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Ludi Palatini (day 4) Sementivae or Paganalia (day 1) — Sementivae was a festival of sowing which was actually a moveable feast (although I’m not sure of the moveability criteria; I’m guessing that the first day falls between January 24 and 26). By Ovid’s time it appears to have been coincident with Paganalia, which also…
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Roman fresco, Pompeii. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons Konstantine Panegyres, The University of Western Australia If you were to visit a bookshop in the ancient world, what would it be like? You don’t just have to imagine it. The ancient Roman writer Aulus Gellius, who lived in the 2nd century CE, gives us a number…
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Michael La Corte, University of Tübingen and Stephan Blum, University of Tübingen Imagine waking up to find strangers in your home – eating your food, killing your animals, then laughing as they blind you. Later, they tell the world you were the monster. We are describing one of the better known episodes of Homer’s Odyssey,…
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Peter Edwell, Macquarie University Ancient Roman political leaders could be violent and cruel. Some had odd tastes and were out of touch. Others had wildly eccentric habits that might seem amusing today. But eccentric behaviour combined with almost unlimited power, made some Roman leaders dangerous and unpredictable. Hortensius One oddball was the orator and politician…
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When is war peace? When someone in power says it is. Dimitri Otis, DigitalVision via Getty Images Timothy Joseph, College of the Holy Cross In a week filled with news about President Donald Trump’s aggressive moves to take control of Greenland, the world got a window into his thinking about the concept of “peace.” “Considering…
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