Author Topic: Classics Forum  (Read 350592 times)

ClassicsAdmin

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Classics Forum
« on: December 14, 2008, 09:57:08 AM »
CLASSICS BULLETIN BOARD


Paestum


Please share here news, clips, magazine or newspaper articles you find that would be of interest to those of us who love the classics world.

Click REGISTER at the very top of the page if you have not  yet created a username to post messages on our web site.


Athena

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Re: Classics Bulletin Board
« Reply #1 on: December 22, 2008, 01:55:04 PM »
Hi Latin buddies,  it's good to be back. Joyce (aka Athena)




"Better by far you should forget and smile than that you should remember and be sad." ~ Christina Rossetti.

Aliki

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Re: Classics Bulletin Board
« Reply #2 on: December 24, 2008, 07:24:22 PM »
Hi Athena and All...
Just got my new User Name and Password but don't know how to find the Classroom for Latin 102. Can anyone help me?
Thanks, Aliki

jane

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Re: Classics Bulletin Board
« Reply #3 on: December 25, 2008, 04:16:58 PM »
Aliki....just scroll ondown the page...pass below the Classics Forum and Classics Bulletin Board (where you are now) and you should see the Welcome to the Classics blue bar and your Latin 102 area below that.  IF you cannot, please post here again or email me at janeiowa@gmail.com

The two dots under your name show that you're on the Latin 102 access list. 

EDIT: I see you've posted in the 102 classroom, so you obviously found it!  Terrific!!


jane

Robby

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Re: Classics Bulletin Board
« Reply #4 on: December 28, 2008, 02:36:33 PM »
Maybe an over simplistic question, but what is meant by the term "classics world?"

Robby

ginny

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Re: Classics Bulletin Board
« Reply #5 on: December 28, 2008, 06:34:25 PM »
I had to go look to see what you meant. :)  I think it means in that context, the entire subject  embracing anything  being discovered or of interest  about the ancients,  any traveling exhibits (there are two in the US currently), and more  specifically for our purposes,  the "noble Greeks and Romans," and anything about them, since we offer classes here in Latin (and until recently did in ancient Greek as well).

Classical languages,   history, and archaeology are part of a very exciting field,   with discoveries being made daily which change our perceptions of who they were and what they thought:  it's a  VERY exciting endeavor to be studying and part of. Nothing like it in the world, really. I'm glad you asked.
SPRING BREAK NEWS:

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Pete7268

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Re: Classics Bulletin Board
« Reply #6 on: January 10, 2009, 10:09:04 AM »
I have a desktop weather forecaster based on my location. It is supplied by a Finnish company through Google. It is excellent, usually exceedingly accurate, giving the weather for today and the following three days.
 
I have just seen that they do a forecast for mobile phones and you can have it in LATIN! Now! Ain't that a breeze! (no pun intended). ;D
My desktop one is free, not sure about the mobile one though. It is all I can do to make my mobile make calls but suspect I would need a modern phone with a screen and internet capabilities to get the weather on it.
 
 
http://corporate.foreca.com/en/news/8/19/Foreca-mobi-weather-services-also-in-Latin/

I have just tried loading the Foreca mobile software on my PC, it works fine. I chose a city in the US to test it. There was no mention of subscription so guess it is a freebe for the phone as well.


ginny

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Re: Classics Bulletin Board
« Reply #8 on: January 25, 2009, 03:55:38 PM »
What interesting articles here, thank you Pete and Maryemm, and here's one today in the NY Times which is worth looking at if only for the  Portonaccio sarcophagus and exciting news for those going to Rome any time soon:


New Light on Ancient Art in Rome:

http://travel.nytimes.com/2009/01/25/travel/25globe.html?ref=travel
SPRING BREAK NEWS:

Our Spring Break in Latin will begin March 4 and we'll return on March 21.

catbrown

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Re: Classics Bulletin Board
« Reply #9 on: February 04, 2009, 05:53:15 PM »
And here's a post from Mary Beard's blog about her participation in the Roman exhibit at the National Gallery in Washington as well as some amusing notes about what else she saw while she was there.

http://timesonline.typepad.com/dons_life/2009/02/pompeii-in-wash.html#more

ginny

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Re: Classics Bulletin Board
« Reply #10 on: February 07, 2009, 09:58:30 AM »
Golly those are so interesting, thank you, Cathy! Love it!

