Roman History Books and More

a novel by C.S. Lewis, 'till we have faces' retelling the myth of cupid and psyche

Robert of Matters Arising recommends C.S. Lewis' Till We Have Faces: A Myth Retold, a novel retelling Apuleius' story of Cupid and Psyche from the point of view of one of Psyche's sisters.

Book description: This tale of two princesses – one beautiful and one unattractive – and of the struggle between sacred and profane love is Lewis’s reworking of the myth of Cupid and Psyche and one of his most enduring works.

The Google Books copy allows a few glimpses into the novel.  I found this review:

Lewis considered this, his last novel, to be his best, and many of his readers agree.  It is the first-hand story of the ugly princess Orual’s love for her sister, and her complaint against the gods. Orual lives in Glome, a little barbarian kingdom of ancient times.  Glome and its closest neighbours are fictional, but Lewis uses his considerable knowledge of classical history to imbue it with all the beauty and horror of pagan culture.   read on

apuleius in art: cupid and psyche in the 17th century (matters arising)

Robert continues blogging Cupid and Psyche in the visual arts:

Cupid and Psyche: The 17th Century

Moving on to the 17th century, the Royal Collection has a series of paintings by Luca Giordano illustrating the story of Cupid and Psyche, which were painted in the mid 1690s. London's National Gallery has a picture by Claude Lorrain of Psyche outside Cupid's palace, painted in 1664.   read on

apuleius in art: cupid and psyche in the 16th century (matters arising)

Robert (Matters Arising) has begun blogging Cupid and Psyche in the visual arts:

Cupid and Psyche: The 16th Century

The story of Cupid and Psyche from books 4-6 of Apuleius's The Golden Ass has been a favourite subject for artists down the years  read on

I found another painting:

Jacopo Zucci - Amor and Psyche, 1589
Museo e Galleria Borghese
Courtesy Wikimedia Commons

'apuleius and his influence' by elizabeth hazelton haight

Acting on a tip from Robert who subscribes to Questia, I searched for and got ahold of a very cheap copy of Elizabeth Hazelton Haight's Apuleius and His Influence, Longmans, Green and Co., 1927. 195 pgs.  (Due to later reprints, the book is still under copyright.)

The Questia copy can be found here.  The brief prologue, Presenting Apuleius, can be read by non-subscribers and gives a good indication of the author's engagement.

[...] I will admit frankly that he is difficult to understand, elusive, subtle, enveloped in mysteries.  I cannot guarantee his moral character, or certify his good taste, or clear him from the charge of having practiced magic.  I can affirm, however, in his own words, that studied he will give you joy.

apuleius' metamorphoses in jstor

For those readers who are able to access JSTOR:

Searching for "Metamorphoses AND Apuleius," and selecting "Review," generates 32 pages of articles.  Much too much to sort out.  However, sorted by relevance, maybe the first couple of pages will be sufficient for any reader who wants to delve more into The Golden Ass, finding articles by title of possible interest.

I might modestly cull the search results in another post.

Of immediacy, this might be helpful:

Apuleius' The Golden Ass: The Demands on the Reader
James T. Svendsen
Pacific Coast Philology, Vol. 13, (Oct., 1978), pp. 101-107
Published by: Pacific Ancient and Modern Language Association
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1316370

look for the movie 'agora'

Hypatia, an unlikely protagonist?

This should be interesting:  At Cannes: Alejandro Amenabar's provocative new historical thriller

When Alejandro Amenabar took time off after finishing his last film, "The Sea Inside," he headed off to a remote island and went stargazing. His newfound interest in the stars prompted a study of astronomy, which in turn led the Spanish filmmaker to investigate the lives of a number of great minds in the field, from Galileo to Kepler to Copernicus to Ptolemy. But the historical character who really stuck with him was a woman -- Hypatia, who lived in Alexandria during the 4th century AD, in the waning days of the Roman Empire. The daughter of Theron, the last director of the famed Library of Alexandria, she was not only a brilliant theorist in astronomy, but a mathematician and philosopher.  read on

Jone Johnson Lewis at About.com:  Hypatia, philosopher, astronomer, and mathematician

fabulous gladiator mosaic in north africa, telling the story of games

at livius.org via New at LacusCurtius & Livius:

Villa Dar Buc Ammera, a Roman villa near Lepcis Magna, is famous for its mosaics, which can be seen today in the Archaeological Museum of Tripoli. Especially fine is the Gladiator Mosaic, which shows an entire day of games.

