Tag Archives: Carmina Latina Epigraphica

Two Latin Poems (and an English one) from Greyfriars Kirkyard, Edinburgh

Posted on July 15, 2015 by Peter Kruschwitz

If someone were to ask of me some of my most favourite places in the world, Scotland’s capital Edinburgh would most definitely feature on that list. Last weekend, enjoying another delightful day in Edinburgh, I ventured to explore one of … Continue reading →

Posted in Carmina Epigraphica, Epigraphy | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Two Latin Poems (and an English one) from Greyfriars Kirkyard, Edinburgh

Undying Voices: The Poetry of Roman Britain

Posted on July 13, 2015 by Peter Kruschwitz

Britain has produced some of the world’s most highly renowned, influential, and beautiful poetry – Geoffrey Chaucer, Sir Walter Raleigh, William Shakespeare,  John Milton, Robert Burns, the Brontë sisters, Lewis Carroll, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, to name but a select few! … Continue reading →

Posted in Carmina Epigraphica, Epigraphy, Poetry | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

More Than Meets the Eye: Fragrance, Sensuousness, and Inscribed Latin Poetry

Posted on June 24, 2015 by Peter Kruschwitz

When we talk about ‘reading’ and ‘Latin poetry’ in academic contexts, we often tend to reduce complex intellectual and sensuous processes to a fairly linear model by which a text, either by acoustic or by optic means, somehow enters the … Continue reading →

Posted in Carmina Epigraphica, Epigraphy, Poetry | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

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

Departure, Abandonment, and Grief: Latin Poems about Death in Childbirth

Posted on June 12, 2015 by Peter Kruschwitz

A couple of months ago, I wrote about the poem for a Roman lap-dog named Margarita (‘Pearl’), whose splendid inscription I managed to visit in the British museum. The text of the inscription – moving, personal, and affectionate – has … Continue reading →

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

Latin Poetry and the Limits of Roman Medicine

Posted on June 2, 2015 by Peter Kruschwitz

There is a notorious passage in Plutarch‘s Life of Cato the Elder (23.3-4), in which the Greek philosopher denounces the infamous censor‘s view on Greek medicine: It was not only Greek philosophers that he hated, but he was also suspicious … Continue reading →

Posted in Carmina Epigraphica, Epigraphy, Poetry | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Latin Poetry and the Limits of Roman Medicine

Oh the Humanity!

Posted on May 27, 2015 by Peter Kruschwitz

Several months ago, I received a letter from the Vatican which had been sent by His Eminence Pietro Parolin, Cardinal Secretary of State. The letter included my appointment to the position of Academicus Ordinarius of the Pontifical Academy for Latin … Continue reading →

Posted in Carmina Epigraphica, Epigraphy, Poetry | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

The Riddle of a Poor Man’s Epitaph

Posted on May 22, 2015 by Peter Kruschwitz

As I write these lines, I am in Tarragona, about one hour south of Barcelona by train, on Catalonia’s Costa Daurada (‘Golden Coast’). Tarragona, Roman Tarraco, now a UNESCO world heritage site, is home to some of the most impressive … Continue reading →

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

What happened to Pontia?, Or: How a husband buried his beloved wife (and still only managed to talk about himself)

Posted on May 12, 2015 by Peter Kruschwitz

Last week I published a piece about fatal traffic accidents in ancient Rome. When I did my research for this entry, I came across an inscription from Carsulae in Umbria, which puzzled me for a number of reasons – not … Continue reading →

Posted in Carmina Epigraphica, Epigraphy, Poetry | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

A Sense of Fatality: Ancient Latin Poems for Road Casualties

Posted on May 6, 2015 by Peter Kruschwitz

Among the top three things the Romans have done for us, one must – obviously – list their roads. Justly famous, they are right up there with sanitation and, of course, the aqueduct: With roads comes traffic, however, and with … Continue reading →

Posted in Carmina Epigraphica, Epigraphy, Poetry | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments