Archive for 2008Page 5
This Road Leads To Rome
Going to Rome? Read about its best one here. Among the first sights is the Church of Domine Quo Vadis? (Via Appia Antica 51), so named because this is where St. Peter, fleeing persecution from Emperor Nero, reputedly had a vision of Jesus and asked “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus, as the story goes, replied, […]
Older Than Zeus
Read about some exciting archaeological discoveries here. Archaeologists say they have now found the ashes, bones and other evidence of animal sacrifices to some pre-Zeus deity on the summit of Mount Lykaion, in the region of Greece known as Arcadia. The remains were uncovered last summer at an altar later devoted to Zeus.
Tell Them We Are Rising 2: The Great Debaters
Continuing the theme from the previous post, read this Salon review of “The Great Debaters”, one of the characters of which is an African-American professor of classics and theology. Here’s an excerpt: About midway through Denzel Washington’s new film “The Great Debaters” comes a raw and terrifying scene that exemplifies why the movie’s worth seeing, […]
Tell Them We Are Rising’: African Americans and the Classics
For some really interesting reading on the social, educational, and political role of Classics in recent African-American history, read Kenneth W. Goings and Eugene O’Connor, “‘Tell Them We Are Rising’: African Americans and the Classics” (starts on p. 6) in this issue of Amphora (the newsletter for the American Philological Association). From the time of […]
Latin–Not Just For Toffs and Fotherington-Thomases
Read more about the growing appreciation and revival of Latin here: Latin, it was reported last week, is making a comeback in inner-city schools in London: 20 primaries are trying Latin lessons, under the aegis of Project Iris, run by teacher Lorna Robinson. Something similar is happening in Oxfordshire, where the language is also being […]
Meet Hadrian…
from an article on a new exhibition: After being made emperor AD117, he inherited a Roman Empire in its prime, which had thrived on a policy of endless expansion and conquest. His first move, within hours of coronation, was to withdraw his troops from Mesopotamia, now Iraq, and fortify the empire’s boundaries by building his […]