Roman History Books and More

book chat on wednesday a reminder Poseidon's Gold by Lindsey Davis

2009-11-29T21:45:05-05:00

December is Mystery Month!

Upcoming on Wednesday, December 2:

Poseidon's Gold by Lindsey Davis. A rollicking story about Greek antiques, maybe stolen, maybe fake. And introducing a number of Falco's disreputable family members, one of them dead …

Enjoy!

marcus didius falco update

2009-11-19T11:58:46-05:00

"Magistra Ginny Lindzey," Lindsay Davis' webmistress, wants to let people know that

"… a Falco companion is in the works, and the latest book, Nemesis, is done and with the editor.... :) "

online book chats

2009-11-18T08:00:00-05:00

This blog is an adjunct to The Roman History Reading Group which meets on the first and third Wednesday of each month except August in our chat room from 9:30 to 11:00 p.m. US EST (UTC/GMT -05). This means that in Asia and Australia/Pacific, it's daytime. Here is a world time clock as a general assistance for non-USAns.

Chat room location (with instructions) at Google Talk.

2009 Reading Schedule
2010 Reading Schedule

December is Mystery Month!

December 2: Poseidon's Gold by Lindsey Davis
December 16: Ovid by David Wishart

Join us!
We are now also on Facebook.
New: Find our updates on Twitter.

browsing through 'caesar, life of a colossus'

2009-10-28T21:30:35-04:00

Preparing for the first of our two book chats on Caesar: Life of a Colossus by Adrian Goldworthy, I've been re-reading the biography and have some observations on the first half of the book:

Part One: The Rise to Consulship 100-59 B.C.: Members of our group can most likely speed-read through the chapters dealing with the history of the Republic and the very early years of young Caesar.

Part Two: Proconsul 58-50 B.C., which we will partially discuss: I find three topics especially well covered in these chapters:

The War Commentaries. A critical assessment.
Caesar's Army. No surprise with Goldworthy's past coverage of the Roman Army.
The Whole of Gaul is Divided. An excellent introduction of the history of the area that was outside the Roman provinces in 59 B.C.E. and a good set-up piece for the book's coverage of the Bellum Gallicum.

Online ancient texts can be found here.

glossa, a latin dictionary

2009-10-26T01:07:27-04:00

A neat new Latin dictionary, online and downloadable to your desktop:
Glossa, a Latin Dictionary

What makes Glossa different from other on-line Latin dictionaries? Glossa combines a unique interface with a commitment to full exploration of a Latin word's possible meanings. The type-ahead suggest feature allows words to be found easily as you type, and the database gives you full definitions of words, including examples from Latin literature and etymologies. The sidebar shows you where you are in the dictionary, giving you the ten words before the current entry and the ten words after.

Glossa is and will remain free. It is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License. Basically, you are free to use distribute or remix this material, provided that you provide proper credit (see details on the download page), do not produce the work for commercial purposes, and allow others the same rights with your new work.

Glossa on Facebook
Go to the dictionary

Hat tip: N.S. Gill

next two book chats: caesar, life of a colossus

2009-10-22T16:50:33-04:00

On November 4 & 18 we are going to discuss Caesar: Life of a Colossus by Adrian Goldworthy.

I reviewed the book in 2006.

My suggestion for the first of the two chats is to try and get as far as Book II, Chapter 12: "Politics and War: The Conference of Luca," which divides the book roughly into half (through page 268).

Since we have had Caesar quite frequently in our book chats, I'm not sure how much I'm going to blog on this – especially as I have a rather full plate of work next month. We'll see.

pliny the younger's villas and his descriptions of nature in his letters

2009-10-19T22:35:14-04:00

Pliny obviously loved the countryside, and solitude when there. He gives us and extensive, lovingly descriptions of his villas at Laurentum and in Tuscany, and how he contrived to make use of space for himself removed from all noise and interruptions. The villa at Laurentum is certainly to die for! This article* has a drawing of the layout of the villa. I also like Pliny's description of nature and natural phenomena.

