CRASSUS: Conscript fathers, I will invade Parthia CICERO: this is a diversion to keep us from noticing the rising cost of grain from Africa Proconsularis!

As a historian one of the few comforts I have right now—and in the face of right wing legislature designed to destroy history departments—is colleagues I trust and students we train will ultimately get to record and document the legacy of these tyrants and thieves and shape how they are remembered.

Point 2 reminds me of one of the more savage things I heard in grad school. During a meeting, one PhD candidate went on for some time about their diss, which was based in the long 12th century. We got a lot. Texts. Theories. Secondary literature. Hints. Maybes. Not a drop of actual thesis.

Is the guy everyone is clowning on for posting outdated things school kids can’t do anymore doing this in a “damn kids today” way or just a “shit changes” way, which I’ve decided really is just how older people grapple with getting older seeing time move past them

We have carved our way past the horrid beast of 2025 and stand ready to face 2026.

Totally unrelated but hey did you know the emperor Titus died of natural causes before the completion of his own triumphal arch in Rome

End of 2025 me: For my New Year’s Resolution, every time he says something shitty/racist/vile about Ilhan Omar, I will donate money to her campaign. Four days into 2026 me: I am out of money

The Andy Pettitte HoF discourse reminds me of the change in convo about the SW prequels: i thought both were fine, not great, in the moment and am a bit surprised at a generational shift in perception of them, which seems based somewhat in nostalgia and distance from the moment.

andy pettitte is the best pitcher whose name also works conceptually after the sentence "he saw a dog"

It’s really awful that the Byzantines would ritually mutilate former rulers to keep them from taking the throne again but on the other hand this did mean no one had to suffer through episodes of the Nikephoros Bryennios Podcast Hour.

Thought about reinventing myself as a Puzzle Guy but this was a horrible decision. 200 pieces of anxiety in a box. This is not relaxing.

Grabbing my shield and affixing my greaves and making sure my sword remains sharp, for combat awaits* *-me getting ready to block a guy

Adoption! In order to stay politically relevant and run for the office of tribune of the plebeians, the disgraced Publius Clodius Pulcher gave up his patrician status and was adopted by a pleb a dozen or so younger than him; he was later murdered by a rival. Roman adoption is a thorny mess.

When discussing Augustus we often speak about how authors like Horace veil and conceal the true nature of Republic’s end. One day the framing below will be studied in a similar manner, I think.

Lots of reasons to enjoy Die Hard’s seasonal popularity, and one is a nice reminder that not too long ago it was a-ok to portray most cops as bumbling doofuses and federal agents as ginormous failures. This can be ours again.

Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house Only Cuban was stirring, healthcare to denounce.

Re: the Oklahoma TA. Does the recent news mean she’s been stripped of funding or that they’re moving to keep her funded but not putting her in a classroom?

Not sure what I think of the Odyssey trailer but I do wonder why Agamemnon’s helmet has a spine.

This MF just shit on Eric the Red

People who listen to video loudly in public. Why do you do this. What the fuck is wrong with you

I really liked Andy Pettitte. Rooted for him for almost two decades. Took one of my kids to his last home start. Never really thought of him as a HoFer; that his vote totals keep going up is a little surprising to me.

I think at this point I’ve heard more about Weiss spiking that story, and thus the story itself, than I would have had it aired, which I think means Weiss really sucks at her job

As I’ve gotten older I’ve come to appreciate Cicero more. A man who relied on words to fight those with swords; a man who when he did not have power wielded words as if he did; and a man who, when he did hold power, recognized that decisive action was required no matter the cost.

Didn’t he write a book apologizing for his white hillbilly family

One of the things that gets me about the AI proponents—specifically the ones working on integrating it into software I use—is their assumption that I need it. I’m the expert in what I need and how my job works. I trained for decades to become an expert. And that expertise doesn’t matter.

