• Saturnalia continues (day 4) – major, popular festival in honour of Saturn with banquets, the wearing of soft caps (pilei), and general good cheer. Shops and schools were closed, gambling was legally permitted, gifts were exchanged and masters might even wait on their servants. Obviously this festival is often seen as a precursor to our modern-day Christmas celebrations.
• 69 A.D. — supporters of the Flavians capture Rome; murder of the emperor-for-a-little-while Vitellius

===========================================================
LEGENDA
===========================================================
Ancient, Massive Hoard Of Beads In Spain Hints At A Forgotten Female Dynasty
https://www.zmescience.com/science/archaeology/copper-age-beads-tomb-spain/

How Ships Helped Ancient Civilizations Survive the Bronze Age Collapse – GreekReporter.com
https://greekreporter.com/2025/12/18/ships-ancient-civilizations-survive-bronze-age-collapse/

Mystery Sticky Goo in 2,500-Year-Old Jars Linked to Ancient Greek Rituals
https://greekcitytimes.com/2025/12/19/mystery-sticky-goo-in-2500-year-old-jars-linked-to-ancient-greek-rituals/

Archaeologists May Have Finally Found Sparta’s Lost Mycenaean Palace – GreekReporter.com
https://greekreporter.com/2025/12/18/sparta-lost-mycenaean-palace/

What Was Winter in Ancient Greece Like? – GreekReporter.com
https://greekreporter.com/2025/12/19/winter-ancient-greece/

You Can Now See 2,000-Year-Old Thermal Baths and Military Barracks Without Ever Leaving Rome’s New Subway Stations
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/you-can-now-see-2000-year-old-thermal-baths-and-military-barracks-without-ever-leaving-romes-new-subway-stations-180987896/

Italian restorers use laser beams to clean an ancient Roman column | AP News
https://apnews.com/article/rome-italy-column-marcus-aurelius-restoration-3fb9db4f8c02e33bda685ac0e4922beb

Roman soldiers defending Hadrian’s Wall were infected by parasites, study finds
https://phys.org/news/2025-12-roman-soldiers-defending-hadrian-wall.html

100 Roman warhorses found buried alongside an unknown man – Earth.com
https://www.earth.com/news/over-100-roman-warhorses-found-buried-alongside-an-unknown-man/

Diarrhea and stomachaches plagued Roman soldiers stationed at Hadrian’s Wall, discovery of microscopic parasites finds | Live Science
https://www.livescience.com/archaeology/romans/diarrhea-and-stomachaches-plagued-roman-soldiers-stationed-at-hadrians-wall-discovery-of-microscopic-parasites-finds

New analysis reveals hidden health risks in ancient Roman fort – McMaster News

New analysis reveals hidden health risks in ancient Roman fort

Ritual fires atop temples guided ancient sailors long before lighthouses

Ritual fires atop temples guided ancient sailors long before lighthouses

Frescoes unearthed in Pompeii show ‘extraordinary details’ | The Jerusalem Post
https://www.jpost.com/archaeology/article-880716

Pompeii, frescoes with peacocks and masks surface in the Villa of Poppaea at Oplontis
https://www.finestresullarte.info/en/archaeology/pompeii-frescoes-with-peacocks-and-masks-surface-in-the-villa-of-poppaea-at-oplontis

Hellenistic-Era Marble Goddess Head Discovered in Ancient Metropolis, Western Türkiye
https://greekcitytimes.com/2025/12/19/hellenistic-era-goddess-head-discovered-metropolis-turkiye/

New discoveries in the Slave Quarters of the Villa of Civita Giuliana

New discoveries in the Slave Quarters of the Villa of Civita Giuliana

What Did Archaeologist Arthur Evans Take From Knossos? – GreekReporter.com
https://greekreporter.com/2025/12/19/archaeologist-arthur-evans-take-minoan-palace-knossos/

Cracking the ENIGMA of stolen antiquities | eKathimerini.com
https://www.ekathimerini.com/culture/1290102/cracking-the-enigma-of-stolen-antiquities/

