events

Mary E.V. McClanahan 2025 Essay Prize

Brian Gordon — Tue, 07 Jan 2025 21:46:03 +0000

Mary E.V. McClanahan 2025 Essay Prize Brian Gordon Tue, 01/07/2025 - 14:46

Sine Spoliis: The Commemoration of the Third Macedonian War through the Porticus Octavia
presented by Julius Arnold

Friday, January 17th, 2025 at 4:30 P.M.
Eaton Humanities 250

Abstract: The lost Porticus Octavia, constructed after the Third Macedonian War, remains an enigmatic monument of the Middle Roman Republic. Built to commemorate Gnaeus Octavius’ capturing of the last Macedonian king Perseus, the building has received scant attention in surviving ancient literature and modern scholarship. In this talk, I argue that the monument likely served as a display space for spoils of war taken by Lucius Aemilius Paullus, who had defeated Perseus in battle. I shed light on how Lucius Aemilius Paullus and Gnaeus Octavius collaborated to control the public memory of their military successes, situating the Porticus Octavia within the broader context of the commemoration of victories over Hellenistic kingdoms and the display of war spoils in the city of Rome.

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Ancient map of Rome showing the Porticus Octaviae, confused with the Porticus Octavia by some ancient authors. The Stanford Digital Forma Urbis Romae: fr. 3 lu.

Congratulations to Julius Arnold! Winner of the 2025 Mary E.V. McClanahan Essay Prize

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“The Triumph of Aemilius Paulus” (1789) by Carle Vernet. The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

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A&S Magazine: Notre Dame cathedral rises from the ashes

Brian Gordon — Thu, 05 Dec 2024 17:22:35 +0000

A&S Magazine: Notre Dame cathedral rises from the ashes Brian Gordon Thu, 12/05/2024 - 10:22

Five years after a devastating fire, Classics Professor Kirk Ambrose reflects on the significance of the renowned cathedral’s Dec. 7 reopening

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A&S Magazine: Gladiators make a comeback on the silver screen

Brian Gordon — Wed, 27 Nov 2024 19:16:35 +0000

A&S Magazine: Gladiators make a comeback on the silver screen Brian Gordon Wed, 11/27/2024 - 12:16

Even if historical films like Gladiator II are inaccurate on key points, CU Classics Assistant Teaching Professor Travis Rupp sees value in them as a gateway to getting students interested in real history

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AIA Lecture: Feasts Fit for Pharaohs: Food and Drink in Ancient Egypt

Anonymous — Wed, 30 Oct 2024 16:59:20 +0000

AIA Lecture: Feasts Fit for Pharaohs: Food and Drink in Ancient Egypt Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 10/30/2024 - 10:59

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Wednesday, November 20, 2024 at 7PM - CU Visual Arts Complex, Room 1B20

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Lecture: Divine Witnessing and Dramatic Performance in Ancient Greece

Anonymous — Mon, 14 Oct 2024 19:24:28 +0000

Lecture: Divine Witnessing and Dramatic Performance in Ancient Greece Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 10/14/2024 - 13:24

Divine Witnessing and Dramatic Performance in Ancient Greece

Thursday, November 7th@ 5:00PM
Eaton Humanities 250
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ABSTRACT

Theaters are ubiquitous pieces of monumental architecture in the ancient Greek landscape. They dominate landscapes, take advantage of sweeping vistas, and leave a tangible impression of ancient performance venues through their easily apprehended forms. Despite their ancient (and modern) popularity, however, they have frequently been left out of critical accounts concerning the articulation of sacred space. When they do appear in such studies, it is generally a cursory treatment or simple acknowledgement that some sort of performance took place in or adjacent to a sanctuary. On the other hand, accounts of ancient festivals involving dramatic performance, such as the Great Dionysia, or studies of Mediterranean-wide theoria networks, often leave the physical venue of performance in the background, as a static entity in which the dynamic ritual occurred. In both cases, the theater itself becomes a mere backdrop or footnote, unchanging, achronological, and uncomplicated.

It is perhaps the relatively simple architectural form of the theater, with its tripartite division of theatron (or cavea), orchestra, and skene, that belies its ritual and performative complexity. But within this straightforward schematic is a more dynamic space than generally acknowledged. Through an investigation of viewsheds and movement patterns, this paper demonstrates how theaters functioned as active participants in the ritual-architectural events that dominated the religious life of ancient Greece, thereby shaping the nature of dramatic performance and generating the expectation of divine witnessing on the part of the audience. Viewed in this light, theaters become complex and critical spaces of ritual, reflection, and transformation, for both their actor and spectator participants. Ultimately, such an approach, by centering theatral space within religious performance and knitting together threads of architectural and textual analysis, facilitates a more nuanced and deeply contextualized account of dramatic performance in ancient Greece.

Jess Paga, PhD | Associate Professor | William & Mary

Professor Paga specializes in Greek archaeology and history, particularly of the Archaic and Classical periods. Her research is primarily focused on Greek architecture, political history, and epigraphy. Professor Paga is also an active field archaeologist, and has excavated at various sites in Greece, including the Athenian Agora, Cyprus, Corinth, Argilos, and Samothrace, as well as Italy, at Segesta, Sicily.