Jona writes:

The most famous of the mosaics of the Villa Buc Ammera is the Mosaic of the Gladiators, which consists of a set of sixteen square fields decorated with geometric designs or representations of several kinds of fish. The edge is decorated with pictures of gladiatorial contests.  It was the floor of a dinner room (triclinium).  It offers important evidence for the way the ancient Romans organized gladiatoral contests in the circus.   read on

I was intrigued by the Musicians panel:

 
click to enlarge

My own photos of a gladiator mosaic from Bad Kreuznach, a completely different take on the subject.

Image courtesy livius.org

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

the view from my window

Memorial Day 2009
pool opens for the season

next book chat: the golden ass by apuleius

Join us on June 3 for our chat on The Golden Ass or The Metamorphoses (also Transformations of Lucius).

The Golden Ass
(Oxford World Classcics) 
P.G. Walsh, translator

The Golden Ass: The Transformations of Lucius, Robert Graves, translator

Online translations:

William Adlington, 1566
    Internet Archive
    Google Books
    Ancient/Classical History at About.com
E.J. Kenney, 1998 (visually hard to read!)

'blogging pompeii'

First we had Ostia antica, now there is:

Blogging Pompeii
A blog for all those who work on Pompeii and the other archaeological sites ofthe Bay of Naples. Here we share news and information about Pompeii and the other sites, and we discuss current research.

There is also a related Facebook page Blogging Pompeii.

roman france, three articles in the new york times this weekend

(Hat tip Adrian Murdoch)

Photo Ed Alcock for The New York Times
The Pont du Gard, an aqueduct in southern France.

Travel
Roman France
By ELAINE SCIOLINO
Published: May 17, 2009
From amphitheaters and aqueducts to sarcophagi and statuary left behind by the conquerors, a hunt for what was once Gaul reveals traces of Roman civilization throughout the countryside.
With multimedia slideshow

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

new routledge sourcebook: roman social history

Well, not so new, but it's the paperback edition and has just been favorably reviewed at Bryn Mawr Classical Review:

Roman Social History: A Sourcebook
Routledge Sourcebooks for the Ancient World
by Tim G. Parkin, Arthur J. Pomeroy
London/New York:  Routledge, 2007
Pp. xvii, 388.  ISBN 9780415426756
$37.95

Bryn Mawr Classical Review 2009.05.37

Roman social history: a sourcebook assembles a diverse collection of Latin and Greek sources ranging from the well-known and easily accessible, such as Seneca's Letters and excerpts from the Digest, to the more obscure, including medical treatises of Galen and homilies of John Chrysostom, in addition to a valuable selection of inscriptions and papyri. In compiling these sources, Parkin and Pomeroy have sought to provide a comprehensive picture of Roman social life, one that incorporates the experiences of slaves, peasants, and labourers, and focuses less on the lives of the elite, who ultimately comprised a very small proportion of the total population.

[...]  Parkin and Pomeroy's sourcebook is an extremely useful collection for the study of Roman social history, particularly for its diversity of topics and wide range of literary, epigraphic, and papyrological source materials. It will be a valuable resource for students, instructors, and anyone interested in accessing the 'other side' of Rome's history and evidence for the day-to-day experiences of the majority of Romans in the early empire.   read all

roman mystery series for children: 'the roman mysteries' (caroline lawrence)

WELCOME  TO THE WORLD OF FLAVIA GEMINA

 THE YEAR IS AD 79.

