The historic Douglass College Dean’s Residence on Nichol Avenue was the setting on Tuesday 7 May 2013 for one the highlights of the Rutgers Classics calendar—a mega-ritual that combines the annual Eta Sigma Phi initiation into the National Classics Honors Society; honors thesis presentations (two this year); and then finally, a congratulatory ceremony for our graduating seniors.

Associate Professor (and Classics Undergraduate Director) Leah Kronenberg presided over the event, in which she stressed for the standing-room only crowd—though thankfully all parents and grandparents in attendance received a seat!—precisely what it means to study the Classics in the 21^st century. Continue reading →

Have an hour or two or six to spare on Saturday 27 April? Join us for Rutgers Day 2013, a one-day show-and-tell for the citizens of New Jersey…and Pennsylvania, New York, and indeed the rest of the US and the planet. Now in its fifth year, Rutgers Day offers performances, tours, exhibits, hands-on activities, and perennial favorites like Ag Field Day, the Engineering Open House, the New Jersey Folk Festival, and the RU Football Scarlet and White Game (this year benefiting Hurricane Sandy NJ relief). In a word, it’s a great, fun way to explore the University’s dedication to research, education, and service.

And while you’re at it, make sure to stop by the Rutgers Classics Club‘s installation on Douglass Campus—on Red Oak Lane across from the bus stop. This year will feature a quiz show, and ancient arts and crafts—mask decorating, clay pot design, and the art and science of making laurel wreaths. So there really should be something for everyone.  Continue reading →

James P. Adams Library, College of Rhode Island

Well, here’s a welcome blast from the past…it’s Gregory K. Golden (BA Penn, MA Chicago, MLitt Oxford [New College], PhD 2008 Rutgers) who in 2009 joined the History faculty of Rhode Island College (Providence RI) as an assistant professor. Previously Greg had taught Western Civilization for the Rutgers-Newark Department of History as well as Medieval Latin for Rutgers-New Brunswick Classics. And he has some great news: this month Cambridge University Press publishes his first book, Crisis Management in the Roman Republic, based on his RU Classics dissertation! But without further ado, here’s Greg…

“Greetings from Providence, RU! It’s been a while since I last set foot on the banks of the Raritan. After a year on the adjunct merry-go-round after finishing, I got a tenure-track job in the History Department at Rhode Island College in Providence in 2009.” Continue reading →

Alas, this 1964 epic is set in the late second century CE, treating precisely the same era as Gladiator (2000). Running time? 3 hours 28 minutes.

On Thursday 4 April 2013 at 4:00 pm in the Ruth Adams Building (room 003) the Rutgers Classics Graduate Student Association welcomes Professor Catherine Conybeare (Bryn Mawr College) for a lecture entitled “How to Lament an Eternal City: The Ambiguous Fall of Rome.” The Ruth Adams Building is located on Rutgers’ soon-to-be-leafy Douglass Campus. Continue reading →

Performance at Epidaurus, December 1962. Photo: Gjon Mili (LIFE/Google)

Here’s a real newsflash. On Friday 15 March  at 4:00 PM, the Rutgers Classics Graduate Student Association welcomes Professor Peter Meineck to speak on aspects of cognitive recognition in Greek drama. Peter Meineck is Clinical Associate Professor of Classics at New York University, Honorary Professor of Classics at the University of Nottingham, and Founder of Aquila Theatre. The title for his talk ? “The Theatre that Moved the Soul: Understanding the Power of Ancient Greek Drama through Modern Cognitive Science”. It all takes place in the Ruth Adams Building Room 001 (across the hall from the Classics Department), on Rutgers’ historic Douglass Campus. Continue reading →

From The Warriors (Paramount 1979). It’s based on Xenophon’s Anabasis—really!

Picture this. You’ve been laboring over introductory ancient Greek for a full six months, and you’re starting to empathize with those ancient rowers chained to the bottom bench of an Athenian trireme. There’s still snow on the ground and the sun is setting at  5.50 PM. Baseball opening day is almost a month away. You shuffle into your early morning class on the 4th of March, and at the start of the hour your Greek teacher yells….”HAPPY EXELAUNO DAY!”. If you’re lucky, the instructor has brought cupcakes along. Or better yet, she or he absolves the students from some usual ordeal, such as writing the principal parts of highly irregular verbs on the blackboard to general ridicule.

You see, ‘exelauno‘ is a pun. One of the meanings of the Greek verb exelaunein (that’s the infinitive form) is “to march forth”. It’s particularly common in Xenophon’s Anabasis, a masterpiece of early fourth century BC prose that’s one of the more gripping first-person military narratives that has come down to us from any age. And since “march forth” sounds just like “March 4th”…well, it’s not hard to see the point of the joke. These days, lots of classics folks at all levels of study in North America acknowledge the “holiday”, to varying degrees. But who first came up with this idiotic incredibly clever and witty addition to the classicists’ calendar? Continue reading →

Professor Holly Haynes of The College of New Jersey. Credit: The Signal

On Thursday 21 February 2013, the Graduate Student Association of RU’s Department of Classics welcomes Professor Holly Haynes to speak on an intriguing topic, “The In- and Outside of History: Tacitus with Groucho Marx”. Professor Haynes’ lecture takes place at 4 PM in Ruth Adams Building 003, located on Rutgers’ beautiful Douglass Campus at 131 George Street.

An Associate Professor of Classical Studies at the College of New Jersey, Professor Haynes specializes in the politics and literature of the early Roman Empire, with a particular interest in historiography. Continue reading →