The New ‘Odyssey’ Poster Throws a Bone to All Those Armor Complaints
https://gizmodo.com/new-odyssey-poster-christopher-nolan-greek-armor-2000701416

Ephemeris ~ SINE PACE
https://ephemerisnuntii.eu/nuntius.php?id=2453

Rus in Urbe V: the Caelian Hill – by Agnes Crawford
https://understandingrome.substack.com/p/rus-in-urbe-v-the-caelian-hill?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=508757&post_id=181978408&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=q7tlq&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email

Blog #115: Uncovering the Romans: A Tale of Participation in Archaeology on Hadrian’s Wall with Marta Alberti-Dunn – Peopling the Past

Blog #115: Uncovering the Romans: A Tale of Participation in Archaeology on Hadrian’s Wall with Marta Alberti-Dunn

A History of the Roman Empire in 21 Women (E.) Southon, Pp. 421. UK: Oneworld Publications, 2023. Paperback. £9.99. ISBN-10: 9780861542314. | Journal of Classics Teaching | Cambridge Core
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-classics-teaching/article/history-of-the-roman-empire-in-21-women-e-southon-pp-421-uk-oneworld-publications-2023-paperback-999-isbn10-9780861542314/2403A8866CE53F9750EC6BE73380FFE0?utm_source=SFMC&utm_medium=email&utm_content=Article&utm_campaign=New%20Cambridge%20Alert%20-%20Articles&WT.mc_id=New%20Cambridge%20Alert%20-%20Articles

A five-star museum in Alexandria | Blog post | Mary Beard

A five-star museum in Alexandria

An updated Classics Glossary – cosi’s odyssey
https://cosisodyssey.substack.com/p/an-updated-classics-glossary?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=991656&post_id=181215476&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=q7tlq&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email

Professor Dan-el Padilla Peralta, champion of anti-racism in classics, to leave Princeton in August – The Princetonian
https://www.dailyprincetonian.com/article/2025/12/princeton-news-adpol-professor-dan-el-padilla-peralta-leave-princeton-for-arizona-state

Laudator Temporis Acti: Justice
https://laudatortemporisacti.blogspot.com/2025/12/justice.html

Caesar op visite bij Cicero – Mainzer Beobachter

Caesar op visite bij Cicero

Augustine’s African roots – Engelsberg ideas

Augustine’s African roots

PaleoJudaica.com: Joseph, Egyptians, Herodotus, and cows
https://paleojudaica.blogspot.com/2025/12/joseph-egyptians-herodotus-and-cows.html

PaleoJudaica.com: The Coptic Magical Formularies Project: 2025 report
https://paleojudaica.blogspot.com/2025/12/the-coptic-magical-formularies-project.html

AWOL – The Ancient World Online: COPTICA TAURINENSIA: Coptic Papyri from the Museo Egizio
http://ancientworldonline.blogspot.com/2025/12/coptica-taurinensia-coptic-papyri-from.html

AWOL – The Ancient World Online: An Archaeological Portrait of Life in a Bronze Age Cypriot Village: Scientific Explorations at Politiko-Troullia
http://ancientworldonline.blogspot.com/2025/12/an-archaeological-portrait-of-life-in.html

AWOL – The Ancient World Online: Esbós de gramàtica sumèria = An outline of Sumerian grammar
http://ancientworldonline.blogspot.com/2025/12/esbos-de-gramatica-sumeria-outline-of.html

AWOL – The Ancient World Online: The private archives of Ugarit: a functional analysis
http://ancientworldonline.blogspot.com/2025/12/the-private-archives-of-ugarit.html

Recent trends and findings in Latin linguistics – Bryn Mawr Classical Review
https://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2025/2025.12.30/

Aristotle: De Motu Animalium. Text and translation – Bryn Mawr Classical Review
https://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2025/2025.12.29/