Villas

II.17 “my Laurentum place”
V.6 the Tuscan villa
IX.7. a very brief description of his places on Lake Como

Nature

IV.30 the spring at Lake Como
VIII.8 the source of the Clitumnus
VIII.20 Lake Vadimon

* a review of Caroline Lawrence' Roman Mysteries is coming soon.

definition of hendecasyllabos (pliny the younger letters)

2009-10-19T14:39:42-04:00

Calling on the experts: I've several times come across hendecasyllabos in Pliny's letters, and Betty Radice translated this as hendecasyllable. A dictionary search gives me hendecasyllabic verse (with a reference to Catullus). However, Wikipedia – as usual handle with care – insists on two different types of verse: hendecasyllable verse (Italian poetry) vs. hendecasyllabics (as used by Catullus – and Martial, it seems). Is there a difference?

Latin text from The Latin Library.

IV.14

C. PLINIUS [DECIMO] PATERNO SUO S.

1 Tu fortasse orationem, ut soles, et flagitas et exspectas; at ego quasi ex aliqua peregrina delicataque merce lusus meos tibi prodo. 2 Accipies cum hac epistula hendecasyllabos nostros, quibus nos in vehiculo in balineo inter cenam oblectamus otium temporis. 3 His iocamur ludimus amamus dolemus querimur irascimur, describimus aliquid modo pressius modo elatius, atque ipsa varietate temptamus efficere, ut alia aliis quaedam fortasse omnibus placeant. 4 Ex quibus tamen si non nulla tibi petulantiora paulo videbuntur, erit eruditionis tuae cogitare summos illos et gravissimos viros qui talia scripserunt non modo lascivia rerum, sed ne verbis quidem nudis abstinuisse; quae nos refugimus, non quia severiores - unde enim? -, sed quia timidiores sumus. 5 Scimus alioqui huius opusculi illam esse verissimam legem, quam Catullus expressit:

Nam castum esse decet pium poetam
ipsum, versiculos nihil necesse est,
qui tunc denique habent salem et leporem
si sunt molliculi et parum pudici.
6 Ego quanti faciam iudicium tuum, vel ex hoc potes aestimare, quod malui omnia a te pensitari quam electa laudari. Et sane quae sunt commodissima desinunt videri, cum paria esse coeperunt. 7 Praeterea sapiens subtilisque lector debet non diversis conferre diversa, sed singula expendere, nec deterius alio putare quod est in suo genere perfectum. 8 Sed quid ego plura? Nam longa praefatione vel excusare vel commendare ineptias ineptissimum est. Unum illud praedicendum videtur, cogitare me has meas nugas ita inscribere 'hendecasyllabi', qui titulus sola metri lege constringitur. 9 Proinde, sive epigrammata sive idyllia sive eclogas sive, ut multi, poematia seu quod aliud vocare malueris, licebit voces; ego tantum hendecasyllabos praesto. 10 A simplicitate tua peto, quod de libello meo dicturus es alii, mihi dicas; neque est difficile quod postulo. Nam si hoc opusculum nostrum aut potissimum esset aut solum, fortasse posset durum videri dicere: 'Quaere quod agas'; molle et humanum est: 'Habes quod agas.' Vale.

V.10

C. PLINIUS SUETONIO TRANQUILLO SUO S.

1 Libera tandem hendecasyllaborum meorum fidem, qui scripta tua communibus amicis spoponderunt. Appellantur cotidie, efflagitantur, ac iam periculum est ne cogantur ad exhibendum formulam accipere. 2 Sum et ipse in edendo haesitator, tu tamen meam quoque cunctationem tarditatemque vicisti. Proinde aut rumpe iam moras aut cave ne eosdem istos libellos, quos tibi hendecasyllabi nostri blanditiis elicere non possunt, convicio scazontes extorqueant. 3 Perfectum opus absolutumque est, nec iam splendescit lima sed atteritur. Patere me videre titulum tuum, patere audire describi legi venire volumina Tranquilli mei. Aequum est nos in amore tam mutuo eandem percipere ex te voluptatem, qua tu perfrueris ex nobis. Vale.

