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• Translating the mega-sentence…. how?
  The first sentence of the “Life” of St Botolph reads as follows: Omnipotentis Dei benignitas, compatiens errori humani generis, quod ab antiquo serpente caelitus concessa denudatum glo­ria, ignorantiae damnatur tenebris; divitias misericordiae suae in eius restauratione exhibere voluit, ut ad gloriam lucis de qua cae­cum aberraverat, rediret per lumen quod ei ineffabili gratia administravit. I.e. […]
• The Society of St Botolph
  Few will be aware that there is actually a society devoted to the study of St Botolph, and the churches dedicated to him.  But there is. The Society of St. Botolph (https://www.botolph.info/) is an association which is free to join. It’s purposes are: The primary object of the Society is to remember, celebrate and raise the profile of Botolph, […]
• Capgrave is not the author of the “Nova Legenda Anglie”
  Anybody who works with the texts known as the “Lives” of the saints will encounter a volume called the Nova Legenda Angliae (NLA), the “New Legends of England”.  First printed in 1516, it consists of a mass of abbreviated “lives” of various saints, in alphabetical order by saint name. Very often, the author of the […]
• Cheap hand-held multi-spectral imaging for manuscripts?
  A very exciting post yesterday on LinkedIn (but visible even if you don’t have an account) from Leonardo Costantini: Yesterday marked the beginning of a new phase of Digital Humanities applied to manuscript studies. Imagine a hyperspectral imaging system that weighs 500 grams and gives you instantaneous results, making the post-processing of the images easy and […]
• Manuscripts of the “Life” of St Botolph (BHL 1428)
  The 11th century “Life” of St Botolph by Folcard of St Bertin, which is BHL 1428, has reached us in the following medieval manuscripts: (The sigla or abbreviations are by me). J = Cambridge, St Johns College, H.6 (olim M. R. James 209), ff.171r-182v. 12th century.  Includes prologue and translatio. H = London, British Library […]
• AI firm “cut up and destroyed” millions of books
  A curiously revealing story at Ars Technica (June 25, 2025): Anthropic destroyed millions of print books to build its AI models : Company hired Google’s book-scanning chief to cut up and digitize “all the books in the world.” On Monday, court documents revealed that AI company Anthropic spent millions of dollars physically scanning print books to […]
• Happy St Botolph’s Day! English Translation of the Epitome in the Schleswig Breviary
  June 17 is the day on which St Botolph is commemorated in the Roman calendar, so Happy St Botolph’s day to you all. In honour of the day, I thought that I would post an English translation of the abbreviated “Life”, found in the printed Schleswig Breviary of 1512 (Breviarium Slesvicense).  It’s the latest of […]
• The Schleswig Breviary (Breviarium Slesvicense)
  The Duchy of Schleswig is the most northern district of Germany, and since 1920 has been divided between Denmark and Germany.  In 1510 a man with the interesting name of Gottschalk von Ahlefeldt (1475-1541) became bishop of Schleswig.  The Ahlefeldt family were originally of the Danish nobility, but by this time was settled in Germany.  […]
• Deciphering a South Arabian script – the Dhofari alphabet
  Out in the deserts of southern Arabia, there are a lot of rocks, and a lot of those rocks have inscriptions painted on them, or inscribed into them.  It seems that not all of these scripts are understood.  I came across an article on Academia by Ahmad al-Jallad, of Ohio State University, on the deciphering […]
• Interesting work on searching Migne for themes at scholarios.graeca.org
  I’ve had an email from Evangelos Varthis, telling me about his project at Ionian University.  It’s still very experimental, but there is some very interesting thinking going on here.  Basically he’s making the Greek text of the PG available, in image, and in electronic text, plus a simple way to get an AI translation of […]
• The First Hymn: Resurrected third-century praise song (P.Oxy 1786)
  Via Twitter I learn of a bit of a buzz about a papyrus.  That’s always a good thing in principle – public interest means funding!  Indeed the whole Oxyrhynchus papyri project came about because the public got interested in “new words of Jesus” and a newspaper raised the money to find more.  So what’s this […]
• Kassel University online manuscripts -a fabulous interface!
  Well here’s something special! (via this twitter post)  The image below (online here) is fairly familiar.  It shows the “serpent column” in Constantinople, as it was in the 16th century before the heads broke off.  The column is still there, in the Hippodrome.  It is, in fact, the ancient Greek monument commemorating the battle of […]
• T. C. Schmidt, “Josephus & Jesus: New Evidence for the One Called Christ”
  T. C. Schmidt has bravely added to the bibliography on the so-called Testimonium Flavianum in Josephus, with a new book through Oxford University Press, titled: “Josephus & Jesus: New Evidence for the One Called Christ.”  The author makes the case that this much-discussed passage is “substantially authentic.”  In doing so he responds to recent scholarship […]
• Dead writers and fake “Britannica” websites
  Mithras is a perennial favourite for online nonsense.  It seems that “AI” is parroting a strange article, attributed to Reinhold Merkelbach, and appearing on the fake “Britannica” website.  Britannica went out of business sometime in the 1990s, destroyed by the rise of the personal computer.  Nobody knows who owns it now, or who actually writes […]
• From my diary: British Library manuscripts of the Life of St Botulf.
  A couple of days ago I wrote to the British Library manuscripts department to enquire about the two manuscripts that contain versions of the medieval Latin “Life” of St Botulf.  Yesterday I received a really quite helpful reply. Cotton MS Tiberius D III is a Special Access (Select) manuscript, so I’m afraid it’s not permitted […]
• From my diary: Gray’s Inn MS 3
  Gray’s Inn is located in central London near the law courts.  It is one of the four “inns of court” to which all barristers and judges must belong.  The inns of court are medieval, but I know nothing much about them. Gray’s Inn Library contains a collection of 24 medieval manuscripts.  Horwood, the author of […]
• From my diary: Cotton manuscripts at the British Library
  The Bollandist fathers in Belgium have maintained a wonderful database of the medieval manuscripts containing copies of material about the saints, especially their “Lives” and this has been fed into the new Legendiers Latins website.  But the information is not comprehensive.  For instance, for St Botulf, it does not contain any mention of British Library […]
• From my diary: Cambridge, St Johns College Library MS H.6
  I started with a list of manuscripts of the “Life of St Botulf” by Folcard.  Some I had already in PDF form, others I could find online.  For others in English libraries, I have ventured to write to the institution and ask for help.  This has been very generously forthcoming. One of the manuscripts is […]
• Hey! Teacher! Leave them texts alone! Some critical thoughts on the text of the Life of St Botulf
  The “Life” of St Botulf by Folcard of St Bertin was first printed in 1668 by the librarian of the Maurist fathers, Luc D’Achery, whose sole source was a manuscript from “Utica” – i.e. St Evroul in Normandy, plus his imagination.  It was then printed again in 1701 as part of the Bollandist Acta Sanctorum.  […]
• From my diary
  I’ve spent the last couple of days collating manually the 1669 editio princeps d’Achery/Mabillon edition of the “Life” of St Botolph (BHL 1428) with manuscripts, first Cambridge Corpus Christi College, Parker 161; and then British Library Harley 3097.  Today I also compared my collation, at the points where differences were visible, with a vile microfilm […]
• Working on MS Lincoln Cathedral Library 7
  On Monday I wrote to Lincoln Cathedral Library.  I wanted copies of three pages from their 12th century manuscript 7.  These contain a copy of the Life of St Botulph on folios 82r-83r.  The email bore speedy fruit, considering that Monday was a holiday.  On the Tuesday  Claire Arrand, the manuscript librarian, responded.  She advised […]
• From my diary
  I’ve taken the plunge and written to Lincoln Cathedral Library today, to ask if I can get photographs of the Latin text of Folcard’s “Life of St Botulf”, as contained in their manuscript 7. Pleasingly, they have an online catalogue, which is very detailed.  From it I see the following details: 38. Sancti Botulphi abbatis. […]
• A manuscript from the “Abbey of the Red Valley” – Rookloster, Rooklooster, Rouge-Cloître, Rougeval, or Rubea Vallis?
  In the electronic version of the Bollandist preface to the “Life” of St Botulf or Botolph, we find the following words about manuscripts used: Eamdem Vitam olim Ioannes Capgravius, omisso Prologo redactam in compendium, Legendæ suæ inseruerat: & ejus partem potiorem jam pridem habebamus ex duplici Ms. altero Canonicorum Regularium Rubeæ-vallis prope Bruxellas, cujus ecgraphum […]
• Editing the Latin text of the “Life” of St Botolph? Do I want to?
  A couple of days ago, I completed a draft translation into English of the “Life” of St Botolph by Folcard of St Bertin.  So far, so good.  I made the translation from the 1701 text in the Acta Sanctorum (=AASS) for June 17th (in “June”, vol. 3), which is “annotated by Daniel Papebroch” – some […]
• Mabillon, the “Acta Sanctorum OSB”, and St Botolph
  Dom Jean Mabillon OSB (d. 1707) is remembered today mainly as the inventor of paleography.  But he had a wider career, which is described very nicely at this link here.  An excerpt relating to the Acta Sanctorum Ordinis S. Benedicti: In Saint-Germain, he was at last among congenial company, and results followed quickly. D’Achéry was the […]
• Back to St Botolph – problems and sources for his Life (BHL 1428)
  Back in April 2021, I got interested in the “Life” of the anglosaxon saint, St. Botolph, which is BHL 1428 in the standard list/repertory of Latin hagiographical texts, the Bibliotheca Hagiographica Latina.  I even gathered the materials to translate his “Life” here.  But I didn’t do anything more about it, because I learned that someone […]
• Identifying “an ancient homily for Holy Saturday”, on the Harrowing of Hell
  Today is Easter Saturday.  I happened to see an interesting tweet from none other than Eduard Hapsburg, the Hungarian ambassador to the Vatican, here. The link to the English translation is here. This text is apparently the second reading for Easter Saturday in the Roman Catholic Church – not sure how I would verify that […]
• How do hagiographical texts get composed? Folcard tells us
  I seem to be doing a lot of work on hagiographical texts at the moment, most recently with Ethiopian saints.  This is because these texts are neglected.  They are insanely neglected, for the most part.  So even someone like me, can contribute something. Hagiographical texts are not history, and tend to accumulate anecdotes over time.  […]
• The Encyclopaedia Aethiopica and the “Nine Saints”
  A kind colleague sent me the article on Abba Garima from the Encyclopaedia Aethiopica.  This article, by Denis Nosnitsin, was really very good, very detailed, and well referenced.  Perfect for the newcomer interested in the subject. This led me to search out copies of the Encyclopaedia Aethiopica.  It’s in five volumes, published in Hamburg between 2003 […]
• Experiments with Amharic and technology (part 5)
  Eighteen months ago, purely for fun, I made my first attempt at seeing whether AI could produce an English translation of a text in Ethiopic, the  otherwise untranslated Homily of Yohannan, bishop of Axum, on Abba Garima, printed by Rossini.  It could not.  A week or so back, I tried again and got a load […]
• Looking for Ethiopian Studies bibliography, with particular reference to hagiographical literature
  I have an AI output with an English translation of the Ge`ez – Classical Ethiopian – text of the 15th century “Life” of Abba Garima by Yohannan.  It ‘feels’ more or less right.  But I don’t know any Ethiopian, and I cannot even read the language, so it’s impossible to say. Today I scanned the […]
• The Modern Origins of the “Easter Bunny”
  The Easter bunny is not an ancient thing.  Like most of our traditions, it is rather modern in origin.  Our own Easter bunny is a chocolate item, mass-produced as part of the commercial Easter.  The concept of the “Easter bunny” who brings the chocolate Easter eggs is probably not much older.  It arises in the […]
• From my diary
  I’ve now trudged all the way through the remainder of the Life of Abba Garima, taking each paragraph and getting Gemini AI to translate it into English.  Why Gemini?  Well it was there on my list of AI sites, and I used it at random.  For the immense chapter 7, I broke this down into […]
• Experiments with Amharic and technology (part 4)
  I now have a corrected electronic text of the homily of Yohanan, bishop of Axum, in honour of St Garima.  I’ve numbered the paragraphs as an aid to myself, since I cannot even read the Ethiopian alphabet.  It probably needs work.  But here it is: Rossini – ocr text (Word .docx) Today I started plugging […]
• Admin
  There are weird PHP errors affecting the blog tonight.  One visible is Warning: Undefined variable $silent in /usr/home/rpearse/public_html/weblog/wp-content/plugins/footnotes-for-wordpress/wp-footnotes.php on line 156 I would guess my hosting company has broken something.  I will investigate tomorrow.  My apologies. Update:  The hosting company, the excellent Pair.com, advised me that they upgraded PHP 7.4 to PHP 8.2, as 7.4 is end of […]
• From my diary
  I’m working away on this Ethiopian homily of John, bishop of Axum, on St. Garima.  It was printed in 1898 by C. Conti Rossini, but without translation. Well, I don’t know any Ethiopian at all, and I don’t even know the alphabet.  There are 31 consonants, each of which has seven variants, I gather. But […]
• Michel van Rijn (1950-2024)
  So … Michel van Rijn is dead. Art dealer, forger, smuggler, conman, criminal, informant and inkslinger: whose long-vanished eccentric website exposed many a dirty deed in the art world. Apparently he died last year, aged 73, on 25 July 2024, in Italy.  There was a notice in Het Parool, which published material from him in […]
• Experiments with Amharic and technology (part 3)
  Back in August 2023, I found that it was possible to scan in some of an Ethiopian text, part of the Life of Saint Garima.  Unfortunately the results from machine translation were disappointing.  ChatGPT was no better. This evening I was writing my last post, and remembered these efforts.  So I pasted those chunks of […]
• From my diary
  This morning I spent driving around, picking up some medicine for my girlfriend’s cat, and then taking her out to lunch.  After lunch, in my last post I uploaded the Life of Isidore of Pelusium (BHG 2209).  This afternoon I scanned in the Greek for a miracle story of St George, the miracle of the […]
• A “Life” of St. Isidore of Pelusium (BHG 2209) now online in English
  This  short11th century “Life” was printed by Morton Smith without a translation.  I thought it would be interesting to translate it.  I include the Greek text. Here it is: Life of St Isidore of Pelusium – BHG 2209 – 2025 (PDF format) Life of St Isidore of Pelusium – BHG 2209 – 2025 (Word .docx […]
• Using Deepseek on an obscure Greek “Life” of St Isidore of Pelusium (d. 435 AD) by Morton Smith
  Yesterday I started googling about Isidore of Pelusium, and I quickly came across a number of papers showing that Dr. Madaline Toca is actively working on Isidore of Pelusium, the manuscripts of his letters, the reception of his work in Latin, and so on.  This is good news!  Most of these papers are accessible on […]
• A quote from the Marcionite “gospel” in Isidore of Pelusium
  The 5th century monk Isidore of Pelusium was a contemporary of Cyril of Alexandria, to whom he directed at least 8 letters.  I always wanted to get these translated, ever since I learned of them in Quasten’s Patrology, vol. 3, p.184.  Today I went to my PDF of the Patrologia Graeca 78, and added bookmarks to […]
• More on the Sacra Parallela of John Damascene
  Before getting distracted with the BHG 884 “Life” of John Damascene, I was investigating the massive anthology (CPG 8056) known as the Sacra Parallela, attributed to John Damascene but clearly earlier, and first published by Michel Lequien in 1712, in an oddball and unsatisfactory edition.  This was reprinted in the PG 96. I’m afraid that […]
• Life of John Damascene by John, Patriarch of Jerusalem (BHG 884)
  I have completed my translation of the so-called “Jerusalem Life” of St. John Damascene, or John of Damascus.  It is the same as the individual chunks posted earlier, but with bible references and additional footnotes.  As usual, I make this file public domain.  Do whatever you like with it, personal, educational or commercial. Here are […]
• From My Diary
  Well, I thought that I was pretty much done with the Life of John Damascene, but it seems not. Over the weekend, I printed off the whole thing, and got to work with a pen, highlighting errors. People forget the power of paper.  Even in my days as a professional software engineer, I sometimes found […]
• ChatGPT and Isidore of Pelusium
  This evening I wondered whether the letters of Isidore of Pelusium were in the TLG database.  It seems that they are! Inevitably I pulled up the text, and then stuffed it into ChatGPT. ΤΟΥ ΕΝ ΑΓΙΟΙΣ ΠΑΤΡΟΣ ΗΜΩΝ ΙΣΙΔΩΡΟΥ ΤΟΥ ΠΗΛΟΥΣΙΩΤΟΥ ΕΠΙΣΤΟΛΩΝ ΒΙΒΛΙΑ ΠΕΝΤΕ ΕΙΣ ΤΗΝ ΕΡΜΗΝΕΙΑΝ ΤΗΣ ΘΕΙΑΣ ΓΡΑΦΗΣ 1.ΒΙΒΛΙΟΝ ΠΡΩΤΟΝ. (1) Αʹ. ΝΕΙΛῼ […]
• Life of John Damascene by John, Patriarch of Jerusalem (BHG 884) – Part 10
  The final section.  Cosmas comes to help John.  Less helpfully the patriarch of Jerusalem ordains them both as priests.  John returns to Mar Saba.  His work  against the iconoclasts receives the endorsement of St Stephen the Younger.  Death of John, and prayer of the author of the Life, also named John. *    *    […]
• Life of John Damascene by John, Patriarch of Jerusalem (BHG 884) – Part 9
  In the last episode of John’s “Life”, he had been turned out of his cell in the monastery at Mar Saba for inadvertently disobeying his spiritual teacher. *    *    *    * 30. Then one of the monks said, “It is possible to impose another commandment on the one who has sinned, and […]
• Life of John Damascene by John, Patriarch of Jerusalem (BHG 884) – Part 8
  John has gone into the monastery of Mar Saba near Jerusalem, where one of the old men has accepted him as a disciple. *    *    *    * 26.  He is sent to Damascus to sell baskets. After this, as the elder was training the athlete in the greater contests of obedience, what […]
• Life of John Damascene by John, Patriarch of Jerusalem (BHG 884) – Part 7
  The story so far.  John has decided to abandon his high-powered job in Damascus after the caliph chopped off his hand on (fake) treason charges. Even though the Theotokos has healed him, and the caliph has decided that he must be innocent after all, he’s hitting the road for the monastery of Mar Saba.  Very […]
• The Transmission of the Works of Apollonius of Perge
  Apollonius of Perge (or Perga; Apollonius Pergaeus) was an ancient mathematical writer who lived in the Hellenistic era, ca. 200 BC.  His reputation is based upon his Conics (or Conic Sections), one of the great works of ancient mathematics.  The Conic Sections deals with the shapes that are seen when a cone is intersected by […]
• A fake media story about “discovery” of lost works by Apollonius of Perge
  Six days ago, the “TürkiyeToday” website published a story revealing that lost works by the ancient mathematician, Apollonius of Perge, had been found in an Arabic manuscript in Leiden by Prof. Jan Pieter Hogendijk.  The story has since reached other outlets, including the Jerusalem Post. This story would be very exciting, if it was true.  […]
• Notes on Ps. Athanasius, “Quaestiones ad Antiochum ducem”
  An interesting query arrived this morning in the email: J.P. Migne mentions another Athanasius than Athanasius the Great in the footnotes of John of Damascus’ defense of images. Migne calls him “Athanasius Minor,” and claims that he lived around the 7th or 8th century, and wrote a letter to a man called Antiochus with 109 […]
• Life of John Damascene by John, Patriarch of Jerusalem (BHG 884) – Part 6
  The story so far.  John Damascene has been working as CFO for the Muslim caliph in Damascus.  In his spare time he has been writing a series of hard-hitting articles in the Constantinople press, attacking the Byzantine president emperor Leo for promoting iconoclasm.  Words like “anti-Christ”  are getting used.  Leo’s PR department responds by doxxing […]
• Anacreontics … by ChatGPT!
  Chapter 18 of the Jerusalem Life of John Damascene contains a prayer by John to the Virgin Mary, that his severed hand is re-attached to his arm.  The 1712 Lequien edition signals that the prayer is in Anacreontic verse, a form of light verse, curiously. Rather than try to translate that myself, I asked ChatGPT. […]
• Life of John Damascene by John, Patriarch of Jerusalem (BHG 884) – Part 5
  Let us continue with the “Jerusalem Life” of John Damascene.  I had not realised that I had completed – but not posted – three more chapters before my hand injury, so only chapter 17 is new.  A quick recap: John is living in Damascus and working as chief financial officer for the muslim caliph.  Now […]
• From my diary
  Well that was nice!  I’ve just got back from a short holiday in Iceland, in Akureyri to be specific.  Masses of snow, although no real snowfalls while we were there.  The post-holiday tidy-up is well under way now. I have ignored a few emails while I was away.  Here’s two. It looks as if my […]
• From my diary
  Just a brief note to say that my hand injury is gradually improving, and that I hope to be able to do some blogging reasonably soon.  My apologies for the silence. I’ve not been able to do any translating.  In fact I find that I’m starting to miss working on the Life of John Damascene.  […]
• Orbis terrarum – the world in medieval chant
  Last night I was reading psalm 98.  Inevitably I picked up a parallel Latin-English psalter, and read it again in Latin.  In the Vulgate it’s psalm 97, of course. One thing that I noticed was that “orbis terrarum” was the phrase used to mean “the world.”  Literally this means “the orb/circle/sphere of the earth.”  It’s […]
• New Website: The Original Douay-Rheims Bible
  Here’s something splendid – a website named Original Douay Rheims, created by a student devoted to putting online the original Douay-Rheims translation of the Vulgate bible!  It’s great to see ordinary people doing this on the web.  The link is here: https://originaldouayrheims.com/home The site is in progress, but there is already a lot there. The […]
• An interesting problem – AI and Marius Mercator? … or not?
  Here’s a pretty question, sent in by email.  I imagine that more such letters are in my future, but I am really not sure what to do with them. I thought I would drop you a little note to let you know about a project that I have recently uploaded. This is my first attempt […]
• Peter Chrysologus on the Kalends of January
  Until this evening I had never read a word about St. Peter Chrysologus.  He was bishop of Ravenna between 433 and 450, when the western imperial court was based there, and died young.  His fame rests on a collection of short, effective sermons that he preached, of which something less than 200 survive.  The sermons […]
• Augustine’s “Enarrationes in Psalmos”, on Ps. 97/96:5 in the Vulgate – “terrae” or “terra” once more?
  Augustine frequently preached sermons on the psalms until his later years, after 415, when he preferred to dictate treatises.  Indeed he mentions doing so in his letter to Evodius (lett. 169).  The result was a ramshackle mass of psalm-related material.  None of this has reached us independently, but instead it was organised into “decades”, probably […]
• Ps. 97/96:5 in the Vulgate – “terrae” or “terra”?
  On Sunday night I settled down with my bible to read psalm 97 in an English version.  But having done so, I remembered that I had given myself a parallel Latin-English book of psalms, as a Christmas present.  Other versions are around, but this is the Philip Magnus White, Psalms and Canticles: Latin and English Psalms […]
• Merry Christmas
  I would like to wish everyone a merry Christmas and a happy new year!
• The Megiddo Mosaic
  Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction.  A social media post drew my attention to this article in The Sun: AN ANCIENT mosaic with the inscription “God Jesus Christ” is being dubbed the greatest find since the Dead Sea Scrolls. The massive discovery “confirms” Jesus’ divinity about a hundred years before the Council of Nicea – […]
• “Galenalia” – A Fake Roman Holiday
  Today I came across a troll offering the following curious claims: St Valentines – was Galenalia in the pre Christian time and Lupercalia in the Pagan Calendar and Easter – was the first festival of the Pagan year celebrating renewal or rebirth celebrating the god of fertility – Ostara, and for a bonus point – […]
• Review: Saints of Ethiopia – An English Translation from Scriptorium Press
  Scriptorium Press is a new publisher, and offers a growing series of English translations of hagiographical texts.  Most of these are from the Greek.  All of them seem intended for use by the educated general reader with an interest in the lives of the saints. An interesting volume is their Saints of Ethiopia (140 pages, […]
• Review: A translation of the “Life of Saint Bede” (BHL 1069) from Scriptorium Press
  Scriptorium Press have kindly sent me two of their volumes for review.  The first of these is the Life of Saint Bede the Venerable (72 pages, C$12).  ISBN 9798869903341.  I wrote some notes on this before my injury.  The other is Saints of Ethiopia (140 pages, C$16).  ISBN 9798300901172, and unfortunately a review of this […]
• Admin
  I have injured my right hand.  It is De Quervains tendonitis, or so I am told.  They say it is caused by overuse, probably mouse and keyboard. Apparently I need to rest my right hand.  Apologies for the silence.
• J. A. Giles, “Complete works of Bede” – links to all the volumes
  Google books does not handle series of volumes very well.  It can require real determination and effort to locate the volumes of a series.  This afternoon I have had to do just this, in order to locate the 12 volumes of the 1843-4 edition of the works of the Venerable Bede.  These were edited by […]
• The Sermons of Pope Leo I (Leo the Great) – A Bibliographical Note
  A correspondent drew my attention to an English translation online of sermon 25 of Pope Leo I, or Leo the Great.  This appears on the Paths of Love blog here.  He noticed that it was not among the selection of sermons included in the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers collection, and asked whether it was genuine. […]
• Did the New Testament influence the text of the Greek Old Testament?
  In the course of writing my last post, I came across a curious quotation, which I give as follows, although I have overparagraphed it.  The discussion is about to a “long quotation” in Romans 3:10 f., “made up of a number of passages taken from different parts of the O.T.”: As a whole this conglomerate […]
• Baffled by a liturgical psalter
  I’ve just come back from a few days away, staying in an Anglican nunnery.  My girlfriend wanted to attend a retreat there, and my role was to act as chauffeur, factotum, and otherwise to stay out of the way.  Which I did. I did attend one service, and found myself reading responses from a modern […]
• Scriptorium Press – A New Series of Translations of Hagiographical Texts
  Scriptorium Press is a new publisher.  They started a year ago, and have a series of translations available, at very cheap prices.  Mainly these are of Greek hagiographical texts, which is wonderful to have. None of the texts translated have previously been translated. They are based in Canada, but their translations are available on Amazon.com […]
• Web hosting recommendations?
  Yesterday I received an evasive email from my long-term web host, Pair Networks.  After careful reading, it seems to mean that they are increasing the prices on all their shared hosting by 50%, starting on January 1, 2025.  That will take the price up from $12 a month to $20, which seems like a silly […]
• Compiling the Koran, bashing the Bible – a couple of interesting passages from the Hadith
  The internet is full of protagonists overstating their claims for every imaginable cause.  On Twitter I see many Muslim-bots making extreme claims about the origins of the Koran.  They tend to claim that no copy of it deviates at all from any other copy, ever.  They explain this extreme claim – no human error?  ever? […]
• A quote from Cyril of Alexandria about wax and communion
  An email yesterday with an interesting query, asking for the source of a quotation from Cyril of Alexandria (found here and many other places): Just as by melting two candles together you get one piece of wax, so, I think, one who receives the Flesh and Blood of Jesus is fused together with Him by […]
• “Views in Egypt,” by Luigi Mayer
  Earlier I came across a twitter post by the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, referencing a book unknown to me.  The book title is “Views in Egypt, from the original drawings in the possession of Sir Robert Ainslie, taken during his embassy to Constantinople by Luigi Mayer” and printed in London in 1801. The volume may […]
• Life of John Damascene by John, Patriarch of Jerusalem (BHG 884) – Part 4
  Here are the next four chapters of the “Jerusalem Life” of John Damascene.  John Damascene’s father has met an educated Italian slave named Cosmas in the market in Damascus, and employs him to teach his sons philosophy.     *    *    *    * 10.  John’s Father Frees Cosmas and Entrusts His Sons […]
• A wild claim – by Mary Boyce? – “Anahita, as the Immaculate Virgin Mother of the Lord Mithra”
  The United States has given the world much, including peace, democracy and an open internet, and much that is perhaps less attractive.  But it has also given us a vast surge of cranks and lunatics.  In certain fields of study there must be many an undergraduate tutor who finds that, every year, he must try […]
• A gorgeous votive relief to Cybele and Attis in Venice
  Yesterday the Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Venezia posted a gorgeous image on their twitter feed of a votive relief in their collection (inventory number 158).  It depicts Cybele (left) and Attis, with two women, mother and daughter, entering the shrine through doors. Just look at that, and admire. The origins of the piece are unknown, […]
• Attis: The Corpus Cultus Cybelae Attidisque (CCCA) volumes online and other stuff
  As well as his big index of Mithras monuments and inscriptions, Maarten Vermaseren also compiled a collection of monuments and inscriptions for Cybele and Attis.  He probably found that he had to do this while working on Mithras, simply because the two are often confused.  Indeed I’ve often seen Attis statues identified online as Mithras.  […]
• Lucian, Attis, and the “tragodopodagra” and a supposed “resurrection” of Attis
  Recently online I expressed the opinion that no version of the myth of the god Attis states that he was resurrected, until 350 AD when the story appears in Firmicus Maternus.  Prior to that date, the myth is that he was not. Not everyone reading this may recall the myth of Attis.  Here is a […]
• Life of John Damascene by John, Patriarch of Jerusalem (BHG 884) – Part 3
  The scene is the slave-market in Damascus, after a raid into the west.  Some of the captives taken by the Saracens are being sold, the rest are to be killed as worthless.  Among them, the dignified figure of the captive Italian monk Cosmas has drawn the attention of the father of John Damascene, who is […]
• Life of John Damascene by John, Patriarch of Jerusalem (BHG 884) – Part 2
  Let’s have the next four chapters of the “Jerusalem Vita” of John Damascene.  John is still a child living in Damascus under Arab rule.     *    *    *    * 5.  John’s ancestors were religious. His ancestors were pious, and they alone preserved the flower of piety and the fragrance of the […]
• From my diary
  My apologies for the lack of posting.  I have some minor health problems which seem to have got worse over the last couple of months, and are beginning to prevent me doing much at all.  I will post as and when I can.  I’ve seen quite a number of interesting items to post about, but […]
• Life of John Damascene by John, Patriarch of Jerusalem (BHG 884) – Part 1
  A couple of weeks ago, I made a translation of the first four chapters of BHG 884, the Life of John Damascene.  This text is attributed in the manuscripts, and also in the text printed in the Patrologia Graeca 94, cols. 429-490, to a certain “John, Patriarch of Jerusalem.”  Apparently this is John VII (964-966); […]
• From My Diary
  I’m afraid that I am easily distracted.  I still need to write another post on the Sacra Parallela of John Damascene (d. 745).  But while looking at Lequien’s 1712 edition, I found at the start of volume 1, on p.i-xxiv, a “Vita”: a hagiographical “Life” of John Damascene.  This was ascribed to a certain “John, Patriarch […]
• The “Sacra Parallela” of John Damascene
  In 1712, Michel Lequien printed the complete works of John Damascene (d. ca. 749) in two volumes (download from here and here), together with a Latin translation.  This edition was reprinted by Migne in the Patrologia Graeca, vols 95 and 96.  Among the genuine works, he printed in volume 2 a text which he called […]
• 1,000 British Library Manuscripts now back online!
  Today I learned that the British Library has made 1,000 manuscripts available online again.  They are here.  Scroll past the pretty-pretty stuff, and a very workable list appears, on three pages, in order of collection/fond.  Each row is a link, with shelfmark, date, and a quick summary of contents.  Most are Latin, but there are […]
• More on Pseudo-Josephus, “Discourse to the Greeks on Hades”
  In my last post, I mentioned that this Pseudo-Josephus text is transmitted to us in a range of manuscripts, but is also transmitted in the “Sacra Parallela.”   The Sacra is an immense anthology of extracts from the Fathers.  Since then I have been trying to find out more about the Sacra.  It was originally in […]
• Pseudo-Josephus, “A Discourse to the Greeks concerning Hades” – an investigation
  There is a text floating around the web under the title of “Josephus’s Discourse to the Greeks concerning Hades.”  The full title is “An extract out of Josephus’s discourse to the Greeks, concerning Hades: wherein are contained the souls of the righteous and the unrighteous.”  Bill Thayer has the most reliable version of the piece on […]
• Oh no! – Philo of Carpasia and his “Letter to Eucarpius” – Part 4
  In my last few posts, I’ve tracked down and translated the obscure “Letter to Eucarpius” by Philo of Carpasia.  All well and good, except… it’s not.  While googling yesterday, I discovered that it’s actually found among the Letters of Basil of Caesarea / Basil the Great, where it is letter 42, and directed to a […]
• Philo of Carpasia and his “Letter to Eucarpius” – Part 3 – Translation
  I’ve now made a translation from the modern Greek version of Philo of Carpasia’s Letter to Eucarpius, using a mixture of ChatGPT and Google Translate.  Unfortunately I had no access to an electronic text of the ancient Greek, but I was able to scan the modern Greek and work with that.  As usual, I make […]
• Who was Philo of Carpasia and why do we care?
  The name of Philo of Carpasia is known to… practically nobody.   I’d never heard it until a couple of weeks ago, when I learned that a long section of his Commentary on the Song of Songs existed in a manuscript in Ge`ez, classical Ethiopian, and indeed has been printed with Italian translation. This Carpasia […]
• Psalm 82 and Eusebius of Caesarea’s Commentary
  Psalm 82 is as follows (NIV): A psalm of Asaph. 1 God presides in the great assembly; he renders judgment among the “gods”: 2 “How long will you[a] defend the unjust and show partiality to the wicked?[b] 3 Defend the weak and the fatherless; uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed. 4 Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from […]
• From my diary – Philo of Carpasia and his “Letter to Eucarpios” – Part 2
  Many thanks indeed to Diego and Matthieu Cassin who both contributed a lot of useful information in response to my last post.  Let me summarise their comments. It seems that the K. Hadjioannos (1975) edition of Philo of Carpasia’s Letter to Eucarpios is a straight reprint of a text printed by A. Papadopoulos-Kerameus’ in Analekta […]
• Graham Kendrick, “Paid on the Nail” now available as MP3s
  This will mean nothing to most readers of the website, but today I learned by accident that the Graham Kendrick 1975 album “Paid on the Nail” is available for purchase online on his website here.  You have to look for the links, but look for “Paid on the Nail / Album Download:”  The album was […]
• From my diary – Philo of Carpasia and his “Letter to Eucarpios” – Part 1
  Last week I heard the name of Philo of Carpasia for the first time.  This Philo was ordained bishop of Carpasia in Cyprus by our old friend Epiphanius of Salamis, in the late 4th century.  He is the author of a Commentary on the Song of Songs, CPG 3810.  This is preserved in 10 Greek […]
• From my diary
  A sudden rush of emails has arrived.  I can only conclude that the summer is over, people are returning to their bulging email inboxes, and dropping emails to me.  Apologies to anyone that I have not yet replied to! One of the most interesting came from a mathematical gentleman interested in the calculation of the […]
• A Voyage to the Levant in 1698
  I’ve been dipping into a 1698 travelogue of the Near East.  It was written by a Dutchman, Cornelis de Bruyn, and thankfully translated more or less immediately into French, and then into English in 1702.  The author was a draughtsman, and made numerous drawings of everything he saw. I’ve been looking at the chapters on […]
• Back into the time machine – Greek words embedded in the Syriac of the “Life of Mar Aba”
  Back in 2013 I translated the “Life of Mar Aba” from the German translation into English, with an introduction.  Unless I am mistaken, this remains the only English translation of this very interesting text.  It captures the period in the 6th century when Christianity began to become acceptable in the Sassanid Persian empire.  At the […]
• English translation of letters on the Acacian schism in the early 5th century
  I’ve just come across this rather marvellous blog post, “The Libellus of Hormisdas and the Failure of Policy”. This is at the Ubi Petrus Ibi Ecclesia blog, previously unknown to me. The following are translations of key letters in the Acacian Schism and will be added to over time. A fairly niche subject, but wonderful […]
• Fragments of two lost plays by Euripides discovered in Egypt
  In November 2022 a Colorado classical scholar, Yvona Trnka-Amrhein, was sent a digital photograph of a papyrus containing 98 lines of text, and measuring 10.5 inches square, by Basem Gehad, an Egyptian archaeologist with the ministry of tourism and antiquities.  The papyrus came from Philadelphia, and the two scholars had been working together also at […]
• From my diary
  I finished OCRing the Novesianus edition of Ephraem Latinus, De Beatitudine Animae, although with some difficulty.  The text grew more and more abbreviated, until on the last page every single word was abbreviated somehow, anyhow.  It looks as if the editor/printer had allocated a certain amount of space, and got it wrong.  Very odd. I saw […]
• From my diary
  A very strange summer here, with hardly any summery weather.  I’ve been feeling rather stale for a while now, as you do, so I was looking forward very much to my holiday.  We had booked a trip away to a seaside town and left ten days ago.  Unfortunately my girlfriend got norovirus on day one […]
• From my diary: more on Ephraem Latinus, “De Beatitudine Animae”
  Finding myself slightly at a loose end yesterday, I found myself thinking about Ephraem Latinus.  This is a small collection of sermons in Latin (the so-called “paruum corpus sermonum”), mostly translated from Ephraem Graecus in antiquity.  I thought about making a post on these; and then I discovered that I did just that in 2018, […]
• Letter 43 of the Nestorian Patriarch Timothy I, on translating Greek philosophy into Arabic
  The newly discovered text of Porphyry, On Principles and Matter, (see yesterday) is actually mentioned in a letter written by the Nestorian patriarch Timothy I.  I find that an English translation of this exists, by Sebastian Brock, “Two letters of the Patriarch Timothy from the late eighth century on translations from Greek,” in: Arabic Sciences and […]
• A lost Greek philosophical text rediscovered in Syriac: Porphyry’s “On Principles and Matter”
  The discovery of a lost text from ancient times is not something that happens every day.  Obviously it’s exciting when it does!  Strangely a recent discovery seems to have passed mostly unnoticed. The text in question is On Principles and Matter, a text written by none other than the famous Porphyry, the late 3rd century […]
• Moses the Black: A Fake Quote?
  The following quotation has begun to spread online through “quotation” websites: You fast, but Satan does not eat. You labor fervently, but Satan never sleeps. The only dimension with which you can outperform Satan is by acquiring humility, for Satan has no humility. – Saint Moses the Black. Indeed this was posted on Twitter yesterday, […]
• From My Diary
  It’s almost midsummer, and the weather is definitely settling into hotter weather.  The brightness, the intensity of the sun, gives energy and we all start rushing about.  I’ve been in my garage, pulling stuff out on to the driveway, and throwing things away, donating others, and repacking.  There is little urge to sit in front […]
• Eostre in a manuscript of Bede’s De ratione temporum in Berlin
  Chapter 15 of Bede’s De ratione temporum, written in 723 AD, is headed “De mensibus Anglorum” – About the Months of the English – and contains fascinating details of the Old English months.  Most famous of these is April, known as Eosturmonath in Anglosaxon, and derived from an otherwise unknown goddess Eostre, which is the origin […]
• St Petroc: the hagiographical sources
  Tuesday 4th June was the day on which the Catholic church commemorates the Celtic saint, St Petroc; or “Saint Petroc’s Day,” as we say in English.  He belongs to the 6th century, and churches dedicated to St Petroc appear in Cornwall, Devon, and into Somerset, the area of the sub-Roman kingdom of Dumnonia. In  honour […]
• “Where is Bede? Why is he not here?” – A saying of Bede recorded by Alcuin
  May 25 is the feast day of the Venerable Bede, the Anglosaxon scholar monk of the early 8th century, who lived and died at the double monastery of Monkwearmouth-Jarrow in Northumberland.  I happened to see a quotation in a tweet by Fr. Luke Childs here, taken from the new St. Bernard Breviary, although the original […]
• From my diary
  In my last post I summarised as best I could the textual tradition of Plato, much of it from Pasquali’s Storia, written in 1934 (!).  After that, I returned to Pasquali, to see whether any other useful summaries of textual traditions lay hidden therein.  Sadly “hidden” is the right word.  The book is divided into […]
• How did the works of Plato reach us? – The textual tradition of the dialogues
  Plato’s works have reached us in medieval handwritten copies, the earliest written around 900 AD. The dialogues are arranged into nine groups of four dialogues, or “tetralogies.” These give us the works in complete form, from direct copying down the centuries. But there are also surviving fragments of ancient copies on papyrus, found in rubbish […]
• Bodleian Library manuscripts can now be downloaded as PDFs!!
