Author Archives: Peter Kruschwitz

About Peter Kruschwitz

Berliner. Classicist. Scatterbrain.

Epigraphy CIS – Cause of Death: (illegible scrawl)

Posted on April 26, 2014 by Peter Kruschwitz

Latin inscriptions are fascinating. Like personal letters of the same time, they allow unique glimpses into the ancient world and the fate of individuals – if, in the case of tombstones, usually through the prism of the perception of those … Continue reading →

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Two Easter Tales

Posted on April 14, 2014 by Peter Kruschwitz

Easter tends to be a most cheerful holiday for Christians – and Not-Quite-So-Christians – all over the world, an occasion on which public life is suspended: celebrated in early spring, when nature finally resumes its life and the sun starts … Continue reading →

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Why Learn a Foreign Language?

Posted on April 12, 2014 by Peter Kruschwitz

The following considerations were part of a paper presented at a British Academy Early Careers Regional Event: ‘Linguistic Diversity and Cultural Identities in Europe: Oral Voices and Literary Languages (Eurotales: an Exhibiting and Museographical Experiment)’ on 11 April 2014 in … Continue reading →

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Misappropriation and Misapprehension: Vergil on 9/11

Posted on April 4, 2014 by Peter Kruschwitz

Memorials are difficult: what do we wish to remember, and how, and why? This becomes all the more apparent, the more prominent and the more emotive a monument is in its context. Recently, there has been some (renewed) debate over … Continue reading →

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Waxing Poetic: Bees and Death (and Bee Death)

Posted on April 2, 2014 by Peter Kruschwitz

The issue, and in fact the very idea, of bee death and colony collapses – a constant feature of the news for a number of years now – is deeply worrying and unsettling: how will we all survive, if the … Continue reading →

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Discussing Cicero, Against Verres II 1.53 ff. (for A-level students)

Posted on March 26, 2014 by Peter Kruschwitz

Reading’s Department of Classics was delighted to host the 2014 Ancient World Study Day on March 26th. On this occasion, I was invited to offer a talk on Cicero’s speech In Verrem 2.1.53 ff., the OCR set text for 2014, … Continue reading →

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The cold grave that is the deep, deep sea

Posted on March 23, 2014 by Peter Kruschwitz

There still is no (confirmed) trace of Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370. The last few days, however, saw a number of reports that focused on (potential) debris in the Indian Ocean, and the continuous silence of flight systems and crew, passengers, … Continue reading →

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Disappearing into thin air

Posted on March 18, 2014 by Peter Kruschwitz

The mysterious story of Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370 is likely to fill news media for the foreseeable future: how can a Boeing 777 disappear into thin air? What happened to its passengers? Who was (or is) involved in this? The … Continue reading →

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Pliny on Regulus: ‘Will two stories serve you, or must you have a third, according to the canon of the schools?’

Posted on March 14, 2014 by Peter Kruschwitz

The following text was presented at the JACT GCSE Latin and Greek Conference at Westminster School London on 14 March 2014. I am immensely grateful to Ms Katharine Radice for the invitation to this event. I. Pliny did not like … Continue reading →

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Sorting Out Pompeii

Posted on March 6, 2014 by Peter Kruschwitz

Reports on the crumbling state of the Campanian excavation site of Pompeii – incidentally a UNESCO heritage site as well– come up every few months: they tend to point out that, following a period of bad weather, some structure collapsed … Continue reading →

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