"The challenge to produce authentic yet engaging versions of Roman women in screen media is even greater now than before, given the proliferation of anti-feminist rhetoric in contemporary media culture." (p.15) From the warmly recommended introduction by Woźniak and Wyke. Did I mention it's OA?!

Admit I was looking for something else when I came across this great, new book: Audio-Visual Roman Women. Gender, History and Screen Media. And it's Open Access! Guess I'll just have to postpone the other plans I had for today. www.bloomsbury.com/us/audiovisu...

The deadline for applications has been extended to March 23rd to allow a bit more time for candidates to work on their application materials.

Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Study of Religion, University of Bergen, Norway. Specialization in Rabbinic literature 2nd – 7th century CE. NB Short deadline: 6 March. nt4ox.link/BergenPDF26

✨Relief plaque of temple attendants✨ This #ReliefWednesday we are enjoying this beautiful terracotta relief thought to date from the C1st CE but emulating the style of southern Italy and the influences of Magna Graecia.

The ‘Pilgrim Hare’ from St. Mary’s Church at Beverley in East Yorkshire. Dating to the mid-14th century, the hare is dressed as a pilgrim, hence the title. It is thought that the carving was the inspiration for Lewis Carroll’s White Rabbit. 📸 My own. #StoneworkSunday #Beverley

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre... my friend Charlotte here on why reading for “pleasure” is NOT the be all and end all of reading. With a shout out for non fiction too which hasn’t got too much of a look in during this year of reading.

me teaching religion and politics for over a decade

Huge congratulations to my colleague prof. Nils Korsvoll!

Ironien i at jeg aldri i mitt liv har opplevd så mye trøbbel med vannforsyningen som etter at jeg flyttet til Bergen. 🌊☔️ www.bt.no/nyheter/dire...

So many interesting points raised in this conversation about The Bloomsbury Handbook of Religion and Heritage in Contemporary Europe. And the whole volume is open access! open.spotify.com/episode/5Qsb...

Ancient #polychromy is rarely more vibrant than this type of Greek painted pottery from Centuripe, Sicily. Both vases here are funerary and have architectural elements at top, looking like small tholos-shaped temples (lion head waterspouts!). The colors are blazingly vivid. 🏺 1/ 📸 me

If ever a series made us feel our age, it's this one! We return to Riordan's fantastical world of teenage demi-gods with the 2nd season of Percy Jackson. We are joined by @lexie-henning.bsky.social, who helps us navigate the world of prophecies and Party Ponies. Listen now at movieswedig.com!

Two ancient 20-sided polyhedra inscribed with letters of the Greek alphabet. Now known as 'divination dice', they were used for cleromancy, a form of divination where casting lots determined divine will, sometimes in conjunction with an oracle. 🏺 1/ #ancientbluesky #MetMuseum 📸 me

This article was truly hilarious/disturbing & also, ratified one strong approach to tech journalism, which is, "go talk to the craziest, most quotable lunatics you can find" harpers.org/archive/2026...

Hey! Scholars! If you're using someone's work in your class, sometimes it's nice to email them and tell them, because then they might feel good about their research instead of entirely crushed by the academic humanities' ongoing descent into the grave

A new podcast episode with Anna Bonnell Freidin. "Birthing Romans sheds critical light on the diverse ways pregnancy and childbirth were understood, experienced, and managed in ancient Rome during the first three centuries"

PhD opening in Bergen. Come and work with me on my NFR project looking at violence and warfare in antiquity: www.jobbnorge.no/en/available...

Enjoying reading "Egeria’s Views From the Mountain: Female Agency and Biblical Stylization in the Itinerarium Egeriae" by Klazina Staat. I have thought deeply about the geography of Egeria, but now I am seeing her as a literal mountain climber in new ways! 🗻 Only complaint: Where are the maps?!

Two ancient Roman altars found near Edinburgh and acquired for the nation are set to go on public display for the first time as part of a new exhibition at the National Museums of Scotland (NMS). www.bbc.com/news/article...

For today's #MosaicMonday a #Roman guard #dog chained to the door, a detail from a mosaic at the entrance of the House of Paquius Proculus in #Pompeii. Dating 1st century AD. Cave canem - Beware of the dog 🐶🐕🦮🐕‍🦺🐩 📷me 🏺 #archaeology

Ancient Romans loved their dogs. Here's what their heartbreakingly beautiful epitaphs said about them. - Upworthy www.upworthy.com/roman-dog-ep...

I'd watch a muppet show movie where the muppets infiltrate an academic conference.

10 years ago today, Beyoncé released “Formation.”

