We’re moving toward a decentralized "Stewardship" model to help our community thrive. We’re looking for a few folks to help steward our collective flows, and we’re actively looking for new research and essays to publish. It’s all very light-touch and collaborative.
For years, I’ve explored the ancient world as a Classics Tutor. Now, I’m expanding this space to include the Athenæum Polycentricum. My goal: bridging ancient wisdom with the present to build a polycentric community rooted in human dignity and social ecology.
Join the journey at the link in bio!
I am pleased to announce the launch of a new, exclusive series for my paid subscribers! If you are interested in the intersection of Classical studies, the History of Ideas, and the future of our communities, I invite you to subscribe and join the conversation.
What happens when curiosity outruns wisdom?
Lucius Apuleius’ 2nd-century masterpiece, The Golden Ass, explores the human condition trapped in the animalistic. A journey from accidental donkey to spiritual seeker.
Read the full deep-dive:
#Apuleius #Classics #HumanCondition #TheGoldenAss
Ancient Greeks proved that even in war, some things are sacred—like the water that sustains us. Discover how the Amphictyonic leagues prioritized human dignity and ecology through polycentric governance.
#PolycentricCommonwealth #AmphictyonicLeague #AncientGreece #EcologicalStewardship
The Monad: From Pythagoras to the Plow. 🏛️🌱
How did a single mathematical unit become the blueprint for Greek ecology, urban planning, and human dignity?
Full deep dive at Classics Tutor:
classicstutor.substack.com/p/the-monad-...
#Classics #Philosophy #History #Ecology
Before the city of Caesars, there was the suckle of the she-wolf. 🐺 Today is the #Lupercalia, Rome's primal ritual of purification and fertility. From bloody goat-skin thongs to Mark Antony’s chaotic crown offer to Caesar, explore the lupine heart of the Eternal City.
#Classics #Rome
The secret to Roman survival wasn't marble—it was the mud. 🏛️➡️🌱 Recent excavations show how local "plot-and-berm" systems empowered communities to manage water as a shared resource. A vital look at how human-scale stewardship can solve modern ecological challenges. #RomanArchaeology #Subsidiarity
The Greeks didn't just write plays; they pioneered ecological governance. 🏛️💧 By treating the landscape as a shared sanctuary—not a commodity—the classical world managed water and forests through local agency and mutual adjustment. Read more in today's issue!
#Classics #Ecology #Governance #History
Was #Pythagoras a mathematical genius or a mystical “knave” who remembered being a sardine and a cucumber in a past life? In this issue of Classics Tutor, explore the enigma of the man who turned numbers into a religion and the cosmos into a musical scale.
#AncientHistory #GreekPhilosophy #Classics
Forget the marble statues—did you know the most sacred form of Iuppiter was once a prehistoric piece of flint? ⚡️🏛️
Discover why Rome’s most powerful god was once worshipped as the mountain itself.
#AncientRome #History #Iuppiter #Archaeology
How do you build a nation from a vow? 🏛️
The ancient Ver Sacrum turned crisis into renewal, sending consecrated youth—the Sacrani—to found new states led by wolves and woodpeckers.
My latest: Mars, Saturn, and the ritual quest for the "Golden Age."
#History #Mythology #Italy
Is your soul tuned to the stars? 🎶✨ In 238 CE, a #Roman scholar named Censorinus wrote a birthday gift that mapped the entire universe. For him, the growth of a human fetus, the intervals of a musical scale, and the orbit of #Saturn were all governed by the same divine ratio. #SacredGeometry
Janus’ position as the bridge between old and new merited him a special feast on the first day of every month (kalends), and especially on the first day of the new year.
#ancientrome #janus #newyear
With two handles for a steady grip!
To celebrate Rural Dionysia, which was observed in Attica throughout the month of Poseidon (around the winter solstice), there was a pompe (πομπή), the procession, as well as the recitation of poems, songs, and theatrical plays dedicated to Dionysos.
#ancientgreece #dionysos #dionysus #bacchus
In this last issue of Classics Tutor for 2025, we delve into the profoundly ancient goddess, #Hera, Queen of the Gods, yes, but also a powerful, independent deity presiding over the cycles of nature.
#GreekMythology #Juno #Homer #Hesiod
Learn about the winter fireside ghost tales of the #ancient #Greeks, which served not merely for thrills but to reinforce the cultural boundaries between the world of the light and the world of the dark.
17 December was the first of the week-long #Saturnalia, celebrating the golden age of King Saturn. During the festival, slaves were treated as free citizens, and the days and evenings were filled with feasting, drinking wine, gambling, and the giving of gifts.
#Rome #Italy #AncientHistory
The Vates is intimately tied to the concept of frenzy or inspiration that grants access to hidden knowledge. They were prophets who would give their visions in poetic form. Learn more in this edition of Classics Tutor!
#ancientrome #romanreligion #italicculture #classics #rome
Five cities in ancient Italy are said to have been founded by the Titan Saturn himself. Learn more about these cities and the mysteries which still enshroud them in today's Classics Tutor!
#lazio #latium #romanmythology #rome #toponymy
There are several theories about the so-called “Archaic Smile”, including the proposition that it represents a positive life-force, or a sense of strength, high social rank, contentment, and inner-divinity. Learn more in this issue of #Classics Tutor! #ancienthistory #rome #greece #archaeology
The #Roman #goddess Bona Dea (“The Good Goddess”) was an ancient deity whose true name was a closely guarded secret known only to her female initiates. Dec 3 was the feast of her secret rites. Learn more in today's free edition of Classics Tutor!
Ancient #Roman military officers had pet monkeys, and the pet monkeys had pet piglets!
Fantastic!
Lovely! Are the other seasons preserved so well?
There has been much controversy surrounding the meaning of the #Gorgon #myth, which is why I thought it would be useful to look at some basic information regarding its origins and differing messages from one period to another. This article will be released to free subscribers on Wed 3 Dec.
In today’s Classics Tutor we trace Diana’s cult from the ancient Alban Hills of Latium to the ““Good Walkers” of 17th c. Friuli.
#rome #ancienthistory #pagansurvival
