Hodie est a.d. XII Kal. Sept. 2772 AUC ~ 3 Metageitnion in the fourth year of the 699th Olympiad
In the News
- [Greek] Aigio: Remains of worship dinners brought to light by excavation | Athens Voice
- 2,500-year-old pottery shows close ties between ancient Israel and Turkey – The Jerusalem Post
- In Iraq, Authorities Continue To Fight Uphill Battle Against Antiquities Plunder : NPR
- Archaeological excavations in Van unveil child skeleton with two dragon head bracelets – Anadolu Agency
- Romans got to Benidorm first
In Case You Missed It
Public Facing Classics
- Why print media isn’t dead | Blog post by Mary Beard – The TLS
- Why working-class Britons loved reading and debating the Classics | Aeon Essays
Fresh Bloggery
- Laudator Temporis Acti: Plea for Civility
- When I’m Dead, Y’all Can Go Screw [FTS Week] – SENTENTIAE ANTIQUAE
- Three Things Thursday: Digital Utopias, Poetry, and Everything is Fine | Archaeology of the Mediterranean World
- F**k Greek Particles! [FTS Week] – SENTENTIAE ANTIQUAE
- Homeric Greek | Odyssey 1.255–267, part 1: Wish or condition? | The Kosmos Society
- F**k Those Vergilian Bees! [FTS Week] – SENTENTIAE ANTIQUAE
- Roman Times: The Riace Warriors: Remnants of a sanctuary in Magna Graecia or Roman plunder?
- Some Lyric Inducements to Drink – SENTENTIAE ANTIQUAE
- Dierenbotten uit Carnuntum – Mainzer Beobachter
- The Meeting Of Antony And Cleopatra, Painted By Lawrence Alma-Tadema (1836–1912) | The Historian’s Hut
- Laudator Temporis Acti: Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night
- Laudator Temporis Acti: Occasions for Speech
- Greek warfare and Homer – Ancient World Magazine
- Pots of Enthusiasm
- The Classical Association Blog: Autumn Books 2020
- Antium, Shakespeare, and Imperial Palaces – Time Travel Rome
Fresh Podcasts
Season 4, Episode 19 kicks off with a call-in show. Past guests and members of the Senate call-in and talk about “whatever is on their minds!”
I was thrilled to be joined by Andrew Bayliss, a Senior Lecturer in Greek History at the University of Birmingham. He’s an expert on Sparta and Ancient Greece, and he joined me on the pod to mark the 2,500th anniversary of the battle of Thermopylae, when 300 Spartans battled the Persian army. We discussed whether the Spartans deserved the reputations they’ve developed, and dissected the plethora of myths with have emerged, of musclebound soldiers with long hair and red cloaks.
With 49 episodes published, I decided to celebrate by making episode 50 a question and answer session, where I respond to topics fielded by listeners of the show. We dive into discussions on favorite history books, how to get into podcasting, and more historical topics like “who was the greatest of Alexander’s Successors?” and “who would win in a wrestling match between Socrates and Antigonus the One-Eyed?”
Gabriel Ruge emailed this question, did Boudicca have a chance of beating the Romans, were mean her odds were better than 50-50? What if she had signed some sort of alliance with the Caledonians? What if the British used every force multiplier in the book. Attacking from high ground, rough terrain, numbers, movement (chariots) etc.
In this episode, Rebecca Rideal is joined by ancient historian Dr Maria Pretzler to discuss the life and untimely death of Alexander the Great.
In this episode, Rebecca Rideal chats to historian, broadcaster and bestselling author Professor Bettany Hughes about Ancient Greece, virgin sacrifice and her brand new Channel Five series Greek Odyssey.
In the Roman Republic, men of senatorial rank could compete for political offices which were placed in a set order and had to be earned sequentially. This hierarchy was known as the Cursus Honorum. The Cursus Honorum was the basis of political and social life in ancient Rome, and the fortunes of entire families could rise and fall based on how high someone could climb.
Book Reviews
- How A Respected Scholar Could Be Duped By A Bumbling Fraudster Is The Focus Of ‘Veritas’ : NPR
- [Classical Journal ~ PDF] The Sanctuary of Athena
- [Classical Journal ~ PDF] Ripensare la storia universale
- [Ancient History Bulletin ~ PDF] Gilles Gorre reviewing P. McKechnie & J.A. Cromwell (eds.) , Ptolemy I and the Transformation of Egypt, 404–282 BCE (23-26)
- [Ancient History Bulletin ~ PDF] Louise Hodgeson reviewing Henrietta Van der Blom, Christa Gray, and Catherine Steel (eds.), Institutions and Ideology in Republican Rome (27-30)
Professional Matters
Alia
- The desert city that became one of the Romans’ richest
- How the Female Body Evolved in Art | by MutualArt | MutualArt Magazine | Aug, 2020 | Medium
- The Vatican’s Fig Leaf Campaign. How and why the classical antiques were… | by Kamna Kirti | Lessons from History | Aug, 2020 | Medium
- What Were The Punic Wars? Your Guide to Rome Versus Carthage – HistoryExtra
- Augustine of Hippo: Patron Saint of Political Criticism | Merion West
- Damnatio memoriae: Ancient Rome’s cancel culture – Thought Leader
- Titian, Venus of Urbino – Smarthistory
‘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 both prosperity and disagreements among the common folk.
… 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)
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