N.S.Gill's Ancient History Blog January 2005 Archive

In time for Valentine's Day, Stephen Bertman's Erotic Love Poems of Greece and Rome, an anthology of Latin and Greek love poetry in contemporary translation, will be coming out on ... Read More

A blow to the temples, from the Financial Times, tells the story of Hollywood's relationship with historical reality, including telling quips from Gladiator's Ridley Scott, such as:'When he was told ... Read More

Can you put the following words in chronological (or logical) order: Juno, Celts, Money, and Geese? Do you know why in the Lindsey Davis Falco historical fiction series, there's a flock ... Read More

How could Oedipus marry his mother? Surely he could see how much older she was than he? And how did she not know he was her son? These are two ... Read More

A revised Discovery Channel/BBC special on the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius that will air on January 30, "Pompeii: the Last Day" recreates events of that fateful August Day in ... Read More

Forum poster Sanning has added about a dozen new names to the list of the world's gods and goddesses of time, with deities from China, Persia, India, and Egypt.Gods and ... Read More

Prehistoric cannibalism may have led to human evolution, and cannibalism has been with mankind from the beginning, according to this article from Pravda: Prehistoric cannibalism triggered human evolution - Human sacrifice ... Read More

There is now a quiz question of the day, with 365 questions about articles and discussions on this Ancient/Classical history site. Some questions are about myth and legend, while others ... Read More

The Etruscan language remains mysterious. We don't know where it came from and we know only a limited number of words and aspects of its grammar. When Did the ... Read More

I've heard that some models go to what seems an exteme of having teeth removed to make their faces look more gaunt along the jawline. It's not just modern models, ... Read More

Peter Green's biography of Alexander of Macedon tells a rich, colorful story of the life of Alexander the Great, noting his acts of egomania and growing contempt for mere mortals ... Read More

The December 11, 2004 issue of Science News reports on a "fermented, winelike drink from rice, honey, and fruit" from Jiahu in northern China, which archaeological chemist Patrick E. McGovern ... Read More

From the Forum: "I'm a fiction writer and am currently working on a novel with sequences that occur in 61/62 AD during Nero's reign. My dilemma, however, is that back ... Read More

To put it succinctly, Sulla was a murderous autocrat who ruled Rome while it was still a republic. Despite the enemies he made during his career, it seems clear ... Read More

Christianity Today's Christian History and Biography section makes a point about an underlying anachronism of the 2004 Antoine Fuqua King Arthur movie. Arthur is shown in the movie wearing a ... Read More

Like me, Rogue Classicist David Meadows has been wondering about Elektra. He explains that the comic book heroine is based on Sophocles' Electra tragedy in his blog on "Wondering ... Read More

If you're trying to understand what we know of the Teutoberg Forest disaster in A.D. 9, when three Roman legions were annihilated by German tribes, or you are looking for ... Read More

A lot of people are looking up ancient history online, according to Wired.com, in an article on the increasing popularity of Wikipedia: Wikipedia Faces Growing Pains Also in the ... Read More

Recent updates and additions to the glossary for this site include Asia Minor | Balbus | Bacchanalia | Bacchantes | Euthymenes | Asia Minor | Balbus | Bacchanalia | Bacchants | ... Read More

Historical fiction writer Wallis discusses a(nother) shortcoming of the Alexander movie in the Ancient /Classical History thread on novels about Alexander the Great:"Parmenion is another character with depths not plumbed ... Read More

There is a calendar on this site of events in or related to ancient history. Today's events include the 1822 birth of Heinrich Schliemann, the man who may have found ... Read More

A reader asked for information on ancient flame-throwers. It couldn't have come at a better time. Having just finished Adrienne Mayor's Greek Fire, Poison Arrows and Scorpion Bombs, a fascinating ... Read More

"It's amazing how closely Ammianus' description of the earthquake and tidal wave matches those from modern times. Most news reports on the recent tsunami seem to begin with the arrival of the wave itself, ... Read More

A question from the forum "My neighbor, a woman from Mexico said her mother named their dog "Beetlelean" - I know that's not the correct spelling, but that's how it's pronouced ... Read More

"I am looking for some proof that the whole world was at one time interconnected? Meaning that most continents used to border each other and have since spread apart? Am ... Read More