Last Saturday, I visited the ancient history collection of the Carlos Museum at Emory University here in Atlanta and was straight-up shocked at its size and quality. It’s embarrassing that an ancient Mediterranean history geek like me failed to realize this collection was sitting just four miles from my home. If you’ve ever met me—or have read any of my posts—you know I’m a ridiculous human being. I get overly excited about the distant future, and I gush over the ancient past. How many people do you know who listen to Roman history audiobooks in the car more often than they listen to music? … [Read more...]
Pace Yourself, Barbarian
I love movie clichés...sometimes. I say sometimes because most of them are not lovable. The gun that never runs out of bullets, the villain eating steak, the antagonist who tells the protagonist with “We are not so different, you and I.” But some are fun to notice, appreciate, and analyze. One of my favorites comes by way of films set in the pre-gunpowder age: it’s the two armies facing off across a field then charging at each other full bore and slamming into each other at speed. Directors love this shot. You know the one: It’s a static side-angle camera shot of the battle right where … [Read more...]
Cats Eternal
TRAJAN IS NOT EMPEROR OF THE ROOFTOPS! This is what I would scrawl on the forum walls if I were a rebellious Roman teenager in 100 AD. Assuming I wasn’t busy getting stabbed or dying of dysentery. Archeologists recently discovered first-century cat prints made on a drying Roman rooftop tile. The offending feline was Octavianus Viridius Tertius, a loyal servant of the gods and Rome. Ok, so I don’t know the cat’s name or loyalties, or even if the charming beast was domesticated. But I love seeing evidence that cats have walked across our metaphorical keyboards for thousands of … [Read more...]