tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-117102812024-03-13T17:02:36.516+00:00The Life of Antoninus PiusThe philosophical ramblings of a long-deceased Roman emperor.Antoninus Piushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13549656626308639986noreply@blogger.comBlogger116125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11710281.post-54189227331434838212012-10-15T15:10:00.000+00:002012-10-27T15:54:55.415+00:00Caligula: Cool, Calm, or Mad, Bad?
This month, the History Channel's web site carried an article entitled "7 Things You May Not Know About Caligula".
Clearly, they couldn't decide on their intended readership, with items veering from Number 1, "Caligula wasn't his real name", to Number 4, "He may not have built his famous floating bridge, but he did launch pleasure barges in Lake Nemi" -- if you don't know his name [it was Gaius]Antoninus Piushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13549656626308639986noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11710281.post-31580279619727426342012-08-30T08:30:00.000+00:002012-09-01T13:51:09.941+00:00Why History should not be written by the BBCSometimes the venerable BBC, usually considered the Queen of Journalism, gives a rather skewed -- not to say plain unbalanced -- view of archaeology. This week saw Caesar's celebrated siege of Alesia in the news again, 2,063 years after the event. The reason is surely the recent opening of the grand visitor centre, MuséoParc Alésia, at Alise-Sainte-Reine. However, like all the best journalism, Antoninus Piushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13549656626308639986noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11710281.post-77434403606418400152012-07-02T19:02:00.000+00:002012-07-07T17:13:12.736+00:00A Wolf in Medieval ClothingA few weeks ago, Italy's Corriere Della Serra newspaper carried a report entitled "From Etruria to the Middle Ages". It claimed that radiocarbon dating now proves that the Lupa Capitolina (the famous Capitoline Wolf, pictured here) is "17 centuries younger" than previously thought. This seems to be an odd claim, for more than one reason. But first, a few words about the Capitoline Wolf.
Back in Antoninus Piushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13549656626308639986noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11710281.post-48438677062012414612012-06-01T01:06:00.000+00:002014-03-16T16:52:50.014+00:00The Emperors' Sticky EndIn what version of reality can death by lightning-strike be judged so-so, pretty ordinary, 14 out of 84?! I recently came across a listing of Roman emperors' deaths, compiled by failed PhD candidate Josh Fruhlinger,* organized "in order of how hardcore they were".
(* I should point out that Josh Fruhlinger's self-confessed credentials for drawing up this list rest on the fact that he "quit five Antoninus Piushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13549656626308639986noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11710281.post-42376399737773543622012-05-19T19:05:00.000+00:002012-05-20T17:10:27.704+00:00Romans in SpainMay is wearing on, so it must be time for another blog post. And, just in time, my trusty news hound tracked down an interesting story from the Spanish press.
Last week's Diario de León newspaper announced (in Spanish, here and here) the "Discovery of a 'treasure' of Roman armour in the former headquarters of CCAN" (the Spanish Club Cultural y de Amigos de la Naturaleza).
The site lies on Antoninus Piushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13549656626308639986noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11710281.post-79660865188712956402012-04-05T05:04:00.019+00:002012-04-05T21:37:46.389+00:00Maundy Wednesday?It is Easter again, and it has become a blogging tradition (observed here, and here, and here, and here) to select an Easter theme.It has also become a blogging tradition (a) to expose charlatans, whenever they try to distort ancient history for their own ends (Mr Lindsay, your Roman Scotland web site is on a warning; Señor Carotta, you are beyond help), and (b) to correct misunderstandings (suchAntoninus Piushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13549656626308639986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11710281.post-1544872385986173592012-03-03T03:03:00.019+00:002012-03-04T17:22:26.590+00:00An Engrossing Read?!It has been a while since we looked in on the Roman Scotland web site (last visited in 2010). I'm afraid that, in the intervening eighteen months, it hasn't gotten any better.Flattery!The web site owner, Euan Lindsay, modestly claims that "this is an engrossing read". He flatters himself.He also claims that his unnamed collaborators "felt the need to share their knowledge of the Roman period in Antoninus Piushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13549656626308639986noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11710281.post-7415324834734715212012-02-28T02:28:00.010+00:002012-02-28T19:53:33.098+00:00The Ninth Legion ReduxWith only a day remaining to organize February's post, a gift from the Gods landed on my lap. The (usually excellent) History of the Ancient World web site decided to enter the "Lost Legion" fray. As regular readers will know, we have been blogging on this subject (on and off) for quite some time.A Mysterious LossYesterday, under the title, "The Roman Ninth Legion's mysterious loss", the HotAW Antoninus Piushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13549656626308639986noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11710281.post-85677957124819343792012-01-28T01:28:00.012+00:002012-01-29T11:15:53.580+00:00Three