Here's a fantastic slide show of some things I've never seen, from the BBC in aid of the new exhibit (makes you want to pack your bags) in Naples commemmorating the 300th anniversary of the discovery of Herculaneum!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7696090.stm

It's something else, love the head sculptures, they look almost real, and more  bronzes, (there is a whole room of them in the Naples Archaeological Museum from the House of the Papyri), but some of these are new and those which are not are spectacular. There is a CAPTIONS  ON button you can choose at the bottom right of the screen which will tell you what you're looking at.

I guess for me the most spectacular thing is the list of those men who survived Vesuvius!?  Wow! What  a spectacular show! Through April of this year I think.

SPRING BREAK NEWS:

Our Spring Break in Latin will begin March 4 and we'll return on March 21.

nancymc

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Re: Classics Bulletin Board
« Reply #11 on: February 07, 2009, 10:23:12 AM »
Ginny

Thank you for sharing this with us, it was truly beautiful I particularly loved the head of the Amazon female warrior and the folds in the robe of Ceres.   

Nancy

Maryemm

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Re: Classics Bulletin Board
« Reply #12 on: February 07, 2009, 11:58:23 AM »
Yes, thanks for that, Ginny.

Quote
the list of those men who survived Vesuvius

 This was a "first" for me : had no idea it existed. Were slaves included? Wonder who compiled it? Were women listed separately? Or were they too unimportant? 

Some interesting books on Pompeii (and Herculaneum) listed here at:

 http://www.mummytombs.com/pompeii/books.htm

and facts at:

http://www.mummytombs.com/main.pompeii.htm

I particularly enjoyed reading Charles Dickens' description of Pompeii.

catbrown

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Re: Classics Bulletin Board
« Reply #13 on: February 07, 2009, 01:34:16 PM »
Ginny, thanks for the BBC link. Omigod, but that was gorgeous!

Gumtree

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Re: Classics Bulletin Board
« Reply #14 on: February 08, 2009, 11:04:30 AM »
Hi Ginny I lurk around  here from time to time - thanks to everyone for the links - some fabulous pieces on the BBC site - and as for the list of men who survived Vesuvius... pity I can't read it  but amazing just the same. Thanks again.
Reading is an art and the reader an artist. Holbrook Jackson

ginny

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Re: Classics Bulletin Board
« Reply #15 on: February 08, 2009, 03:35:42 PM »
I am so  glad everybody is enjoying it, it's quite spectacular and I've just found another one! Talk about knocking one's socks off! Stay tuned for next Friday!
SPRING BREAK NEWS:

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Dana

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Re: Classics Bulletin Board
« Reply #16 on: February 08, 2009, 09:45:53 PM »
They are stunning.  I saw some this fall, but remember best "the runners"--I have a postcard of them--keeps my place in my Greek book, I think they are totally beautiful.

nancymc

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Re: Classics Bulletin Board
« Reply #17 on: February 09, 2009, 05:07:18 AM »
Maryemm

I printed off Dickens description of Pompeii, you cannot beat the old Master.  Saturday afternoon when all sports were snowed off, we had instead an old David Copperfield film so lovely!

sandyrose

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Re: Classics Bulletin Board
« Reply #18 on: February 09, 2009, 11:34:59 AM »
Thank you Ginny.  The slide show...wow.

Janet

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Re: Classics Bulletin Board
« Reply #19 on: February 10, 2009, 02:43:15 PM »
In Latin 200 we have just completed a story about a Roman dinner. If any of you are adventurous cooks, I found a great cookbook: A Taste of Ancient Rome by Ilaria Gozzini Giacosa. The recipes are from ancient Roman recipes, given first in Latin, then a literal translation, and finally, since the originals did not give amounts and were casual about directions, rewritten in a usable recipe. Some of the ingredients may be a challenge to find (a good Italian deli nearby helps), but the author does offer suggestions for substitutions. I used Asian fish sauce for garum. I have tried several of the recipes and they are delicious, and fun.

Pete7268

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Re: Classics Bulletin Board
« Reply #20 on: February 10, 2009, 04:09:41 PM »
Janet, That sounds an interesting book. There are plenty available in the UK and USA on ABE.