  I was looking at the online copy of the Bodleian manuscript of Plato, the “Clarkianus” 39 (here), when I discovered something wonderful.  We can now download the whole thing as a PDF! This is just so amazing!  It also means that any cyber-attack can only do so much damage, if you have offline copies. Here’s […]
• Eutychius, “Annals” – translation updated
  I have now revised the translation of Eutychius’ preface, and chapter 1, and uploaded them to the same place. This will be version 0.2.  It’s here.
• The “Collectanea” of Pseudo-Bede
  There is a famous prophecy about the Colosseum, given in variable forms such as this: As long as the Colosseum stands, Rome shall stand. When the Colosseum falls, Rome will fall. But when Rome falls, the world will fall. The source for this is the “Collectanea” of pseudo-Bede. This is not a text that many […]
• From my diary
  I came across someone online who professed that the transmission of texts from antiquity was so full of mistakes that the modern copies are not reliable sources of information about the past.  I demurred, and the response was: We might say that Plato was right all along, what we see is but shadows projected on […]
• More sections of Philodemus’ history of the philosophers discovered, more info on Plato
  An Italian team has revealed that they have managed to read some more of a Herculaneum papyrus, with fascinating results.  They have found literary evidence that Plato was sold into slavery by the Spartans, perhaps in 399 BC, and also the location of his tomb, previously unrecorded. The literary text in question is the Σύνταξις […]
• The medieval book lists of Rochester Priory
  There are few more charming relics of the middle ages than the contemporary lists of the books owned by this abbey or that priory.  Usually written on a couple of leaves of some other volume, they give a wonderful picture of monastic libraries.  G. Becker’s Catalogi Bibliothecarum Antiqui (1885), online here, prints a great number […]
• Did he really? Could any scholar…? Apparently he did. Angelo Mai and the Editio Princeps of the Vatican Mythographers
  The “Vatican Mythographers” is a set of three ancient texts about pagan mythology, all originally published by Angelo Mai from Vatican manuscripts in 1831.   His edition has been reprinted since, and translated into English and French, but no critical edition has ever appeared. A paper appeared by Kathleen Elliot and J. P. Elder in 1947, […]
• The unfaithful Penelope – two variants in Greek myth
  Greek mythology was not static.  The stories contained within it could be modified by any poet at their pleasure.  Most of the legends exist in various forms, some of which turn it inside out altogether.  The source of this profusion is probably the need of entertainers to earn a living combined with the Greek fondness […]
• ChatGPT going haywire today in Eutychius
  This afternoon I have been working on the end of Eutychius, chapter one, where we encounter the story of Joseph and his less-than-amazing family problems.  As before I have interleaved the sentences: Italian first, my original translation second, and then the output from ChatGPT. But today it’s not working at all.  Today ChatGPT is generating […]
• From my diary
  I’m working away on revising the translation of Eutychius.  I am glad to say that I am really finding very few outright mistakes, which is encouraging.  I am most of the way through a revised version of chapter 1, and once this is complete then I will update the combined file, and change the version […]
• Eutychius, Annals, now combined into a single file
  It took me five years to turn Pirone’s Italian translation of Eutychius’ Annals into English, using Google Translate.  That process created 102 blog posts. People complained that they couldn’t find the bits that they wanted.  A kind correspondent wrote and emailed me a zip file of those posts, in 102 word documents. So I’ve done it.  […]
• An English translation of Asterius of Cappadocia, Homily 16 (On the Easter Vigil)
  A twitter post alerts me to the release of the first English translation of Homily 16 by Asterius of Cappadocia (CPG 2815, no.16).  It is one of a collection of 31 homilies which is listed in the CPG, under the title Commentarii in Psalmos, which seems odd.  A translation of an extract from homily 11 […]
• Easter: A translation error in Bede, De Ratione Temporum
  The word “Easter” is used only in English for the Christian commemoration of the death and resurrection of Christ.  In most languages the word is passover (pasch), or some version of it.  This is indeed what Easter is, the Christian version of passover.  That’s why it moves: Jesus was Jewish, and lived in Judaea, and […]
• From my diary
  I have started work on a revised translation of the Annals of the Arabic Christian writer Eutychius.  My approach is  to get the Italian text, get my existing translation, and get a translation from ChatGPT 3.5, and interleave them, sentence by sentence.  I’ve had to make some modifications to the somewhat crude tool that I […]
• From My Diary
  When you finish a project, there are always two competing feelings.  The first is to rush into something else, another project of the same kind.  But looking around my desktop, I do seem to have caught up. The only folder left is to the translation of Eutychius “Annals.”  This 10th century Arabic Christian chronicle is […]
• The “Life” of St Mewan / S. Mevennus / Saint-Méen (BHL 5944) – now online in English
  I’ve now completed a draft translation of the medieval “Saint’s Life” of St Mewan, a Welsh saint whose legend is mainly set in Brittany.  St Mewan seems to belong to the early 7th century, but the Life dates to the 10-11th century.  Only one manuscript contains the full text, which is preserved in a manuscript […]
• From My Diary
  I’m working on an English translation of St Mewan.  I’m about halfway through at the moment.  I’m using Google Translate and ChatGPT 3.5 to do the heavy liftiing, and working on the output. ChatGPT is really quite unstable.  When it works, it’s great, but sometimes it silently returns the Google Translate output the for the […]
• Constantine V: the Virgin Mary was like “an empty purse, no different to any other post partum woman”
  Here’s an interesting question: A colleague informed me that at the iconoclast Synod of Hieria in 754 the Emperor Constantine V compared the pregnant Virgin Mary to a purse containing gold coins of great value. After giving birth to Christ he then compared her to an empty purse, no different to any other post partum […]
• St David – a bibliography of the medieval “Lives”
  March 1 is St David’s Day.  St David was a Welsh saint who died around 601.  He appears in some of the 13th century versions of the Annals of Wales (Annales Cambriae).  An English translation of a combined text gives him in two entries: St. David is born in the thirtieth year after Patrick left […]
• Ephraem Graecus, “Threni” or “The Lamentations of the Virgin Mary before the cross” (CPG 4085)
  Yesterday I discussed a short but spurious piece attributed to Ephraem Graecus, the “Threni” or “Lamentatins of the Virgin Mary before the cross” (CPG 4085).  It’s actually a set of Greek verses from the 14th or 15th century.  Assemani only printed – or rather pirated – a Latin translation of the early modern period.  But […]
• A “Prayer of Saint Ephrem the Syrian (306-373)”: actually an excerpt from Ephraem Graecus, CPG 4085
  Here’s an interesting one, from a random link: a “Prayer of Saint Ephrem the Syrian (306-373)”: Blessed Virgin, immaculate and pure, you are the sinless Mother of your Son, who is the mighty Lord of the universe. Since you are holy and inviolate, the hope of the hopeless and sinful, I sing your praises. I […]
• Looking at the “Life” of St Mewan
  St Mewan, as he is known in Cornwall – known as Saint Méen in Brittany, and Sanctus Mevennus in Latin – was a Breton saint.  The Bibliotheca Hagiographica Latina states that he died in “Britannia Armonica” in the 7th century, and is commemorated on the 21 June.  His “Life” (BHL 5944) is said to be 11th […]
• Import Turnpike Emails into Thunderbird – for free
  When I first came onto the web in 1997, I used Demon Internet, and their “Turnpike” software on Windows.  All my emails until about 2012 were done that way, safely offline, when I moved to Gmail.  I still have my Turnpike directory on my PC, and, even on Windows 11, Turnpike.exe opens, and all my […]
• An index of available translations on this site to download
  This blog is getting large.  A lot of patristic and other texts have been translated and placed here.  I thought that a list, linking to the posts, and also directly to the PDF and the Word file, might be helpful.  So I have compiled one, and placed it in the side-bar under Translations Available For […]
• From My Diary
  Working as a computer programmer meant working on a series of “projects” to deliver some software system, or, more often, a package of enhancements to some existing system.  Once you finished the project, there was often a lull while the code was released to production.  In that time, you would tidy up; do various little […]
• A new project: “translating key pieces of patristic pseudepigrapha into English” by Nathan Porter
  A post on Bluesky by Nathan Porter: Now online, and coming soon to an airport near you, is the first English translation of the Pseudo-Athanasian work, De Incarnatione et contra Arianos. academia.edu/114648612/Ps… So begins my long-term project of translating key pieces of patristic pseudepigrapha into English. Coming soon: Ps-Basil, Against Eunomius IV and V Ps-Athanasius, […]
• Three more miracle stories of St Nicholas: BHL 6177, 6178 and 6209
  Last year I created a file with the Latin text of 47 of the medieval miracle stories of St Nicholas, and a draft English translation for each.  Three more stories were left unfinished, containing BHL 6177 (the miracles at Angers), BHL 6178 (the miracles at Brauweiler), and BHL 6209 (a musical miracle at the Cluniac […]
• From My Diary
  The other evening I realised with a shock that the project with the St Nicholas material is actually done.  My original intention was to make the oldest hagiographical material available in English translation, and this I have achieved.  With the translation of the “Life of St Nicholas” by Methodius (ad Theodorum), which originally drew me […]
• Methodius ad Theodorum (BHG 1352y) – now online in English
  Here is the final version of the “Life of St Nicholas” by Methodius “ad Theodorum” – to Theodore. Methodius ad Theodorum-Life of St Nicholas (PDF) Methodius ad Theodorum-Life of St Nicholas The files are also on Archive.org here.  As usual, this material is public domain.  Make whatever use of it you like, personal, educational or […]
• How does “AI translation” work? Some high-level thoughts
  The computer world is a high-bullshit industry.   Every computer system consists of nothing more than silicon chips running streams of ones (1) and zeros (0), however grandly this may be dressed-up.  The unwary blindly accept and repeat the words and pictures offered by salesmen with something to sell.  These are repeated by journalists who need […]
• Translations of St Nicholas of Myra material on this website
  I’ve just created a page on this blog with links to every post that contains a translation of one or the other of the medieval texts containing St Nicholas material.  It’s here. Looking back, I started taking an interest in 2013.  The first translations of the legends appeared in 2015.  The most recent was earlier […]
• Methodius ad Theodorum (BHG 1352y) Part 4 – A Draft Translation using AI
  Sometimes the only way forward is to plunge in, and see what happens.  So I have taken the modern Greek translation of Methodius ad Theodorum by Ch. Stergioulis, and machine-translated it into English.  The results are attached, together with Stergioulis original, which has the ancient Greek facing the modern Greek, and footnotes at the end. […]
• Memory and the Internet: Dales Week, Montague Goodman, Ian Balfour, and Me
  Yesterday, on a whim, I went to Google and searched for “Dales Week”.  Few today will remember what this was.  The Dales Bible Week was a Christian festival held at Harrogate in the late 70s and early 80s.  It was very influential.  Tapes of the worship were in the hands of many of my friends.  […]
• On the typing of Greek
  I remember when the pre-unicode SPIonic font was the best way to enter polytonic Greek text.  You typed in a series of characters – “qeo/j”, changed the font, and the same letters now displayed as θεός.  It related very well to the betacode way of doing things, and I think we all got on well […]
• St Valentine and the Martyrologium Hieronymianum
  Wikipedia is a fertile source of fake history.  Reading the article about St Valentine, I came across the following claim: However, there is a reference to his feast day on 14 February in the Martyrologium Hieronymianum,[19] which was compiled between 460 and 544 from earlier local sources. This appears around the web, as evidence that the feast […]
• Nuisance “Discover more from” popup
  I discovered yesterday that a nagging popup has started appearing when trying to comment: Discover more from Roger Pearse Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive. Type your email… Subscribe Continue reading I didn’t do this, so I’m sorry for the nuisance.  It turns out to be something WordPress silently […]
• The perils of AI translation
  Rather excited by the discoveries that AI would translate medieval Greek, I thought I’d try another attempt at that Ge`ez text that I put into Google Translate some time back.  That is a homily on St Garima by a certain bishop John.  I found the text on my disk, and put a paragraph into Bard […]
• Methodius ad Theodorum (BHG 1352y) using AI on medieval Greek – part 3
  In the last post, we tried out various AI tools to translate the modern Greek version of Methodius ad Theodorum into English.  But in the previous post commenter Diego had considerable success doing the same with the original medieval Greek of chapter 3!  So I thought it might be interesting to see what might be […]
• “…whose names are justly reverenced among men, but whose acts are known only to God” – a fake quote
  There are many pages around the internet which say something like this: The feast of St. Valentine of February 14 was first established in 496 by Pope Gelasius I, who included Valentine among all those “… whose names are justly reverenced among men, but whose acts are known only to God.” But the quotation is […]
• Methodius ad Theodorum (BHG 1352y) in modern Greek – part 2
  Using AI and a dictionary, let’s try out the translation approach from my last post on a further chapter of this modern Greek translation of the Life of St Nicholas by Methodius.  Here’s the text, hopefully with few OCR errors: 4. Διηγήθηκα, λοιπόν, σύντομα τούτο το γεγονός, αν και ήταν περιττό, προκειμένου να μπολιάσω στις […]
• AI Translation of modern Greek once more
  In my last two posts here and here, I looked at AI and other translations of the following passage from Ch. Stergioulis’ modern Greek translation of the “Life of St Nicholas” by Methodius, Archbishop of Constantinople (the “Methodius ad Theodorum”: 3. Καταγόταν ο Νικόλαος από τα Πάταρα, πόλη της επαρχίας των Λυκίων, η οποία εκείνη […]
• Is Google now doomed? Wild thoughts and conspiracy theories below!
  I have just spent an interesting hour on the PC since my last post.  Those who read it will recall that I posted some modern Greek, and then the Google Translate output for it – good, but by no means perfect.  It then occurred to me to try Microsoft’s Bing AI.  The output from that […]
• Methodius ad Theodorum (BHG 1352y) in modern Greek – part 1
  I’ve now obtained access to the modern Greek translation by Ch. Stergioulis of the “Life of St Nicholas” composed by Methodius I, patriarch of Constantinople, around 843 AD, and dedicated to a certain Theodore.  I’ve OCR’d the text using Abbyy Finereader 15, and corrected it – I had to install the Greek language patch into […]
• A collection of modern Greek translations of St Nicholas legends
  An interesting volume of St Nicholas literature has come to my attention, published in 2017. I learned of it from the wonderful Dumbarton Oaks list of Translations of Byzantine Saints Lives.  It contains modern Greek translations of a number of the early Greek “Lives” of St Nicholas. You may wonder why most of us care.  […]
• So… farewell, Abbyy Finereader, but why did you just commit suicide?
  It must be 20 years ago or more that I first stumbled upon the OCR software, Abbyy Finereader.  I was enthralled, and I bought it, with the option for Cyrillic recognition.  At the time the word was that it had originally been developed for the KGB!  It was much better than anything else. Since that […]
• From my diary
  Happy New Year, everybody.  We can leave behind all the chores of last year, and plan to do some good things. Over the Christmas period, I took a long hard look at the St Nicholas project, and decided that it was time to guillotine it and actually release something.  I was just getting deeper and […]
• John the Deacon, “Life of St Nicholas” – now online in English
  I have finally completed my translation of the “Life of St Nicholas of Myra” by John the Deacon (BHL 6104, 6105, 6106 etc).  Written around 880 AD, it is the foundation text for the entire western tradition of legends about St Nicholas.  There are no critical editions of the Latin, and all of the early […]
• “Scriptor Syrus”, the scholiast on Dionysius bar Salibi: oft-quoted, but from where?
  Something that comes around every year at this time is a quotation from a certain “Scriptor Syrus,” supposedly about the origins of Christmas.  Often it is supposed to be 4th century. This is the usual wording. It was a custom of the pagans to celebrate on the same Dec. 25 the birthday of the sun, […]
• Working with Bauer’s 1783 translation of Bar Hebraeus’ “History of the Dynasties”
  Following my last post, I’ve started to look at the PDFs of Bauer’s 1783-5 German translation of Bar Hebraeus’ History of the Dynasties. It must be said that the Fraktur print is not pleasant to deal with.  But it could be very much worse!  I’ve seen much worse.  Here’s the version from Google Books: And […]
• The “Historia Dynastiarum” or “History of the Dynasties” by Barhebraeus
  The last of the five big Arabic Christian histories is the Historia Dynastiarum (Tarikh Mukhtasar Ad-Duwal) of Bar Hebraeus.  This is a revision, abbreviation, and expansion, of his Syriac world history, the Chronicum Syriacum.  There seems very little evidence in Google that the Historia Dynastiarum has received very much attention. Here is a Google Translate version […]
• An adventurer in Arab Christian Studies – Prof. Bartolomeo Pirone
  None of the histories of Arabic Christian literature – Agapius, Eutychius, Yahya ibn Said al-Antaki, Al-Makin, Bar Hebraeus – exist in English translation.  This site has made some modest efforts to remedy this, by turning the French translation of Agapius and the Italian translation of Eutychius into English, and posting them online.  Judging from queries […]
• Getting manuscript reproductions in the UK – important and useful court judgement?
  Via Dr Bendor Grosvenor on Twitter, I learn of an interesting court case about “image fees”.  According to Dr. G, this is very good news for manuscript researchers, and historians in general, and also for those who want to download and post online images of out-of-copyright material.  Here’s his thread: Those of us who’ve had […]
• A new Mithraeum at Aquincum / Budapest, Hungary.
  The Roman military site of Aquincum near Budapest in Hungary is already known for five temples of Mithras.  A housing development in the area has uncovered a sixth temple, discovered in the summer and just now reported by Oliver Kovács in a Hungarian archaeological website, Muemlekem.hu.  There are a number of photos with the article!  […]
• A modern “quote” from St Nicholas?
  On various websites you can find the following quotation, attributed to St Nicholas of Myra: The giver of every good and perfect gift has called upon us to mimic God’s giving, by grace, through faith, and this is not of ourselves. No source is given, however. A google search revealed no results prior to 2015, […]
• Arabic Christian Historians: Yahya ibn Sa`id al-Antaki
  When the early Muslims conquered the Near East, they subjugated large areas populated by Christians, politically part of the Greek-speaking Eastern Roman empire, but speaking either Syriac or Coptic.  Over time these were forced to adopt Arabic, and to translate their literature into that language from the 9th century onwards.  This multi-lingual environment produced the […]
• Al-Makin: Critical edition and English translation published!
  Arabic Christian literature is little known to most of us.  It is the literature of the Christian communities of the Near East, the Syriac and Coptic worlds, after they were overrun by Islam, and their languages started to fade under the pressure of the dominant Arabic-speaking culture.  Naturally much of it begins with translations from […]
• Where do I find a list of the Melkite patriarchs of Alexandria?
  Recently something or other drew my attention to a mysterious saint named “John the Merciful”.  A google search took me to a dreadful Wikipedia article – since modified – which merely repeated anecdotes from his Life, itself online elsewhere.  He was described as “John V” and patriarch of Alexandria. With some effort, I discovered that […]
• Review: Saints at the Limits: Seven Byzantine Popular Legends
  Stratis Papaioannou, Saints at the Limits: Seven Byzantine Popular Legends (Dumbarton Oaks medieval library 78), Harvard (2023).  ISBN 9780674290792.  $35.  Introduction online here.  Buy at Amazon.com here. The medieval religious folk-stories known as the “Lives of the Saints” are an under-studied form of medieval literature.  The stories themselves often arise from the people, and are […]
• Admin
  On the 3rd October there was a close family bereavement.  There is, inevitably, a ridiculous amount of things to do.  So posting will be very light for a while, and emails may not be responded to.  No offence intended.
• Another AI Translation Experiment: Old Slavonic
  This post at Three Pillars Blog came to my attention yesterday.  Scott Cooper is experimenting with Google Translate and ChatGPT AI to see whether we can get anything useful out of Old Church Slavonic. As you can see, Google’s language detection isn’t entirely useless with OCS. Apparently early Cyrillic and it’s modern Bulgarian equivalent, as […]
• Ephrem Graecus – Published English translations coming soon
  Ephrem the Syrian is the most famous of the Syriac writers; but there is a mass of material in Greek attributed to him.  Some of it is translations of the Syriac, but most is clearly not.  It looks as if there was a fashion for writing in his style at one point. Unfortunately this large […]
• Latin translations of the Greek fathers in Dark Ages monastic manuscript inventories
  How widely known were the Greek fathers in the Latin world during the Dark Ages?  How accessible were they? One possible source of information is the surviving inventories of medieval libraries.  A collection of these was printed by G. Becker in 1885 as Catalogi Bibliothecarum Antiqui, and it makes interesting reading indeed.  In fact if […]
• Cyril of Alexandria on posthumous anathemas
  Letter 72 of Cyril of Alexandria, To Proclus, Bishop of Constantinople, is an interesting item.  The Greek is in PG77, column 344, and there is an English translation by John McEnerny in FOC77, p.72 f.  Nestorius has been deposed and exiled, and the hapless Proclus installed in his stead as bishop of Constantinople.  Cyril has […]
• Some thoughts about interpolation in patristic texts
  The term “Theotokos” (“Mother of God”) becomes the subject of fierce controversy in the 5th century AD.  The dispute was perhaps more political than religious – Constantinople versus Alexandria – but was fought with great ferocity, and lavish bribery, and ended in the victory of Cyril of Alexandria and the exile of Nestorius and indeed […]
• 16 page lost section of ancient “Julian Romance” text discovered in Vatican manuscript
  A pair of researchers have discovered and published a lost ancient text in the Vatican library.  It’s the long-lost opening portion of a text usually dated to the early 6th century, and known as the “Julian Romance.” This is a novelisation of the reign of Julian the Apostate, who reigned ca. 362 AD, and his […]
• From my diary
  My apologies for the silence.  Unfortunately I caught Covid at the start of the month, and I have been out of action ever since.  The symptoms are no worse than a cold, but I’m still testing positive even now.  I gather that rushing back to work afterwards is one of the primary causes of Long […]
• More experiments with Amharic and technology
  In my last post I found that it was possible to turn a PDF full of images of Amharic text into recognised electronic text using Google Drive, and then get some translation of the results into English using Google Translate. There were some extremely interesting comments made on the post, which I have been reading.  […]
• Listening to Hard Rock helps Egyptologist make Middle-Kingdom Papyrus Discovery
  In 2010 a doctoral student at Johns-Hopkins University in Baltimore named Marina Escolano-Poveda was present at a conference of Egyptologists in Mallorca. While there she visited the small and obscure local museum.  There she discovered some papyrus fragments written in demotic.  Over time she studied these and found them to belong to the early Middle […]
• Is it possible to read editions of Amharic texts? An experiment
  In my last post I mentioned how the Life of St Garima in Ethiopian was printed by Rossini, but without a translation.  In fact it has never been translated into any modern language, to my knowledge.  I don’t know any Ethiopian, and I doubt that I ever will. But we live in an age of […]
• An Ethiopic Legend: Abba Garima copied the Bible in a Single Day
  Here’s an interesting one, which I came across today.  There is an early set of gospels in Ethiopia, at the Abuna Garima monastery in Ethiopia’s Tigrai Highlands.  An article in the Independent 6 July 2010 by Jerome Taylor tells us: The monks have their own legend about how the gospels came into their possession. They […]
• Theotokos: A review of the scholarship on the paleographical date of P.Ryl. III 470 (“Sub Tuum Praesidium”)
  In 1929 papyrologist C.H. Roberts published a papyrus fragment from Egypt.  The text is in Greek, and is a Christian prayer, containing the word “theotokos”.  The fragment is held by the John Rylands Library in Manchester, where it has the shelfmark P.Rylands 407 (online here).  Here is the excellent image from that site: The statements […]
• From My Diary
  I intend to write a post about the often repeated date of a papyrus, R.Ryl. III 407, which uses the word “Theotokos”.  As part of this, I’ve been collecting journal articles in order to find out what the actual arguments are, and what scholarship has been done.  It begins to look very much as if […]
• A photo of the Meta Sudans from the Palatine
  Here’s yet another picture of the conical stub of the now vanished Roman fountain, the Meta Sudans, in front of the Colosseum. It was posted online here, where it is described as “late 19th century”. I wish we had more 20th century photographs of the Meta Sudans.  There ought to be legions of them.  
• The Last Known Senatus Consultum of the Roman Senate?
  In Massimiliano Vitiello, Amalasuintha: The Transformation of Queenship in the Post-Roman World, University of Pennsylvania Press, (2017), p.93, we learn of the problem of bribery in Papal elections during the Ostrogothic rule of Italy.  He quotes a letter in 533 AD to Pope John II, preserved in Cassiodorus Variae, Book 9, letter 15, from which we […]
• Every one of us has two guardian angels, a good one encouraging, and a bad one tempting – patristic sources
  Via Twitter I learn of this fascinating statement by Prof. Tom Ward: I just learned through Peter Lombard (Sent II.XI) that Gregory of Nyssa and Origen thought that each human soul not only has a (good) guardian angel, but a (bad) tempting angel (=demon). I’d always thought this was just a cartoon thing. I enquired […]
• Theotokos: Pierius of Alexandria
  Our next possible candidate for the earliest use of the term “Theotokos” is Pierius of Alexandria, who died “after 309 AD”.  Our source isn’t great for this, for it is some fragments, which may or may not be by Philip of Side (ca. 380-431+), whose vast history of the early church has otherwise perished. Back […]
• Theotokos: ps.Dionysius of Alexandria’s Letter to Paul of Samosata
  In my last post we looked at whether Origen used the word “Theotokos” (Mother of God) for the virgin Mary.  Let’s continue this by looking at another supposed 3rd century use of the term, in Dionysius of Alexandria, Letter to Paul of Samosata (CPG 1708). Dionysius died in 264 AD, and the text does indeed […]
• From my diary
  We take for granted the availability of so much on the internet, that it can come as a shock when we need to go and physically find articles and books.  Of course even 20 years ago, that was routine.  But not every language group has kept up.  German articles in particular are very hard to […]
• How long does it take to produce a professional translation from Latin?
  A fascinating twitter thread by Dr Jenny Benham (blog here), on translating a 1500 word medieval treaty text.  We don’t get many explanations of the process!  (Paragraphing is mine) A colleague has asked me how long it takes to do a translation from Latin into English of one of my treaties. I don’t think he […]
• Theotokos: Did Origen use the term “Theotokos” for Mary?
  There are many websites online that suggest that Origen used the word “theotokos”, “Mother of God”, to refer to Mary the mother of Jesus.  Often the same references float around, or none are  given.  The term “theotokos” was a controversial one in the 5th century, and the determination of some people to use it was […]
• Roberto Caro on the date of the “Oration concerning Simeon and Anna” of Pseudo-Methodius
  In my last post on the Sermo de Symeone et Anna, “Oration concerning Simeon and Anna” (CPG 1827), I mentioned that I had no access to the discussion in R. Caro, La homilética mariana griega en el siglo V (= Greek Marian Homilies in the 5th Century), Dayton, Ohio (1971-2), vol.2, pp. 610-617.  But commenter “Diego” kindly […]
• Bits and Bobs 4
  This is another page of miscellaneous material.  It’s mostly from Twitter.  I bookmarked it over the last 4-5 years, with the intention of writing more, but never did.  So I may as well share them here. The first item is a combined fork and spoon, made of silver, possibly 3rd century, from the Metropolitan Museum […]
• Bits and Bobs 3 – More stuff from the inbox
  Here are a few more items from my pending file. There is a project dedicated to the Coptic Magical Papyri, which ran from 2018-2023.  The website is here. Our goal is to advance the study of the corpus of Coptic “magical texts” – manuscripts written on papyrus, as well as parchment, paper, ostraca and other […]
• The Letter of Claudius to the Alexandrians
  In 41 AD an embassy arrived in Rome from the Greeks of Alexandria.  The emperor Claudius responded with a letter, which was read in the city.  The Prefect of Egypt, L. Aemilius Rectus, then ordered copies to be made and circulated to other cities of the region, with a covering letter dated 10 November 41.  […]
• More Bits and Bobs
  Here are a few more miscellaneous items which I squirreled away as I saw them, some as long ago as 2018.  I thought that I would delve into these further, but I never did.  Now that people are deleting their Twitter accounts, it’s worthwhile to preserve some of these. Ancient books were written on rolls […]
• Does Jerome say that Christians need never shower again after baptism?
  Some websites claim that Jerome said that after being baptized you didn’t need to take a shower ever again.  For instance this website states: In fact, the association between the bath and baptism was so strong that some Christians, like the particularly grumpy St Jerome, argued that once you’d been baptised you didn’t need to […]
• Why we should use Latin spellings of Greek names
  A twitter thread by @EzhmaarSul from June 11, 2023, made some interesting points about the use in English of spellings like “Nikaia” rather than “Nicaea”. Few will have seen it, and I’ve never seen another public discussion of the subject.  So let’s give it a bit more visibility. It went as follows: Something I really […]
• New(ish) Patristic Blog – The Three Pillars
  I’ve just become aware of a blog that started in 2021 called The Three Pillars.  It’s written by Scott Cooper, another layman like myself.  The blog is devoted to church history stuff, just as I do here.  It’s very nice to see a new blog in this space! Recent posts include: Hugh of Saint-Victor On […]
• Why Minucius Felix is later than Tertullian
  The “Octavius” of Minucius Felix is one of the most attractive works of early Latin Christianity.  It features three friends going to the baths at Ostia, when one of them kisses his hand to a statue of Serapis.  Reproved by the other, the three settle down to debate the merits of paganism and Christianity.  There […]
• Bits and Bobs and Asset Strippers in Libraries
  I’ve been away on holiday in York.  It was very grey and rained a lot of the time. But I stayed in a hotel in a very central location and I enjoyed myself anyway.  One day I went up onto the city walls, using the stairs at the medieval gateway named Mickelgate Bar.  I walked […]
• Archivo Pertzii??
  Here’s a reference guaranteed to waste the time of a researcher.  It’s from the Bibliotheca Hagiographica Latina: This is some miracle material associated with the abbey of Brauweiler.  But… what is “Archivo Pertzii”?? I did find out, but it was enough work that I thought I’d put up a blog post, in case I forget and […]
• A new use for the parallel Latin translations in the Patrologia Graeca
  Now that we have a very effective Latin translation in Google translate, it occurs to me that we can also use this to read a great deal of patristic Greek.  For as we all know, the Greek fathers were all translated into Latin at the renaissance and after, and were nearly always printed with parallel […]
• The Dictionary of Medieval Names from European Sources
  A few minutes ago I learned of a marvellous project to create the Dictionary of Medieval Names from European Sources (DMNES).  This is under development, although a lot now exists, but a blog is available, and is itself a rather wonderful thing: The dictionary aims to contain all given (fore, Christian) names recorded in European […]
• Is it a waste of time for us to make translations of ancient texts?
  Earlier this evening I was working away on a translation of one of the medieval St Nicholas miracle stories, BHL 6177, the “Miracles at Angers”.  I was using Google translate on the Latin text, which was producing some very decent quality outputs.  Then I was checking and correcting it.  It did indeed need correcting, but […]
• The date and authenticity of the “Oration concerning Simeon and Anna” of Pseudo-Methodius
  The literature of antiquity is transmitted to us mainly in handwritten medieval books.  These are often more like loose-leaf binders than modern books, and can contain all sort of things.  A great number of ancient and medieval sermons appear in these volumes.  This is quite natural, since the volumes were copied exclusively by monks for […]
• Working out the manuscript affinities from a collation
  Yesterday I finally finished collating the 4 editions and a selected 12 manuscripts of John the Deacon’s Life of St Nicholas.  This gives me a Word .docx file with every line of the text, the collation beneath it, and my translation under that.  In the left margin, it gives me a list of significant-looking variants: I’ve […]
• From My Diary
  My last post on the “Praedestinatus” brought back a memory or two.  If my memory serves me correctly, this was the very text that caused me to seek out the Patrologia Latina for the first time, almost quarter of a century ago.  A reference in Quasten for the “Tertullianistae” was the prompt.  So I drove […]
• The “Praedestinatus” – an anonymous 5th century text on the “Predestinarian heresy”
  In 1643 in Paris, Jacques Sirmond printed a previously unknown Latin text of the 5th century.  He had discovered it in the cathedral library at Reims.  His edition is online here.  The manuscript that he used is now Reims B.M. 70, 9th century (online here), and gives no title or indication of the author.  But […]
• 20th century annotations in the margins of a Darmstadt manuscript
  This evening I was looking at a manuscript – specifically Darmstadt 344, written in the 3rd quarter of the 11th century (catalogue here, online here).  I have a PDF of the manuscript – sadly monochrome, but quite readable – and I started to look for what is “chapter 14” of the life of St Nicholas, […]
• Eusebius of Emesa, “De Poenitentia” / “On Penitence” / “On Repentance” – now online in English
  Eusebius of Emesa flourished in the 340s AD, and was identified with the anti-Nicene party.  Only one of his works has survived in the original Greek, a short homily on penitence.  The rest of his works existed only in fragments until Eligius Buytaert located 29 homilies in antique Latin translations in two manuscripts in France. […]
• From My Diary
  When the sun is suddenly very hot and the sky is now a blinding blue, it’s hard to go into the study and work on the PC.  It seems rather a waste!  So I have been busy with other things.  The last day or so was spent in buying and setting up a mobile air-conditioning […]
• Tertullian, De Baptismo – new text and Italian translation available online
  Francesco Pieri kindly writes to let me know of a new edition and Italian translation of one of the works of Tertullian: I have just edited a slightly revised edition of De Baptismo: it is fully available on line and free for download: http://www2.classics.unibo.it/eikasmos/index.php?page=doc_pdf/studi_online/05_tertulliano Looking at the site, I find this useful notice (I’ve tweaked […]
• Methodius of Olympus, De Cibis – critical edition in progress
  Most of the works of the Ante-Nicene writer Methodius of Olympus (ca. 300 AD) do not survive in Greek.  Instead they are preserved only in Old Slavonic –  a language known to very few in the west -, plus a few catena fragments.  I became aware of this a few years ago, and Ralph Cleminson […]
• A curious quotation of Matthew 17:19 in Latin
  In chapter 10 of John the Deacon’s 9th century “Life of St Nicholas” (BHL 6105), we find the following quotation from the gospel of Matthew: Porro nemini hoc incredibile videatur, quia salvatoris est ista promissio, dicentis, “Si habueritis fidem sicut granum sinapis, dicetis monti,  ‘Transfer te,’ et transferetur.” Moreover let this not seem incredible to […]
• From my diary
  Tomorrow I hope to go up to Cambridge University Library.  I’ve applied online to renew my card, paid them the money they see fit to exact, discovered a Facebook “memory” that tells me that, ten years ago, I was doing exactly the same thing.  While there I hope to look at a Corpus Christianorum volume.  […]
• Closing the brothels – the Vandals in Carthage
  An interesting passage in Will Durant’s The Story of Civilization IV: The Age of Faith,: (1950), p.30.  The author summarises an argument by Salvian of Marseilles, ca. 450 AD, De Gubernatione Dei, “On the Government of God”. The Vandal chieftain Gaiseric, on capturing Christian Carthage, was shocked to find a brothel at almost every comer; he closed […]
• When did the free bread stop in Constantinople?
  A feature of imperial Rome was the “annona”, the distribution of free bread to the plebs.  This naturally created a large but idle population, and created servility out of a free people.  “Free stuff” tends to do that.  It is remarkable that, when Constantinople was created, the emperor decided to institute a similar system there.  […]
• From my diary – more on the textual criticism of John the Deacon
  Last weekend I started reworking some code in QuickLatin, in order to allow me to add syntax notes on the fly, rather than having to break off and make code changes every time.  This went well, but is only partly done.  I had to break off early in the week to attend to other things, […]
• Making Arabic Literature Accessible – Joep Lameer
  I was delighted to hear that somebody had sorted out Brockelmann’s Geschichte der arabischen Litteratur, and produced an English translation.  This was a Herculean job, and the man who did it was Dutch scholar Joep Lameer.  I was even more delighted to hear that he is at work on translating Sezgin’s Geschichte des arabischen Schrifttums, […]
• Fundamental Reference Works for the Study of Arabic Literature
  Arabic literature is a closed book to most of us, and it is hard to know where to start, where to find out what exists. People refer to “the Hadith”, but where would you find this? In fact there is an incredibly useful summary of the reference works to use, which I came across a […]
• An English translation of Brockelmann’s “Geschichte der arabischen Litteratur”!
  If you want to know what texts exist in Arabic, then the classic resource is Carl Brockelmann’s Geschichte der arabischen Litteratur, published in seven volumes, in a terrible, disorganised, highly abbreviated format, starting in the 19th century.  This is essentially unreadable, even if you have good German. The first 2 volumes are the original edition; […]
• From my diary
  I had forgotten how much I despise Microsoft software.  A couple of hours ago I decided to make a fix to my QuickLatin code.  More fool me.  Three hours later, I am no further forward and have spent the entire time struggling with their wretched development environment.  It was all working before I started.  I […]
• Analysing the manuscripts of the Life of St Nicholas by John the Deacon – part 2 – the 12th c. manuscripts
  In my last post, I analysed the 9-11th century manuscripts of John the Deacon, and found that they fell neatly into three families.  These I have colour-coded as green, blue and purple.  I’ve only really got three data points, so this is all a bit provisional.  The other three turned out not to vary much. […]
• Apologies for spam
  Spam is now starting to appear here in the comments.  For this I apologise.  It seems that Akismet have decided to force everyone to pay for their product.  To make us do this, this evening they have disabled my API key without warning.  Please bear with me while I deal with this. Greed is horrible. […]
• Analysing the manuscripts of the Life of St Nicholas by John the Deacon
  I have made a full collation of all the 9-10th century manuscripts of John the Deacon’s Life of St Nicholas, as far as the beginning of chapter 6, where manuscript Q (BNF lat. 17625) breaks off.  I’ve recollated the first chapter, since I did that in a rather perfunctory way. But how do I work […]
• From my diary
  For the last week I have been steadily collating a group of manuscripts against my text of John the Deacon’s Life of St Nicholas.  I have a list of the earliest manuscripts accessible to me, in century order.  I have a 9th century manuscript (M), and three 10th century manuscripts (P, Q and O), which […]
• A new BHL-type database of Latin hagiographical texts and manuscripts at the IRHT?
  It seems that something is going on at the IRHT (= L’Institut de recherche et d’histoire des textes).  For those who do not know, the IRHT is the French manuscripts people.  They do all sorts of very useful things.  But there is no announcement, nor much online.  It’s a new database, designed to allow you […]
• From my diary
  I have returned to working on the Latin text of the Life of St Nicholas by John the Deacon, collating it against a bunch of manuscripts. Working on the text is a question of repeated passes, as I learn more and work out what I need to do.  Last time I combined the 13 chapters into […]
• Plutei manuscripts online at the Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, but … not useful
  UPDATE: A comment below informs me that the address for the BML is currently the rather awkward https://tecabml.contentdm.oclc.org/.  If you use the search box at top right and enter Plut.20.2, you will get to the manuscript details, and there is an icon to view the images in Mirador.  The site does now feature an IIIF […]
• Forty-Seven Latin Miracle Stories of St Nicholas – Now Online in English
  I’ve just uploaded a file containing the Latin text, with a translation, of 47 of the miracle stories of St Nicholas which are found in medieval manuscripts.  These are BHL 6130-6147 inclusive.  A couple of the texts I have transcribed from manuscripts online.  Most are from the Bollandist catalogues of the Brussels and Paris libraries, […]
• Another drawing of the Septizonium
  Uploaded on Easter Sunday to manuscripta.at was an interesting volume, with the description: “Salzburg, Universitätsbibliothek, M III 40, MONUMENTA ANTIQUA ROMANA — Lombardei, 4. Viertel 15. Jh.”  I.e. 4th quarter of the 15th century, 1475-1500.  It contains sketches of a number of the monuments of ancient Rome then standing, and notes about these, which seem […]
• Are there any legends about the widow’s mite in medieval hagiography?