VII.4

C. PLINIUS PONTIO SUO S.

1 Ais legisse te hendecasyllabos meos; requiris etiam quemadmodum coeperim scribere, homo ut tibi videor severus, ut ipse fateor non ineptus. 2 Numquam a poetice — altius enim repetam — alienus fui; quin etiam quattuordecim natus annos Graecam tragoediam scripsi. 'Qualem?' inquis. Nescio; tragoedia vocabatur. 3 Mox, cum e militia rediens in Icaria insula ventis detinerer, Latinos elegos in illud ipsum mare ipsamque insulam feci. Expertus sum me aliquando et heroo, hendecasyllabis nunc primum, quorum hic natalis haec causa est. Legebantur in Laurentino mihi libri Asini Galli de comparatione patris et Ciceronis. Incidit epigramma Ciceronis in Tironem suum. 4 Dein cum meridie — erat enim aestas — dormiturus me recepissem, nec obreperet somnus, coepi reputare maximos oratores hoc studii genus et in oblectationibus habuisse et in laude posuisse. 5 Intendi animum contraque opinionem meam post longam desuetudinem perquam exiguo temporis momento id ipsum, quod me ad scribendum sollicitaverat, his versibus exaravi:

6 Cum libros Galli legerem, quibus ille parenti
ausus de Cicerone dare est palmamque decusque,
lascivum inveni lusum Ciceronis et illo
spectandum ingenio, quo seria condidit et quo
humanis salibus multo varioque lepore
magnorum ostendit mentes gaudere virorum.
Nam queritur quod fraude mala frustratus amantem
paucula cenato sibi debita savia Tiro
tempore nocturno subtraxerit. 5 His ego lectis
'cur post haec' inquam 'nostros celamus amores
nullumque in medium timidi damus atque fatemur
Tironisque dolos, Tironis nosse fugaces
blanditias et furta novas addentia flammas?'

7 Transii ad elegos; hos quoque non minus celeriter explicui, addidi alios facilitate corruptus. Deinde in urbem reversus sodalibus legi; probaverunt. 8 Inde plura metra si quid otii, ac maxime in itinere temptavi. Postremo placuit exemplo multorum unum separatim hendecasyllaborum volumen absolvere, nec paenitet. 9 Legitur describitur cantatur etiam, et a Graecis quoque, quos Latine huius libelli amor docuit, nunc cithara nunc lyra personatur. 10 Sed quid ego tam gloriose? Quamquam poetis furere concessum est. Et tamen non de meo sed de aliorum iudicio loquor; qui sive iudicant sive errant, me delectat. Unum precor, ut posteri quoque aut errent similiter aut iudicent. Vale.

list of letters of pliny the younger to his wife calpurnia, calpurnia hispulla her aunt, and calpurnius fabatus her grandfather

2009-10-18T17:18:57-04:00

Pliny the Younger's third wife, Calpurnia, was his most beloved one according to livius.org, Pliny the Younger:

… In these years the successful author married again. Calpurnia was the love of his life. Of course he was forty and she fourteen, but this difference was no obstacle to a happy marriage. Pliny published several love letters, which are very interesting - not because of their contents, but because they are there: his were one of the first letters like these.

Sadly, this marriage, like the earlier ones, produced no children. (Pliny's second wife may have died in childbirth.) There are three letters to Calpurnia. Pliny also wrote to her ~~mother~~ aunt, Calpurnia Hispulla, and her grandfather, Calpurnius Fabatus.

Here is the list (with links where they are available online):

Letters to Calpurnia

VI.4, VI.7
VII.5

Letters to Calpurnia Hispulla

IV.19
VIII.11

Letters to Calpurnius Fabatus

IV.1
V.11
VI.12, VI.30
VII.11, VII.16, VII.23, VII.32
VIII.10

book chat on wednesday: selected letters by pliny the younger, preliminary list

2009-10-18T15:27:43-04:00

As we can't discuss all of Pliny's letters, it has been suggested that we concentrate on his correspondence with Trajan (Book X) and his letters to Tacitus, Suetonius and some others. And on some of the trials he was involved in. Below is the list of the letters to Tacitus and Suetonius, and as far they are available in the online edition at Ancient/Classical History at About.com, they are also linked.

