Monthly Archives: February 2012

The wisecracking emperor

Posted on 22 February, 2012 by

There’s a joke that the emperor Augustus is supposed to have made one day at the expense of one of his slaves. This particular slave was a nomenculator. His job was to remember the names of all the noteworthy citizens … Continue reading →

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Weird and Wonderful Classics: Sheep

Posted on 5 February, 2012 by

The great thing about Classics is that even the most boring of animals (which, let’s face it, sheep generally are) can turn out to be quite weird and wonderful after all. As a philologist, I’ve always been rather fond of … Continue reading →

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Etymology-Man

Posted on 3 February, 2012 by

To abridge a couple of short posts that I recently made on my own blog elsewhere…  xkcd has given us the gift of Etymology-Man!  The kind of superhero who would bound off a gratte-ciel, while explaining that it’s a calque … Continue reading →

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Women and the History of Classical Archaeology #2: Elizabeth Cavendish

Posted on 2 February, 2012 by

Here’s the second in my series on women in the history of classical archaeology: A Duchess and Her Column: Elizabeth Cavendish (1759-1824). I’ve spent many happy hours reading Victorian guidebooks to Rome. They formed the core evidence for a big … Continue reading →

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