Ray Laurence

Tampere - Finland!

The titlepage (Donkeys, mules and camels)

@raylaurence1.bsky.social giving a talk at Stockholm. How does a multi-species mobility look like? #AncientBluesky ⚱️🦋

The title page

@raylaurence1.bsky.social today from Tampere on age #AncientBluesky ⚱️🦋

Bleak winter!

Friday 6th June: Age, Aging and Ancestors in Ancient and Medieval Societies | Trivium | Tampere Universities Trivium – Tampere Centre for Classical, Medieval, and Early Modern Studies is organizing a one-day symposium on Age, Aging and Ancestors in Ancient and Medieval Societies.

Age in antiquity workshop next week!

research.tuni.fi/trivium/frid...

Thomas Ashby Abroad: A Photographic Record of the 1914 Journey - a new virtual exhibition on the BSR website - bsr.ac.uk Discover the new virtual exhibition “Thomas Ashby and the other side of the world” on our digital platform: https://virtualexhibitions.bsr.ac.uk/omeka-s/s/thomas-ashby-and-the-other-side-of-the-world/...

bsr.ac.uk/thomas-ashby...

Wonderful work being done on Thomas Ashby and the Roman roads of Italy by Macquarie graduates @janetwade.bsky.social and @nic33.bsky.social using the photo archive of @bsrome.bsky.social.
@raylaurence1.bsky.social @emlynkd.bsky.social @resaustrales.bsky.social @awaws.org
bsr.ac.uk/thomas-ashby...

Roads!

Next week in Stockholm!!

Screenshot from the blog post: "Our work is a response to the wave of political science scholarship which appeared after Donald Trump's first election to the US Presidency in 2016, which dealt with the broad concept of "democratic decay" I As historians of Rome, we read that scholarship and saw a lot in it that looked like the Late Roman Republic and the early Augustan monarchy (conventionally dated to 133 BCE - 14 CE): terms like constitutional rot, autocratic legalism, and democratic breakdown are all easily applicable to Rome. Of course, it's not new to compare modern democracies to Rome, especially the United States of America. One problem is that these comparisons are often pretty superficial, and we didn't want to do that: nothing in this book is as 'clickbaity' as "This Is Why Bernie Sanders Is Like The Gracchi", Or "How Donald Trump is Like Sulla, Julius Caesar, and Augustus". There is an understandable scholarly scepticism about comparing the Roman political system to modern systems: are they not just too different? But, as we editors argue in the first chapter ("New Perspectives on Old Problems/Old Perspectives on New Problems"), comparisons can be made responsibly-if due care is taken. If we are interested in the struggle for power among institutions (and this is what contemporary democratic decay scholarship is largely about), then Rome was a suitably complex institutional environment. More complex than many modern..."

We have a blog post up on our new Open Access book "How Republics Die: creeping authoritarianism in ancient Rome and beyond". Find the post here: doi.org/10.58079/13xuq and the book itself (with all the chapters in downloadable PDF) here: www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi...

Guvk that?

True ✅

Today is World Autism Awareness Day, in Autism Awareness Week, which is in Autism Awareness Month. Spare a thought today for all the autistic people who really hate April!
But in the spirit of awareness... I've been quiet on social media lately because I've been working on a Big Autism Project...

This inspires a new approach to the 20 minute academic conference paper!

@ascs in Auckland early 2026!

I may be tired and a little hoarse, but as I said again and again on the Senate floor, this is a moment where we cannot afford to be silent, when we must speak up.

Holding an imaginary smthg - he is a total turd!

I am certain US tourism industry is now totally in free fall!

Pedro Pascal plays General Acacius and Paul Mescal plays Lucius in Gladiator II. In this photo from Paramount Pictures Acacius has charged Lucius in the arena and appears to tackle him as part of their encounter.

🌟Early Release - Gladiator II with Alexandra Sills 🌟

We consider the highs and lows of Gladiator II with @belovedofoizys.bsky.social, whose research focuses on the representation of gladiators. This fantastic interview is out now for our wonderful patreons 🥳

www.patreon.com/posts/122599...

People are taking things into their own hands

We will not be distracted.
We will not be discouraged.
We’ve got our eyes on the prize.

And we will build the prosperous, free nation for all that we deserve.

The time to organize is now.

OcasioCortez.com

The Atlantic has now published the Signal texts with attack plans in response to administration denials.

I worked at the Pentagon.

If information like this is not classified, nothing is.

If Hegseth is claiming he declassified this information, he should be shown the door for having done so.

The lying and the staggering incompetence around this is astounding. And dangerous.

Another savings plan at Macquarie U Management at Macquarie University warns academics the times are changing and so must the way they work - and yes redundancies are mentioned.

So, we reach end of week 4 of the academic year and are given an inkling of what Macquarie Uni is about to inflict on its employees.

futurecampus.com.au/2025/03/20/a...

French scientist denied US entry after phone messages critical of Trump found France’s research minister said the scientist was traveling to Houston for a conference when his phone was searched

US is now a fascist totalitarian country?
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

At a glance, it looks like about 75% of my published work, everything from recent publications and a monograph to some obscure academic reviews from 25 years ago.

I might not even hate the "fair use" of this material, to be honest. But helping to line the pockets of Mark Zuckerberg??

HELL NO.

Comic showing Marge Simpson and it says "beware the eyes of marge"

We all know what day it is...

very proud to have been involved in the development of this report, for which I also wrote the afterword, being launched by the All Party Parliamentary Group in London today
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/m...

Books pictures of

Just published -his fine book - 13th in the series Studies in Roman Space and Urbanism

An lead figurine of a camel carrying a load on its back, displayed against a beige fabric background. The camel is depicted in motion, with its legs bent and extended, and has a long, curved neck with a slightly raised head. The load on the camel’s back is rectangular with a cylindrical object on top, possibly representing a pack or rolled goods.

A toxic toy? A #Roman lead figure of a #camel, presumably a kid's toy (height 5.08cm, length 7.62cm).
Dating probably 1st century AD,  from Lower #Egypt.

On display at the British Museum

📷 me
🏺 AncientBluesky #archaeology