The letters to Tacitus:

I.6, 1.20
IV.13
VI.9
VI.16 & VI.20 (eruption of Vesuvius, from the volcanism blog, nicely illustrated)
VII.20, VII.33
VIII.7
IX.10, IX.14.

The letters to Suetonius:

I.18
III.8
V.10
IX.34

pliny the younger on jstor

2009-10-15T17:58:23-04:00

I mentioned earlier that I would pursue Pliny the Younger on JSTOR.

There are hundreds of articles of course, ranging from analyzing Pliny the man to interpreting his letters, to discussion of individual letters, and so on: You name it, they have it.

Quite often, Pliny is described as a gentleman, as praise as well as "is there all that is to him?" Here are two:

Fred Dunham calls him a "Gentleman and Citizen," lauding him via John Milton

… who defines education as follows: "I call, therefore, a complete and generous education that which fits a man to perform skillfully and magnanimously all the offices, both private and public, of peace and war." Such was Milton's concept of the English gentleman and citizen, and so it has remained to this day.

Later, he writes:

Pliny's letters [leave] us with vivid impressions. We enjoy him because he has a revealing message expressed in a style that shows the highest respect for the intelligence of a reader. His letters were apparently the product of slow, careful study ad numerous emendations; they were not the result of rapid practice in improvised journalistic writing. To be sure, his composition at times verges upon artificial formality; but we think no more of this fault than we do of George Washington's letters, which were written in a day when epistolary art was more formal than it is today. Pliny was not a journalist, although he possessed many of the best qualities of a good reporter. Were he living today, his writings might appear in the New York Times or in the Atlantic Monthly, but not in the Saturday Evening Post or the usual daily papers - and perhaps this is in his favor.

The Younger Pliny. Gentleman and Citizen
Author(s): Fred S. Dunham
Source: The Classical Journal, Vol. 40, No. 7 (Apr., 1945), pp. 417-426
Published by: The Classical Association of the Middle West and South, Inc.
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3292044

A. Carleton Andrews doesn't think it's such a good thing:

This at least is true, that a person whom we call a gentleman is a social conformist, whether or not he manifests inherent courtesy in addition to observance of the accepted forms of courtesy, and Pliny must be so considered if we accept him as a gentleman.

Pliny the Younger, Conformist
Author(s): A. Carleton Andrews
Source: The Classical Journal, Vol. 34, No. 3 (Dec., 1938), pp. 143-154
Published by: The Classical Association of the Middle West and South, Inc.
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3290716

And then there is a discussion of his sense of humor or the lack thereof:

And so one may approach the problem of humor either with the greatest diffidence, because he knows not what humor is, or with the greatest assurance, because no one knows any better than he what it is.

This problem emerges in connection with the younger Pliny, who, while certainly not a second Aristophanes or a premature Mark Twain, has enlivened his Letters at intervals with what appear to be gleams of attractive humor. Yet W. M. L. Hutchinson in his Introduction to the Loeb translation has written that Pliny's character, "in spite of priggishness, vanity, and want of humour, has not only respectable but amiable traits.'' Perhaps the mistake is mine, and all that had seemed humor is nothing else than amiability raised to the nth degree.

But the more one thinks about Pliny, the more apparent it becomes that he must have had a sense of humor.

Pliny's "Want of Humor"
Author(s): Graves H. Thompson
Source: The Classical Journal, Vol. 37, No. 4 (Jan., 1942), pp. 201-209
Published by: The Classical Association of the Middle West and South, Inc.
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3291609

Ronald Syme, to no ones surprise, it interested in persons:

People in Pliny
Author(s): Ronald Syme
Source: The Journal of Roman Studies, Vol. 58, Parts 1 and 2 (1968), pp. 135-151
Published by: Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/299703

Correspondents of Pliny
Author(s): Ronald Syme
Source: Historia: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte, Vol. 34, No. 3 (3rd Qtr., 1985), pp. 324-359
Published by: Franz Steiner Verlag
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4435931

for military history buffs: the roman legions

2009-10-13T23:12:52-04:00

… all you wanted know and more

Just a few days ago I came across these excellent pages at livius.org: The Roman Legions, and Geographical Overview of same. Jona Lendering has put together an extensive catalog:

On this site, you will find an alphabetical and chronological catalogue of the imperial legions. An overview of the armies in certain provinces is here.

