors back to life – The Verge
- “Aegean” And “Agamemnon” Are Not Greek Words, But Turkish Says Guest On CNN Türk – Greek City Times
Classicists and Classics in the News
- Graduate student translates The Odyssey into American Sign Language
- Classics open letter calling for greater “anti-racism” efforts in the Faculty receives over 200 signatures | Varsity
Greek/Latin News
- [Ephemeris] RVSSICA ACCVSA
Public Facing Classics
Fresh Bloggery
- Petrarch: “F**k Zoology!” [FTS Week] – SENTENTIAE ANTIQUAE
- PaleoJudaica.com: Persian Period pottery “globalization”
- Cicero Says F**K Greek Accents [FTS Week] – SENTENTIAE ANTIQUAE
- F**k Avarice, Ambition, and Death! [FTS Week] – SENTENTIAE ANTIQUAE
- Roman Times: Salus, personification of the security and welfare of the Roman people
- Weekend Reading: Sorry, Old Books! – Classical Studies Support
- Week 23 – (More or Less) – Understanding Rome
- How Many Angels on the Head of a Pin? How Many Oarsmen on Achilles’ Ships? – SENTENTIAE ANTIQUAE
- F**k Sleep, I’m Going to the Library! [FTS Week] – SENTENTIAE ANTIQUAE
- F**k Y’all, My Treasure’s In Heaven! [FTS Week] – SENTENTIAE ANTIQUAE
- Bestiaria Latina Blog: Latin Proverbs and Fables Round-Up: August 21
- The seven (st)ages of garum | Bacchus and beyond
- Did the Spartans bring their war dead back on their shields? – Bad Ancient
- The Wrong Monkey: Bill Maher & Reginald Foster
- Collections: Bread, How Did They Make It? Part IV: Markets, Merchants and the Tax Man – A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
- Transgender and Intersex People in the Ancient World – Tales of Times Forgotten
- Laudator Temporis Acti: An Athenian James Thurber
- Bible Nation: The United States of Hobby Lobby by Candida R. Moss and Joel S. Baden [Review]
- “Full of Ticks and Fleas”: The Odyssey and a Life of Pets – SENTENTIAE ANTIQUAE
- AWOL – The Ancient World Online: Crossing imaginary boundaries: the Dead Sea Scrolls in the context of Second Temple Judaism
- New discoveries at the ancient Greek city of Smyrna in Turkey – The Archaeology News Network
- The History Blog » Blog Archive » Urartu child buried with dragon-head bracelets
- Skeletons Found in Persepolis | The Second Achilles
- F**k Aristotle [FTS Week] – SENTENTIAE ANTIQUAE
- On Second Thought, F**k This Life [FTS Week] – SENTENTIAE ANTIQUAE
- F**k Sunsets, We Want Greek Heroes! [FTS Week] – SENTENTIAE ANTIQUAE
- Romulus Says: “F**k the Senate!” [FTS Week] – SENTENTIAE ANTIQUAE
- Elementa: Tools for Teaching Elementary Latin in the New Year | by In Medias Res | In Medias Res | Aug, 2020 | Medium
- AWOL – The Ancient World Online: Women’s Classical Committee: Classical Blogs and Sites by Women
- Tivoli: Myth, History, and Prophecy – Time Travel Rome
- Laudator Temporis Acti: The Power of Speech
- Laudator Temporis Acti: Human and Divine Goods
- A New Radiocarbon Calibration Curve and Early Christian Manuscripts | Variant Readings
Fresh Podcasts
Maximinus Thrax was an unorthodox Emperor, a man of lowborn status who kept to the frontlines with the military. It was only a matter of time before the Senate threw in with someone more on their level, but their choice, Gordian, would have the shortest rule of any Emperor. Guest: Dr Caillan Davenport (Senior Lecturer, Roman History, Macquarie University/Humboldt Research Fellow, Goethe University, Frankfurt)
Claudius was a builder and a visionary. Humble and generous. He liked gladiatorial contests a little too much. But then there was his wife. Valeria Messallina. Like Livia, Messallina often gets blamed for some of the deaths that occurred early in his reign.
Kalkriese is an archaeological site in Germany where the Roman army suffered one of its greatest defeats in the Battle of the Teutoberg Forest. It was here where three Roman legions were ambushed by German barbarians, virtually wiped out, bringing an end to the ambition of empire expansion in the area. Guest: Dr Joanne Ball (Battlefield archaeologist, University of Liverpool)
Recap and Q&A of the past 13 episodes
Join this episode to listen in on my discussion with Christchurch College Oxford alumni and all-round boffin, Mr S Hyams, over the biggest questions in Classics…
Was there Mental Illness in the ancient world? What did people think about Suicide or Schizophrenia? How did the philosophies of Epicurus or Hippocrates help? And what can this teach us about Mental Illness today? Michael Fontaine, Professor and…
This episode, we are setting the stage of the epic tale of Hercules/Heracles! With plentiful obscure Disney references, we cover: Ancient Greece, who that Heracles guy is, the Olympic gods, and so much more!
Around this time 2,499 years ago the famous Battle of Thermopylae was raging. But it is important to remember that this clash was not happening on its own. At the same time, to the east of Leonidas’ defence, another battle was underway at sea between Xerxes’ great armada and a much smaller Hellenic fleet plagued with internal problems. This was the Battle of Artemisium, an often-overlooked and overshadowed military encounter of the Persian Wars. Its importance, however, was sizeable. I was delighted to have Dr Owen Rees back on the show to talk through this clash, explaining its significance and how it paved the way for one of the most famous naval battles in history: Salamis. Owen is the author of ‘Great Naval Battles of the Ancient Greek World.’
47 BCE – Veni, vidi, vici. Julius Caesar was short handed when he felt obliged to deal with the Pontic problem. Discover how Pontus still caused headaches for the Romans, even after the reign and lifetime of the great Mithridates VI.
Book Reviews
- [BMCR] David K. Pettegrew, William R. Caraher, Thomas W. Davis, The Oxford handbook of early Christian archaeology. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 2019.
- [BMCR] Christian Seebacher, Zwischen Augustus und Antinoos: Tradition und Innovation im Prinzipat Hadrians. Studies in Ancient Monarchies, Volume 6. Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag, 2020.
- [BMCR] Cristina Rosillo López, Communicating public opinion in the Roman Republic. Historia. Einzelschriften, Band 256. Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag, 2019.
- [BMCR] Andrea Cucchiarelli, Orazio, Epistole I: introduzione, traduzione e commento. Syllabus, 2. Pisa: Edizioni della Normale, 2019.
Alia
- The desert city that became one of the Romans’ richest
- Nero Versus the Christians | History Today
- Cleopatra, Julius Caesar And Mark Antony: Her Love Affairs Explored – HistoryExtra
- Athens Before the Owls: The Wappenmünzen Coins – CoinWeek Ancient Coin Series
- Craso, el general romano que perdió la cabeza un día de calor | Revista de Verano | EL PAÍS
- Las aventuras eróticas de Ulises | Revista de Verano | EL PAÍS
- Blood, bronze, and balony – An Extra Credits video about battles in the Bronze Age – Ancient World Magazine
‘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 with lightning, it portends a massacre..
… 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)