Philosophia

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ante diem ix kalendas septembres

rites in honour of Luna at the Graecostasis

mundus patet — the mundus was a ritual pit which had a sort of vaulted cover on it. Three times a year the Romans removed this cover (August 24, Oct. 5 and November at which time the gates of the underworld were considered to be opened and the manes (spirits of the dead) were free to walk the streets of Rome.

72 A.D. — martyrdom of Batholomew at Albanopolis

79 A.D. — Vesuvius erupts, burying Pompeii, Herculaneum and Stabiae

410 A.D. — Alaric sacks Rome

1971 — death of Carl Blegen (excavator of Pylos)

1997 — death of Philip Vellacott

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From Xinhua:

Romanian archeologists have found the Capitol of Sarmizegetusa, a temple in the ancient Roman province of Dacia, Rompres news agency reported Thursday.

“We were glad to confirm the suppositions we have been nourishing for 25 years, about the place where the Capitol lies, one of the most important temples of Roman Dacia,” said Ioan Piso, an official of Transylvania National History Museum in central Romania.

“This is the temple of Jupiter and the Triad Capitoline, made of Jupiter, Junona and Minerva,” Rompres quoted Piso as saying.

Such temples used to be erected in every Roman city, after the model of Rome, Piso said, noting the significance of the latest discovery to the history of Romania.

The Capitol of Sarmizegetusa is unique, because the dedication of the edifice meant that the cult of Jupiter had been officially brought to the Roman province of Dacia, Piso said.

“This happened around 150 AD and the temple's dedication day, May 23 by the Julian calendar, became one of the biggest feasts in Dacia,” Piso added.

Archeologists have only revealed one single section of the Capitol, but the rest of the structure is expected to be exposed in coming years, Rompres said.

Sarmizegetusa was the most important Dacian military, religious and political center. The Dacian capital reached its acme under Decebalus, the Dacian king defeated by the Roman Empire after two wars (101-102 and 105-106), led by Emperor Trajan, culminating in the Battle of Sarmizegetusa

After the defeat of the Dacians, the conquerors established a military garrison there. Later, the capital of Roman Dacia was named after the Dacian capital — Sarmizegetusa, established 40 km from the ruined Dacian capital.

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I've been meaning to pass along that the report in the Sunday Times a while back suggesting that Greek and Latin A-Levels were on the way out was apparently erroneous (although the Times has not printed a retraction). By way of compensation, here's a little piece from the Fakenham and Wells Times:

CLASSIC scholar Andrew Wells is “V” pleased with his five A-levels - including a DIY one in Greek.

The subject was not on the curriculum at Gresham's School in Holt. But that did not stop the 18-year-old, who set about learning it himself.

“It was just a case of reading things,” he said modestly as he collected his handful of top successes.

He did some Greek at GCSE level at Loughborough Grammar School, before the family moved to Wells.

But he needed an A-level at B grade or above to reach his goal of going to Downing College in Cambridge to study for a classics degree - in the hope of teaching the subject one day.

And at school he got some practice - by being his own teacher, with some overseeing guidance from classics tutor Gareth Burrell, whose Greek was limited to GCSE level, having only taken the exam recently himself.

Andrew used study time at school and home to delve into the A level world of classical Greek - including tackling the philosophy of Plato and the work of the first ever historian Herodotus. The three exams involved Greek translation, analysis of language and a philosophical essay - and he passed with flying colours, along with Latin, history, English and physics.

Andrew's dad Chris said: “We think it's fantastic, but he takes it all in his stride. We are also pleased that Gresham's gave him the freedom to do it.”

Head Antony Clark also praised Andrew, and pointed out that, ironically, Gresham's had earlier made its reputation for being a public school which shied away from the traditional classics under its modernising head George Howson, who steered it towards maths and science and away from Latin and Greek.

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From 1st-4th November 2007 the University of Edinburgh will be
holding the Fifth A.G. Leventis conference, The Gods of Ancient
Greece: Identities and Transformations, hosted by the Leventis
Professor, Jan Bremmer. The provisional programme and booking
arrangements can be found at:
http://www.shc.ed.ac.uk/classics/FifthA.G.LeventisConference.htm

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assail @ Merriam-Webster

cumulose @ Worthless Word for the Day

amicable @ Dictionary.com