Lmao she said “grift”

I’m not super surprised to see the AHA loosely embrace AI because many of the big names in the field-including some names on this site-don’t do their own work. They rely on research assistants to summarize scholarship for them, even to write, and then shape this material with their genius.

we must go back in time and destroy baseball usenet before it leaks

Oh no

Lots of discourse about TT jobs. Yes, the Ivy people like hiring Ivy people. Yes, certain fields are trendy. I have absolutely seen candidates—always white ones—receive allowances that others do not get. And by the campus visit the single most important criterion is “is this person an asshole?”

If I’d like to avoid an AI infused browser is waterfox the best bet or is there something else people prefer?

I did something personal this year that, I think, set a tone. I brought a letter my grandmother wrote me to the first day of class. When I got to the AI section of the syllabus I took it out. This letter, I told them, with all of her tone and charm and foibles, let my grandmother transcend time.

In the Odyssey Penelope and a disguised Odysseus sit in the great hall and talk. For hours. She doesn’t know who he is; she just knows this kind stranger doesn’t want to hurt her and doesn’t want to possess her. And she tells him everything. For the first time in twenty years, she talks freely.

Was just thinking the plot of super Republican Tom Clancy’s Hunt for Red October involves some foreign dudes who want to move to America and not carry papers and I’m not sure that gets written by someone like him now

So, what are you drinking when he dies?

So I was looking up a still from Fred Savage in The Princess Bride to point out to my co-workers that the show is presumably set in Chicago (given the Bears jersey and the Bears and Cubs posters on the wall) and I noticed for the first time that Reiner's hat from Spinal Tap is on his wall!

After his Reiner response—and I don’t know why it’s that instead of any of the thousands of other things—I think my goal now is to celebrate so hard even if in the face of getting fired for it. Fuck that guy.

Creatives in Texas: Grok flagged my art syllabus for using the phrase “students will learn a diverse array of techniques” and now I am off to the relocation camp

I keep seeing the Sepinwall thing circulating about Reiner’s 7 movie run of greatness but my takeaway from the guy’s life is he had huge highs and also low lows and I suspect the lows helped lead to the highs and focusing only on success is antithetical to who that man was and why he mattered.

I recently heard Rob Reiner on Fresh Air. Great interview, but what stood out to me was Terry Gross playing a clip of Carl speaking so positively about his son’s talent as a director. Rob got choked up hearing it; he was, in the moment, just a guy who missed his dad. It was so moving and so human.

BUCK: And here’s the windup. Sinker. 2-2 SMOLTZ: Oh no BUCK: He’s down. It’s his leg SMOLTZ: I think it’s…oh god BUCK: We have to say it. John SMOLTZ: …an Achilles injury BUCK: *zapped by electricity* Speaking of epic heroes, Chris Nolan’s Odyssey, starring Matt Damon, in theaters now

So much of the conversation around Nolan’s Odyssey—jaw-dropping, pulse-pounding, “realism”—don’t really track with my understanding of the poem, which is so much more complex than those words.

Thinking about Scalia and his stupid and incredibly craven interpretation of “militia” and wish I believed in hell just so I could take comfort in his eternal fucking torture

Almost embarrassed by how quickly I clicked this link

Am car cultured enough to know whatever the speed limit is I want to drive 10 MPH over it and I am part of the problem

As someone who will vote in the primary for either Crockett or Talarico, I’m curious to seeing how this plays out. I am also a little sad that one of two politicians I genuinely like will lose. Not sure who is better and have given to both. A lot of the discourse by non-TX people has not been useful

When it ultimately happens do you think the collective joy will be squelched by the right wing wrath machine crying for decorum and slinging legislative and other forms of retribution or will the joy win out

PERSON: I’d really like not to die early and think getting good health care would be nice MARK CUBAN: ARE YOU PREPARED FOR THE TOTAL SHITSTORM THIS WOULD PRODUCE? HAVE YOU CONTEMPLATED THE HORROR OF YOUR DESIRE FOR HEALTH, YOU PEASANT

When I think of Disney I think about revisiting the movie Cinderella with one of my kids and marveling at the craft of so many skilled artists who labored so much to produce something so elegant and breathtaking. What a sad change.