By Henry Maravilla
In Book 2 of his letters, Pliny the Younger writes a laudatio dedicated to his Laurentine villa in Latium. Although Pliny addresses these letters to friends, he arguably seeks to convey something profound — to show off his lifestyle as one that should be emulated by other Roman elites.
Author: Discentes
Pseudo-Alphabetic Characters and Questions of Literacy: the Story of a Sole-Shaped Stamp
By Jane Lilly
At a glance, the Harvard Art Museum’s (HAM) Stamp in the Form of a Foot seems unremarkable, particularly in conversation with the five other Roman stamps also stored at HAM. Each of these six stamps was cast in a lost-wax process with an inscription on the front and a loop on the back. However, upon further inspection, the oddities of this stamp become apparent.
Op-Ed: Let’s Start Speaking Dead Languages
By Selima Aousheva “And first place in Advanced Latin Oratory goes to…Selima Aousheva.” That was the last thing I expected. Yes, I had poured hours into memorizing an excerpt from Cicero’s Against Verres and perfecting the style of Roman oration that it demanded, but this was my first time trying my hand at reciting […]
England’s Ancient Roman Military Sites: A Glimpse into Roman Conquests
By Matthew Breier Glimpses into Ancient Roman history come in many forms. Sometimes we are awed by the Romans’ ingenuity and other times by their military prowess, albeit at the expense of the defeated. One can dive into the history of Roman conquests with a walk through contemporary eastern and northern England in Colchester […]
A New Look at Zosimus’ New History
By Alexander Larrow
The New History of Zosimus has frequently been neglected and disdained by modern historians, with assessments of his work typically ranging from mediocre to incompetent or even malicious.
Myth, Ritual, and the Mind: Decoding the Homeric Hymn to Apollo
By Devin Casano
Ostensibly, The Homeric Hymn to Apollo — a collection of two poems composed around the sixth century B.C.E. (Scanlon) — records the tale of its eponymous deity’s birth and the inauguration of his sanctuary at Delphi.
The Poetics of Athletics
By Eden Riebling
Gregory Nagy has lost count of how many times he has visited the Museum at Olympia. But during each visit he stares in awe at the broken sculptures that once graced the Temple of Zeus. In the second century CE, the traveler Pausanias saw those same statues in all their intact beauty, and his descriptions anchor Nagy’s intriguing and intricately argued new book.
The Silver Bow: Iliad 1.33-52 Translation
By Noah Apter
The opening lines of the Iliad could not capture the essence of the text more. The imagery of Apollo storming down from Olympus, the rattling of the arrows on his back, and the audible twang of the silver bow all give rise to immense feelings of dread, fear, and despair.
Caesar Crossing the Rubicon
By Ellis and Riley Glickman
One snowy afternoon in 2021, two sisters made a joke about the name of their family’s Jeep Rubicon, which led to this collaboration. In this triptych, the artists reimagine the iconic scene of Caesar crossing the Rubicon.
Blues of Achilles
By Riley Glickman
On a Tuesday evening, September 17, 2024 to be exact, students and professors alike gathered in Claudia Cohen Hall for an event truly like no other. Organized by Professor James Ker and the UPenn Undergraduate Classics Advisory Board, the classical studies department welcomed Chicago-based singer-songwriter Joe Goodkin for a performance of his newest album: The Blues of Achilles.