@doccrom.bsky.social
Classicist, archaeologist, sci-fi and horror nerd and, most importantly, ginger. Oh, and... "Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn". #EdgyPedlar #AncientStuff
Close-up of the decorative detail of a Red-Figure kalpis, showing a dapper wee owl staring out at the viewer with wide eyes.
As it's #SuperbOwlSunday - let's enjoy this lovely Red-Figure Kalpis, attributed to the 'Group of the Floral Nolans' at Athens, ca. 480-470 BC.
Truly, a Superb Owl. ๐
Image: J. Paul Getty Collection (86. AE.229). Link - getty.edu/art/collecti...
#OnThisDay - 8 February - in AD 421, Constantius III was proclaimed co-Emperor in the West by Honorius, whom he had served as 'Magister Militum'. Constantius would die seven months later. #History ๐บ
Image: RIC X Honorius 1339; Mรผnzkabinett Wien (Rร 38758). Link - numismatics.org/ocre/id/ric....
If youโre concerned about the planned reduction of Latin at Austrian schools, please consider signing this petition addressed to Bundesminister Wiederkehr: Latein & Altgriechisch sind keine โtoten Sprachenโ:
mein.aufstehn.at/petitions/la...
Close-up of the decorative detail of a Red-Figure kalpis, showing a dapper wee owl staring out at the viewer with wide eyes.
As it's #SuperbOwlSunday - let's enjoy this lovely Red-Figure Kalpis, attributed to the 'Group of the Floral Nolans' at Athens, ca. 480-470 BC.
Truly, a Superb Owl. ๐
Image: J. Paul Getty Collection (86. AE.229). Link - getty.edu/art/collecti...
#OnThisDay - 8 February - in AD 421, Constantius III was proclaimed co-Emperor in the West by Honorius, whom he had served as 'Magister Militum'. Constantius would die seven months later. #History ๐บ
Image: RIC X Honorius 1339; Mรผnzkabinett Wien (Rร 38758). Link - numismatics.org/ocre/id/ric....
Obverse of a Roman aureus: Head of Augustus, laureate, right. Legend: CAESAR AVGVSTVS DIVI F PATER PATRIAE
#OnThisDay - 5 February - in 2 BC the Roman Senate decreed a public holiday to celebrate Augustus taking the title of 'Pater Patriae' - 'Father of the Fatherland'. The title was the culmination of his imperial identity. #History ๐บ
Image: RIC Augustus 206. Link - numismatics.org/ocre/id/ric....
#OnThisDay - 5 February - in AD 62, the town of Pompeii was severely damaged by an earthquake. The event is commemorated in a frieze decorating the altar in the lararium of the House of Caecilius Iucundus (V.1.26). #Pompeii #Archaeology ๐บ
05.02.2026 15:15 โ ๐ 35 ๐ 5 ๐ฌ 0 ๐ 0
Obverse of a Roman aureus: Head of Augustus, laureate, right. Legend: CAESAR AVGVSTVS DIVI F PATER PATRIAE
#OnThisDay - 5 February - in 2 BC the Roman Senate decreed a public holiday to celebrate Augustus taking the title of 'Pater Patriae' - 'Father of the Fatherland'. The title was the culmination of his imperial identity. #History ๐บ
Image: RIC Augustus 206. Link - numismatics.org/ocre/id/ric....
#OnThisDay - 5 February - in AD 62, the town of Pompeii was severely damaged by an earthquake. The event is commemorated in a frieze decorating the altar in the lararium of the House of Caecilius Iucundus (V.1.26). #Pompeii #Archaeology ๐บ
05.02.2026 15:15 โ ๐ 35 ๐ 5 ๐ฌ 0 ๐ 0
#OnThisDay - 4 February - in AD 211 Septimius Severus died at York. His advice to his sons Geta and Caracalla: โBe harmonious, enrich the soldiers, scorn all other menโ (Dio 77.15.3). #History ๐บ
Image: RIC IV Sept.Sev. 255; Mรผnzkabinett Berlin (18278266). Link - numismatics.org/ocre/id/ric....