A companion to the translation of classical epic – Bryn Mawr Classical Review
https://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2025/2025.12.28/
===========================================================
AUDIENDA
===========================================================
How Ancient Greece Revolutioni…–Classical Wisdom Speaks – Apple Podcasts

Presenting Sidedoor: Finding Cleopatra | Interlochen Public Radio
https://www.interlochenpublicradio.org/podcast/points-north/2025-12-19/presenting-sidedoor-finding-cleopatra

Ancient Warfare Podcast: AWA388 – The triple acies revisited
https://ancientwarfare.libsyn.com/awa388-the-triple-acies-revisited
===========================================================
VIDENDA
===========================================================
(86) Ancient Rome revealed through new Pompeii frescoes and laser restoration – YouTube

(88) The Viral Pyramid Scans: The Ultimate Debunk of the Khafre Project – YouTube

(89) Lasers turn back time on Rome’s Column of Marcus Aurelius | REUTERS – YouTube

(89) The Real Homer’s Odyssey – YouTube

===========================================================
NOTANDA
===========================================================
THE LANDSCAPE AND NETWORKS OF SOUTH-WEST SAMOS: EVIDENCE FROM SURFACE-SURVEY CERAMICS | Annual of the British School at Athens | Cambridge Core
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/annual-of-the-british-school-at-athens/article/landscape-and-networks-of-southwest-samos-evidence-from-surfacesurvey-ceramics/1D12B0CF5ED92CC93E2910D06DE0129D?utm_source=SFMC&utm_medium=email&utm_content=Article&utm_campaign=New%20Cambridge%20Alert%20-%20Articles&WT.mc_id=New%20Cambridge%20Alert%20-%20Articles

ARISTOTLE AND THE IDENTIFICATION OF FORMS AND IDEAL NUMBERS IN PLATO | The Classical Quarterly | Cambridge Core
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/classical-quarterly/article/aristotle-and-the-identification-of-forms-and-ideal-numbers-in-plato/CE4E704EF258697AEC9BBE087B0DBC42?utm_source=SFMC&utm_medium=email&utm_content=Article&utm_campaign=New%20Cambridge%20Alert%20-%20Articles&WT.mc_id=New%20Cambridge%20Alert%20-%20Articles

HERODOTUS ON THE EXPEDITION OF DATIS AND ARTAPHRENES: ATHENIAN IMPERIALISM MIRRORED IN THE FIRST PERSIAN WAR | The Classical Quarterly | Cambridge Core
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/classical-quarterly/article/herodotus-on-the-expedition-of-datis-and-artaphrenes-athenian-imperialism-mirrored-in-the-first-persian-war/470F9B7C7D6766D6E1F98B2EA802DAC4?utm_source=SFMC&utm_medium=email&utm_content=Article&utm_campaign=New%20Cambridge%20Alert%20-%20Articles&WT.mc_id=New%20Cambridge%20Alert%20-%20Articles

Dentistry and dental care in antiquity: part 1 – prehistory, Mesopotamia, Israel, Etruria and the Far East | British Dental Journal
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41415-025-8884-z

DICES – Digital Initiative for Classics: Epic Speeches
https://dices.mta.ca/

Roman Names on Crete

Roman Names on Crete

Reshaping Acropolis: Past with a Future

Reshaping Acropolis: Past with a Future

The Epigraphy of Healing

The Epigraphy of Healing

The Spartan Politeia

The Spartan Politeia

CRASIS Annual Masterclass 2026

CRASIS Annual Masterclass 2026

Rethinking Classical Mythology

Rethinking Classical Mythology

Professor in Latin literature (BOF) Job Details | Universiteit Gent
https://jobs.ugent.be/job/Ghent-Professor-in-Latin-literature-%28BOF%29-9000/1348553657/