THE PLACE IS OSTIA, PORT OF ROME.

FROM HERE, FLAVIA GEMINA, DAUGHTER OF A ROMAN SEA CAPTAIN, EMBARKS ON THRILLING ADVENTURES WITH HER THREE FRIENDS JONATHAN, NUBIA AND LUPUS.

AS SHE AND HER FRIENDS ATTEMPT TO SOLVE THEIR FIRST CRIME, THE CLUES LEAD THEM AROUND OSTIA: TO THE HARBOUR, THE FORUM, THE LIGHTHOUSE AND THE TOMBS OF THE DEAD.

LATER MYSTERIES TAKE THEM TO POMPEII, ROME, GREECE, North AFRICA, Egypt, Turkey and finally back to Ostia and Rome.

   explore the website
   BBC Series

Caroline Lawrence's Roman Mysteries Blog

In 2009, Caroline Lawrence won the Classical Association Prize for her Roman Mysteries series.  The prize, which is worth £5000, is awarded annually for 'a significant contribution to the public understanding of Classics'.  The award was presented on Sunday 5th April 2009, at a ceremony held in Glasgow.

a catilina short story: the house of the vestals (steven saylor)

From Steven Saylor's collection with the same title, The House of the Vestals: The Investigations of Gordianus the Finder, a short short story.

However, as to what really happened, you have to go to Catilina's Riddle and Catilina's confidences to Gordianus …

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

for german speakers: erstes inoffizielles köln-archiveinsturz-gedicht

Der Archiveinsturz (Köln, 3. März 2009)

In weißen Schachteln,
beschriftet: Firma Reisswolf,
lagert Papiergekröse.
Selten ist Pergament dabei,
das haltbare.
Schachtel um Schachtel
öffnen die weiß gewandeten Helfer.
Ausfegen, verpacken, aufschreiben.
Ausfegen, verpacken, aufschreiben.
Ausfegen, verpacken, aufschreiben.
Zerfetzte Geschichte,
geborstenes Gedächtnis.
Soviel an Sorge
ließ angedeihen nie
man den alten Schriften,
solange still sie ruhten
und unbeschadet in den
Archivgelassen.

***

Erstes inoffizielles Köln-Archiveinsturz-Gedicht
Von Assessor des Archivdienstes Dr. Klaus Graf
Archivalia

clickable plan of trajan's harbour in portus (ostia antica)

Ostia Antica presents a clickable plan of Trajan's harbour in Portus

… accompanied by a text-menu (main entry: Portus). The plan that we chose was made by Italo Gismondi and published by Lugli in 1935. We added short descriptions of many buildings and improved the descriptions of buildings that were already online. The ruins of Portus are mostly covered by earth today, after centuries of what we would call today plundering. It is extremely difficult to understand the site, and we hope that the clickable plan will make it a bit easier for you. Clickable plans will be added in the near future for the basin of Claudius and the north part of the Isola Sacra. We will keep consulting the recent publications by the Soprintendenza and the Portus Project, and summarize the results for you. Use Google Earth to get an idea of the tremendous challenge that the Soprintendenza is facing. Portus is "in the shade" of Leonardo da Vinci airport and "strangled" by roads, highways and railways. It is virtually impossible to visit the site on foot. There have been successful protection orders by the Italian State, but part of the site is still private property of the Torlonia family, part of it is rather unprotected. For an analysis of the current situation see especially Lidia Paroli writing in Keay 2005, p. 56.

(from Yahoo Group Ostia-L)

fiction and drama featuring lucius sergius catilina II (catilina's riddle)

If I had to pick a favorite, it would probably be Catilina's Riddle by Steven Saylor.

While McCullough (Caesar's Women) presents a sweeping annalistic view, the Saylor novel in my opinion provides the most drama and insight into Catilina.  I also think the book is one of the best in the Roma Subrosa series.  Most of us know Catilina's fate already;  but two parallel stories keep the suspense going nicely to the end.

fiction and drama featuring lucius sergius catilina I