Thursday, November 7, 2024 at 5PM - Eaton Humanities 250

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AIA Lecture: Experiencing Epiphany in the Ancient Greek Sanctuary

Anonymous — Mon, 07 Oct 2024 19:12:15 +0000

AIA Lecture: Experiencing Epiphany in the Ancient Greek Sanctuary Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 10/07/2024 - 13:12

Experiencing Epiphany in the Ancient Greek Sanctuary

Wednesday, November 6, 2024 @ 7PM
Eaton Humanities 250 & Zoom
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ABSTRACT

Sensory studies of embodiment have gained traction in recent years as unparalleled tools for examining the vicissitudes of ancient lived experience. When used in conjunction with cognitive studies, it becomes possible to tease out the links between (over)stimulation, deprivation, and religious transformation. Kinesthetics, in particular, can facilitate a nuanced embodied account of approach, (in)accessibility, and viewshed orchestration, by prioritizing the role of the body in movement within the landscapes and edifices of the built environment. The intersection of space, place, and body within the religious setting of the sanctuary thus becomes a nexus of gradually unfolding experience, understanding, and transformation.

Through a series of three case studies drawn from the 5th-3rd c. BCE, this paper focuses on how divine epiphany, made manifest through the multisensory experiences within the Greek sanctuary, served as the key to the transformative effect of ritual, a crucial component to understanding ancient religion. Eleusis, the site of the renowned Mysteries, serves as an example of how the combination of sensory overstimulation and deprivation can prime the body of the worshipper to receive the divine knowledge at the root of the ritual. Delphi, the oracular heart of Greece, showcases how physical exertion in service to the gods constituted its own form of worship and prepared both worshippers and priestly attendants to communicate with the god. And Samothrace, home of the Sanctuary of the Great Gods, ties together the strains of sensory stimulation and physical expenditure of energy into a synesthetic encapsulation of ritual transformation within a charged sacred landscape.

Ultimately, this paper reveals the role of multisensory experience in the religious transformation that lies at the heart of Greek ritual practice by foregrounding kinesthetics as the link between the human participant and sacred built environment.

Jess Paga, PhD | Associate Professor | William & Mary

Wednesday, November 6, 2024 at 7PM - Eaton Humanities 250

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AIA Lecture: Caesar’s Cervisia

Anonymous — Mon, 07 Oct 2024 16:10:59 +0000

AIA Lecture: Caesar’s Cervisia Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 10/07/2024 - 10:10

Caesar’s Cervisia

Wednesday, October 16, 2024 @ 7PM
Eaton Humanities #150 & Zoom
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ABSTRACT

Examinations of Roman cuisine often downplay the role of beer in the ancient Roman diet seeing it as a symbol of barbarity. This presentation examines the plausibility of beer as a standard component of the Roman soldier’s diet and seeks to highlight when it may have become necessary for military advancement. Julius Caesar’s reliance on auxiliary forces to campaign in the North from 58-51 BCE ensured that cultures known for producing beer influenced legionary forces reliant on local resources to survive. This lecture also asserts the implausibility of wine consumption amongst Caesar’s men and concludes that the acceptance of beer as a standard component of the Roman soldier’s diet begins with Caesar’s campaigns in Gaul and Britain.

Travis Rupp

is a full-time Assistant Teaching Professor in Classics, Art History, History, Anthropology, and Mechanical Engineering at the ��«��Ƶ, where he has taught for 13 years. Since 2010 he has taught Egyptian, Near Eastern, Greek, and Roman. His scholarly expertise focus on ancient food and alcohol production, ancient sport and spectacle, and Pompeii and the cities of Vesuvius. He worked at Avery Brewing Company for nine years as the Wood Cellar and Research and Development Manager. Rupp holds the title of Beer Archaeologist and founded Avery’s Ales of Antiquity Series, which ran from 2016-2020. He serves on the National Advisory board for the Chicago Brewseum and owns The Beer Archaeologist - a company dedicated to research and experimental archaeology of historic beer. As a result of his career and passions, Rupp is researching and writing about the beginnings of beer in the Roman military, brewing in the early monastic tradition, and beer production in Revolutionary America. His first book will be about the changing definition of beer throughout history. Recently Rupp’s travels and research abroad have focused on monastic brewing in Italy from 400-900 CE, brewing in Roman Britain during the 2nd century CE, beer production at Mt. Vernon and Monticello, and the survival of the Belgian brewing tradition during WWI.

Wednesday, October 16, 2024 at 7PM - Eaton Humanities 150

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An Empire of Correspondence

Anonymous — Fri, 27 Sep 2024 21:11:45 +0000

An Empire of Correspondence Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 09/27/2024 - 15:11

On October 4 and 5, Prof. Zach Herz will host speakers from three continents in ��«��Ƶ, CO for a conference entitled "An Empire of Correspondence." The conference will feature talks on the role of imperial letters in social, legal, and political life throughout Roman history. Anyone who wishes to watch a livestream of the proceedings should request a link at https://forms.gle/bU8j2JZR6qgE3VUk9.

