Collections: One Year Into the War in Ukraine

Today marks the end of the first year of Putin's War in Ukraine. I will not call it an anniversary, because I don't think anyone is celebrating. Nevertheless I think this makes a useful moment to look back and take stock of the state of the conflict at present but also on the things I … Continue reading Collections: One Year Into the War in Ukraine →

Fireside Friday, February 10, 2023 (On Academic Freedom)

Fireside this week, the first fireside of the new year! There might be a few more of these than usual over the next few months as I am continuing to work on my book project, but have to balance that with unexpectedly teaching a course on US Naval History, which is of course quite a … Continue reading Fireside Friday, February 10, 2023 (On Academic Freedom) →

Collections: The Nitpicks of Power, Part III: That Númenórean Charge

This is the third part of our three part (I, II, III) look at many of the smaller issues of historical realism in Amazon's Rings of Power, following up our mode the major worldbuilding problems the show experienced. Last time we discussed the tactics (or lack thereof) of the Southlanders and Orcs in the major … Continue reading Collections: The Nitpicks of Power, Part III: That Númenórean Charge →

Collections: The Nitpicks of Power, Part II: Falling Towers

This is the second part of a three part (I, II, III) look at the issue of 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 … Continue reading Collections: The Nitpicks of Power, Part II: Falling Towers →

Collections: The Nitpicks of Power, Part I: Exploding Forges

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; this has ended up as a three-part … Continue reading Collections: The Nitpicks of Power, Part I: Exploding Forges →

Referenda ad Senatum: January 13, 2023: Roman Traditionalism, Ancient Dates and Imperial Spies

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 →

Miscellanea: What’s the Problem With Antigone?

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? →