Hodie est a.d. IV Kal. Apr. 2776 AUC ~ 8 Elaphebolion in the second year of the 700th Olympiad
In the News
- Passo Corese, ex votos dedicated to Hercules re-emerge from the excavations to the logistics hub / The photos
- A 3400-year-old Minoan Tomb Has Been Uncovered In Crete
- Fundraising to Repay Money Spent by UK to Buy the Parthenon Marbles
- Ancient artifact discovered during police drug raid
- Museum Island: Berlin’s Pergamon Museum is completely closed for four years News
In Case You Missed It
- Two Roman coins found on Gotska Sandön – Södertörns högskola
- 2,000-year-old mine, full of Roman trash, found in France | Macon Telegraph
Classicists and Classics in the News
- Eleventh-grader publishes novel written entirely in Latin
- In era of bitter division, what would Socrates do? – Harvard Gazette
- Argentina professor Martin Vizzotti presents lecture on popular, iconic literary journeys to space | Arts And Culture | utdailybeacon.com
- A classic case of missing the point | Anonymous | The Critic Magazine
Greek/Latin News
Fresh Bloggery
- 84 of 234: Ship Imagery – Liv Mariah Yarrow
- AWOL – The Ancient World Online: Schöne Denkmäler sind entstanden: Studien zu Ehren von Ursula Verhoeven
- AWOL – The Ancient World Online: Von Blüten und Krisen: Eine wirtschaftsarchäologische Studie zum kaiserzeitlichen Südetrurien
- AWOL – The Ancient World Online: Agricoltura, alimentazione e paleoambiente della Jazira siriana tra IV e III mill. a.C. Le evidenze da Tell Mozan
- AWOL – The Ancient World Online: Le prime scritture iraniane: I sistemi di scrittura proto-elamita e lineare elamita
- Constantine The Great At The Milvian Bridge, By An Unknown Artist After Giulio Romano (c. 1499-1546) | The Historian’s Hut
- Heracles’ eighth Labour: the Mares of Diomedes | Greek Myth Comix
- Heracles’ eighth Labour – the Mares of Diomedes | Greek Myth Comix
- Hippocrates: Unmarried Women are Sad Because of Periods – SENTENTIAE ANTIQUAE
- Words of Mourning: Some Poems of Anyte of Tegea – SENTENTIAE ANTIQUAE
- The Odd Ancient Roman Adultery Trial Of Gallita | The Historian’s Hut
- The Hand of the Engraver – Liv Mariah Yarrow
- De Rijn – Mainzer Beobachter
- Roman gilded fragment baffles experts – The History Blog
- Autism and Classical Myth: Autism Acceptance Week Wednesday – some midweek updates and the link for the talk mentioned in yesterday’s posting
- PaleoJudaica.com: Should the Codex Sassoon stay in Israel?
- PaleoJudaica.com: Free online course on Zoroastrianism
- How To Write (or Speak) Like Cicero — ConsultTheClassics
Other Blog-like Publications
- Egypt’s Valley of the Queens is now accessible online
- Naked Venus statue discovered in a Roman garbage dump in France – Arkeonews
- Arminius - The Mastermind Behind Rome’s Devastating Defeat at Teutoburg Forest in 9 AD | Short History
- Where Did The Etruscans Come From? (3 Major Theories)
- From Gods to Commoners – the Faces on Coins – Numismatic News
- Were the Celts Just Primitive Barbarians?
- Listen to The Epic of Gilgamesh Being Read in its Original Ancient Language, Akkadian | Open Culture
- The Cult of Mithras on Ancient Coins
- Roman gilded silver fragment uncovered in Norfolk baffles researchers – Arkeonews
- Plato’s Theaetetus: How Do We Know What We Know?
- March 44 BCE: To Cicero (at Rome) from Aulus Pompeius Bithynicus (in Sicily)
- Fighting Fortune: Two Enter, One Leaves – SENTENTIAE ANTIQUAE
- How To Write (or Speak) Like Cicero — ConsultTheClassics
Fresh Podcasts
We’re wading into the messy world of English spelling in this episode — the first of two, since we couldn’t fit all of the ‘quirks’ of the language into one episode. The history of orthography in English is all tangled up with the history of the alphabet, so in this part we trace some of the twists and turns that resulted in our modern script.
