Thursday 26 July 2007

Panem Et Circenses

A posy of rather spiffing blogs relating to the ancient world...


Bread and Circuses

With a link, amongst other things, to an article on why the Western Empire went down.

Memorabilia Antonina

"The gladiatorial games were not top of the bill when it came to Roman mass entertainment - that was chariot racing. I always tell my students that (depending on which figures you use) the Circus Maximus could hold between two and five times as many people as the Colosseum, that it was riots by chariot racing fans that nearly brought down an emperor (Justinian, in AD 532), and that there's a reason Juvenal (Satire 10.81) says panem et circenses, not panem et munera."

Rogueclassicism

Regular features : This Day in Ancient History; Classical Words of the Day. How can you say no to "caducity", "dictatress", "hypnogogic" and "riposte"? Can you get them all into one sentence?

---

An article in New Scientist (I don't have a link) a while ago, on the perception and naming of colours, mentioned that Latin can have different words for gloss and matt colours, e.g. candidus and albus for white, niger and ater for black. As I remember it, anyway.

This is terribly interesting at 05:11 after a sleepless night. I hope you too are enthralled at whatever time of day you chance on this.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

"caducity", "dictatress", "hypnogogic" and "riposte"

Sounds like a challenge - let's see if one hour of high intensity aerobic fat burning exercise can inspire me...

Chertiozhnik said...

Pussnly, I don't think there is any way round or through.

Then again, an hour of mindless lazing... make that twenty-four.

Anonymous said...

Life is but an hypnogogic illusion, its caducity ends inevitably in a meeting with the Dicatress Death to whom there can be no riposte.

Bit dodgy but hanging in there.

Chertiozhnik said...

A going concern, all right... me own is wilting.

But I know, I can't just give up.