Hodie est a.d. VI Id. Dec 2775 AUC ~ 15 Poseideion in the second year of the 700th Olympiad
In the News
- ‘I Just Googled, ‘How Do You Repatriate Antiquities?’’: How One Man Hand-Restituted His Grandmother’s Valuable Artifacts to Diplomats on Embassy Row | Artnet News
- Carving of man holding his penis and surrounded by leopards is oldest known depiction of a narrative scene, archaeologists say
- Gaza: excavations begin at Roman cemetery – Middle East Monitor
- Excitement grows over possible discovery of rare Roman temple underneath Lancaster | Lancaster Guardian
- UCC repatriates Egyptian mummy – The Irish Times
- Greek Sling Bullet From Hasmonean Period Found in Yavne Reveals Case of Ancient Psychological Warfare – Archaeology – Haaretz.com
- Biga di Monteleone, il ministero riaccende la speranza
- Why the Gonzo Conspiracy That Rome Isn’t Real Keeps Going Viral
In Case You Missed It
- The UK Again Rejects the Return of the Parthenon Marbles to Greece
- Greece seeks ‘win-win’ deal on Parthenon Sculptures in UK | eKathimerini.com
- Report Says Parthenon Marbles Will Return to Greece in 2023 – The National Herald
- Even The Big Elephant In Bloomsbury Must Defend Itself: British Museum Reacts To Recent Wave Of Restitutions
- Looted artifacts worth millions said seized from US collector, a key donor to Israel | The Times of Israel
- Findings from 3,000-year-old Uluburun shipwreck reveal complex trade network – The Source – Washington University in St. Louis
Classicists and Classics in the News
Greek/Latin News
Public Facing Classics
- Man holding penis and flanked by leopards is world’s oldest narrative carving | Live Science
- Rutland Roman villa: how we found one of the most significant mosaics discovered in the UK
Fresh Bloggery
- Laudator Temporis Acti: Do Not Go Beyond What Is Written
- The Debt of Fault and Song – SENTENTIAE ANTIQUAE
- More New Work on Early Christian Attica | Archaeology of the Mediterranean World
- In Exchange for Pain, Sometimes Good – SENTENTIAE ANTIQUAE
- AWOL – The Ancient World Online: The World of Alexander in Perspective: Contextualizing Arrian.
- AWOL – The Ancient World Online: L’Empire romain. Histoire et modèles: Scripta varia III
- Portable Antiquity Collecting and Heritage Issues: Finds Rate Over 30 years in North Essex. What UK’s Pro-Detecting Arkies Prefer Not to Know About
- Portable Antiquity Collecting and Heritage Issues: Errr… Figring Out Is Hard for Sum
- Cynisme (2): Diogenes van Sinope – Mainzer Beobachter
- The History Blog » Blog Archive » Armor, animal, human offerings found at Gallo-Roman sanctuary
- Laudator Temporis Acti: The Test of Translation into Latin
- A Measure for Each Thing – SENTENTIAE ANTIQUAE
Other Blog-like Publications
- December 25th and Christmas – Biblical Archaeology Society
- Archaeologists discover oldest known narrative scene dating from 11,000-years-ago – HeritageDaily – Archaeology News
- Archaeologists excavate ancient churches from African Kingdom – HeritageDaily – Archaeology News
Assorted Twitter Threads
Fresh Podcasts
This week the guys move (nearer) to the end of Book VII and examine the role of that frightful, hair raising, blood-curdilng sister of Tisiphone and Megaera known as Allecto. Juno — who knows she’s lost but doesn’t like being a one-trick villainess — unleashes hell’s wrath on Aeneas’ nascent nuptial notions. Allecto’s conjured up and down she goes into Amata to spread havoc across the Italian landscape. Along the way we investigate such questions as: is Ascanius’ aristeia just riding his pony in the Trojan Games? Can such an innocuous, apparently inconsequential accident like killing a pet albino stag really lead, Gavrilo Princip style, to world war? Where exactly is Ampsanctus? And why doesn’t Jeff know who Glenn Hughes is? So pull on your deep purple jumper, your sweats by Vanquished or Loser, and digress for success!