strikes, and Carotta is out!Readers may have noticed that I devoted January's postings to reviewing the eccentric theory (I use the adjective advisedly -- Merriam-Webster defines it as "deviating from conventional or accepted usage" -- I am not trying to match one of Signor Carotta's colorful terms of abuse) that "the entire Gospel is a mutated history of the Roman Civil War, from the Rubicon to the assassination and burialAntoninus Piushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13549656626308639986noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11710281.post-9238709231459277442012-01-22T01:22:00.003+00:002012-01-22T10:10:27.421+00:00The Parrot RepliesRunning arguments can be tedious. Back and forth they go, each observation met with a rebuttal, each argument with a counter-argument. But in this way, weaknesses in a theory can be exposed and corrected.Italian philosopher Francesco Carotta has a different technique. Ridicule.Our previous article on Antoninus Pius’s blunder was not written to “discredit his blog”, as he alleges, but only to Antoninus Piushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13549656626308639986noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11710281.post-63033673283068258872012-01-16T16:01:00.015+00:002012-01-16T20:05:31.141+00:00The Carotta Code CrackedIt seems that someone at Francesco Carotta's "Divine Julius" web site took offence at my recent book review. The extensive "rebuttal" is unsigned but carries the tag "Francesco Carotta". So, has the great man deigned to defend his dodgy theory?A reasoned rebuttal?Actually, he seems to be more interested in discrediting my review. "We can notice lots of errors, patterns of bias," he writes. My Antoninus Piushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13549656626308639986noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11710281.post-30784277509818930252012-01-01T01:01:00.020+00:002012-01-29T11:34:29.265+00:00Jesus Christ and Julius Caesar: same initials, same man?It is a new year, and high time we had a book review. It has been several months since I linked the names of Jesus Christ and Julius Caesar (here) but, in the meantime, I have come across a much more sensational connection between these two people.Sensational TheoryIt seems that, for several years now, the left-wing Italian philosopher and ancient history aficionado Francesco Carotta has been Antoninus Piushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13549656626308639986noreply@blogger.com28tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11710281.post-60638226189320684032011-12-25T12:25:00.010+00:002011-12-30T10:36:16.685+00:00Christ IllustratedIt is Christmas time, a season that calls for a religious blog post. Fortuitously, I recently discovered the magisterial La Vie de Notre-Seigneur Jésus-Christ ("The Life of Our Lord Jesus Christ") by Jacques (James) Tissot, which is suitably biblical.The French painter Tissot (1836-1902) had a fairly conventional artistic career, until his support for the Paris Commune forced him to flee to Antoninus Piushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13549656626308639986noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11710281.post-84262157430298589092011-11-20T11:20:00.004+00:002011-11-27T16:34:06.089+00:00Counting Down from MarathonOn November 13, long distance runners from all over the world converged on Athens for the 29th Athens Classic Marathon. This old arithmetically-challenged emperor assumed that it was organized to celebrate the 2,500th anniversary (25th centenary) of the Battle of Marathon, fought in 490 BC. However, the official logo of the Association of International Marathons and Distance Races (pictured here)Antoninus Piushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13549656626308639986noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11710281.post-34975165536516388412011-10-31T10:31:00.004+00:002011-11-23T11:16:59.482+00:00AD, CE, does it matter?I think it may have been Voltaire's fault.Recently, there has been a certain amount of internet discussion about the terms CE and BCE as replacements for the venerable AD/BC dating system. The wickedly subversive commentator Mary Beard (that's her description, not mine) helpfully informs us that "CE and BCE have been around for years, and < are > often used instead of BC and AD". But surely the Antoninus Piushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13549656626308639986noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11710281.post-45796214706665242342011-09-30T09:30:00.004+00:002011-10-02T15:16:11.125+00:00Antonine Wall MuseumIt has been a while since the Antonine Wall was in the news.One of the recurring features of this blog -- besides championing a sensible interpretation of the disappearance of the Lost Ninth Legion (most recently here) -- is to follow developments on the Roman frontier in Scotland (most recently here). So this emperor was excited to learn that Glasgow University's Hunterian Museum -- home of manyAntoninus Piushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13549656626308639986noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11710281.post-15658304287857451022011-08-08T08:08:00.002+00:002011-08-08T10:46:23.872+00:00Medieval Armour Was HeavyVarious press reports have latched onto the recent publication of some findings in the field of armour research.A team involving academics from Leeds, Milan and Auckland measured the