Originally posted on naso's song:
On a cold and wet day in November, a group of volunteers from the Classics & Ancient History department at the University of Birmingham and staff from Winterbourne House & Gardens braved the elements to begin work on Ovid’s Garden! We had the muddy task of lifting the turf from the site and…
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Classicising modernity
Last week I was lucky enough to attend a provocative and thoughtful discussion of the relationship between classical Greek tragedy and the development fascism in Italy, Germany, and Greece. The speaker was my wonderful colleague Eleftheria Ioannidou, and the occasion, our fortnightly Classics, Ancient History and Archaeology research seminar (all are welcome!). The full title of the paper … Continue reading
meanders / Rome / Testaccio / topography
Echoes of Garibaldi
As the centenary of Ireland’s Easter 1916 Rising approaches, no doubt with all sorts of moving, surprising, challenging, thought-provoking events encouraging reflexion on a century’s accretion of meaning, as so often, my thoughts return to Rome. I like to think that Rome’s ever-presence in my frame of reference is charming. It certainly draws on my … Continue reading
processing pleasure
I’m still reeling from the beauty of our tiny holiday to Ponza. You know how it goes: you’re sitting in a bar, or maybe a restaurant, with friends. It’s an early summer evening, but that back-note of Rome’s high summer mugginess is already beginning to wisp tendrils round your neck, presaging the hot soupy air … Continue reading
unheimlich
I used to think it was a terrible thing to feel out of place; you know, perhaps, that sense that one is subtly (or totally) out-of-step with the world? That was how I spent much of my childhood; teenage years at school didn’t bring huge respite, despite some lovely class-mates. I still just seemed to … Continue reading
b/w
Making distinctions and observing boundaries are two activities central to my working life. They tend to bleed through, inevitably, to the rare minutes when I believe myself instead to be at liberty. I was struck in various ways, recently, by the near-impossibility of delivering crisp limits in an increasingly greyscale academic/life framework. Three images are … Continue reading
meanders / Rome / topography
Serendip
We traversed the Tiber left to right one day early in July, and meandering down by Porto Fluviale as we began to set our sights on Testaccio and Home, we passed Sonino Camping etc., where last summer we bought cheap and cheerful deckchairs for the roof terrace. From the slow-flowing, golden (after a downpour) Tiber, … Continue reading