A Roman wooden writing tablet, in thirteen fragments.
#OnThisDay - 1 February - Oppius Niger, the officer in command at Bremetennacum (Ribchester), writes to his brother officer, Priscinus, at Vindolanda. #AncientHistory ๐บ
Image: British Museum (1980,0303.28). Link - britishmuseum.org/collection/o...
Obverse of a Roman dupondius: Head of Augustus, radiate, left.
Reverse of a Roman dupondius: Livia, draped, wearing a wreath of corn-ears, seated left on an ornamented throne, holding corn-ears in right hand and long torch in left.
#OnThisDay - 30 January - in 58 BC Livia Drusilla was born. Wife of Augustus and mother of Tiberius, she was an astute politician and "more than a match for her husband's wiles" (Tacitus, Annals 5.1). #AncientHistory ๐บ
Image: RIC Claudius 101; ANS 1978.27.5. Link - numismatics.org/ocre/id/ric....
#OnThisDay - 30 January - in 9 BC the Senate declared a public holiday to celebrate the dedication of the Ara Pacis Augustae - 'The Altar of Augustan Peace'. The Altar had been decreed by the Senate on 4 July 13 BC in celebration of Augustus' return from Spain and Gaul. #AncientHistory ๐บ
30.01.2026 10:24 โ ๐ 60 ๐ 12 ๐ฌ 1 ๐ 0
Obverse of a Roman dupondius: Head of Augustus, radiate, left.
Reverse of a Roman dupondius: Livia, draped, wearing a wreath of corn-ears, seated left on an ornamented throne, holding corn-ears in right hand and long torch in left.
#OnThisDay - 30 January - in 58 BC Livia Drusilla was born. Wife of Augustus and mother of Tiberius, she was an astute politician and "more than a match for her husband's wiles" (Tacitus, Annals 5.1). #AncientHistory ๐บ
Image: RIC Claudius 101; ANS 1978.27.5. Link - numismatics.org/ocre/id/ric....
#OnThisDay - 30 January - in 9 BC the Senate declared a public holiday to celebrate the dedication of the Ara Pacis Augustae - 'The Altar of Augustan Peace'. The Altar had been decreed by the Senate on 4 July 13 BC in celebration of Augustus' return from Spain and Gaul. #AncientHistory ๐บ
30.01.2026 10:24 โ ๐ 60 ๐ 12 ๐ฌ 1 ๐ 0
ClassicsBluesky ๐งต๐บ
#LatinForTheDay โ 28 January #Horace
โtu ne quaesieris, scire nefas, quem mihi, quem tibi
finem di dederint, Leuconoe, nec Babylonios
temptaris numeros. ut melius, quidquid erit, pati,
seu pluris hiemes seu tribuit Iuppiter ultimam,...
#ReliefWednesday - A rather fabulous polychrome relief of a 'secutor' type gladiator, with wonderful colour survival: ca. 2nd Century AD. Its excavation context was only rediscovered in 2017. #Art #Gladiator ๐บ
Image: Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki (MTH 28158). Link - amth.gr/en/exhibitio...
The Image at the head of this thread is 'Time orders Old Age to destroy Beauty' by Pompeo Girolamo Batoni, 1746 (The National Gallery: NG6316).
Link - nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/po...
#LatinForTheDay #Horace ๐งต๐บ
Recent events have made me revisit this famous verse by Horace... somehow there's always a bit of Latin that fits my mood.
28.01.2026 09:39 โ ๐ 12 ๐ 1 ๐ฌ 1 ๐ 0'Or if this is to be our last, the one which even now
Grinds the Tyrrhenian Sea against the cliffs.
If you're wise, dole out wine, and turn high hope into
Something simpler. Even now, hateful time slips away as we prattle.
Seize the day: trust in tomorrow as little as possible.'
'Do not ask what fate the gods have given to us,
To you and to me - It's not right we know, Leuconoe.
Don't go meddling with Babylonian horoscopes.
How much better to just endure it, whatever IT might be.
