Hodie est a.d. VII Kal. Dec. 2774 AUC ~ 21 Maimakterion in the first year of the 700th Olympiad
In the News
- PM Mitsotakis Calls Once again for Parthenon Sculptures Return – Breaking & Latest News, Greece, Cyprus, Hellenic Diaspora News
- Three looted Palmyra sculptures seized in Geneva freeport return to Syria
- ‘Oh wow’: remarkable Roman mosaic found in Rutland field | Heritage | The Guardian
- Iranian, French archaeologists uncover clues about ancient settlements – Tehran Times
- Pompeii fresco puzzle to get help from robots – BBC News
- Iraq’s historic Arch of Ctesiphon undergoes restoration work
In Case You Missed It
- Ancient Roman Marble Statue Of Greek Aphrodite Goddess Of Love Heads To Auction After 70 Years Unseen By The Public — Greek City Times
- Roman soldier’s iron mask found in Karabük
Greek/Latin News
Fresh Bloggery
- Coming Together to Feast – SENTENTIAE ANTIQUAE
- Portable Antiquity Collecting and Heritage Issues: UK Jernlists Wot Kant Spell Luv Th’ Metal Detectrists
- A Simple Plan for Being the Perfect Dinner Guest – SENTENTIAE ANTIQUAE
- Portable Antiquity Collecting and Heritage Issues: Another Yandex Reality Check on the International No-Questions-Asked Antiquities Market
- Make A Seating Plan for Your Holiday Feast, Unless Simonides is Coming… – SENTENTIAE ANTIQUAE
- AWOL – The Ancient World Online: The archive of Zenon
- Wereldrijk Assyrië – Mainzer Beobachter
- PaleoJudaica.com: BAS 2021 Publication Awards
- PaleoJudaica.com: A shamanic life-setting for the Ascension of Isaiah?
- PaleoJudaica.com: An ancient Roman gaming board in Jerusalem
Other Blog-like Publications
- Handing over of 38 antiquities at the Embassy of the Republic of Cyprus
- Extraordinary Roman mosaic and villa discovered
- Ariadne replaces Theseus’ sails: A review of an exhibition in Herakleio, Crete, and its approach to Classics today | by James Hua | Ostraka | Nov, 2021 | Medium
Assorted Twitter Threads
Fresh Podcasts
This is simultaneously an excavation of both Imperial Rome and late 60’s Italian cinema. Joined by the amazing Sarah E. Bond and Gregory Hays, we dig into Frederico Fellini’s dreamlike, even frenetic, adaptation of the Satyricon by Petronius. This is a film which has a lot of offer when it comes to classical reception. In lieu of ‘historically accuracy’ (if we care about such things), Fellini presents us with a fantastical and at times unnerving vision of ancient Rome. In some ways, Fellini Satyricon is the true embodiment of how we receive both Petronius’ work and the ancient world at large: fragmentary, perplexing and often unknowable. Final Verdict (courtesy of SEB): Watch more movies! Care less about accuracy!
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss one of Plato’s most striking dialogues, in which he addresses the real nature of power and freedom, and the relationship between pleasure and true self-interest. As he tests these ideas, Plato creates powerful speeches, notably from Callicles who claims that laws of nature trump man-made laws, that might is right, and that rules are made by weak people to constrain the strong in defiance of what is natural and proper. Gorgias is arguably the most personal of all of Plato’s dialogues, with its hints of a simmering fury at the system in Athens that put his mentor Socrates to death, and where rhetoric held too much sway over people.
Despite inspiring desire of all kinds in people of all genders, Aphrodite herself is often depicted as a cisgender woman. But not always. Ancient writers tell us of mystery cults that worshipped Aphrodite as a transgender woman–or perhaps as nonbinary or intersex. And when you delve into her most ancient roots, there’s an even older tradition of worship led by transgender priestesses.
What happens when a bunch of archaeologists start drinking bourbon and let their graying hair down? It’s an after hours edition with the one and only Professor James Hardin, who rather charmingly, can’t stay on script. He takes us to some surprising places, including some related to archaeological storytelling.
Classical Greece and Rome have long been intertwined with colonialism. India was known to the ancient Greeks and Romans, and there were extensive trade and cultural contacts between South Asia and the Mediterranean region. When British colonial rule began in India, one of the frames through which Britons viewed the region was that of Greek and Roman antiquity: they imagined themselves following in the footsteps of Alexander the Great or legendary Roman conquerors. In this episode, Shivaike Shah speaks to Professor Phiroze Vasunia from University College London about the rich and fascinating connections between antiquity, Britain and India in the era of modern colonialism. Their discussions range from Macaulay’s ‘Minute’ on Indian education, to Gandhi’s interest in Greek philosophy and the British scholarly obsession with Indian cultures.
Fresh Youtubery
- Nero: the Man Behind the Myth – Behind the scenes with curator Thorsten Opper | Roman Society
- Suzanne Marchand on Herodotus, Historian of the People of Israel, without knowing it | Herodotus Helpline
Book Reviews
- Odessos à l’époque romaine (Ier – IIIe siècle) | Spartokos a lu
- [BMCR] Syrithe Pugh, Conversations: classical and Renaissance intertextuality. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2020.
- [BMCR] Emmanuelle Capet, C. Dogniez, M. Gorea, R. Koch-Piettre, F. Massa, H. Rouillard-Bonraisin, Reconstruire les villes: modes, motifs et récits. Semitica et classica, Supplementa 1. Turnhout: Brepols, 2019.
- [BMCR] Charlotte C. S. Thomas, The female drama: the philosophical feminine in the soul of Plato’s Republic. Macon: Mercer University Press, 2020.
Exhibition Related Things
Online Talks and Professional Matters
- See what’s happening today in Dr Pistone’s Online Classics Social Calendar
- SCS Calendar: Classics, Ancient History, and Classical Archaeology Webinars
Alia
- A rare look inside the Smithsonian’s secret storerooms | National Geographic
- A Brief Scientific History of Glass | Science | Smithsonian Magazine
- Britain can gain by giving back the Elgin Marbles | Comment | The Times
- New momentum for return of Parthenon Marbles | eKathimerini.com
- The Ancient Greek Roots of Thanksgiving
‘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 dangerous war.
… 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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