rogueclassicism

idus octobres

festival of Jupiter -- all ides were sacred to Jupiter
Rite of the 'October Horse' -- one of the many rituals which makes the study of Roman religion so fascinating. On this day a race between two-horse chariots would be held in the Campus Martius, and the right hand horse of the victorious pair would be sacrificed by the flamen of Mars on an altar (in the Campus Martius, of course). After the sacrifice, people who lived in the Via Sacra neighbourhood would fight the people who lived in the Suburra for the right to the head. If the 'via sacranites' won, they'd display it on the Regia; if the Suburranites won, it would be displayed at the Turris Mamilia. Meanwhile, the cauda (tail - genitals) would be rushed to the Regia so the blood would drip on the sacred hearth; the Vestal Virgins also probably kept some of the blood for use at the Parilia on April 21
ludi Capitolini -- a somewhat obscure day of games which was unique in its not being 'public' (in the sense of being put on by a magistrate) but rather the ballywick of a collegium of 'Capitolini'. Not much is known about what went on at these games save that an old man wearing the bulla of of a young boy was paraded about and mocked; there were possibly competitions in boxing and running as well.
70 B.C. -- birth of Publius Vergilius Maro, a.k.a. Vergil, a.k.a Virgil (I should hope no further glosses necessary)
1999 -- death of Don Fowler, fellow of Jesus College, Oxford and frequent contributor to the Classics list almost from its inception, among other things, of course.

::Friday, October 15, 2004 5:56:37 AM::

~ NASA Photos of Interest

One of the ARLT bloggers was reminded that he once put up a webpage (boy, do I know that feeling) of NASA photos which would be of interest to folks teaching Latin and/or other Classically inspired courses. The page has some really nice photos of one of Etna's eruptions a couple of years ago plus other stuff. Worth a look. (I've got a couple of others from NASA that could be added to this ... I'll have to dig them out of my other computer).

::Friday, October 15, 2004 5:50:36 AM::

~ Divine Roman Britain @ CTC

At the Classics Technology Center I just noticed:

Blair Gormley, Jupiter vs Belatucadrus: Worship of non-Classical Deities in the Roman Empire

::Friday, October 15, 2004 5:44:06 AM::

~ Battlefield Epiphanies @ Digressus

The online journal Digressus has a new article up:

Wheeler, Graham (Cambridge) 'Battlefield Epiphanies in Ancient Greece: A Survey.'
(pdf)

::Friday, October 15, 2004 5:36:22 AM::

~ Review Article @ Antiquity

Antiquity has a new issue up, and amongst the available online content is a review article:

Damian Robinson, Interpreting Pompeian treasures

::Friday, October 15, 2004 5:33:07 AM::

~ New Issue of Labyrinth

There's a new issue of Labyrinth online ... Labyrinth is the magazine on matters Classical put out by the fine folks at the University of Waterloo. Here are the latest articles:

Who's Who on the Ara Pacis, L.A. Curchin

The Legendary Origins of the Olympic Games, R. Faber

The Ancient Spice Trade, Part III: Greece and Rome, C. Mundigler

Albertus Magnus and Hermes Trismegistus, D. Porreca

::Friday, October 15, 2004 5:29:58 AM::

~ AWOTV: On TV Today

4.00 p.m. |DCIVC| Lost Treasures of the Ancient World: Greece
dna

DCIVC = Discovery Civilization (Canada)

::Friday, October 15, 2004 4:28:24 AM::