The police in Crete seems to have had some success in retrieving stolen artefacts and arresting the culprits. Specifically, they arrested 8 men in Messara (Herakleion) last Thursday. They found among others a Roman vase, the upper part of a column, twenty coins from the fifth century BC to the Roman period, some weapons from the Second World War and copious quantities of modern drugs! The gang doe... »
I have gathered a few useful quotes for academics who want to excel in their work. As our jobs become increasingly more competitive, I thought it was fitting to chose war-related quotations. The following are certainly applicable in Academia, so take them seriously and adjust them accordingly! “Work hard and become a leader; Be lazy and never succeed. – -Proverbs 12:24 You must not fig... »
For those who are interested in lifelike image made of wax, I came across an infographic on the life and work of Madame Tussaud. Although it is mostly a commercial site, it has some interesting elements. Information of glass eyes, real teeth and Justin Timberlake can all be fascinating! So, take a quick look at it here. http://www.visitbritainshop.com/usa/articles-and-features/a-history-of-madame-... »
I have always been fascinated by ancient curses. We tend to find them on funerary stele or on little bronze tablets in temples. Occasionally, they may be found also in other materials, such as the cup (skyphos) that was unearthed in Methone of Pieria. This is definitely the oldest curse inscribed on a symposium cup and is dated between 730-690 BC. The inscription says ‘I am (the cup) of Akes... »
I have been in many conferences in my research life but I have never encountered such a well organised conference as the one that takes place in Romania annually for the past five years. It is called Le Livre. la Roumanie. L’ Europe but it invited panels across the spectrum of Humanities. Adrian Dumitru was kind to invite me for the second year to present a paper on the movement of coins fro... »
I have recently co-organised with Kostas Vlassopoulos a conference in Nottingham under the auspices of ISOS, the well known international centre for the study of slavery. The topic of the conference was Sex and Slavery and it included papers from all periods and geographical areas; it was meant to be comparative (both diachronically and geographically). The discussion was especially fruitful also ... »