Don't miss the New at Lacus Curtius & Livius blog by Jona Lendering and Bill Thayer.

Irene's photo:

Titus Flavius Bassus Stele 2nd half of 1st century CE
Top section of the funerary monument for T. Flavius Bassus Mucalae, an eques of an auxiliary troop from Noricum Province, of the tribe of the Desenter. Romano-Germanic Museum, Cologne.

introductions to the letters of pliny the younger from print editions

2009-10-09T21:49:57-04:00

This is mainly for those participants in the October 21 chat on the Letters of Pliny the Younger who do not have a print copy.

I went to Google Books and found previews of two major print editions. One offers the complete introduction, the other the larger part, meaning some pages are blank, nonetheless giving as excellent an overview and discussion of the letters. (The latter is the copy I have.) Considering that we have only one chat, and also in general, these chapters can be quite helpful to the understanding of Pliny the person and Pliny the letter writer.

Oxford World Classics Edition (Patrick Gerard Walsh)
Complete Introduction and Note on the Text & Translation.
Click on arrows to get to the Introduction.
The Penguin Classics Edition (Betty Radice)
Incomplete introduction. It also shows appendices, such as a reconstructed plan of Pliny's house at Laurentum. ("Content: Inscriptions," scroll down)

Statue of Pliny the Younger on the façade of
the Cathedral of S. Maria Maggiore in Como
Courtesy Wikimedia Commons

pliny the younger, his life and letters

2009-10-07T16:54:17-04:00

In our next book chat on October 21 we are going to discuss the Letters of Pliny the Younger (Plinius Secundus). There are more translations in print, and the letters also available online:

Letters of Pliny the Younger at About.com
Letters of Pliny the Younger at VRoma (Latin and English)

Jona Lendering at livius.org has an extensive (in 6 parts) biography of Pliny the Younger. It's an all you want to know about ... and more essay.

For my next post on Plinius Secundus, I may explore JSTOR.

But there is also a beer called Pliny the Younger … maybe we should lift a cup in his honor …

third of three chats on 'caesar's women'

2009-10-04T00:01:00-04:00

The third of our three chats on Caesar's Women, on Wednesday, covers Chapter V – which we didn't get to last time –through the end.

More on the Catilinarian conspiracy … the consequences Servilia's letter to Caesar … the trial of Rabirius (see McCullough's note on this) … the Senate tries to disbar Caesar … Caesar and the Vestals … enter Publius Vatinius … the Bona Dea scandal … Pompey returns … Caesar departs for his province rather hastily … Caesar's returns, his consulate (oh dear!) … Julia weds Pompey … enjoy!

Join us here.

timelines of art history, metropolitan museum roman republic and roman empire

2009-10-03T17:04:45-04:00

An e-mail from the MetMuseum today led me to its Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History, and the subsections Roman Republic and Roman Empire. Both pages have related timelines and links to Thematic Essays.

They are interactive in many ways, as the Fresco wall painting from the Villa of P. Fannius Synistor at Boscoreale shows.

Fresco wall painting in a cubiculum (bedroom) from the Villa of P. Fannius Synistor at Boscoreale
ca. 40–30 b.c., Late Republican Roman, Pilaster

Image courtesy www.metmuseum.org, click on it for interactive page.

helping cure juvenile dermatomyositis, october 2

2009-10-02T00:01:00-04:00

Stamford fellow blogger Kevin of Always Home and Uncool has asked me to post this as part of his effort to raise awareness in the blogosphere of juvenile myositis, a rare autoimmune disease his daughter was diagnosed with on this day seven years ago. The day also happens to be his wife's birthday.

Our pediatrician admitted it early on.

The rash on our 2-year-old daughter's cheeks, joints and legs was something he'd never seen before.

The next doctor wouldn't admit to not knowing.

He rattled off the names of several skins conditions -- none of them seemingly worth his time or bedside manner -- then quickly prescribed antibiotics and showed us the door.

