Classics Tutor

Aqua Profluens: Roman Waterworks What recent excavations reveal about the everyday Roman's relationship with their environment

The secret to Roman survival wasn't marble—it was the mud. 🏛️➡️🌱 Recent excavations show how local "plot-and-berm" systems empowered communities to manage water as a shared resource. A vital look at how human-scale stewardship can solve modern ecological challenges. #RomanArchaeology #Subsidiarity

The Sacred Commons Restoring Human Dignity and Ecological Stewardship through the Classical Model

The Greeks didn't just write plays; they pioneered ecological governance. 🏛️💧 By treating the landscape as a shared sanctuary—not a commodity—the classical world managed water and forests through local agency and mutual adjustment. Read more in today's issue!

#Classics #Ecology #Governance #History

Pythagoras: From Sardines to Spheres Navigating the Myths of the Enigmatic Mathematician

Was #Pythagoras a mathematical genius or a mystical “knave” who remembered being a sardine and a cucumber in a past life? In this issue of Classics Tutor, explore the enigma of the man who turned numbers into a religion and the cosmos into a musical scale.
#AncientHistory #GreekPhilosophy #Classics

Before the Olympians: The Italic Iuppiter An investigation into the archaic "numen" of Jove and the lithic origins of the Roman Sky Father

Forget the marble statues—did you know the most sacred form of Iuppiter was once a prehistoric piece of flint? ⚡️🏛️

Discover why Rome’s most powerful god was once worshipped as the mountain itself.

#AncientRome #History #Iuppiter #Archaeology

Children of the Wolf and Woodpecker The Ver Sacrum and the Ancient Italic Rituals of Displacement

How do you build a nation from a vow? 🏛️

The ancient Ver Sacrum turned crisis into renewal, sending consecrated youth—the Sacrani—to found new states led by wolves and woodpeckers.

My latest: Mars, Saturn, and the ritual quest for the "Golden Age."

#History #Mythology #Italy

Censorinus the Grammarian Historian and Pioneer in the Harmony of the Spheres

Is your soul tuned to the stars? 🎶✨ In 238 CE, a #Roman scholar named Censorinus wrote a birthday gift that mapped the entire universe. For him, the growth of a human fetus, the intervals of a musical scale, and the orbit of #Saturn were all governed by the same divine ratio. #SacredGeometry

Janus: God of the Portal Patron of Thresholds, Transitions & Passageways

Janus’ position as the bridge between old and new merited him a special feast on the first day of every month (kalends), and especially on the first day of the new year.

#ancientrome #janus #newyear

With two handles for a steady grip!

The Masks of Bacchus Greek Theatre & the Cult of Dionysos

To celebrate Rural Dionysia, which was observed in Attica throughout the month of Poseidon (around the winter solstice), there was a pompe (πομπή), the procession, as well as the recitation of poems, songs, and theatrical plays dedicated to Dionysos.
#ancientgreece #dionysos #dionysus #bacchus

Cow-eyed Hera Goddess of the Cycles of Nature and Preserver of the Essential Nature of All Beings

In this last issue of Classics Tutor for 2025, we delve into the profoundly ancient goddess, #Hera, Queen of the Gods, yes, but also a powerful, independent deity presiding over the cycles of nature.
#GreekMythology #Juno #Homer #Hesiod

Spectral Symposia Fireside Ghost Tales of Ancient Greece

Learn about the winter fireside ghost tales of the #ancient #Greeks, which served not merely for thrills but to reinforce the cultural boundaries between the world of the light and the world of the dark.

The Saturnalia Feast of the Golden Age

17 December was the first of the week-long #Saturnalia, celebrating the golden age of King Saturn. During the festival, slaves were treated as free citizens, and the days and evenings were filled with feasting, drinking wine, gambling, and the giving of gifts.
#Rome #Italy #AncientHistory

The Poet-Prophets of Vatican Hill The Vates in Italic and Roman Culture

The Vates is intimately tied to the concept of frenzy or inspiration that grants access to hidden knowledge. They were prophets who would give their visions in poetic form. Learn more in this edition of Classics Tutor!
#ancientrome #romanreligion #italicculture #classics #rome

The Saturnian Cities of Latium Patrimony of the Golden Age of Saturnus

Five cities in ancient Italy are said to have been founded by the Titan Saturn himself. Learn more about these cities and the mysteries which still enshroud them in today's Classics Tutor!
#lazio #latium #romanmythology #rome #toponymy

That Enigmatic Smile A Quick Look at the Archaic Smile

There are several theories about the so-called “Archaic Smile”, including the proposition that it represents a positive life-force, or a sense of strength, high social rank, contentment, and inner-divinity. Learn more in this issue of #Classics Tutor! #ancienthistory #rome #greece #archaeology

Bona Dea Guarantor of Virtue, Fertility & The Health of the Roman People

The #Roman #goddess Bona Dea (“The Good Goddess”) was an ancient deity whose true name was a closely guarded secret known only to her female initiates. Dec 3 was the feast of her secret rites. Learn more in today's free edition of Classics Tutor!

www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

Ancient Roman Military Officers Had Pet Monkeys, And The Pet Monkeys Had Pet Piglets Some monkeys also had their own puppies and kittens.