  An interesting letter from a correspondent: … We are working on a hagiographic project to uncover and develop the story of the poor widow who offered her two coins in Mark 12 and Luke 21. We have been exploring numerous Eastern Orthodox channels and so far have found no evidence of any preexisting tradition or […]
• An odd adverb in a miracle story of St Nicholas
  Any fool can publish a Latin text without a translation.  Few people will want to go through it, looking for problems.  But if you have to translate the text, that forces you to examine every word.  This in turn brings you immediately into contact with any problems in the text. One of the miracle stories […]
• Gilbert H. Doble’s “Cornish Saints” series – online in Brittany
  The Catholic diocese of Finisterre in Brittany has a digital library here.  Among this material are many volumes of the “Cornish Saints” pamphlets, issued by Gilbert Doble in the 20s and 30s. Just search for “Doble” in the search bar, and up they come – 46 of them. I stumbled on this by accident, and […]
• Some musings on “Patron Saints”
  In ordinary daily usage we hear the phrase “patron saint”.  Thus St George is the patron saint of England.  St Piran is today often called the patron saint of Cornwall, a usage that was unknown within my memory, other than to antiquarians.  St Gertrude of Nivelle is sometimes called the patron saint of cats, a […]
• A translation of a homily by Ephraem Graecus online in English!
  Some years ago I wrote a very long article here on whether pseudo-Ephraim testifies in the 4-5th century to a belief in the Rapture; the idea that, before the Tribulation described in Revelation, the saints will all be caught up in the air by God and taken away.  This is quite a controversial subject in […]
• Searching for BHL 6173 and 6175 (Part 5) – the “Magnum Legendarium Austriacum”
  Our two fragments of story of St Nicholas, BHL 6173 and 6175, originate from a early 12th century sermon on St Nicholas by Honorius of Augustodunensis.  But not directly. In the late 12th century somebody created a massive 4-volume collection of material about the saints, in saint’s day order.  Each volume contained 3 months of […]
• Honorius Augustodunensis, “Sermo de S. Nicolai” now online
  I’ve just completed my translation of this early 12th century sermon, from the Speculum Ecclesiae or Mirror of the Church by Honorius Augustodunensis.  I’ve included the Latin text.  This text is the origin of the fragments BHL 6173 and 6175.  Here it is: Honorius Augustodunensis – Sermon on St Nicholas (PDF) Honorius Augustodunensis – Sermon on St […]
• From my diary
  I’ve been doing a bit of a side-project for the last couple of days. The short St Nicholas legends (reference BHL 6173 and 6175), that I have been working on, in fact derive – via the Magnum Legendarium Austriacum, of which more next week-  from the sermon on St Nicholas included by Honorius of Augustodunensis […]
• Searching for BHL 6173 and 6175 (Part 4) – A couple of manuscripts of the Speculum of Honorius of Augustodunensis
  There are manuscripts of the Speculum of Honorius of Augustodunensis around online.  Here’s one at a library in Madrid, and a PDF can be downloaded from here!  The site, curiously, is silent about what library this item belongs to, or the shelfmark. That’s… awkward. At the mighty BSB in Munich, there’s another one here, although it’s […]
• Searching for BHL 6173 and 6175 (part 3) – Honorius of Augustodunensis
  In my first post, I started searching online for a manuscript copy of BHL 6173, a miracle story about St Nicholas, in order to locate ambien online a copy of the text.  I continued with this post, looking at two Austrian manuscripts.  But then a kind commenter “Diego” here drew my attention to the Speculum […]
• Getting a manuscript offline from the Forschungsbibliothek Gotha
  The Gotha collection of manuscripts is less well-known than it should be, except to specialists.  But anybody doing anything with English and Cornish and Welsh saints’ lives is aware of a semi-mythical manuscript in that collection, with the shelfmark “Gotha Forschungsbibliothek Membr. I 81”.  These lives are mainly accessed in an abbreviated recension made by […]
• Searching for BHL 6173 (part 2)
  In my last post, I started searching online for a manuscript copy of BHL 6173, a miracle story about St Nicholas, which has never been printed.  Two French manuscripts were supposed to contain a copy; neither did.  But two Austrian manuscripts were also listed by the Bollandists in their BHLms database: Heiligenkreuz SB 14 Melk […]
• Searching for BHL 6173
  I’ve gathered nearly 50 miracle stories of St Nicholas, using the wonderful Bibliographica Hagiographica Latina (BHL) index.  BHL 6173 (beginning “Quidam praepotens vir, accersito aurifice…“; “A certain powerful man, an accomplished goldsmith…”) is an epitome of BHL 6172, so the Bollandists did not trouble to print the text.  So I need to look at the […]
• From my diary
  For some months a copy of Charles W. Jones, Saint Nicholas of Myra, Bari, and Manhattan has sat next to my computer, pestering me to read it.  Today I gave up and fed it to the sheet-feed scanner.  It is no more; just a PDF, floating in the void.  Even as I write, Adobe Acrobat Pro […]
• From my diary
  I’ve just finished translating BHL 6170, a rather pointless miracle story by St Nicholas, published in 1889 by the Bollandists as part of the second volume of their catalogue of the Latin manuscripts of the Royal Belgian Library.  The Bollandists were very busy at the end of the 19th century, and for each manuscript they […]
• Apollodorus of Damascus (c. 100 AD), “On military engineering”
  A tweet by Gareth Harney drew my attention to a collection of ancient works on siegecraft, transmitted together in the Byzantine period, with splendid illustrations.  As with all technical texts, they probably were altered somewhat along the way. One of these is the Poliorcetica by Apollodorus of Damascus.  He was an important Roman engineer in […]
• From my diary
  I’ve been away for a week.  I took a laptop, but blessedly never touched it.  Remarkably I had excellent weather nearly the whole time. Sightseeing, beaches, trips over the moors: all very different.  Even the 270 mile drives each way were not that great a problem.  Naturally I return to quite an inbox, but I […]
• A letter by the gnostic Valentinus preserved among the letters of Basil of Caesarea?
  I have received an email from Nathan Porter, who has an article due out in Vigiliae Christianae, “A Newly Identified Letter of Valentinus on Jesus’s Digestive System: Ps.-Basil of Caesarea’s ep. 366”.  Thankfully the article is available at Academia.edu here. It seems that Basil of Caesarea’s Epistula 366 (De continentia) is verbally identical, in places, with portions […]
• The fragrant underwear of St Nicholas
  The medieval miracle stories of St Nicholas are unsophisticated.  One of these, BHL 6168, contains the following episode, which provoked a few unintentional chuckles. …the blessed and chosen archbishop of our Lord Jesus Christ, Nicholas, when he was about to pass away from this light to the Lord in a wonderful way, and had completed […]
• Some primary sources for the later legends of St Hilda
  The Anglo-Saxon Saint Hilda of Whitby is known to us, not from legendary material, but from a first-rate historical source, Bede’s History of the English Church and People.   The ruined medieval abbey still stands on the cliff-top above the town, and there is still an Anglican order of nuns with a priory in the town, […]
• How did he get *that* reading?? (Again) – Recensio 7
  From one of the miracle stories of St Nicholas (BHL 6164), appended to John the Deacon.  The story so far.  St Nicholas has sneaked up on a gang of robbers who have looted a customs-house, which was left under the saint’s protection. Tunc dixit ad eos Sanctus Nicolaus, “O infelices et miseri, quid agitis? Numquid ignoratis, […]
• From my diary
  An email arrived late yesterday from the library, advising me that a book had arrived, and apologising in case someone else had notified me already.  This was not the case, so I infer that my book had been sat there at the library for some time.  This morning I went in and collected it, and […]
• English language review of Albocicade’s “Chrétiens en débat avec l’islam”
  French blogger Albocicade, who writes at Les Cigales Eloquentes and also maintains a site of resources on Theodore Abu Qurrah writes to say that his book – Chrétiens en débat avec l’islam, VII°-XXI° siècle: Paul d’Antioche, Anba Jirji al-Semani, Théodore Abu Qurrah, Timothée I de Bagdad (2022), ISBN : 978-2-14-026799-4 – has been reviewed in English very kindly […]
• Please do plagiarize me, I don’t care: a blogger writes about #ReceptioGate
  On Christmas Eve, a blogger named Peter Kidd launched an attack on Twitter on a Swiss academic named Carla Rossi and her RECEPTIO foundation, with a blog post headed “Nobody cares about your blog!” Dr Rossi had helped herself to some images and some of the research on the blog while doing her own research, […]
• From my diary
  An email from my local library advises that a copy of K. Meisen’s Nikolauskult und Nikolausbrauch im Abendland (1928) has arrived.  Tomorrow I shall go and get it.  I can’t read German very well, so I will have to scan it into a PDF, so that I can use Google Translate on it.  So I think […]
• A complete Ibn Abi Usaibia “History of Medicine” now online in Arabic and English
  Something that passed me by, and which I only became aware of today, is that in 2020 a modern scholarly text and translation appeared of Ibn Abi Usaibia’s History of Medicine, from Brill. The author – often known in online forums as IAU – wrote in the 13th century, so it’s basically a bunch of […]
• Fascinating extra stuff at Google Translate for Latin
  About a year ago Google Translate for Latin changed, and started to produce very good translations indeed.  I commented on this in April 2022 here.  I never saw any announcement of this.  But yesterday I again saw something new. I pasted into the Latin box part of a medieval miracle story of St Nicholas.  It […]
• Whatever became of the World-Wide Web?
  The only certainty in life is change.  If things are bad, the only certainty is that they will be different soon.  If things are good, the only certainty is that they will be different soon.  This can be a comfort, or a warning.  But it is a fact. What brought this on, you may ask?  […]
• “Duo mercatores” – Another miracle story about St Nicholas (BHL 6159)
  Here’s the Latin text and a Google translation of another of the random miracle stories that fill up the medieval manuscripts of the Life of St Nicholas.  This one is uncommon. The Bollandists assign it the number BHL 6159, and it only appears in three manuscripts, all in Belgium.  None of these are online.  Luckily […]
• Fact Check: Did Clement of Alexandria say that “Every woman should be overwhelmed with shame at the thought that she is a woman”?
  An interesting query on yesterday’s post here: I wanted to know if you know where that quote attributed to Clement of Alexandria “Every woman should be overwhelmed with shame at the thought that she is a woman” comes from? In fact, some indicate that this phrase comes from Clement’s book “pedagogue 2”, but when I […]
• Five miracle stories about St Nicholas
  The medieval manuscripts that contain the Life of St Nicholas almost always continue with a mass of miracle stories about the saint.  The 1751 pre-critical edition by Falconius does the same.  The genuine Life by John the Deacon ends with his “chapter 13” – the numbering is his – but there are more chapters.  Anybody who looks […]
• Happy New Year
  A very happy new year to you all! This year I intend to continue looking at the Latin text of the legends of St Nicholas, and comparing the manuscripts.  I don’t know what will be the end goal of this, but I’m enjoying doing it.  At the moment I am still collecting and making PDFs […]
• Learning by doing again – Recensio part 6
  I’ve now collated my Latin text – all 6 sentences of it – with 2 early editions and 24 manuscripts.  I have at least another 6-10 manuscripts accessible to me to collate. As I thought, this is a case where you have to learn by doing.  You have to attempt to collate the text and […]
• The fragile world of online research tools
  It’s after lunch on a rainy Saturday, the central heating is on, and it’s New Year’s Eve.  I have my can of diet coke and some crisps.  Time to download and collate some more manuscripts of John the Deacon! First, off to the Bollandists site, the BHLms, here, to find out which manuscripts are next […]
• A translation query in Augustine’s “Treatise against the Jews”
  I received today an interesting query about an old post from 2015 in which I give an English translation of Augustine’s Adversus Judaeos.  This involves some looking up, so I thought I would blog about it. Daniel Boyarin’s “Carnal Israel”  begins with a brief quote from Augustine’s Tractatus adversus Judaeos, (vii, 9)  which reads as follows: […]
• A discontinued edition of Chrysostom’s “Adversus Judaeos”
  There’s a fascinating blog post this morning from Guillaume Bady at the Chrysostom blog:  L’édition interrompue des Sermons contre les juifs et les judaïsants de Jean Chrysostome.  Using Google Translate: The discontinued edition of John Chrysostom’s Sermons Against the Jews and Judaizers Published on December 26, 2022 by Guillaume Bady The edition of Sermons against the […]
• Merry Christmas, everyone!
  It is Christmas Eve.  A silence falls across the land.  All the shops are shut, and the sound of the motorcar falls silent at  last.  Those rushing to and fro are at home around the Christmas tree. Some have gone to sing carols at the village church.  Others are with them in spirit, if not […]
• Learning by Making a Collation – Recensio part 5
  I’ve commented before on “learning by doing”, how you have to actually attempt something in order, not to do it, but to find out how to do it.  You never get it right first time, because when you make your first attempt, what you’re actually learning is how not to do it.  When you try […]
• Some Christmas excerpts from Venantius Fortunatus at Purple Motes
  A good post here at Douglas Galbi’s blog, Purple Motes, with some quotes from Venantius Fortunatus! sharing food indicates love in Fortunatus’s poetry
• The Alcobaca manuscripts – catalogue located, and lots online at Lisbon!
  In my last post, I referred to a manuscript of the Alcobaca monastery in Portugal, number 113.  Afterwards I started to search for information.  I discovered that the modern catalogue in three volumes by Thomas L. Amos, The Fundo Alcobaça of the Biblioteca Nacional, Lisbon (1988), is online at Archive.org! Vol. 1 – https://archive.org/details/HMMLAlcobaca1 Vol. 2 […]
• Delving into old references in the BHL
  One of the problems with skim-reading is that you miss stuff.  You can stare at the same pages repeatedly, and never see some of the things on the page. Last night, I noticed some stuff in the St Nicholas material in the Bibliographia Hagiographica Latina.  There is no excuse for not having read it carefully enough, […]
• It’s starting to work! – Recensio part 4
  This afternoon I went to my draft text and translation, and, as per my last post, starting from the top, looked for a place in the text where the editions differed in meaning.  I did not have to go far before I found this place, on “in vocem” or “in clamationem“. To those wondering how […]
• O novam Jacob stropham! – Recensio part 3
  The earliest printed editions of a text are often merely a printed version of some manuscript that the editor had to hand; or are based on a prior edition, plus readings from such a manuscript.  In some cases all the manuscripts were destroyed afterwards, and we only have the printed edition.  This is the case […]
• The December Poems in the Chronography of 354
  For December, the images are preserved in the usual four manuscripts.  The poems are mainly preserved in various unillustrated manuscripts, but also appear in R1, the Barberini manuscript. Here is the 4-line poem (tetrastich): Annua sulcatae connectens semina terrae Pascit hiems; pluvio de Iove cuncta madent. Aurea nunc revocet Saturno festa December, Nunc tibi cum […]
• From my diary
  Another couple of manuscripts were located today, and the relevant portions downloaded. Today I worked out how to download manuscripts from the Austrian National Library in Vienna, and indeed wrote a little post on how.  One of these is listed in the Bollandists website; the other is not, and contains only one part of the […]
• How to download a manuscript at the Austrian National Library (Österreichische Nationalbibliothek)
  This is for all you non-German speakers out there.  Yes, it is indeed possible to download a PDF of manuscripts at the ONB in Vienna! All the fully-digitised manuscripts for the Österreichische Nationalbibliothek are listed on a page here: https://manuscripta.at/lib_digi.php?libcode=AT8500.  (The link doesn’t look very permanent, so you might have to search at manuscripta.at).  [Update: […]
• From my diary
  The first sounding for variants in the Latin text of John the Deacon was a decided success.  Now we have four variants for a single word, which seems to divide the witnesses quite nicely.  There is another doubtful place a couple of lines below, to look into next. I’ve downloaded around 30 manuscripts so far, […]
• How to lose the first letter of a word in transmission
  In my last post I looked at how to decide what the genuine reading was of a single word in John the Deacon’s Latin text.  Among the variants was “Nacta” and “Acta”. Purely by chance this evening I have come across a perfect illustration of how Nacta became Acta.  It is to be found in […]
• Inventa ergo… Or maybe not – Recensio, part 2.
  Time to plunge into the text and see if I can find any errors in the manuscripts that might help me divide them up into families. When I was collating the text of John the Deacon’s Life of St Nicholas, I came across a passage, which is interesting for the sheer number of textual variants, […]
• How to Compare Manuscripts – Recensio part 1
  The Latin text that I am working on has never had a critical edition.  I am actually not sure what the author wrote at points, because the editions differ so much.  What to do? These days we have lots of manuscripts online.  But … how do we go about comparing them?  Where do we start? […]
• From my diary
  Tomorrow is St Nicholas’ Day.  I’ve been working hard to complete my translation of the earliest Latin “life” of St Nicholas, by John the Deacon.  I pulled it all into one Word document at the weekend.  My intention was to read through it today a couple of times, and then get it out of the […]
• A 4th century fork, with a mule-head finial
  Here’s a fascinating item currently held at the Cleveland Museum of Art, Inventory no 1987.210.  It’s a “furca”, a fork, or possibly a “furcula”, a table fork.  It’s just over 8 inches long (20.4cms): The museum date it to 375-425, but on what this is based they do not say.  I generally find that such […]
• The Lippomano edition of John the Deacon
  The Life of St Nicholas by John the Deacon was printed in 1751 by Falconius, who refers to the earlier edition of Mombritius in 1477, but also that of Luigi Lippomano, Sanctorum priscorum patrum vitae, vol. 2, Venice (1553).  The Life of St Nicholas begins on folio 238v, here. I had thought that this was simply […]
• From my diary
  I’ve returned to my translation of John the Deacon’s Life of St Nicholas.  I hope to have this ready and make it available by St Nicholas’ Day, December 6.  At the moment I am reading through the files from the start, and comparing it with the excellent Italian translation by P. Corsi based on a […]
• Textual instability in hagiographical texts
  I’ve returned to working on a translation of John the deacon’s Life of St Nicholas.  I made a draft translation of the whole text, based upon the Falconius edition of 1751, before realising that this edition is not based on the authentic Life.  This was most evident in chapters 12 and 13, where the text of the […]
• Bogus Bible Translations
  People are strange, and they do weird things.  But, as they said at Watergate, when nothing makes sense, follow the money.  See where it goes from, and who it goes to, and that will tell you what’s really going on. There are people out there who have created, deliberately, and at some expense, faked “translations” […]
• Rediscovering the star-map of Hipparchus
  In Nature last month there was an extremely interesting article recording the discovery of a new text by Hipparchus in the palimpsest Codex Climaci Rescriptus, during – of all things! – a summer project led by Peter Williams of Tyndale Hall in Cambridge: First known map of night sky found hidden in Medieval parchment – Fabled […]
• The November Poems in the Chronography of 354
  Four manuscripts of the Chronography contain an image for this month.  This includes the Barberini manuscript, with the poems. Here is the 4-line poem (tetrastich): Carbaseos post hunc artus indutus amictus Memphidos antiquae sacra deamque colit. A quo vix avidus sistro compescitur anser Devotusque satis incola, Memphi, deis. After this, arms limbs clad in a […]
• The Last Hieroglyph
  The late Roman state was far more loosely organised than any modern state.  The abolition of official paganism at the end of the fourth century did not mean that all the temples were shut down.  Many continued to exist, so long as the local population wanted them to.  Near Alexandria at the start of the […]
• The October Poems in the Chronography of 354
  For October, the images are preserved in four manuscripts of the Chronography.  The verses are preserved in R1, and in other, unillustrated copies of the text. Here is the 4-line poem (tetrastich): Dat prensum leporem cumque ipso palmite foetus October; pingues dat tibi ruris aves. Iam Bromios spumare lacus et musta sonare apparet: vino vas […]
• From My Diary
  For the last six weeks my attention has been fully engaged in dealing with pointless and annoying domestic matters.  So there has been no time for anything important.  I hope to be able to post the October images and poems from the Chronography of 354 shortly, however, since I drew up a draft of the […]
• “Amongst all savage beasts none is found so harmful as a woman” – a quote from John Chrysostom?
  A regular visitor to this blog also runs her own blog at suburbanbanshee.wordpress.com. She has been looking into a supposed quotation from John Chrysostom. “Among all savage beasts none is found so harmful as a woman.” – John Chrysostom The quotation circulates on the web, but predates the internet.  It forms part of a dossier […]
• From my diary
  I’ve been clearing my inbox a little today, since I had a bit of time, and popping out a couple of blog posts.  Things are still not back to normal, but it is wonderful to be able to blog a bit.  I need to get back to doing proper Latin again too, but the pressure […]
• The September Poems in the Chronography of 354
  A number of manuscripts contain an image for September.  But here again it is the Vatican Barberini manuscript that gives us the 4-line poem, the tetrastich: Turgentes acinos, varias et praesecat uvas September, sub quo mitia poma iacent. Captivam filo gaudens religasse lacertam Quae suspensa manu mobile ludit opus. The swelling berries and the different […]
• Should we bring back Gelasius of Cyzicus?
  The publication of an English translation of Gelasius of Cyzicus (see here) brings us back to the question of just who was the author.  All the editions until recently attributed this work to “Gelasius of Cyzicus”.  In the recent GCS NF 9 edition, the editor, G. C. Hansen, reviews the origin of this, and roundly […]
• Euthymius Zigabenus, Commentary on the Epistles
  Nicholas Antzaras writes to say that he has started a blog to report his progress, working on a text and translation of the Commentary on the Epistles by the Byzantine bible commentator Euthymius Zigabenus. It’s at https://zigabenusepistles.com/ So far he has collected the manuscripts and is busy collating them to produce a critical text.  This […]
• Gelasius of Cyzicus now online in English!
  Great news!  The first English translation of Gelasius of Cyzicus has appeared!  It’s at the Fourth Century website of Glen L. Thompson, and may be found here.  There’s a PDF for each of the three books, and a webpage with the medieval chapter headings, or rather book summaries, here. I’m sure that more than a […]
• From my diary
  I must apologise for the continued silence.  The business of moving house, and letting my old house, has continued to fill my life to the brim with urgent business that will matter nothing once it is done.  So this post is really just to let people know that I am still alive!  I’m gradually winning, I […]
• Severus Sebokht, “Letter to Basil of Cyprus” (ca. 662) on ‘Arabic’ numerals
  The first reference to what we today call “Arabic” numerals comes in a letter by the Syriac scholar, Severus Sebokht, in about 662 AD.  The letter is often referenced in the literature, but has never been translated into English.  A German text and translation has been published fairly recently.  The letter itself is preserved in […]
• From My Diary
  Since late May, I have been beset by an almost farcical number of trivial circumstances, each requiring my full attention, yet of no importance once they are dealt with.  Without going into much detail, these have included an emergency house move at the end of June, yet I am still in boxes; and trying to […]
• Some thoughts about the term “theotokos”, used for Mary the mother of the Lord
  In the 5th century an Egyptian priest was disciplined by Nestorius, the Patriarch of Constantinople, for describing Mary the mother of Jesus as Θεοτόκος, “theotokos”.  Cyril, the Patriarch of Alexandria, decided to use this as a pretext for a bid for supremacy in the eastern church.  After much wrangling, a council was scheduled at Ephesus […]
• From my diary
  I’ve been feeling guilty for not getting the August post out there from the Chronography of 354.  I have the draft materials on disk, but I do have to do some work, and I have had no time.  At least that is out there. A correspondent wrote to me and mentioned Petrus Crabbe.  I wondered […]
• Petrus Crabbe (Pierre Crabbé) – first collector of all the church councils?
  Church councils tend to issue lists of regulations; or, in the jargon, “canons”.  These have been collected since antiquity, in all sorts of forms.  Once the era of printing arrived, inevitably the massive printed compilations followed, such as those of Surius, Mansi, and others. Yesterday I learned of the work of Petrus Crabbe.  He was […]
• Petrus Crabbe and an online bibliography of Franciscan authors (13th-18th century)
  The earliest author of a big collection of the canons of church councils was a Franciscan chap called Pierre Crabbé, or rather Petrus Crabbe, according to the pleasant custom of the time.  In 1532 he undertook a search of more than 500 libraries for texts of the councils, and in 1538 he published a massive […]
• The August Poems in the Chronography of 354
  Finally!  At last we have more than one manuscript containing an image for August, the first month where this is so since March. Here is the 4-line poem (tetrastich): Fontanos latices et lucida pocula vitro cerne, ut demerso torridus ore bibat. Aeterno regni signatus nomine mensis Latona genitam quo perhibent Hecaten. Look for spring waters […]
• They walk among us
  Yesterday the removal men emptied my old house and brought all the contents to the new.  This included many bags full of books.  My library is not that large, and most of it is novels.  For I usually prefer to have scholarly materials in PDF form. On seeing the shelves set up to receive them, […]
• From my diary
  It is day 14 of my house move, but I am still busy moving the accumulation of 24 years.  Most of my books are still at the old house, and 5 big book cases that I made when I was young.  I was busy removing books from the shelves yesterday.  Today my back has informed […]
• The July Poems in the Chronography of 354
  The image for July is preserved once again only in a single manuscript of the Chronography, MS Vienna 3146, which never contains the text of the poems, only the pictures. So for the text of the poems, once again we are reliant on other, unillustrated, manuscripts, or the indirect tradition. Here is the 4-line poem […]
• From my diary
  It’s been a busy couple of weeks.  I’ve been moving house, for the first time in 24 years.  I made the decision less than three weeks ago, the let of the property was only agreed about 10 days ago, and I took possession 5 days ago.  Today they installed an internet connection, which  took most […]
• From my diary
  Not much is happening.  The mundane “business” of living has taken over my life.  I’ve barely been able to keep up with correspondence. I apologise to those who had to wait for replies. I had intended to post the poems for June, from the Chronography of 354, at the start of the month.  I had […]
• The June Poems in the Chronography of 354
  Once again only a single manuscript of the Chronography contains an image for this month.  This is MS Vienna 3146, which never contains the text of the poems, only the pictures. So for the poems, once again we are reliant on other, unillustrated, manuscripts, or the indirect tradition. Here is the 4-line poem (tetrastich): Nudus […]
• From my diary – thoughts about the text of John the Deacon’s Life of St Nicholas
  I have now scanned in the text of Corsi’s edition of John the Deacon, and found that – as he says – it is really a transcription of the Berlin manuscript, with better punctuation, plus a collation with the 1751 Falconius edition. He didn’t look at the Mombritius or Mai editions. But that’s just fine.  […]
• From my diary
  It is a very long time since I have had to order a journal article through my local library.  The price of doing so became so enormous that it was impossible.  But a few weeks ago I realised that I really did need a copy of the following article: P. Corsi, “La ‘‘Vita” di San […]
• From My Diary
  My apologies for the silence.  My central heating died the final death last week, after 32 years, and I’ve been getting a new boiler installed.  Anything major like that takes over your life, really it does.  The new boiler is now up and running, I can heat my house and my hot water once more.  […]
• Finding and downloading medieval manuscripts online that you can print
  In my last post, I realise that I did something that I always find infuriating – I assumed stuff.  I started up the ladder, but omitted the first step.  Here’s a quick post on stuff you have to do first, then. Once you decide to edit a text which has never received a critical edition, […]
• Printing out medieval manuscripts in preparation for editing
  At the start of my working life, fresh out of university, I was trained as a computer programmer and then assigned to a maintenance project.  This involved doing bug-fixes and small enhancements to an already rather elderly system, written in a near-obsolete language, and running on an IBM mainframe.  If I tell you that the […]
• Getting Started With Collatex Standalone
  Collatex seems to be the standard collation tool.  Unfortunately I don’t much care for it.  Also interestingly, the web site does not actually tell you how to run it locally!  So here’s a quick note. Collatext is a Java program, so you must have a Java Runtime Environment (JRE) installed, for version 8 or higher.  […]
• A way to compare two early-modern editions of a Latin text
  There are three early modern editions of John the Deacon’s Life of St Nicholas.  These are the Mombritius (1498), Falconius (1751) and Mai (1830-ish) editions.  I have already used Abbyy Finereader 15 to create a word document for each containing the electronic text. But how to compare these?  I took a look at Juxta but did […]
• From my diary
  Back to John the Deacon’s Life of St Nicholas. I’ve now completely retranslated chapter 1, the prologue, which I made an attempt at last year.  I’ve been comparing the text of the Falconius (1751) edition, which I am translating, with the Mombritius (1498) and the Mai (1820-ish) editions, and finding small differences, and noting them. Over […]
• The Anti-Scholar
  This afternoon I found myself debating with a Muslim polemicist online who was rubbishing the bible, and suggesting that we don’t even have the words of Jesus.  The polemicist dealt with my replies by ignoring them and simply making further claims, so our debate did not last long.  But in the process I was treated […]
• From my diary
  I’ve had no time to do anything useful for a week, but I’m still gathering materials on John the Deacon as a sideline.  Thanks to the kindness of Fr. Gerardo Cioffari at the St Nicholas Centre in Bari (= Centro Studi Nicolaiani) – himself a considerable scholar -, I now have access to Pasquale Corsi’s […]
• Fragment of unknown work by Apuleius discovered in Verona
  Via Ugo Mondini on Twitter I learn of an exciting find yesterday (May 9) at the Biblioteca Capitolare – the Chapter Library – in Verona.  It seems that an American team – the “Lazarus Project” – using Multi-Spectral Imaging have discovered a lost text by Apuleius. Via Rainews.it: Quarantasette scatti per ciascuna pagina effettuati con […]
• The May Poems in the Chronography of 354
  As with April, only a single manuscript of the Chronography contains an image for the month of May.  This is MS Vienna 3146, which never contains the poems. So again we are reliant on other unillustrated manuscripts, or the indirect tradition, for the poems. Here is the 4-line poem (tetrastich): Cunctas veris opes et picta […]
• From my diary
  I have now run all the way through John the Deacon’s Life of St Nicholas and made a first pass at translating it.  However I find that I will have to redo the first two chapters, which I attempted last year, as they are no good.  This is rather disconcerting, considering the sheer hard graft […]
• Working with pre-critical Latin texts
  Which comes first?  The text or the translation?  The question is not as simple as it seems. There is no finer way to come to grips with a text than by preparing an exact translation of it into another language.  This forces the translator to look at every case ending, every -ae and -um; every […]
• A small personal amendment to the Lord’s prayer
  A few weeks ago I was asked to attend a memorial service for someone that I never met in my life.  Such are family commitments.  The service was for a child, and was every bit as sentimental and content-free as I had feared. I have never suffered from any urge whatsoever to be “religious”.  As […]
• A bit of web searching for BHL 6106 = chapter 12 of John the Deacon’s Life of St Nicholas
  Alright, I got tempted.  I did a google search on BHL 6106, the chapter of John of the Deacon’s Life of St Nicholas that I am currently translating, or rather prevaricating about translating! Almost instantly I came up with two manuscripts at the French National Library.  The first is 12th century, Ms. BNF Paris Latin 5573.  […]
• From my diary
  I’ve settled back down to translating the Life of St Nicholas by John the Deacon.  The new and improved Google Translate for Latin has made it a far easier task.  The word order was exotic, and I had to crawl through each sentence, one by one, decrypting each word.  This was tedious and time-consuming.  Now […]
• The April Poems in the Chronography of 354
  Only a single manuscript of the Chronography contains an image for the month of April.  This is MS Vienna 3146, which never contains the poems.  (I am told that the same image reappears in the Leiden MS Voss.Lat.Q 79, a manuscript of the Aratea!  But this I have not seen)  So we are reliant on […]
• An Indian delegate at the First Council of Nicaea
  I heard an interesting story yesterday. Also recently discovered that the Indian Christian tradition was so well established by AD 325 that the First Ecumenical Council in Nicaea had at least 1 delegate from the Indian Church.   … “India” was a more nebulous entity than the modern nation, so it may not have been within […]
• Google Translate Latin – how it was, and how it is
  In 2019 I prepared to work on translating John the Deacon’s Life of St Nicholas.  I created a separate file for each chapter.  In each file I had the full text of the chapter.  Beneath that, on alternate lines, interleaved, was a sentence of the Latin and then the Google Translate output.  It is interesting to […]
• From my diary
  I have returned to work on making a translation of John the Deacon’s Life of St Nicholas.  In July 2019 I prepared a Latin text.  The edition of Falconius, in 1751 seems to be all that there is!   During November and December 2020 I translated a couple of chapters with immense pain and huge labour […]
• The Acts of the Council of Carthage in 397 and the Council of Hippo in 393 – online in English
  It is done.  I have finally finished the task of creating a translation of the Acts of the Council of Carthage in 397, incorporating the remains of the Acts of the Council of Hippo in 393.  The purpose of this exercise is to show how canon 36 of Hippo, which lists the canon of scripture, […]
• The Pseudo-Chrysostomica database is now online
  Back in 2017 a project began (see a copy of the announcement here) to create a database of all the texts which in the manuscripts are wrongly attributed to John Chrysostom.  This is a very large number of texts – more than a thousand -, mainly Greek but also in Latin, Syriac, Armenian, Coptic, Georgian […]
• Les Oeuvres complètes de Saint Augustin : évêque d’hippone – a 19th century translation
  It seems that there is a 32 volume (plus a volume of indexes) French translation from the 1860s of all the works of St Augustine.  Four translators are listed on the title page – Peronne, Vincent, Ecalle and Charpentier.  It’s published in Paris by Louis Vives.  How good the translation is, I do not know.  […]
• The Byzantine Sea Walls of Thessalonica
  Thessalonica is a city that I have never visited, and have never had much awareness of.  But it is littered with Roman and Byzantine remains. Until the 1870s, the Byzantine walls of the city were largely intact.  This included massive walls all along the sea-front.  The existence of these forms a sad testimony to the […]
• From my diary
  I have spent a very busy afternoon, pulling together most of the pieces of the Council of Hippo (393) and the two sessions of the Council of Carthage (397).  Despite all that I have done on this in the last twelve months, it has been rather awful.  I’m still not quite sure how to arrange […]
• Munier’s “Concilia Africae” – read his Chronological Overview in English
  Let’s continue with our description of the material in the Latin preface to Munier’s Concilia Africae a. 345-a.525.  As I wrote in my previous post, this is a very dense and hard to understand preface, but anybody working with the book needs to know what is in it. The next chunk is actually very useful.  But […]
• Munier’s “Concilia Africae” – read his Proemium in English
  During late antiquity the Catholic bishops of the Roman provinces of Africa frequently gathered in synods and issued rules (“canons”) for the behaviour of the clergy.  This created a mass of regulations which was eagerly seized on by other parts of the church and became a major source for medieval canon law.  The material for […]
• From my diary
  The sudden improvement of Google Translate for Latin means that it is now possible to read a good many things written in Latin, modern as well as ancient.  I think that we have all picked up a critical edition of an ancient text and found that the preface is in Latin. If we were lucky, […]
• The Council of Carthage (397), prefatory letter
  Something that I started on quite a long time ago was the very first item in Munier’s edition.  This was an introductory letter to the dossier.  It makes sense only if you know what happened. Basically Bishop Aurelius of Carthage summoned the council of Hippo in 393, which issued a bunch of canons – various […]
• From my diary
  At the moment I am working on my translation of the minutes for the council of Hippo (393) and council of Carthage 3 (397).  This has been hanging around for ages, and I want it done.  I think I have translations of everything now, but I am taking advantage of the newly improved Google Translate […]
• The Anthologia Graeca is online with manuscript, Greek, English, other languages
  I’ve just discovered https://anthologiagraeca.org/.  This is rather fabulous!
• Five more canons of the Council of Hippo (393)
  In Munier’s edition of the material from the Council of Hippo, on page 32, there is a ‘First series of canons which are excerpted from the council of Hippo but which are not part of the “Summary of statues”‘.  I turned these into English back in December, but I was unable to work out where […]
• Five stray canons of the Council of Hippo (393) – canons 4 and 5
  Here are the other two canons of Hippo rediscovered around 50 years ago.  The first one, canon 4, gave me a lot of trouble. 4.  Aurelius episcopus dixit : Sicut frater et collega noster Saturninus salubri consideratione deprompsit, debent episco­pi, non postquam pranderint, sed ieiuni cum populis ieiunis, quacumque hora, divina celebrare mysteria. Si vero […]
• The Charaktêres site – Ancient Magic and Ritual Practice
  I’ve just become aware of a website devoted to the academic study of Ancient Magic and its rituals.  The site is Charaktêres – Ancient Magic and Ritual Practice, and it is run by Kirsten Dzwiza.  Apparently it dates back to 2008 originally – about the same date as this blog.  It is full of interesting […]
• Five stray canons of the Council of Hippo (393) – canons 2 and 3
  It’s time to return to our translation of the canons of the Council of Hippo in 393, last visited in December last year here.  I’ve had a fair bit of material sitting on my desktop for a year, and it’s time to move some of it into the blog! As I said last time, five […]
• The Meta Sudans from the Arch of Titus
  An unusual angle on the vanished monument, in this photograph from 1878 by John Henry Parker.   Sadly the resolution is low.  Via Twitter here.
• The Life of St Piran – now online in English
  A couple of days ago I mentioned that Google Translate was doing an unusually good job on the Latin of the Life of St Piran (BHL 4659).  I’m afraid that I am easily distracted.  I had not planned to do so, but I seem to have produced a translation of the whole text.  So here it […]
• The origins of Ash Wednesday
  Ash Wednesday, the dies cinerum, is the name used in English for the first day of Lent, the 40-day period of fasting that, in the medieval church, precedes Easter.  The Catholic and Anglican churches celebrate it by a church service of repentance, at which the people are marked with ashes, and this has become popular among […]
• Pachomius, “Instruction concerning a spiteful monk” – now translated by Anthony Alcock
  There is a text preserved in a Coptic manuscript which is thought by some to be the work, or partly the work, of the Egyptian monastic leader Pachomius.  Dr Anthony Alcock has kindly prepared a new translation of the work, from the text printed by E. A. Budge in Coptic Apocrypha in the Dialect of […]
• From my diary
  Last week, on Ash Wednesday, I happened to read some crazy claim by a neopagan that Ash Wednesday derived in some weird way from Woden (!).  Since then I have been working on a post about the origins of Ash Wednesday, and specifically the imposition of ashes.  It’s been a long and weary haul, as […]
• A modern confusion between St Piran, and the “Saint” Pir who died while drunk
  March 5th is St Piran’s Day.  St Piran was a celtic saint who probably lived around 500 AD.  In recent years there has been increased media interest in St Piran, as the symbol of Cornwall.  The Cornish flag is called “St Piran’s flag.”  I suspect most of this stuff is from incomers, and that it […]
• Did Pope Gregory the Great add four days to Lent?
  Here’s a story that you can find in many places on the internet.  The season of Lent is 40 days of fasting.  This is why it is called Quadragesima, in the West.  So Lent must start on the Sunday which is forty days before Easter.  But it is also the rule that fasting is not […]
• Robert Bellarmine, Opera Omnia volumes at Google Books
  Yesterday I needed to look up something in the works of counter-Reformation writer Cardinal Robert Bellarmine (a.k.a. Roberto Bellarmino), about whom I know nothing very much.  I found it very difficult to do so using a Google search. It turns out that there is an Opera Omnia, which was reprinted in Paris by Louis Vivès in […]
• The March Poems in the Chronography of 354
  A number of manuscripts contain an image for March.  But here again it is the Vatican Barberini manuscript that gives us the 4-line poem, the tetrastich: Cinctum pelle lupae promptum est cognoscere mensem Mars olli nomen, Mars dedit exuvias. Tempus vernum haedus petulans et garrula hirundo indicat et sinus lactis et herba virens. Know the month […]
• The February Poems in the Chronography of 354
  The month of February has a number of illustrations.  In the Vatican Barberini manuscript, the 4-line poem (tetrastich) appears written down the side.  Here it is: At quem caeruleus nodo constringit amictus, quique paludicolam prendere gaudet avem, daedala quem iactu pluvio circumvenit Iris: Romuleo ritu februa mensis habet. And he whom the cerulean cloak wraps […]
• The January Poems in the Chronography of 354
  Each month in the Chronography of 354 consists of a two-page spread.  On the left there is an illustration of the month, on the right a calendar of days and festivals and anniversaries. For the month of January the 4-line poem (= tetrastich) is preserved only in manuscripts of the Anthologia Latina.  Here it is: […]
• An Introduction to the Poems of the Chronography of 354
  I’m going to do a little series of twelve posts, one per month, on the poems in an ancient text, the Chronography of 354.  Let me first say something about that book. In 354 AD, perhaps as a gift for New Year’s Day, an otherwise unknown Roman nobleman named Valentinus received a  very splendid present.  […]
• “From your Valentine” – a modern legend, plus a bibliographical puzzle partly resolved
  Anyone searching the web for information about Saint Valentine is going to come across a story where Valentine heals his jailer’s daughter, the two fall in love, and, on the morning of his execution he sends her a message signed “Your Valentine”.  There seems to be no canonical version of the story, so no two […]
• The earliest mentions of St Valentine
  Databases are handy things.  The truly wonderful Cult of Saints in Late Antiquity database at Oxford University allows you to search and see just what the earliest mentions are of the cultus of any particular saint.  Even better, it is open-access. Today I did a simple search on St Valentine, Valentinus, and the results can […]
• Sacramentarium Gelasianum – The Gelasian Sacramentary
  Ancient and medieval church service books, or liturgical manuscripts, are a subject of their own, about which I know nothing.  Today I had occasion to find out something about the Sacramentarium Gelasianum, or Gelasian Sacramentary, so I thought that I would share it with you. There are three ancient service books which have survived to our […]
• An account of St Valentine of Rome from 1730
  It is Valentine’s Day, and I have been looking at a particular modern legend and trying to deduce its real origin.  In the process I came across a volume of Saints’ Lives, compiled in Spanish by Pedro de Ribadeneyra, and translated into English in 1730 under the title, “The Lives of the Saints: With Other […]
• “De solstitiis et aequinoctiis” (CPL 2277) – now online in English!
