Tag Archives: Pompeii

Io, Saturnalia? Merry Happy Whatever!

Posted on December 18, 2019 by Peter Kruschwitz

Few ancient exclamations inspire the internet as much as io Saturnalia, allegedly shouted by the Romans in the streets during their celebration of the Saturnalia (and as it is December 18th today as I write this, we are already bang … Continue reading →

Posted in Poetry, Prose | Tagged , , , , , | 6 Comments

Craving facts: the new graffito from Pompeii

Posted on October 17, 2018 by Peter Kruschwitz

Yesterday news broke about the discovery of a graffito from Pompeii that was, in the usual sensationalist way, hailed as a text that would require us to rewrite our history books: View this post on Instagram Pompeii, Regio V. Casa … Continue reading →

Posted in Epigraphy, Prose | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

People of Changing Colour

Posted on October 3, 2018 by Peter Kruschwitz

In a vitriolic letter to Marcella about one Onasus, dated to A. D. 385, St. Jerome, one of the Christian fathers, makes a remarkable, commonly overlooked statement (Letters 42.2): non et lucus ideo dicatur, quod minime luceat, et Parcae ab … Continue reading →

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

‘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 →

Posted in Epigraphy, Poetry, Prose | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

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 →

Posted in Epigraphy, Prose | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Creative Processes

Posted on January 12, 2017 by Peter Kruschwitz

In 2015, my colleague Dr Rachel Mairs and I organised an international workshop that we called ‘Materialising Poetry‘. I have very fond memories of the day, and the theme that we got to discuss with our colleagues and students has … Continue reading →

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Hello Stranger, or: Pompeian Greetings from Beyond the Grave!

Posted on November 4, 2016 by Peter Kruschwitz

The Roman town of Pompeii has provided us with many a remarkable piece of evidence for virtually all aspects of Roman life and civilisation. Yet there are a number of things which are conspicuously lacking (and not for all of … 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 →

Posted in Prose | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

And the Owl doesn’t care…

Posted on September 29, 2015 by Peter Kruschwitz

The internet is a strange place – full of the most wondrous things and inspiration. Over the last year, I have published a number of blog posts to do with (mostly poetic) memorials for dogs in the Roman world – … Continue reading →

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