ante diem v kalendas februarias

• 98 A.D. -- dies imperii of Trajan
• 198 A.D. -- festival in celebration of Severus' victory over the Parthians; possibly concurrent: dies imperii of Caracalla
• 251 A.D. -- martyrdom of Thyrsus

::Friday, January 28, 2005 5:13:31 AM::
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Today's (meagre) selection:

lixiviate @ Worthless Word for the Day

thixotropy @ Guru.net

::Friday, January 28, 2005 5:06:56 AM::
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Ecclesia Finniae 850 annorum (28.1.2005)

Hoc anno octingenti quinquaginta anni acti sunt, postquam fides Christiana in Finniam introducta est.

Quae cum ita essent, archiepiscopi in Finnia trium confessionum medio mense Ianuario visitationem oecumenicam in Civitatem Vaticanam fecerunt Pontificem Romanum Iohannem Paulum II salutaturi.

Dum haec geruntur, Jukka Paarma, archiepiscopus ecclesiae evangelico-Lutheranae Finniae, papae dono dedit editionem epigraphicam non ita pridem divulgatam, cui titulus Ecclesiarum Finlandiae inscriptiones Latinae.

In hoc opere plus nongenti textus Latini in ecclesiis et coemeteriis Finniae reperti publici iuris sunt facti.

Reijo Pitkäranta
Nuntii Latini, Finnish Broadcasting Company (YLE)
(used with permission)

::Friday, January 28, 2005 5:01:27 AM::
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If people still own VCRs, this Sunday's Pompeii thing on Discovery Channel looks like a keeper. The incipit of a review from the Hollywood Reporter:

"Pompeii: The Last Day" is an exceptionally unique and roundly chilling original work, a blend of historical analysis, computer animation and dramatic reconstruction that represents something of a new "science fact" genre. It interweaves performance and special effects to re-enact the volcanic eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 A.D., virtually incinerating a populace in Pompeii and its surrounding areas that had no clue what was happening. It's considered the worst natural disaster the ancient world ever experienced, and it's brought to vivid life in a Discovery Channel special that proves as gripping to watch as it is harrowing to endure. It's a disaster flick with a difference, one that removes the middleman, as it were, to leave viewers feeling as if they've stepped into the pages of a history book.

The weakness of this BBC/Discovery Channel co-production comes in its attempt to have the dramatization match the narrative documentary aspects. Fine actors including Tim Pigott-Smith, Jonathan Firth and Jim Carter are effectively overwhelmed by the spectacle itself, and they become second fiddle to the concussive power of the eruption. Their decisions to remain and not flee after the disaster was in progress sealed their fate, turning them to charcoal and preserving their form in the long-lost city. But again, the people are pretty much reduced here to minor players in the symphony of destruction. Fortunately, the docu portion of the tale is so forcefully, rivetingly wrought that it scarcely matters. [more]

::Friday, January 28, 2005 4:54:57 AM::
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From This is Hertfordshire:

A Whetstone man with a passion for ancient Greece has produced a history magazine for Barnet's schoolchildren.

George Georgiou, of Tudor Grove, Whetstone, has become well-known to pupils in the borough for teaching ancient history dressed as a Greek warrior, and has now put together a history magazine on the period.

The scheme was made possible thanks to a £1,000 grant from the Leventis Foundation, a group which promotes the Hellenic cultural heritage, and Mr Georgiou has printed 3,000 copies of the magazine.

The booklet has already been distributed to half-a-dozen schools in Barnet, and covers Greek mythology, and Greek and Cypriot history.

Contributors to the project include Paul Cartledge, a professor of Greek history at Cambridge University and best-selling author who has recently published Alexander the Great: The Hunt for a New Past.

Mr Georgiou said: "I wouldn't have been able to do it without the help of the Leventis Foundation. I have visited half-a-dozen schools in Barnet with the magazine and the children were thrilled but to be honest the teachers seemed more thrilled.

"I tried to pitch the magazine to ten-year-olds, and I mixed with Greek mythology, Greek and Greek-Cypriot history."

[...]

