One of my favorite reflections on the act of writing was written by a late Roman historian, poet, and rhetorician from modern-day Bordeaux named Decimius Magnus Ausonius. Among many other works, he penned a treatise called the Fasti. In a note to his son, the author reflected on the act of picking and choosing historical events, andContinue reading “Eating Nocturnal Fruits: A Round-Up Of My Favorite Ancient and Medieval Posts of 2017”
Category Archives: Forbes
Mapping Racism And Assessing the Success of the Digital Humanities
This week, The Chronicle of Higher Education published a piece (now behind a paywall) written by Prof. Timothy Brennan. In it, the digital humanities as a field is essentially assessed as a “bust.” A concluding critique seemed particularly harsh: “Rather than a revolution, the digital humanities is a wedge separating the humanities from its reason to existContinue reading “Mapping Racism And Assessing the Success of the Digital Humanities”
Were Pagan Temples All Smashed Or Just Converted Into Christian Churches?
This week over at the Forbes column [access it here], I discuss an article in the new volume of the Journal of Late Antiquity (10.1) It is a great piece of scholarship written by ancient historian Feyo L. Schuddeboom and is called “The Conversion of Temples in Rome.” The article effectively uses archaeological evidence for temple conversion within the cityContinue reading “Were Pagan Temples All Smashed Or Just Converted Into Christian Churches?”
Hold My Mead: A Bibliography For Historians Hitting Back At White Supremacy
On September 6, 2017, medieval historian David Perry published an article in the Pacific Standard remarking on how medievalists can counter the use of medieval history by White Supremacists. As Prof. Perry noted in his post, “…mostly we’re just a collection of predominantly white scholars who are surprised and disturbed to discover our classes and booksContinue reading “Hold My Mead: A Bibliography For Historians Hitting Back At White Supremacy”
The History Of Torches, Intimidation & Symbols of Violence
You may have noticed that I have been blogging less on my personal site. This certainly is a product of a busy summer with much travel and other publications to address, but I am afraid that–in part–I must admit that it was a reaction to receiving messages and tweets suggesting that certain white supremacist groupsContinue reading “The History Of Torches, Intimidation & Symbols of Violence”
Digital Palmyra: Resources for Researching the Ancient City
Yesterday on the Forbes blog, I discussed recent attempts to reconstruct the ancient busts of Palmyra damaged by ISIS and repatriate them back to Syria. As I suggested in the post, such efforts highlight the import of digital methodologies such as 3D printing and photogrammetry, but also underscore art as an umbilical cord that allows usContinue reading “Digital Palmyra: Resources for Researching the Ancient City”
Legitimizing The Blog: On Reading, Citing & Archiving Blogposts
Over at the Forbes blog this week, I wrote about an issue within academic blogging that has been bugging me for a long time: Why aren’t more academic blogs cited in the footnotes of journal articles and within academic books? While there are certainly still specious blogs that abound on the web, the number of trusted,Continue reading “Legitimizing The Blog: On Reading, Citing & Archiving Blogposts”
Modeling the Tincu House: A New 3D Model from Roman Gabii
Over on the Forbes blog this week, I explore the new publication of an interactive 3D model for a mid-Republican house from the site of Gabii. The University of Michigan Press and the Gabii Project were kind enough to let me read the new e-publication, which links together maps, 3D models, an archaeological object database, andContinue reading “Modeling the Tincu House: A New 3D Model from Roman Gabii”
Open Access: The Metropolitan Museum of Art Just Gave Us 375,000 More Reasons to Celebrate The Public Domain
As I wrote about in this week’s Forbes blog post, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York yesterday announced the release of 375,000 images of artwork into the Public Domain. Those of you who follow this blog know that I talk endlessly (some might say freely!) about the merits of open content initiatives. Ergo, IContinue reading “Open Access: The Metropolitan Museum of Art Just Gave Us 375,000 More Reasons to Celebrate The Public Domain”
January 10, 49 BCE: Revising The Tale Of Caesar’s Crossing of the Rubicon
It was a great trip to the combined annual meeting for the Society for Classical Studies and Archaeological Institute of America (SCS-AIA) in Toronto, but it definitely put me behind on my blogging schedule. No matter! Welcome to a new year, pious readers, and with it comes a reflection on immutable actions over at Forbes. ForContinue reading “January 10, 49 BCE: Revising The Tale Of Caesar’s Crossing of the Rubicon”
History From Below 