  I’ve written before about this interesting 4th century text, De solstitiis et aequinoctiis (On the solstices and equinoxes), here and on posts linked here, including creating an electronic text.  The author is unknown, but the work is one of the few ancient texts that labels the 25 December as the “birthday of the sun”.  It also […]
• A Roman bog body found on Grewelthorpe Moor in 1850
  Here’s a fascinating post on Twitter here, by Emily Tilley: In 1850 two brothers digging peat on Grewelthorpe Moor found a Roman bog body wearing a green toga, scarlet robe, & yellow stockings. A policeman prevented the destruction of the remains & saved this hobnailed shoe sole, insole, & stocking fragment. For more information I […]
• How to find a specific manuscript by shelfmark at the Bibliothèque Nationale Français website
  The French National Library has a great mass of medieval manuscripts online at its Gallica site.  Finding them, however, can be very tricky. Some time back, a genius drew a chart of how to do this.  It does work – my rather Covid-addled memory tells me only that I did work through it. I probably […]
• Shenoute, “I have heard about your wisdom” (Ad Flavianum ducem) – English translation by Anthony Alcock
  An email last night brought with it a text and English translation of a Coptic text, Abbot Shenoute “I have heard about your wisdom” (the Discourse in the presence of Flavian or Ad Flavianum ducem), made by Dr Anthony Alcock.  Alin Suciu has discussed this text somewhat here.  The slightly unusual title is in fact […]
• From my diary
  The big news is that Dr Isabella Image has today very kindly sent me a rather wonderful draft translation of an anonymous 4th century text, De solstitiis et aequinoctiis, about which I have written before.  It’s never been translated before into any modern language, and it is full of interesting things.  The author suggests that […]
• A problem with “scrupulositas”
  I learned a word this week.  The word is “scrupulosity”, meaning a self-tormenting and obsessive worry about committing minor sins.  I learned of it from a twitter thread here, where some devout Roman Catholics were discussing some less than ideal behaviour by religious orders: @jdflynn: When I was in college, I knew a lot of […]
• A brief yet very nice description of the calculation of the date of Easter from … a PHP manual!
  Computer programs need to calculate the date of Easter sometimes.  In the PHP programming language, there is a function, easter_date, which is used for the purpose.  The manual page is here, and is really rather good! The date of Easter Day was defined by the Council of Nicaea in AD325 as the Sunday after the […]
• From my diary
  I work a lot with Latin texts.  So I use my own QuickLatin tool a lot, in order to do so.  Over the last few weeks I have found myself drawn to work on it some more.  I’m adding in some context-sensitive syntax information, as this is the area that my schoolboy Latin is weakest […]
• Is the Latin infinitive a “mood”?
  Recently I found myself wondering about the Latin verb, and specifically the “mood” – indicative, subjunctive, imperative, and so on.  Partly this came about after I read a blog post on the Dyspepsia Generation blog, on “Latin by the Dowling method”, whatever that might be. The blog as a whole is a long-running US right-wing […]
• Three common mistakes when consulting the Fathers
  While looking through Google Books, I came across a valuable footnote in Paul A. Hartog, The Contemporary Church and the Early Church: Case Studies in Ressourcement (Wipf & Stock, 2010). There seem to be no page numbers in the preview, but the note is linked to here.  The underlining is mine. 88. … To his […]
• Did Theophilus of Caesarea in 190 AD state that Christmas must be observed?
  Now here’s an interesting claim! It is rather seasonal, and was posted cialis online on Christmas Day, and is here: Theophilus (A.D. 115-181), bishop of Caesarea in Palestine writes: “We ought to celebrate the birthday of Our Lord on what day soever the 25th of December shall happen. – Magdeburgenses, Cent. 2. c. 6. Hospinian, […]
• Did ancient writers say that Jeremiah 10:3-5 was about Christmas trees?
  There is an idea that circulates in certain fringe groups in the USA that Jeremiah 10:3-5 (KJV here) condemns the use of Christmas trees. Here’s the bible passage, in the KJV (as is invariably used): 3 For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work […]
• Parallelomania, Bad Scholarship, and Fake History
  There are pyramids in Egypt.  Indeed if we know anything about Egypt, we know it has pyramids.  Almost as well-known are the massive pyramids of Mexico.  This tells a certain sort of person that the two are connected!  Either the Mexicans travelled to Egypt, or the Egyptians sailed to Mexico, or … inevitably … a […]
• Cyril of Alexandria’s lost “Commentary on Hebrews” now available in English!
  Last year we heard that the lost Commentary on Hebrews by Cyril of Alexandria had been rediscovered in three Armenian manuscripts in the Matenadaran library in Yerevan, the Armenian capital.  The publisher has now produced an edition in Armenian with facing English translation! The price is about $60, which is not expensive.  It is available from […]
• Five stray canons of the Council of Hippo (393) – canon 1
  The canons of the council of Hippo in 393 are lost.  Indeed at the third council of Carthage in 397, delegates complained that many had never seen the canons.  This point was grimly noted by the presiding bishop, Aurelius of Carthage, who thereafter ensured that everything was written down.  Since he held annual councils for […]
• A modern myth: St Boniface and the Christmas Tree
  Christmas first appears in the historical record in 336, in Rome.  But there is no trace of anybody having a “Christmas tree” until 1521, when a record of trees being cut for this purpose appears in a town register in Séléstat in Alsace.  The tree was decorated with red apples and unconsecrated communion wafers.  When […]
• Looking for the vanished North Gate of Ipswich
  The Suffolk town of Ipswich has almost no historical monuments, or historical feel, despite being one of the oldest towns in England.  Indeed it was founded in the early Anglosaxon period.  Three gates are preserved in street names – west, north and east – and there is certainly evidence for two of the medieval gates, […]
• From My Diary
  It has been interesting to wander off for a bit into the field of early Welsh studies.  But I very much want to return to more familiar territory now. Sitting on my desktop are a number of Word documents, containing partially complete translations of documents from the Council of Hippo (393) and the 3rd Council […]
• More on Llan Awst
  Now that we have located the missing Welsh hamlet of Llan Awst using the tithe map of 1844 – about which more in a moment -, it’s time to give some more information about the area. On the Royal Commission for Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales (RCAHMW) website, the tithe maps are also linked […]
• The location of Llan Awst
  Since I read in G. H. Doble’s Saint Mewan and Saint Austell that there was a related place in Wales named Llanawystl, I have tried to find out where this might be, as I mentioned here. In particular I was working from a reference in George Borrow’s Wild Wales, where he says that in 1854 he “passed […]
• Llanawstl: Trying to read the entry for Hawystl in the Welsh Peniarth manuscript 127
  I’m still trying to establish whether there was a locality in Wales, Llanawstl, which might relate to the Cornish St Austell. My first post on this is here. The Welsh National Library has online here a very useful resource: Peter Bartrum, A Welsh Classical Dictionary: People in History and Legend up to about A.D. 1000 (1993).  […]
• “Lanawstl” or “Llanawstl” near Machen in Monmouthshire – a reference to St Austol?
  While reading the copy of G. H. Doble’s “Saint Mewan and Saint Austol” that I mentioned a post or two ago here, I came across an interesting statement on p.13: In another part of Gwent, in the parish of Machen in Monmouthshire, is a place called Lanawstl, which must mean “The Monastery of Austol.” The […]
• The rediscovery of Philo, Eusebius’ Chronicon in Armenian
  A number of otherwise lost works of antiquity are preserved in Armenian.  The monks of the Mechitarist order, Armenians based in Venice, were responsible for the first publications of these, usually with a Latin translation.  Such was their scholarly reputation that, when the French Revolutionaries conquered Venice, under a certain Napoleon, and seized almost all […]
• G.H.Doble’s “Cornish Saints” series – the original booklets
  After the Roman collapse in Britain, our sources for history become very scanty.  In Cornwall in particular we are almost entirely dependent on interpreting scraps in medieval saints’ lives – often written centuries later than the events – or making deductions from place names. The pioneer in this area was Canon Gilbert H. Doble (1880-1945), […]
• From my diary
  It’s hard to say what I have done this year, yet I have been very busy with personal stuff. The low-level disruption of life caused by the plague, and by the measures taken to avert it, has tended to drain my energies.  I keep reminding myself that this is true for all of us, and […]
• An 1850 photograph of the Palatine and Meta Sudans by Rev. John Shaw Smith
  This interesting item was posted on Twitter here. Photographs of the Meta Sudans are always welcome.  This one is at an unusual angle and indicates that the destruction facing the Colosseum was not flat 180°, as it often appears in photographs, but nearer 150°. The photographer, the Rev. John Shaw Smith, was an Irish clergyman […]
• St Jerome on “Christmas Trees” in Jeremiah 10
  There is an interesting claim that circulates online – one of many – that Jeremiah 10:2-5 condemns the use of Christmas trees.  Helpfully this site, “Watch Jerusalem” gives the claim plainly: The Book of Jeremiah (written around 600 B.C.E.) states the following: “Hear ye the word which the Lord speaketh unto you, O house of Israel: […]
• The Pratum Spirituale / Spiritual Meadow of John Moschus
  Yesterday I quoted a story from the Acts of Nicaea II (787) where a monk was told it would be better to visit every brothel in the City rather than abandon worshipping the images of Christ and his Mother.  This is attributed to Sophronius, but a kind correspondent pointed out that it is in fact […]
• Better to visit every brothel in the city than deny the worship of images? A quote from Nicaea II?
  A curious claim on Twitter a couple of days ago, here: “It is better to admit all brothals into a city than deny the worship of Images.” -John, legate of the Greeks at the Second Council of Nicaea The quotation is clearly corrupt, genuine or otherwise.  But where does it come from?  Was this really […]
• Copying old floppy disks – an adventure in time!
  Yesterday I inherited a couple of cases of old 3.5″ floppy disks.  Most of them were plainly software, of no special relevance.  But it was possible that some contained files and photographs of a deceased relative, which should be preserved. My first instinct was to use my travelling laptop, which runs Windows 7, and a […]
• A plea for prioritisation of translation of foreign literatures
  The world is wide and the languages within it, living and dead, are numerous beyond counting.  None of us can know enough to read more than a fraction of what has been written.  But if the texts are not in English, then few of us will ever read any of them. The first step in […]
• Where does the Vulgate use the word “unicorn”?
  In the King James Version of the bible, the unicorn is mentioned in Numbers 23:22 and 24:8, Deuteronomy 33:17, Job 39:9,10, Psalms 22:21, 29:6 and 92:10, and in Isaiah 34:7.  As I understand it, in 1611, in current English, the words “unicorn” and “rhinoceros” referred to the same, vaguely known, animal.  The two go back […]
• New blog on later Neoplatonism – the Unhistorize blog
  Thanks to a link-back, I came across the Unhistorize blog. This seems to have started this summer. The blog has posts about What Orphica did the late Neoplatonists read? and Proclus on Atlas and the Pleiades (and the Muses) etc.  There is also Attis-related material, curse-tablets, and excerpts from Sallustius. The author has made the […]
• The translators of the KJV speak! What they did about obscure words etc
  The Translator’s Preface to the Authorized Version is online here, yet few are aware of it, or refer to it.  It begins with many tedious pages justifying their task.  But then it becomes more interesting. First, on p.25, they discuss marginal notes, or variants as we would call them.  I’ve over-paragraphed and modernised the language […]
• A high-quality 1865 photograph of the Meta Sudans, via Rome Ieri Oggi
  The incredible Roma Ieri Oggi website continues to post old photographs on the web.  This one here is a view of the piazza of the Colosseum, but looking up the Sacred Way to the Arch of Titus.  It’s high quality, and can be zoomed in to an amazing extent. I’ve snipped the portion showing the […]
• Ancient references to Jewish attitudes to abortion
  There seem to be very few statements in ancient literature on Jewish attitudes to abortion.  Here is what I have been able to find.  I have not included material from the Mishnah or Talmud, which I may include in a separate post. For reference, here’s the Masoretic text of Exodus 21:22-25 (RSV). 22 “When men strive […]
• From my diary
  My last post, on an attempt by greedy Italian officials to charge for every photograph uploaded to the web, reminded me of a story about another curious foreign custom, told to me by my father, a retired serviceman, some years ago. In the 1950s my father was a young man in military service.  He was […]
• Italian government: “You took some photographs of ancient art!? PAY ME!”
  Among the monuments of Mithras is CIMRM 584, a relief showing the tauroctony, Mithras killing the bull.  It was probably found in Rome, but is today in Venice, as part of the Zulian bequest.  I came across a photograph online, and added it to the catalogue of Mithraic monuments. While googling, I found another photograph […]
• Two pages of lost ancient text the “Orphic Rhapsodies” found in Sinai palimpsest
  I learned today via the Austrian Academy of Sciences (@oeaw) of a very exciting discovery indeed at the monastery of Mount Sinai in Egypt.  There is a rather good article about it at the OEAW site here, with photographs. A previously lost Greek classical text in hexameters has been found in a palimpsest, as the […]
• It was twenty years ago today: 20 years of Rob Bradshaw and “Theology on the Web”
  A tweet by the excellent Rob Bradshaw alerts me to the fact that he has been plugging away and uploading scholarly material to the web for twenty years now, at a range of sites run by himself, including BiblicalStudies.org.uk, EarlyChurch.org.uk, and many others.  The hub site is https://theologyontheweb.org.uk/. The material available is now in excess of […]
• Ambrosiaster’s Dubia: Is there a translation of fragments of a commentary on Matthew?
  I received an email this afternoon on a very obscure text, which led me to do a little bibliographical work. I wonder if you might know whether anyone has published an English translation of the short fragment from a Latin Commentary on Matthew (on 24.19-44) published independently by Mercati (G. Mercati, Varia sacra: “Anonymi Chiliastae […]
• The “Sortes Astrampsychi” or “The lots of Astrampsychus” – an ancient fortune-telling manual
  In the last few posts we’ve been looking at surviving 20-sided dice from antiquity.  From Pausanias we learn that dice, or knuckle-bones – astragalli – were used for oracles; throw the dice, pick the god’s answer from a list.  We do not have any testimony on how these particular dice, with 20-sides, were used, but […]
• A pair of Italian leaves of the 16-17th century, a prospect of Rome, and the Baths of Constantine
  A correspondent writes to tell us all about an item sold at Sothebys on 12 April 2016, in its sale of the “European Decorative Arts From Caramoor Center For Music And The Arts”.  Lot 168 (online here) is “A pair of Italian leaves with scenes of Venus in her chariot and a sacrifice. 16/17th century.”  […]
• The Confession and Martyrdom of Cyprian of Antioch – translated by Anthony Alcock
  Anthony Alcock is continuing his series of translations of Coptic texts.  He has sent in a translation of a hagiographical text, the Confession and Martyrdom of Cyprian of Antioch, and provided a short introduction.  The text is translated from manuscript. The story is known to 4th century authors but is purely fictional, and perhaps based on […]
• Some memories of Steven Ring, Syriacist Extraordinaire
  Yesterday I learned by accident of the death of Steven Ring, one of the first enthusiasts online to promote Syriac studies.  He died on March 28th 2021 of cancer.  He had been ill for the previous four years, during which time he undertook and completed a PhD at SOAS. I’m not sure when I first […]
• The “hugoye-list” for Syriac Studies -now at groups.io
  Syriac Studies online has long relied on the Hugoye-list, at Yahoo Groups, formerly at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/hugoye-list/.  But this closed in 2018.  This evening I was looking for the new location, and Google really was not that helpful. In fact the new location was announced on Twitter by @bethmardutho here: Important announcement: for 20 years, we have […]
• Test
  Test post – WordPress has just deleted my post when I went to publish.
• Throwing dice to generate oracles in Roman times
  My last post here looked at some examples of Roman 20-sided dice with numerals on them, almost certainly used to create oracles, to discover the future.  There is some literary evidence of this sort of practice, and I want to review it here. In Pausanias’ Description of Greece 7.25.10, written in the 2nd century AD, we […]
• Some more Roman polyhedral dice
  A little while ago I wrote here about a Roman crystal twenty-sided dice in the Louvre, and about one ancient oracle book here, the Homeromanteion, which might have been used with it in order to predict the future.  Since then I have come across some images of other ancient twenty-sided dice.  As before, they seem to […]
• From my diary
  I’ve not written any blog posts for a while, but this is because I have been working seriously on the QuickLatin code base.  The successes and failures of that effort are not of interest to others really. One thing that I have done is to write a couple of web pages on my pages at […]
• Online and downloadable: the 5th century Oxford manuscript of Jerome
  We take for granted so much these days.  The web has transformed the life of the researcher.  But sometimes we see something and we just marvel; because we remember how things once were, only a few years ago. Long ago, maybe almost twenty years ago, I led a collaborative project online to translate the Chronicle […]
• A quotation from Augustine: “God doesn’t love you as you are; he hates you as you are.”
  A tweet this evening: God doesn’t love you as you are; he hates you as you are. ~Augustine “You must be born again.” But is it from Augustine? In fact it is taken from M. C. Hollingworth, “Grace, confession, and the Pilgrim City: the political significance of St.Augustine of Hippo’s creation narratives”, Durham University thesis […]
• Translations of Mozarabic texts at Aymenn Jawad al-Tamimi
  A kind correspondent has drawn my attention to a website with new translations of Mozarabic texts – Latin texts from Islamic Spain, written by a certain Aymenn Jawad al-Tamimi, an Iraqi living in Great Britain.  The Latin text used is that contained in Juan Gil’s Corpus Scriptorum Muzarabicorum.  The site also translates a few brief late […]
• Eusebius, Letter to Constantia – an English translation by Cyril Mango
  It’s always a shock to realise that some important early Christian text has never been translated; or, at least, is inaccessible online.  Such was myi feeling on seeing a quotation from the letter of Eusebius of Caesarea to Constantia, sister of the emperor Constantine the Great.  The quotation was: To depict purely the human form […]
• From my diary
  I’m working on translating material associated with the council of Hippo in 393.  Not just the Breviarium of the canons, prepared for the council of Carthage in 397; but also a handful of canons that survived in more complete form, more or less by accident, outside of the main flow of canon law transmission.  To […]
• Canons “37b, 38 and 39” of the Breviarium of the Council of Hippo (393)
  In Mansi’s edition of the Breviarium, canon 37 is longer than it is in Munier; and there are two more canons given.  Thankfully Munier does explain this, and in the interests of completeness, I think it’s worth giving the material here, to tie up a loose end. Around 500 AD Dionysius Exiguus compiled a collection […]
• From my diary
  I’ve now returned working on the letter of Aurelius and Mizonius, to which the breviarium or summary of the canons of the council of Hippo was attached, and with which it is usually transmitted.  This is basically done, although I’ve had to look up a few phrases.  It was much easier to do, after spending so […]
• Canons 37 of the breviarium of the Council of Hippo (393)
  The final canon, 37, in the summary of the canons of the council of Hippo is as follows.  I did get rather stuck at one point, so comments are very welcome. 37.  Placuit etiam ut, quoniam praecedentibus conciliis statutum est ne quis Donatistarum cum honore suo recipiatur a nobis, sed in numero laicorum, propter salutem […]
• Canons 29-36 of the breviarium of the Council of Hippo (393)
  Let’s have a few more canons. 29.  Ut nulli episcopi vel clerici in ecclesia conviventur; nisi forte transeuntes hospitiorum necessitate illic reficiant; populi etiam ab huiusmodi conviviis, quantum potest fieri, prohibeantur. That none of the bishops or clergy shall dine together in the church; except perhaps those travelling may refresh themselves in that place through […]
• Rutilius Namatianus, the Jews, and some notes on the fate of the unique manuscript
  In 1493 a manuscript of the 7-8th century was discovered at the Irish monastery of St. Columbanus at Bobbio in north Italy, which contained some previously unknown ancient works.  One of these was a poem, De reditu suo – On his return – by Rutilius Namatianus, who was Urban Prefect in Rome in 414 AD.  The poem […]
• Canons 25-28 of the breviarium of the Council of Hippo (393)
  Let’s have some more of the canons of Hippo.  Dull as they are, they provide context as to what we can expect of a set of canons. 25. Ut primae sedis episcopus non appelletur princeps sacerdotum, aut summus sacerdos, aut aliquid huiusmodi, sed tantum primae sedis episcopus. That the bishop of the first see shall […]
• The “Matronae Austriahenae” and a supposed link to “Eostre”
  In the Rhineland, there are over a thousand inscriptions and reliefs dedicated to the “Matronae”.  All of these are Roman, and date to the second-third centuries AD.  There is some kind of close relationship with a particular German tribe, the Ubians.  The reliefs show three women; two older, either side of a younger woman.  In […]
• Canons 21-24 of the breviarium of the Council of Hippo (393)
  Let’s try translating a few more of the canons, in the summary of the canons of Hippo made for the council of Carthage in 397. 21. Ut nemo in precibus vel Patrem pro Filio, vel Filium pro Patre nominet; et cum altari assistitur semper ad Patrem dirigatur oratio. Et quicumque sibi preces aliunde describit, non […]
• The “medieval legend” of the appearance of St Michael at St Michael’s Mount in Cornwall: a modern myth
  Reading the charming website of St Michael’s Mount in Cornwall, there is the following statement: From as far back as 495AD, tales tell of seafarers lured by mermaids onto the rocks, or guided to safety by an apparition of St Michael. The patron saint of fishermen, it’s said the Archangel Michael appeared on the western […]
• Online: The Latin Josephus Project
  Here’s something that I had never heard of!  It’s a website, based at Google Sites, called the Latin Josephus Project.  The URL is https://sites.google.com/site/latinjosephus/. It contains the full text of the Latin Josephus for both the Jewish War and Antiquities, given in parallel with the Greek, and Whiston’s translation.  These words were translated in the 6th century, […]
• The “Vita Sanctae Keynae”, an extract from the “Vita S. Cadoci”, and a modern myth about the year 490 at St Michael’s Mount
  One of the Cornish saints was a woman.  Her name was Saint Keyne, or Keyna – there are various spellings – and she is known from a number of hagiographical texts.  She flourished in the late 5th century, and is connected to St Michael’s Mount.  Indeed there are various places on the web that make […]
• The decretal “Consulenti tibi” (JK 293) and the canon of the bible
  During the fourth century a change comes over the church, and indeed the bishop of Rome.  By the end of the century the medieval papacy is coming into existence.  The accession of Pope Damasus was attended with rioting in the streets and in the churches of Rome, as supporters of the candidates sought to impose […]
• BHL 5955b – the “Miracula in Monte S. Michaelis in Cornubia”
  There is a very obscure medieval text, dated to 1262, which is referred to in a couple of modern works as the “Miracula in Monte S. Michaelis in Cornubia” – “The miracles at St Michael’s Mount in Cornwall”.  It is, apparently, listed in the 1986 supplement to the Bibliographica Hagiographica Latina, “supplementum novum”, published by […]
• New publication: Georgi Parpulov’s catalogue of NT catenas
  A useful new open-access publication!  Georgi Parpulov has compiled a fresh catalogue of manuscripts containing the medieval chain-commentaries (“catenas”) on the Greek New Testament.  It’s being [published by Gorgias Press, here, but a free PDF is available here.  Get it now while it’s hot! From Gorgias Press: The book is a synoptic catalogue of a […]
• From my diary: the Tertullian Project cleanup
  I’ve continued to work on cleaning up the old Tertullian Project website.  I’ve just counted how many Html pages it includes – the answer is 8,147.  I have been a busy boy, it seems, over the last 24 years.  By chance I came across a page announcing the “tertullian.org” domain – that appeared in 1999, […]
• Peeking through the arch of Constantine – another view of the Meta Sudans
  Another photograph care of Roma Ieri Oggi depicts a US actress, Aloha Wanderwell, with husband, in front of the Arch of Constantine in 1928.  The angle is square on to the arch, unusually, so we can see the Meta Sudans particularly clearly through the arch. Nice!
• From my diary
  Over the last few days I have been working on the static HTML files of the Tertullian Project.  My objective is to improve its metrics in the search engine race, but I have found much else to do. I’ve enabled HTTPS, as seems trendy today (and you get marked down for not having it). Most […]
• An aerial view of the Colosseum, the Meta Sudans, and the base of the Colossus (1909-25)
  Via the amazing Roma Ieri Oggi site, I learn of this interesting aerial photo of the Colosseum and, much more interestingly, the meta sudans and the base of the Colossus, the statue of Nero.  It was made between 1909-25. At the bottom left the gate of Constantine.  Above it is the Meta Sudans, the demolished Roman […]
• When saints disagree: the angry parting of St Epiphanius and St John Chrysostom
  John Chrysostom started his career as a popular preacher in Antioch in the late fourth century.  Then he was translated to Constantinople, to take up the role of Patriarch.  This was a highly political role, and whoever held it was the target of intrigue and machinations.  So it was with Chrysostom; and eventually his many […]
• Why “search engine optimisation” is an evil
  We all want our words to be heard.  Our carefully crafted essays to be found.  That means that they must be visible in Google.  It is, indeed, for no other reason that I have devoted a couple of days of my life to doing some work on the old Tertullian Project files. Increasingly it is […]
• Converting old HTML from ANSI to UTF-8 Unicode
  This is a technical post, of interest to website authors who are programmers.  Read on at your peril! The Tertullian Project website dates back to 1997, when I decided to create a few pages about Tertullian for the nascent world-wide web.  In those days unicode was hardly thought of.  If you needed to be able […]
• Admin: Tertullian Project reload
  The Tertullian Project (tertullian.org) and all the files underneath it will be temporarily offline.  I’ve made a couple of small technical changes, globally, to the HTML files, and so I am uploading the directory again from my local disk.  I’m not sure how long this will take; maybe an hour or two, probably less. My […]
• Josephus in Ethiopian – a dissertation
  An interesting dissertation has come online here, Y. Binyam, Studies in Sefer Yosippon: The Reception of Josephus in Medieval Hebrew, Arabic, and Ethiopic Literature, Florida (2017).  The abstract reads: In this dissertation I analyze the reception of Josephus in Ethiopia by way of the Hebrew Sefer Yosippon, its Latin sources, and its subsequent Arabic translations. […]
• When did the Pope start to use the ancient pagan title of “Pontifex Maximus”?
  It is often stated online that the ancient title for the Roman high priest, “Pontifex Maximus”, was adopted by the Pope in the 4-5th centuries, as paganism disappeared.  The exact details are often vague, which should always raise suspicion. In fact this does not seem to be true, and the title is only applied to […]
• Forthcoming: The Oxford Guide to the Transmission of the Latin Classics, ed. Justin Stover
  For anybody interested in how the Latin classics reached us – the manuscripts, the process of copying down the centuries – the standard work has been Texts and Transmission by L. D. Reynolds.  Author by author, text by text, we are told whatever is known about how the work was copied. Justin Stover of Edinburgh University has […]
• Canons 15-20 of the breviarium of the Council of Hippo (393)
  Let’s continue translating the summary (breviarium) of the canons of the council of Hippo, compiled at the Council of Carthage in 397.  As ever, corrections are welcome.  But somebody has to start.  Here’s what I have. 15.  Ut episcopi, presbyteri et diaconi non sint conductores aut procuratores privatorum neque ullo tali negotio victum quaerant, quo […]
• Materials for an English translation of the “Life” of St Botolph (or Botwulf), BHL 1428
  In 653 AD a Saxon monk named Botolph (Botwulf in Anglo-Saxon) built a hermitage at Iken Hoo, in Suffolk, overlooking the demon-haunted marshes on the river Alde.  Botolph was on good terms with the East Anglian kings, and he gained a reputation as an exorcist.  He died around 680 AD.  His monastery was later destroyed […]
• Admin: apologies for the outage
  My apologies for the outage this afternoon.  It was caused by me, attempting to set up Google site verification in the DNS.  My provider does this in a bad way, and in so doing I erased something vital.  It should all be back now.
• When did Roman emperors cease to use the title of “Pontifex Maximus”?
  In 376 AD the 17 year old emperor Gratian left his base in Gaul and – probably – made a visit to Rome.  This was ten years after his father, Valentinian I, proclaimed Gratian as co-Augustus on 24 August, and a year after the unexpected death of Valentinian.  It is possible that the visit was […]
• Canons 9-14 of the breviarium of the Council of Hippo (393)
  The Council of Carthage in 397 began by creating a summary of the canons issued at Hippo in 393, the Breviarium. Here are the next few. 9. Sane quisquis episcopus seu clericorum, cum in ecclesia ei fuerit crimen institutum vel civilis causa fuerit commota, relicto ecclesiastico judicio publicis judi­ciis purgari voluerit, etiamsi pro illo fuerit […]
• What is a critical edition, and how do I find one?
  I have just been asked this basic question, on this post on the manuscripts of Pliny the Elder, and to my surprise a quick google does not give a satisfactory answer.  So … here goes! Ancient literary texts were dictated or written by their authors more than 15 centuries ago.  They were then hand-copied for […]
• The Acts of John and gnostic ritual dances
  The apocryphal Acts of John is a curious text which is first attested in the Manichaean Psalm-book in the Chester Beatty collection. This papyrus manuscript was one of seven Coptic codices which were discovered somewhere in Egypt before 1929.  Naturally they were broken up by the Cairo dealers in order to obtain a higher price, […]
• Canons 5-8 of the breviarium of the Council of Hippo (393)
  Let’s look at the next four canons of this summary of the decisions of the council of Hippo in 393, that was prepared for the council of Carthage in 397.  Something of this material found its way into the canons of the council of 419, often somewhat revised.  Since the NPNF translation exists of these, […]
• Tomorrow is Easter Day
  It is Easter Saturday.   I do not use my PC on Sunday, so let me now wish all my readers a Happy Easter!  Christ is Risen!  Alleluia! Many will make the effort to go to church, in an ordinary year.  But doing so under the current regulations requires booking in advance, with limited numbers.  So […]
• Canons 1-4 of the breviarium of the Council of Hippo (393)
  The first act of the Council of Carthage in 397 was to draw up a summary (breviarium) of the decisions of the Council of Hippo in 393, as many clergy claimed that they had never heard of them.  Let’s have a look at them. INCIPIT BREVIS STATVTORVM 1. Vt lectores populum non salutent. Vt ante […]
• The Nicene Creed in Hippo 393 / Carthage 397
  In the Breviarium Hipponense, the summary of the canons of the council of Hippo in 393, prepared at the start of the council of Carthage in 397, there is a version of the Nicene creed.  I thought it might be interesting to look at.  The text is from Munier, CCSL149, p.30, but I have added punctuation […]
• From my diary
  I attended the zoom lecture by Dr Adrian Papaphagi on Latin manuscript fragments in Transylvania.  I had to leave early, but the first half hour was genuinely interesting.  The history of the Reformation in that part of the world was quite unknown to me before now.  The manuscripts of Transylvania suffered badly during the Reformation, […]
• March 25 – the date of the annunciation, the crucifixion, and the origin of December 25 as the date of Christmas?
  Today is March 25, Lady Day.  According to various online sources, it is celebrated as the the day that the angel Gabriel announced the incarnation to the virgin Mary, the Annunciation.  This is also the day of Jesus’ conception.  I have read that some ancient sources also considered it to be the day of Jesus’ […]
• Translations of the acts of the African councils
  There are two main chunks of material transmitted to us from antiquity.  The first is the Breviarium Hipponensis, with its introductory letter.  This is a summary of the canons of the council of Hippo in 393, which was prepared at the council of Carthage in 397 after it was discovered that the decisions of Hippo were […]
• A few notes on Henry R. Percival, translator of “The Seven Ecumenical Councils” in the NPNF Series 2
  Continuing our little series on the councils of the African church, I’ve been looking at the existing translations into English.  I shall write a separate post on this. Any search for translations immediately brings up the volume edited by Henry R. Percival in the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers series, Second Series, volume 14. While reading […]
• Zoom meeting – A paper on fragments of medieval Latin manuscripts originating in Transylvania, by Adrian Paphagi
  On March 26 at 3pm GMT / UTC (1100 EDT) Dr Adrian Papahagi will present a paper via Zoom with the title Evidence Preserved by Destruction: Recycling Medieval Manuscript Fragments in Transylvania during the (Counter)Reformation.  You can register for it here.  (H/T @FragmentariumMS on Twitter here.)  I may listen in myself. Like most of us, […]
• Munier’s “Concilia Africae” edition (CCSL 149) – a table of contents
  The modern critical edition of the canons and acts of the African councils is Charles Munier, “Concilia Africae A. 345- A. 525”, in: Corpus Christianorum Series Latina 149 (1974).   The volume number is indeed 149, despite being misprinted as 259 (“CCLIX”) on the title page.  Volume 149A is the companion text, the conlocutio of 411 between […]
• The “codex canonum ecclesiae Africanae” – looking at the Justell edition
  Today I looked at a Google Books volume, here, headed on that site as “Codex canonum Ecclesiæ Africanæ promulgated at the Council of 419”.  It turns out to be a book printed in 1615 by C. Justell, consisting – seemingly – of the material from the “collectio Dionysiana” under the heading of the council of […]
• Can we use Fuchs’ Bibliothek der Kirchenversammlungen, and do we want to?
  Few will be aware that in the 1780’s G.D. Fuchs published an 4-volume German translation of the acts and canons of the church councils of the fourth and fifth centuries.  His Bibliothek der Kirchenversammlungen des vierten und fünften Jahrhunderts can be found online, at Google Books in low resolution, and at the BSB – Bayerische […]
• Let’s kill all the umlauts!
  We all know the umlaut.  It’s those two dots above the vöwëls in German words.  It also appears in the names of low-grade heavy-metal bands, as a way to seem more Germanic. But how many of us know that the umlaut is completely fake? in 1783, G. D. Fuchs issued his Bibliothek der Kirchenversammlungen des […]
• Ancient collections of church council canons and acts
  In the ancient period, bishops often assembled in councils.  There are famous cases, like Nicaea, where they did so in order to rule on some point of doctrine that had suddenly become a “hot button” issue.  In this case, they would issue a creed which clarified the point.  But they also held councils in order […]
• We need more books on “Urban Legends of Church History”
  A kind correspondent drew my attention to the following volume: Michael Svigel and John Adair, Urban Legends of Church History: 40 Common Misconceptions, B&H (2020).  The book appeared at the end of last year, and is some 340 pages long.  It is issued by a publisher in Nashville, who does not seem very clued-up about how […]
• Eusebius of Caesarea’s Commentary on the Psalms: critical text now online. And did you know there is an Italian translation?
  A kind correspondent draws my attention to an important blog post by Tommaso Interi on the Patristics.It blog, in English here, and in Italian here. (Update: unfortunately  not archived: similar post now here)  He points out that a preliminary text has appeared online of the new edition of Eusebius of Caesarea’s enormous Commentary on the […]
• The canons of the councils of Africa – a few general thoughts
  Few of us are specialists in the material left to us by the early councils of the church. But it is often said that the canon of scripture was “decided” by the “Council of Hippo” or the “Council of Carthage in 397”. This sort of claim is very hard for most of us to evaluate. […]
• From my diary
  I have started to look again at the canonical material relating to the councils of Africa.  What I’m trying to investigate is the material that supposedly defines the canon of scripture.  But to do so, I need to understand what I’m dealing with – the sources for the canonical material.  I’ve decided that I will […]
• “Four major challenges to discipleship”, by Justin Martyr (sort of)
  Last night I saw this interesting tweet: Justin Martyr (AD 100–165) identified four major challenges to discipleship: 1. sexual immorality 2. wealth 3. magic 4. ethnic hatred Sub technology for magic and little has changed in almost 2,000 years Interesting indeed, and probably entirely true. But … Justin’s works are mainly apologetic.  So where did […]
• From my diary
  My apologies for the sudden hiatus in blogging, and the lack of reply to some very interesting comments.  Eight days ago I had the first dose of the Pfizer vaccine.  Unfortunately it has not agreed with me.  I had the standard sore arm and fatigue for a couple of days, which did not matter.  But […]
• The canons of the African councils – hand me the painkillers now!
  I’ve continued to work on the canons of the African councils, and I’m not sure that I am making progress.  What I want to do is to understand those canons which deal with the canon of scripture, and to do so in the context of the full text to which they belong.  Usually these canons […]
• From my diary – working on the acts of the “council of Carthage”
  A few days ago I discovered the existence of Ioannou’s French translation of the “Acts of the Council of Carthage”.  Since then I have opened up Finereader 15, and started the process of preparing a Word document with it in.  It has been very pleasant to do something mindless but useful, and something that I […]
• Périclès-Pierre Joannou (1904-1972) and French translations of canons of ancient councils
  I opened up a stray word document on my desktop, and found in it the beginnings of a translation of the letter of Bishops Aurelius and Mizzonius, prefixed to the Breviarium Hipponense.  The latter document is a summary of the decisions of the council of Hippo in 393.  I soon discovered why I had stalled […]
• Admin: added more sharing buttons
  I’ve added a WordPress plug-in that should allow readers to share a link to each post to a much wider group of websites and social media sites than before.  I’ve kept the old sharing buttons tho.  Most of these sites are unknown to me, but hey, the more the merrier. I’m not endorsing any of […]
• A fragment of De Pythonissa by Methodius of Olympus (d. ca. 300), and more, discovered in Old Slavonic
  Every so often I come across a splendid piece of scholarly work; work that makes me want to stand up, and cheer, and shout “look at this!!!”. I’m thinking of work that could only be done by a professional scholar of great skill, great linguistic ability, and massive determination. Such an experience came my way […]
• Did the priests of Isis have a cross marked on their foreheads?
  In the museums of the world there are a number of Roman sculptures of a head, with particular characteristics.  The person depicted is completely bald, lacking even eyebrows.  Deeply incised upon the head, usually on the right but sometimes elsewhere, is a cross-shaped or X-shaped mark.  In some cases the mark is shaped like the […]
• From my diary
  While under lockdown I have not been able to progress any of my projects very much.  I suspect the background strain is affecting us all.  Everyone is on edge, I notice.  But I am certainly more fortunate than most. After a break, I have started to nibble again at my translation of John the Deacon’s […]
• Sometimes we need boundaries
  If you write a blog, you will get correspondence.  Some of it will be useful.  A gentleman wrote to me only yesterday, sending an image for a Mithraic monument where I previously had none. But some of it is less welcome.  I used to get cases where young people would write, asking me to do […]
• Aldama’s “Repertorium pseudochrysostomicum” is now online!
  A couple of weeks ago the Persée site announced that they had added the “Documents, études et répertoires de l’Institut de Recherche et d’Histoire des Textes” to their collection.  The IRHT is the centre of manuscript studies, so this is big news.  The collection may be found here. This is full of good things for […]
• Preserving our efforts for the future – how can I safeguard my “literary legacy”?
  Yesterday I asked what the future is likely to be for private websites, in a much more regulated internet dominated by corporations and their lawyers.  This led me to consider what will happen to my own literary legacy – rather too grand a term! – when the time comes.  The preservation strategies of yesterday – […]
• What happens next to private internet sites?
