Category: History

Iridescent Roman Glass

I used to work with a glass archaeologist. I remember when I first saw some pieces of Roman glass. I was blown away (so to speak) by the iridescence of their surfaces. 

1st-2nd cent. CE Roman Glass

I was more than a little disappointed to learn that the iridescence was not intentional nor an effect created by Roman artisanship. Instead, it’s the result of corrosion. But a recent study and article makes me realize how cool that corrosive effect is. As the article says, 

Nature is the ultimate nanofabricator.

The study examines a fragment nick-named the “wow glass” (not pictured here).

As the article explains, colors in this (and other Roman glass and some organic occurrences such as butterfly-wings and beetle-shells)

don’t come from any pigment molecules but from how they are structured.

And this has implications for materials science and practical applications. The whole article over at Ars Technica is a fascinating read that I’d highly recommend.

How often do men think about…

I never thought to ask how often men think about Ancient Rome, but apparently it is a hot topic over on TikTok, started by a Swedish Roman re-enactor. Not being on TikTok myself, I came across it in this WaPo article (no paywall).

Now, I think of Ancient Rome many times a day, but I am a Classicist and Latin teacher, so I think about it for a living. But apparently, in the general populace, there’s a gender split in how often people think about it and men think about it a lot. As WaPo says:

But why does there seem to be a gender divide in who is daydreaming about ancient Rome today?

According to historians, one explanation could be that Western societies have historically overemphasized the aspects of Roman history that are associated with masculinity in the popular imagination.

As one historian they quoted says, 

“But it was also a diverse place: there were numerous forms of masculinity, women could have agency and power, and there were multiple gender expressions and identities, as well as various sexualities.”

A Costumed Gladiatrix Re-enactor

The article is a fun read, especially if you too think about Ancient Rome on a regular basis. Or perhaps a WTF moment if you don’t.

Getting into the Odyssey

So having posted about my cats, now my brain is on Homer’s Odyssey. If you are just getting into in, here’s the introduction video I created when we went remote during the pandemic.

Do you have a favorite translation of The Odyssey? If so, let me know which it is in the comments below.

Was Dido real?

Our evidence for early Carthage, and thus for Dido, is limited. Vergil provides the earliest extant text and his work is heavily overlaid with myth and legends. Could there have been a Dido (a.k.a. Elissa, probably from the original Phoenician Elishat) who led the Phoenicians from Tyre to found the “new city” (in Phoenician, Cart Hadasht)?

Ancient history certainly points to such a possibility, as there were a number of powerful queens whom the Romans encountered (well, more they tended to come into conflict with them — the Romans did not always play nicely with their neighbors) as well as many others documented in history. Here’s a page with just a few. Pay particular attention to Cleopatra.

To learn more about these and others, you can also visit an on-line catalogue of warrior women, political leaders, and other distinguished women, alternatively some not very nice ones on Queens of Infamy, and also on one of my favorites: Rejected Princesses.