Athena

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Re: Classics Bulletin Board
« Reply #21 on: February 15, 2009, 01:42:53 PM »
Today:  Lupercalia Ancient Roman - Pastoral festival to purify the city of evil spirits and promote health and fertility.
(from Brooklyn CUNY)

LUPERCALIA
The Lupercalia was celebrated on the fifteenth day before the kalends of March (February 15th).  One unusual aspect of this festival was that it was not associated with a temple of a god.  First of all, the Romans themselves were a bit confused about which god this holiday honored.  Was it Lupercus, or Inuus, or Faunus?  No one was absolutely certain, but that did not prevent this popular festival from being celebrated.  The focal point of this festival was a site on the Palatine hill: the Lupercal, the cave in which, according to legend, the wolf suckled Romulus and Remus, as depicted in this famous statuary group (the wolf is fifth century BC, but the twins were added in the early 16th century AD).
 
The Lupercalia recalled the primitive days of Rome's existence, when, according to Roman tradition, a small community of shepherds lived in thatched huts on the Palatine hill, ruled by the founder of Rome, Romulus.  Dionysius of Halicarnassus tells us that in his day (first century BC), one of these huts, made out of sticks and reeds, stood on the slope of the Palatine toward the Circus Maximus.   This hut was honored as a sacred place and was kept in good repair (Roman Antiquities 1.79.11).
 
A Modern Reconstruction

This primitive settlement, however,  was more than just a popular tradition; modern archaeology has discovered the post holes of huts dating to the eighth century BC (the traditional date of Rome's foundation was 753 BC).  It seems probable that the name of the festival was derived from lupus ("wolf").  This derivation makes sense for a festival that was connected with a settlement of shepherds, whose most feared predator was the wolf.

TIn general, the ancients viewed the Lupercalia as a purification and fertility rite.  The ritual involved the sacrifice of goats and a dog in the Lupercal by priests called Luperci,1who smeared the foreheads of two noble young men with the blood of the sacrificed animals and then wiped it off.  At this point, the youths were required to laugh.  Then the luperci, clothed in loincloths, ran about the area, lashing everyone they met with strips of skin from the sacrificed goats.  Young wives were particularly eager to receive these blows, because it was believed that the ritual promoted fertility and easy childbirth.  These ceremonies were accompanied by much revelry and drinking.

The Lupercalia was so popular that it survived the onset of Christianity, but in a different form.  In 494 AD, the Pope made February 15 the feast of the Purification of the Virgin Mary.
 

Note

1.  Cicero describes the Luperci as:

      A certain wild association of Lupercalian brothers, both plainly pastoral and savage, whose rustic alliance was formed before civilization and laws... (Cael. 26)


 
 
 
 
"Better by far you should forget and smile than that you should remember and be sad." ~ Christina Rossetti.

catbrown

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Re: Classics Bulletin Board
« Reply #22 on: February 15, 2009, 05:57:42 PM »
Athena, thanks for making February 15 the holiday for me that it should be ... now, if only I could get my forehead smeared with dog blood (definitely don't want any hits with goat skin) ... no, wait! I'll just join the revels and celebrate!

On another note, I just looked into my most recent NY Review of Books and read a review by Mary Beard of a book about Cleopatra. It's an interesting review, mostly because she questions much of what we think we know about the strategy, tactics and behavior of Antony and Cleopatra, pointing out that history is written by the victor ... in this case, of course, Octavius.  I hadn't thought about that before, but now that I am thinking about it, it seems obvious.

Here's the link (I hope you guys can read the article; I don't know if, as a subscriber, I have special access):

http://www.nybooks.com/articles/22275

ginny

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Re: Classics Bulletin Board
« Reply #23 on: February 16, 2009, 09:34:05 AM »
I am so glad so many of you are enjoying this area!

Joyce, thank you for the Lupercalia information, most timely!

That was a first for me, too, Mary, I doubt slaves or women particularly would be on the list,  but to tell the truth it was so startling one wonders if they have made a mistake.




What an exciting time to be studying the Romans, it seems that daily some new find completely changes our perceptions and there are a LOT of new finds out there.  The latest issue of Archaeology Magazine  for January/ February 2009  has gigantic photos of the new finds of Colossi at Sagalassos in central Turkey, where in 2007 they discovered a colossal head of Hadrian, which once stood in the Roman baths there.  Here they just found a colossal head of Faustina the Elder, wife of Antoninus Pius, and the legs arms and head of a statue of Marcus Aurelius (August, 2008). These depictions of Hadrian and Marcus Aurelius are among the best ever seen, but their season ended before the final niche was investigated.

