Category: Uncategorized
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The Art of Living with Caesars: The Calpurnii, the Villa of the Papyri, and Roman Home Architecture
“If a painter should wish to unite a horse’s neck to a human head, and spread a variety of plumage over limbs taken from every part, so that what is a beautiful woman in the upper part terminates unsightly in an ugly fish below; could you, my friends, refrain from laughter, were you admitted to…
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A Macedonian, a Roman, and a Frenchman Walk into India: History and Theatre in Alexandre le Grand
“Your work is puerile and under-dramatized. You lack any sense of structure, character, and the Aristotelian unities.” – Wednesday Addams, Addams Family Values When I started blogging again, I had intentions of talking about what I was reading from time to time, but had never really gotten around to something that might make a good…
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A Mixology of Mythology: Religious Exchange and Assimilation in the Ancient World
“Hello! Would you like to change religions? I have a free book written by Jesus!” – Elder Cunningham, The Book of Mormon We talked a little about how ancient mythologies absorbed and built upon one another in my entries about Set and demonic entities, but I thought this week we’d dig a little deeper and…
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Spin Dramatists & Dilettantes: Poetics and Statecraft in Augustan Rome
Study I not o’ermuch to please thee, Caesar and court thee, / Nor do I care e’en to know if thou be white or black. – Gaius Valerius Catallus Last week we saw how state sponsorship of the arts is older than PBS’ annual pledge drives, and how the right political patron can produce a…
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Cue the Memes: Fact & Fiction About the Library of Alexandria
Si hortum in bibliotheca habes, nihil deerit. [If you have a garden in your library, nothing will be lacking.] – Marcus Tullius Cicero So after two straight weeks of trying to school all of you in matters admittedly outside my wheelhouse, I thought we’d come back to something much more my speed… … and talk…
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Super Troopers: Ground Warfare in the World of The God’s Wife
I am the very model of a modern Major-Gineral / I’ve information vegetable, animal, and mineral – The Pirates of Penzance We shipped off into the navy last week, so this week we’ll come back ashore and talk a little about the land militaries of the late Ptolemaic/ early Roman imperial age. Personally (though I…
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Yvan Eht Nioj: Naval Warfare in the World of The God’s Wife
Where can you find pleasure, search the world for treasure/ Learn science, technology? – The Village People I’ve talked about a lot of the historical background surrounding The God’s Wife; from geography, to politics, to clothing. But I really haven’t addressed the military elephant in the room. So I thought this week we’d start with…
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Obligatory Black Friday Sales Post
Because some of us are stuck with Imperator Caesar Divi filius Augustus as a muse and not a financial patron. I promise next week I’ll get back into informative entries (I’m thinking Roman-Ptolemaic naval warfare, then good, old-fashioned land warfare). But I would be remiss going into the biggest shopping weekend of the year if…
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The Ending That Became a Beginning
So, as a start this week, I want to address the handful of Word Press readers who’ve stumbled on this blog from the greater internet. Hi, folks, I do see you, and I’m humbled that anyone would be interested in listening to me blather on about ancient history by choice, unlike, say, my husband, who…
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The Rule of Threes Redux: A Crash Course in the Roman Civil Wars, Part 2
All right, last week we looked at the start of the Roman Civil War, in the 40s BC. The conclusion of this first phase of the war you’re already somewhat familiar with if you’ve read The God’s Wife, or have a passing knowledge of its setting. But as a brief recap: Pompey loses his head…
Sarah Holz 