A Tiered Ranking of Roman Emperors: Buckle Up
By Maggie Yuan
Though some Roman emperors have become a mainstay in American culture, such as Nero and Augustus, other emperors’ accomplishments have been all but lost to history. Here, I have compiled a list of facts and accomplishments of the Roman emperors in an attempt to rank them.
Pat Barker’s Classical Tradition
By Catherine Sorrentino
From the first sentence of Pat Barker’s novel The Silence of the Girls, it is obvious that she will not be aligning herself with “white male” classical tradition. “Great Achilles. Brilliant Achilles, shining Achilles, godlike Achilles…
Twin Venuses: a Diachronic Approach
By Achilleas A. Stamatiadis
Plato’s Symposium, composed around 385 BCE, is about the nature of love. Pausanias, the second speaker in the dialogue, distinguishes between two aspects of the goddess Venus…
Dialogues of the Dead 23
By Noah Apter
Lucian’s Dialogues of the Dead contains thirty largely comedic miniature dialogues between deceased Greek figures. The 23rd dialogue, which is notably more somber than the others, occurs…
Road Work Uncovers New Evidence at Iron Age Site
By Alicia Lopez
A new archeological site was uncovered during construction on a UK road in the summer of 2020. While it is not uncommon to find Roman archeological evidence through European construction projects, this particular find helps…
Demonstering: A Postcolonial Reading of Aeneid 3, & The Practice of Humanizing Monsters in Ancient Literature By Anna Coopey Introduction Virgil was a witness to colonization and imperialism. He grew up in Mantua, and experienced, as a young man, the results of the civil wars where Augustus’s allies carved up the land for themselves. […]
Can We Trust Ancient Historical Accounts?
By Adrian Altieri
For Penn students who have taken history courses at the university, an introduction to a historical method of critical thinking is commonplace. Professors often discuss the importance of reliable primary sources, careful sifting through other sources of evidence, and…
Summer TV Recs, Classics Edition
By Olivia Wells
Succession fans, rise up! The HBO series that has taken the world by storm may not, at first glance, bear any resemblance to classical antiquity. But if you watch closely, you’ll begin to recognize names, places, and plot points reminiscent of the classical past of Greece and Rome.
A Roman Dictator’s Resounding Impact
By Ryan Burns
Being from Cincinnati, Ohio, the story of Cincinnatus has inspired me since I learned it eight years ago. Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus was a Roman farmer and a senator, and in the mid-5th century B.C, he was chosen to be dictator to rescue a surrounded army…
A Guide to Mythological Retellings
By Maggie Yuan
From Circe to Lore Olympus, today’s literary landscape features more than just a few retellings of classical mythology. Whether you’re eager to learn more about Greco-Roman mythology or are simply in search of a new and interesting read, keep reading to find out which contemporary title should be the next addition to your list.