Reading suggestion: Cowan, D. E. (2004). Cyberhenge: Modern Pagans on the Internet (New Ed edition). Routledge. I've recently been in La Sapienza, Rome, to talk about digital religion and magic, for a project led by Marinella Ceravolo

#FrescoFriday in the #DomusAurea of #Nero takes us into the immense #cryptoporticus, which is divided by this bridge. It carried water down into the central bay of the great Octagonal Hall, and its #fresco decoration is a delicate series of #frames and nautical motifs. #AncientBluesky 🏺

An Etruscan vessel in the shape of Charun, the demon of death. Dating around 400 BC. On display at Antikensammlung München 📷 me 🏺 #archaeology

NYTImes Op-Ed board finally comes close to saying what others have already realized.

Beyonce’s “Formation” was released 10 years ago, February 6, 2016. redclayscholarblog.wordpress.com/2016/02/07/g...

A Corinthian delight: three examples of ancient caricatures. The pyxis at the top shows a child-like Herakles drawing water from a fountain. On the lower left, a kylix depicting a woman playing the usually all-male drinking game kottabos. On the lower right, Artemis and her curious dog. 🏺 1/ 📸 me

Marble head of a goddess, probably Aphrodite, 2nd century AD. Her “tears” are due to the oxidation of her bronze eyelashes. Acropolis Museum www.theacropolismuseum.gr/en/head-godd... 📷 by me #Archaeology

For #ReliefWednesday, among the splendours of the #BritishMuseum we find this quite large #sardonyx #cameo showing a goddess in a chariot pulled by two restless bulls. The size suggests an imperial commission of the #Severan period. Maybe Julia #Domna as #Selene or the Dea Syria. #AncientBluesky 🏺

2,000 year-old Roman ‘Beware of the Dog’ mosaic. This good boy looks ready for walkies! 😍🐾 Chained black guard dog from the entry passage of the House of Orpheus, Pompeii. Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Naples 📷 by me #MosaicMonday #Archaeology

One of the best examples of ancient #polychromy that I know of is this terracotta thymiaterion - incense burner - in the form of a group of colorfully dressed women sitting around a wellhead. The iconography reflects a local cult, perhaps of Demeter and Kore. 🏺 1/ 4th c. CE. #MetMuseum 📸 me

For #ReliefWednesday a representation of Minerva, the #Roman goddess of wisdom, arts, crafts, and warfare. She's carrying the helmet, a lance and a shield. The deity is accompanied by an #owl, her sacred animal. Found in Burgstall an der Murr. 📷 Landesmuseum Württemnberg 🏺 #archaeology

Please share these postdoc opportunities in Bergen, Norway 👇 Deadline March 6

For #MosaicMonday a #Roman mosaic showing the labyrinth of the Minotaur on Crete. The monster’s head is depicted in the centre. The simple depiction is alluding to the myth of Theseus, in which the Greek hero slays the Minotaur in the labyrinth with the help ... 🧵1/2 📷🏺 #Archaeology

Happy February! The Kalends of February honoured Juno Sospita, the goddess who protected the Roman state. February was considered the month of purification rites. From 13 to 15, the Romans celebrated the Lupercalia, a festival intended to purify the city and promote fertility.

Patiently waiting for the ball and a round of fetch. #tinyjoys

If you're seeking *good* Melania content, please look no further than this book on her saintly namesakes

Today is Charlemagne’s death day in 814 CE. In his honor, I give you the best depiction of professors writing in their offices while attempting not to socially interact with each other on any level. It’s from the Aachen Gospels. 📕

The AAR has awarded the 2026 Martin Marty Award for the Public Understanding of Religion to @andrewmarkhenry.bsky.social of Religion for Breakfast fame. Never has an award been so richly deserved! aarweb.org/news/andrew-...

The deadline is fast approaching! Apply for a Shohet Scholars Grant from the International Catacomb Society!

@mpgphd.bsky.social just posted this religiondispatches.org/2025/04/24/i...

Today, is the feast of St Agnes of Rome. She lived during Diocletian's reign, & was one of the first virgin martyrs to be widely venerated as a saint, largely due to the promotion of her cult by Ambrose of Milan. According to her legend, she refused to marry. (1/n)

Commemoration of Saint Agnes on January 21 at the via Nomentana cemetery was recorded in 354 CE: " XII kal.Feb. Agnetis in Nomentana", (Depositio Martirum, 354 CE) www.tertullian.org/fathers/chro...

Stephen Fry reads Nick Cave’s letter about the soulless inhumanity of ChatGPT for making art youtu.be/iGJcF4bLKd4?...

norwegian PM to norwegian newspaper: "I can confirm this is a message I received last afternoon" www.vg.no/nyheter/i/q6...

Jeg skal debattere KI med Karianne Tung, Simon Velle og Hege Bae Nyholt i Studentersamfundet i Trondhjem på onsdag. Det streames også. Jeg håper risikoen ved språkmodeller i offentlig sektor, skole og kunnskapsarbeid kommer på politikernes dagsorden! www.samfundet.no/arrangement/...

The second is earmarked for research on ancient Christian ascetic and monastic literature from its emergence to the 6th century CE. www.jobbnorge.no/en/available...