The Root of All Evil

Just a quick etymological post.
Did you ever wonder why we call money ‘money’? Or how the Mint got its name despite its notable lack of peppermint fragrance (or taste)? It’s all because of the Romans.
When the Romans established their Mint, they did not set it up in its own building, but in a temple. This [...]

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Going Postal, Roman Style

We’ve been struck lately here in the UK with postal strikes, and a friend of mine abroad asked how the Romans would have handled such a thing (thank you, R!). Thinking about the answer, I realized that I had no idea how the Romans dealt with post at all, so I got Googling ( actually [...]

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Poetry

I love seeing how the Classics were received by later generations, so I thought I would post one of my favourite examples of such reception- the poem ‘Menelaus and Helen’ by the talented English poet Rupert Brooke.
Menelaus and Helen
I
Hot through Troy’s ruin Menelaus broke
To Priam’s palace, sword in hand, to sate
On that adulterous whore a [...]

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I’ll Never Let Go, Jack

Can we cling on to things forever? Should we?

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Emperor of the Variable Period of Time: Elagabalus

Sometimes I wind up reading strange things, and sometimes those things are about Romans. This is one such case. I bring you… EMPEROR OF THE VARIABLE PERIOD OF TIME AWARD, wherein I bring you one of my favourite emperors and explain what it was which made them so good/bad/bonkers (Hint: most recipients of the award will [...]

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I Do This All The Time

Ways that Classics has ruined me as a normal person Number 187:
When I walk, sit, dance, lounge, amble or saunter anywhere, I imagine what the place would look like if it was being excavated by archaeologists thousands of years later. The best part is using different disaster scenarios which would result in the  ”fixing” of [...]

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You’re Welcome

As a self-appointed Classics ambassador, I obviously feel it my duty to defend my subject whenever the opportunity arises. Most of the time, this is in situations when the “use” of my subject is questioned. Admittedly, Classics has very few practical applications outside of academia, just like quantum physics or advanced mathematics. However, sometimes I [...]

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In Defense of ‘Gladiator’

Recently I read on this website that Commodus, the emperor most famous for being killed by Russell Crowe in the film ‘Gladiator’, hardly resembled his film persona. Here’s what the site says:
Commodus, the hare-lipped Roman Emperor who lusted after his sister in the film, was in real life held in high esteem by the senate and [...]

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The Joys Of Complexity

I was thinking as I was on the train this morning: Life is so wonderful. Life in general as well as my life in particular. We live in such an amazing, complex world, and I adore the complexity of it all. Not just the biological complexity, though of course that is also astounding- how do [...]

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A Funny Story

*** Temporarily removed, apologies***

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