They expect it to contain a statue of Faustina the Younger, Marcus Aurelius's wife when they dig there this year.

Don't you wish we could be there! I'd KILL to dig something up and would dig a LOT if I lived anywhere there were Roman ruins.

Love the Dickens! And the bookmark, Dana!

Janet thank you for the cookbook mention, you are one of the few people I know of who has tried the actual recipes, and you liked them! Must have that one!

Thank you Cathy for that review, that book is so new when you look it up on Amazon UK you can only see the uncorrected proof. I love Mary Beard's books and writing, thank you for telling us about her blog also. I had to pay for the article but it was worth it.




The History Channel International for those of you in the US tomorrow,  Tuesday, February 17, will air:

8-9pm -- Rome: Rise and Fall of an Empire - The First Barbarian War
It is 113 BC. Rome is a republic, a small empire clinging to the rim of the Mediterranean. Though it is a democracy in name and spirit, a man there still must be rich and from the noble class to hold the highest offices, both political and military. The system has worked well for three centuries. But now a barbarian horde known as the Cimbri smashes through the northern imperial border. One humiliating defeat follows another, with losses of hundreds of thousands of Roman legionaries. Terror grips Rome and drives her into the arms of General Marius. Though a commoner, Marius has a brilliant military mind. To defeat the Cimbri, he will transform the Roman army and shake the Republic's political foundations to the core. It is a turning point for the Republic. Faced with the savage Cimbri, Rome must decide between dictatorship and annihilation.

9-10pm -- Rome: Rise and Fall of an Empire - Spartacus
When Roman generals Pompey and Crassus, lead their mighty legions of soldiers and mercenaries into the lands surrounding Italy, neither could anticipate the turmoil caused by one bold mercenary: a Thracian warrior named Spartacus. Spartacus deserts the Roman army, but is captured and enslaved, forced to fight as a gladiator. Then in 73 BC, the untamable barbarian leads a slave revolt of 70,000 gladiators against the Roman Republic. Though the brutal and conniving Roman General Crassus is finally able to suppress the revolt, his rival, the more popular Pompey, takes all the credit, sparking a division within the Republic itself that will ultimately spell its demise.

10-11pm -- Rome: Rise and Fall of an Empire - Julius Caesar
It is 60 BC. Over-powerful generals and money corrupt the Roman Republic. The empire churns with civil war, and violence and murder run rampant. Julius Caesar, desperate for fame and honor, embarks on a brutal decade-long campaign to annex Gaul and build his own reputation. His aristocratic rivals try to stop him, but he is an expert manipulator. His propaganda and extravagant victories against bloodthirsty barbarians thrill the public. In 49 BC, he crosses the Rubicon intending to claim his rightful place as the chief man of Rome. It sparks a new civil war that pits him against Pompey the Great and sounds the final death knell for the Republic.


Obviously this treatment of Caesar is not going to be flattering, and may be a tad dated, but it  might make good viewing in the light of  March 15, coming up!

The regular History Channel will air also this week stuff on the Gladiators but it looks a bit dated, so will pass on those, but if interested see the History Channel's online site, they will send emails of their coming programs.
SPRING BREAK NEWS:

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Gumtree

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Re: Classics Bulletin Board
« Reply #24 on: February 18, 2009, 09:45:07 AM »
Thanks for posting about all these goodies -

The Lupercalia notes are fascinating - Thanks Athena - Don't fancy getting slapped by goat skin though - wonder why the luperci had to laugh at that point -sheer delight in getting smeared with dog's blood?  UGH!
I just love the way the ancient festivals are incorporated into Christian rituals...and the way Christian churches are so often built over places used for pagan worship...the continuity links us to the past.

Ginny -We watched a TV show featuring the dig in central Turkey where they unearthed the head of Hadrian - A-Mazing. I kept telling my beloved one to 'Look at that! JUST LOOK AT THAT!'

I think the Rome - Rise & Fall of an Empire had an airing here within the past six months or so. It was a good coverage but at times the presentation irritated me - but then nothing's perfect. And of course, it may be a different series altogether but it does sound like it.

I wonder about Spartacus' 70,000 gladiators - is that figure realistic - seems a lot to have on hand in one place...?

Reading is an art and the reader an artist. Holbrook Jackson

ginny

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Re: Classics Bulletin Board
« Reply #25 on: February 18, 2009, 05:56:34 PM »
Gum, I think these programs are older and may not actually be the best.

