Detail of the buildings enclosing the Cortile della Pigna (Courtyard of the Pinecone) just outside the Vatican Museums. The area takes its name from the giant 2nd c. bronze pinecone that decorates the court's fountain. 📷🇻🇦 flic.kr/p/2shtYGm #photography #travel #Italy #Rome #architecture

A "fragile ceasefire" that involves bombing is neither fragile nor a ceasefire.

I gotchu 🫡

Me and ma figghia are listening to some Gigi D'Alessio today. Master of modulation. (very niche observation)

Who put "how many hours in Monday" in Gr*k?

Ah yes, the "Thdpsssps"

On this day in 1944, nearly 160,000 Allied troops landed in Normandy, changing the course of history. As America marks its 250th anniversary, we honor the courage and sacrifice of those who stood against tyranny and defended freedom.

A perfect evening to sit on the porch and crack this open.

#PortraitThursday - This half-life-sized bronze head, believed to depict Marcus Aurelius and featuring bright blue glass-inlaid eyes, was discovered in a field in Northamptonshire in 1976. Several features suggest it was not made in Rome but in Britain or northern Gaul. Ashmolean Museum, Oxford.

VATICAN: Pope Leo will meet with survivors of clergy sex abuse during his visit to Spain June 6-12.

That's what they said!

The disappointment when you do a TLG search for terms in authors you're hoping to find some exciting evidence and you get NO RESULTS for all of them. 😭

The administration also has the right to bulldoze American democracy.

Will be interesting to see the reception of the pope's teaching at Catholic institutions.

"The funniest possible outcome of the AI mandate era is about to be HR departments discovering that 'sincerely held religious belief' under Title VII has a much lower bar than they assumed, and Pope Leo handed every Catholic employee a written excuse" www.businessinsider.com/worker-got-r...

this!

Are Long Coviders Just Trying To Keep The Pandemic Vibe Alive

The real Sleepy Joe.

In case you needed to know. RI recognized as birthplace of chicken salad www.wpri.com/dont-miss/rh...

In case you needed to know. RI recognized as birthplace of chicken salad www.wpri.com/dont-miss/rh...

"Both Pope Francis and Brother Guy Consolmagno, the Vatican astronomer, have said they would baptize an alien if it asked for baptism." Santiago Ramos on extraterrestrial encounters & human possibility:

Aren't all of us ancient nerds giddy to see some damnatio memoriae in our own time? apnews.com/article/trum...

Saint Augustine Taken to School by Saint Monica Niccolò di Pietro, 1413-15 upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/co...

The #architecture of an Empire on the defensive, massive and defiant, combining civil and military elements. The Porta Nigra in #Trier, imperial capital of #Constantius in the West. #Archaeology #Roman

"The market can be a negative force, not because it is so by nature, but because a certain ideology can make it so. It must be remembered that the market does not exist in the pure state."

(side note: at the time, this language drove fiscal conservative American Catholics, who otherwise admired Benedict's traditional dogmatic teaching, absolutely bonkers!)

"it must be borne in mind that grave imbalances are produced when economic action, conceived merely as an engine for wealth creation, is detached from political action, conceived as a means for pursuing justice through redistribution."

"It is in the interests of the market to promote emancipation, but in order to do so effectively, it cannot rely only on itself...It must draw its moral energies from other subjects that are capable of generating them."

"Human costs always include economic costs, and economic dysfunctions always involve human costs."

"The dignity of the individual and the demands of justice require, particularly today, that economic choices do not cause disparities in wealth to increase in an excessive and morally unacceptable manner, and that we continue to prioritize the goal of access to steady employment for everyone."

Yes, yes, I know there's a new encyclical out, but gotta finish up B16's Caritas in Veritate. Not surprisingly there are many overlapping themes with Magnifica Humanitas. #EncyclicalBites

okay, early Christianity/late antiquity pals: you're teaching a 7-week course to brand new first year college students in which they will be reading a selection (8-10?) of premodern saints lives: which do you choose? go!

The Center for the Study of Christianity at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem is pleased to announce its Call for Applications for two Postdoctoral Research Fellowships for the 2026–2027 academic year. csc.huji.ac.il/postdoctoral...

One-year teaching position in the Department of Religious Studies here at McMaster!

"I can recognize the anguish of [Pope] Francis in all of [Pope Leo's] Magnifica Humanitas." - Rabbi Abraham Skorka www.osservatoreromano.va/it/news/2026...

"I'm Brian and so is my wife." 🤣 apnews.com/article/alas...

New Issue of Journal of Late Antiquity, volume 19, no. 1 (Spring 2026) maryjahariscenter.org/blog/new-iss...

Attend: Greek Manuscripts in Renaissance Venice: The Library of Guillaume Pellicier, British School at Rome and Online, June 18–19, 2026. Advance registration required maryjahariscenter.org/blog/greek-m...

June 2, 1926: A Liberty Bell hat worn in conjunction with Philadelphia's Sesquicentennial Exposition to celebrate the 150th anniversary of independence.

As I'm finishing up my manuscript on philosophy, art, and dress/appearance in #LateAntiquity, cracking this new book open. (It's available open access: www.luminosoa.org/reader/books...)

Ancient studies ppl: I’ll have about a week in Rome in the third week of June. What new sites or exhibits are must sees? I know a lot got a glow up during the jubilee year.

A #Rome -filled day (even if from home). Had a fascinating conversation with Bernie Frischer about a 3-D model of the Pantheon that incorporates data on astronomical phenomenon. And "had caffe" with Tom Bolin in Piazza S. Maria in Trastevere (virtually). Best I can do right now, but still thrilling.

#Pope Leo XIV Meets with the Coalition for Spiritual and Public Leadership of Chicago who Advocate for ICE Detainees www.catholicnewsworld.com/2026/06/pope...

Ph. D. fellowship in Roman Sculpture | Job ad | Jobindex www.jobindex.dk/jobannonce/h...

Domes of Rome #photography

If just seeing a mask triggers someone because it makes them think about how they had to stay home six years ago, imagine how it feels now to be one of the 1-2% people who knows COVID remains dangerous & you should still protect yourself from getting it. It’s rough dealing with that much gaslighting

Forte terremoto davanti alle coste della Calabria: magnitudo 6.2 con epicentro in mare https://www.repubblica.it/cronaca/2026/06/02/news/terremoto_calabria_mar_tirreno_magnitudo_6-425384240/?rss

Inside St Bavo cathedral in Ghent, built in the late 13th c. View looking down nave from the choir. The church is famously known for the Ghent altarpiece, but, man, look at that ceiling! 📷🇧🇪 flic.kr/p/2sg3XqH #photography #architecture #Belgium #travel

The Last Supper: an amazing, vertiginous, visionary late work by the great Tintoretto of Venice, whose day has been today.

Masked Rogue: "I mean, we’ve known that COVID damages the brain since 2020. This isn’t news. It’s a choice." CP24: "Study suggests more Canadian kindergartners are experiencing developmental vulnerabilities after COVID-19" Source: x.com/unMaskedRogu...