In this episode, Jeff and Dave finish off their tour through and analysis of the penultimate book of Vergil’s masterpiece. Here we have the jazz-solo moment, the aristeia of the great warrior princess Camilla. She flies across the battlefield at breakneck speed, cutting down in her path every Trojan stooge who dares stand in her way – until she meets “Arruns the Dispatcher”, ironically named after an Etruscan prince. But this fast-paced, high-octane action vignette raises some complex questions, the very kind academics love to dilate upon: how come Camilla never encounters Aeneas himself? Why is the erstwhile hero Turnus so passive throught this part of the story, not providing the kind of leadership expected of a protagonist? And most importantly, has anyone used double-blind, controlled studies to determine the real benefits and side effects of daily consumption of horse milk on female Volscian infants? Tune in.
in 1923 Cecil B. De Mille made The Ten Commandments on a huge Egyptian set in the California dunes, which archaeologists have excavated. So obviously we’re asking, what’s the deal with Biblical movies? Ripping yarns or morality tales with Nazi punching? And would a picture about the backbreaking scientific tedium of real archaeology be a crowdpleaser? With a special shoutout to our friends Donny Osmond and Walter Benjamin!
Gripping tales that abound with fantastic characters and astonishing twists and turns, Greek myths confront what it means to be mortal in a world of powerful forces beyond human control. Little wonder that they continue to fascinate readers thousands of years after they were first told. Gods and Mortals: Ancient Greek Myths for Modern Readers (Princeton UP, 2023) is a major new telling of ancient Greek myths by one of the world’s preeminent experts. In a fresh, vibrant, and compelling style that draws readers into the lives of the characters, Sarah Iles Johnston offers new narrations of all the best-known tales as well as others that are seldom told, taking readers on an enthralling journey from the origin of the cosmos to the aftermath of the Trojan War. Some of the mortals in these stories are cursed by the gods, while luckier ones are blessed with resourcefulness and resilience. Gods transform themselves into animals, humans, and shimmering gold to visit the earth in disguise–where they sometimes transform offending mortals into new forms, too: a wolf, a spider, a craggy rock. Other mortals–both women and men–use their wits and strength to conquer the monsters created by the gods–gorgons, dragons, harpies, fire-breathing bulls. Featuring captivating original illustrations by Tristan Johnston, Gods and Mortals highlights the rich connections between the different characters and stories, draws attention to the often-overlooked perspectives of female characters, and stays true both to the tales and to the world in which ancient people lived. The result is an engaging and entertaining new take on the Greek myths.
A challenge to the imperial authority was hardly unusual in the third century, but for whatever reason, Postumus decides to do things differently. Rather than marching an army on Rome he shaves off the western provinces, declaring Gaul, Germania, Hispania and Britannia the independent, but still very Roman, Gallic Empire. Part II of ‘Gallienus’ Guest: Associate Professor Caillan Davenport (Head of the Centre for Classical Studies at the Australian National University).
A Women’s History Month re-airing of the episode dedicated to varied women whose stories have been manipulated by their interpreters and interpretation.
Book Reviews
- BMCR ~ Anne Tuttle Mackay, Animal encounters in Valerius Flaccus’ Argonautica. Mnemosyne supplements, 460. Leiden; Boston: Brill, 2022.
- BMCR ~ Lee T. Pearcy, Aeneas. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2021.
- Image’s Dead Romans Reimagines The Slow Fall of Rome
Online Talks and Conference-Related Things
Jobs, Postdocs, and other Professional Matters
Research Papers of Possible Interest
Alia
- How Alexander the Great Halted Mutiny with a Powerful Speech
- Pyramid of Cestius: See The Ancient Roman Pyramid That Was Inspired By Egypt’s Ancient Pyramids
- Ptolemy’s Lost Manuscript Discovered in Book Found in Medieval Abbey
- The True Meaning of Platonic Love | Psychology Today
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 women obtaining better reputations.
… 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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