Thelxinoe ~ Classics News for August 14th, 2023

Hodie est a.d. XIX Kal. Sept. 2776 AUC ~ 28 Hekatombaion in the third year of the 700th Olympiad

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On this Part 2 of our discussion Flint dives deeper into the ancient Athenian world. What did they eat? How did they butcher their animals, what was the difference between sacrificial feasts and home cooking? How’s the urban eating habits and technology change from the 1st millenium BCE going towards the classical period and Athens’s hygemony in the years of the Delian League?

Dan tells the story of Archimedes, the ancient Greek inventor whose weapons of war protected the town of Syracuse from a Roman army. The Romans laid siege to Syracuse between 213 and 212 BC, attacking by sea and land, but were repelled by the city’s defences. The story goes that these included fantastical devices like the Claw of Archimedes, and a ‘Death Ray’ that would set ships ablaze. Eventually the stalemate broke and the Romans captured the city, but Archimedes’ name would survive through the centuries. So who exactly was Archimedes? Can we believe these tall tales of ancient invention? And why did this siege happen anyway? Dan traces the course of Archimedes’ life against the backdrop of the Punic Wars to answer these questions, and more.

Gladiators are one the most enduring symbols of Ancient Rome, and Pompeii is no exception. In the second episode of our special series on Pompeii, we’re separating fact from fiction with the help of Pompeii’s leading experts. We’ll be taking you to the heart of gladiatorial life, from the Amphitheatre, to the training barracks, and finding out what life was like. Who could become Gladiators? Who were the most famous ones? What were the different types? And what is the complicated but fascinating legacy they’ve left behind?

For more than 3,000 years, the ancient Egyptians adhered to a rich and complex system of beliefs, worshipping a vast pantheon of mighty – and often animal-headed – gods and goddesses. But how did this dynamic religion emerge? What was the pharaoh’s role in rituals? And what did the Egyptians believe happened to them after death? In our latest everything you wanted to know episode, Egyptologist Joyce Tyldesley speaks to Danny Bird to answer your questions on the mysteries surrounding religion in ancient Egypt.

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‘Sorting’ Out Your Day:

Today on the Etruscan Brontoscopic Calendar:

If it thunders today, it portends  war for the people but an abundance of crops.

… 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)