 I have seen figures as high as 100,000 for Spartacus and his army at one point, but they are only estimates of course.

Oh golly I wish I had seen the show about the dig you did and the head of Hadrian, the photographs are spectacular. They say it's the best likeness of him ever found.

As a non sequitur (good place for one, right?)  I am reading quite a bit about a new method/ system of pruning grapes in Australia which seems just what's wanted here, we sort of tried it last year and had the biggest crop we've ...I think...ever had. I am thinking I need to read more up on it and try it again. :)
SPRING BREAK NEWS:

Our Spring Break in Latin will begin March 4 and we'll return on March 21.

ginny

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Re: Classics Bulletin Board
« Reply #26 on: February 23, 2009, 12:17:50 PM »
Tomorrow night if you're in the US and if  you get the History Channel International (a lot of IF's) you can enjoy really one of the best productions ever:

Tuesday February 24, 2009:

Rome, Engineering an Empire:

8-10pm -- Rome: Engineering an Empire -


For more than 500 years, Rome was the most powerful and advanced civilization the world had ever known, ruled by visionaries and tyrants whose accomplishments ranged from awe-inspiring to deplorable. One characteristic linked them all--ambition--and the thirst for power that all Roman emperors shared fueled an unprecedented mastery of engineering and labor. This documentary special chronicles the spectacular and sordid history of the Roman Empire from the rise of Julius Caesar in 55 BC to its eventual fall around 537 AD, detailing the remarkable engineering feats that set Rome apart from the rest of the ancient world. Featuring extensive state-of-the-art CGI animation, and exclusive never-before-seen footage shot on a diving expedition in the water channels underneath the Colosseum.

It's good stuff, worth renting, actually.
SPRING BREAK NEWS:

Our Spring Break in Latin will begin March 4 and we'll return on March 21.

Fran

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Re: Classics Bulletin Board
« Reply #27 on: February 23, 2009, 02:15:09 PM »
I'm glad I went to Classics Bulletin Board, my husband and I both enjoy the History Channel--looking forward to tomorrow eve.   Fran

ginny

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Re: Classics Bulletin Board
« Reply #28 on: March 16, 2009, 07:57:18 PM »
I know you liked that one, Fran, because it was spectacular, I think it's one of the best I've seen.

In 8 minutes on the regular History Channel (I just found out about it) they're doing an hour long program on Hannibal which might be very interesting. Wish I could tape programs, my old VCR went the way of the Dodo and the new DVD recorder does not work.

But this Thursday the 19th on the regular History Channel apparently running from   8-9 Eastern  they will have:


8-9pm -- Cities of the Underworld - 10 - Beneath Vesuvius
Naples, Italy narrowly escaped meeting the same fate as its neighboring city, Pompeii in 79 AD when Mount Vesuvius wiped out everything around it. The wind saved Naples that day, but life in the shadow of this massive volcano is unlike any other--and so is its underground. For centuries, Neapolitans have carved out their underground, creating a parallel world where their secrets are safe. Entire neighborhoods line the underworld, time capsules of ancient life--with banks, bakeries and homes preserved below. From repelling into an ancient Greek cavern to uncovering Nero's famous stage underneath a modern apartment, host Don Wildman steps back almost 2000 years to discover the world hidden beneath this volcano.


I'd check my local listings, as they have this three times repeated in the email and I'm not sure what that means. I've heard about this Underground, lots of steps they say and you have to do it by reservation, I'm quite interested to see what it is! Apparently one of the new subways was cutting thru it. I love the Time Capsule idea!

SPRING BREAK NEWS:

Our Spring Break in Latin will begin March 4 and we'll return on March 21.

catbrown

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Re: Classics Bulletin Board
« Reply #29 on: March 19, 2009, 01:41:58 PM »
Mary Beard's "Fires of Pompeii," is reviewed in this weeks "New York Times Book Review."