• Saturnalia (day 3) – major, popular festival in honour of Saturn with banquets, the wearing of soft caps (pilei), and general good cheer. Shops and schools were closed, gambling was legally permitted, gifts were exchanged and masters might even wait on their servants. Obviously this festival is often seen as a precursor to our modern-day Christmas celebrations.
• Opalia — unknown rituals in honour of Ops, the wife of Saturn
• rites in honour of Juventas (= Hebe?) — a somewhat mysterious festival, probably connected to Roman ‘coming of age’ rituals
• 69 A.D. — a major fire on the Capitoline hill in Rome, caused by Vitellius‘ troops
• 307 A.D. — martyrdom of Nemesius of Alexandria and Thea

===========================================================
LEGENDA
===========================================================
Pompeii: New frescoes unearthed in villa
https://www.ctvnews.ca/sci-tech/article/new-frescoes-unearthed-in-villa-near-pompeii-show-extraordinary-details-and-colours/

If Mount Vesuvius Erupted in August, Why Were Pompeii Victims Wearing Heavy Wool Garments?
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/if-mount-vesuvius-erupted-in-august-why-were-pompeii-victims-wearing-heavy-wool-garments-180987895/

Italian restorers use laser beams to clean an ancient Roman column | AP News
https://apnews.com/article/rome-italy-column-marcus-aurelius-restoration-3fb9db4f8c02e33bda685ac0e4922beb

Rome’s New Colosseum Metro Station Is Stacked With Archaeological Treasures
https://news.artnet.com/art-world/rome-colosseum-metro-station-archaeology-2731534

What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us? Made Us Sicker, Apparently
https://www.zmescience.com/science/archaeology/roman-rule-health-decline/

Did the ancient Romans wear underwear? The truth is surprisingly complicated | HistoryExtra
https://www.historyextra.com/period/roman/ancient-roman-underwear-fashion-complicated-truth/

What Did Ancient Greek Warriors Wear Into Battle?
https://www.history.com/articles/ancient-greek-warriors-real-armor-battle

Rare 1,300-year-old medallion decorated with menorahs found near Jerusalem’s Temple Mount | Live Science
https://www.livescience.com/archaeology/rare-1-300-year-old-medallion-decorated-with-menorahs-found-near-jerusalems-temple-mount

Research Sheds Light on Ancient Greek and Roman Houses at Darazya, Egypt – GreekReporter.com
https://greekreporter.com/2025/12/18/ancient-greek-roman-ruins-darazya-egypt/

The Collapse of the Bronze Age Gave Rise to the Creation of the First Warship: the Helladic Galley

The Collapse of the Bronze Age Gave Rise to the Creation of the First Warship: the Helladic Galley

Archaeologists May Have Finally Found Sparta’s Lost Mycenaean Palace – GreekReporter.com
https://greekreporter.com/2025/12/18/sparta-lost-mycenaean-palace/

The Parthenon Marbles: How Close Are We to a Resolution? – tovima.com

The Parthenon Marbles: How Close Are We to a Resolution?

Why the Vatican is reinvesting in Christian archaeology

Why the Vatican is reinvesting in Christian archaeology

Locusta: The dark history of Rome’s notorious poisoner
https://dangerousminds.net/history/locusta-the-dark-history-of-romes-notorious-poisoner/

Longtime Smith College professor dies in Northampton fire – Daily Hampshire Gazette

Longtime Smith College professor dies in Northampton fire

T.J. Clark · A Kouros at the Met
https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v47/n23/t.j.-clark/a-kouros-at-the-met

Philosophy Club Is Hot—Just Ask These Gen Z New Yorkers | Vogue
https://www.vogue.com/article/philosophy-club-is-hot-just-ask-these-gen-z-new-yorkers

Ancient Carthage’s Commemorative Military Armbands – The Historian’s Hut

Ancient Carthage’s Commemorative Military Armbands

Titus Manlius Torquatus Kills A Leader Of The Gauls, Taking His Golden Necklace, Illustrated by An Unknown 14th-century Artist – The Historian’s Hut

Titus Manlius Torquatus Kills A Leader Of The Gauls, Taking His Golden Necklace, Illustrated by An Unknown 14th-century Artist

