Hodie est a.d. VI kal. Ian. 2774 AUC ~ 24 Poseideon in the first year of the 700th Olympiad

In the News

• Bratislava archaeologists find an ancient military diploma – spectator.sme.sk
• Antiquities thieves busted plundering ancient cave in southern Judea – www.israelhayom.com
• Large Roman fort built by Caligula discovered near Amsterdam | World news | The Guardian
• The ‘amber elites’ in ancient Kaliningrad went to eternity with their horses – Archaeology – Haaretz.com
• Sassanid seal depicting unique animal motif unearthed in northern Iran – Tehran Times
• Christian archaeology in 2021: More than just the Four Horsemen – Archaeology – Haaretz.com

Classicists and Classics in the News

• 108-year-old Sumerologist credits Istanbul museum for long career | Daily Sabah

Greek/Latin News

• Radiogiornale Latino 25.12.2021 – Podcast – Radio Vaticana – Vatican News – 
• Radiogiornale Latino 26.12.2021 – Podcast – Radio Vaticana – Vatican News – 
• Ephemeris – DE CAEDE BENGALENSI –
• Ephemeris AVE ATQUE VALE, EPISCOPE!

Public Facing Classics

• On beards – Engelsberg Ideas
• What’s the Oldest Sport?

Fresh Bloggery

• Laudator Temporis Acti: Fire and Apples
• Doubtful Dürer? The Joy of Art Market Authenticity Controversy
• Virgin Birth in the Wilderness: The Apocryphal Gospel of James for Christmas Eve – SENTENTIAE ANTIQUAE
• AWOL – The Ancient World Online: Kyprianos Update (22 December 2021)
• AWOL – The Ancient World Online: Digital Model of Babylon
• Drinking is a Double-Edged Sword – SENTENTIAE ANTIQUAE
• De slag bij Kounaxa (1) – Mainzer Beobachter
• De slag bij Kounaxa (2) – Mainzer Beobachter
• PaleoJudaica.com: Apocryphal Christmas, once again
• PaleoJudaica.com: Jesus’ birth in the Gospel of James.
• De slag bij Kounaxa (3) – Mainzer Beobachter
• PaleoJudaica.com: The Cave of Treasures etc.
• PaleoJudaica.com: Christmas 2021
• Laudator Temporis Acti: Life as an Inn
• Didn’t Get What You Wanted for Christmas? Tell Xenophon About It – SENTENTIAE ANTIQUAE
• Seneca Admits: Giving Gifts Ain’t Easy – SENTENTIAE ANTIQUAE
• Didn’t Get What You Want for Christmas? Cicero Writes His Brother About Books – SENTENTIAE ANTIQUAE
• De slag bij Kounaxa (4) – Mainzer Beobachter
• Het einde van Klearchos – Mainzer Beobachter
• PaleoJudaica.com: Visit virtual Babylon
• PaleoJudaica.com: Aramaic magic bowls in the Kyprianos Database
• Jezus, Petrus, Domitianus en een vis – Mainzer Beobachter
• Blogs of the Year 2021 | Sphinx
• The Magi, Herod, and A Flight to Egypt – SENTENTIAE ANTIQUAE
• Laudator Temporis Acti: Hodie Mihi, Cras Tibi
• The Wrong Monkey: Just a Thought
• Republic of Rome – Mainzer Beobachter
• PaleoJudaica.com: Porter, Johannine Social Identity Formation after the Fall of the Jerusalem Temple (Brill)
• No, Santa Claus Is Not Inspired by Odin – Tales of Times Forgotten
• PaleoJudaica.com: Holladay, Hellenistic Jewish Literature and the New Testament (Mohr Siebeck)
• PaleoJudaica.com: Stone, Armenian Apocrypha from Adam to Daniel (SBL)
• Looting Matters: San Antonio Museum of Art and returning antiquities
• Looting Matters: The Várez Fisa Collection in Madrid
• Looting Matters: Merrin Gallery returns terracotta to Italy
• Spencer Alley: Dutch Prints and Drawings (Figures and Statues)