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/15/books/review/Coates-t.html?_r=1&ref=review

Athena

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Re: Classics Bulletin Board
« Reply #30 on: March 20, 2009, 10:06:14 AM »
"It's the birthday of the Roman poet Ovid, born Publius Ovidius Naso in what is now Sulmona, Italy (43 B.C.). He loved the literary scene in Rome, where both Virgil and Horace were living. He was famous for his love poems, the Amores (circa 20 B.C.) and his masterpiece, the Metamorphoses (finished circa 8 A.D.), his tales of love and transformation. For no known reason, Ovid was abruptly exiled to Tomi, a Black Sea outpost on the edge of the empire. He never returned to Rome."
"Better by far you should forget and smile than that you should remember and be sad." ~ Christina Rossetti.

ginny

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Re: Classics Bulletin Board
« Reply #31 on: March 25, 2009, 12:51:26 PM »
Looking ahead: for your consideration, a coming event which may be of interest to anyone interested in the Classics:

On  June 1 we have a real  event to tell you about. In our Books and Literature sections we're going to start  a book discussion of The Night Villa.


The Night Villa  is a mystery with a multi layered plot with a subject matter you might find exciting, and of which you know quite a bit: the results of the explosion of Vesuvius, archaeology and new finds about the ruins. It's also a mystery and I must admit I never guessed Hu Dun It till the final page. It's also packed with great information, there's no way we won't come out with new knowledge and new perspectives in the process of a "spellbinding" read.

Nancy Picard has said: " Carol Goodman’s luminous prose and superb storytelling will keep you entertained into the late hours.”

Publishers Weekly says:


Quote
In this complex and lyrical literary thriller from Goodman (The Sonnet Lover), University of Texas classics professor Sophie Chase, after barely surviving a gunman with ties to a sinister cult, joins an expedition to Capri. A donor has funded both the exact reconstruction of a Roman villa destroyed when Mount Vesuvius buried nearby Herculaneum in A.D. 79, and a computer system that can decipher the charred scrolls being excavated from the villa's ruins. Sophie's hopes for a recuperative idyll fade after her old boyfriend, who disappeared years before into the same cult as the campus gunman, appears in the area, implicating the cult in a criminal conspiracy. Meanwhile, extracts from the scrolls—the journals of a Roman visiting the villa just before the volcano erupted—shade toward bloodshed and betrayal. The scrolls' oddly modern tone aside, Goodman deftly mixes cultural and religious history, geography, myth, personal memory, dream and even portent without sacrificing narrative drive, against the beautiful backdrop of the locale with its echoes of unimaginable loss.


The protagonist is a classics professor, the author is Carol Goodman, an  award winning and nominated  former Latin teacher, and personal friend of the man who invented the process by which the papyri of the Villa of the Papyri can be read: previously they were either thrown away as lumps of coal or destroyed in trying to read them.


The big news for us
is that Carol Goodman has agreed to come online and talk to our readers all through the discussion,  and we'd like as large a group as we can get for this experience.

We hope you might consider joining us, it's a rare treat on our fledgling site and one we hope will be repeated many times.

The book sells in paperback for about $10, is in the library and new copies go for as little as $5. and up on Amazon.

 Do consider joining us. We hope to see you there!
SPRING BREAK NEWS:

Our Spring Break in Latin will begin March 4 and we'll return on March 21.

ASTERIX

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Re: Classics Bulletin Board
« Reply #32 on: March 27, 2009, 02:49:54 PM »

ginny

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Re: Classics Bulletin Board
« Reply #33 on: March 29, 2009, 09:47:29 AM »
 Thank you Asterix, that is fascinating.

Caesar~ You either love hm or hate him. This seems to be Butcher's Week at the History Channel, every other instance of programming seems to include murder, mayhem, and even a program ON butchering, so it's no surprise that  this notice has appeared about a program on the Gallic Wars:

Monday, March 30, 2009 and repeating several other times including April 5 at 8 Eastern,  I think, check your local listings:


8-9pm -- Battles BC - Caesar: Super Siege

It's 52 BC and the great Roman Commander Julius Caesar is butchering is way through Gaul. Thanks in large part to the iron will of Caesar, the Romans complete their long quest for total Mediterranean dominance, defeating the Gauls in the final battle of the Gallic Wars. For a period of time though, Gallic victory seemed possible. Out-numbering the Romans five to one, they held the high ground, on the hilltop fortress city of Alesia. Caesar besieges Alesia, however, and builds a wall around the city cutting it off from all possible supply lines. When Gallic reinforcements arrive to break the blockade, Caesar puts a startling twist on his strategy by constructing a second wall between his army and the reinforcements. It is siege upon siege, but Caesar knows the Romans, although fewer in numbers, are better supplied.

The Seige of Alesia is quite well known in the battles of the Gallic Wars, note that the Romans are out numbered 5-1.

