THIS DAY IN ANCIENT HISTORY

ante diem viii kalendas februarias

• Sementivae or Paganalia (day 2) -- Sementivae was a festival of
  sowing which was actually a moveable feast (although I'm not
  sure of the moveability criteria; I'm guessing that the first
  day falls between January 24 and 26). By Ovid's time it appears to
  have been coincident with Paganalia, which also obviously has
  some rural aspect to it. It appears to have been a two-day
  festival with an interval of seven days between (corrections
  on this welcome ... my sources seem muddled on this one)
• 41 A.D. -- recognition of Claudius as emperor by the senate
• 98 A.D. -- death of Nerva (?)
  

10:39:44 AM    

CHATTER: What to Do With A Classics Degree

I'll bet this one isn't on the recruitment poster in your local Classics department ... from the Talahassee Democrat (towards the end):

Jonathan Davis is not a guy most people would approach in a dark parking lot.

He's a 280-pound bruiser with biceps the size of canned hams. He likes to cover his shaved head with a black skull cap bearing a silver-outlined black cross - one that looks like the Blue Max medal the ace German pilots used to get in World War I. The cap helps accentuate his Fu Manchu facial hair. Davis, 30, wrestles professionally under the name "Axis" with a partner named Python (Mike Christeas) in a tag team called the Hell Raisers.

Axis holds a degree in classics and humanities from FSU.

"I like Virgil, and I also like to reread 'The Odyssey' and 'The Iliad' as many times as I can," Davis said in a raspy voice as he stood outside in the dimly lit lot of the BSU warehouse. He was waiting for his turn to teach an advanced class.

"'The Iliad' can be read as a war blueprint or a love story or many other ways. It can be read on many different levels. That's why it has endured."

Davis said he divides his time between wrestling around the Southeast and working as a personal trainer.

"Wrestlers come from all different backgrounds," he said. "There's a stereotype that all wrestlers are crazy or stupid, and there's a reason that stereotype exists. Then there are just as many reasons it shouldn't exist." [more]

10:34:20 AM    

CHATTER: Socrates Redux

A new principal at Griswold Middle/High school is quoted in the Daily Nonpareil (almost as good a name as the Times-Picayune) as saying:

O'Brien said students today have the same needs they did in Socrates' day.

"You read Socrates and they are saying the same things about kids we say today," he said.

I bet we all know which spurious quotation he's referring to ...

10:30:00 AM    

REVIEWS: From BMCR

Pierre-Jacques Dehon, Hiems Nascens. Premieres representations de
l'hiver chez les poetes latins de la Republique.

Synnove des Bouvrie (ed.), Myth and Symbol I. Symbolic Phenomena
in Ancient Greek Culture. Papers from the first international symposium
on symbolism at the University of Tromso, June 4-7, 1998.

M. Cultraro, L'Anello di Minosse.

Burgess on Kenney on Ramirez de Verger.   Response to BMCR 2004.01.13

Mary Lefkowitz, Greek Gods, Human Lives: What We Can Learn From Myths.

Colin Amery, Brian Curran Jr., The Lost World of Pompeii. With an introduction by Andrew Wallace-Hadrill.

Carl Joachim Classen, Antike Rhetorik im Zeitalter des Humanismus. BzA 182.

C. Schöffel, Martial, Buch 8. Einleitung, Text, Übersetzung, Kommentar.

10:10:14 AM    

NUNTII: Akropolis World News

The latest headlines of Akropolis World News in Classical Greek:

Mammoth skull found in UK - Mars rover sends 20 minutes data - Europe to cool as world warms?

Israel strikes Hezbollah targets - Shiites demand Saddam's death - Algeria gas explosion kills 20

10:03:22 AM    

NUNTII: Nuntii Latini

The latest headlines from Radio Finland's Nuntii Latini

Kerry in Iowa victor

Bush politicam suam defendit

Primi milites Iaponienses in Iraquiam missi

Irlandia praesidium Unionis Europaeae tenet

Barba virum facit

Catarrhus epidemicus avium

Recitatio ...

10:00:05 AM    

NUNTII: Newsletter Updates

Hot off the epresses:

AWOTV listings for January 26 - February 1

Explorator Issue 6.39

Enjoy!

9:56:41 AM    

AWOTV: On TV Today

Nothing of interest ...

9:52:18 AM