Category: Online Tools

Suda On Line: Final Entry Entered!

~ David Meadows ~ rogueclassicist ~ 1 Comment

I’m not sure how many folks are aware of the Suda On Line (a.k.a. SOL), but it has been a huge project for quite a few folks for the past 16 or so years. Long before the concept of ‘crowdsourcing’ existed, and long before Wikipedia existed, a discussion on the Classics list bore fruit and resulted in the online translation of the Suda. Just t’other day, long-time denizen of said list Jim O’Donnell pointed us to the final paragraph of the page about the history of the project:

A translation of the last of the Suda’s 31000+ entries was submitted to the database on July 21, 2014 and vetted the next day. This milestone is very gratifying, but the work of the project is far from over. As mentioned above, one of the founding principles of the project is that the process of improving and annotating our translations will go on indefinitely. Much important work remains to be done. We are also constantly thinking of ways to improve SOL’s infrastructure and to add new tools and features. If you are interested in helping us with the continuing betterment of SOL, please read about how you can register as an editor and/or contact the managing editors.

Indeed, the project was a pioneer in the field of Digital Humanities, and Anne Mahoney wrote an informative piece for Digital Humanities Quarterly about it back in 2009: Tachypaedia Byzantina: The Suda On Line as Collaborative Encyclopedia. Both the history and AM’s article give a rather brief view of how it all came together. If you want to follow the flurry of emails (yes, yours truly was involved … back in my grad student days) to see what a difficult birth it was, check out another page at the SOL: How the SOL was born. If you do read it, I do want to go on record as saying — even though I argued vigorously for it at the time — that I’m extremely happy that we didn’t settle on PDF as a format for the project. We should also pause and remember the many people who were there at the start who aren’t with us today … Ross Scaife, Don Fowler, and James Butrica (if I’ve left some out, please drop me a line).

Visualizing Classics on the Web

~ David Meadows ~ rogueclassicist ~ 2 Comments

Richard Campbell has put together a really useful ‘visualization’ of useful Classical resources (especially departments with Classics programs) … it’s also searchable and worth poking around, especially if you’re a student looking for that College/University that has someone who specializes in what you’re interested in:

Coin Hoards of the Roman Republic Online

~ David Meadows ~ rogueclassicist ~ Leave a comment

This one’s been hitting all my social media sources and a few lists as well … here’s a description from the page:

Coin hoards of the Roman Republic Online (CHRR Online) is a database of Roman Republican coin hoards mainly from the period 155 BC to AD 2. This database began life as a personal research database constructed by Kris Lockyear using a combination of published data and Michael Crawford’s personal archive now housed in the British Museum. The online database, which utilises the Numishare application developed by Ethan Gruber, is a joint project between Kris Lockyear (Institute of Archaeology, University College London) and the American Numismatic Society. Project coordination provided by Rick Witschonke of the ANS. […]

Check it out: Coin hoards of the Roman Republic Online

Africans in Roman Britain

~ David Meadows ~ rogueclassicist ~ 1 Comment

Saw this in something called The Voice:

AN INTERACTIVE website for children highlighting the diversity of Roman Britain will be launched tomorrow in a bid to challenge lessons on the current history curriculum.

The Romans Revealed project – a collaboration between race equality think tank the Runnymede Trust and archaeologists from the University of Reading – will be officially launched at the Museum of London on April 25.

It will act as a learning resource for teachers and parents to show children about a lesser-known side of the historical period.

The interactive website allows children to ‘dig up’ graves and read stories by children’s author Caroline Lawrence told from the perspective of four people living in Roman Britain.

It follows a research project from the university, A Long Way Home: Diaspora Communities in Roman Britain, which examined over 150 skeletons to find out about patterns of migration.

Dr Hella Eckardt, senior lecturer in Roman Archaeology at the University of Reading, said: “Our analysis of excavated skeletal remains of people living in Roman Britain such as the ‘Ivory Bangle Lady’ and others like her show that multicultural Britain is not just a phenomenon of more modern times.”

By analysing skeletons facial features, skull measurements, the chemical signature of food and drink and burial goods, archaeologists were able to learn more about Roman times and migrants of African descent who came to Britain.

The ‘Ivory Bangle Lady’ was a high status young woman of North African descent who remains were buried in Roman York (Sycamore Terrace).

Dated to the second half of the 4th Century, her grave contained jet and elephant ivory bracelets, earrings, pendants, beads, a blue glass jug and a glass mirror.

Dr Debbie Weekes-Bernard, who is leading the Romans Revealed outreach project, said: “The University of Reading research results showed that people came to Britain from many different parts of the Roman Empire, including North Africa. In some of the larger towns like York and Winchester, up to 20 per cent of the Roman Britain population may be classed as ‘non-local’ or ‘incomers’.

“This research is really important, providing evidence to challenge the current curriculum as taught in schools and highlighting the diversity of Roman Britain.”

According to the National Archives, the official archive for the UK Government, people of African descent have had a presence in Britain for the past 2,000 years.

In Roman times, black troops were sent to the ‘remote and barbaric’ province of Britannia – the ancient term for Great Britain – with many settling permanently even after the Roman legions left.

via: Children’s website tells stories of Roman Britain’s Africans (The Voice)

… you can check out the Romans Revealed website here … if you’re interested in some of the finds which probably contributed to this project:

I know there was something (at rogueclassicism) involving a burial of an African woman in Britain that was also connected with Caroline Lawrence (i.e. she wrote about it too), but my search engine divinities appear to have gone to visit the blameless Ethiopians or something …