Zeus, the chief deity in Greek mythology, is the Olympian god of sky and thunder and is king of all other gods and men. His tale is one of overthrowing fathers, eating babies and seducing women, both mortal and divine, by changing his own form. He’s one of the most complex figures in history, and his story is one that’s been retold throughout millennia. To try and make sense of it all, we’re going back to the very beginning, to the origins of Zeus, starting with his grandfather and grandmother, Uranus and Gaia. We learn about the prophecy that ultimately overthrows Uranus, the same one that is also fated for Zeus’s father, Cronus, and start to understand the family tree that becomes the Olympians – from Athena to Dionysus. For this episode of The Ancients, Tristan Hughes is joined by academic, author, broadcaster and Professor in Classics and Ancient History at the University of Warwick, Michael Scott. If you enjoyed this episode, you might also enjoy The Symposium: How To Party Like An Ancient Greek, also with Michael Scott.
With ancient Rome often being viewed as a mighty, impenetrable empire – it seems unlikely that one man, let alone a pirate, could ever bring this empire to it’s knees. Yet that’s exactly what Carausius, posthumously dubbed the ‘Pirate King’, did. Striking when Rome was already weak and without it’s Naval Fleet, Carausius took advantage of Britain’s vulnerability and declared himself Emperor of Britain – but how long did this daring new venture last? In this episode, Simon Elliot returns to the podcast to delve into this fantastical history of the Pirate King. Looking at backstabbing best friends (quite literally), family dynasties, and fog covered frontiers – can we really call Carausius the Pirate King?
The Indus Valley civilization is one of the oldest, largest, most sophisticated Bronze Age civilizations we know about today. Roughly 80 cities and towns have been unearthed that were part of it. The biggest—perhaps the most important—was a city called Mohenjo Daro. There were no kings at Mohenjo Daro, no priests and few signs of organized religion. There are few if any signs of war, slavery, wealth inequality or violence. There was a very high standard of living for its time, including indoor flushing toilets in every home. But they don’t call it “Mound of the Dead Men” for nothing. It turns out this peaceful, utopian ancient city has a gruesome secret…
Fresh Youtubery
- Sofia Torallas-Tovar | Egyptians in Athens: Following the Trails of Words – YouTube | Oriental Institute
- Spotlight Lecture: From Zero to Hero: the resurrection of Tutankhamun – YouTube | Egypt Exploration Society
- Yule/Joke Etymologies – YouTube | Alliterative
- Lesson in Latin | The true cause of Rome’s might? – YouTube | Latinitium
- Where Does The Name Mesopotamia Come From? – YouTube | Ancient History Guy
- L’Aurige de Delphes. À la redécouverte d’un grand bronze exceptionnel – YouTube | Ecole française d’Athènes
Book Reviews
- BMCR ~ Sabine Deschler-Erb, Umberto Albarella, Silvia Valenzuela Lamas, Gabriele Rasbach, Roman animals in ritual and funerary contexts. Proceedings of the 2nd meeting of the Zooarchaeology of the Roman Period Working Group, Basel 1st-4th February, 2018. Kolloquien zur Vor- und Frühgeschichte, 26. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, 2021.
- BMCR ~ Joshua J. Thomas, Art, science, and the natural world in the ancient Mediterranean, 300 BC to AD 100. Oxford studies in ancient culture and representation. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2022.
- The sacred drugs of antiquity: Fact and fiction | Science & Tech | EL PAÍS English Edition
- Papyrus by Irene Vallejo review – how books built the world | History books | The Guardian
Online Talks and Conference-Related Things
- CAC CFP 2023 – The Classical Association of Canada
- See what’s happening today in Dr Pistone’s Online Classics Social Calendar
- SCS Events Calendar
Jobs, Postdocs, and other Professional Matters
Research Papers of Possible Interest
Alia
- What King Tut’s treasures reveal about daily life in ancient Egypt | Aeon Essays
- Everyday Life in Ancient Athens
- Armless Fun? | History Today
- The Ancient Greek Queen of India, Agathoclea Theotropos
- The Greek Roots of the Names of Cities in Ukraine
Diversions
‘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 outbreak of a spreading disease, out of which, however, will come an abundance of crops but a plague on the flocks.
… 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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