Roman History Books and More

'the best book loan in literary history?' courtesy peter stothard

I can't resist posting this literary history of a book loan, via Peter Stothard's blog:

The best book loan in literary history?

carter: 'a celebration of some 100 x 150 notes' (1986)

Hat tip: Michael Nelson

Elliott Carter at age 100+ is still alive, kicking, and composing.  A week ago last Sunday I attended a performance of his latest, Zukofsky Songs for clarinet and soprano – Thomas Martin, clarinet and Lucy Shelton, soprano – at the Tanglewood Music Center's contemporary music festival in Lenox, MA.  The work was co-commissioned by the Tanglewood Music Center, the Nash Ensemble, and the Jerusalem International Chamber Music Festival.  It consisted of nine songs to poems by Louis Zukofsky, and I enjoyed it immensely.

The composer was in the audience and took his bow. He is simply amazing!  I had heard he looked frail, but he didn't seem much different to me than at last year's festival which was solely devoted to his music.

gone fishing …

… but may do some blogging still.

n.s. gill on ancient eclipses

Ancient Eclipses
(Ancient Classical History at About.com)

"Nothing there is beyond hope, nothing that can be sworn impossible, nothing wonderful, since Zeus, father of the Olympians, made night from mid-day, hiding the light of the shining Sun, and sore fear came upon men."
Archilochus

We may know there's a scientific explanation for them, but solar eclipses continue to exert an almost magical power over us.  It's not at all clear we've decreased in gullibility since the days when Columbus used his fore-knowledge of an eclipse to hoodwink the Jamaicans.  And even though we know better, during each total solar eclipse, there will be people blinded by the too tempting sight of an eclipsed sun.

read on  (Image: Thales of Miletus)

book chat august recess

There will be no book discussions in August, as usual.  Meanwhile, we are entertaining reading suggestions for 2010 so that we'll have a schedule ready sometime in September, giving members sufficient time to look ahead, and maybe get some books on their holiday list.

Enjoy your summer and your summer reads!

Norwalk, CT, Harbor, July 10, 2009

a view of capri (in re tiberius)

Capri From Punta Campanella (Wikimedia Commons)

Capri (Wikipedia, handle with care) with nice images.

'return of the roman' – an essay by allan massie

 Knowledge of Latin may be in decline, but novels, films and documentaries about the Romans have never been more popular.  We are still dimly, unconsciously, aware that our culture grew out of classical civilisation.
Allan Massie
Prospect Magazine Blog
November 2006 | 128 » Essays » Return of the Roman

In his short book "The Future of the Classical," Salvatore Settis, director of the Scuola Normale Superiore in Pisa, writes that "the marginalisation of classical studies in our education systems and our culture at large is a profound cultural shift that would be hard to ignore."  At the same time, he asks: "What place is there for the ancients in a world… characterised by the blending of peoples and cultures, the condemnation of imperialism, the end of ideologies, and the bold assertion of local traditions, and ethnic and national identities in the face of all forms of cultural hegemony?  Why seek out common roots, if everyone is intent on distinguishing their own from those of their neighbour?"

The points are well made, the questions pertinent, though the implication is not always as cogent as Settis supposes. After all, one characteristic of the Roman world was a very similar "blending of peoples and cultures," as eastern gods and goddesses were introduced to Rome and worshipped there, and as the emperors came more often from the provinces than from Italy, let alone Rome. 

      read on

Hat tip: Robert Greaves

this looks almost roman …

;-)

Ruins of a mansion on Sheffield Island, Norwalk, CT
July 10, 2009

DonorsChoose.org summer updates

DonorsChoose.org is a worthy project.

Celebrate Summer Learning
Literature & Writing

did you know that …

… Julius Caesar tweets?

Julius_Caesar checks in daily on Twitter.

• Name Gaius Julius Caesar
• Location Rome
• Bio Descendent of Venus, conqueror of all Gaul, dictator for life

play what the romans played, on your mac (sorry, windows users!)

hat tip Caroline Lawrence

Now you can play what the Romans played on your Macintosh computer.  Using the latest in Artificial Intelligence, we’ve recreated this ancient game for your enjoyment.  It’s completely free, and is licensed under an Open Source license.

Welcome to Latrunculi for Mac OS X

Latrunculi at Smith's Dictionary (LacusCurtius)

LATRUʹNCULI (πεσσοί, ψήφοι), draughts.  The invention of a game resembling draughts was attributed by the Greeks to Palamedes (Abacus, § 5).  The game is certainly mentioned by Homer, who represents the suitors of Penelope amusing themselves with it (Od. I.107). Others ascribed the invention to the Egyptian Theuth (Plat. Phaedr. p274d);  and the paintings in Egyptian tombs, which are of far higher antiquity than any Grecian monuments, not unfrequently represent persons employed in this recreation.   read on

public libraries in ancient rome

Robert blogged this yesterday and I find this very appropriate for our blog and reading group: we do rely heavily on public libraries. Robert writes:

Although Julius Caesar had planned to build a public library in Rome, he was assassinated before he could put his plan into operation. It fell to one of his adherents, Asinius Pollio, to build a public library in the Atrium Libertatis financed from the spoils of his 39 BC war against an Illyrian tribe, the Parthini. His library contained both Greek and Latin works, possibly in separate wings. Augustus, Octavia, and Tiberius also founded public libraries.

Unfortunately, we don't know precisely how the libraries worked: whether people were allowed to borrow books or only read them in the library, who was allowed to use the libraries and many other details. We do know that an east facing room was recommended to take advantage of the light, so presumably opening hours were in the morning rather than the late afternoon or evening.