Association/Departmental Blogs and News

• Precious Metals at the Beginning and End of Jesus’ Life I: Gold « The Classical Association in Northern Ireland

Other Blog-like Publications

• AGRIGENTO. Statuette votive e decorazioni di un tetto segnalano un altro edificio sacro antichissimo nella Valle dei Templi. – Archeologia online – Archeomedia
• The Ras il-Wardija Punic Sanctuary – HeritageDaily – Archaeology News

Assorted Twitter Threads

• @DocCrom on some coins of Galba

Fresh Podcasts

• Life Of Caesar: The Pisonian Conspiracy on Apple Podcasts – 

Nero has some freedmen executed but the stories are murky. The Parthians decide to try their luck taking back Armenia while Corbulo tries to keep the peace.

• Dan Snow’s History Hit: Storytime with the Snows: Boudica on Apple Podcasts – 

In a special episode of the podcast, Dan’s children join him for a lively retelling of Boudica and the violent uprising that tore Roman Britain apart- a classic bedtime story in the Snow household. Merry Christmas from Dan and his family!

• The Ancients: Race & Identity in the Ancient Greek Novel on Apple Podcasts – 

For the first 4 centuries AD/CE, the ancient Greek novel was the most popular literary form in the Roman Empire and at the heart of these popular texts is discussion over race and identity. Could a Phoenician living within the Empire also identify as Roman? Could they be both X and Y? And can we use these novels as a lens through which to see how people in the ancient Mediterranean viewed prominent powers beyond Rome’s borders, for instance the Kingdom of Axum in modern day Ethiopia. To explain this and more, with a particular focus on Heliodorus’ Aethiopica, Tristan spoke to Dr Mai Musié, Public Engagement Manager at the Bodleian Libraries in Oxford.

• History of the World podcast: Vol 4 Ep 8 – The Byzantine Empire, Part Three on Apple Podcasts – 

718 – 976 – This period represents a reestablishment of the Byzantine Empire in a new world of Christian competition, and emerging nations looking to challenge Byzantine dominance and ideology.

Fresh Youtubery

• Saturnalia: When Slaves Became Masters | Athena Productions
• How to Use the False Gap to Win the Battles – Ancient Tactics #shorts | Kings and Generals
• Q&A in spoken Latin || All about my new intermediate / advanced course, (Y)PLC | Satura Lanx
• Ancient Coins: My Top 10 Coins for 2021 – Classical Numismatics
• How Elephants Worked & Flirted with Ancient Greeks – Classics in Color
• Battle of Issus 333 BC – Alexander the Great DOCUMENTARY – Kings and Generals
• Iter Latinum, Learn grammar with easy Latin. Baden-Baden, Caracalla-Thermen, Subtitles! – Musa Pedestris
• Review of LAST DAYS OF TROY by Simon Armitage – Moan Inc

Book Reviews

• A Thing of Beauty by Peter Fiennes book review | The TLS
• Voyage autour du Caucase, chez les Tcherkesses et les Abkhases, en Colchide, en Géorgie, en Arménie et en Crimée | Spartokos a lu
• On Christianity, Ancient Rome, History, and Memory: A Christmas Season Reflection – Real Context News (RCN)

Exhibition Related Things

• Rubens and the Inspiration of Ancient Greece and Rome – Breaking & Latest News, Greece, Cyprus, Hellenic Diaspora News

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

• Time to Crack Down on the Criminal Art Trade – The American Conservative
• Author Interview: “Embattled” – Can Ancient Greek Myths Help Us Resist Tyranny? – The Arts Fuse
• The early life of Cleopatra – HeritageDaily – Archaeology News
• A Linguistic Look at Omicron | The New Yorker

‘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 the king helping many people.

… 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)