New at LacusCurtius and Livius.Org

[Jona Lendering]

Bill has put online an article on Pompey's Theater for his Antiquaries' Shoebox. And there's a piece on the Constellation of Sagittarius and the Constellation of Capricorn - which was the sign of the legions founded by Augustus.

Meanwhile, I finished the year 402 in the correspondence of Synesius, which means that about half of it is now online (82 of 159 letters).

[Jona Lendering]

I reached the year 406 in the correspondence of Synesius of Cyrene. This includes 405, in which Libyan tribesmen besieged Cyrene (Ep.125, Ep.132, Ep.130). The Cyrenean general who lifted the siege, Diogenes, ran into troubles when he was charged with fraud; in 406, Synesius sent several letters of recommendation to friends in Constantinople, of which Ep.131 is the most interesting, as it refers indirectly to the siege.

[Jona Lendering]

Bill put online an interesting article on "Pollice verso" that will be of some interest to our gladiator reenactment friends.

[D B Campbell]

Bill put online an interesting article on "Pollice verso" that will be of some interest to our gladiator reenactment friends.

Wonderful. Not least for the amazing (to me) revelation that Daremberg-Saglio is on-line. -- Why not Ritterling?!

[Jona Lendering]

Why not Ritterling?!

Well, Jasper has launched a project to translate the "Legio" article, but I get the impression it has come to a standstill because our good host is occupied with Ancient Warfare. I translated one small piece, on one of the Parthica legions, but I think it is still on Jasper's desk. If only I had more time, I'd translate it all and update my own legion pages...

[Praefectusclassis]

If someone offers their services as 'editor' for the project, I could get it going again in a jiffy. No (well hardly any) technical know-how required. Apologies for the lack of progress Jona.

[Jona Lendering]

Apologies for the lack of progress Jona.

Never mind. You already run this forum; you have to finish your PhD thesis; you're the boss of Ancient Warfare. You and Christy live in a small house, which also is the office for AW. Whatever you do for scholarship, you've done more than can reasonably be expected.

Meanwhile, Bill has put online Aquarius in Allen's Star Names; and a nice old article by Tenney Frank, "On the Stele of the Forum", the stele referred to being the Lapis Niger.

All quiet on Livius' front.

[D B Campbell]

Well, Jasper has launched a project to translate the "Legio" article, but I get the impression it has come to a standstill because our good host is occupied with Ancient Warfare.

No criticism intended.
With several universities embarking on digitisation projects, I just wondered if one of them had bagged Ritterling.

[Jona Lendering]

With several universities embarking on digitisation projects, I just wondered if one of them had bagged Ritterling.

I have no very high opinion of projects when universities are involved. Of course, there are several good projects, but usually, they start something pretending to be hip, and once they've received an indecent amount of subsidy, the project miraculously comes to an end, and the money is transferred to another project - usually advertisements or new furniture. Or they refuse to answer e-mail from the interested reader (as a consequence of which I now receive about 100 messages/week). Or they do not really proofread (Perseus!). Not putting online the entire Realenzyclopädie (or just Ritterling; or the Neue Pauly) just fits this pattern.

In general -and not wanting to criticize the few good projects that do exist- the problem is deeper. To impress the government and to receive money, a university needs to be hip, modern, and new. The trouble is that the study of the past leans heavily on a great tradition. Books like the Realenzyclopädie or the CIL, series like Teubner and Oxford, or Budé, Tusculum, Loeb. Investing in IT and taking away money from plain, good old libraries is right now just killing a field of research AND THE SCHOLARS DO NOTHING.

I have been there when a library department was converted into a computer room, and we were supposed to be happy with it; the books that used to be there (the full Migne series of patristic writings) are now no longer directly accessible. At the same time, I see lots of books written for the general audience that just copy information from the Wikipedia (e.g., Tom Holland, Persian Fire, contains an error only found in the Wiki article on Cyrus the Great). I sometimes work for a publishing house, and I do not want to remember how often I have heard people say "but it is in the Wiki" when I pointed out a factual error.

I am sorry for this philippic, but I am left with a feeling that we have been betrayed by the universities. They have accepted modern-style managers to give directions; but scholars ought to have spit in their hands, hoist the black flag, and begin to slit throats (to quote a line I just picked up from our Memmia).

Again, I don't want to blame the good scholars that are still there. I'm serious about that. But the majority appears to be more interested in their mortgages and keep a low profile, instead of fighting for the survival of an important branch of scholarship. There is more love for the truth about the past among reenactors than among the majority of ancient historians.

[Jona Lendering]

Bill has put online Pisces in Allen's Star Names, which means that the entire zodiac is now finished.

[Jona Lendering]

Not content with the zodiac, Bill added Aquila and Apus (the Bird of Paradise) to Allen's Star Names.

Meanwhile, my little project of the Letters of Synesius has reached the year 411. Among the more interesting letters are Ep.148, in which he offers an idyllic description of his country estate, and Ep.73, a description of the devastations caused by war.

On a related (=military) note: Bill put a nice article on the Three Triumphs of Pompey in the Antiquaries' Shoebox.

And now, I'm off to bed. :wink:

[Jona Lendering]

Bill added Delphinus and Dorado to Allen's Star Names. The last-mentioned is not a "classical" constellation, but who cares.

Undoubtedly classical is another contribution that many RATs will appreciate: Book 27 of Ammianus Marcellinus. Fights against the Alamans, one of Valens' wars against the Goths, the ascession of Gratian and Valentinian II, Theodosius (father of the emperor) fighting against the Picts and Scoti, a Moorish invasion of Africa, Valens' war against the Isaurians, more fighting against the Alamans, war in Armenia... Something tells me you're all gonna like it.

Meanwhile, I've finished my project of the Letters of Synesius , and have put online his Hymns as well. The interesting parts for RATs are Ep.133, in which he describes the preparations for a siege, and Ep.94, which is hard to summarize.

It's a strange idea to have copied one man's complete correspondence; it feels as if I know good Synesius very well. He has a tendency for self-pity, but after losing three children, seeing one's home destroyed by enemies, and losing one's home town, he's entitled to that. It tells a lot about war, I think, that a man who is so happy and full of optimism in the 390's, can be so pessimistic in c.410.

[Jona Lendering]

Book 28 of Ammianus Marcellinus. Power struggles and 'witch hunts' in the City of Rome. War with the Alamanni, continued; Valentinian fortifies the bank of the Rhine, and tries outsourcing the war to the Burgundians. Successful outcome of the war in Britain. A satirical digression on the mores of the rich in Rome. Repeated invasions of Tripolitania, enabled by Roman weakness and corruption.

[Jona Lendering]

Bill has created an additional orientation page to his website, which makes it easier to find everything related to ancient astronomy and astrology: he calls it CAELUM ANTIQUUM.

On a related note, here is piece of software that I find very useful if I need to check an astronomical phenomenon from Antiquity: it is called Starry Night Backyard and enables you to see the skies from anywhere on earth (or a planet) on any given moment. So you can relive that solar eclipse on 28 May 585 BCE, which made an end to a battle between the Medes and Lydians; or check any other celestial portent.

[Jona Lendering]

After some time in which I was occupied with uploading ancient sources and photos from Libya, here is a little piece of original content again, although it is just a brief one: the river Strymon. Not terribly important, but I've always loved the sound of the word "Strymon", which was sufficient to go there.