A look at history and popular culture
This is the second part of our look at many of the smaller issues of historical realism in Amazon's Rings of Power, following on our more substantive discussion of the major worldbuilding problems the show experienced. I had hoped to keep this at two parts (actually, I had hoped this would just be a one-off … Continue reading Collections: The Nitpicks of Power, Part II: Falling Towers
This week we're going to return to Amazon's Rings of Power, as promised in the first post there were a plethora of smaller believably and realism issues with in the show that I wanted to discuss but which didn't rise to the storytelling problems of those major issues. These are the sorts of small issues … Continue reading Collections: The Nitpicks of Power, Part I: Exploding Forges
Welcome! As we've done before, this week I am going to take a chance to answer a few shorter questions posed by my patrons over at Patreon who are the Patres et Matres Conscripti of the ACOUP Senate. As with previous responses, the answers here may not be as exhaustive or careful as they would … Continue reading Referenda ad Senatum: January 13, 2023: Roman Traditionalism, Ancient Dates and Imperial Spies
Hey everyone! This week is going to be a gap week as I am currently attending the joint annual meeting for the Society for Classical Studies and Archaeological Institute of America (SCS/AIA). I'll be presenting on Saturday as part of an excellent panel organized by Jeremy Armstrong and Sally Mubarak on "New Directions in Roman … Continue reading Gap Week, January 6, 2023
A bit of an editor's note before this post, since this is going to involve some 'inside baseball' for Classics and some necessary background (also, this is not going to be a 'family friendly' post due to the subject matter; reader discretion is advised). The following essay is one I wrote very early in July … Continue reading Miscellanea: What’s the Problem With Antigone?
Happy Holidays to everyone, however you observe them! I normally take this week off every year but since we had the whole of last month off and I had some things I wanted to expound on, I thought I would do a Fireside instead. Percy getting into the holiday spirit. In particular, I want to … Continue reading Fireside Friday, December 23, 2022 (W(h)ither History)
This week we're going to take a look at the worldbuilding of Amazon Studio's Rings of Power from a historical realism perspective. I think it is no great secret that Rings of Power broadly failed to live up to expectations and left a lot of audiences disappointed. In the aftermath of that disappointment, once one … Continue reading Collections: Why Rings of Power’s Middle Earth Feels Flat
Note from the Editor: I'm excited to feature another guest post with you all! This week we have James Baillie discussing how digital humanities and prosopographic methods can be used to better understand the history of the medieval Caucasus. Prosopography is a historical tool-set that is about charting the networks, connections and commonalities of people, … Continue reading Meet a Historian: James Baillie on Digital Humanities and the Medieval Caucasus
Welcome back! We are back from our November hiatus and thus back to regular weekly posts! This week we're going to answer the runner-up question in the last ACOUP Senate poll (polls in which you too can vote if you become a pater aut mater conscriptus via Patreon). The question, posed in two different ways … Continue reading Collections: Why Roman Egypt Was Such a Strange Province
Fireside today to close out the week; if you missed the main post for this week - a review and discussion of Victoria III - because it appeared earlier you can head back to read it. This is going to be the last post, however, before my November break. As I've noted before, I'm planning … Continue reading Fireside Friday, October 28, 2022 (The Book Project)