#Thelxinoe ~ Classics News for July 6, 2021

~ David Meadows ~ rogueclassicist ~ Leave a comment

Hodie est pr. Non. Jul. 2774 AUC ~ 26 Skirophorion in the fourth year of the 699th Olympiad

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A day after Independence Day in the US, we investigate the history of the name “America” and two related cocktails, with some side trips into the sack of Rome in 410 CE and the use of the Fall of Rome as a historical parallel for the United States. This episode completes our mini series on country names, in the season of national holidays in north America.

Socrates thinks that poetry is like candy: delicious but bad for us. If we consume too much, it’ll rot our souls. That’s because the poets just pander to our passions with no concern with or knowledge of the truth. But pandering poets aren’t the problem. It’s us. Socrates thinks that humans have a poetic sweet tooth that makes certain kinds of stories irresistible to us. We let ourselves get carried away by them and start to believe that they’re true. Following our natural taste for art undermines reason and makes us into worse people. So how do we live if we can’t trust our taste?

Honorary Research Fellow at Durham University, Dr Kathryn Lomas, joins the show again to discuss what occurred with Rome during the interregnum between the First and Second Punic Wars (241-218 BCE).

Dividing Sicily from Italy, the Strait of Messina is a small stretch of water with an incredible history that stretches back to ancient times. It was likely here that the mythical sea monsters of Scylla and Charybdis were supposed to have wreaked havoc on Odysseus’ crew. It was an area of the ancient Mediterranean renowned for its whirlpools and vicious currents. And it was also on either side of this strait, that two ancient cities enjoyed a long and connected history: Rhegium and Messana. To shine a light on this waterway’s importance in antiquity, Tristan was delighted to be joined by Dustin Mackenzie from Macquarie University.

It is often the case that it is assumed that it was in ancient Greece and the eastern Mediterranean that was host to the foundation of European politics, culture, economics and engineering. But in fact, the development of sophisticated civilisations, writing cultures, complex technologies and sciences occurred over millennia in the fertile crescent in the ancient civilisations of Assyria, Sumer, Babylon and the Akkadian Empire. These are the crucible of our world today to champion this often-underappreciated part of human history Moudhy Al-Rashid an Assyriologist from Oxford University. She takes Dan through the history of this vitally important region, how and why writing developed, and why she thinks this part of history has often been neglected.

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Alia

‘Sorting’ Out Your Day:

Today on the Etruscan Brontoscopic Calendar:

If it thunders today, it portends fatal diseases affecting enslaved persons.

… 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)

#Thelxinoe ~ Classics News for July 5, 2021

~ David Meadows ~ rogueclassicist ~ Leave a comment

Hodie est a.d. III Non. Jul. 2774 AUC ~ 25 Skirophorion in the fourth year of the 699th Olympiad

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It is one of the most remarkable ancient sites in the World. Situated east of the Zagros Mountains in modern day Iran, Persepolis was an important urban centre of the Achaemenid Persian Empire for almost two centuries. From the stunning, rich variety of imagery depicted on the walls of the Apadana to the complex sewer system, the art and architecture of this site is astonishing, snippets of which can today be seen at the V&A’s newest exhibition, ‘Epic Iran’. In this fascinating podcast, ancient Persia expert Professor Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones from Cardiff University returned to the Ancients to explain all about this awesome ancient site. Stay tuned for a follow up podcast in due course with Lloyd on the other Achaemenid urban centres! Lloyd is the author of ‘Persians: The Age of the Great Kings’, out in 2022.

400 – 100 BCE – Classical cultures flourished very quickly during this period.  Empires grew to significant proportions and this time, not just in one area of the world.

Author, classicist and historian Professor Paul Rahe was kind enough to sit down with your host for this instalment of Spartan History Podcast. Paul has authored several books on the Lacedaemonians and his work, the Spartan Regime, is incredibly poignant to our current narrative. Focusing on the archaic formation of the Spartan institutions and character, it has been a great help to me as I’ve tried to reconstruct the various elements of what would constitute the classical Sparta so heavily romanticised. The Professor takes us back to the bronze age briefly, and we work through the consequent dark age and into the early period of the Dorian migration into Laconia. It is, I hope, a great summarisation of our journey so far and hope you all enjoy the conversation  as much as I did.

In his account of Xerxes’ invasion of Greece, the historian Herodotus goes out of his way to give an account of Artemisia, female tyrant of Halicarnassus, before, during and in the aftermath of the battle Salamis in 480 BC. This account, and Artemisia herself, are remarkable for a variety of reasons but the idea of a woman commander, one as clever as a man, had a great impact on the ancient world.

Drawn by the prospects of providing service to the Ptolemaic government in either the bureaucracy or the army, or perhaps seeking to settle and farm some of the most productive land in the world, tens of thousands of Greeks would immigrate to Egypt in pursuit of a better life. Thanks to the abundant papyrological record, we are able to get an intimate look into the lives and careers of those who now to called Egypt home: those such as the deeply religious devotee of Serapis named Ptolemaeus, or Kleon, the hard-pressed chief engineer of the Fayyum reclamation project of Ptolemy II Philadelphus.

Learn the documentary history behind how the Catholic Church was founded and set up as an organization, together with some of the works of the earliest church fathers.

In Late Antiquity, Ravenna became one of the most important cities in the Mediterranean, including becoming capitals of the Western Roman Empire and Byzantine Italy at different times. Dr Veronica West-Harling, University of Oxford, joins the show and explains.