For more information on the project visit the web site at www.hoplites.co.uk

Are you paying attention APA? CAC? others? I'm still waiting to see someone turn Adrienne Mayor's First Fossil Hunters into a book aimed at the Grade Five or Six set ... a very impressionable age to set the hook.

::Friday, January 28, 2005 4:51:30 AM::
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Kenyon College invites applications for a one-year position in the Department of Classics at the rank of Visiting Assistant Professor, effective July 1st, 2005.

The successful candidate will teach a 3:2 load; the distribution of courses is likely to be as follows:  a full year of introductory Latin; a survey course in Roman history; and two courses, one in translation and one in advanced Latin, whose specific content is to be determined by the instructor in consultation with the Department.  The primary research interest should be Roman history or Latin literature, but interest in related fields such as mythology, archaeology, gender studies, or philosophy is welcome.  A Ph.D. is preferred, but not required.  Applicants should be able to document excellence in teaching.

To apply, please submit (1) a cover letter, detailing teaching approaches and experience as well as research interests; (2) a curriculum vitae; and (3) three letters of recommendation to:  Professor Robert Bennett, Chair of the Search Committee, Department of Classics, Kenyon College, Gambier, Ohio 43022, by Friday, February 18, 2005. Inquiries should be directed to the Chair:  bennettr@kenyon.edu, (740) 427-5060.  Review of applications will begin February 18 and will continue until the position is filled.  Telephone interviews will be conducted, and finalists will be invited to campus.

Kenyon College offers competitive salaries and a benefit package that may be extended to cover spouses, domestic partners, and dependents.  An Equal Opportunity Employer, the College encourages the applications of women and minority candidates.

... seen on AegeaNet

::Friday, January 28, 2005 4:47:21 AM::
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::Friday, January 28, 2005 4:45:59 AM::
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The Twelve Black Classicists (plus one) exhibition is getting some press coverage again, this time from the Holland Sentinel, which usefully gives a precis of each of their careers, inter alia:

Edward Wilmot Blyden (1832-1912) -- No school in the U.S. would accept him for theological studies, so he studied in Africa and became a professor of classics at and then president of Liberia College. He was the second black member of the American Philological Association (for the study of languages).

 Frazelia Campbell -- Graduated from the Institute for Colored Youth in Philadelphia in 1867, and went on to teach Latin, German and Spanish there before becoming principal of the school's female department. Also had a similar position at Allen University in Columbia, S.C.

Helen Maria Chesnutt -- Graduated from Smith College in 1902 and earned her master's degree in Latin from Columbia University. Co-authored a Latin textbook and taught Latin in Cleveland, where one of her pupils, poet Langston Hughes, named her as an inspirational teacher.

William Henry Crogman (1841-1931) -- Was a seaman before graduating from Atlanta University and becoming a professor of Greek and then president of Clark University.

John Wesley Gilbert (b. 1864) -- The son of slaves, Gilbert earned a master's degree in Greek and became the first African American to study at the American School in Athens, Greece. He taught Greek at Paine College until his death.

Richard Theodore Greener (1844-1922) -- Was the first African American to graduate from Harvard University and the first black member of the American Philological Association.

James Monroe Gregory (1849-1915) -- Graduated from Howard University in 1872 and became a professor of Latin there in 1875.

Wiley Lane (1852-1885) -- After graduating Phi Beta Kappa from Amherst College, Lane was appointed professor of Greek languages and literatures at Howard University -- the first black to hold such a position. After his untimely death, Frederick Douglass, one of the nation's leading spokespersons for racial equality, gave his eulogy.

George Morton Lightfoot -- Served as a professor of Latin at Howard University, where he founded the university's Classical Club. With a thesis on Roman satire, earned a master's degree in 1922 from the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.

Reuben Shannon Lovinggood (b. 1864) -- Born in Walhalla, S.C., amid great hardship, he went on to graduate with honors from Clark University. Served as president of Huston College in Austin, Tex., where he opened a classics department.

Lewis Baxter Moore (b. 1866) -- In 1896, earned one of the first doctorates awarded to a black person in the U.S., at the University of Pennsylvania with a dissertation titled "The Stage in Sophocles." Taught Latin and became an administrator at Howard University.