Ancient #Roman military officers had pet monkeys, and the pet monkeys had pet piglets!

Fantastic!

Lovely! Are the other seasons preserved so well?

Myths of the Gorgon Interpretations of the Stories of Medusa

There has been much controversy surrounding the meaning of the #Gorgon #myth, which is why I thought it would be useful to look at some basic information regarding its origins and differing messages from one period to another. This article will be released to free subscribers on Wed 3 Dec.

The Cult of Diana, Ancient & Modern Tracing the Cultural Survival of the Divine Huntress

In today’s Classics Tutor we trace Diana’s cult from the ancient Alban Hills of Latium to the ““Good Walkers” of 17th c. Friuli.

#rome #ancienthistory #pagansurvival

Pax Deorum Religious Tolerance in Rome

Maintaining a balance of good will with the gods was a matter of state security and survival for the #Romans. Learn more about their relative religious tolerance in this FREE issue of Classics Tutor!

Pleasing the Gods R.E.S.P.E.C.T., find out what it means to me

It is crucial for #classics students to re-calibrate their way of thinking about the world and the divine. First of all, there was no distinction between earthly things and spiritual things. Everything that we see in the archaic and classical periods is enchanted; every leaf and animal is sacred.

The Mystery Cult of Mithras Mithraism in the Roman Empire

The Roman cult of Mithras wasn't imported from Persia; it was a new mystery religion (1st c. CE) centered on the cosmic act of the Tauroctony (bull-slaying). Spread by Roman soldiers & organized into 7 secret grades, its theology remains a puzzle! #MysteryCult #RomanEmpire #Archaeology

All Roads Lead To Rome The Breakthrough Digital Atlas of the Roman Road Network

A monumental, high-resolution digital map has been recently developed that synthesizes historical, archaeological, and remote sensing data to reconstruct the entire #Roman road network as it existed around 150 CE.

Ancient of Days The Origins of Greek and Italic Gods

Join me as we trace the earliest verifiable origins of #Greek and #Roman deities through layers of epigraphical, artistic, and linguistic evolution.

Coming up on Tues 11 November, for Classics Tutor paid subscribers, a look at the immensely ancient origins of the #Greek and #Italic gods. Image: A #Minoan Linear B tablet from the Knossos archives. It records a jar of wine being offered to DI-WO-NU-SO (Dionysos), dated to 1450-1375 BCE

This black-figure terracotta kantharos-rhyton has a sculpted donkey-head attachment and Dionysian figures around the body of the vessel. In fact, on the rear of the cup Dionysos is shown riding on an ithyphallic mule or donkey, so the head on the cup is Dionysos' own steed. The fun part is that when you grasp the cup by both handles and raise it to your mouth to drink, you look like you’re wearing a donkey mask, providing a great deal of chuckles from your fellow symposiasts. This appears to be the earliest preserved Attic rhyton (a vessel for wine, frequently with animal head pouring spouts), and this rhyton-kantharos as a whole is a rare preserved example of an Athenian plastic vase with black-figure decoration. In design, the donkey's tall, outward-flaring ears are echoed by the kantharos' tall looping strap handles. In order to assemble this vase, the potter cut a hole in the kantharos' bowl and precisely inserted the donkey's head, thereby forming a dual-chambered wine vessel with a large capacity. But the resulting rhyton-kantharos is overweighted toward the donkey's head, which extends down so far that the donkey's lips set the vessel off kilter, and it rests unstably on the kantharos' foot. Greek, Attic, about 520-500 BCE, possibly found in Athens. Black-figure terracotta with some pigments (purple on the Dionysian figures and red inside the donkey's mouth). Height: 21.59 cm (8.50 in.) Diameter: 13.65 cm (5.37 in.) British Museum, London (1876,0328.5)

How often can you say that you've seen a kantharos-rhyton? This cup has a bridled donkey head attachment, usually seen only on rhyta. It mirrors the donkey seen on the reverse of the cup, ridden by Dionysos. When you drank from this vessel, you looked like an ass! 🏺 1/

Greek, 520-500 BCE. 📸 me

Recent Classics Publications A Brief Review of New Classics Resources

To celebrate my 500 subscribers, here is a brief review of the most recent publications of interest in #Classical Studies!

#greece #rome #ancienthistory #philosophy #religion #mythology