Pet Monkeys Were Popular in Ancient Rome, Burials Reveal
https://hyperallergic.com/pet-monkeys-were-popular-in-ancient-rome-burials-reveal/

Oedipus goes to New York – by Elizabeth Bobrick
https://elizabethbobrick.substack.com/p/oedipus-goes-to-new-york?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=1331359&post_id=181606748&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=q7tlq&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email

Aristoteles over de Nijl – Mainzer Beobachter

Aristoteles over de Nijl

Tyranny and the Plot: Introducing Iliad 8 – SENTENTIAE ANTIQUAE

Tyranny and the Plot: Introducing Iliad 8

December 58 BCE: From Cicero (at Dyrrachium) to Atticus (in Rome)
https://epistulae.substack.com/p/december-58-bce-from-cicero-at-dyrrachium?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=944078&post_id=181941781&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=q7tlq&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email

Thumos – The Trial of Socrates [Things You Might Have Missed 2025] | Angry Metal Guy
https://www.angrymetalguy.com/wp-content/uploads/banners/AMG-archenemy.jpg.webp

PaleoJudaica.com: Cracking the Qumran Cryptic B script?
https://paleojudaica.blogspot.com/2025/12/cracking-qumran-cryptic-b-script.html

PaleoJudaica.com: On the Rockefeller Museum in East Jerusalem
https://paleojudaica.blogspot.com/2025/12/on-rockefeller-museum-in-east-jerusalem.html

PaleoJudaica.com: ANE Today’s 2025 top archaeological discoveries list
https://paleojudaica.blogspot.com/2025/12/ane-todays-2025-top-archaeological.html

AWOL – The Ancient World Online: Nachbarschaft im Wandel: Untersuchungen zu keramischen Inventaren aus Siedlungen und Nekropolen in Oberägypten und Nubien (ca. 2300–1700 v. Chr.)
http://ancientworldonline.blogspot.com/2025/12/nachbarschaft-im-wandel-untersuchungen.html

AWOL – The Ancient World Online: Serving the Gods: Artists, Craftsmen, Ritual Specialists in the Ancient World
http://ancientworldonline.blogspot.com/2025/12/serving-gods-artists-craftsmen-ritual.html

‘Diogenes’ by Inger N.I. Kuin | Book Review – WSJ
https://www.wsj.com/arts-culture/books/diogenes-review-a-philosophy-of-scandal-7bdb423b?st=L8wbmU&reflink=article_email_share

A dramatic event in late Roman Florence: the anomalous burial site discovered beneath the Uffizi Gallery – Bryn Mawr Classical Review
https://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2025/2025.12.27/

Playful classics: classical reception as a creative process – Bryn Mawr Classical Review
https://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2025/2025.12.26/

The Persephone myth in young adult fiction: from girl to woman – Bryn Mawr Classical Review
https://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2025/2025.12.25/

===========================================================
AUDIENDA
===========================================================
Salamis–When in Rome – Apple Podcasts

Peace and Peacemaking in ancient Greece and Rome–Visualising War and Peace – Apple Podcasts

Paestum: Ancient Greeks in Italy – The Ancients | Acast

===========================================================
VIDENDA
===========================================================
(61) Was Alexander the Great really that great? – Stephanie Honchell Smith – YouTube

(63) Nuovi scavi alla villa di Poppea di Oplontis – il cantiere svela nuovi affreschi, pavoni e maschere – YouTube

• Saturnalia (day 2) – major, popular festival in honour of Saturn with banquets, the wearing of soft caps (pilei), and general good cheer. Shops and schools were closed, gambling was legally permitted, gifts were exchanged and masters might even wait on their servants. Obviously this festival is often seen as a precursor to our modern-day Christmas celebrations …
• 69 A.D. — emperor-for-a-little-while Vitellius abdicates, but changes his mind later
• 1809 – Death of Alexander Adam, an eminent Classicist