As September too-rapidly draws to a close:

Michael Gilleland comments on the fate of captives in the ancient and modern worlds ... there's also some additional stuff on epiphanies ...

Debra Hamel has found a modern parallel (it does appear) to the Athenian voting system ...

Ed Flinn has a Gallienus/Homonia ...

Irene Hahn has been googling and found some interesting timelines for Roman art ... she's also posting on Thrasea Paetus and Helvidius Priscus ...

Roger Pearse is commenting on thefts from the British Library ...

Adrian Murdoch has found an interview with Bryan Ward-Perkins ...

Laura Gibbs has a round up of Latin educational materials recently-posted ...

N.S. Gill is pondering Book IV of the Iliad ...

Joel Morrison continues (with his class) looking at the Aeneid ...

Mischa Hooker has found some commentary on Benedict's recent speech ... and Hugo Chavez recently cited Aristotle! ...

The Latin poetry podcast this week is a bit of Martial ...


In the latest AJP:

Putnam, Michael C. J. Horace to Torquatus: Epistle 1.5 and Ode 4.7

This article documents and explores the relationship between Horace Epist. 1.5 and Ode 4.7, one a verse epistle, the other one of Horace's most magnificent odes, both addressed to a certain Torquatus. It first analyzes each poem individually in detail and then goes on to examine the overlap between the two in search of Horace's purposes behind the interaction. The epistle, an invitation to a convivium at the speaker's home on the evening before Augustus' birthday, deals with the importance of self-discovery in a private setting where confidentiality is crucial. The ode pits this individuality against far larger spatial and temporal universals, and it reminds us of our mortality and of the loss of self that accompanies death.

American Journal of Philology 127.3 (2006)