Location: Norlin Library - Center for British & Irish Studies Room (CBIS Room)
Time: 8:30AM - 6:00PM

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2024 Fountain Symposium

Anonymous — Tue, 06 Aug 2024 20:09:46 +0000

2024 Fountain Symposium Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 08/06/2024 - 14:09

Ninth Annual Celia M. Fountain Symposium

Greek Myths from Egyptian Sands: Discovering the New Euripides

Saturday, September 14, 2024
11:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. MDT (GMT/UTC-6)
Cofrin Auditorium (Atlas 100, CU ��«��Ƶ) and via live-stream

A link to the video recording of the Symposium is available here

A complete program is available here: Fountain Symposium - 2024 Program

In November of 2022, a team of archaeologists led by Basem Gehad of the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities recovered several papyri from a simple grave in the cemetery of Philadelphia in the Fayoum. The best preserved includes nearly 100 lines from two otherwise lost plays by the Athenian playwright Euripides - the most significant discovery of new tragedy in nearly 60 years. CƯ's Yvona Trnka-Amrhein, the team's papyrological expert, invited her colleague John Gibert, a specialist in Greek drama, to join her and Dr. Gehad in preparing the first edition of the text: here, for the first time in nearly 2,000 years readers will encounter gripping scenes from two plays based on little-known but intriguing incidents from the mythical careers of Dionysus' aunt Ino/Leucothea, the Cretan king Minos, and the seer Polyidus. The Ninth Annual Celia M. Fountain Symposium will introduce the discovery and explore its contexts in archaeology, literature, mythology, and vase painting.

The papyrus was officially published on August 27, 2024, in the Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik (vol. 230, pp. 1–40). It will take a while for it to reach libraries, but you may view the table of contents here.
Rob Cioffi discusses the papyrus in the London Review of Books here: https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v46/n18/robert-cioffi/euripides-unbound
Colorado Public Radio’s Anthony Cotton (“Colorado Matters”) discusses the papyrus and the upcoming Symposium with Yvona and John here: https://www.cpr.org/show-segment/digging-into-the-greek-life-cu-scholars-interpret-rare-euripidian-find/
Brown University Professor Johanna Hanink discuses the papyrus with John and Yvona on her podcast Λέσχη here: https://leschepodcast.buzzsprout.com/
In June, 2024, Harvard’s Center for Hellenic Studies hosted a two-day conference devoted to further exploration of the newly discovered text by specialists. The proceedings will eventually be published in an online, open-access book, but in the meantime, there is information about the conference here and here, including a repertory of conjectures and several pre-prints (or choose Preprints from the Publications pull-down menu on the main page).
This discovery was recently featured in CU's Arts & Sciences Magazine: Uncovered Euripides fragments are ‘kind of a big deal’
On September 4, 2024, the Times Literary Supplement (London) published “Greek tragedies from an Egyptian tomb: Discovering a new Euripides papyrus,” by Bill Allan.

The Fountain Symposium is sponsored by the generous support of Celia M. Fountain, the Bruce D. Benson Center for the Study of Western Civilization, and the Classics Department.
It is free and open to the public

classics@colorado.edu | www.colorado.edu/classics | 303-492-6257

Ninth Annual Celia M. Fountain Symposium: "Greek Myths from Egyptian Sands: Discovering the New Euripides"

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Re-considering the Roman “Arts and Sciences” (artes): Scope, Premises, Problems

Anonymous — Thu, 01 Aug 2024 20:28:38 +0000

Re-considering the Roman “Arts and Sciences” (artes): Scope, Premises, Problems Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 08/01/2024 - 14:28

James L. Zainaldin
Vanderbilt University

Tuesday, September 24th, 5:00PM | Eaton Humanities 250

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Today, the great treatises called artes that survive from the Roman period on such disciplines as architecture, agriculture, land-surveying, medicine, and the art of war are seldom read and, when read at all, are generally handled in isolation from one another by specialists. In this talk, Prof. James Zainaldin (Vanderbilt) will introduce the artes of the early Roman Empire, the preeminent age of the flourishing of such literature, and argue that in spite of the modern situation they can only be fully appreciated if considered together as the several parts of an ancient Roman ideal of polymathy. When approached in this way, the artes are seen to participate in a common intellectual and literary culture that is in fact a specifically scientific culture. The purpose of this talk will be to characterize the significance of this uniquely Roman scientific culture, the recognition of which adds news chapters to Greco-Roman intellectual history, the history of Latin literature, and the history of science and technology in the pre-modern world, and to describe some of the dynamics informing its emergence and development. The artes are, ultimately, much more than manuals for practice or narrow specialist introductions to their topics. They are sophisticated works of literature, intended for a broad Roman audience, that reflect the Roman understanding of the natural and human worlds.

This event is free and open to the public. It is sponsored by the Department of Classics and the CU Center for Humanities & the Arts

The CU Classics department and Center for Humanities & the Arts present a talk with Professor James L. Zainaldin from Vanderbilt University: Re-considering the Roman “Arts and Sciences” (artes): Scope, Premises, Problems

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