What are the cultural legacies of visualising war through wargames?  Wargames are not a new phenomenon; in military exercises, as tactical plays tested on maps and as entertainment spectacles, wargames have been with us from ancient times. Studying wargames allows us to better understand the fog of war, as well as giving us nuanced insights into the processes by which military strategy is visualised and drilled into the martial and civilian body. How do we game war? And what does the history of wargaming tell us about its use today?

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Alia

‘Sorting’ Out Your Day:

Today on the Etruscan Brontoscopic Calendar:

If it thunders today, it portends an abundance of grain but the downfall of a virtuous ruler.

… 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)

#Thelxinoe ~ Classics News for July 3, 2021

~ David Meadows ~ rogueclassicist ~ Leave a comment

Hodie est a.d. V Non. Jul. 2774 AUC ~ 23 Skirophorion in the fourth year of the 699th Olympiad

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a quiet Saturday

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On the 27 May 2021, the British Museum opened their newest exhibition on the absolute OG of scandalous, dastardly Roman Emperors: Nero. He also happens to be Sarah’s personal passion project, so Abi just joined her to get all the juicy tidbits and nod along. We thought we’d try something a bit different and podcast ‘live’ in the exhibition … but it was not the smooth ‘tour-like’ experience we imagined. So in this special episode, we reflect on the highlights and our expectations, with some pro editing magic bringing in snippets from the original recording throughout.

Heus, you want to learn Latin? Salve sodalis, you have come to the right place. This is a Latin podcast for beginners. With the series “Litterae Latinae Simplices”, you will set up for a journey into Latin literature, in easy spoken Latin.

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Alia

‘Sorting’ Out Your Day:

Today on the Etruscan Brontoscopic Calendar:

[Saturday] If it should thunder today, it portends a harsh winter.

[Sunday] If it should thunder today, the winds will be turbulent and from them will come scarcity.

… 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)

#Thelxinoe ~ Classics News for July 2, 2021

~ David Meadows ~ rogueclassicist ~ Leave a comment

Hodie est a.d. VI Non. Jul. 2774 AUC ~ 22 Skirophorion in the fourth year of the 699th Olympiad

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Part-human, part-horse, centaurs show up in various Greek mythology. Dr Emma Aston, University of Reading, joins the show to discuss the role of centaurs in Greek mythology.

Listener Rick wonders if there are there any other examples of gaining entry to a city using something like a Trojan horse? Or are there any other examples of using ingenious methods to get into a city?

We have now reached the end of the Greco-Persian Wars, but with most of our sources focusing on the Greek experience and perhaps not giving us a completely accurate picture of the Persians. In this episode we are going to delve deeper into Persia’s experience in the Wars, look at their motivations and what led them to, ultimately being unsuccessful. To do this I have invited Trevor Culley from the History of Persia Podcast to come on and share his knowledge about the Persians with us, and help us look at the Persian perspective during the Wars. Trevor’s personal experience with both Persian history and podcasts began with a college extra credit assignment to listen to the first Hardcore History episode on the Achaemenids. He was instantly enthralled with the stories of the Kings of Kings and coming a little late to the party, started listening to podcasts. On one hand, He started heading down the road toward PhD that will let him study ancient Persia for a living. On the other, as he binged his way through both the History of Rome and early episodes of the History of Byzantium he was always excited for the episodes dealing with the Parthians and Sassanids. Trevor was surprised and disappointed to discover that there was not a similarly dedicated podcast dealing with the great empires east of Rome. This would inspire and motivate him to create the History of Persia Podcast back at the start of 2019.

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Alia

‘Sorting’ Out Your Day:

Today on the Etruscan Brontoscopic Calendar:

If it thunders today, it portends a pleasant late autumn.

… 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)

#Thelxinoe ~ Classics News for July 1, 2021

~ David Meadows ~ rogueclassicist ~ Leave a comment

Hodie est Kal. Jul. 2774 AUC ~ 21 Skirophorion in the fourth year of the 699th Olympiad

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Augusta Emerita was a Roman colony on the Iberian Peninsula in Spain, established by the Emperor Augustus in the wake of campaigns to pacify the region. Now known by the modern name of Merida, it boasts some impressive ruins, including one of the best known Roman theatres still in use today. Guest: Dr Daniel Osland (Senior Lecturer in Classics, University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand).

I know what you are thinking, “MADDY this is not Cleopatra.” I know, but in order to understand the complex political landscape Cleopatra has to maneuver, we first need to understand what was happening on the other side of the Mediterranean Sea. We briefly cover the Roman Republic and the political shift that was happening at the end of the 1st century BC that would eventually give rise to the Roman Empire. Consuls, oligarchs, and petty PR energy awaits!!!!

In the long tradition of categorising famous wives as the good or the bad, Nero’s partners are no exception. These women are regularly reduced to simple characters within the final Julio-Claudian Emperor’s orbit, but what of their own experiences and personalities? Lauren Ginsberg from Duke University speaks to Tristan in this episode to shine a light on the lives of Octavia, Poppaea and Statilia Messalina, and their fates at the hands of their husband.

Adjunct Professor of Art History at The American University of Rome, Dr Jason Cardone, joins the show to discuss art during the Italian Renaissance.

In this episode we talk with Nigel Hetherington, Historian and Agent. Nigel is the head of Past Preservers, and production partner of this Podcast. If you’ve wanted to learn about getting into television presenting as an expert, this is the episode for you. Join us for a behind the scenes look at both the podcast, and unscripted, factual television. Grab a drink, and we’ll see you in the breakroom.

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Alia

‘Sorting’ Out Your Day:

Today on the Etruscan Brontoscopic Calendar:

If it thunders today (on the new moon?)  there will be abundance, but there will be destruction 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)