Author Archives: Peter Kruschwitz

About Peter Kruschwitz

Berliner. Classicist. Scatterbrain.

In memoriam Dr Hans Krummrey (1930-2018)

Posted on January 22, 2018 by Peter Kruschwitz

A few days ago, I received the sad news that Dr Hans Krummrey, one-time director of the Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum in Berlin, had passed away. It would be inappropriate for me to attempt a full obituary – there are others … Continue reading →

Posted in Carmina Epigraphica, Poetry | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Once a thief…?

Posted on November 29, 2017 by Peter Kruschwitz

I have been looking at the Latin inscriptions of Silchester recently, and in that context I came across a very remarkable item: the so-called Vyne ring: The Vyne ring, around a seal depicting (and naming) the goddess Venus, bears a … Continue reading →

Posted in Epigraphy | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Black and White

Posted on October 19, 2017 by Peter Kruschwitz

It has been a long time since I last posted on here – the reason is simple: I’m frantically trying to finish a book about the Latin verse inscriptions of Rome’s poor and marginalised. I hope to have everything done … Continue reading →

Posted in Prose | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Black and White

A postscript to Reverend Grainger of St Giles

Posted on June 1, 2017 by Peter Kruschwitz

How lovely to see my work used in this fascinating context!

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on A postscript to Reverend Grainger of St Giles

#beggarsbelief

Posted on May 8, 2017 by Peter Kruschwitz

I have not been very good at updating my blog recently – between marking, my admin roles, and my desire to finish my next monograph (more about that anon!), there simply has not been a lot of spare time. Will … Continue reading →

Posted in History of Reading | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on #beggarsbelief

Love, death, and blissful ignorance: Pliny and the origins of photography

Posted on April 23, 2017 by Peter Kruschwitz

Pliny the Elder, ancient Rome’s great encyclopedist, did not, of course, describe the origins of modern photography – a technique and art that was greatly advanced in Reading, Berkshire, by William Henry Fox Talbot (as described in this wonderful book). … Continue reading →

Posted in History of Reading, Prose | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Love, death, and blissful ignorance: Pliny and the origins of photography

Bokelmann’s shade

Posted on April 13, 2017 by Peter Kruschwitz

I am in North Frisia right now, spending a few days by the North Sea shore with my son. I fell in love with this primordial landscape when I was a child myself (rather longer ago than I care to … Continue reading →

Posted in Epigraphy, Poetry | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

No graffiti please!

Posted on April 5, 2017 by Peter Kruschwitz

Yesterday news broke about houses that were defaced with graffiti (or, strictly speaking, dipinti – after all, the text was painted onto, not scratched into, the surface) in Cambridge – in Latin: Locus in domos … loci populum is a … Continue reading →

Posted in Epigraphy, Prose | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Blast from the past

Posted on February 24, 2017 by Peter Kruschwitz

The Roman fabulist Phaedrus opens the third book of his Fabulae with the following piece (Phaedr. 3.1, my translation): Anus ad amphoram Anus iacere vidit epotam amphoram, adhuc Falerna faece ex testa nobili odorem quae iucundum late spargeret. hunc postquam … Continue reading →

Posted in Poetry | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Valentine’s Valour

Posted on February 14, 2017 by Peter Kruschwitz

As the world once again celebrates undying love, chocolate, and flowers, it may be of interest to recall the story of Saint Valentine himself for a change. In his Legenda Aurea (‘Golden Legend’ – legend not as in ‘he’s a … Continue reading →

Posted in Prose | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment