The Partial Historians 🏺

Oooo beautiful!

Thank you! It’s such an arresting painting ☺️

Description from the Tate: “The woman in this picture appears to be a witch or priestess, endowed with magic powers, possibly the power of prophecy. Her dress and general appearance is highly eclectic, and is derived from several sources – her hairstyle is like that of an early Anglo-Saxon; and her dress is decorated with Persian or Greek warriors. In her left hand she holds a crescent-shaped sickle, linking her with the moon and Hecate. With the wand in her right hand she draws a protective magic circle round her. Outside the circle the landscape is bare and barren; a group of rooks or ravens and a frog - all symbols of evil and associated with witchcraft - are excluded. But within its confines are flowers and the woman herself, objects of beauty.”

‘The Magic Circle’ 1886 by John William Waterhouse is our pick for φαρμακίς ‘witch, sorceress’ #ClassicsTober25

This painting captures the power and potential of harnessing a knowledge of nature to achieve certain ends. Could this be Medea, Circe or yet another powerful ancient figure? #Witch

Mosaic depicts five warriors. The left-most figure appears to be able to throw a javelin with his shield raised in his other hand. He is seemingly watched by three others who stand ready but not about to throw anything. A fifth figure can be seen about to take action though the nature of the action is not clear.

Hector for #MosaicMonday?

Very little is known about this mosaic including the provenance, but the Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna offers a tentative date of C1st–C2nd CE and the tantalising hint that this may be part of a Trojan War cycle depicting Hector.

#AncientRome #AncientGreece #TrojanWar

A plaster statue of a Greek figure labelled as Hermes with slices taken out of it on both sides of the face.

Hermes Psychopompos for #ClassicsTober25

This plaster sculpture entitled ‘Hermes Psychopomp’ by Dervis Yusuf Akdemir combines a Greek classical style portrait head with cut out sections. Does it really feel like you should trust this guy with your journey to the underworld?? Not sure we would!

Obviously a novel pitch set for success 😅

Description adapted from The Met: “Placed over the supine mummy the naturalistic painted bust would lie over the face, and the panels of gods would have been draped along its sides. The woman’s rosy face and large eyes are striking. A long bone or ivory pin holds coils of her hair in place on top of her head, and she holds a small wreath in one hand. Over her abdomen Isis and Nephthys mourn, and over her lower body are placed the long strands of the late protective ornament as well as a net garment. Columns on either side of her head are invocations to the god Osiris, but her name is lost. The side panels are paired, showing the goddesses Isis and Nephthys as red kites (a bird related to the hawk); the four mummy-shaped “sons of Horus” associated with the bodily integrity; jackals associated with transit and cemetery; the Thoth-ibis and the Horus-falcon; and at the bottom scenes of the dead woman led by Horus and alternatively Anubis into the afterlife.“

A woman’s linen shroud from Roman Period Egypt is our pick today for #ClassicsTober25.

The artistry is phenomenal. The woman is surrounded by uraeus-cobras and the goddesses Isis and Nephthys depicted as red kites. At the bottom we see the woman led by Horus and Anubis into the afterlife.

We really don’t! The restoration is highly speculative

Fresco in creams, yellows, and blues showcasing flowers - likely papyrus - potential bird life and monkeys. Most of the fresco is small fragments with large sections of hypothetical restoration.

It’s time to celebrate #FrescoFriday with a little bit of monkeying around 🐵

We travel back in time to Knossos. Dating to c. 1580–30 BCE this fresco panel is largely fragmentary. Flowers and nature seem to be abundant but the exact composition of the scene remains elusive.

#AncientHistory

That’s the dream!

Dr Rad and Dr G both looking at the camera smiling.

Dr Rad looks wistfully into the middle distance twirling her hair while Dr G smiles somewhat half-heartedly.

Dr Rad looks whimsically into the middle distance while Dr G pulls a face that probably doesn’t deserve to be in a photo.

What do you mean most of your photos together are outtakes?

