In antiquity, private patrons commissioned numerous works of art and architecture. For the Latin West of the Roman Empire, a patron — a patronus — donated public amenities. In many cases, a patron was also a civic official designated by a community. A majority of surviving honorifics of patrons are those of men. Nevertheless, evidence for female patrons does exist…
Tag: Pompeii
The Trippiest Places for a Classicist to Go in Italy
The Trippiest Places for a Classicist to Go in Italy
By Rebecca Onken
Many classicists, when they begin their careers in a Latin 100 or Greek Civilization course, have never visited the sites of their interest. American classicists even have a whole ocean separating us from the locations, monuments, and historical artifacts that we study. When we finally do visit these locations, we are both…
Haunted by the Past: Pompeii’s “Curse” and the Supernatural
Haunted by the Past: Pompeii’s “Curse” and the Supernatural
By Vikram Balasubramanian
In 79 AD, ash rained on Pompeii, burying the city. Pliny the Younger describes the catastrophe as white ash billowing miles into the air, hoards of country people unsure whether to leave their homes and run for the seas, and smoke casting a black shade over the sky…