  Last night I noticed that one of my domains had renewed.  I marvelled at the price charged, for what is just a line in a database.  But I found a strange agreement of price from so many vendors.  It didn’t seem easy to find anywhere that was cheaper.  I then looked at the registry where […]
• The Roman Martyrology – editions and origins
  The Roman Martyrology or Martyrologium Romanum is one of the service books of the Roman Catholic church.  It contains a list of martyrs, organised by the date on which they are commemorated, with a short notice of their life and death.  In the daily church service, there is a point at which the martyr or martyrs for […]
• Did Gregory say that the four councils should have the same importance as the four gospels?
  An interesting tweet online here, which reflects a common understanding on some Roman Catholic sites: As Catholics, what weightage ought we to give sacred Scripture and sacred Tradition? “I confess that I accept and venerate the four councils (Nicaea, Constantinople, Ephesus and Chalcedon) in the same way as I do the four books of the […]
• The Roman Fort at Ain el-Lebekha
  Here’s a photograph for a snowy winter morning!  It’s the Roman fort at Ain el-Lebekha, a micro-oasis near Kharga Oasis in the western desert in Egypt.  It’s like something straight out of Beau-Geste. I had never heard of this place, so I did some googling.  I found that, as ever with Arabic names, the name […]
• A “beautiful allusion” to palimpsests in John Chrysostom, and the less beautiful task of verifying it
  In 1866 a lecture was given by a certain Dr Charles William Russell (d.1880), President of Maynooth College, with the title, “Cardinal Mai and the Palimpsests”.  This contained the following statement, which has been repeated in some form now for 160 years. The practice [of palimpsesting] continued, in a greater or less degree, under the […]
• Reconstructions of Old St Peters’ from the “Altair 4” design house
  An Italian computer graphics firm has created a 3-D model of Old St Peters‘, the 4th century basilica built by Constantine atop the ruins of the Circus of Gaius and Nero on the Vatican hill.  They have also created reconstructions of the site from the 1st century to our own day.  The material is all […]
• Some notes on another brief biography of Juvenal (Jahn III)
  At the end of Jahn’s 1851 edition of the works of Juvenal, the editor helpfully gathered together various accounts of the life of Juvenal which are found in the medieval manuscripts that transmit to us the text of Juvenal’s Satires. The value of all of these biographies is very doubtful, but it is interesting to […]
• From my diary
  Various snippets have come my way over the last few days. But rather than writing new blog posts, I’ve been updating some older posts that touched upon them. Much of this related to Juvenal. All my old posts on him can be found here. One old post here contained the text, together with a very […]
• What do the scholia of Juvenal look like in the Montpellier manuscript?
  David Ganz kindly drew my attention to the fact that the Montpellier H25 manuscript of Juvenal (Lorsch, 9th century), our best witness for the old scholia on Juvenal, is now online here.  If we go to the start of the Juvenal portion of the manuscript, here, we see this: In the middle of the page […]
• Photos of the Meta Sudans from the American Academy in Rome
  The American Academy in Rome has started placing its photographs online.  The results are rather spectacular, and a cut above the random old photographs that we find online.  It means that for the first time we can reference what we are looking at. Naturally I did a search for the Meta Sudans, the massive Roman […]
• Did Aristocritus identify Zoroaster and Christ?
  In a previous post here we discussed a medieval Christian Arabic collection of apocryphal oracles by pagan philosophers, predicting the coming of Christ.  Much of this material was discovered in 2007 by Andrew Criddle, who had a further suggestion relating to it, and what follows is his work.  I post it here because it should […]
• When to take down the Christmas decorations? A canon of the 2nd Council of Tours (567)
  When should we take down the Christmas tree?  A google search reveals confusion.  The general idea is that we do so on Twelfth Night, but not when that is.  However it seems pretty clear that it should be on the evening of the 5th January, because 6th January is the festival of Epiphany, when the […]
• Gilbert Doble and his pamphlet “St Petroc, Abbot and Confessor”
  Gilbert Doble did not have a clear mind.  He was fully capable of deep erudition, combined with a child-like inability to imagine what others might think about it. He held office in Cornwall as an Anglican parish clergyman in the first half of the twentieth century, and was vicar of Wendron for almost twenty years […]
• From my diary
  Happy new year, everybody, in a few hours. I’ve acquired some volumes of “The Saints of Cornwall”, by G. Doble.  I think there may be six in all.  Canon Doble was a Cornish antiquarian of the first half of the 20th century.  He issued individual pamphlets on Cornish saints – I think there might have […]
• An 18th century drawing of the Meta Sudans from the Spanish National Library
  Here is a nice drawing from the 18th century of the Meta Sudans, the Roman fountain that used to stand outside the Colosseum until Mussolini decided to demolish it.  This one is from the Biblioteca Digital Hispánica, the Spanish National Library. Two things make this drawing interesting.  First, it’s close enough that we can see […]
• Christmas Eve
  I would like to wish a very Merry Christmas to everyone who reads this blog. It is Christmas Eve here, and everything is quiet.  It has rained heavily today, and then turned cold.  Ice is predicted, and probably truly, for I went out for a walk late this afternoon, and it was very cold indeed.  […]
• Did Mithras say “He who will not eat of my body and drink of my blood…”?
  In 1999 two journalists named Timothy Freke and Peter Gandy published a book called The Jesus Mysteries:  Was the “original Jesus” a pagan god?  The book appealed to a “new atheist” demographic, and material from it could be found online throughout the 2000’s. On p.49 they made the following claim, in the middle of a series […]
• Christmas trees in Livonia? Balthasar Russow (1579) in the Livonian Chronicle
  It’s time for a Christmas post.  This may be out of period for us, but we can do a little digging into an obscure modern legend. Europe became Christian around 400 AD, and Christmas itself originates in Rome in 336 AD.  But the first documented example of a Christmas tree at Christmas is in a […]
• Finereader 15 includes Fraktur OCR! Finally!
  Excellent news this afternoon.  It seems that the new version of Abbyy Finereader, version 15 (which for some reason they have renamed Finereader PDF 15) incorporates their excellent Fraktur recognition engine for the first time. And it works!  I tried it out on some 19th century German text. That is pretty darned good.  That’s exactly […]
• Early 16th century maps of Rome and the Baths of Constantine
  This is the last in our little series of posts of renaissance images of the Baths of Constantine in Rome.  The final group of witnesses are not strictly drawings at all.  They are views taken from maps of Rome produced in this period.  The fashion was for aerial views, which means that monuments had to […]
• Lanciani on the Baths of Constantine and some references
  In this series of posts on the now-lost Baths of Constantine in Rome, I’ve posted renaissance drawings of what then remained.  The list of these I took from Platner & Ashby’s Topographical Dictionary of Rome (1929), 525-6, which I accessed via the excellent Lacus Curtius site here.  This states:  Enough of the structure was standing at […]
• Serlio’s 1540 plan of the Baths of Constantine
  The next item in our little series on the now-vanished Baths of Constantine in Rome is a plan, drawn by Sebastiano Serlio in the third volume of his Architettura and printed in 1540.  A hard-to-use copy is here, with the illustration on p.92 (“spread 49”).   The 1544 reprint is at the Digital Library in Heidelberg, […]
• What on earth is Palladio’s “Le terme dei Romani”?
  When I started this little series on the Baths of Constantine, one of my references (from Wikipedia) was “Palladio, Le Terme, pl.XIV”.  A quick search revealed that this was Le terme dei Romani disegnate da Andrea Palladio e ripubblicate con la giunta di alcune osservazioni da Ottavio Bertotti Scamozzi giusta l’esemplare del lord co. di Burlingthon […]
• Palladio and the Baths of Constantine
  The next item in our little series on the now-vanished Baths of Constantine in Rome is by none other than Palladio.  Andrea Palladio was a 16th century Italian architecture who became very famous for his 4-volume handbook on how to do Roman architecture.  This contained illustrations of many standing monuments, giving a plan, elevation and […]
• The Baths of Constantine in the panorama of Antonio van Wyngaerde ca. 1560
  In 1894 the famous Italian archaeologist R. Lanciani found a long-forgotten 2-metre long drawing of a panorama of Rome, in the Bodleian Library in Oxford, in the Sutherland collection of some 20,000 artworks of all sorts.  He published it in facsimile the following year, in the Bullettino della Commissione Archeologica Comunale de Roma, vol. 23 […]
• A 1621 reconstruction of the Baths of Constantine in Rome by Lauro Giacomo
  By 1621 there must have been little left of the Baths of Constantine, but there was a market for a drawing, as the existence of this item by Lauro Giacomo shows.  Here’s a small image from Europeana: A proper-sized image can be found at the Savannah College of Art and Design, here.  This allows us […]
• Bufalini’s plan of the Baths of Constantine
  In 1541 Leonardo Bufalini drew a map of the whole city of Rome, the Pianta di Roma, with emphasis on the surviving ancient monuments.  This was printed in 1551.  Bufalini was early enough that his map shows much that has since been lost. Among them is a map of the Baths of Constantine, standing on […]
• The Baths of Constantine in Rome
  Today I came across this interesting drawing from Du Perac, Vestigi dell’Antichita di Roma, 1621, plate 32 (online at Heidelberg here). The text beneath reads: Vestigij delle Terme di Constantino nel monte quirinale dalla parte che guarda verso Libecchio (= sud-ovest) qualli per esser molto ruinati non vi si vede adornamenti ma solo grandissime muraglie et stantie masimamente […]
• Stelten’s Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin arrives
  Today I received a copy of Leo F. Stelten’s Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin (via Amazon.com).  I’ve not really had a chance to look at it yet. But this evening it had its first test.  John the Deacon’s Life of St Nicholas describes the city of Patara, the saint’s home town, as once “rutilabat”.  The Oxford […]
• From my diary
  The third unfinished project on my desktop is a translation from the Latin of the Life of St Nicholas by John the Deacon, who lived in Naples in the middle of the 9th century.   John was bilingual, and created his work by translating the Greek Life by Methodius – the one that defeated all my […]
• St George, 5th century “Passio” – English translation now online
  The earliest account of the martyrdom of St George is palpably fictional, and probably Arian in origin.  It was composed in Greek, probably by an Arian.  It was a rather embarrassing work, and later versions remove much of the rubbish.  For this reason Matzke, who reviewed the tradition, referred confusingly to the original as the […]
• From my diary
  I have now got all the way through the 5th century Latin “Passecrates” Life of St George, as edited by Arndt, and I have prepared an English translation of every sentence. What a mess the text is in!  The editor, Arndt, plainly had trouble reading the manuscript at all.  At points it makes no sense.  […]
• From my diary
  It is good to have the Life of St Cuthman out of the way at last.  But it is not the only project of mine that has been stalled for many months. More than a year ago, a kind correspondent offered to translate a very early Latin Life of St George.  He did send in […]
• St Cuthman, the wheelbarrow saint – Life now online in English
  I have today completed my translation of the medieval “Life” of St Cuthman.  Unlike most anglosaxon saints, Cuthman was a peasant.  He founded the church of Steyning in Sussex.  He is noted for carrying his mother about with him in a wheelbarrow! Here is the translation, together with the text that I translated and some […]
• An apology
  Several people have written to me recently, or posted comments, which I should usually have replied to.  My apologies for my failure to reply.  An unfortunate illness in the family is absorbing most of my time at the moment.
• From my diary
  Back in March I was working on making an English translation of the hagiographical Life of St Cuthman.  At the same time I was working on adding syntactical help to my QuickLatin tool. But then by the mercy of God I was able to get a contract and earn a living, at a time when […]
• Admin notice
  I have just discovered a dozen comments on various posts, all of which for some reason went into the spam filter.  I have no idea why this happened – some of you are long-standing commenters and should go straight through. My apologies, and I have now rescued them.
• The first mention of St Austell, ca. 900 AD, in a Vatican manuscript
  In the Vatican there is a Latin manuscript, shelfmark Vatican Reginensis Latinus 191, which contains a collection of texts assembled for the church in Reims in northern France.  The manuscript is online, and may be found here. At some point before the 12th century, the manuscript was given some parchment guard-leaves on either end.  These […]
• A portrait of Julian the Apostate and his wife Helena – or is it?
  There’s an image which circulates online, purporting to be a depiction of Julian the Apostate and his empress, Helena.  Here it is: The item is from Wikipedia (where else?), and adorns the page dedicated to Helena.  From there it has spread to many sites, book covers, etc. But is it genuine?  Indeed what is it?  […]
• Looking for an article in the Cambridge/Cambrian Medieval Celtic Studies journal
  The plague rages among us, or so we are assured by the mass media.  My local library has closed after a librarian had a close encounter with someone later found to be infected.  There’s no question of visiting a research collection.  So … what you are about to do, do it online! A kind correspondent […]
• Who was St Austell?
  Who was “St Austell”.  There is a town of that name in Cornwall, in the UK. I am no expert on saints, and I would imagine that there are shoals of local saints in the Celtic regions of Britain.  But I did find a source.  Apparently the book to go to is Nicholas Orme, The […]
• A 1711 painting showing the Meta Sudans
  There is a painting in Turin, in the Galleria Sabauda, of a view of the Colosseum and the Arch of Titus, dating from 1711, and painted by Gaspar van Wittel (Vanvitteli).  But it also shows a taller Meta Sudans than we know from the 19th century.  Here it is: The ruined old fountain stands outside […]
• From my diary
  The spam filter is acting up again.  I found four different messages from the contact form in it this morning, which I have tried to deal with.  My apologies for the delay.  There was also a mass of messages which did indeed seem to be spam and them I just deleted. Today I also came […]
• More on the Homeromanteion
  Yesterday I mentioned the Homeromanteion.  This work consists of an introduction, followed by a list of oracular extracts from Homer.  Using three 6-sided dice, you can get a random extract. The work is extant in three papyri, P.Bon. 3, P.Oxy. 3831, and PGM VII.  One of these, P.London 1, 121 is a six foot long […]
• A Roman rock-crystal icosahedron (20-sided dice) in the Louvre
  Here’s a pretty image that floats around the web: It’s ancient, and an icosahedron – a 20-sided dice. The Musée du Louvre twitter account (@MuseeLouvre) posted further images of what is plainly the same item (click to enlarge). The inventory number seems to be MNC882.  It is a pity that the Louvre is not as […]
• A homily of Gregory the Great and Mary Magdalene
  Mary Magdalene has attracted a great deal of modern myth-making, mostly from the USA, mostly in a feminist direction.  A few weeks ago I discovered that the reputation of St Mary Magdalen as a penitent prostitute was supposedly the result of a decree by Pope Gregory the Great in 1591 (!) or 591, in homily 23 […]
• More on the monster Meta Sudans!
  As I gazed at the amazing photograph from Roma Ieri Oggi in my last post, I suddenly became conscious of just how huge the Meta Sudans was.  The old photographs do not really give us an impression of its sheer size. But the combined photo does.  The monument was, clearly, immense, well worthy of an […]
• How would the Meta Sudans look today outside the Colosseum?
  I’ve often wondered what it would look like if Mussolini had not demolished the Meta Sudans.  This was the stubby remains of a narrow, pointed fountain of the Roman imperial period – it appears on a coin of Titus.  The brick core was stablised in the early 1800s, reducing it to half its height.  The […]
• Translating Eusebius on the Psalms – a new blog
  A friendly note from Justin Gohl of the Sophiaphile blog informs me that he is translating selected passages from the monster Commentary on the Psalms by Eusebius of Caesarea! This is extremely good news.  This text is very long, and has accordingly been very neglected.  I seem to remember commissioning translations of a few of […]
• Did Origen deny the idea that “there was a time when the Son was not”?
  I came across an interesting claim on twitter here: Origen anticipating & contradicting the Arian heresy 10yrs before Arius was born and 80yrs before Nicaea is Fire. “He who was a son according to the flesh came from the seed of David…According to the Spirit, however, he existed first & there was never a time […]
• New! Free Patristic Greek text archive now online
  A very important announcement today – the Patristic Text Archive has gone online in beta!  It’s here. This is a new open-access collection of Greek (and other) texts, encoded in XML format (well, strictly it’s TEI), and freely available for download from GitHub, as I noted a couple of days ago. But now the front-end […]
• Ottoman drawings of the monuments of Constantinople
  Few of us know anything about Turkish literature or manuscripts, and I am certainly not among that number.  But I was interested to discover that some illuminated Ottoman manuscripts contain pictures of Byzantine monuments.  (Presumably they also contain text as well).  Here are a couple that I have found online recently. Here is the first.  […]
• A few fragments for the weekend
  It’s time for a miscellaneous post.  Here are a few stories and notices from the last few weeks which may be of general interest.     *    *    *    * First up is a GitHub repository, containing an archive of open access antique Christian texts.  The title is the Patristic Text Archive, and it’s here.  Created […]
• Reconstructions of Ostia and Portus from the air – painted by Katatexilux
  A marvellous Italian website has come to my attention.  It’s called Progetto Katatexilux, and may be found at https://www.katatexilux.com/.  (Note that you need to use Chrome to view this). This pair of artists have drawn reconstructions of the ancient world.  Here are a couple of from their Ostia Antica project.  The first is Ostia: I have […]
• A few more letters of Isidore of Pelusium – 102-116
  Ten years ago I attempted to get English translations made of letters of Isidore of Pelusium.  Each attempt failed for one reason or another.  This translation of letters 102-116 was made by Clive Sweeting in 2010, but never received a final revision, and was never published.  This seems a pity, so I post it here. […]
• A coin from the days when English was a tribal language, ill-adapted to Roman letters
  Every so often there is a news story about the difficulty of representing some foreign language in Roman letters.  This is especially the case for languages like Chinese which already have a  dedicated script. Every script or alphabet exists for the purpose of representing the sounds of a language.  At those times when a language has […]
• An email about the letters of Isidore of Pelusium
  Isidore of Pelusium was a monk living in the Nile delta in the early-mid 5th century AD, in the times of Cyril of Alexandria.  We know nothing of him except that a collection about 2,000 of his letters – or rather short excerpts from them – was made by the “Sleepless” monks of Constantinople in […]
• Augustine, De Genesi ad litteram imperfectus liber (The Literal Interpretation of Genesis: Unfinished Book) – online in English
  Dr Isabella Image has kindly written to me and offered to make available her translation of Augustine, De Genesi ad litteram imperfectus liber (The Literal Interpretation of Genesis: Unfinished Book = CPL 268).  Dr Image has worked on several academic translations, so it is very nice indeed to have this one made available.  She has […]
• From my diary
  My apologies for the lack of blogging.  It’s not for lack of material to blog about!  I have a folder of items that I want to talk about, and it seems to get longer every week.  Which is nice, really.  What I don’t have is any time.  I’m sitting at my computer in my study, […]
• Walton Castle must have looked much like this in the 1600’s
  The Roman fort at Felixstowe in Suffolk stood on a sandy cliff.  It went into the sea between 1700 and 1750, and there are still remains of it on the sea bed, a few metres off-shore.  I collected some old drawings of the fort here, known as Walton Castle. Today I saw on twitter here an […]
• Lost ancient text found in Armenia: Cyril of Alexandria’s Commentary on Hebrews
  Excellent news today via Matthew R Crawford.  It seems that Cyril of Alexandria’s lost Commentary on Hebrews has been discovered.  It is preserved in three Armenian manuscripts held in the Matenadaran library in Yerevan, the Armenian capital.  An edition has been prepared, and is for sale here at BooksFromArmenia.com, for the modest sum of around […]
• An old list of abbreviations used in Latin inscriptions
  Today I saw an inscription on Twitter (posted by Gareth Harney), and part of it left me baffled.  Here it is: This funerary altar was erected to the memory of T. Flavius Athenaeus, by his freedman Nicostratus, and records that he lived for 22 years, 3 months, 5 days and 3 hours: Memoriae T. Flavi. […]
• Augustine, De divinatione daemonum / On the divination of demons – now online in English
  How is it that demons are able to predict the future, and so support the pagan practices of oracles, soothsaying, and the like?  This question bothered some of those around St Augustine, and he wrote a short treatise to answer it, De divinatione demonum (CPL 306). It is very well worth reading.  But there is […]
• Illiterate bishops decided the canon of the New Testament! Or did they?
  It is often claimed that the canon lists given in the canons of the council of Hippo in 393, and the council of Carthage in 397, in some way created the canon of the New Testament.  This is not the case, and cannot be the case – the lists are merely for local use in […]
• Some first impressions on ancient collections of canons
  An inept Roman Catholic apologist today pronounced that the Catholic church decided the contents of the bible, and did so at the Council of Carthage in 397.  I can imagine Augustine raising an eyebrow at this, and quelling him where he stood.  But it made me realise that actually I have never read the acts […]
• A Portugese Christmas tree around 1400? – part two
  A couple of days ago I started to track down a rather odd paragraph in the Wikipedia article on Christmas trees, and I wrote a blog post on it here.  The article reads: At the end of the Middle Ages, an early predecessor [of the Christmas tree] appears referred in the Regiment of the Order […]
• A Portugese Christmas tree around 1400?
  There is a rather odd paragraph in the Wikipedia article on the Christmas Tree.  Today it reads as follows: At the end of the Middle Ages, an early predecessor appears referred in the Regiment of the Order of Cister around 1400, in Alcobaça, Portugal. The Regiment of the local high-Sacristans of the Cistercian Order refers […]
• More thoughts on the scholia vetustiora of Juvenal
  Earlier today I discussed the appearance of the word “gladiatrix” in the oldest scholia on Juvenal.  I had hoped to find the passage in an online manuscript, but I didn’t have any good source for the manuscripts of the scholia. Soon afterwards a kind gentleman then sent me a copy of Wessner’s 1931 edition of […]
• Is “gladiatrix” a modern term?
  On various sites you can find the claim that the Latin word “gladiatrix”, meaning a female gladiator, is a modern word, unknown in antiquity.  For instance this article: The term gladiatrix was never used in ancient times; it is a modern word first applied to female gladiators in the 1800’s CE. This in turn seems […]
• More old photographs of the Meta Sudans
  There are many, many old photographs of the Arch of Constantine, the Colosseum, and the now-vanished Meta Sudans, the fountain that stood outside it and was demolished by Mussolini.  A few more have come my way this week.  For most of them I am indebted to the amazing Roma Ieri Oggi site and its twitter […]
• St George and the Crusaders
  Today is St George’s Day. April 23rd is the feast day of the Patron Saint of England, adopted as such during the crusader period.  So I thought that I would collect a few early sources connecting the crusaders and St George.  This is not comprehensive: merely whatever comes to hand. In the Latin Gesta Francorum […]
• A colour fresco of Old St Peter’s, half-demolished but with the obelisk in position
  A kind commenter drew my attention to this fascinating fresco of the appearance of Old St Peter’s. It shows clearly the rather ramshackle old front of Constantine’s basilica – there was an atrium/courtyard behind, and then the main front.  The huge construction of New St Peter’s looms at the back, unfinished – as indeed it […]
• Further thoughts on translating St Cuthman’s “Life”
  While translating the Latin text of the Life of the anglo-saxon Saint Cuthman, I have taken to googling for fragments of the Latin, or even whole sentences.  The results are often interesting, and not infrequently important. One reason that I do this is to identify biblical references.  Often a tortured phrase turns out to be […]
• How papyrus rolls lost their tops and bottoms – from Oxyrhynchus
  A truly fascinating post at Papyrus Stories tells us what happened when an archive of papyrus rolls was neglected in the early 2nd century. “The documents shown to me by the clerk Leonides (…) were in some cases deprived of their beginning, or damaged, or moth-eaten (…). Since the books have been hastily moved from […]
• Some notes on St Alnoth
  A correspondent was looking for the Life of St Alnoth in the Acta Sanctorum, and found himself confused by the series, as most of us are initially. The Acta Sanctorum is confusing to the casual visitor, because all the lives of the saints are given on their saints’ day, the day in the Catholic Church […]
• St Cuthman, the Vulgate, the sacramentary, and so forth
  Translating the Latin text of the Life of St Cuthman, printed by the Bollandists, is an interesting exercise.  I find that the text quite often uses the approach of the Latin Vulgate bible, where quia means “that” rather than “because”.  This means that you can often get something from simply googling a passage – it […]
• Literary sources for the “Life” of St. Eanswythe
  There is a big news story yesterday about the bones of St Eanswythe, an anglo-saxon saint ca. 630 AD, which have been discovered in the wall of a Kentish church.  They were stashed there at the Reformation, and rediscovered a century ago, but without any certainty as to who they were.  The modern story is […]
• The harvester who became a magistrate – an inscription from 260-270 AD
  On twitter this evening, I saw a Latin inscription in the Louvre, in a cursive script (!), which tells an interesting story.  It’s from Mactaris, in ancient Africa Proconsularis, between 26–270 AD (h/t Susan Rahyab).  It tells an interesting story of how a humble corn harvester rose to become a magistrate: The monument is today […]
• Did Pope Gelasius create St Valentine’s Day as a replacement for the Lupercalia?
  Something weird has begun to happen over the last couple of years.   Twitter is filling up with claims that “Christmas is really pagan”; the same for Easter (!), St Valentine’s Day – indeed for every single Christian holiday.  This is new, and started maybe in 2018, and now has become very commonplace.  The object is […]
• From my diary
  It is now four months since I fell ill with some minor but annoying problem that gave me splitting headaches all day long and left me washed out.  Thankfully those are nearly gone, and although I am still rather weak, I now believe that I will make a full recovery.  It’s been an expensive time, […]
• A concise explanation of the legal basis for Roman persecution of Christians
  Tertullian tells us, in his Apologeticum that Christians were told, simply, “Non licet esse vos!” (You are not allowed to exist!)  I happened to see a very nice summary of what this meant, and what it tells us, in Servais Pinckaers Spirituality of Martyrdom, p.66. It was new to me, and I thought that others […]
• A pagan philosopher writes against Manichaeism: Alexander of Lycopolis and his “Against the Manichaeans”
  While re-reading Anthony Kaldellis’ A Cabinet of Byzantine Curiosities I came across the following entry (p.129): Around A.D. 300, one Alexander of Lycopolis wrote a treatise Against the Manichaeans, which begins with a lucid account of the transformation of Christian thought in his time. “The philosophy of the Christians is fairly simple. It is mostly […]
• From my diary
  It looks as if I will not be able to bring Origen of Alexandria: Exegetical Works on Ezekiel back into print.  This is unfortunate. My first idea was to use Amazon KDP.  After all, I already own an ISBN, the book in PDF and cover art, all used perfectly by Lightning Source.  But KDP just […]
• Searching for the Vulgate: one genuine text and two “fakes”
  What do you do if you want a reading copy of the traditional Catholic Latin bible, the Vulgate?  The unwary purchaser may easily end up with something unsuitable. First, some necessary background. The original Vulgate Latin bible was created by St Jerome in the 5th century out of a mass of earlier “old Latin” translations, […]
• Returning to book publishing
  This afternoon I sent an email to Lightning Source, who print my books, to take them out of print and close the account.  The account actually belongs to my company, which I may have to dissolve in April as a result of some legislative tax changes. You might be able to buy copies on Amazon if […]
• The apocryphal canons of a supposed apostolic council of Antioch
  At the end of Mission und Ausbreitung des Christentums, (Leipzig, 1902) Harnack discusses a curious little Greek text, which purports to be the canons of a council held in Antioch by the apostles.  There are nine canons.  Harnack’s work is online at Google books in English as The Expansion of Christianity in the First Three Centuries, in […]
• From my diary
  No blogging in the last week.  On Monday 6th January I had a brand new and rather expensive Dell G5 Inspiron 5090 desktop delivered, with screen. I spent the week trying to set it up.  It’s time-consuming, isn’t it!  Sadly by the end of the week I had determined that there was a problem with […]
• The text of De Solstitia et De aequinoctia (CPL 2277)
  I’ve written a couple of posts already on this obscure late-antique text.  The text was first printed in 1530 as part of the works of Chrysostom – it is, indeed, transmitted in Latin as part of a collection of 38 sermons attributed to him.  The only other edition is that of Botte in 1932, printed […]
• “OMG I’m So Hungover” – Ogham Annotations in a 9th century copy of Priscian
  The Anglandicus blog has an amusing 2014 article on Massive Scribal Hangovers: One Ninth Century Confession.  The whole post is well worth a read on Irish marginal notes in manuscripts. One such manuscript has a great number of these marginalia.  Below is the upper portion of folio 204 in St. Gall 904 (or Codex Sangallensis […]
• From my diary
  Happy New Year, everyone. I’ve created an electronic Latin text of the De solstitia et aequinoctia from the 1530 Froben edition.  This probably has some OCR errors in it, as I have already spotted one.  I’m waiting for a more modern edition to appear by inter-library loan.  I understand that the modern edition s not […]
• Order my books before they go out of print!
  Long term readers will remember that I commissioned two texts and translations in printed form: Eusebius, Gospel Problems and Solutions (2011), and Origen’s Homilies on Ezekiel (2014).  The first is the only version of this text; the second is the best version of the work.  Both contain catena fragments, the original text, and a facing […]
• Subscriptions by email
  A correspondent has asked me to enable a facility to subscribe to this blog by email.  I’ve added a widget for it to the sidebar on the right!  (I think the facility existed, but this makes it more obvious).
• Some notes on “De solstitiis et aequinoctiis” (CPL 2277)
  There are very few sources for a Roman festival of the sun on 25th December.  The main one is the entry in the Chronography of 354, in the Philocalian Calendar, labelling the day as “Natalis Invicti”, the birthday of Sol Invictus, the state sun-god.  Next to it is a 13th century scholiast on Dionysius bar-Salibi.  But […]
• Was there no festival of Sol on 25 December before 324 AD?
  Most of us are aware that the 25th December is labelled as the “Natalis [solis] Invicti” in the Chronography of 354; specifically in the 6th part, which contains the so-called “Calendar of Philocalus” (online here), listing the state holidays.  Sol Invictus was introduced into Rome by Aurelian in 274 AD as a state cult, and […]
• The first mention of Yule: the Gothic liturgical calendar in the Codex Argenteus
  The first mention of “Yule” is to be found in a palimpsest manuscript, perhaps of the the 6th century AD.  A number of Gothic bibles were reused for their parchment at the northern Italian monastery of Bobbio, and one of these contains a fragment of a Gothic calendar of saints’ days as the last but […]
• From my diary
  I’ve been updating the Mithras site with images that people have sent me over the last year.  These go into the catalogue of monuments and inscriptions that I maintain, as and when I feel like it.  I’ve added an entry for the “new” Mithraeum at Ostia, which has been dubbed the “Mithraeum of the coloured […]
• “Feasting in excess”: a fingerprint phrase in quotations of Gregory Nazianzen on the Nativity
  I came across this (rather useless) page, which contained the curious claim: In 389AD, St Gregory Nazianzen, one of the four fathers of the Greek Church criticized customs of ‘feasting in excess” and “dancing” at Christmas. This criticism arose because these festive excesses were hangovers from the pagan midwinter festivals like Saturnalia when celebrants suspended normal […]
• A miscellany of things
  Here are a couple of things that I noticed recently, and might be useful to others. Following an enquiry, I find that there is a translation of Theophylact on Matthew online here.  This is certainly better than the $70 needed to obtain the 1992 translation of the same work, at Amazon.com here. Next, the physical […]
• St Nicholas and the story of the three schoolboys murdered by an inn-keeper and stashed in a pickling cask
  Saints’ Lives are a form of folk story.  These circulated widely in the middle ages, sometimes as ballads or plays, and they gained additional material from the need to tell a good story.  Tracing these stories back to a literary source can be time-consuming. Today is St Nicholas’ Day, so an investigation of this sort […]
• Digging for gold: the archaeology of the internet and the “Electronic Journal of Mithraic Studies” (EJMS)
  Back in the 1970s, following the international conferences on Mithraic studies, a rising young scholar named Richard L. Gordon created a journal specifically for Mithras studies.  He named it the Journal of Mithraic Studies, and got contributors, and supporters, and a publisher.  There was definitely a demand for such a journal, as somewhere to report […]
• From my diary
  I’m still unwell, after an unbelievable 9 weeks of sitting around at home with a headache.  But finally I seem to be improving.  None of the pills and potions prescribed by my GP has had any effect, but time seems to be the cure.  I’m waiting for a scan, but the doctor thinks that it […]
• The earliest mention of Halloween? John Mirk’s “Festivall” or “Festial” or “Liber Festivalis
  This evening I happened to come across Lisa Morton, The Halloween Encyclopedia (2011).  I can see some errors in it, but on the whole it is an admirable effort.  On p.148, under “Parties”, we find this statement: One of the earliest written mentions of Halloween, from the 1493 Festivall, contains this description of what sounds […]
• From my diary
  Regular readers will have noticed the lack of blogging. For more than seven weeks I have been unable to work.  The symptoms are general weakness and a constant headache, possibly sinus-related.  This came on following a three-day bout with the office cold.  I’m getting more rested, of course, but the problem is not really improving.  […]
• A symposium on Ephrem Graecus next week at Marquette university in Milwaukee
  Regular readers will remember “Ephrem Graecus” – the mass of works in Greek which are attributed to Ephraim the Syrian, but which are in fact mostly original compositions.  Little work has been done on this area, which makes it one of the uncharted frontiers of patristics. Those in the Milwaukee area in the US might […]
• From my diary
  Next Tuesday in Oxford there will be a study day, dedicated to the Codex Zacynthius of the bible.  Details may be found at the University of Birmingham website here. Codex Zacynthius, the oldest copy of the New Testament to be accompanied by a commentary, was rubbed out and written over in the Byzantine period. Using […]
• “Bread for slaves – 2” – An ancient shopping list from Pompeii
  Two posts on twitter, here from @ahencyclopedia, and here, from the excellent Dr Sophie Hay, tell us of a list of provisions, bought or sold, over a number of days.  It lists three types of bread – “bread”, “coarse bread”, and “bread for a slave” (panem puero). The text was scratched on a wall in […]
• Comments caught in the spam filter
  I’ve just discovered a bunch of real comments that have been caught in the spam filter.  My apologies to those who took the time to write.  I will fish these out and respond.
• All Saints Day: Alcuin in 800 AD exhorts his friend to celebrate it on 1st November
  In Letter 193, to his friend Arno, Alcuin writes: Kalendis Novembris solemnitas omnium sanctorum. Ecce, venerande pater Arne, habes designatam solemnitatem omnium sanctorum, sicut diximus. Quam continue in mente retineas et semper anniversario tempore colere non desistas; adtendens illud et intente considerans, quoniam, si Helias, unus ex illis in vetere testamento, oratione sua, dum voluit, […]
• All Saints: the edict of Louis in 835 establishing the date as 1st November
  The commemoration of All Saints was first made universal in 835 AD  by the Emperor Louis the Pious, in the 21st year of his reign, at the suggestion of Pope Gregory IV.  This information reaches us through the 12th century Chronographia or Chronicle of Sigebert of Gembloux, who records the following entry for the year: […]
• The Martyrologium Poeticum of ps.Bede, a.k.a. The Metrical Calendar of York
  All Saints Day is celebrated on 1st November.  But it was not always so.  The first reference to this celebration on this date is a poem of 83 lines, in hexameter verse, preserved in the manuscripts under the title of “Martyrologium Bedae”, the Martyrology of Bede.  It cannot in fact be by Bede, because it mentions […]
• From my diary
  I have spent a few days, researching the Martyrologium Poeticum of pseudo-Bede. This work would ordinarily be a bit late for us.  Bede himself appears in the Clavis Patrum Latinorum, but the editors declined to include his dubia and spuria, doubtless realising that this would take them centuries into the middle ages. The text is […]
• From my diary – thinking about All Saints Day
  Halloween is nearly upon us, and with it comes the incessant smug chanting that “Halloween is simply Samhain renamed”, and other cries of a similar kind. Folklore is often a bit rubbish.  All sorts of claims are made, of the wildest kind, and those who make them often take offence if you ask what evidence […]
• More manuscripts of the “notae” in the margins of Cassiodorus, “Expositio Psalmorum”
  I gave some examples in a previous post of the unpublished “notae”, symbols indicating what type of comment was involved, in the margin of Cassiodorus’ Expositio Psalmorum, his commentary on the Psalms.  The notae are listed and explained at the top; and I gave some manuscript images. After doing so, a few more online manuscripts […]
• The late antique use of “Christianitas”
  The word “Christianitas” became important during the Dark Ages.   Charlemagne inherited the kingdom of the Franks, and he sought to do something about the pointless barbarian kingdoms atop the decaying ruins of the Western Roman Empire.  Out of these he forged a vision of a new world, and one that his contemporaries could understand and relate […]
• More on “Christianitas” in the Codex Theodosianus
  Yesterday we saw that the earliest reference for “Christianitas” = Christianity (rather than the earlier Christanismus) was in the Theodosian Law Code (Codex Theodosianus) of 450 AD: Christĭānĭtas, ātis, f. Christus. I. Christianity, = Christianismus, Cod. Th. 16, 7, 7; 12, 1, 112.— II. Meton., the Christian clergy, Cod. Th. 12, 1, 123. I thought that I would […]
• More on the earliest use of the word “Christianity”
  I can’t believe that I forgot to hit the “Publish” button last night on yesterday’s post… Yesterday I was asking when the word “Christianity” appears in our sources.  In Greek it is Χριστιανισμός, and it appears in Ignatius of Antioch; then in Origen; and then in post-Nicene sources.  It’s not a widely-used word in surviving […]
• What is the earliest use of the word “Christianity”?
  When did the word “Christianity” actually come into use?  The Greek is Χριστιανισμός. A certain amount of searching online brought me to an Italian article, from which I learned that the first person to use the word is none other than Ignatius of Antioch.  There are 4 references, in Ignatius’ letters to the Magnesians 10,1 […]
• Diversity of teaching and early Christianity
  I’ve spent some time this evening thinking about the claim that “early Christianity was diverse”.  I have had some difficulty finding anything like a definitive statement or attempt at proof for the claim.  Rather it is simply assumed.  For instance there is this: The wide diversity of early Christianity may be seen above all in […]
• Catherine Nixey, “The darkening age” is back – and annoying scholars in five languages
  A couple of years ago I came across a strange volume, seemingly designed to smear the ancient Christians.  It was authored by a recent arts graduate named Catherine Nixey, and titled “The Darkening Age”.  Some fawning reviews appeared in the mainstream press in England – presumably arranged by the publisher -, which was unfortunate as […]
• Finding online manuscripts
  I wrote about my frustration in being unable to locate manuscripts online, despite having the shelfmarks.  Of course I am not the only one to encounter this.  A kind correspondent has made me aware of a list of links which helps enormously.  Compiled by Albrecht Diem, at the Monastic Manuscript Project, it is here.  I […]
• Blog recommendation: Papyrus Stories, by Jenny Cromwell
  It’s been a while since I saw a blog that I wanted to add to the sidebar, but this evening I found one.  It’s called Papyrus Stories, and it may be found here: https://papyrus-stories.com/ There is also a linked Twitter account, @Papyrus_Stories. The desert climate of Egypt has preserved enormous quantities of “waste paper”.  The […]
• Where are the academic reviews of bible translations?
  This evening something drew my attention to the New World Bible Translation, the English translation of the bible made by and for the Jehovah’s Witnesses.  I knew nothing much about it, except that it is generally derided as biased and edited to reflect the theological ideas of that group. But I prefer not to rely […]
• From my diary
  A twitter discussion led me to update my post on an ancient Latin inscription, once visible on the casing stones of the Great Pyramid in Giza.  The inscription was recorded by a medieval pilgrim, Wilhelm von Boldensele. As part of this, I searched for manuscripts of von Boldensele’s work.  I found a nice list, indicating […]
• Thinking about ways to display Latin syntax information in a translation tool
  Most of us probably learned Latin at school.  Those lessons focused on grammar – amo, amas, amat – and also on rote learning of vocabulary.  All of this is essential, and I really wish that I could remember more of it than I can today. But this focus means that questions of Latin syntax are […]
• A little-known museum in Rome – the Case Romane del Celio.
