Come work with me at the University of Arizona! www.classicalstudies.org/placement-se...

Agreed on what the actual ****. This is reflected of a pretty fundamental failure to understand what historians do, because LLMs do basically none of my job and are completely incapable of most of it. But they have the ears of the people that write the checks, so this is real bad news. 1/

I'm late to this, but it's inconceivable to me that Ozzy's gone. He was not only in the first metal band but was probably the first musician I knew of, the one overlap in my dad's musical tastes and mine. Reunion was the first CD my dad gave me. I've been playing it for most of the last two days.

After reading SF/Fantasy my whole life, I finally decided to vote for the Hugo awards. It turned out to be a delightful way to see what's happening now in the field, especially since—left to my own devices—I tend to read more older stuff than newer. I am a historian after all...

It is my immense privilege to share this particular proofs day! For @platanoclassics.bsky.social and I’s chapter! Will be happy to share when it’s appropriate to do so!

For my myth class today, the assigned "reading" was Disney's Hercules so we could discuss adaptations. I thought giving them "reading" questions would be free points for the class. Turns out I overestimated how many students would do the reading even when it's a kid's movie...

*Roman historian voice* The emperor was sound neither of body nor mind, for in a fit of madness he imposed tariffs on the creatures of Neptune.

From the acknowledgments from the Nicole Galland novel The Master of the Revels. Is the mentioned Andrew Riggsby by any chance @antiquethought.bsky.social?

nycurbanlegends.com/nyc-rat-man On Nathaniel Katz, the rat man

Apparently I’m to blame for the rats in NY! nypost.com/2024/09/19/u...

I appeared on Classical Antiquity Sidequest to talk about Roman imperial assassinations, civil wars, and other forms of regime change, plus just a bit of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Check it out!

Come work with me at the University of Arizona! classicalstudies.org/placement-se...

I was going to post a picture of all the books I got from the SCS, but American Airlines lost my luggage, so that’ll have to wait…

Off to the SCS!

Those of you who prefer your legionary coins content in video form might enjoy this talk I gave two years ago about Severus' legionary coins I just published on as well as earlier legionary coins from the Year of the Four Emperors: www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOH7...

My article The Legionary Coins of Septimius Severus is now out in the Journal of Ancient History & Archaeology! This 🧵unpacks how these coins show us an early stage in how Severus presented himself to the empire, how he linked himself to Augustus, & even the response he got 1/11

Proofs day!

In classes, I use Prima Porta Augustus to talk about the link between art & politics. This study abroad program didn’t do the Vatican, but while in Rome I got to see the statue in person—and so did multiple students, who showed me their pics of doing the pose with Augustus.

Perks of teaching in Italy this summer: after sending off a chapter on the treatment of the corpses of assassinated emperors, I'm off to Castel Sant'Angelo/Hadrian's Mausoleum to see where Commodus and several other slain emperors ended up.

It still doesn’t feel real that I’m going to spend the next five weeks teaching in Italy, but I’m about to get on the plane, so here we go!

Anyone who was curious about my talk on Carthage in Metal Music but missed the Heavy Metal & Global Premodernity II conference can now see the talk on YouTube: www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAiG...

Did you know that there are over 250 metal songs about Carthage? This Saturday at 12:15 EST, I'll be talking about how metal remembers Carthage at Heavy Metal & Global Premodernity II. Attendance is free but registration is required.

As I prepare a glossary of Latin terms for my Roman Empire students to be able to tackle some articles on how democratic the republic was, I’m struck by the needless inaccessibility of so much otherwise great scholarship. Translating the Latin wouldn’t have weakened these pieces!

One of my myth students got her younger sister the Iliad for Christmas, so the next generation of myth students is on the way! That or someone who gets bored by their Christmas present...

I got home from my last class of the semester with a voice so hoarse I can barely whisper. Presumably it’s the after effects of the cold I had on Friday, but it feels more like sixteen weeks of projecting to big lecture classes catching up on me all at once.

Please share this CFP for what looks to be an exciting, interdisciplinary graduate/ECR conference at SUNY Buffalo next Spring. Honored to be one of the keynotes. #AncientBluesky #ClassicsBluesky

It studies "legionary coins" (coins with a legionary eagle & military standards) to better understand the 68-9 civil war, how emperors communicated with their army with coins, & how those coins also framed the relationship between an emperor & his rivals/predecessors.

My (open access!) article, "Legionary Coins in the Year of the Four Emperors," just came out: jaha.org.ro/index.php/JA...

It's weird to be making a lecture on Pompeii knowing half my class won't be there—Thanksgiving really should just be a week long—but I'm going to do my best to reward those who do come with every bizarre and delightful detail about Pompeii that I can.

A student found under their seat and handed me an airpod floating in the dregs of a soda in a Cick-fil-A cup. I went to throw it out, only for them to say they thought someone in the last class had been looking for their airpod. Here's hoping the sticky airpod finds its way home?

I’ll be presenting on “Carthage in Metal Music” at the upcoming Heavy Metal and Global Premodernity conference in March. I’m excited to talk about the reception of Carthage—and for my first conference presentation that I’ll wear a band shirt for!

Unexpected consequences of having taught Latin 101 4x in the last 12 months: I have now memorized what page of Learn to Read Latin has the chart for deus—it's page 12, if you were wondering. That's got to be each class's least favorite noun, at least until the 3rd declension.

I wonder how many times I would have to teach about Alexander before I stop playing Iron Maiden's Alexander the Great while walking over to the classroom. Whatever the tipping point may be, today's class definitely isn't it.

The submission deadline is TOMORROW. Last chance to get those abstracts in! CFP here: docs.google.com/document/d/1...

My article "Legionary Coins in the Year of the Four Emperors" is coming soon from The Journal of Ancient History & Archaeology. I fell in love with the 68-9 civil wars & coins during my undergrad thesis, so I'm thrilled to be able to contribute to our understanding of that period