Bread & Circuses

Scrolls from the Villa dei Papiri in Herculaneum

There has been a great deal of excitement about the news yesterday that a new technique might help scholars reads the carbonised scrolls from the Villa dei Papiri in Herculaneum. I thought it worthwhile pulling together the better articles.

The article with the nuts and bolts of the research is "Revealing letters in rolled Herculaneum papyri by X-ray phase-contrast imaging" in Nature Communications.

There is a good summary of the research at Nature.com by Richard Van Noorden in "X-rays reveal words in Vesuvius-baked scrolls". Reuters and National Geographic are good.

More general perspectives are given in the New York Times and Independent. The Guardian is also worth a look for the video below. 

 

Germanicus 2015 - Kalkriese Museum

The special exhibition this year at the Kalkriese Museum focuses on Germanicus, either the best emperor Rome never had or a preening self-important idiot. Either way, it was Germanicus who (eventually) defeated Arminius after the Battle of Teutoburg Forest.

Ein Superstar vor der RTL-Ära? Doch, das gab es. Als der attraktive Liebling seiner Truppen und der Massen 19 n.Chr. im zarten Alter von 29 Jahren verstarb, verfiel das römische Volk in eine Trauerhysterie. Sogleich machte das Gerücht eines Giftmordes die Runde.

„Germanicus führte in den Jahren 14 bis 16 mit einem Drittel der römischen Legionen und 1000 Kriegsschiffen zwischen Ems und Elbe einen brutalen Rachefeldzug“, erzählt Museums-Geschäftsführer Joseph Rottmann. Feldzeichen zurückgewinnen, Arminius stellen, Germanien erobern – das war seine Mission. Das Imperium schlug zurück.

A great preview in the Osnabrücker Zeitung. There is more information on the exhibition which runs from 20 June on the museum website which also has a pdf flyer.

New Plans for the Antonine Wall

An article in the Milngavie and Bearsden Herald about new plans to capitalise on the Antonine Wall. The views of businesses are currently being canvassed:

Businesses are being urged to help build on the popularity of the Antonine Wall and complete an online survey as part of efforts to maximise the pulling power of what was the northern most frontier barrier of the Roman Empire.

The wall runs through five local authority areas - East and West Dunbartonshire, Glasgow City, North Lanarkshire and Falkirk.

East Dunbartonshire Council and its fellow authorities - together with Historic Scotland - manage and promote the wall and have commissioned the survey as part of a wider economic impact assessment. It’s hoped the business survey will help to identify the historic wall’s current and future potential as a major tourist attraction.

The full article can be read here and the survey is here.

Carausius - First Emperor of Britain

There was a good piece, a couple of days ago in the Times, about the Frome Hoard and the Emperor Carausius (AD286-293), also known as the Squatter Emperor. Inevitably behind the firewall, Jack Malvern's piece has (thankfully) been reprinted in The Australian. Sam Moorhead is on fine form in the article:

Sam Moorhead, the finds adviser for Roman coins at the British Museum, said that the 850 pieces minted by Carausius suggested that he was among the most colourful and sophisticated men to have ruled the land.

“I’m convinced this man was a salty sea-dog,” Dr Moorhead said. “A tall, dark, burly man with curly hair and a raffish beard. He’s an absolute bruiser.”

The coins suggest that Carausius’s seven-year reign, before he was assassinated by his finance minister, was one of sophistication, grandstanding and relentless propaganda.

He also makes the entertaining parallel in the relationship between Carausius and his finance minister/successor Allectus, and British prime ministers Tony Blair and Gordon Brown.

This mini British breakaway empire was eventually put down in AD296 by Constantius Chlorus, father of Constantine the Great.

Apokalyptischer Orkan entschied die Varusschlach

A rather good article in German newspaper Die Welt about the Battle of Teutoburg Forest ahead of a documentary which was shown yesterday afternoon - perfect Christmas fare... or something like that. For those who speak German and who missed it you can watch it again here for the next couple of days. I should also probably mention that I am in it.

Higher Classical Studies in Scotland

I have spent a chunk of the last six months working with the Scottish Qualifications Authority, best-known for coordinating school exams in Scotland, on its papers for classical studies. It has been both a privilege to do so and a great deal of fun. What has also become clear is how challenging these exams are. While a broader debate can rage on about dumbing down in other subjects, not so in classics. The thought that 16/17-year olds might have to consider epigraphic or archaeological evidence was unheard of when I was in the front line. Anyway, for those who are interested, the Higher Classical Studies page can be seen here and the most recent exemplar paper is here.

