Bread & Circuses

The SNP still hates history

A regular update on how the SNP is cutting the throat of culture in Scotland. The headlines on finance secretary John Swinney's budget yesterday trumpeted that he had ruled out an increase in Scottish income tax next year. From next year Scotland gets its own tax raising powers. There is a good overview on the BBC.

But yet again history gets the chop.

The budget for what used to be called Historic Scotland (but now after a political land grab includes the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland) has been cut from £44.6 million to £44.3 million. 

To put that into context, the 2013 budget figures for Historic Scotland alone were £47 million.

It goes without saying that everything else cultural is hacked too. Creative Scotland is down from £56.7 million to £52.6 million; and the national performing companies are down from £27.6 million to £22.9 million.

You can read the budget details here.

How modern eruptions can help us understand Vesuvius

A guest blog I wrote for the brilliant Alderney Literary Trust on why we need to look at modern volcanic eruptions if we want to understand what happened in August AD79 when Vesuvius erupted:

The photograph taken by the news agency AFP/Getty makes it come alive. In the aftermath of the explosion of the Mount Sinabung volcano on Sumatra island, Indonesia, a group of five ladies is hurrying along the road. Behind them, the mountain can barely been seen, but its presence looms from the muddy blackness of the sky. All five ladies have thick clothing on and cushions on their heads.

Full story here.

The biggest Roman inscription in the world... in chocolate

Research that everyone can get behind. The Musée Gallo-Romain in Lyons intends to recreate the Lyon Tablet in chocolate:

Le Laboratoire de Tribologie et Dynamique des Systèmes de l'Ecole Centrale de Lyon et le Musée Gallo-Romain de Lyon se sont associé pour proposer un évènement original qui aura pour ambition de réaliser "La Plus Grande inscription Romaine en Chocolat au Monde". Il s'agira pour la première fois de fabriquer la copie en chocolat de la Table claudienne grandeur nature, soit 1,39 m de Haut par 1,92 m de Large.
Cette œuvre éphémère en chocolat sera présentée au musée Gallo-romain de la Lyon par Roberto Vargiolu, Hugues Savay-Guerraz et Bruno Saladino le dimanche 15 novembre 2015 à 16H00 à l'occasion de l'anniversaire de ces 40 ans du musée.
La copie de la Table en chocolat sera partiellement dorée à la feuille d'or afin de la montrer au public telle qu'elle devait être réellement, puis comme toute œuvre éphémère elle sera brisée et les morceaux seront distribués gratuitement aux visiteurs. Vive les sciences gourmandes!

The full press release is here and definitely worth a read.

Boudica defeated... again

The people have spoken... and they really don't think all that much of everyone's favourite Iceni warrior.

Last week I posted that I had made the case on the BBC that the defeat of Boudica was the most significant battle on the British Isles:

Adrian Murdoch, Roman military historian and journalist, said: "Her revolt almost stopped the Roman Empire in its tracks.

"Boudica had reasons to be angry - double-crossed over land and her capital sacked, then beaten and her two daughters raped."

After the destruction of the best part of a legion and three major towns, the Roman army made its stand.

Mr Murdoch said: "The fate of the province was in the balance - with the emperor Nero considering abandoning the island. But thanks to superior military discipline, the Romans won. Classical authors claim 80,000 Britons died to 400 Roman losses.

"Had Boudica's revolt worked, the English Channel would have been as much of a barrier between barbarism and civilisation as the Rhine.

"Britain would have lost the enduring influence of 350 years of Roman rule, its culture, building and commerce.

"And while she lost, Boudica became a personification of Britannia, complete with a statue outside the Houses of Parliament."

Apparently it wasn't convincing enough.

To be fair, there was some fairly stiff competition. I thought that the Battle of Britain had the vote sewn up. But even that only got 23% of the vote. The winner by a hefty margin was The Battle of Bannockburn with a whopping 33% of the vote.

But only 2% of the vote for Boudica! Really?

The History of Singapore

Although this blog generally focuses on the classical world, regular readers will know of my interest in Singapore. It is hardly a surprise given that one of the major themes of Bread & Circuses has been the politicisation of history.

It is a joy to discover PJ Thum's fascinating weekly podcast The History of Singapore. I have written in the past about Singapore's uneasy relationship with its own history, especially recent history. It is something that Oxford's Thum confronts head-on and illuminates. On Wednesday night he held a Reddit AMA which is also worth a read. The Online Citizen covered the Reddit event - you can read it here.

Only one thing confuses me... the music. Is it The Quests?

Battles of Britain: Boudica

The British Isles have seen countless battles, campaigns and wars. But which one affected us the most? I make the case for Boudica versus Rome on the BBC this morning. You can vote here. 

Roman villa in Positano

Worth it for the fantastic film footage, a great piece from Rai News on Saturday on the discovery of a first century villa in Positano.

Herculaneum and Pompeii on Rai news

A video report and a good series of three slide shows looking at excavations at Pompeii and Herculaneum from Rai News as well a discussion of some of the difficulties. You can see it here.

Hero of Herculaneum on the Smithsonian Channel

If you are in the US you can see "Hero of Herculaneum", a documentary I worked on last year, on Sunday at 2100 on the Smithsonian Channel. A preview can be seen here.

 

 

Staff shortages at Herculaneum

Depressing news from Herculaneum. The staff shortages are starting to bite. Visitors have given up seeing the Suburban Baths and even the boat museum, but the whole site was closed on Monday:

The ancient site of Herculaneum near Pompeii in southern Italy was shut to the public Monday afternoon because of a staff shortage that officials blamed on understaffing. The Superintendent for Cultural Heritage responsible for the sites at Pompeii, Herculaneum and Stabia said in a statement that the closure "highlights the critical situation...at Mt. Vesuvius archaeological sites".

The full story from the Gazetta del Sud. There is also a heartfelt op-ed piece in Il Mattino:

“Ercolano sta ancora in piedi, così come Pompei, perché è lo spirito santo che lo vuole”. Queste le amare parole di alcuni addetti ai lavori del sito vesuviano mentre raccontano di mancanza di personale sufficiente a sorvegliare pochi ma significativi luoghi “simbolo” dell’area archeologica, oggi off-limits per i molti turisti che arrivano.

You can read it here. It is accompanied by a good video piece.