Whether Jupiter has granted us more winters,...
"quae nunc oppositis debilitat pumicibus mare
Tyrrhenum! sapias, vina liques, et spatio brevi
spem longam reseces. dum loquimur, fugerit invida
aetas: carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero.โ
Horace, Odes 1.11
ClassicsBluesky ๐งต๐บ
#LatinForTheDay โ 28 January #Horace
โtu ne quaesieris, scire nefas, quem mihi, quem tibi
finem di dederint, Leuconoe, nec Babylonios
temptaris numeros. ut melius, quidquid erit, pati,
seu pluris hiemes seu tribuit Iuppiter ultimam,...
Obverse of a Roman aureus: Bust of Trajan, laureate, right.
Reverse of a Roman aureus: Senator standing right, left, holding sceptre and sacrificing over altar, facing Genius, standing left, right, holding cornucopiae.
#OnThisDay - 27 January - in AD 98 Marcus Ulpius Traianus (Trajan) succeeded Nerva as Roman Emperor. His reign was marked by extensive military campaigning; he also adopted the title 'Optimus' - 'The Best'! #History ๐บ
Image: RIC II Trajan 372; BnF (IMP-3401). Link - numismatics.org/ocre/id/ric....
The standing remains of a Roman temple: three Cornithian columns with a remnant of entablature. The overall impression is that of a set of cricket stumps and bails.
#OnThisDay - 27 January - in AD 6, Tiberius re-dedicated the rebuilt Temple of Castor and Pollux, linking it to him and his brother Drusus. The original - dedicated 15 July in 484 BC - had been damaged by fire. #Rome #AncientHistory ๐บ
Image: ๐ธ Allan T. Kohl. Link - jstor.org/stable/commu...
#OnThisDay - 25 January - in AD 41, after the Senate "were reduced to incompetence" (Josephus, JA 19.254), Claudius was confirmed as emperor of Rome, placed in the position by the Praetorians. #AncientHistory ๐บ
Image: RIC Claudius 7; British Museum (R.6481). Link - numismatics.org/ocre/id/ric....
#OnThisDay - 25 January - in AD 41, after the Senate "were reduced to incompetence" (Josephus, JA 19.254), Claudius was confirmed as emperor of Rome, placed in the position by the Praetorians. #AncientHistory ๐บ
Image: RIC Claudius 7; British Museum (R.6481). Link - numismatics.org/ocre/id/ric....
Obverse of a Roman aureus: Head of Caligula, bare, right.
Reverse of a Roman aureus: Head of Augustus, radiate, right; in field, left and right, a star.
#OnThisDay - 24 January - in AD 41 the third Roman Emperor Gaius, better known by his nickname Caligula, was assassinated by a conspiracy headed by the military tribune Cassius Chaerea. #AncientHistory ๐บ
Image: RIC 1 Gaius 1; Mรผnzkabinett Wien (Rร 5199). Link - numismatics.org/ocre/id/ric....
Obverse of a Roman aureus: Bust of Hadrian, laureate, cuirassed, right, viewed from front.
Reverse of a Roman aureus: Trajan standing right, Hadrian standing left, both clasping hands.
#OnThisDay - 24 January - in AD 76 Publius Aelius Hadrianus was born. Nominated as his successor by Trajan on his deathbed, Hadrian would reign as Roman Emperor AD 117-138. #AncientHistory ๐บ
Image: RIC 2.3 Hadrian 7; BnF (IMP-2). Link - numismatics.org/ocre/id/ric....
Obverse of a Roman aureus: Head of Caligula, bare, right.
Reverse of a Roman aureus: Head of Augustus, radiate, right; in field, left and right, a star.
#OnThisDay - 24 January - in AD 41 the third Roman Emperor Gaius, better known by his nickname Caligula, was assassinated by a conspiracy headed by the military tribune Cassius Chaerea. #AncientHistory ๐บ
Image: RIC 1 Gaius 1; Mรผnzkabinett Wien (Rร 5199). Link - numismatics.org/ocre/id/ric....