The Basement of the Varusschlacht Museum

An interesting article in the Osnabrücker Zeitung looking at the basement of the museum in Kalkriese with Susanne Wilbers-Rost. While the highlights of the museum are well-known, it is a useful insight into the bits and pieces that have been found on the site of the climax of the Battle of Teutoburg Forest in AD9:

Bei vielen lagert im Keller das, was nicht unmittelbar, nicht täglich gebraucht wird. Aber doch irgendwie wichtig ist oder vielleicht noch wieder werden könnte. Nicht anders scheint es im Keller des Varusschlacht-Museums zu sein: „Hier lagert der Beifang unserer Grabungen“, sagt die archäologische Leiterin Dr. Susanne Wilbers-Rost. Doch sie macht gleich deutlich, dass diese Darstellung wohl doch etwas untertrieben ist: Viele Tausende Fundstücke liegen hier, unterhalb des Besucherzentrums. Scherben, Teile von Keramikgefäßen, Feuersteine, Schlacken, Bodenproben. „Es handelt sich hier um Fundstücke, die nicht den Römern und nicht unmittelbar dem Geschehen der Varusschlacht selbst zuzuordnen sind“, erklärt Wilbers-Rost. Ein wichtiger Bestandteil der Schlachtfeldarchäologie sei nämlich auch die Forschung im direkt angrenzenden Umland. „Wir sind längst nicht nur auf dem Museumsgelände tätig“, betont Wilbers-Rost. Denn um diejenigen Funde, die unmittelbar mit der Varusschlacht im Jahre 9 nach Christus in Verbindung stehen, richtig einordnen zu können, „sind wir sehr weiträumig aktiv“, so die Archäologin. Wie wurde die Landschaft damals genutzt? Wie dicht haben die Germanen und auch schon ihre Vorfahren das Gebiet besiedelt? Wie sahen die Verkehrswege aus? „All diese Erkenntnisse dienen dazu, die Forschung zur Varusschlacht selbst zu ergänzen und zu vertiefen“, erklärt Wilbers-Rost.

Full story here.

Triumvirat's Spartacus

Much like a drum solo, the prog rock theme continues for a second day... I hadn't come across German ELP knock-off band Triumvirat or its version of the life of everyone's favourite rebel slave on the 1975 album Spartacus. MB put me right. "March to the Eternal City" is clearly the standout track, but it is hard not to want to listen to an album which insired this review: "Spartacus may not be as progressively strong as 1973's Illusion on a Double Dimple album, but it still stands as this German outfit's second best release".

 

Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of Spartacus

A curiosity that I had long heard about, but never actually got my hands on is Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of Spartacus, a 1992 follow up to his immensely successful The War of the Worlds. It is pretty hard to find a copy - I don't recall ever seeing one and copies on Amazon are expensive. It was not especially well-received when it came out and notices are not kind.

The reviews at progarchives are pretty typical. "The tracks are lengthy but rather drawn out, with too little variety, and some sections become downright boring. The peculiar mixture of dance, world music, orchestration, story telling, stage show and a small amount of rock do not sit particularly well together resulting in a disjointed and unsatisfying mix," writes one.

Still the cast is solid: Anthony Hopkins as the narrator and Catherine Zeta Jones as Palene and it is worth a listen. You can hear it on Youtube.

 

Are Germans Forgetting about Arminius?

A rather depressing piece in Die Welt this week, that suggests that Germans are no longer learning about Arminius and the Battle of Teutoburg Forest at school:

Bis in die NS-Zeit war dieser Gründungsmythos des deutschen Volkes weit verbreitet. Mit der Wiederentdeckung der Schrift "Germania" des römischen Historikers Tacitus im 15. Jahrhundert wurden die Germanen zu den ersten Deutschen, und Arminius, der auch aus anderen antiken Texten bekannt war, wurde zu ihrem Anführer. Schon die Humanisten verlegten den Beginn der deutschen Geschichte in die römische Kaiserzeit. Spätestens die Nationalbewegung des 19. Jahrhunderts popularisierte dieses Bild.

While the drawbacks of the story are acknowledged, they have a useful a role in pulling society together. The removal of the story of Arminius is merely the continuation of the exorcism of the Führer-Mythos which has taken a long time to happen. Full story here.