effects of walking and running in a 30-40kg suit of plate armour, and discovered -- surprise, surprise -- that wearing armour has a detrimental effect on a man's breathing.Actually, their analysis is slightly more Antoninus Piushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13549656626308639986noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11710281.post-63539927877351721732011-07-08T08:07:00.005+00:002011-07-08T22:05:30.454+00:00Under The SunRecently, I saw an advert for a book called "Everything Under The Sun". I don't know what kind of associations that phrase evokes for you, but for me it evokes King Solomon. And not in a good way.There is, of course, a better known sun-related phrase, which I was reminded of while flicking through the Meditations of my adopted son (!), the emperor Marcus Aurelius.I happened to be reading the Antoninus Piushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13549656626308639986noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11710281.post-43450222363166475022011-07-01T07:01:00.003+00:002011-07-03T11:57:30.190+00:00Another book, another wallThe latest book to land on my imperial desk is The Aurelian Wall and the Refashioning of Imperial Rome by art historian Hendrik W. Dey, whose c.v. is eclectic in the extreme. (He has jointly authored papers on "Evidence for Holocene Marine Transgression and Shoreline Progradation Due to Barrier Development in Iskele, Bay of Izmir, Turkey" and "Tsunami waves generated by the Santorini eruption Antoninus Piushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13549656626308639986noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11710281.post-36717169226230874352011-05-21T05:21:00.004+00:002011-05-21T15:45:27.487+00:00The Biggest Inscription of the Ancient WorldI recently noticed that the University of Köln, in collaboration with publishers Rudolf Habelt, have begun to put the journal Epigraphica Anatolica online. The latest available issue, EA volume 40 (2007), includes a paper by Martin F. Smith and Jürgen Hammaerstaedt entitled "The inscription of Diogenes of Oinoanda". It seems that work is continuing on this, the biggest inscription of the ancient Antoninus Piushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13549656626308639986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11710281.post-42378695434159916182011-04-24T04:24:00.006+00:002011-04-27T08:51:48.376+00:00Julius Caesar and JesusIt is Easter again, and it has become a blogging tradition (observed here and here and here) to select an Easter theme.I recently heard someone remark that "there is more evidence for the resurrection of Jesus Christ than there is for Julius Caesar's invasion of Britain in 55 BC".This is an intriguing variation of a perennial chestnut: that, somehow, the truth of Christianity can be proved by Antoninus Piushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13549656626308639986noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11710281.post-67889738962040479942011-03-16T16:03:00.010+00:002011-03-28T21:20:40.873+00:00New Twist on the Lost LegionThe Eagle movie is due for release in the UK on 25 March, and publicity has reached fever pitch. Under the headline "Lost Legion", the BBC online magazine for 16 March 2011 asks: "Did a mysterious Roman military disaster change Britain?"Archaeologist Miles Russell, a prehistorian from Bournemouth University, asks "could a brutal ambush have been the event that forged the England-Scotland border?"Antoninus Piushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13549656626308639986noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11710281.post-8745229963355925842011-02-24T02:24:00.002+00:002011-02-24T02:24:00.227+00:00Why History should not be written by Film-makersSometimes one post sparks off another. This has been particularly true where the subject of the "lost" Ninth Legion is concerned. (Over the years, I have blogged about it here, here and here.) One of my readers (thank you, Juliette) recently drew my attention to a press item which heralded exciting new information about the Lost Legion.More fact than fictionAccording to The Daily Mail, "experts Antoninus Piushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13549656626308639986noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11710281.post-79783016535821011092011-02-19T02:19:00.004+00:002011-02-20T13:44:07.164+00:00The Eye of the BeholderSometimes throwaway remarks -- suggestions that seemed reasonable at the time -- are picked up by other writers, and what began as a good idea becomes a theory, and finally a fact.This process has, I think, occurred in the case of the Britannia coins of the Roman empire. And I am grateful to a recent visitor (Fvrivs Rvfvs) for prompting this latest reflection of an old emperor, once again Antoninus Piushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13549656626308639986noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11710281.post-9993774821491083502011-02-08T08:02:00.006+00:002011-02-08T15:43:01.030+00:00What Roman Soldiers WearA year ago, I blogged on the subject of "out-of-date" books and what that term might mean.So I was interested to read an on-line review of the late H. Russell Robinson's booklet, What the Soldiers wore on Hadrian's Wall. While generally enthusiastic, the review -- entitled "Interesting but Outdated" -- still noted that the date of publication (1976; repr. 1979 and 1985) "makes the book slightly Antoninus Piushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13549656626308639986noreply@blogger.com6