This is what we mean! For every photo where we’re both looking at the camera there’s at least two (or more!) where something drastic has been caught on camera. At least we know our Roman history 😅

#RomanRepublic #RomanEmpire #Podcasting

Description from the BM: “Bronze head from a statue of Hypnos. Wings are shown sprouting from his temples, and his hair is arranged into a series of locks, some falling freely, others tied in a knot at the back of the head. Museum number: 1868,0606.9. © The Trustees of the British Museum.“

😴Hypnos, the personification of sleep💤

We’re celebrating all the delights of restful slumber with this beautiful bronze head of Hypnos (not sure about where the rest of the body may be!).

#ReliefWednesday #ClassicsTober25 #AncientGreece

Hypnos’ has a twin brother Thanatos and both these likely characters were thought to be the sons of Nyx (Night) and to live in the underworld with Hades!

Description from the BM: “Bronze head from a statue of Hypnos. Wings are shown sprouting from his temples, and his hair is arranged into a series of locks, some falling freely, others tied in a knot at the back of the head. Museum number: 1868,0606.9. © The Trustees of the British Museum.“

😴Hypnos, the personification of sleep💤

We’re celebrating all the delights of restful slumber with this beautiful bronze head of Hypnos (not sure about where the rest of the body may be!).

#ReliefWednesday #ClassicsTober25 #AncientGreece

This stunning mosaic depicts life on the water with ducks, river flora, and of course, this cheeky frog. This mosaic panel can be found today in the MAN Napoli.

🪷Lily pad frog 🪷

This #MosaicMonday we’re enjoying the sparky cuteness of this little frog enjoying their lily pad amongst the water birds in this Nilotic scene.

#AncientRome

This stunning mosaic depicts life on the water with ducks, river flora, and of course, this cheeky frog. This mosaic panel can be found today in the MAN Napoli.

🪷Lily pad frog 🪷

This #MosaicMonday we’re enjoying the sparky cuteness of this little frog enjoying their lily pad amongst the water birds in this Nilotic scene.

#AncientRome

Resist the urge! But not too much 🤣

a purple background with the words live now in pink Alt: GIF with purple background with the words ‘live now’ in pink

Catch Dr G over on the livestream event celebrating International Podcast Day with the Memory Collective! She’ll be online from AEST 10:30am until about 1pm 🥳

www.youtube.com/live/0VN_BKq...

Ah!! It is one of a few villas at Boscoreale. A lot of amazing frescoes from these villas ended by at The Met as well

Where in the villa or where in the museum? The piece is part of the MAN Napoli

🤣🤣🤣 They certainly are!

The fresco combines architectural details like columns on pedestals elaborate framing of doors and glimpses of fabric awnings for shade outside. The colours include reds, blues, and yellows. The fresco is held by the MAN Napoli.

This #FrescoFriday we travel to the villa of Publius Fannius Synistor to enjoy the complex and engaging architectural fresco complete with theatrical masks!

The use of colour, perspective, and drama all come together to create a brilliant and arresting whole.

#AncientRome

If only - the tale is almost as comical though!

Our commitment to staying in the weeds is our strength 💪

Episode 165 - Surf the Celtic Wave - The Partial Historians - Ancient Roman History with smart ladies In 391 BCE, there are signs that disaster lurks on the horizon for the Romans in the shape of the Gauls or Celts. Will they act in time?

✨Brand New Episode - Surf the Celtic Wave✨

The Romans were truly unprepared it seems for the influx of Gauls into northern Italy and their misjudgement of the situation is about to get VERY messy 😬 Tune in for all the chaotic details!

#AncientRome #Podcast

partialhistorians.com/2025/09/25/e...

The balance of that central pomegranate is something else!

Why thank you and a happy Autumn to you!

It does appear to be a delicate balancing act 😅

Dr Rad jumps back in surprise while wearing an ancient Roman style helmet. Dr G advances holding two replica swords from The Lord of the Rings.

Brace yourself! We’ve got a brand new episode coming out later this week. What are those Romans up to now? Well, in the fractured landscape of the middle Republic, just about anything is possible. We recommend donning your armour and picking up the closest swords for all the loin girding to come 😅

Ahhh and also for us in the southern hemisphere as spring really kicks in ☺️