William Sanders Scarborough ((1852-1926) -- Born a slave in Macon, Ga., Scarborough earned his master's degree at Oberlin College and rose to become president of Wilberforce University. The author of a nationally recognized Greek textbook, he was the first black member of the Modern Language Association.

Daniel Barclay Williams (b. 1861) -- Became a professor of ancient languages at Virginia Normal and Collegiate Institute (now Virginia State University), the first state institution in Virginia to offer blacks a classical education.

Of course ... there's an excellent website to accompany the exhibiton (to which we've linked before, but it looks like it needs some traffic)

::Friday, January 28, 2005 4:39:08 AM::
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From the Des Moines Register:

Sixth-graders at Parkview Middle School in Ankeny are using their imaginations to grasp the fantastical stories contained in Greek mythology.

The ancient lore details the often-dramatic lives of gods and goddesses such as Aphrodite, who some accounts said was born out of the sea's foam. Zeus, one of the gods, hurtled thunderbolts out of the sky to strike people who misbehaved.

Michael Clawson, 11, said he had read some about mythology before beginning the unit in teacher Janet Metzger's literature class. The mythical characters were said to govern various aspects of life, from love and marriage to war and the arts.

"I didn't know the different things they were gods of" until the unit started, Michael said.

Class activities helped bring the fictional characters to life, he said. "I was just hooked," Michael said. "I really like how the human people overcame stuff" in the myths.

The students studied mythology-related vocabulary words, played matching games and took turns standing on "Mt. Olympus" to tell the other children about each entity's work. Metzger covered a three-level riser with green fabric to simulate the mountain and completed the display with a cloud-strewn backdrop.

Meredith Bahls, 12, said Aphrodite is her favorite goddess. Lore claims Aphrodite, the goddess of love, had a colorful life. "She's the prettiest, and she's got these little secrets," Meredith said.

Zeus, the god of the sky, had his own stories to tell, Meredith said. "He had a lot of girlfriends," she said, and was the father of a lot of other gods and goddesses.

Not all of the gods and goddesses were glamorous, said Cole Haefner, 11. "Hephaestus was the god of fire. He was very ugly."

Meredith said the class unit helped her discover more about the gods' and goddesses' work. "I've learned a lot about what they do and what their purpose is," she said.

Metzger has been offering the classroom unit for about eight years. At the same time, the students study Greek and ancient history in their social studies classes.

Metzger said the Mt. Olympus display continues to be a favorite with students. "They really like standing up there and telling about who did what," she said.

The unit also enlightens students to how mythology carries over into modern life, Metzger said, explaining that there's "lots of connections they would not normally make."

Hermes, the messenger god, has been associated throughout history with the icon of a fleet-footed person. That symbol is used today by the FTD floral delivery service.

"We still send messages with flowers," Metzger said.

Kelsy Horner, 11, said the mythology unit gave her a better understanding of other cultures.

"It's kind of cool to know what other people worship and what their religion is," Kelsy said.

::Friday, January 28, 2005 4:33:10 AM::
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::Friday, January 28, 2005 4:30:21 AM::
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Franco De Angelis, Megara Hyblaia and Selinous. The Development of Two Greek City-States in Archaic Sicily. Oxford University School of Archaeology Monograph No. 57.

 Leofranc Holford-Strevens, Aulus Gellius. An Antonine Scholar and his Achievement. Revised edition.

::Friday, January 28, 2005 4:26:12 AM::
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7.00 p.m. |HINT| Augustus: First of the Emperors
Story of the bloodthirsty leader who was also one of the most able statesmen in world history. His rule launched the Pax Romana (Roman Peace) that marked the high point of the empire.

10.00 p.m. |DTC| Finding Atlantis
The search for the lost civilization of Atlantis has captured the imagination for the last 2,000 years. Examine the evidence gathered by three teams, each with its own theory. Discover mysterious links to ancient civilizations lost to time.

HINT = History International

DTC = Discovery Times Channel

::Friday, January 28, 2005 4:24:16 AM::
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