Thelxinoe ~ Classics News for October 6, 2023

~ David Meadows ~ rogueclassicist

Hodie est pr. Non. Oct. 2776 AUC ~ 22 Boedromion in the third year of the 700th Olympiad

In the News

In Case You Missed It

Classicists and Classics in the News

Greek/Latin News

Public Facing Classics

Fresh Bloggery

Other Blog-like Publications

Assorted Twitter Threads

Fresh Podcasts

Gird your togas, it’s time for part one of our much-anticipated look back at HBO’s 2005 prestige drama series, Rome. A big favorite of ours, we dig into what this show gets about antiquity, from the graffiti-ridden alleys of the Suburra to the partisan gridlock of the Curia. We especially love its marriage of the plebeian with the patrician, how it combines the fancy parties and politicking of the Julii clan with the quotidian troubles of regular people, and how both elements come together to far-reaching effects. Politics, class, religion, medicine, insane penises, disgraced 80’s presidential candidates; it’s all there.

Ok, so it’s not American Naval History, but this episode is too interesting not to post. With Professor Bret Devereaux I discuss the essentially non-Mahanian nature of ancient naval warfare. Because galleys were both cheap to build (but expensive to maintain) and had very limited operational endurance, the missions they could perform and the strategic use of galley navies was extremely different than Age of Sail and modern navies. For anyone used to thinking about naval power in the modern era this is going to be a paradigm shifting discussion!

Manos sent this in for Murray to chew over. ‘Having heard and read so much about Phillip & Alexander’s training of the Macedonian phalanx as to becoming flexible in manoeuvring difficult battle landscapes as well as proficient when encountering lateral attacks, I remain sceptical about the devastating results in both the battles of Cynoscephalae and Pydna. Was it hubris on the part of Phillip and later his son Perseus or lax training which resulted in both battles’ outcome?’

Liv reads a selection of spooky content from ancient authors: Aeschylus’ Agamemnon, translated by Herbert Weir Smyth; Aeschylus’ Eumenides, translated by Herbert Weir Smyth; Lucan’s Pharsalia; Letters of Pliny the Younger, translated by William Melmoth.

Fresh Youtubery

Book Reviews

Online Talks and Conference-Related Things

Jobs, Postdocs, and other Professional Matters

Alia

Diversions

‘Sorting’ Out Your Day:

Today on the Etruscan Brontoscopic Calendar:

If it thunders today, it portends the appearance of future abundance but the harvest will  be sparse and the autumn practically devoid of fruit.

… 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)

Published by David Meadows ~ rogueclassicist

Leave a comment