  There is a museum in Rome of which I had never heard until today.  It’s called the “Case Romane del Celio”, whch means the “Roman houses on the Caelian” hill. The museum is underneath the basilica of Santi Giovanni e Paolo – St John and St Paul – on the Caelian hill.  This was built […]
• Notae in the margins of Cassiodorus, “Expositio Psalmorum”
  An  interesting volume has appeared this year, which unfortunately I have not seen, but that I learned about from Jesse Keskiaho on twitter.  The book is by Evina Steinová, based on her 2016 dissertation (online here, I now find), and now in a revised book form from Brepols here as Notam superponere studui : The Use […]
• “Let the flamen dialis shave only with a razor of bronze!”
  An interesting query on Twitter read: Apparently, Roman priests were not allowed to use iron razors or scissors…  Anyone know why? A little searching turned up some sources.  I had hoped to find more in the old Realencyclopädie, but Bd. VI.2, col. 2489 gave only the same few.  All are very late indeed. My earliest source […]
• From my diary
  I’m busy earning a living at the moment, so there is little to report.  However I happened to see a post on twitter recently about St Cuthman, an anglo-saxon saint, which sparked my interest.  All that is known about him is contained in the Acta Sanctorum volume for February (vol. 2), under February 8th, published […]
• Monachos.net “account suspended” – anyone know what has happened?
  I was just googling and I find that the Orthodox forum Monachos.net is unavailable.  The address brings up a message saying that its “account has been suspended”.  Does anybody know what has happened?
• Philo of Byzantium, On the Seven Wonders of the World: an English translation and some notes
  Approximately 50,000 Greek manuscripts survive, containing a mass of literature from the ancient and medieval period.  Among these is a curious little work, On the Seven Wonders of the World, De septem orbis miraculis, or peri ton hepta theamaton (Τῶν ἑπτὰ θεαμάτων ἑκάστου φήμῃ μέν). This is the first literary account of the seven wonders of the […]
• Isidore of Seville – on the Tironian notae
  From Isidore of Seville, Etmologiae, book 1, chapter 22: XXII. DE NOTIS VVLGARIBVS. [1] Vulgares notas Ennius primus mille et centum invenit. Notarum usus erat ut, quidquid pro con[ten]tione aut [in] iudiciis diceretur, librarii scriberent conplures simul astantes, divisis inter se partibus, quot quisque verba et quo ordine exciperet. Romae primus Tullius Tiro Ciceronis libertus […]
• An ancient handbook of short-hand: Tironian notes and the “Commentarii notarum Tironianarum”
  A new article at the British Library Manuscripts blog, Emilia Henderson, “Note-worthy connections: antique shorthand in Carolingian books“,, discusses an obscure ancient text, the Commentarii notarum Tironianarum, or Lexicon Tironianum.  This is a handbook of short-hand, giving the symbols with the Latin word or phrase that they represent. Bernard Bischoff wrote: The name covers the […]
• Drawings of Old St Peter’s in Arch.Cap.S.Pietro.A.64.ter
  Another Vatican manuscript has come online, as I learn from @gundormr on Twitter here, and this one contains 16-17th century drawings of Old St Peter’s church in Rome. It has the rather awkward shelfmark of Arch.Cap.S.Pietro.A.64.ter, and may usually be found here, although I see tonight that the site is not working. Here’s a small […]
• An unusual view of the Meta Sudans across the Piazza del Colosseo in 1930
  The excellent Rome Ieri Oggi site has started posting again on Twitter, and today posted the following fascinating image from 1930: Note the Meta Sudans in the middle.  By this date the brick stub of this ancient fountain had only a handful of years more in the world, before Mussolini demolished it. Marvellous to see […]
• From my diary
  There is a certain very large text from late antiquity to which I have always wished to have access.  I don’t need to use it often, but when you do, you do.  There is indeed an English translation, itself a massive volume 18″ tall and 2 inches thick, some 650 pages.  But what I really […]
• “John the deacon” – just who was he?
  There are several Italian authors of the Dark Ages known loosely as John the Deacon, and a google search will quickly find evidence that people get confused.  The text that I am working on, BHL 6104, is a Life of St Nicholas of Myra, in Latin, translated by “John the Deacon”.  I struggled with this, […]
• Free! Database of manuscripts containing Latin Saint’s Lives – at the Bollandists
  I’ve been looking for manuscripts of the “Life” of St Nicholas by John the Deacon.  In the process I have just come across something very useful. This is the “Bibliotheca Hagiographica Latina Online” (although it doesn’t contain the BHL info) or Bibliotheca Hagiographica Latina manuscripta (BHLms) database.  And … it is free!  You have to […]
• Looking for manuscripts of John the Deacon’s “Life of St Nicholas” (BHL 6104 etc)
  When using Google, it really helps if you have the BHL (Bibliotheca Hagiographica Latina) number for the text that you are interested in.  You can find interesting things! My next project is to translate the “Life” of St. Nicholas, written in Latin by John the Deacon.  I shall use the Falconius text of 1751, which […]
• Of the wickedness of men
  I apologise for the fact that there is currently no way to contact me through my website. The Tertullian.org contact form has been targeted by a professional spammer in the last week.  I wasted an hour of my life this evening, which I could ill afford, reworking the form to require human input.  The spam […]
• T. D. Barnes on Rodney Stark’s claim that only a “tiny number of Christians were ever martyred”
  Some time ago, someone on social media started a campaign under the hashtag of “Black Lives Matter”.  Someone else soon started another in response under the hashtag of “All Lives Matter”.  The supporters of the former responded with extreme fury to what, on the face of it, was a neutral response.  They saw it as […]
• An early printed hagiography – the volumes of Aloysius Lippomanus
  First came Mombritius, probably in 1480, who printed his Sanctuarium in the incunable era.  This was essentially a two volume version of a late medieval collection of Saint’s lives. But next came Luigi Lippomano, or Aloysius Lippomanus, (Wikipedia article) with his vitarum Sanctorum priscorum Patrum, 1551-1560, in 8 volumes in Venice.  The links to the […]
• More on Mombritius, and John the Deacon’s “Life of St Nicholas”
  The first collection to be printed of the lives of the saints was issued in Milan in 1477 by Mombritius in two large folio volumes.  These featured forms of the text which differed from subsequent collectors such as Lipomani, Surius where to buy Clomid? and of course the Bollandists.  But the volumes became so rare […]
• Some thoughts on Craig Evans, “How Long Were Late Antique Books in Use?”
  A few days ago I wrote about the statement of Peter of Alexandria (d.311) that the original manuscript of John’s gospel was still around and that readings could be obtained from it. A few days ago I came across an interesting article by Craig Evans, “How Long Were Late Antique Books in Use? Possible Implications […]
• The column of Arcadius – a detailed pre-1700 drawing
  Yesterday I posted about the column of Arcadius in Constantinople, designed like Trajan’s column in Rome, but destroyed by an earthquake in 1719.  In the process, I came across something rather remarkable – a very detailed drawing of the column, produced shortly before the column fell!  Here it is: This, I hope you will agree, […]
• Some wonderful pictures from the Column of Arcadius in Istanbul, and notes on when it was destroyed
  The column of Arcadius stood at the centre of a circular forum in Constantinople.  It was pattern on Trajan’s column in Rome.  Like Trajan’s column it was hollow, with a spiral staircase inside, and richly decorated.  But it is no longer standing.  It was badly damaged by earthquakes, and eventually taken down by the Ottoman […]
• From my diary
  There is a heatwave affecting southern England at the moment, which made it impossible to sleep last night, and filled the roads with sleep-deprived traffic early this morning.  I’ve started a new contract, which is very welcome after so long.  The air-conditioning in the office is even more welcome!  But all of this means that […]
• Extracts from Peter of Alexandria (d.311) and the original copy of the Gospel of John
  In the 10th century one or more scribes created what is now a parchment manuscript with the shelfmark Vatican gr. 1941 (scanned microfilm online here).  The majority of the pages today (folios 19r-290v) are occupied by an anonymous chronicle of the 7th century, written, as it tells us, by a contemporary of Heraclius.  This world […]
• St Nicholas and the “Life” by John the Deacon
  The Acta Sanctorum is of no use for the Saints’ Life of St Nicholas of Myra, as his feast day falls in December, a month that the Acta Sanctorum has yet to reach.  However there is a Latin Life that I want to translate.  It is that of John the Deacon. The text of John […]
• Farewell J.-B. Piggin, of ” Piggin’s Unofficial list” of Vatican manuscript releases online
  I learned today that Jean-Baptiste Piggin has left us, on 28th June 2019.  He had been ill for some time, and had retired from his day job as a journalist only last year.  He posted to twitter as recently as 10th June! He had his own research interests, but he was much more widely known […]
• Valentine of Rome (BHL 8465) – extracts from the Passiones of Marius, Martha, Audifax and Abacuc (BHL 5543)
  I mentioned that I would not be translating the “Passio” of St Valentine of Rome, priest (BHL 8465), because it was in fact just an extract from the Passiones of Marius, Martha, Audifax and Abacuc (BHL 5543); and that these had been translated rather splendidly by Michael Lapidge.  But very few people will ever see […]
• From my diary
  This evening I spent some time upgrading the software on my personal Wiki.  It was a project for Syriac literature that I did many years ago, and I only discovered today that it was no longer functioning.  Thankfully the upgrade was smooth and I got everything back.  But it does make you realise that websites […]
• How to approach translating hagiography; St Valentine of Rome; and why I won’t translate his “Life” (BHL 8465)
  I pressed “Publish”.  My post with my translation of the Passio of St Valentine of Terni shot out onto the internet.  What now? I found myself thinking about the “other” St Valentine, Valentine of Rome, the priest.  I went back to the Acta Sanctorum, February vol. 2, for February 14th, and looked at the material […]
• St Valentine – his “Passio” (BHL 8460) now online in English
  St Valentine’s Day is February 14.  But who was St Valentine?  Well, he was bishop of Terni, or Interamna.  His (fictional) “Life” or “Passio” is now online in English.  This has the Bibliotheca Hagiographica Latina (BHL) number 8460.  The work probably dates from the 6th century AD.  It’s fairly short, and it has – sadly – […]
• Still working on the translation of the “Life” of St Valentine of Terni
  The two pages of the medieval Life of St Valentine have taken me rather more time to translate than I had realised.  But we’re getting there! When I decided to make this translation, I first located the text in the Acta Sanctorum (AASS) volume for February 14.  I was preparing to transcribe this, but I […]
• Ignorant musings about saints
  This evening I was thinking about saints.  As a protestant I know very little about them, and how the institution works.  That makes me admirably suited to make some ignorant remarks on the subject. What sparked my interest was the question of whether there was a patron saint of cats.  There seems to be a […]
• A good portrait of Constantius II?
  I’ve been googling online, and I have been unable to locate a good likeness of Constantius II, who succeeded his father Constantine, murdered all his cousins, then his brothers and left only a nephew, Julian the Apostate, to succeed him.  His reign is described vividly by Ammianus Marcellinus, and the church remembered him as an […]
• Tutorial: How to download the LIDAR datasets from the UK Environment Agency website
  Lidar is a technique for displaying the shape of the ground using pulses of laser light.  The results have been widely used to discover Roman monuments, as they can process them to omit modern buildings, trees, etc.  I have been interested in this ever since I discovered some Lidar images of the seabed showing the […]
• Underwater archaeology beneath the pyramids of the Black Pharaohs
  A simply amazing story has appeared in National Geographic magazine this month (July 2, 2019, by Kristin Romey).  It’s online here. An expedition is investigating the burial chambers under some of the pyramids of Nuri in Sudan.  Rising ground-water means that these are drowned in water, and so inaccessible.  Indeed some may never have been […]
• A 1987 plan for the ruins of the Roman fort of “Walton Castle”
  Walton Castle is the local name for the remains of a Roman fort, now submerged beneath the waves offshore at Felixstowe in Suffolk, Britain.  Resources for study of this monument are limited, and I have discussed them in other posts. One interesting article appeared in, of all things, a popular magazine.  Such an item is, […]
• Two ancient Latin versions of the letter of Arius to Eusebius of Nicomedia
  Thanks to a kind correspondent here, I have become aware that the letter of Arius to Eusebius of Nicomedia is preserved in two Latin versions.  These are given in Hans-Georg Opitz, Urkunden zur Geschichte des arianischen Streites (Documents on the history of the Arian dispute), in Athanasius Werke, III, pt. 1, 1934.  He gives an […]
• Ibn Khaldun, taxation, and Boris Johnson
  During a TV interview yesterday, a politician suddenly referred to a 14th century Arabic writer.  Via Twitter: When asked about his spending plans and plans to cut taxes, Boris Johnson responds “as the great Tunisian scholar and sage Ibn Khaldun pointed out as early as the 14th century, there are plenty of taxes that you […]
• The New Jerusalem like a bride in Rev. 21:2 and Christ as bridegroom
  An interesting enquiry on Twitter here: Who is the very first commentator to apply to Rev 21:2 (the New Jerusalem) the analogy of Christ as bridegroom to his Church? I’m looking for the very beginnings of this tradition and a nice juicy source on its dissemination. Let’s have Revelation 21:2 first: 21 Then I saw “a […]
• Arius to Eusebius of Nicomedia: the Son is “fully God”
  The Da Vinci Code has spawned a host of people who believe that the First Council of Nicaea voted on whether Jesus was God.  I tend to correct such people by pointing out that Arius himself calls the Son, “fully God”, in his letter to Eusebius of Nicomedia (321 AD).  I usually include a paragraph […]
• Some further notes on Primasius
  Following my post of yesterday, I have gleaned a few more details on Primasius of Hadrumetum and his commentary on Revelation (Commentarius in Apocalypsin). A better account of his life and actions can be found in the old 19th century Dictionary of Christian Biography volumes, with references, here.  It reads: Primasius, bp. of Adrumetum or […]
• Primasius and his Commentary on Revelation
  Few will have heard of Primasius, bishop of Hadrumetum in Vandal Africa.  What little we know about him comes from the obscure chronicle by Victor of Tunnuna (who is NOT Victor of Vita), and from Isidore of Seville (De viris illustribus 22).  The Italian continuation of Quasten’s Patrology published by Marietti (Patrologia IV: I padri […]
• Augustine’s “De ordine” and his comment on prostitution
  One of the earliest works of St Augustine is a work that he wrote in 386 AD at a country villa while preparing for baptism.  It is one of a number of works that he wrote at that time.  Augustine had just abandoned his job as a teacher of philosophy, but the milieu is still […]
• An online quote attributed to St. Jerome, on prayer
  It’s often wise to be wary of online quotes which carry a famous name, but no reference.  One of these caught my eye a couple of days ago, and I wondered if it was genuine.  A google search revealed nothing as to its source, unfortunately.  It does appear without reference in a Catholic collection of […]
• John Zonaras on the date of Easter
  Most of us think of John Zonaras as a Byzantine epitomator of Cassius Dio.  This he certainly did, as part of composing his own history.  Even in brief, that history was pretty long, running up to the reign of Alexius I Comnenus.  We’re still dependent on the old Bonn CSHB text for access to this […]
• The late antique edition of Livy by the Nicomachean family
  The vast history Ab urbe condita by Livy was so enormous – well over 100 books – that it was transmitted in collections of 10 books.  Most of these “decades” are lost.  We possess only the first, third, fourth, and half of the fifth decade. In late antiquity the texts of the first century came […]
• Bits and bobs
  Here’s some stuff that’s wandered into my in-tray. Google is becoming a useful tool for biblical quotations.  While checking some of these by googling, I found myself looking at archive.org at several volumes of the critical text of the Vetus Latina.  A search on Vetus Latina brings up quite a number here.  I hope that […]
• More Meta Sudans photos and a document on the demolition!
  The excellent Roma Ieri Oggi site continues to upload old photographs of Rome.  I confess that I find the twitter feed more accessible than the website, and of course it allows for feedback. A couple of days ago, I browsed through the feed and came across something very interesting.  First there was a photograph of […]
• Manuscripts and text of the Vita S. Valentini: a review of the article by Edoardo D’Angelo
  I’ve started to look at the photocopies that I obtained three days ago of articles in the Bassetti volume of papers about St Valentine.  Naturally my first interest is the paper by Edoardo D’Angelo, “La Passio sancti Valentini martyris (BHL 8460-8460b): Un ‘martirio occulto’ d’età postcostantiniana?” (p.179-222), as it contains a discussion of the manuscripts […]
• From my diary
  Today I had to drive for three hours each way for a job “interview” of around twenty minutes.  I already had a job offer, but I thought it wise to have a face-to-face meeting, and it proved very wise indeed.  The job looks like a stress-fest.  Not for me. But I redeemed the travel time […]
• From my diary
  Yesterday and today I’ve been working on a translation of the “Saint’s Life” of St Valentine of Terni / Interamna.  I started this a few months ago, and then got diverted.  It’s only ten chapters in the Acta Sanctorum, two sides of a page.  It is mildly incredible that nobody has translated this. Anyway this […]
• More on “Magganum” and St George
  Following yesterday’s post, a kind correspondent wrote to tell me of a Greek word in wiktionary that seems relevant, μάγγανο.  This noun may be a form of war machine, but also a type of crane, or a windlass.  The email continued: The -um endings in Latin coincide with the Greek ending -on, hence, “magganon”. It […]
• What does “magganum” mean? Looking for the Commentator Cruquianus of Horace
  While working on the Life of St George, I came across an unusual word, “magganum”.  Whatever it was, it was being used during the tortures inflicted on the saint.  The dictionaries were really not very helpful!  Gaffiot thought it could mean “wine barrel”, but also pointed me to “maganum” which Du Cange thought meant “war […]
• Discovery of unpublished letter by Eastern bishop on Easter, from the time of Nicaea, mentioning the Acts of Pilate
  There are still treasures out there, slumbering in forgotten manuscripts in the collections of the west.  French scholar Pierre Chambert-Protat today announced on Twitter that he has discovered a previously unknown ancient text in manuscript Montpellier 157.  This 9th century manuscript, copied in 848, is a collection of extracts on Easter, assembled by Florus of […]
• Commercial use of my stuff by someone else?
  Today I received an email from “Delphi Classics” asking if they could use the Eusebius translations from my website for an upcoming eBook of the works of Eusebius.  These consist of translations now out of copyright, which I scanned, plus material that others sent me, and stuff that I commissioned myself.  They’re not offering me […]
• Norwich Cathedral and the Latin origins of modern English liturgies
  I passed the weekend in the English city of Norwich.  On the Sunday I attended the sung eucharist at Norwich Cathedral with a friend.  I confess that I have never attended a Sunday morning service at a cathedral in my life, so it was a new experience. The interior was very bare.  The stonework had […]
• From my diary
  I made a trip to Cambridge University Library on Tuesday, to look at a couple of books on Theophanes of Nicaea, rather than waiting several weeks.  I was glad to find some money still on my university card, but the photocopiers become more difficult to use each time they get a new one!  I got […]
• Theophanes III of Nicaea and the light of God as the fire of hell for those who reject Him
  The Wikipedia article on the “Light of Tabor” – the divine light seen by the disciples on Mount Tabor – mentions that “Theophanes of Nicaea” believed that “the divine light will be perceived as the punishing fire of hell”. This is indeed true, although Theophanes is actually merely following Gregory Nazianzen here. But who is […]
• The Lysippus bust of Alexander the Great
  The majority of ancient depictions of Alexander the Great show a rather effeminate-looking youth.  However there is another portrait which is said to be a Roman copy of a bronze made by Lysippus, Alexander’s personal sculptor.  Three photographs of this, seemingly gathered from the web, were posted on Twitter this morning by @HellenisticPod here.  (Click […]
• Tertullian and British Israelitism
  A correspondent wrote to me, in search of a quotation: In McBirnie (1973,227) writing about the 12 apostles I found a quote he states is from Tertullian. He cites Lionel Smithett Lewis ( 1955, 129) who wrote re Joseph of Arimathea at Glastonbury, England. Both authors cite the Tertullian reference as (Def. Fidei, 179). McBirnie’s […]
• Banishing the letter “v” from the Latin alphabet
  I was looking at James Morwood’s A Latin Grammar (Oxford), when I espied at the foot of the introduction (p. vii) the following words: I am delighted to have compiled the first Latin grammar in English to have banished the letter V from the Latin alphabet. It was never there. These words do smack rather […]
• Did King James issue instructions to the bible translators to change the text to hide his own sins?
  An interesting discussion on twitter led me to a man who roundly asserted that King James I issued a list of instructions to the translators of the King James version of the bible, with an eye to getting his own sins omitted from it.  It sounded quite improbable.  In fact it is complete nonsense; but […]
• The domes of the Church of the Holy Apostles in Constantinople
  By accident I came across an old exchange on Twitter, criticising a reconstruction of the vanished church of the holy apostles in Constantinople.  The church was demolished by the invading Ottomans. The church was originally constructed by Constantine, with his mausoleum at the rear, and rebuilt by Justinian.  It was in the usual square cross […]
• Eusebius of Caesarea, Six extracts from the Commentary on the Psalms, in English
  Last year I gave a list of passages from Eusebius’ massive Commentary on the Psalms which deserved to be read in English.  Thankfully Fr. Alban Justinus stepped up and translated six of these for us, before other events drew him away.  I’d like to make that material accessible now.  Here they are: Eusebius-Commentary_on_the_Psalms_6_extracts-2019 (PDF) Eusebius-Commentary_on_the_Psalms_6_extracts-2019 (Word […]
• Richard McCambly, Lectio Divina, and Gregory of Nyssa
  An email arrives from Richard McCambly, with news that he has created a website for the practice of “lectio divina”.  It’s at http://www.lectio-divina.org/. Dr McCambly’s site also contains his own translations of the works of Gregory of Nyssa.  These can be found here, as PDFs, under the icon of Gregory, each with an introduction. Excellent […]
• The Annals of Eutychius of Alexandria (10th c. AD) – chapter 1 (part 8)
  We now reach the days of Abraham, Jacob, and Joseph.  And … this is the very last chunk of Eutychius!  We’ve now read through the lot.  What now remains is to gather all the pieces together, revise them, add whatever notes seem appropriate, and make it available online. 16. Abraham was seventy-five years old when […]
• The Annals of Eutychius of Alexandria (10th c. AD) – chapter 1 (part 7)
  Let’s carry on with Eutychius’ rewriting of the Old Testament.  None of this is enormously interesting, but we, or rather I, have to trudge through it if we are to complete this translation of Eutychius.  It seems that nobody will produce an English translation direct from the Arabic.  So, as before, I am taking the Italian […]
• The Acts of John in the minutes of the Second Council of Nicaea (787)
  The Greek church during the 8th century became embarassed at the naked worship of icons in the churches.  Eventually the emperor Constantine V called a synod at Hieria in 754 to deal with the situation.  This obediently passed canons condemning the worship of icons.  But over the next few years a reaction took place, and after […]
• The Second Council of Nicaea (787) and the Canon of the New Testament
  Why on earth would anybody suppose that the Second Council of Nicea / Nicaea in 787 was responsible for deciding which books went into the bible?  It’s absurd on the face of it, considering the vast mass of patristic testimony and physical bibles that survive. However I keep seeing ignorant people online who either state […]
• Why can’t I find this passage from Cyril of Alexandria’s “Commentary on John” in the text?
  Cyril of Alexandria wrote an extensive Commentary on John in twelve books.  It is not entirely preserved.  Books seven and eight have not reached us, although a few quotations survive in the medieval bible commentaries known as the catenas. The commentary tends to be less well-known than other patristic commentaries.  The doubtful reputation of Cyril […]
• From my diary
  A couple of things have held my attention in the last few weeks.  Firstly I have been working on the QuickLatin codebase.  The migration to dotNet is complete, and it is now a question of firing stuff at it and finding why it breaks!  I’ve also updated the dictionaries to the latest version. Basically I […]
• An unexpected tale for Good Friday: The House on Lake Minnetonka That Never Existed
  Today is Good Friday, and also the start of Passover; the slight divergence in the calculations this year makes for an unusual coincidence.   Good Friday is a bank holiday today, so there is peace and quiet here.  It is good to remember what the Lord did for us this day. I thought that I would […]
• A fresco of the interior of Old St Peter’s by Filippo Gagliardi in San Martino ai Monti in Rome
  Via Twitter I learned today of the existence of a fresco in the church of San Martino ai Monti in Rome, which depicts the interior of Old St Peter’s.  Here’s a somewhat muddy picture of it that I found on the web: A better: The following inset was on Google Image search, from a now […]
• Lidar on the Roman fort at Felixstowe
  A kind correspondent, David Blocker, has looked at the Lidar images that I posted, of the ruins of “Walton Castle”, the Saxon Shore Roman fort lying submerged near Felixstowe in Suffolk, and annotated them.  The results are fascinating: Then with annotation: As a reminder, the rough sketch map drawn by the diver Jeff Errington: He […]
• An interesting request: get books without paying for them!?
  Like every blogger, I get a certain amount of mail.  Most of it is nice and interesting.  I’ve not had any death threats at all! Then there is the item that reached me recently via the Chieftain Publishing website, where I advertise the two volumes that I published.  I don’t get much email from that […]
• A silver “votive plaque” of the 2-3rd century AD, attributed to “Mithras”
  A twitter post drew my attention to an interesting item held in the British Museum since 1899.  Their catalogue page is here.  It is described as a “silver votive plaque with a figure of the god Mithras”.  Here are the pictures: And a zoomed in version: Viewed up close, this is not Mithras.  Nothing about […]
• From my diary
  I was able to sit at my computer this evening for the first time and work a little on the translation of chapter 11 of the Vita of St George.  So I am clearly improving.  But I still can’t really walk, or leave the house, and I must keep my foot elevated most of the […]
• The tomb of Aelia Arisuth in Libya
  A few days ago a kind correspondent sent me details of the tomb of Aelia Arisuth, 8km west of Tripoli in Libya, which I have added to my digest of Mithras photographs.  It’s listed in the CIMRM as CIMRM 113.  The tomb contains two tomb niches, one for Aelia Arisuth herself, and one for her […]
• From my diary
  I have now discovered why I was unable to locate the 1969 survey report by Jeff Errington, reporting on the dives to the submerged Roman fort at Felixstowe.  The article from 2000 said that it was at Ipswich Museum.  But an email from one of the article authors, Tom Plunkett, reveals that a mass of […]
• Finding “Great Long Dole” – maps of the fort area, old and new
  The old Victoria History of the County of Suffolk, on the landscape near Felixstowe Roman fort, refers to a close known as “Great Long Dole”, which apparently bore that name in 1907.  This gave no results in Google.  Fortunately the old Ordinance Survey maps are online (although for some peculiar reason the new ones are […]
• The Errington sub-aqua expedition to “Walton castle”, 1969 – the press clippings
  The ruins of the Roman fort of the Saxon shore at Felixstowe, known as “Walton Castle”, were examined in 1969 by a team of divers from the Ipswich branch of the British Sub-Aqua club, led by Jeff Errington.  Ipswich museum liason was Elizabeth Owles, although I have yet to locate the survey report filed with […]
• Old drawings of “Walton Castle”, the Roman fort of the Saxon Shore at Felixstowe
  We do possess a number of old drawings of the Roman “Saxon Shore” fort that once stood on the cliff at Felixstowe. These show what it looked like, before it went over the cliff into the sea, and then after.  These were printed in 1907 in The Victoria history of the county of Suffolk, Vol. […]
• More on the “Errington manuscript”
  I’ve written a couple of posts about the remains of the Roman fort of the Saxon Shore, lying under the water offshore at Felixstowe.  I’ve been trying to get hold of a survey report from 1969, done by members of the British Sub-Aqua club.  This seems to be the last work done on the fort.  […]
• From my diary
  The hunt for a copy of a 1969 survey report, detailing sub-aqua dives on the ruins of the Roman fort offshore at Felixstowe, continues!  I had a nice email back from the local sub-aqua club, who no longer have a copy.  But it seems that the report’s author, a “J. Errington”, is in fact “Jeff” […]
• From my diary
  I’ve had rather a busy week, ending with a rather splendid college reunion.  But of course everything else has gone out of the window, and I also have rather a large sleep debt to pay off. Today brings another chunk of translation of an early Latin Vita of St George.  Chapters 9 and 11 are […]
• From my diary
  It is Saturday evening here.  I’m just starting to wind down, in preparation for Sunday and a complete day away from the computer, from all the chores and all my hobbies and interests.  I shall go and walk along the seafront instead, and rest and relax and recharge. Sometimes it is very hard to do […]
• From my diary
  WordPress decided, without my permission, to install version 5.1, complete with their new but deeply unpopular “Gutenberg” editor that nobody either wanted nor requested.  I can’t downgrade from 5.1, but I’ve managed to get rid of the useless Gutenberg editor.  Let me know if there are any funnies.
• From my diary: looking for the Roman fort of “Walton Castle”
  In late antiquity the Saxons started to make raids into the Roman province of Britannia.  This they did by sailing across the North Sea – the Narrow Seas, as it is also known – in open boats.  In response to this the Romans built a chain of impressive forts along the British coast, under the […]
• From my diary
  This is another highly technical post, so I apologise to those readers with no interest in programming. This week I have continued the ghastly process of migrating the 27,000 lines of code that make up QuickLatin from Visual Basic 6 to VB.Net 2008. I found that the “Upgrade Wizard” for VB6 was no longer included in versions of […]
• From my diary
  I’ve been continuing to work on QuickLatin.  The conversion from VB6 to VB.Net is horrible, but I am making real progress. The key to it is to change the VB6 project, so that it will convert better.  So for instance I have various places at which I make a raw Win32 API call, because VB6 […]
• From my diary
  It’s been an interesting couple of days. I was working on the Passio of St Valentine, and I really felt that I could do with some help.  So I started browsing grammars. This caused me to realise that many of the “rules” embedded in them were things that you’d like to have pop-up, sort of […]
• From my diary
  When I was 11 years old, I was transferred to an old-fashioned northern grammar school.  This kept up the tradition of Latin and Greek, and Latin began at 11, and continued until 16. The textbook used was Paterson and Macnaughton, The Approach to Latin.  This was actually the first volume of a three book series.  […]
• Latin as it is spoke: some thoughts on Latin syntax
  In the last few days I have been looking at the Latin text of the passio of St Valentine of Interamna / Terni.  It’s a while since I did any Latin translating.  But the process always involves difficulty. These days it is very easy to determine the tense, number, case, gender and meaning of individual […]
• Will the real St Valentine please step forward? – A look at the BHL
  Valentine’s Day has just passed.  In honour of the day, I thought that it would be interesting to look in the Bibliotheca Hagiographica Latina vol. 2, and see what it says about saints named “Valentinus”. Rather to my astonishment, Abbyy Finereader 14 seems to be very good at OCRing Latin.  So here it is: Valentinus […]
• From my diary
  Yesterday was Valentine’s Day.  Inevitably I found myself wondering what kind of ancient or medieval literary material there was about St Valentine. I found very little.   What little there was to be found by a Google search suggested that it was all derived at many removes from the old Catholic Encyclopedia.  The article in this […]
• Help!
  Some time ago a kind gentleman sent me a link to a Google drive spreadsheet full of links to volumes of the Acta Sanctorum.  I have managed to lose all trace of this.  If you know the one I mean and where it may be found – it has many other series as well – please contact […]
• From my diary
  This evening I spent some time looking at Huber’s article, Zur Georgslegende (1906).  I’d not looked at this before, so it was time to do so.  It contains five Latin versions of the Life of St George. I also OCR’d the article, so that I could pass the German introduction through Google Translate, to see if it contained […]
• The importance of standard spelling in critical editions
  A few months ago a kind gentleman offered to translate some Latin for us all.  Meaning no harm, I suggested that the earliest Latin version of the Life of St George might be a good candidate.  For narrative texts are easier to translate, and how difficult could a late antique saints’ life be?  There was […]
• Why does paleography work, and how did we get it?
  Paleography is a technique for dating hand-written copies of ancient or medieval texts by looking at the way that the actual text is written; the shapes of the letters, abbreviations used, and so on. I’ve found by experience that laymen often don’t understand how it works, or why it works.  Only yesterday I came across […]
• Menelaus of Alexandria in al-Biruni
  Continuing from yesterday…. A little more information about Menelaus of Alexandria can be got from Roshdi and Papadopoulos’ introduction, although not without effort. On page 13 they tell us about the lost work of Menelaus: The Book on the Elements of Geometry, translated by Thābit ibn Qurra, was quoted by other scholars, like al-Bīrūnī.37 With […]
• You can call me al-… : Arabic sources on Menelaus of Alexandria
  I ran out of time when doing yesterday’s post so I had to cut short my investigation of Arabic sources for Menelaus of Alexandria and just post what a secondary source said. Today we only know the Sphaerica of Menelaus; but his Elements of Geometry were translated into Arabic by Thabit ibn Qurrah in the 9th […]
• Everything you ever wanted to know about Menelaus of Alexandria but were afraid to ask
  I’ve just come across an ancient author who is completely unfamiliar to me.  His name was Menelaus, and he was a mathematical writer, and one of his books even survives today, his Spherics, although only just. Let’s see what ancient sources say about him. In the Almagest (or Syntaxis) VII.3, Ptolemy tells us that he […]
• A daguerreotype of the Roman forum from 1842
  A kind correspondent has drawn my attention to an article in the New York Times, on an exhibition of daguerreotypes.  These were early photographs which possessed a 3-D quality hard to reproduce today.  The Metropolitan Museum in New York possesses a collection taken by Frenchman Girault de Prangey (1804-1892).  They were all taken in 1842, […]
• The Annals of Eutychius of Alexandria (10th c. AD) – chapter 1 (part 6)
  Continuing… 13. At that time people spoke only one language and one dialect.  Some say that they spoke Syriac, others instead that they spoke Hebrew, and others that they spoke Greek. For me the latter are more reliable, because the Greek language is much more vigorous, richer and more varied than both Syriac and Hebrew (44). Seventy-two of them […]
• A couple of thoughts on translations of Juvenal
  A kind correspondent sent me the introduction to the 2004 new Loeb edition of Juvenal.  I warmed to the translator (Susanna Braund) on the first page of the preface: My aim in translating the Satires of Juvenal and Persius for the Loeb Classical Library has been to produce a translation that is vivid and vigorous and […]
• The Annals of Eutychius of Alexandria (10th c. AD) – chapter 1 (part 5)
  Continuing with Eutychius’ rewrite of Genesis and the Cave of Treasures. 9. When they went out [from the ark] they built a city and called it Thamanīn (29), from their number, which means “We are eight”.  God – powerful and exalted – then said to Noah: “There will not be another flood in future”.  God […]
• An ancient life of Juvenal
  Little is known about the satirist Juvenal, other than what can be gleaned from his works. There are ancient scholia, but these are plainly the product of Late Antiquity. Reading the old 1913 Loeb edition of Juvenal, my eye was drawn to mention of an ancient biography of Juvenal, of dubious veracity.  The editor gave […]
• Terrence B. McMullen: a name on a fly-leaf comes alive
  I’m still purging books.  This afternoon I shredded two modern paperback translations of Juvenal and turned them into PDFs.  Both were new, and both are disposable. But I’ve been caught out slightly.  The next volume was a battered old copy of J. C. Pollock’s A Cambridge Movement (1953), in blue cloth cover.  It’s a history […]
• A fuller extract from Gregory of Nyssa on the evils of slavery
  A few years ago I found online an extract from Gregory of Nyssa against slavery which I wrote about here.  Today I came across the full text of the translation, and the passage is rather longer than I had thought, and well worth giving in full. The passage appears in the Homilies on Ecclesiastes, homily 4.  […]
• From my diary
  I’m busy still with translating Eutychius.  We’re nearly at the end of the raw translation work.  Once that is done, then I need to go through the material, add a minimum number of footnotes, assemble it into a single file and write some kind of introduction.  I also need to indicate the relationship to a […]
• The Annals of Eutychius of Alexandria (10th c. AD) – chapter 1 (part 4)
  Now the flood… 7.  The corruption was now great upon the earth, for the sons of Shīt had intermingled with the sons of Cain, the accursed, performing sins and every sort of immorality and giving themselves only to entertainment, so God spoke to Noah and said to him: “I will send the flood upon the earth and I […]
• The Annals of Eutychius of Alexandria (10th c. AD) – chapter 1 (part 3)
  Continuing…. Part of the fun in this is trying to recognise the familiar biblical characters behind their unfamiliar Arabic names! 5. When Yārid felt near death, he called to him his son Akhnūkh, and Mātūshālikh, son of Akhnūkh, Lāmikh, son of Mātūshālikh and Nūh, son of Lāmikh, and said to them: “Do not let any of you […]
• Depictions of the column of Justinian in manuscripts of the Notitia Dignitatum
  While reading Twitter I happened to see this item:… ”Constantinopla Nova Roma” – Biblioteca Nacional, Madrid, Spain -(15th. c. Manuscript) What struck me at once was the prominent view of the column of Justinian, complete with the equestrian statue of the emperor pointing towards the east.  The column stood outside Hagia Sophia, and was destroyed […]
• From my diary
  It is Saturday night; in fact the twelfth night after Christmas day, and so – according to Google – the time to take down Christmas decorations.  It is slightly surprising that the Church of England press office does not issue a formal letter to the press, reminding everyone.  Sadly the ecclesiastics of today tend to have […]
• From my diary
  The Christmas-New Year holidays continue here, which is just as well as it allows me to get something worthwhile done.  It also allows me to plan things for the year to come.  After several dull days this morning was bright, sunny and full of light; and so, therefore, was I. When household papers arrive on […]
• From my diary
  Happy New Year to everyone who reads this blog!  May it be a prosperous and successful year for us all! We stand on the first step of the year.  There are 364 more steps until we get to this place again!  So… it’s the time to decide just what we want to do with the […]
• The Annals of Eutychius of Alexandria (10th c. AD) – chapter 1 (part 2)
  Let’s carry on from where we left off in September 19, 2016, when last we looked at Chapter 1.  All of this material is derived from the Old Testament, albeit with some imaginative reworking, and it is of no historical value except as indicating how people in the Muslim world thought about this narrative in […]
• The Annals of Eutychius of Alexandria (10th c. AD) – chapter 2 – part 3 and last
  Time to get back to Eutychius… This is more Old Testament stuff: Joshua.  The invasion of the Israelites into Canaan is depicted in rather similar language to the Muslim invasion, doubtless intentionally. 6. After the death of Moses, there took command of the people Yūshā‘ (29), son of Nūn, and held it for thirty-one years.  After crossing […]
• An unusual angle on the Meta Sudans
  On the 15th December this image was posted, dated to the 1920s-30s: It shows the Arch of Titus, and behind it the Colosseum, from the unusual vantage point of the Palatine hill.  But at this date, of course, it also shows the remains of the ancient Roman fountain, the Meta Sudans, which was demolished soon […]
• Arator, his “Historia Apostolica” and its “tituli” and “capitula”
  Back in October I received an email enquiring about the chapter headings in the manuscripts of Arator.  My first reaction, like yours, was to wonder who on earth was Arator!  So I thought that it might be interesting to give some information here about this obscure figure, and discuss the question posed to me. Let’s […]
• Cotelerius on Pope Julius and Cyril of Jerusalem
  In my last post I looked into John of Nicaea – or John of Nike, as we ought to call him – and found the full version of the De nativitate Dei text that Migne quoted briefly in the PG 33 to show that Cyril of Jerusalem wrote to Pope Julius I to find out […]
• From my diary – The “upgrade” that destroys your website
  WordPress has pretty much conquered the world, as far as blog engines are concerned.  Who uses anything else now?  Fortunately, to the best of my knowledge, WordPress has not adopted the evil practices of other ‘net monopolies and started to censor content for political reasons.  But the monopoly cannot be good for any of us. […]
• The search for “John of Nicaea”: adventures in Byzantine prosopography
  John of Nicaea is not known to the World-Wide Web.  A search for this author, whom I mentioned in my last post, was quite futile.  So I began to think about how I might find someone from the 9th or 11-12th century, potentially.  The CPG ends around the time of John Damascene, so is useless […]
• Dubious claims: Pope Julius I decided that Jesus was born on 25 December?
