‘Classics in the news’ CategoryPage 3
New/Old Bust of Caesar
Read all about it here PARIS – Divers trained in archaeology discovered a marble bust of an aging Caesar in the Rhone River that France’s Culture Ministry said Tuesday could be the oldest known. The life-sized bust showing the Roman ruler with wrinkles and hollows in his face is tentatively dated to 46 B.C. Divers […]
Politics and the Olympics: Fire and Fascism
Read Mary Beard on the fascist origins of the Olympic torch relay and the political nature of the Olympics even in ancient times. Hardly any commentator stops to mention that this silly torch ceremony has nothing to do with the ancient Greeks, and was really invented to be a magnificent shot in Leni Riefenstahl’s movie […]
Before ‘300’ There Was ‘The Warriors’
From the New York Times: As reflected on this Sunday’s letters page, readers took us to task after Colson Whitehead — in his March 2 back-page essay, “I Write in Brooklyn. Get Over It” — called Walter Hill’s 1979 youth-gang cult film “The Warriors” “a glorious B-movie version of “The Odyssey.” Whitehead, of course, is […]
Tibetan Protest in Olympia
The ancient Greek site of the Olympics, which serves as a starting point for the Olympic torch relay is the scene of modern day political protest. read the article here watch the video here
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, […]
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 […]
Carpe Diem!
Harry Mount, whose op-ed on learning Latin was featured in the New York Times here and was itself translated into Latin here, returns to virtual pages of the news. From Slate: Last year, a surprise best seller hit the British book market: a romp through Latin grammar, by a London journalist called Harry Mount. In […]
When in Rome…Take a Bath
To see where Romans fall in the history of personal hygiene, read Salon’s interview with Katherine Ashenburg, author of “The Dirt on Clean: An Unsanitized History” here. What did clean mean in ancient Rome? If you were a man, you would take off all your clothes, put a little oil on your body, rub it with dust […]
Latin–Back From the Dead and More Necessary Than Ever!
And hot on the heels of Robert Proctor’s lecture (see previous)…If you ever needed a reason to study Latin, go take a look at the New York Times op-ed piece A Vote for Latin. High school, Jefferson thought, should center on Latin, Greek and French, with grammar and reading exercises, translations into English and the […]