Two reviews of Pliny and the Eruption of Vesuvius have come out, one by Margot Neger in BMCR, and one by Paolo Bernardini in La Provincia di Como (here is the PDF and a translation). I should note that the Addenda et Corrigenda on the publisher’s website has also been updated, in order to address the few but unfortunate errors in the text; thank you to colleagues and reviewers for pointing those out.
Tag Archives: Pompeii
-
-
Herculaneum Society: Pliny the Younger and the Date and Sequence of the Vesuvian Eruption
Two talks for the Herculaneum Society, based at Oxford, 26 February 2022, now on YouTube:
- Professor Pedar Foss, DePauw University, on “Ashy Tuesday-Wednesday: The Date and Sequence of the AD 79 Eruption;”
- Professor Roy Gibson, Durham University, on “From Como to the Bay of Naples: Pliny’s Epistolary Italy.”
-
Pliny and the Eruption of Vesuvius – publication March 2022
Pliny and the Eruption of Vesuvius (Routledge, March 2022) is in press. Here is how to order for your library at a 20% discount. My blog posts about the Vesuvius eruption are well obsolete, but I will leave them as-is for archival purposes. The book is about Letters 6.16 and 6.20, and contains these chapters:- Two Plinys: Short biographies of the Elder and Younger Pliny, setting the context for the Vesuvian letters.
- Two Letters: A reconstruction of the transmission history of Epp. 6.16 and 6.20 within the context of the whole manuscript tradition of the Epistulae. This is based on the collation of every known and available extant manuscript and early printed edition of the text of those letters (which has never been done before).
- Two Days: A reconstruction—based on the latest volcanological studies and a new complete GIS model of the AD-79 topography of the Bay of Naples—of the eruption sequence, its effects upon the landscape and people of the Bay of Naples, and how those new studies enlighten the accounts in Pliny’s Epistulae, including the likely location of the Pliny’s villa from which the eruption was first spotted. In addition, this chapter treats the date of the eruption, both in the manuscript tradition, and in the archaeological evidence. It shows, among other things, how ‘November’ crept into the manuscript tradition as an error, how that error was propagated, and why the textual tradition cannot be used as a basis for arguing that the eruption happened in October or November, despite the repeated citation of problematic 17th-/18th-c. scholarship and recent press favoring a non-August date.
- Epistulae 6.16, The Elder’s Story: Text, textual variants, new translation, and detailed commentary.
- Epistulae 6.20, The Younger’s Story: Text, textual variants, new translation, and detailed commentary.
Routledge will also host the data files behind the arguments in their Online Resources. Those will include:
- A side-by-side continuous Latin and English translation of Epp. 6.16, 6.20, including the collation markers (PDF).
- Ep. 6.16 Inventory of Sources and Collation (Excel spreadsheet).
- Ep. 6.20 Inventory of Sources and Collation (Excel spreadsheet).
- Epp. 6.16 and 6.20 Collation “Fingerprints” — the key readings that decipher the manuscript tradition (Excel spreadsheet).
- Select Collation of Epp. 1.8, 12, 23-24 — key readings to understand the manuscript tradition for Epp. 1.1-5.6 and the F source (PDF).
- Select Collation of Book 8 Letters — key readings to understand the manuscript tradition for the theta branch of the manuscript tradition (PDF).
- Collation Encoding Key (how manuscript abbreviations in items 2-6 are encoded in the collation spreadsheets) (PDF).
- Continuous Color Diagram for the Manuscript Tradition (PDF).
- Continuous Halftone Diagram of the Eruption Sequence (PDF).
- Geographic Information System (GIS) of the pre-eruption Bay of Naples in AD 79 (ArcGIS folder).
Please cite my work appropriately. Thank you.
-
ROMARCH: American Academy in Rome Summer School in Roman Pottery 2017
Application deadline extended to 17 February!
SKILLS IN ARCHAEOLOGY: THE HOWARD COMFORT, FAAR’29, SUMMER SCHOOL IN ROMAN POTTERY STUDIES
Potsherds constitute the most frequent group of finds on archaeological sites in the Mediterranean. Thus pottery studies form an essential part of any archaeological research project. Pottery usually offers the most important evidence for dating sites and provides a major source for studies ranging from trade relations and food consumption to questions of identity.
The Summer School in Roman Pottery Studies is a four-week program designed to present the basics of Roman pottery studies, which can be gained only through direct contact with ceramic assemblages. As Rome had the most diversified pottery supply among sites in the ancient world, the AAR is well placed, through its own collections and other material deposited there, to teach a subject rarely offered in American universities. Since the School’s establishment in 2006 to honor the memory of Howard Comfort (a Fellow of the American Academy in Rome and an eminent scholar of Roman pottery), it has thus come to fill a need, gaining a reputation as the premier venue for introducing aspiring scholars to the field, and its alumni are increasingly in demand on projects in Italy and elsewhere.
The course consists of two parts: the taught seminar, where students will learn the fundamentals of Roman pottery including single ceramic classes with their characteristics, function, date and provenience. This section will also include a variety of field trips and visits to major collections. In the second part the participants will apply their knowledge to an assemblage of ceramic Veii. This element is designed to give the participants practical experience by working on their own or in small groups under the supervision of the director.
-
ROMARCH: American Academy in Rome Summer School in Roman Pottery 2015
AAR Summer Program in Roman Pottery, 2010
The Howard Comfort, FAAR’29, Summer School in Roman Pottery
The Howard Comfort FAAR ’29 Summer School in Roman Pottery at the American Academy in Rome is accepting applications for its session to be held for five weeks from 22 June to 24 July 2015.
Potential candidates should be aware that this program is now offered every two years and will be repeated in 2017.
The program’s aim is first to introduce the participants to the study of Roman pottery and then for them to apply their knowledge under the guidance of the director and the assistant in processing a ceramic assemblage, which the participants may work up for publication.
It is assumed that the participants will have some grounding in classical studies (and hopefully archaeology) but not specifically in pottery studies. The program is directed toward graduate students, as well as advanced undergraduates and practising archaeologists. The program is open to all citizens of any country with a sufficient knowledge of English, which will be the working language.
For further information: archer.martin@alice.it.
Prof. Archer Martin
Director -
ROMARCH: American Academy in Rome Summer School in Roman Pottery
AAR Summer Program in Roman Pottery, 2010
NB: Deadline January 14
The Howard Comfort, FAAR’29, Summer School in Roman Pottery
Potsherds constitute the most frequent group of finds on archaeological sites in the Mediterranean. Pottery usually offers the most important evidence for dating sites. Furthermore, ceramological databases provide a good source on issues ranging from trade relations to the consumption patterns of food and questions of identity.
The Summer School in Roman Pottery Studies is a five-week program designed to present the basics of Roman pottery studies, which can be gained only through direct contact with ceramic assemblages. Since the School’s establishment in 2006 to honor the memory of Howard Comfort (a Fellow of the American Academy in Rome and an eminent scholar of Roman pottery), it has gained a reputation as the premier venue for introducing aspiring scholars to the field, and its alumni are increasingly in demand on projects in Italy and elsewhere.
[quem dixere chaos] 