Category Archives: Prose

Reading’s Latin Inscriptions

Posted on September 5, 2015 by Peter Kruschwitz

May I be forgiven some shameless self-advertising? My latest book has just been published by Reading’s wonderful Two Rivers Press! The book contains an anthology of 48 Latin inscriptions that are on display in Berkshire’s county town of Reading (as … Continue reading →

Posted in Carmina Epigraphica, Education, Epigraphy, History of Reading, Poetry, Prose | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Displaced Human Beings: Seneca, the Refugee Crisis, and Human Migration

Posted on August 25, 2015 by Peter Kruschwitz

In A. D. 41, long before he became one of Rome’s most powerful political figures, the Roman politician, Stoic philosopher, and writer Lucius Annaeus Seneca got to experience first hand what hundreds of thousands of people are enduring at the … Continue reading →

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God(s) Help Us All!

Posted on August 21, 2015 by Peter Kruschwitz

The last few days I spent in the Taunus mountain range in Hesse, Germany, exploring Roman remains with my son, who, as my loyal readers may remember, is interested in everything Roman (as well as everything else). Among the most … Continue reading →

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Four-legged snake 1 – Latin 0

Posted on July 24, 2015 by Peter Kruschwitz

News just broke about a sensational discovery: a four-legged ancestral snake. Truly fascinating stuff. Its name? Tetrapodophis amplectus, apparently. τέτταρες (tettares) ~ “4”. πούς (pous) ~ “foot”. ὄφις (ophis) ~ “snake”. But … what exactly is amplectus supposed to mean? … Continue reading →

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Every Dog Has His Day

Posted on June 20, 2015 by Peter Kruschwitz

I am a hypocrite. I enjoy eating meat, even though I know about the way it is ‘produced’ (a sterile, technical term, to disguise the suffering and killing of animals, which have been bred under horrendous conditions, drugged, and tortured … Continue reading →

Posted in Carmina Epigraphica, Epigraphy, Poetry, Prose | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

The New Inscription from Cirencester: A Few Thoughts

Posted on February 27, 2015 by Peter Kruschwitz

A couple of days ago, the discovery and excavation of a Roman tombstone at Cirencester (Gloucestershire) – largely undamaged and still in its original setting (in situ, as the professionals say) – has been publicised in no unspectacular terms. The … Continue reading →

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Immerging into a Layered Past

Posted on January 21, 2015 by Peter Kruschwitz

The number of texts that have survived from Graeco-Roman antiquity is finite, but impossible to quantify: an unknown number of texts are still hiding somewhere, and thus every day on which a new text – or part thereof – becomes … Continue reading →

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Killing Jokes and Suicide Jests

Posted on January 8, 2015 by Peter Kruschwitz

There are two essential rules for anyone who wants to crack a joke: timing, timing, timing – and be mindful of your audience. Aelius Lamia, who had his first wife, Domitia Longina, pinched by Domitian, had to learn that lesson … Continue reading →

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CIL VI 12194 (Re-)Discovered in the Villa Wolkonsky

Posted on December 11, 2014 by Peter Kruschwitz

This week saw the opening of an archaeological exhibition in the Villa Wolkonsky, home of the British ambassador to Italy in Rome. News reports covered the (re-)emergence of hundreds of marble artefacts in the wake of the ambassador’s wife’s efforts … Continue reading →

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Better Together?

Posted on September 16, 2014 by Peter Kruschwitz

Day after tomorrow, the inhabitants of Scotland get to have their say in a referendum as to whether or not they wish Scotland to become an independent, sovereign state, potentially resulting in the dissolution of a union with England that … Continue reading →

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