Tag Archives: Death

‘You’re dead, you’re a joke,’ or: How should one respond to that image of a Pompeian who was struck by a massive piece of rock?

Posted on June 27, 2018 by Peter Kruschwitz

Contrary to what most people think, there is not only one certainty in life, namely that we all must die: there is a second one, and that is that, before we die, we must live with the certainty of death. … Continue reading →

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Blazing with passion

Posted on June 15, 2018 by Peter Kruschwitz

It has been just over one year now since the devastating fire of Grenfell Tower in London – a horrendous, fast-spreading blaze that killed dozens of people and left over two-hundred of the tower block’s inhabitants in the sudden need … Continue reading →

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Mini-Me

Posted on April 23, 2018 by Peter Kruschwitz

A couple of days ago, Verne Troyer died. At 81 cm (2 ft 8 in), Troyer was one of the shortest men in the world, his Wikipedia entry claims; he is likely to be remembered, most of all, for performance … Continue reading →

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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 →

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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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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 →

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When Harmony Disintegrates

Posted on January 21, 2017 by Peter Kruschwitz

You can choose your friends, but you can’t choose your family, the saying goes. And it made me wonder: considering that Roman literature is full of stories about family relations, how much do we really know about family life in … Continue reading →

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New Year’s Death

Posted on January 1, 2017 by Peter Kruschwitz

For at least thirty-nine people their desire to celebrate the new year ended fatally last night in Istanbul when a hitherto unidentified perpetrator marched into a nightclub and gunned down his victims. Another 69 or so have been injured. In … Continue reading →

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‘Amatrice is no more,’ or: August 24th, again

Posted on August 25, 2016 by Peter Kruschwitz

Correctly or not, August 24th is the date which is commonly taken as the day on which, in A. D. 79, Mt. Vesuvius erupted and destroyed the city of Pompeii as well as many adjacent settlements. Yesterday – on August … Continue reading →

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In memoriam Jo Cox MP

Posted on June 16, 2016 by Peter Kruschwitz

Today, the increasingly shrill rhetoric around Britain’s future position within or outside the European Union (‘Bremain’ vs. ‘Brexit’) appears to have claimed the life of Labour MP Jo Cox. We tend to think of speech as ‘mere words’. But speech … Continue reading →

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