Two general articles on libraries in the ancient world, one in French and one in English. An article on the location of the public libraries in Rome.

Go to Matters Arising

academia, copyright, and open access: two different views

Those who criticise must understand what they are criticising

In the 30th April 2009 issue (1,894) of the Times Higher Education magazine, Prof Kathryn Sutherland of Oxford Unviersity wrote an ill-considered and wrong-headed attack on digital communication in general and on Open Access in particular titled Those who disseminate ideas must acknowledge the routes they travel.

In her article, Prof Sutherland claims that easy access to electronic versions of others’ writing automatically leads to a degradation of the respect for the other as the source of that writing.  She makes the serious mistake of generalising from fiction (and other artistic forms such as poetry) to scholarly writing.  read on

Hat tip Archivalia

rome’s 2762nd birthday …

… and games honoring it

Games in Honor of Rome’s 2762nd Birthday!

On 21st April, Rome will celebrate its 2762nd birthday–she’s looking good for her age, wouldn’t you say?
In honor of this big event, a long series of concerts, historic reenactments, speeches, and inaugurations began today and will continue through Tuesday.

   image courtesy idcrome at eternallycool.net

mary beard on publishing in ancient rome

Illustration by Greg Clarke, New York Times

Mary Beard has an essay in this weekend's Books section at the New York Times:

Essay
Scrolling Down the Ages
By MARY BEARD

Published: April 19, 2009

There’s a lot in the Roman literary world that seems familiar: money-making booksellers, exploited authors.

“My book is thumbed by our soldiers posted overseas, and even in Britain people quote my words. What’s the point? I don’t make a penny from it.”  This is not the complaint of some young American author who has suddenly discovered that his contract pays him nothing for foreign sales.  These are the words of the Roman poet Martial, first-century satirist and defender of authors’ rights.   read on

Hat tip to David Meadow, who adds   [...]  If I think about it too hard, I start thinking of the ancient literate slave as the Roman equivalent of an iPod Touch, with a longer battery life.

Marcus Didius Falco, in Lindsey Davis' Ode to a Banker (just reissued) has plenty of experience with Roman Publishers.

peter stothart on druids and englishmen, and a new book

Love a Druid, Hate a Papist

[...] Whether any Roman writer had ever actually seen a Druid, let alone visited their hideous groves, is a matter of much doubt. But when seventeenth century opponents of an English Catholic kingdom wanted to link themselves to the most flamboyant freedom fighters in their past, the English Druids, as fearsomely described by Caesar, Tacitus and Lucan, were friends indeed.  read on

charlotte higgins: is cicero worthy of our praise?

Is Cicero worthy of our praise?
Our leader this morning showers the great Roman orator with love, but does he deserve it?

In Glasgow, at the joint conference of the Classical Association/Classical Association of Scotland, the Guardian's rather timely leader in praise of Cicero (in this morning's paper) has not gone unnoticed.

I ran into Professor Mary Beard during the conference coffee break – who last night was bigging up Cicero as antiquity's greatest wit. She noted archly that Cicero was, in her view, rather an unpleasant man. A great man, but a thoroughly nasty one.

read all

Hat tip Adrian Murdoch

'cicero, father of politically correct comedy' (mary beard)

Cicero, father of politically correct comedy
by Philip Howard, TimesOnline

Dico, dico, dico! I say, I say, I say! What made an Ancient Roman laugh? Professor Mary Beard, of Cambridge University, considered this ticklish question at the extraordinary joint meeting of the Scottish and English Classical Associations in Glasgow last night.

The popular theory is that Romans were not great funsters. They were bullies who laughed at lesser breeds being put down and humiliated.

One puzzle is that the Romans had only one basic word for laughter …  read all

Hat tip N.S. Gill

for german speakers: golo mann and antiquity

Antike und Abendland, remembering Golo Mann's 100th birthday this month, has an entry Golo Mann, die Antike und ihre Historiker – eine Spurensuche zum Hundertsten.

Golo Mann had an affinity to Roman literature:

Die Antike, genauer: die römische Literatur bildete einen nicht unwesentlichen, wenngleich wenig beachteten Teil im geistigen Haushalt Golo Manns. In Salem gehörte Latein, von Kurt Hahn persönlich unterrichtet, zu seinen Lieblingsfächern, und auf den fürsorglichen Rat von Karl Jaspers hin absolvierte er das Erste Staatsexamen für das Lehramt in diesem Fach, um einen beruflich brauchbaren Abschluß vorweisen zu können. Die gelesenen Autoren - Cicero, Sallust, Horaz und Tacitus - begleiteten ihn das Leben hindurch. 1976 erschien in der „Neuen Rundschau" ein „Versuch über Tacitus". Dem in seinen Augen letzten großen Historiker Roms fühlte er sich besonders verbunden; Stilwillen, eindringliche Personenportraits und eine pessimistische Grundhaltung kennzeichneten beider Geschichtsschreibung.

Furthermore, he was instrumental in getting Syme's Roman Revolution translated into German, and under his aegis as editor of Propyläen Weltgeschichte 3 plus of its 10 volumes were dedicated to antiquity.

Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons

more teutoburg forest, on the history channel 'warriors' series

Warriors: Barbarian Massacre Airs on Thursday March 26 10:00 PM

Germany, 9 AD:  The Romans, with the greatest army in the world, are annihilated by Germanic tribes at the Battle of Teutoburg Forest.  What does it take to be a warrior?  Travel the globe alongside modern-day warrior, SFC Terry Schappert, and go inside the culture of some of the most famous warriors of all time to explore their weaponry, tactics and, ultimately, their psyche.

Hat tip Eric Skelly

Hopefully, this better than Decisive Battles …