The third doctor admitted she didn't know much.

The biopsy of the chunk of skin she had removed from our daughter's knee showed signs of an "allergic reaction" even though we had ruled out every allergy source -- obvious and otherwise -- that we could.

The fourth doctor had barely closed the door behind her when, looking at the limp blonde cherub in my lap, she admitted she had seen this before. At least one too many times before.

She brought in a gaggle of med students. She pointed out each of the physical symptoms in our daughter:

The rash across her face and temples resembling the silhouette of a butterfly.

The purple-brown spots and smears, called heliotrope, on her eyelids.

The reddish alligator-like skin, known as Gottron papules, covering the knuckles of her hands.

The onset of crippling muscle weakness in her legs and upper body.

She then had an assistant bring in a handful of pages photocopied from an old medical textbook. She handed them to my wife, whose birthday it happened to be that day.

This was her gift -- a diagnosis for her little girl.

That was seven years ago -- Oct. 2, 2002 -- the day our daughter was found to have juvenile dermatomyositis, one of a family of rare autoimmune diseases that can have debilitating and even fatal consequences when not treated quickly and effectively.

Our daughter's first year with the disease consisted of surgical procedures, intravenous infusions, staph infections, pulmonary treatments and worry. Her muscles were too weak for her to walk or swallow solid food for several months. When not in the hospital, she sat on our living room couch, propped up by pillows so she wouldn't tip over, as medicine or nourishment dripped from a bag into her body.

Our daughter, Thing 1, Megan, now age 9, remembers little of that today when she dances or sings or plays soccer. All that remain with her are scars, six to be exact, and the array of pills she takes twice a day to help keep the disease at bay.

What would have happened if it took us more than two months and four doctors before we lucked into someone who could piece all the symptoms together? I don't know.

I do know that the fourth doctor, the one who brought in others to see our daughter's condition so they could easily recognize it if they ever had the misfortune to be presented with it again, was a step toward making sure other parents also never have to find out.

That, too, is my purpose today.

It is also my birthday gift to my wife, My Love, Rhonda, for all you have done these past seven years to make others aware of juvenile myositis diseases and help find a cure for them once and for all.

To read more about children and families affected by juvenile myositis diseases, visit Cure JM Foundation at www.curejm.org.

To make a tax-deductible donation toward JM research, go to www.firstgiving.com/rhondaandkevinmckeever or www.curejm.com/team/donations.htm.

the view from my window

2009-09-25T09:31:30-04:00

6:32 am

who was mormolyce?

2009-09-13T19:01:49-04:00

In Caesar's Women, Servilia, after the affair of the infamous letter, is telling at Brutus that Cato "is not all there. He never was, even as a baby. Mormolyce got at him."

Who was Mormolyce? The Greek Myth Index tells us,

MORMOLYCE Or Mormolyceion (Mormolukeion), the same phantom or bugbear as Mormo, and also used for the same purpose. (Philostr. Vit. Apollon. iv. 25; Menandr. Reliq. p. 145, ed. Meineke; Aristoph. Thesm. 417 Strab. i. p. 19; Stob. Eclog. p. 1010.)

MORMO was

A female spectre, with which the Greeks used to frighten little children. (Aristoph. Acharn. 582, Pax, 474.) Mormo was one of the same class of bugbears as Empusa and Lamia.

According to the OCD, Mormo was the the queen of the frightful Laestrygones who lost her own children and so murders other children. The Laestrygones are known to us from the Odyssey.

Odysseus at the Laestrygonians
Courtesy Wikimedia Commons

second of three chats on 'caesar's women'

2009-09-12T17:23:20-04:00

The second of our three chats on Caesar's Women, on Wednesday, covers two more chapters: Parts IV and V.

A quite entertaining rendition of the Catilinarian conspiracy … Servilia's letter to Caesar and and its consequences … the trial of Rabirius (see McCullough's note on this) … the Senate tries to disbar Caesar … Caesar and the Vestals … enter Publius Vatinius … the Bona Dea scandal … Pompey returns … and much more … enjoy!

Join us here.