From the tone here I gather this program MAY (or may not) be somewhat frothing at the mouth. This is the same series that characterizes David, (yes that David, the father of the Israelites, ) as self centered egotistical bloodthirsty murdering Mafia Don like character.

I kid you not.

So take this one with a grain of salt. It MAY be good but it may also be overdone for scandalous effect.

SPRING BREAK NEWS:

Our Spring Break in Latin will begin March 4 and we'll return on March 21.

Gumtree

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Re: Classics Bulletin Board
« Reply #34 on: March 31, 2009, 04:42:03 AM »
 Our local TV is showing a series on archaeological digs - last week was the discovery of Pi-Ramesses - the city Rameses II built on the Nile delta. Fascinating how they established the true location  of the city by mapping the ancient water courses in the delta and dating them to Ramesses' time.  Pi-Ramesses was thought to be located at Tanis but it transpires that after the river changed course and the water dried up they simply ??? shifted the city to the new location at Tanis - huge statues and all - I wonder if it was the broken statuary at Tanis which inspired Shelley's Ozymandias
 
I thought this programme was really well presented - just the facts and not too much playacting and with the real archaeologists speaking- I'm looking forward to the next episode/instalment though I don't know what the subject will be.
Reading is an art and the reader an artist. Holbrook Jackson

catbrown

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Re: Classics Bulletin Board
« Reply #35 on: April 12, 2009, 12:14:56 PM »
The Oxford Latin Dictionary is on sale, but you need the secret code to get the deal.

You may already have it, but if you do, you may know someone who doesn't have it and has yearned for it ... the OLD is on sale for $120.75!

Go to the Oxford University Press USA site:
http://www.oup.com/us/?view=usa

On the upper right is a box to enter a promo code: the code is 27712

Once entered, that code will bring you to a list of books on sale, including the OLD, but the original price ($345) will still be shown ... but, when you add it to your cart, the purchase will be at the amazing sale price.

Hope this brings joy to someone's heart (if not comfort to their purse).

Gumtree

  • Posts: 2741
Re: Classics Bulletin Board
« Reply #36 on: April 20, 2009, 12:50:28 PM »
I just heard a 10 nanosecond news item which indicated that archaeologist Zahi Hawass sp? claims that the lost tomb of Antony and Cleopatra may have been found at Teposiris Magna sp?  about 50 km from Alexandria. Can't find a link....
Reading is an art and the reader an artist. Holbrook Jackson

ginny

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Re: Classics Bulletin Board
« Reply #37 on: April 20, 2009, 07:07:42 PM »
Yes I heard the same thing in the car today, returning from my trip, Gum!! What excitement there will be!   I can't wait to see more but  I haven't seen anything else on it, OH BOY!! They've been looking for years. I wonder what makes them think this IS the tomb. They've been looking for Cleopatra's palace in  Alexandria for years, too. Can't wait to hear more.



I have to admit I was unable to overcome the longing for the new Oxford, thank you Cathy, it's already come and I am totally excited to see how it differs from the Lewis and Short I already have, equally as big.




On another note, everything old is new again. If you've wondered how the Romans read, published and marketed books, wonder no more. Yesterday's NY Times Sunday Book Review has this super article by Mary Beard, mentioned here before, http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/19/books/review/Beard-t.html called Scrolling Down the Ages. A great read!
SPRING BREAK NEWS:

Our Spring Break in Latin will begin March 4 and we'll return on March 21.

ginny

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Re: Classics Bulletin Board
« Reply #38 on: April 21, 2009, 08:20:18 AM »
Gum you were totally right! Excavations start TOMORROW to see if they have found the tomb of Antony and Cleopatra!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090419/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_egypt_cleopatra_s_tomb
SPRING BREAK NEWS:

Our Spring Break in Latin will begin March 4 and we'll return on March 21.

catbrown

  • Posts: 152
Re: Classics Bulletin Board
« Reply #39 on: April 21, 2009, 10:52:13 AM »
From all I have read about this recent Egyptian excavation, there really is nothing other than a few Cleopatra coins to indicate that this is indeed the tomb. It appears to me to be a PR stunt working overtime, particularly since, according to what I've read previously, the actual tomb excavations won't even begin until November when the water submerging them recedes.

Next we'll hear that they've found Alexander's tomb ... ahh, now, if they really did, wouldn't that be amazing!