This is such an egregious lie. I’ve read two books on this shit and I’m only halfway ☠️

We’ve just advertised a two-year early career post with research element in the contract. Details below:

www.kcl.ac.uk/jobs/142746-...

Literally every word of this article. These bastards are largely responsible for the job cuts and all the other atrocities. Management consultancies should have no role in the running of universities, or any public-sector institution for that matter. It’s basically privatisation by stealth.

Sex garden to ‘break taboos’ at Chelsea flower show as gnome ban ends Lovehoney sponsors Aphrodite-themed ‘pleasure garden’ full of flowers associated with love and sex

The only thing that’s even more unappealing than the headline is the name of the sex garden: Aphrodite’s Hothouse. 🤢

www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...

We're getting ready for our 2026 Greek Play The Clouds (3-5 March)!

Here's director Giulia Balsamo talking on instagram about how directing an ancient Greek comedy fits with her film studies MA. www.instagram.com/p/DU3Ell1iBv...

Book your tickets at estore.kcl.ac.uk/conferences-...

Isn’t January wonderful?

So there, that’s my first BlueSky contribution of 2026. And don’t at me for never posting anything about Higher Education or Classics 😉

But then when it goes badly, the manager gets sacked not them. The lowly paid staff at the club receive redundancy notice, not them.

Like the Pro-Vice Deans, sporting directors at clubs have overwhelming authority on everything from finance to transfer to youth development to style of football. They earn huge amounts of money while occupying such positions.

These people, like the Pro-Vice Deans in modern universities, now call the shots. Yet they themselves are almost never accountable for failures.

I can’t say I feel sorry for Amorim (or Maresca for that matter), but I am now increasingly worried about the power of the ‘sporting director class’.

‘I try to make them feel as ignorant as possible’: German museum’s ‘grumpy guide’ is surprise hit Performance artist’s aggressive art historian shouts at visitors and insults curators – and his tours are sold out

This is very inspirational. I should model my lectures on this

www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...

https://pompeii-experience.com/london/ Visit Pompeii in London! Discover the history, culture, and art of the ancient Roman city through well-preserved relics and artefacts.

So immersive that everyone dies

pompeii-experience.com/london/

Here's the programme for the upcoming 'Fixed Handout 3.0' workshop on Luxorius. Get in touch if you'd like to come along. Cheers.

#AncientBlueSky #ClassicsBlueSky #BlueSkyClassics

Waking up to the news of Man Utd losing to Grimsby is rather joyous. They come up with such exciting and varied ways to lose. They’ve basically mastered self-humiliation as an art form.

My latest contribution to the ever-growing field (or patch, more like) of Moretum Studies.

www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

Bolton Museum displays rare Roman sun hat following restoration The 2,000-year-old hat, which kept soldiers cool in Ancient Egypt, is one of only three in the world.

As if the Battle of Actium wasn’t anticlimactic enough already, now imagine Roman soldiers wearing this poxy thing prancing about in Alexandria…

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

This is gonna be a good one.

Book cover. The background in sepia tones Showa man dictating to scribes. A cream box in the center has light brown writing that contains the title (Writing, Enslavement, and Power in the Roman Mediterranean) and the words "Edited by Jeremiah Coogan, Candid R. Moss, and Jospeh A. Howley.

Excited to announce that after a lot of editorial work our volume "Writing, Enslavement, and Power in the Roman Mediterranean, 100 BCE - 300 CE" is out now. @jeremiahcoogan.bsky.social @illdottore.bsky.social

academic.oup.com/book/60683

Here’s a list of hobbies you can pursue this weekend instead of posting on the Classics List:

Extreme Pickle Tasting
Toilet Paper Origami
Pizza Slice Geometry Analysis
Competitive Sock Matching
Snail Racing Commentary
Ceiling Stain Interpretation
Emergency Exit Sign Appreciation

Good morning from an empty and *air-conditioned* BL reading room.

This is what injustice looks like: we don’t have anything from books 7-10 of Tacitus’ Annals, yet we have four books — FOUR long tedious books — of Ovid’s Ex Ponto.

The Library of Ancient Wisdom When a team of Victorian archaeologists dug into a grassy hill in Iraq, they chanced upon one of the oldest and greatest stores of knowledge ever seen: the library of the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal, s...

Excited to announce that my book 'The Library of Ancient Wisdom' will be released 27th Feb in the UK and 12th March in the US. Pre-orders available from wherever you get your books. Details here:
www.penguin.co.uk/books/443027...

It’s always a bit worrying (sorry I meant ‘delightful’) when you’re learning new things from an undergrad dissertation. I genuinely had no idea that Lucian wrote an essay about the thirst snake. I even had to google what a thirst snake was. 😳

I hope you’re having a FANTASTIC Tuesday, Lucy 🙄

Curb Your Enthusiasm, Happy New Years YouTube video by Patty B.

We’re now officially past the statutes of limitation on saying happy new year (cf. L. David 2020). Thank god.

youtu.be/U4rkzyGFFo0?...

Signing off 2024 with this picture of a bookshop I wandered into in Testaccio. The view that greeted me (the one you’re seeing now) was so calming and joyful, it was quite a shock to the system. I hope 2025 will bring you as much tranquility as this bookshop did for me. Happy new year.

Treating myself to an early Christmas present: an empty library.

Emily Gowers has said everything there is to say about garlic.