Tag Archives: Carmina Latina Epigraphica

St. Valentine’s Glory

Posted on February 11, 2015 by Peter Kruschwitz

Valentine’s Day is imminent: a day for lovers (to celebrate their romance), for the chocolate and flower industries (to make a fortune), and for the ill-informed (to point out that the Romans, too, celebrated a festival around the same time … Continue reading →

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Buried Above Ground

Posted on February 2, 2015 by Peter Kruschwitz

The idea that the body is a prison-house or, more drastically still, a tomb of the soul – often shortened to the phrase soma sema – is an ancient one. Rooted in Orphic (rather than Pythagorean) thought, it finds its first … Continue reading →

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Meet the gloomiest Romans of all time

Posted on January 29, 2015 by Peter Kruschwitz

Last week, I introduced a (very small) choice of inscriptions that presented a variety of ways in which heartbroken parents had begun to come to terms with the loss of their offspring. An inscription that I chose not to include … Continue reading →

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Coping with the Death of a Child

Posted on January 23, 2015 by Peter Kruschwitz

A friend of mine had an extraordinary, deeply unsettling experience this week. She had lunch with a co-worker and her daughter, a young lady in her 30s, who was visiting her mother for some quality time. When, the following day, … Continue reading →

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Season’s Greetings

Posted on December 17, 2014 by Peter Kruschwitz

There is no denying it: the festive season is upon us. Could I give my readership a more appropriate present than the text and my translation of two Latin verse inscriptions from the Church of the Nativity at Bethlehem – … Continue reading →

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Pope Damasus on Torture

Posted on December 13, 2014 by Peter Kruschwitz

Pope Damasus I (b. 305-ish, d. 385) was keen to promote veneration for the martyrs of the early Christian church. In order to achieve this he, among other things, composed epigrams, e. g. to decorate the burial spots of those … Continue reading →

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Sick Of It All

Posted on December 4, 2014 by Peter Kruschwitz

Recent days saw a great number of reports, analyses, and comments on the death of Stefan Grimm, late professor of toxicology at Imperial College, London. Several of these items contained copies of emails that (allegedly) were sent in the context … Continue reading →

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Movember: Three Bewhiskered Latin Verse Inscriptions

Posted on November 26, 2014 by Peter Kruschwitz

November is Movember, and as Movember is almost over now, it is high time to present a choice of three outstanding and remarkable inscribed Latin poems that mention beards. As the idea behind Movember is to raise awareness of men’s … Continue reading →

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Fixing a Cracked Record

Posted on November 19, 2014 by Peter Kruschwitz

Vergil, Rome’s most celebrated poet, in his sixth eclogue (an altogether intriguing piece!), imagines a fantastic story. Silenus lies in a cave, sleeping off his state of inebriation, when two young men, Chromis and Mnasyllos, catch sight of him. Driven … Continue reading →

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To Be All Ears

Posted on November 13, 2014 by Peter Kruschwitz

Today, I have had the immense pleasure to visit the University of Pisa. I was invited to talk about an aspect of my recent linguistic research, carried out in 2013 in collaboration with my brilliant undergraduate research assistant Abi Cousins, … Continue reading →

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