Month: February 2022

#Thelxinoe ~ Classics News for February 28, 2022

~ David Meadows ~ rogueclassicist ~ Leave a comment

Hodie est pr. Kal. Mart. 2775 AUC ~ 27 Anthesterion in the first year of the 700th Olympiad

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With the destruction of the Celtiberian city of Saguntum in 219, much of the Mediterranean world was plunged into a state of warfare for nearly two decades, as the Roman Republic would once again battle Carthage for dominance, and face their greatest foe to date: Hannibal Barca, son of Hamilcar. To the surprise and horror of the Senate, Hannibal would audaciously plan and execute a crossing of the Alps and bring the war to Italy, slaughtering the Roman armies thrown at him at the Trebia River and Lake Trasimene in 218/217.

Famous throughout antiquity, yet retold only in fragments today – who is Sappho? Her poetry inspired generations, from Catullus to Byron, so how come we know so little about her life? This week Tristan is joined by Professor Margaret Reynolds from Queen Mary University in London to piece together what we know about Sappho. What can we learn from her fragmented history and how do her depictions in art further our understanding of who she was?

Synopsis: The growing power of the Israelites and Arameans is reflected in the construction of new temples to Yahweh in Jerusalem and Hadad-Rammon in Damascus. A resurgent Egypt – under increasing influence of the Libyan Meshwesh – begins to eye its former Levantine holdings.

Today’s Quotation is care of Demosthenes..

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Alia

Diversions

‘Sorting’ Out Your Day:

Today on the Etruscan Brontoscopic Calendar:

If it thunders today, it portends abundance and yet at the same time, a disease carrying wind.

… 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)

#Thelxinoe ~ Classics News for February 26, 2022

~ David Meadows ~ rogueclassicist ~ Leave a comment

Hodie est a.d. IV Kal. Mart. 2775 AUC ~ 25 Anthesterion in the first year of the 700th Olympiad

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Why do we build the podcast? We build the podcast to set us free! This week we shift gears into musical theater with very special super guest Sam Lipert, a Lynchburg student taking the professors to class on Hadestown, a Tony-winning musical which made its Broadway debut in 2019. We get into stagecraft, aesthetics and how creators Anaïs Mitchell and Rachel Chavkin adapt Greek myth to the modern theater (with nods to ancient tragedy). Also hear our favorite songs and moments from a veritable gold mine (or oil field) of riches. Persephone’s cup truly runneth over!

Londinium was a significant city in the Roman empire, as it was the hub of activity and the capital of the province of Britannia. It was built on the bank of the River Thames and became the largest city in Roman Britain. Guest: Dr Dominic Perring (Director of the Centre for Applied Archaeology at University College London).

Russī in Ucraīnā …

As the power struggle in Rome continued and generals waged their war on the battlefield, Cicero took to the floors of the senate, confronting Antony with the greatest weapon in his arsenal: the spoken word. He called his speeches the Philippics, and they were influential in turning the senate against Antony. Part II of ‘The Liberator’s War’ Guest: Dr Kathryn Tempest (Reader in Classics and Ancient History, University of Roehampton).

Liv speaks with David J Wright who has studied Monster Theory as it relates to the monsters of Greek myth… He also teaches mythology, and Medusa specifically, so you just know they had a great conversation. Follow David on Twitter for all things monsters and more. The piece of pottery referred to after the ad break can be found here.

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‘Sorting’ Out Your Day:

Today on the Etruscan Brontoscopic Calendar:

[Saturday] If it thunders today, it portends hot weather, drought, and scabs on bodies.

[Sunday]  If it thunders today, it portends unrest among the commons.

… 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)

#Thelxinoe ~ Classics News for February 25, 2022

~ David Meadows ~ rogueclassicist ~ Leave a comment

Hodie est a.d. V Kal. Mart. 2775 AUC ~ 24 Anthesterion in the first year of the 700th Olympiad

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Patron of the podcast Carlos sent us this question, ‘what were the methods used by groups like the Romans or any of the Near East powers to counter the firepower discipline and mobility of the horse archer nomad armies?’

The words of the Delphic oracle had rung true, the rising empire founded by Cyrus the great, the Persians had just destroyed a mighty empire, in that of king Croesus and his Lydians. The Greeks of Ionia had stood by idle only having been subjected to the Lydians a generation earlier. Cyrus had tried to incite the Greeks to rebel, though they would wait to see which way the winds would blow. With the Persian victory the Greeks now sought to arrange favourable terms with the new power in the region. Though, their fence sitting would find their attempts met with anger and distain from Cyrus. With Sardis captured and only mopping up operations left in the west, Cyrus departed back into the empire leaving his commanders to finish the job…

Lindsay Powell joins us to talk about Bar Kokhba, the Jew who defied Hadrian and challenged the might of Rome.

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‘Sorting’ Out Your Day:

Today on the Etruscan Brontoscopic Calendar:

If it thunders today, there will be a reversal of fortune for the wealthy; there will also be wars and a heavy storm.

… 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)

#Thelxinoe ~ Classics News for February 24, 2022

~ David Meadows ~ rogueclassicist ~ Leave a comment

Hodie est a.d. VI Kal. Mart. 2775 AUC ~ 23 Anthesterion in the first year of the 700th Olympiad

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Caligula’s reputation through the ages has been one of tyranny and insatiable appetite, but he was once just a little boy in boots. In today’s episode we cover the beginning of the Roman Empire and the family at the center of it all!

In ancient Rome, there were a lot of eunuchs. Some were enslaved, some were free; some were members of religious cults, some were not. No study of queer history in ancient Greece and Rome would be complete without them. Today, we’re going to take a look at the history of people who underwent castration in the Roman Empire—why they did it, when they did and didn’t have a choice, and what their lives were like.

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Alia

‘Sorting’ Out Your Day:

Today on the Etruscan Brontoscopic Calendar:

If it thunders today, it portends good health for humans but destruction for fish and reptiles.

… 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)

#Thelxinoe ~ Classics News for February 23, 2022

~ David Meadows ~ rogueclassicist ~ Leave a comment

Hodie est a.d. VII Kal. Mart. 2775 AUC ~ 22 Anthesterion in the first year of the 700th Olympiad

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We’re talking about bread again! This time, about ancient Greek bread — its vocabulary, the many types of bread and how they were made, and the economic aspects of bread production. Josh shares his practical experiences of baking along with his research into the classical Greek world.

It’s the summer of 415 BC and the Athenians (in the middle of a devastating war with Sparta) are debating whether to launch a naval expedition against colonies in Sicily. General Nicias says “no”, but here comes wonder boy Alcibiades who makes the assembly swoon, what with his silver tongue, chariot laurels, wavy hair, and chiseled abs, and it’s off to Sicily we go. But wait! On the night before departure somebody mutilates a bunch of herms in the city and maybe even performs a drunken satire of sacred mysteries! Questions invite questions: was it Alcibiades? If so, does he deserve the death penalty? Why would you want one of those scurrilous statues on your street corner? And don’t miss the following defections, deflections, and rejections.  Pull up a chair, check your emergency umlaut supply, and crack open a case of Löwenbräu. You can’t make this stuff up.

A troubled soul in life, Emperor Gaius Caligula’s spirit remains restless in death… This story is adapted from Suetonius, Life of Caligula, 59 and is followed by a discussion about Caligula, King Herod Agrippa, and Roman funerary rites.

London is today one of the greatest cities in the world, and the story of its origins is fittingly spectacular. Founded by the Romans as Londinium in around 47-50 AD, the metropolis served as a major commercial hub and indeed military target until its abandonment in the 5th century. It wouldn’t be until the turn of the following millennium that London regained its eminence under the Anglo-Saxons. Thanks to centuries of astonishing discoveries and decades of key archaeological research, we actually know quite a lot about Londinium; perhaps even why the Romans chose to found it there in what was previously a rural and peripheral landscape under the Celtic Britons. In this episode, Tristan chats to ‘Mr Roman London’ himself Dr Dominic Perring, Professor of Archaeology at UCL, who shares incredible insights into the origins of London and what its artefacts tell us about the very first Londoners.

Edmonia Lewis broke barriers as the first African-American and Native American sculptor to achieve worldwide renown for her neoclassical works in marble and bronze. After her death, her most famous masterpiece lived on, incognito until its relatively recent rediscovery.

Heracles reign of terror continues as he finds yet another woman to marry. This time, he must fight a river and defeat a centaur but not before inadvertently providing the cause of his own mortal demise…

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Alia

‘Sorting’ Out Your Day:

Today on the Etruscan Brontoscopic Calendar:

If it thunders today, it portends deformities for humans and destruction for birds.

… 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)