Category Archives: Prose

The solidarity of the precariously employed

Posted on February 27, 2018 by Peter Kruschwitz

A papyrus from the Hermopolite nome in Egypt, dated to A. D. 117, written by a lady called Eudaimonis to her daughter Aline addresses a wide range of family matters, including some current worries over the family business (P. Brem. … Continue reading →

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Strike, Legal Action, and Delusion

Posted on February 26, 2018 by Peter Kruschwitz

Many stories about walk-outs and strikes in the Roman Empire originate from its Eastern provinces. A particularly noteworthy event in this context is the strike of the bakers’ guild in Ephesus in the second half of the second century A. … Continue reading →

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United we stand, divided we fall

Posted on February 23, 2018 by Peter Kruschwitz

A Latin inscription from Beirut, dating to the third century A. D., records a conflict between shipowners from Arelate (Arles) in Gaul and the Roman government: [- – – I]ulianus naviculariis / [mar]inis Arelatensibus quinque / [co]rporum salutem / [qu]id … Continue reading →

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On strike!

Posted on February 22, 2018 by Peter Kruschwitz

Tibicines, professional flute-players, held an awkward position within the society of Republican Rome. On the one hand, they were admired for their skills and regarded as quintessential for maintaining the sacred order of the state. Unsurprisingly, due to their quintessential … Continue reading →

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Escape Routes

Posted on January 25, 2018 by Peter Kruschwitz

Probably in A. D. 474, Gaius Sollius Modestus Sidonius Apollinaris, more commonly known just as Sidonius Apollinaris, a Gallo-Roman aristocrat, Bishop of Clermont (eventually canonised), as well as an acclaimed poet, wrote a letter to one Magnus Felix, a former … Continue reading →

Posted in History of Reading, Prose | Tagged , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

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 →

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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 →

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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 →

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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 →

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Drama queens: Ummidia and Messalina acting it out

Posted on February 11, 2017 by Peter Kruschwitz

Yesterday I had the immense pleasure to present – again – at the JACT GCSE Latin and Greek Conference at Westminster School London. My talk covered two set texts for the GCSE Latin – Pliny’s letter 7.24 (on Ummidia Quadratilla) … Continue reading →

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