  Christmas comes round every year, and every year somebody will tell us that Pope Julius I (337-352 AD) in 350, or 352, or 320 – the supposed date varies – decided that Jesus was born on 25 December.  Julius lived under the Arian emperor Constantius II, and was an ally of Athanasius, but is otherwise obscure. […]
• From my diary
  My apologies for the annoying pop-up that now appears on the right of the blog, touting ReCaptcha.  This is a little bit of market-position abuse from Google, who have forced their branding into the Contact Form that I have been using, and popped it up throughout my site (!).  I will find a way to […]
• Ephraim Graecus – a list of works
  Just to wrap up my work on Ephraim Graecus, I’ve uploaded a list of works to the site.  This appears as a page in the right-hand side of the blog here.  I give the title of the work, in Greek, the Latin title, where the text  may be found, any translations known to me, and […]
• From Hell’s bookshelf: the official 1930 history of the Student Christian Movement
  Some books are fun to read.  Some are worth reading, fun or not.  Some are not worth reading.  And finally some are worse than that. Last weekend I was reading Oliver Barclay’s From Cambridge to the World, a fine description of the work of God through student ministry in Britain over the last 120 years.  I was […]
• There will be stars: the life and death of Robert H. Schmidt
  Ancient technical texts are very hard to work with.  Not merely do you need the usual Greek and Latin language skills, and a feel for the customs of the ancient world.  You also need a specialised understanding of the discipline in question.  Not many of us have knowledge of alchemy, or farming methods, or architecture.  So the […]
• Ancient Greek / Latin translator available for hire
  A gentleman wrote to me enquiring if I knew anybody who could use someone with knowledge of ancient Greek or Latin, primarily patristic.  He’s a PhD student who is already doing some work as a volunteer. Now I’ve not seen his work, and at the moment I can’t offer him some work myself. But if you […]
• Memories of the polemical and literary activity of Earl Doherty
  Few today will have heard the name of Earl Doherty.  But in the late 90s and early 2000s, if you were one of those posting online in the religion groups in Usenet news, you would inevitably encounter some atheist gleefully parotting his theories. Doherty was a Canadian atheist, who used the nascent internet to push the claim […]
• A Roman ring with “Pilato” on it found in Israel?
  A story today in Haaretz, here, has been repeated across the news outlets: Ring of Roman Governor Pontius Pilate Who Crucified Jesus Found in Herodion Site in West Bank The ring was found during a dig led by Professor Gideon Forster from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem 50 years ago, but only now has the […]
• From my diary
  It’s been a very nice break at home, this summer and autumn.  But all good things must come to an end, and on Monday I shall have to go out an earn a living once more.  So I’m tidying up and winding down. One problem that I have been struggling with for some time is […]
• Another engraving of the buried Roman west gate of Lincoln
  Back in March this year I wrote a post on the 19th century rediscovery of the west gate of Roman Lindum, modern Lincoln.  The Norman castle mound had buried it; and it was rediscovered when a nearby businessman sought to enlarge his own property by digging away at the mound.  Out came the gatehouse, more […]
• Beatitudines aliae, part 5
  Continuing! ϛʹ. Μακάριος ὁ | ἔχων | ἐν νῷ | τὴν ἡμέραν τὴν μέλλουσαν τὴν φοβερὰν | καὶ σπουδάσας ἰάσασθαι | ἐν δάκρυσι τὰ τραύματα τῆς ψυχῆς αὑτοῦ. (VI.  Beatus, qui mente versat formidabilem illam futuri judicii diem, & qui lacrymis vulnera animae suae curare studet.) A slight change at the front: ὁ rather than […]
• Gaffiot’s massive Latin-French dictionary online; plus Du Cange’s medieval Latin glossary
  A kind correspondent wrote today to supply some obscure words in the ancient catalogue of the Regions of Rome (and their monuments) attached to the Chronography of 354.  In the process I learned that a couple of really important dictionaries for Latin have come online in searchable form. The first of these is Felix Gaffiot’s Dictionnaire Illustré […]
• From my diary
  This evening I wanted to check a point of Greek grammar, so I went to my “black library”, where the Greek and Latin grammars are stored.  My study is in a converted bedroom, which has the floor-to-ceiling sliding mirrored doors that were fitted in the 90s.  Inside this are not the clothes that such wardrobes […]
• Beatitudines 4
  Here’s the next few sections in Beatitudines aliae capita viginti of Ephraem Graecus. δʹ. Μακάριος ὃς | γέγονεν ἁγνὸς Θεῷ | καὶ ἅγιος καὶ καθαρὸς | ἀπὸ πάντων τῶν μιασμῶν καὶ λογισμῶν καὶ πράξεων τῶν πονηρῶν. (IV. Beatus, qui castus est Deo, & sanctus ac purus a cunctis immunditiis, cogitationibusque, ac operibus improbis.) As before, […]
• Beatitudines aliae 3 – stepping through the Greek once more
  Let’s carry on looking at the Greek of Ephraim Graecus, Beatitudines aliae capita XX.  I apologise if it’s a bit dull, but it’s useful to me.  Into section 3: γ’. Μακάριος ὃς γέγονεν ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς ὡς ἄγγελος οὐράνιος καὶ μιμητὴς τῶν Σεραφίμ, ἁγνοὺς ἔχων καθ’ ἑκάστην τοὺς λογισμούς. Traversari’s modern translation (which helps quite a […]
• Beatitudines aliae, section 2
  In the comments to my last post it was pointed out that the syntax of the sentence of Beatitudines aliae capita xx is poetic, rather than prose; and the word order is accordingly weird. The first two “chapters” – or rather sentences – are both in a similar form.  The first clause consists of: Μακάριος ὃς (“Blessed is he […]
• More on Beatitudines aliae capita xx.
  There are perils to late-night writing, one of which is that you may not be that sharp!  But today I have started to look at Traversari’s translation of Ephraem Graecus’ Beatitudines aliae capita xx.  Here’s the first “chapter” (with ocr error corrected!): I. Beatus, qui praesentem hanc vitam odit ac deserit, & in solo Deo […]
• Looking at Ephraem Graecus, “Beatitudines aliae capita XX”
  Insomnia is a pain.  But it is my lot tonight, so I thought that I’d go and look at Ephraim Graecus’ work Beatitudines aliae capita XX” (Other blessings, 20 chapters). My first intention was to translate some of the Greek; but I quickly was drawn to the parallel Latin translation printed by Assemani, and originally […]
• Working on the bibliography of Ephraim Graecus
  This is a bit of a computer-y post, so perhaps will be of interest to few. A couple of days ago I started with a list of PDFs of Greek works of Ephraem Graecus from here, and I opened it up in Notepad++ and global search and replaced on it.  So this: became this, by changing […]
• From my diary – yes, Ephraem Graecus and Phrantzolas etc
  A kind correspondent lent me the missing volume 2 of Phrantzolas today.  So I’ve been able to add the page numbers for the works in this volume into my XML file of works and editions. I’ve also just gone through the list of translations at Tikhon Alexander Pino’s excellent website, Saint Ephrem the Syrian: Translations from […]
• From my diary – still more Phrantzolas and Ephraem Graecus
  I have now looked through all the volumes of the Phrantzolas edition of Ephraem Graecus, (except for volume 2 which I do not have), and added all the page numbers of the works, as printed in it, to the file of works and page numbers and editions that I am building up. Probably I shall have […]
• From my diary
  On Saturday I was working on a text file containing the works of Ephraem Graecus, as they appear in the Phrantzolas edition, with CPG numbers and Assemani page numbers.  This proved much more difficult than I had at first thought, and I was reduced to opening the PDFs of the Greek text and looking at […]
• From my diary – more Phrantzolas and Ephraem Graecus
  At the  moment I am plodding away through a tedious but necessary task. On the web here, there is a page which purports to be a list of all the works of Ephraem Graecus, as they appear in the seven volume Phrantzolas translation / edition.  It also links to a PDF with the ancient Greek […]
• Ephraem Graecus and John Wesley
  The name of John Wesley is not well-remembered today; and indeed the same could be said of the organisation that he founded, the Methodist church.  Born and raised as an Anglican high churchman, he was converted and became one of the most important figures of the 18th century. Few will be aware that he refers […]
• Ephraem Graecus: the Phrantzolas edition (part 5)
  Well, well.  At the start of volume 7 of the Phrantzolas edition of Ephraim Graecus, there is an additional introduction!  Let’s see what it says, shall we?  (Here are the pages – click to enlarge) Once again I have OCRd them, and run the result through Google Translate.  We get this: Αντί επιλόγου Μέ τόν […]
• Ephraem Graecus: the Phrantzolas edition (part 4)
  I’m still looking at the Phrantzolas edition and (modern Greek) translation of “Ephraim Graecus”, the huge but neglected collection of texts in Greek attributed (mainly wrongly) to Ephraim Syrus in the manuscripts. I thought that I would OCR the prologue and introduction to volume 1, and run the result through Google translate, to see what […]
• English translations of Ephraim Graecus!
  I had not realised earlier, but there are 27 works of Ephraim Graecus online in English!  Credit for this goes entirely to Tikhon Alexander Pino, a PhD candidate at Marquette University in Milwaukee, WI.  The list of translations is at his Saint Ephrem blog, here. Around half of the translations are his.  The remainder were […]
• The ‘genuine’ Ephraim Latinus : a survey
  There are a number of texts in the medieval Latin manuscripts which the copyist attributes to “Effrem” etc.  The Clavis Patrum Latinorum divides these into two groups; “Ephraem Latinus” and “Pseudo-Ephraem Latinus”. Neither has any connection with Ephraem the Syrian, of course.  The “genuine” Ephraim Latinus consists of texts which are translations into Latin of […]
• Ephraem Graecus: the Phrantzolas edition (part 3)
  Phrantzolas is mentioned in Part 1 and part 2) A correspondent has discovered PDFs – or, rather, Djvu files – of a number of volumes of the Phrantzolas’ edition of Ephraem Graecus.  Unfortunately volume 2 is corrupt and will not open – does anyone have a copy of this? The edition prints a translation in modern […]
• From my diary
  A couple of busy days.  A look in the spam folder – Akismet is behaving erratically these days – revealed a week old but deeply interesting comment on the Printing banned by Islam? post from 2009.  I ended up adding a long extra section to the post, full of material about early Ottoman firmans – […]
• Two sensible tweets on Twitter, and some reflections on keeping politics out of your twitter feed
  This tweet appeared on Oct. 27: Biting my lip and stopping my finger from tweeting on a political tweet that has me itching to point out how wrong it is. However, is it helpful, edifying, done in love? No, I’m too emotionally invested to do so? Then I’ll shut my mouth unless/until I can. And […]
• The medieval catalogue of the abbey of Lorsch now online!
  I discovered yesterday that there is a project to reconstitute online the scattered volumes of the library of the abbey of Lorsch in Germany, and that some of the books are now online.  This includes the lengthy 9th century list of books then in the library. Lorsch was founded during the Dark Ages, as part […]
• Fragments of a 4th century manuscript of Cyprian’s Letters
  A tweet from the British Library medieval manuscripts account drew my attention to five damaged leaves in a British Library manuscript, Additional 40165 A.  They are portions of Cyprian’s Letters, letters 55, 74 and 79.  This is CLA II 178. What makes them exciting is the early date – 4th century, according to the BL twitter account […]
• Did pseudo-Ephraim believe in the Rapture? Some notes on the manuscripts, the passage and its Greek origins
  There is a Latin text from the early Dark Ages which some believe teaches the “Rapture”; the idea that, before the Tribulation described in Revelation, the saints will all be caught up in the air by God and taken away. This claim has become a subject of controversy in the USA, as has the discussion […]
• Hunting for the modern Greek translation of Ephraim Graecus
  After my post on Ephraim Graecus here, I discovered that a modern edition of the whole collection exists, with a translation of all the works into modern Greek. This is Φραντζοᾶς, Ὁσιοῦ Ἐφραίμ τοῦ Σύρου, Thessaloniki, 1988-98, 7 vols.  There is a website with a list of the contents by volume, and some mysterious-looking linked […]
• From my diary
  It’s rare that I can mark my birthday, because it is in October.  Once the summer holidays are over, managers recruit contractors in September. So as a rule, I have just started a contract when my birthday comes round.  So, “big birthday” or not, it goes unmarked. However this year I am still at home, so I went […]
• A big hole in Patristics – the neglect of Ephraim Graecus
  We all know that Christianity spread west into the Greek and Latin-speaking world.  It also spread east, into the Syriac-speaking world.  Most important of the Christian writers in Syriac is Ephraim of Nisibis, known generally as Ephraim the Syrian, or Ephrem/Effrem Syrus, who flourished in the mid-to-late 4th century and died in 373 AD.  He wrote […]
• The limits of politics
  This afternoon I was talking to a lady friend, when discussion strayed to the US.  I quickly became aware of a froideur, of a certain lack of sympathy with the views I was expressing.  Politely I changed the subject. This evening I was reminded of a passage in Augustine Birrell’s essay on John Wesley, discussing […]
• From my diary
  A couple of days ago I became aware of a sermon de fine mundi by pseudo-Ephraim, in Latin, which allegedly contains a reference to the Rapture.  This is when all Christians on earth are caught up to heaven before the Second Coming of Christ, at least according to some American Christians.  A draft translation of the […]
• From my diary
  As the year grows older, bright warm days grow fewer, and more precious.  Fortunately this week we had two; yesterday and today.  I resolved to take a break from contract-hunting, and go somewhere.  After some thought, a trip to Cambridge beckoned. I started as I usually do, by visiting the University Library.  I dropped in during […]
• A bibliography of the various collections of the Apothegmata Patrum (Sayings of the Fathers)
  The Apothegmata Patrum is a collection of around 2,500 sayings in total.  These are attributed in the manuscripts to one or another of the Desert Fathers; monks and hermits living in the Egyptian deserts from the mid-4th century onwards.  Originally passed from mouth to mouth, they were then gathered into small collections which appear in […]
• Epiphanius on reading the scriptures? An item from the Apothegmata Patrum
  A quotation via Twitter: Reading the Scriptures is a great safeguard against sin…It is a great treachery to salvation to know nothing of the Divine Law…Ignorance of the Scriptures is a precipice and a deep abyss.” – Epiphanius of Salamis/Cyprus Very sound… but it doesn’t sound like Epiphanius.  It is, in fact, taken from the […]
• That Museum in Washington
  Via here: Why the Museum of the Bible Angered So Many Academics Sept 14, 2018 Opened last fall and located not far from the National Mall in Washington, DC, the Museum of the Bible was a source of controversy even before it opened its doors, in part because of its founder, Steven Green, the president of […]
• Literary sources for the hippodrome of Alexandria: the Lageion
  I thought that it would be interesting to discuss the literary sources for the horse-racing track in Alexandria, the hippodrome.  When the French scholars arrived with Napoleon, a Roman-style circus or chariot-racing track was still visible just behind the Serapeum.  The spina or central barrier showed that it was used for this purpose; the narrowness […]
• View the Serapeum from above on Google Maps!
  The temple of Serapis stood on a raised area in ancient Alexandria.  It consisted of an enclosure with a colonnade all round, and the temple stood in the centre. Remarkably this arrangement can still be seen today in satellite photographs on Google Maps! The area to the north of the enclosure is a muslim cemetary, but […]
• New edition and commentary of the Chronography of 354!
  The Chronography of 354 was a physical book, compiled for a late Roman nobleman and illustrated by a famous artist.  It contained 12 sections of practical information like calendars.  It also contained pictures of cities, and of Constantius and Gallus, “our emperors” – which the fall of Gallus later in the year must have made […]
• Sayings of Luqman – translated by Anthony Alcock
  The sage Luqman appears in the Koran, but also in other sources, as the author of collections of wisdom.  Anthony Alcock has translated one of these collections from Arabic, which is very good news.  The content itself is highly readable, and it is very useful to have.  Here it is:  Luqman_Alcock_2018 (PDF) Thank you, Dr. A!
• Does Victor of Vita quote from the Three Heavenly Witnesses?
  Victor of Vita lived in Roman Africa after its conquest by the Vandals.  The Vandals were Arians, and their kings persecuted the Catholic clergy.  In 484 Victor wrote an account of the persecutions, which has come down to us in a number of manuscripts.  These I list from C. Halms 1878 edition in the Monumenta […]
• More on Project Hindsight
  Back in 2010-11, I became aware of Project Hindsight, a series of privately published English translations by Robert H. Schmidt of ancient astrological texts.  These are draft translations, coming out of the modern astrology community.  But it is unlikely that anybody will ever translate these highly technical texts, and copies are very hard to find. For some […]
• Heliogabalus or Elagabalus?
  The third century Antonine emperor M. Aurelius Antoninus, also known as Varius Bassianus, is universally called “Elagabalus” in modern scholarly literature in English.  Yet 19th century literature calls him “Heliogabalus”, and I see that French literature is less inclined to Elagabalus than English.  So… why the change? The cause of the change appears to be the […]
• A kind invitation; or a hard-faced attempt to loot?
  I get a lot of emails.  Most are very welcome.  But I’ve never had an email like the ones I received this morning. From: Ambrose Adriano Subject: Roger Pearse’s blog contact form: Interested in merging Tertullian.org with Patristics.co? Hey Roger, First of all, thank you for all the content you’ve done. I can only imagine […]
• The Annals of Eutychius of Alexandria (10th c. AD) – chapter 2 – part 2
  Continuing our translation.  More material summarised from the bible. 3. If someone objects that in the Torah it is written that the sons of Abraham – in another text: the sons of Israel – were slaves for four hundred years (11) and then asks why we say instead that they were slaves for two hundred […]
• A new translation of Synesius’ “In praise of baldness” from Anthony Alcock
  Anthony Alcock has translated Synesius of Cyrene’s spoof Encomium of baldness  from Greek.  Synesius was a contemporary of Hypatia, and lived in the late 4th century. Here it is:  Synesius Encomium Calvitii_Alcock (PDF)
• Two inscriptions from the library of Pantainos in the agora at Athens
  I’d never heard of the library of Pantainos in the marketplace in Athens, until I saw a very nice image on twitter today by Michael Lara: The stone is marble backed by concrete, and reads: No book is to be taken out because we have sworn an oath. (The library) is to be open from […]
• What on earth is the “Hypomnesticon” of “Josephus Christianus”?
  While we were looking at the Synopsis Scripturae Sacrae of ps.Athanasius, there was a reference in Zahn’s article to “the strange book of Josephus Christianus”.  This is yet another obscure text, so I thought that I would gather what I could find here. This work is divided into 5 books and 167 chapters.  It has […]
• Manuscripts of the Suda / Suidas
  I recently had reason to consult manuscripts of the 10th century Byzantine encyclopedia known as the Suda, and known in the past under the misleading title of “Suidas”.  This I did, but I realised that I did not actually know what the main mss of the Suda might be.  Some 80 manuscripts are listed at Pinakes, […]
• What the heck is the “Synopsis Scripturae Sacrae” of ps.Athanasius??
  Enthusiasts for the authenticity of the “Three Heavenly Witnesses” passage in 1 John 5:7 are well aware that no Greek manuscript contains it.  But as I remarked in a previous post, they point to a work by Athanasius, the Synposis Scripturae Sacrae (“Summary of the Holy Scriptures”) as evidence that it was part of the text […]
• The Manuscripts of Photius’ Epitome of the Church History of Philostorgius
  The Arian Philostorgius wrote his Church History in twelve books.  A copy came into the hands of the patriarch Photius in the 9th century, bound into two volumes, and he reviewed it in his Myriobiblion or Bibliotheca, as codex 40 (online in English here). But as the Myriobiblion went on, Photius returned to some of […]
• The last oracle of Delphi
  The oracle of Apollo at Delphi was perhaps the most famous of the Greek oracles.  It was known throughout the Greek and Hellenistic world.  It continued to exist in Roman times, doubtless in a somewhat artificially preserved way.  But Apollo ceased to speak to men as Christianity took hold, just as the other oracles also fell silent. The […]
• 1 John 5:7 in the fourth century? Theodore, Diodorus, the Suda, and Byzantine punctuation
  From 1 John chapter 5 (KJV): 6 This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth. 7 For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the […]
• My experience of real-time censorship on Twitter
  I had a very odd experience this week, while I was away in York, and since it seems to be little known, I thought I’d share it with you.  In brief, I encountered real-time interference with the tweeting process while I was on twitter. Over the last year or so Twitter has taken to interfering […]
• The Annals of Eutychius of Alexandria (10th c. AD) – chapter 2 – part 1
  Chapter 2 is another short chapter of material summarised from the bible. 1. After the death of Joseph, his brothers and all those of their generation, the Israelites became numerous and spread to such an extent that Egypt was full of them. Then there reigned over Egypt a king who did not know Joseph, who […]
• The Annals of Eutychius of Alexandria (10th c. AD) – chapter 3 – part 2 and final
  Eutychius continues summarising the Book of Judges.  Today… Gideon, Samson etc.  This material is of no special interest, except as showing what seemed interesting to include to the author.  3. Gid‘ūn, son of Yuwās, of the tribe of Manasseh came out against them, and took ten of his servants with him in the night, and destroyed […]
• The Annals of Eutychius of Alexandria (10th c. AD) – chapter 3 – part 1
  As we’re translating backwards, we now find ourselves at the start of chapter 3.  This is material from the biblical book of Judges. 1. Later the sons of Israel began to visit the surrounding nations, marrying and giving in marriage their daughters and worshiping the idols, i.e. Ba‘alīm (1), ‘Ashtārūt and Bā‘il.  The sons of Israel […]
• Important items that are not online – Souter’s “Glossary of Later Latin”
  Long ago, probably in the 1990s, I purchased in Heffers in Cambridge a copy of Alexander Souter’s Glossary of Later Latin.  Today I had occasion to dig it out and use it. The original edition was printed in 1949, with a corrected edition in 1957.  Tiny print was used.  A scan would be very useful to those […]
• Life of Aesop, translated by Anthony Alcock
  Anthony Alcock has deviated from his usual work in Syriac and Coptic to translate one of the ancient Lives of Aesop.  His full introduction explains which, and based on what manuscripts.  This work belongs to the genre of “sayings” or “wisdom” literature (gnomologia); but I presume might also relate to the genre of Saints’ lives. […]
• The Annals of Eutychius of Alexandria (10th c. AD) – chapter 4
  Chapter four is also derived from the Arabic bible. 1.  Then the priest ‘Ālī governed the people for twenty years.  The temple was located in Shīlūm (1).  The priest ‘Ālī had two sons.  The first was called Hufni and the second Finhās.  In his time there lived a prophet of ar-Rāmayyayn (2) named Hilqānā, son […]
• The Annals of Eutychius of Alexandria (10th c. AD) – chapter 5 – part 4 and final
  Let’s return to the “Annals” of Sa`id ibn Bitriq, Melkite Patriarch of Alexandria in the 10th century.  I’m reading the Italian translation using Google Translate, and thereby producing an English translation – the only one that exists.  The material in chapter 5 is mainly derived from the Arabic bible, so is of limited historical interest.  […]
• The Studios monastery in Constantinople – lots of it still standing
  Today I came across a new Twitter feed, @ConstantineCity, publishing additions to https://cityofconstantine.com/, “Cataloging the remnants of Roman Constantinople in Istanbul”.  This is a great idea, which I wonder nobody has had before. The website doesn’t seem to have much on it, but the twitter feed does.  Here is a tweet on the Studios monastery: […]
• Abraham the Syrian – Arabic text now translated by Anthony Alcock
  Dr Anthony Alcock kindly sent in this item today:  Abraham the Syrian_Alcock (PDF)
• Hoaxed! “Dionysus, the son of the virgin, … His blood, the blood of the grape…”
  I got scammed today.  Doesn’t happen that often.  It was on twitter, and a very respectable person tweeted: From his blood, Dionysus created the first grapes and so the drinking of wine was the drinking of the God’s blood. It’s not the only parallel between Dionysus and later religious figures. Of course I was all […]
• St George – the main post! What do we know about him, and how do we know it?
  Introduction to the St George material Study: Christopher Walter, The Warrior Saints in Byzantine Art and Tradition, Ashgate, 2003.  Google Books Preview here.  Essential reading. St George himself, whoever he was, even he even existed, has left no mark in the historical record.  There is not the slightest mention of such a figure prior to the […]
• The importance of ignoring “nice to do” things
  Long ago, I was told that there are three categories of things that we do in this life: Things that we must do, or end up in real trouble.  Like paying your bills. Things that would be nice to get done.  Like tidying up your cupboard of computer stuff.  Nothing bad will happen if you […]
• Texts of the “Life” of St George
  When I came to look at St George, my intention was to arrange for the translation of one or two versions of his Life.  What I had not anticipated was to find a mess, where there is still basic scholarly work to do in identifying and classifying versions of the Lives.  Originally I had hoped […]
• Broken noses, crosses on the forehead – the fate of statues at the end of antiquity
  I saw today a truly remarkable statement which I thought that I would share with you. From the sixth century BC through the fourth century AD, sculpture had been created and destroyed, stolen and repositioned, but always prominently displayed and used in the context of Corinthian religion, economic activity, and urban life. Yet from about […]
• A few more interesting links from my backlog
  Here are a few more stories that I saw over the last few weeks, and thought might be of general interest, some concerned with antiquity, others less so. Ps.Chrysostom, “De remissione peccatorum (CPG 4629)” – now edited with French translation Another tweet alerts me that Sergey Kim has put online at Academia.edu here a new […]
• A papyrus of the lost Autobiography of Hadrian; and a papyrus of the lost History of Seneca the Elder
  The excellent Carole Raddato posted on her blog this image of a papyrus fragment.  It turns out to be a portion from the lost autobiography of Hadrian, which, it seems, was written in letter form.  The papyrus is from Oxyrhynchus (of course).  Here is a part of what she tells us: This papyrus (OIM E8349), […]
• A manuscript of a regionary catalogue and a manuscript of the Notitia Dignitatum online!
  Update: I misread the announcement of Vat.lat.3394 that it contained the Notitia Dignitatum.  It does not.  Post amended! A few years ago I uploaded the Chronography of 354 AD to the web, and I included some of the regionary catalogues here as part 14, with notes by me; the lists of buildings, temples, etc in […]
• Travel posters for Ruritania! Hurrah!
  The Ruritanian novel is a genre that is extinct, because it relies on a world-view likewise extinct today.  Both The Prisoner of Zenda and its unsatisfactory sequel, Rupert of Henzau, belong to the pre-WW1 era.  Winston S. Churchill attempted one, Savrola.  But the genre was already dying in the 1920s when Dorothy L. Sayers described […]
• Debunking idiotic myths about Easter. No, it isn’t pagan. No the Easter bunny doesn’t signify anything
  At Easter every year the web witnesses an upsurge of smug howling of idiotic anti-Christian nonsense, about Easter, Ishtar, the Easter Bunny and heaven knows what.  Most of us ignore it for the rubbish it is. A couple of months ago I came across some extremely capable responses to this from a certain Adrian Bott, […]
• Giuliano da Sangallo’s “book of designs”, and the Septizonium
  I was looking through the Vatican manuscript Barberini lat. 4424, the “book of designs” by Giulano da Sangallo (d.1516), and I found what seems like an old favourite – a drawing of the Septizonium, the now vanished facade that once stood at the end of the Via Appia to hide the Palatine.  The drawing is […]
• Basil the Great’s condemnation of sodomy? Or Peter Damian? Or Fructuosus?
  In a tweet by Matthew Schmitz on Twitter I came across a striking quotation, attributed to Basil of Ancyra / Basil the Great.  Enquiry quickly showed that in fact it came from a work by medieval writer Peter Damian, complete with attribution to Basil. The publication I found was Peter Damian, Book of Gomorrah: An eleventh-century treatise against clerical […]
• Origen, Homilies on Ezekiel – now available online
  I am delighted to announce that Origen’s Homilies on Ezekiel (Chieftain Publishing, 2014, edited by myself) are now freely available online.  This is, of course, Mischa Hooker’s excellent translation of the Latin, and his marvellous and comprehensive edition and translation of the fragments of the Greek.  It is the best version available anywhere. You can download […]
• From my diary
  The weather here is incredibly hot and humid, which makes sitting in front of a computer less than attractive.  Thankfully this evening I’ve been able to do so with good effect.  My backlog of stuff to do has shrunk to around 45 items, which is a relief – it was around 150 when I finished […]
• Gosh I shall drop everything and start at once – a reader’s letter
  I am fortunate to receive many interesting emails, which it is a privilege to read.  My spam filter defends me from many others.  But occasionally I receive an email that simply makes me rub my eyes in wonder. Such an email arrived on 24 July.  I will reproduce it for you, suppressing only the name. […]
• Making a selection of interesting passages to translate from Eusebius’ Commentary on the Psalms
  I dislike translations of “selected passages”.  You always wonder what was in the missing bits.  On the other hand Eusebius’ Commentary on the Psalms is so immense that nobody has translated anything much of it.  Indeed Andrew Eastbourne’s translation of the portion on Ps.51/52 is pretty much all that anybody has done. I’ve been compiling […]
• The very words in which Constantine ordered the bible to be assembled? The strange, odd Oahspe hoax.
  On Twitter today I came across some really rather unusual claims about Christian history.  These were advanced with the usual utter certainty that every crank seems to possess.  The author of these pronounced: This is what emperor Constantine said during the council of nicaea… “28/48.31.  Search these books, and whatever is good in them, retain: but […]
• A false quotation of Augustine against the Jews
  A correspondent wrote to me some time back, asking: I’m currently translating John Gray’s booklet ‘Seven types of atheism’ into Dutch. On p. 17 Gray cites this line from Augustine’s ‘Pamflet against the Jews’: ‘The true image of the Hebrew is Judas Iscariot, who sells the Lord for silver. The Jews can never understand scripture, […]
• The “Acts of Mark” and the “Martyrdom of Mark” – an unnecessary confusion
  There is a certain confusion in online resources between two late apocryphal texts, the so-called Acts of Mark and the Martyrdom of Mark; and that there is a connection from this material to a spurious Encomium in XII Apostolos attributed to Severian of Gabala. This I discovered in response to an enquiry about the Encomium; and then […]
• A few months of interesting links
  For some months I’ve been collecting bits and pieces.  Mostly I have nothing much to add, but they shouldn’t be lost. Cool 9th century manuscript online as PDF Via Rick Brannan I learn that a downloadable PDF of the Greek-Latin St Gall 9th century manuscript of Paul’s letters is online and can be downloaded as a […]
• From my diary
  This week I have been away for a few days, staying in the Hilton hotel in the lovely English city of York.  The hotel was very central, so I could walk everywhere and did.  Every street was unique, and all had some tea-shops, so walking was hardly arduous.  It seems like I have been away […]
• A Nestorian Syriac account of the life of Nestorius – translated by Anthony Alcock
  In the late 19th century the Nestorians were still holed up in the mountains of what is today northern Iraq, and preserved a considerable amount of literature in Syriac giving their side of the dispute with Cyril of Alexandria that culminated in the Council of Ephesus in 433. Anthony Alcock has kindly translated an abbreviated […]
• Sunday, the Sabbath, and ps.Athanasius’ De Sabbatis et Circumcisione
  The church does not celebrate the Sabbath on Saturday, but rather on Sunday, as we all know.  Those interested in why this is so collect patristic testimonia and among these are some attributed to Athanasius, from a work entitled On the Sabbaths and Circumcision.  For instance this website and this tell us: 345 AD. Athanasius: “The […]
• From my diary
  Well here I am again.  A year ago I went off to start a contract in a town which I very much like, but involves a journey of 2-3 hours each way, and a round trip of 220 miles.  That was the last time that I had any substantial time off.  It’s been a long […]
• An annotated translation of part of the Coptic Acts of the synod of Ephesus – by Anthony Alcock
  Now here is an interesting one!  Dr Alcock writes: I attach an annotated translation of the ‘fictional’ part of the Coptic acts of the Synod of Ephesus. I am currently preparing an annotated translation of a short Syriac text about Nestorius, which of course contains a different perspective (or ‘take’, as people say nowadays). Here […]
• Should we build reproductions of now vanished buildings?
  The ancient city of Norwich in East Anglia is still surrounded by much of its medieval circuit of walls.  But the gatehouses are all gone.  They were thrown down in an outbreak of civic improvement in 1792, to improve access to the city and save money on repairs.  By that time they were all rather […]
• From my diary
  A.J. Festugière, Sainte Thècle, saints Côme et Damien, saints Cyr et Jean (extraits), saint Georges. Traduits et annotés, Paris: Picard, 1971, arrived by ILL a week ago.  Something made me guess that it might contain French translations of some of the miracle stories printed by Aufhauser in S. Georgii Miracula, Teubner, 1913; and so it does!  In […]
• A collection of sayings attributed to Ammonius/Amun
  Dr Anthony Alcock has translated for us all a collection of sayings, some Syriac, some Greek, which are attributed to St Ammonius, or Amun, a disciple of the desert father St Anthony.  These take the form of short anecdotes. It’s lovely to have these in English!  The PDF is here: syriac apophthegmata of amun-alcock (PDF)
• 9th century ms of Chrysostom on Matthew for sale at Sothebys
  I learn from the Twitter feed of the excellent and erudite Pieter Bullens of a curious story.  One of the most important manuscripts of Chrysostom’s Homilies on Matthew, currently University Library, Basle, under the shelf-mark B. II. 25, is to be sold at Sothebys after a 38-year loan. The Sotheby’s catalogue contains a number of […]
• Looking at Aufhauser’s 1913 “edition” of miracle-stories of St George
  A couple of years after his 1911 publication on the miracles of the Dragon and the Demon, Aufhauser went on to publish the text of 19 miracle stories or other pieces about St George, in the Teubner series in 1913.  (Online at Archive.org here). The book contains text(s) taken from several manuscripts.  Unhappily these include the […]
• From my diary
  So much is online these days, that I hardly use my local library any more.  Also I have rather more money than I did thirty years ago, and the temptation is strong to simply order any book that I want, and have it appear at my house – or my hotel room – the next […]
• Do we really have a 4th century inscription from Sakkaia / Shaqqa dedicated to St George?
  If you want to know about the origins of St George, it isn’t very long before you hear that a church inscription in Syria exists, dedicated to St George, and dating from the 4th century AD.  The details are often a bit vague; but the site is the town of Shaqqa or Shakka, ancient Sakkaia […]
• The Miracles of St Ptolemy – translated from Arabic by Anthony Alcock
  Dr Alcock has kindly translated another Eastern Christian text.  This one is a collection of miracles by St Ptolemy.  It’s here:  The miracles of St Ptolemy_Alcock_2018 (PDF) Thank you so much, Dr A.!
• Help at last! A FREE database with all the references to the Saints and their cult before 700 AD!
  For the last few weeks I have been trying to find out about St George.  Starting from nothing, I want to know when the first mentions of him are, what literary texts are available, etc.  It’s been amazingly hard work, poring over century-old German monographs, the Acta Sanctorum, trying to find more recent works, and […]
• The oldest dateable inscription mentioning St George
  The first evidence in the archaeology of St George is from a little church in Syria, in a town called Izra, or Izraa, or Ezra, or Ezraa, or Zorava, with the usual Semitic indifference to vowels, and the usual consequent confusion. Here is the relief, in a nice new modern photograph from here.  I spent […]
• A fragment of a sermon by Peter I of Alexandria – by Anthony Alcock
  We don’t get a lot of new ante-Nicene material these days, which is why such a piece is very welcome.  Peter I of Alexandria was put to death in 311 AD in the persecution of Diocletian. This fragment of a sermon is preserved in Coptic.  Anthony Alcock has translated it, and here it is! Peter […]
• Suddenly a light shines – something at last on the Martyrdom of St George!
  I’ve been trudging through Krumbacher and another heavy old German tome, running the text into English and looking for pointers to understand the mass of literature about the Passio or Martyrdom of St George.  While these give a great deal of detail, the beginner would often be grateful for a roadmap. Today, quite by accident, […]
• Aufhauser’s discussion of some miracles of St George
  Update (1st June 2018): Since I wrote this post, I have become aware that there is no collection of miracle-stories about St George transmitted in the medieval manuscripts.  There are scattered stories in many manuscripts, some as late as 1878!  Aufhauser simply discusses some that were contained in one or another of the manuscripts that […]
• The standard English “Life” of St George – by Jacobus de Voragine
  St George is one of only two medieval saints to make it through the reformation and still be celebrated in modern England; the other being St Nicholas, of course.  But few could name the sources for whatever legends are told. There seems little doubt that modern ideas about the saint derive from the 13th century […]
• From my diary
  This time of year is always busy, isn’t it?  But I’ve still been looking into hagiographical texts.  A kind correspondent sent me a link to a mass of links to various editions of the Acta Sanctorum, which I must look at. Early in the week I was looking at various texts of the Life of […]
• From my diary
  I have updated the Acta Sanctorum blog post with a load of links to the original edition.  I wasn’t able to locate all the volumes on Google Books – although I suspect that they are all there, but it’s a whole lot better than nothing. Another blasted cold has hit me – what a sickly […]
• Chasing some fake news about the Gospel of Barnabas
  Weird websites can be a lot of fun!  Often they get hold of some obscure fact, which might pass us by.  It can be interesting to track it down.  I was reading Twitter earlier today and came across a series of tweets by an Islamic propagandist, one of which mentioned the Acta Sanctorum.  The page […]
• A short Syriac legend on the Emperor Maurice – in English
  Anthony Alcock has emailed in an English translation of another Syriac text.  This one is a hagiographical text, perhaps of Nestorian origin, on the Emperor Maurice.  It’s here: The Emperor Maurice_Alcock_2018 (PDF) Thank you!
• The Saints’ Lives of St George – texts and sources
  Today is St George’s Day, in England at least, and I found myself wondering what the literary sources were for his legend.  About all I know about him is the story of St George and the Dragon.  So I started looking for some kind of list of the hagiographical sources for his Vita or Saint’s […]
• From my diary
  It’s all rather busy right now, as it always is for me in April. First, I’ve tried to enable “https” on the roger-pearse.com address.  It’s possible that this will cause something odd to happen.  Please let me know if it does. I’ve got hold of the Greek text of Severian of Gabala, De sigillis sermo (On […]
• Nicholas of Myra, “Vita Compilata”, now available in English
  Another of the medieval “saints’ lives” of St Nicholas of Myra, the basis for our Santa Claus, is now accessible in English.  This is the so-called Vita Compilata, or “Compiled life”, (BHG 1348c,) put together from earlier hagiographical sources. A kind gentleman writing as Fr. Alban Justinus has translated it for us, from the Greek […]
• Trial and Martyrdom of St Apollonius – by Anthony Alcock
  Dr Alcock has sent over a translation of two texts, one Greek, one Coptic, of the Trial and Acts of St. Apollonius.  I’m a bit pressed for time this evening so I will release it as is: Alcock_The trial and martyrdom of Apollonius (PDF) It is great to have these, though.  Thank you!
• The Annals of Eutychius of Alexandria (10th c. AD) – chapter 5 – part 3
  Eutychius continues with the reign of Solomon. 7. It is told that Hīram, king of Tire, was the first king to wear purple.  The cause of this was a shepherd who had a dog.  This shepherd went, one day, together with the flock and the dog, right onto the shore of the sea.  The dog took a […]
• The Annals of Eutychius of Alexandria (10th c. AD) – chapter 5 – part 2
  We’re in the Old Testament here.  Can you work out which familiar faces lie behind the Arabised names? 3. Then the king of Sūbā, called Hadad-‘Āzir, son of Rihūb (13), rose up against David, and waged war on him.  David confronted him and conquered him, killing seven thousand horsemen and twenty thousand infantrymen (14).  Then Sūris, king […]
• The martyrdom of Theodore the Anatolian: a Bohairic Coptic text translated by Anthony Alcock
  Anthony Alcock has sent in another of his excellent translations from Coptic.  This time it is a hagiographical text, the Martyrdom of Theodore the Anatolian, or Oriental.  It is translated from a Bohairic Coptic text preserved in Codex Vaticanus 63 ff. 28-54.  The text was edited by I. Balestri and H. Hyvernat in the Acta Martyrum […]
• Where to find remains of the Hippodrome seating today
  A few days ago I posted some photographs of the 1950 excavations of the Hippodrome in Istanbul here. Today I came across Eileen Stephenson’s Beginner’s Guide to the Hippdrome post, which includes photographs of various bits of the Hippodrome that I had not noticed on my own visit.  These include the seating that was excavated. […]
• From my diary
  I’ve been mildly but definitely ill with the flu for more than three weeks now, and I am now convalescing.  I’ve taken advantage of my recovery to go through my backlog of blogging ideas, and turned them into posts.  The length of that list was rather daunting! I attempted to obtain access to a copy […]
• Appealing for a photocopy – “The Hymns of Saint Hilary of Poitiers”, ed. Myers, 1928
  I wonder if any of my readers have access to the following book: The hymns of Saint Hilary of Poitiers in the Codex Aretinus; an edition, with introduction, translation and notes, W.N.Myers, Philadelphia, 1928.  It’s 82 pages long. Worldcat gives a long list of US universities that hold this volume.  So it’s not that rare.  […]
• A genuine quote by Plato
  Another quotation that I have come across is the following, attributed to Plato: Who are the true philosophers? Those whose passion is to see the truth. or: Who are the true philosophers? Those whose passion is to love the truth. It sounds a bit cute, doesn’t it?  We have so many bogus quotes online.  But […]
• A few interesting items
  Here are three items that might be of interest.  I had intended to blog about these, but they have sat in my inbox for more than six months, so clearly I never will.  So I thought I’d post a quick note about them. Firstly, how many people know that there is an 1885 volumes, China […]
• A dubious quote about devotion to Mary, attributed to Hilary of Poitiers
  Some time ago I came across a rather odd quotation here. No matter how sinful one may have been, if he has devotion to Mary, it is impossible that he be lost. – St Hilary of Poitiers. Now that sounds like a very modern Roman Catholic position, rather than anything ancient. But did Hilary say […]
• Eutychius and the English Civil War
  The Annals of the 10th century Arabic Christian writer Eutychius, also known as Sa`id ibn Bitriq, were printed for the first time, together with a Latin translation, during that curious period of history, the 1650s.  Charles I was dead, and the revolution had devolved into government by the army and the protector, Oliver Cromwell. Fanaticism […]
• A June 1935 photograph of the Sphendone in Istanbul
  Tourists who visit the Hippodrome in Istanbul are usually unaware that the far end is in fact supported by Byzantine masonry, as the land falls away on that side.  The construction is called the sphendone.  These days a Turkish official building sits on top of it. Here’s a particularly nice photograph of the sphendone, as […]
• Photos of archaeological work in the Hippodrome in Istanbul
  A couple of photographs appeared on Twitter last year, from the @ByzantineLegacy account, of the 1950 excavations of the Hippodrome in Istanbul undertaken by Rüstem Duyuran.  Here’s the first: That looks like some of the seating, today invisible, to my ignorant eyes. This seems to be from the account of @Seda_Ozen, who also published two […]
• Mithras in Greece – some new locations
  An article online by Michael Petropoulos, “Roman interventions in the city-plan of Patras”,[refP.65, online here.[/ref], contains a paragraph about Mithras.  This I found by googling for “Μίθρα”.  The article is in Greek, but thanks to the miracle of Google Translate, we can get an idea of its contents: Μία ακόμη ανατολική λατρεία, αυτή του Μίθρα, […]
• A couple more “gentleman’s translations”
  A kind correspondent writes: I’ve found another couple gentleman’s translations, these ones of patristic Greek poetry. The first is properly a lady’s translation: in 1842, Elizabeth Barret Browning submitted some verse translations, interspersed with thoughtful analysis, of the Greek fathers for publication in the Athenaeum. (As a child she had studied Greek patristics in the […]
• An old photograph of the Meta Sudans from the Palatine (plus the Colosseum and Arch of Constantine)
  The “Meta Sudans” was a fountain that stood next to the Colosseum.  The remains of the core were demolished by Mussolini in the 1930s, so there are quite a few photographs around.  Every so often I come across another. Here’s one that I found on Twitter, published on 11 Jan 2018.  It is unusual, because […]
• A comparison in tabular form of various translations of Josephus on the Jotapata incident
  A gentleman named David Blocker has made a comparison of the English translations of the passage in Josephus Jewish War where he describes the episode at Jotapata.  Very kindly he has allowed this to appear here:  Table_Josephus Water Trick Comparison (PDF) He writes: [This is a] tabular comparison of different translations of Jotapata episode from Jewish […]
• Firmicus Maternus, On the Error of Pagan Religions – now online in English
  Firmicus Maternus, De errore profanum religionum, is a very interesting late Roman text on paganism from the mid-4th century.  Unfortunately it has never been online. A correspondent kindly lets me know that a PDF containing a 1971 thesis with a full translation can be found here (PDF here): Richard E. Oster, Julius Firmicus Maternus: De errore profanum […]
• Theodoret on Deuteronomy, from “A word in season” by the Augustinian Press
  Church lectionaries sometimes contain English translations of chunks of the fathers.  I came across this one on Facebook here. Tuesday after Septuagesima: A READING FROM QUESTIONS ON DEUTERONOMY BY THEODORET OF CYRRHUS After the Lord God had brought the people out of Egypt, he gave them, on Mount Sinai, the Law that was to govern […]
• From my diary
  I noted yesterday that my posts no longer appeared in Twitter.  Today I noticed that the sharing buttons had vanished from my posts as well.  Sigh.  It’s all down to WordPress Jetpack, which kindly disabled this functionality without telling me. Let’s see if I have managed to reenable it….  Hmm….
• The buried west gate of Roman Lindum (Lincoln)
  The ancient city of Lincoln is well-known as a Roman city, Lindum.  But an interesting discovery was made in 1836 by a rascally inn-keeper, who was burrowing away at the castle mound, trying to expand his premises.  He came across the Roman west gate. Not the foundations.  The whole gatehouse had been buried when the […]
• A post on the death of the blogosphere
  I came to blogging comparatively late, and I was never one of the “cool kids” anyway.  But here I am still, while the grandly named “blogosphere” has passed into history. Recently I came across an article on Legal Insurrection entitled Surviving the death of the blogosphere: I read two very interesting posts recently on the […]
• The Annals of Eutychius of Alexandria (10th c. AD) – chapter 5 – part 1
  Let’s continue with translating the “Annals” of Sa`id ibn Bitriq, the Melkite patriarch of Alexandria in the 10th century. 1. After him reigned David, son of Yassà.  From the departure of the sons of Israel from Egypt to the kingdom of David there had passed 606 years; from Abraham to the kingdom of David, 1,113 years; from Fāliq […]
• Trying to find a picture of the “Cista mystica” of M. Modius Maxximus from Ostia
  In my previous post, I put up a picture of a vessel, a cista or modius, surmounted by a cock, which belonged to the High Eunuch (archigallus) of Cybele at Ostia, M. Modius Maxximus.  In fact there is a pun here; the Latin for a cock is a gallus, which is depicted on top of a […]
• Canna intrat: “Finding the infant Attis among the reeds”?
  An interesting claim on twitter a few days ago began: On this date in ancient Rome, the annual Festival of Attis and Cybele began with a procession of reed-bearers to commemorate the finding of the infant Attis among the reeds. This instantly suggested a parallel with the baby Moses to me; and hence, the fear […]
• A new edition and translation of Hyginus, De munitionibus castrorum
  An email from the editor, Duncan B. Campbell, tells me of a new edition, with facing translation, of an unusual text: ps.Hyginus, On fortifying a Roman camp (Liber de munitionibus castrorum).  He has self-published this, and it is available in eBook form for a trivial price through Amazon here (Amazon.co.uk here). I must say when […]
• New at Livius.org: a revised Zosimus translation
  Zosimus, “Count of the fisc” in the 6th century, wrote an oddball history in 6 books, which only just reached us.  It was an oddball text because Zosimus was a pagan, and blamed Constantine for everything.  Although he wrote around 550, he had access to lost sources, which make him our only source for events […]
• Notes and news
  Here are a few items that I learned about over the last couple of weeks.  De Gruyter have published an edition of the fragments of the Ecclesiastical History of Gelasius of Caesarea, ed. Martin Wallraff &c, with a translation by Nicholas Marinides.  The De Gruyter item is here.  A “teaser” extract is now available on the translators Academia.edu […]
• Some more notes on the Archko volume
  Fake gospels have been composed continuously from the second century until our own times.  The object is either to convert Christians to something else, or to make money off them. One interesting example, which I have discussed before, is the Archko Volume, a collection of “ancient documents” corroborating the events of the New Testament, but in […]
• Please don’t contribute to Wikipedia
  Another day, and another example of some quite interesting research which some intelligent person has inserted into a Wikipedia article.  I can only sigh. Wikipedia is an example of the centralising trend of the internet, placing control in the hands of a handful of very rich men or companies.  All of them are of one […]
• From my diary
  I’ve received the final chunk of the Vita Compilata of St Nicholas of Myra.  There are only a couple of queries, which I have sent over to the translator.  He is currently busy with the Eastern Orthodox season of Lent; but when I get them back, I will go through the whole text, revise it, and […]
• Syriac Life of Shenoute, by Anthony Alcock
  Anthony Alcock has emailed another text for which he has made an English translation.  This time it is the Syriac version of the Life of Shenoute.  It’s here: The Syriac Epitome of Shenoute’s Life_alcock_2018 (PDF) As ever, it is great to have this. Thank you!
• From my diary
  This morning I  have received another chunk of the translation of the Vita Compilata of St Nicholas of Myra.  This is going well, and the end is not so far distant now. I’ve not been able to blog at all lately.  But I have a nice backlog of blog article ideas to work on when […]
• Two more items from Anthony Alcock
  Dr Alcock has kindly sent over two new translations in the last week.  I am too busy to do them justice, but I am glad to make them available here: Bardaisan Laws of Countries_Alcock_2018 (PDF) – Translation from the French of Bardaisan’s Book of the Laws of the Countries.  Frumentius, Athanasius and Constantius_Alcock_2018 (PDF) – Two letters about […]
• Microsoft does not believe that Microsoft has a future?
  Two events in the last week have convinced me that the management of Microsoft does not believe that their company has a future.  The management are, it seems, the sort of grey people who took over Apple, expelled Steve Jobs, and ran the company into the ground. The first event took place at my PC in my workplace, […]
• The Annals of Eutychius of Alexandria (10th c. AD) – chapter 6 – part 2 and final
  Well this hasn’t happened for a while!  But somehow I have just translated the entire remainder of the chapter of Eutychius’ Annals.  Not bad considering that I only set out to do a couple of sections at the end of a long week at work! The material in this chapter is from the Old Testament.  But […]
• tertullian.net – fraudulent use by cybersquatter
  Just to warn everyone – my site is tertullian.org, not tertullian.net.  I used to hold the latter domain name, but I let it lapse last year. Now I discover that some sleazeball has registered the address for a year (carefully concealing his name), created a website on that address, in blog format, and, two days […]
• Josephus in the hands of Sir Roger L’Estrange
  Sir Roger L’Estrange is probably mainly remembered today for his activities as a journalist and violent pamphleteer for the court during the reign of Charles II.  As with others of Charles’ partisans, there was a strong element of ingratitude in all this.  L’Estrange had fought for Charles I in the civil war, but had received a pardon in 1653 from Oliver Cromwell, after which […]
• Ps.Chrysostom, De Susanna Sermo – Coptic version translated by Anthony Alcock
  Anthony Alcock continues to turn Coptic texts into English.  His latest contribution to us all is a translation of the Coptic version of pseudo-Chrysostom, De Susanna Sermo, a homily on the apocryphal book of Susanna: alcock-ps-chrysostom-de-susanna-2018 (PDF) For comparison, a draft translation of the original Greek text (PG 56: 589-594, CPG 4567) by “K.P.” is online at Academic here. Both […]
• From my diary
  The coughs and colds and tummy bugs of winter have arrived, and I’ve had other things on my mind for the last three weeks.  But there are a few updates. I’ve been updating my Mithras site with a few extra photographs found online.  Every so often I see one, sometimes on Twitter, and track down the […]
• Update on my book, Origen’s Homilies on Ezekiel
  Long term readers may remember that, back in 2014, my company published a rather splendid item in book form, Mischa Hooker’s marvellous translation of Origen’s Homilies on Ezekiel, including the catena fragments, with facing Greek text; some 700+ pages of it.  This was the second volume in the Ancient Texts in Translation series, from Chieftain Publishing.  The […]
• The “Christianos” graffito from Pompeii
  The buried Roman city of Pompeii was rediscovered in 1748, and excavations for antiquities have continued ever since.  Modern archaeological methods only originate around 1880 with Flinders Petrie in Egypt; so a great deal of work was done under conditions that all of us today would lament.  Sometimes this means that we cannot be certain […]
• The Annals of Eutychius of Alexandria (10th c. AD) – chapter 6 – part 1
  Let’s return to translating the history composed in Arabic in the 10th century AD by Eutychius, or Sa`id ibn Bitriq, the Melkite Patriarch of Alexandria.  Last time we finished off chapter 7.  I seem to be working backwards through the intensely tedious rewriting of Old Testament narratives; because the further we go back, the less […]
• The “Apotelesmata” of Apollonius of Tyana – now online in English
  Anthony Alcock has sent in a translation of a curious anonymous Greek text in 8 chapters, concerning the Apotelemata (Talismans) of Apollonius of Tyana.  The content is astrological, concerned with names and words. The work appears in medieval Greek astrological manuscripts, but also in a Syriac version as an appendix to the gnostic apocryphal Testament of Adam, itself […]
• From my diary
  This Christmas break has been very welcome after a period of six months in which I was away from home, Monday to Friday, every week.  I’ve not done much with it, beyond a few essential professional chores which come with the end of the year.  Indeed no sooner was I home than I went down […]
• Merry Christmas
  I would like to wish all my readers a very happy Christmas!
• When “it was no longer possible to become a saint”; Byzantium in the 11th century
  A curious claim met my eyes recently, in the Ashgate Research Companion to Byzantine Hagiography, vol. 1.  On p.148, as part of Symeon A. Paschalidis “The Hagiography of the Eleventh and Twelfth Centuries”, we read the following words (overparagraphed by me): An important catalyst in the decline of hagiographic production in the eleventh century… was the […]
• John the Lydian, “On the Roman months” – version 2.0 now online!
  Regular readers may recall that Mischa Hooker translated John the Lydian’s four books On the Months for us all a year or two back.  The fourth book has 12 sections, one for each month, and we also did the other three books.  It’s a mass of 6th century antiquarianism, as the author tries to hold on to […]
• The amazing drawings of Constantinople by Antoine Helbert
  Today I came across a series of drawings of Byzantium which were all made by French artist Antoine Helbert.  They may be found here. The one that caught my attention was this one, showing columns with the statues of emperors atop them, in the Augustaion outside Hagia Sophia. It gives a very nice context to […]
• Brockelmann’s GAL translated into English??
  Anybody who wants to know anything about Arabic literature must rely on the seven-volume textbook by Carl Brockelmann, Geschichte der Arabischen Litteratur.  The work lists the authors and their works from the beginning in the 6th century down to modern times, with a bibliography for each.  Unfortunately the work is a complete mess, with inscrutable […]
• Universities Spend Millions on Accessing Results of Publicly Funded Research
  Mark C. Wilson, a senior lecturer at Department of Computer Science, University of Auckland, writing for The Conversation (h/t Slashdot): University research is generally funded from the public purse. The results, however, are published in peer-reviewed academic journals, many of which charge subscription fees. I had to use freedom of information laws to determine how […]
• Zacharias Scholasticus, “Life of Isaiah the Monk”, now online in English
  Anthony Alcock has emailed me a new translation of his.  This time it is a piece from the early 6th century by Zacharias Scholasticus, the Life of Isaiah the Monk, of Scetis in Egypt. Here it is:  Alcock-Isaiah the Monk-2017 (PDF) Thank you very much for doing this for us all!
• The final hagiographer: Michael Psellus on Symeon Metaphrastes
  Writing lives of the saints was something that everybody did in the Greek empire from 400 to about 1000.  After that people stopped writing new lives, or not in the same way.  But up to that point these lives were written by people of all stations.  The forms of Greek used reflect that ordinary people […]
• A translation of Basil the Great’s commentary on Isaiah is online!
  A kind correspondent drew my attention to the fact that there is an English translation of Basil the Great’s Commentary on Isaiah accessible on Academia.edu here.  This is the page of the translator, Nikolai Lipatov.  Grab your copy now!
• The differences between Menologion, Menaion, and Synaxarion
  There are various medieval lives of St Nicholas of Myra.  The Greek texts were collected by G. Anrich in Hagios Nikolaos, which is still useful today.  One of the sections of this book (section VIII) is devoted to “Synaxarientexte” – texts from various types of synaxarion.  I placed online a translation of this material a […]
• Anthony Alcock on Ptolemy and the LXX in Agapius
  An interesting article from Anthony Alcock, translating the passage in the 10th century Arabic Christian historian Agapius which describes the creation of the Septuagint under Ptolemy.  It’s here:  Alcock_Ptolemy and the Septuagint in Agapius_2017 (PDF) Thank you, Dr Alcock!
• Origen, Commentary on Matthew, book 16 now online and in English
  A kind message informs me that David Gohl’s translation of the remaining books of Origen’s Commentary on Matthew (which I discussed here) has now reached book 16.  He has translated this, and uploaded it for comment to Academia.edu here. Excellent news!  Grab your copy while it’s hot!
• From my diary
  The leaves are falling, the dark days are beginning, the pre-Christmas rush at work is underway, and winter colds are starting to appear.  I’ve been unable to progress any of my projects.  Indeed I am only able to blog today because of a cold which has prevented me working, and, of course, from doing much […]
• St Nicholas of Myra in the Greek Synaxarium – now online in English
  Christmas is coming, and, as it happens, I have a new translation for you.  This is another piece of the medieval St Nicholas of Myra material, all edited by G. Anrich in Hagios Nikolaos back in 1902. In the Greek orthodox church, various days are marked as saints’ days, and a short life of the […]
• A further reference to the “parabalani”?
  As I wrote a week ago, there are only three ancient references to the “parabalani”.  These were a group of men under the control of the patriarch of Alexandria in the 5th century AD, first under Cyril of Alexandria, and then under his successor, Dioscorus.  They appear in 416 and 418 AD in the Theodosian […]
• Eusebius of Caesarea, Commentary on Luke – now online in English
  Alex Poulos of the Catholic University of America has kindly translated for us the text of Eusebius of Caesarea’s Commentary on Luke.  Here it is: Eusebius-Commentary_on_Luke-2017 (PDF)  Eusebius-Commentary_on_Luke-2017 (Word .docx) I have also added it to Archive.org here.  As ever, I place these in the public domain.  Use them in any way you like. The “work” itself […]
• Online edition and Russian translation of Severian of Gabala, In illud: Secundum imaginem et similitudinem (Gen. 1, 26), CPG 4234
  Russian scholar Sergey Kim has made a critical edition and Russian translation of Severian of Gabala’s In illud: Secundum imaginem et similitudinem (Gen. 1, 26), CPG 4234, “In the image and likeness (of God)”.  It’s a pity that this isn’t in a more mainstream language, but one can hardly complain that a Russian scholar writes in […]
• “Parabalani” – an early order of male nurses? or Cyril’s “goon squad”?
  The Watts book, City and School in late antique Athens and Alexandria, continues to offer interesting passages.  It’s a book to be read for the text, rather than the footnotes, although there are plenty of these. We take up the story in Alexandria, after the murder of Hypatia in 415 by a gang of thugs […]
• Hello Windows 7 my old friend, I’ve come to talk with you again
  Yesterday I wrote about my frustration with Windows 10.  Twice in the last few weeks, I have brought my laptop to my hotel room, in order to do a few items for an hour; and then been prevented from doing so, by an unwanted and unstoppable “upgrade” which locked out the machine all evening.  I update […]
• Raging against the … Windows?
  This evening I’m in a hotel, as so often.  I turned on my travelling laptop.  I wanted to download Edward J. Watts, City and School in Late Antique Athens and Alexandria, from Academia.edu, in order to OCR it and make the PDF searchable. But something was wrong.  The machine kept stuttering.  Eventually I got the file; […]
• Fun with footnotes again – a sentence suggesting Christian villainy, and the text of the reference
  Yesterday’s post, investigating a paragraph on Dirk Rohmann’s book, drew some comment on the last sentence: In John [Chrysostom]’s metaphorical words, the apostles have “gagged the tongues of the philosophers and stitched shut the mouths of the rhetoricians.” This passage echoes a similar statement in an unpublished manuscript (attributed to John) which asserts that “the […]
• From my diary
  Earning a living is consuming all my time at the moment, so blogging is slow.  But a couple of things are going on. Good news: I have started a new commission, this time for a translation of another Byzantine vita of St Nicholas of Myra.  I have hopes that this will be out by Christmas.  The translator […]
• Fun with footnotes – the Laudatio Apostolorum of ps.Chrysostom
  I do enjoy looking into footnotes.  I’ve been looking into another couple on a passage in Dirk Rohmann’s book, which we encountered a few days ago.  (I’m ignoring footnotes that I’m not looking at; but giving the context). In John [Chrysostom]’s metaphorical words, the apostles have “gagged the tongues of the philosophers and stitched shut the […]
• Another Coptic text from Anthony Alcock – the martyrdom of Apatil
  It’s here: Alcock-The Martyrdom of Apatil-2017 (PDF)
• Some photographs of seats in the Hippodrome of Istanbul from 1950
  The Hippodrome of Constantinople remains a splendid place, even in modern Istanbul.  But I was unaware that in 1950 a Turkish archaeologist excavated on the west side of the hippodrome, and uncovered some of the seats.  This week I came across some photographs from the excavations online, here, here and here.  So I thought that […]
• Hunting the wild misquotation again: the perils for the author of not verifying your quotations
  A week or so ago I saw on Twitter a quotation attributed to John Chrysostom, which read as follows: Chrysostom liked to gloat that the apostles had gagged the tongues of the philosophers and stitched shut the mouths of the rhetoricians. The author of the tweet was a certain Catherine Nixey, who is an arts journalist for the […]
• The Annals of Eutychius of Alexandria (10th c. AD) – chapter 7 – part 7 and final
  Let’s do a bit more of Eutychius, just to keep in touch with it.  The scene begins at the funeral of Alexander the Great, most of which is fiction, and then proceeds down the list of the Ptolemaic kings. 18. When the philosophers had finished speaking, the wife of Alexander, Rushtak, daughter of Dāriyūsh, king of the […]
• 1918 aerial photograph of the Colosseum, Meta Sudans and base of the Colossus
  The tireless Italian site Roma Ieri Oggi has found yet more vintage photographs of the eternal city.  They are all worth looking at!  This batch are all from the air, and were taken in 1918.  Apparently they are part of an album which an admiral named Thaon di Revel left to the Museo del Risorgimento […]
• Cambridge Ancient History (3rd edition) now online at Archive.org
  A delightful discovery this week.  Cambridge University Press have released the 3rd edition of the Cambridge Ancient  History online at Archive.org!  All 19 volumes!  It’s here. Those red-clad volumes were £40 each back in 1979.  I used to save up birthday money to buy a volume.  I still have them.  They were never as exciting […]
• Rome, 1868: the Arch of Drusus, defended by Bourbon soldiers!
  Occasionally you see something online that really makes your eyes open.  This happened to me some time back, when I came across the following photographs on the excellent Roma Ieri Oggi website.  They depict the so-called Arch of Drusus, which stands just inside the massive Porto San Sebastiano in Rome. This is simply amazing.  We […]
• The only surviving handwriting of an emperor: Theodosius II and a petition from Aswan
  How many of us know that there is a papyrus with the handwriting of a Roman emperor on it?  I certainly did not, until I learned of it from a tweet by Richard Flower.  But so it is. The papyrus comes from Elephantine in Egypt, the island of Philae, opposite the modern town of Aswan, which is […]
• Did Origen record the burning of Marcionite literature?
  Academic books have many failings, but usually we can rely on them for certain things.  In particular, if an author says that an ancient source says X, and gives a footnote and a quote, then we can be pretty sure that it does indeed contain those words, or something very much like it.  The readers […]
• A 1574 set of drawings from Constantinople in the Freshfield album
  One of the great delights of our day is the digitisation of manuscript collections.  This brings to light treasures hardly seen before. Trinity College Cambridge are the possessors of a collection of 20 colour drawings of monuments in Constantinople, made in 1574 by an unknown artist.  This item, known as the Freshfield album, came into […]
• Anthony Alcock, “The concept of our great power” – online in English
  Dr Alcock has translated one of the Nag Hammadi gnostic texts, and annotated it for use by students.  It’s here:  Alcock_The Concept of Our Great Power_2017 (PDF) Thank you very much!
• “Persia and the Bible” … and Mithras?
  Review: E. Yamauchi, Persia and the Bible, Baker publishing (1990).  Paperback ISBN: 9780801021084. Available from: Amazon.com. Dr Yamauchi attended the second conference on Mithras studies in Tehran, back in the 1970s.  Coming across my pages on Mithras, which referenced a couple of his papers, he kindly sent me a copy of this 1990 volume which includes a […]
• Book review: Anthony Kaldellis’ “A cabinet of Byzantine curiosities”
  Anthony Kaldellis, A cabinet of Byzantine curiosities: strange tales and surprising facts from history’s most orthodox empire, Oxford University Press (2017). Available from: Amazon.com; Amazon.co.uk. Oxford University Press (USA) emailed and asked me to review this little volume.  I agreed at once.  We need more easy-to-read collections of anecdotes and wit from antiquity, and something of […]
• The tomb of St Nicholas of Myra?
  Turkish archaeologists have used ground-penetrating equipment and discovered the shrine of St Nicholas of Myra underneath the church of St Nicholas in Demre, ancient Myra, according to the Daily Telegraph.  The report seems rather sketchy, and the claims likewise.  They are also claiming that the bones of St Nicholas, supposed now to be in Bari, […]
• From my diary
  I’ve been looking some more at Byzantine science.  My original intention was to write a series of posts on each area of science.  But I’m finding that in fact I don’t know enough about the subjects to do so.  In particular knowledge of Byzantine mathematics and astronomy seems to require more knowledge of the works […]
• The log book of Inspector Merer from Wadi al Jarf and the pyramid of Cheops / Khufu
  So now we know how the stones were transported to build the pyramids of Egypt!!  They were moved by boat.  We know now this, thanks to a discovery in 2013 of a papyrus, in some boat storage caves on the Red Sea.  The find has caused a bunch of picture stories online this summer, such […]
• Byzantine science – Zoology
  Timotheus of Gaza.  A grammarian who lived in the reign of Anastasius at the end of the 5th century.  He was a student of the Egyptian philosopher Horapollo (so the Cyrillus Lexicon).  Tzetzes (Historiae 4.166- 69) remarks that Timotheos, along with Aelian and Oppian, represents the best zoology.  The Suda (T 621) describes him thus: […]
• Byzantine science: where to start and where to look
  Where do we start, if we want to know about Byzantine science?  Well, you start here! The history of science in the Byzantine empire is a neglected field of investigation, even more so than the same subject in the ancient world. It has suffered because few scholars with the language skills also possess an understanding […]
• Byzantine science – Botany
  Here are some notes on sources for Byzantine Science; in this case botany. Botany was not a subject of real interest to the Byzantines.  The Byzantine interest in plants was entirely practical. As such they compiled lists of plants useful for medicine – materia medica -, or for magical use. They are also noted for […]
• A forgotten scholar: the grammarian Peter Egenolff (1851-1901)
  Bibliography is a perilous trade.  Let a man once follow a footnote, and he may find his hours and days consumed in searching for he knows not what – and wishes he did! Today I made the acquaintance of a scholar who, as far as I can tell, is scarcely remembered.  I first encountered him in […]
• Why have less than 5% of Byzantine scientific works been published?
  A few days ago, I noted that only 5% of all Byzantine scientific works have managed to make it out of the medieval manuscripts and into a printed edition of some sort.  For translations the figure is worse still.  The figure is an estimate by Byzantinist Maria Mavroudi, who works with the subject and certainly […]
• A portrait of Constantius II from 354, via two intermediaries
  As manuscripts of the Vatican come online, it becomes possible to look at items previously known to us only from poor-quality photographs.  This is a good thing. Years ago I made an online edition of the Chronography of 354, an illustrated luxury manuscript made for a Roman aristocrat in 354 AD, and transmitted to us […]
• Less than 5% of Byzantine scientific texts have been published?
  Today I came across a statistic which really shocked me.  It seems that less than 5% of Byzantine “scientific texts” have been printed, never mind translated. The phrase “scientific texts” would include technical texts which give practical instruction, but also the philosophical texts that discuss what would today be scientific theories.  It would be interesting to know how […]
• The Annals of Eutychius of Alexandria (10th c. AD) – chapter 7 – part 6
  Let’s translate a bit more of the work of the Arabic Christian writer, Sa`id ibn Bitriq, also known as Eutychius.  The last section dealt with the reign of Alexander the Great, and his death and burial by his minister “Filimun”.  For the funeral, Eutychius now introduces material from the “Sayings” literature.  So this chapter is fiction. […]
• A few descriptions of Constantinople in the 15th century, none accessible to us
  The fall of Constantinople in 1453 to the Ottoman Turks drew a line under the history of the eastern Roman empire.  The buildings and monuments of the city, already badly damaged by time and the Latin occupation of 1204, now suffered the fate of being irrelevant and inconvenient to the city rulers, and much was […]
• Did Alfred the Great invent the story of Caesar invading Britain?
  Apparently so, according to this Danish site (Aug 16, 2017, written by Ben Hamilton): Caesar conquering Britain a 9th century invention by Alfred the Great: Saxon king fabricated 54 BC invasion to replace Viking-friendly heir and protect England from the Danes He came … He saw … but He tampered As you do. This story […]
• “A society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they know they shall never sit” – an ancient Greek proverb?
  This week I came across a saying online: A society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they know they shall never sit. This, we are told, is a Greek proverb. The sentiment is unexceptionable, but readers of this site do not believe attributions without evidence.  Is this truly ancient?  If so, […]
• English translation of Fortunatianus of Aquileia’s Commentary on the Gospels is online at De Gruyter!
  Back in 2014, I learned that the lost 4th century Latin commentary on the Gospels by Fortunatianus of Aquileia had been rediscovered by Lukas J. Dorfbauer!  This was very wonderful news, and I wrote about it here.  The exegesis follows the allegorical model common in Alexandria, rather than the more literalist format of Antioch. A couple […]
• A marvellous photograph of the remains of the Quirinal temple staircase in 1930
  The massive temple on the Quirinal hill in Rome is now gone, but substantial remains still exist of the twin brick staircases, and the stair-well, down the hill.  Unfortunately they stand in the gardens of the Colonna palace, which is not very accessible; and on the other side is https://www.ahnsfoundation.info/prednisone-online/ the Gregorian University. However the Gregorian […]
• A renaissance engraver: some notes on G. da Sangallo and the Quirinal temple
  A kind correspondent (R. Fassaert) has sent me an image of one of the plates in the new Atlas of Ancient Rome, featuring the huge temple on the Quirinal Hill in Rome, about which I have https://www.ahnsfoundation.info/ambien-zolpidem/ written a series of posts.  The temple was thought to be Aurelian’s Temple of the Sun; then a Hadrianic Temple […]
• A fake item on eBay
  There are many antiquities for sale on eBay.  But it is very much “buyer beware”.  One item caught my eye a couple of weeks ago: “ROMAN Ancient Artifact BRONZE PLATE with INSCRIPTION Circa 200-400 AD -4234″… “Circa 200-400 AD. WEIGHT:23.3 g. A Certificate of Authenticity will be issued on request but it will cost extra. […]
• From my diary
  There’s no news on any of my projects.  I’m still busy earning a living, and I have had no time or energy to do anything else. A copy of Sevcenko’s edition and translation of The Life of St Nicholas of Sion has reached me.  It made interesting reading, as clearly the cult of Nicholas of Myra […]
• A rather useful plan of the Quirinal temple
  A correspondent, Rene Fassaert, has directed my attention to a 1910 two-volume item Monuments Antiques, which contains some architectural materials for https://www.flsprogram.org/getting-clomid/ ancient Greece and Rome.  It’s online in very high resolution at the University of Texas here. On p.172 of the second volume (p.77 of the PDF), there is a splendid plan of the […]
• From my diary
  I’m busy earning a living at the moment, so I can’t really pursue any of my projects.  Instead I’ve been using Google in odd moments to locate nice pictures of Rome and the Quirinal.  I hope to go out there in October.  Eutychius and my other interests will just have to wait until I have […]
• Another marvel through Google maps – the South Arcade of the Quirinal stairway!
  After posting my last, I went back and played a bit more with prednisone Google maps on the Quirinal hill.  And I found … something marvellous!  Here it is: This is part of the arcades of the Southern wall of the great stairwell that ran from the vast temple on the Quirinal – of the […]
• Using Google Maps to “fly” around the ruins of the temple of Serapis on the Quirinal hill
  This morning I accidentally discovered the 3D feature of Google Maps.  If you search for the Quirinal Hill in Rome, turn on the Satellite view, and then hold down the control key, you can “fly” around the area.  Not every area of the world is filmed in this detail; but for the gardens of the […]
• The modern remains of the Quirinal hill temple of the Sun / Serapis – map and photographs
  I’ve written a few posts now about the vast temple whose remains may still be seen on the Quirinal hill in Rome (but only if you know where to look, and can get into the gardens of the Palazzo Colonna).  Early engravers considered that this is the remains of Aurelian’s temple of the sun; German […]
• A useful list of Syriac and Arabic chroniclers
  French blogger Albocicade writes to say that he has compiled a list of Syriac and Arabic chronicles on his blog.  I found this rather useful, to see it in a condensed form.  Better still, he has linked the entries to online versions of the text or translation.  Very useful, I think! It’s here.
• The mystery picture of the Quirinal temple and the newly built Quirinal palace
  I mentioned several times a xanax fascinating drawing, of unknown origin, that I found on the web in very low resolution.  It depicts the remains of the vast temple on the Quirinal, as it was before 1630, together with the newly built Quirinal palace – today the residence of the Italian president.  But I was […]
• Some dictionary material on the Quirinal temple of the Sun / Serapis
  I was able to acquire access to a couple of reference tomes, and see what they had to say about this huge but mysterious temple.  Here’s the first of them.  Sadly the figure was not well reproduced in my copy. From L. Richardson, A New Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome, 1992, 341-2: Remains of a […]
• From my diary
  I’ve been at home this week with a cold, so I have been distracting myself by searching on my phone for material about the Quirinal temple.  But I shall have to go back to work on Monday, I think, boxes of tissues and all. A colleague is looking for manuscripts online containing Chrysostom’s Expositio in […]
• Peruzzi’s drawing shows the real arrangement of the stairs at Aurelian’s temple of the sun / Serapis on the Quirinal
  At the back of the great temple on the Quirinal – often thought to be Aurelian’s Temple of the Sun, sometimes Caracalla’s Temple of Serapis – a great staircase https://americandentaldesigns.com/antabuse/ ran down the hill to the plain.  Portions of the sides of this still remain; but the actual arrangement of this is unclear.  The steps […]
• “Numerous 16th century drawings” of the Temple of the Sun / Serapis in Rome
  Let’s look for more evidence about the temple.  I learn that the ruins of Aurelian’s Temple of the Sun https://www.aasfoundation.org/cenforce-2000-mg/ (or possibly Caracalla’s Temple of Serapis) on the Quirinal are depicted in “numerous” 16th century drawings, under the names of the “Torre Mesa” or “Torre di Mecenate” or “Frontispizio di Nerone”. Of course such a claim […]
• The stairs at the back of Aurelian’s Temple of the Sun
  Relaxing in the bath after completing my last post, I had a sudden realisation.  I think that I know how the stair-complex worked at the back of the Temple of the Sun (or Temple of Serapis, as some think), on the Quirinal Hill in Rome. The key to this is to think of the Spanish […]
• Palladio and the “Temple of the Sun” in Rome
  I am not aware of any directory of sources for old prints and descriptions of Rome as it was in the 15-16th century.  This means that I discover such sources more or less by accident.  Earlier this week I came across another. Palladio published in 1570 his book, I quattro libri, on architecture.  What I […]
• Some useful reconstructions of the vast “Temple of the Sun / Serapis” on the Quirinal
  I have written before about the remains of a huge temple on the Quirinal hill in Rome.  The temple is often referred to as Aurelian’s Temple of the Sun.  Others prefer to say that it was a Temple of Serapis.  I’ve seen a suggestion that it was a Temple of Salus.  In short, nobody knows […]
• Some notes on a letter of the Coptic St. Pisentius – by Anthony Alcock
  Dr Alcock writes: Rather than a translation I have decided on a few notes instead. Here are his notes!  Notes on a letter of Pisentius_Alcock_2017 (PDF)
• From my diary
  Last Sunday I drove down to start a new contract on the Monday.  It’s quite interesting adapting back to life on the road.  Sleeping in hotels is an art!  I did manage to get some sleep on Thursday night!  The manager who recruited me to the new client is trying to cheat me, which is not […]
• Admin
  Started a new job this week, so no time to blog.  Rather foolishly this evening I updated Jetpack on the site, and the wretched thing is now scattering errors on posts with footnotes.  My apologies.  I will fix this when I know how, and when I have time to find out how.
• Who were you, “P.R.”? A flyleaf and its story
  This morning I went into the Treasure Chest second-hand bookshop in Felixstowe.  This is an old-fashioned bookshop, full of 45,000 books, mostly paperbacks, which are available at very reasonable prices, is the very model of a seaside provincial bookshop.  It hasn’t changed in thirty years, as my own shelves testify. I went straight to the classics section, where I […]
• The Annals of Eutychius of Alexandria (10th c. AD) – chapter 7 – part 5
  We continue the reign of Alexander the Great.  Eutychius believes that Cassander poisoned him.  It is interesting that the evil reputation of Cassander (not named here) persisted after 13 centuries. 16. Alexander won many victories, and among the Greeks, thirteen kings obeyed him.  He founded thirteen cities, some in the west and others in the east.  […]
• In progress: an online translation of Gelasius of Cyzicus!
  A correspondent writes to tell me of a wonderful thing!  A chap named Nathanael J. Jensen is translating the History of the Council of Nicaea by in 3 books by ps.Gelasius of Cyzicus!  (CPG 6034). Better yet, the results are appearing online! This work was composed around 475, and contains chunks from earlier, now lost, histories.  Portions of it […]
• The Annals of Eutychius of Alexandria (10th c. AD) – chapter 7 – part 4
  We continue with the story of Alexander.  The Abbasid caliphs, for whom Eutychius wrote, were basically Persians, and so the destruction of the Achaemenids by Alexander – who is treated as the king of the “Rum”! – was obviously sensitive territory.  Eutychius copes with this inconvenience by denying Alexander his military victory, and instead attributing the defeat of Darius […]
• The Annals of Eutychius of Alexandria (10th c. AD) – chapter 7 – part 3
  Let us carry on with Eutychius.  We reach the times of Alexander. 10. After him reigned his son Qamīsūs for nine years.  After him, Smardhiyūs the Magian reigned for a single year.  He was called the Magian because a Persian named Zarādast appeared in his days, under whose influence the religion of the Magi became official, and […]
• The Annals of Eutychius of Alexandria (10th c. AD) – chapter 7 – part 2
  Let’s carry on with Old Testament narratives from the time of Daniel.  It would interesting to know if any Persian sources were used for any of this. 5. After him, his son Awīl Marūdakh reigned for twenty-three years.  He released Yahūnākhīm, king of the Israelites, from prison, and put on him the garments of honour, […]
• Forced marriage in saints’ lives – by Anthony Alcock
  Anthony Alcock has written a short note on a hagiographical theme; where monks are kidnapped, and forced into marriage.  This appears in St. Jerome’s Life of Malchus in the 4th century, and also in the 9th century Life of Samuel of Kalamoun. It’s here: A note on monks in captivity_alcock_2017 (PDF)
• English translation in progress of Cyril of Alexandria’s “Contra Julianum”
  A correspondent has advised me that Matthew Crawford is engaged in making the first ever English translation of Cyril of Alexandria’s Contra Julianum, the 10-book work refuting Julian the Apostate’s attack on the Christians.  And it is true!  Dr C. has uploaded the preface and opening sections of book1 to his Academia.edu account here. This […]
• From my diary
  About a week ago summer arrived.  The temperatures rose by 10 degrees, and it is now in the upper 20’s centigrade outside, and the upper teens at night.  The happiest thing to do is to drive around in air-conditioned comfort, and observe the world from there.  Now is the time to make outdoor visits to […]
• Porphyry on quotation practices in antiquity
  An interesting volume has come my way on the quotations in Eusebius.  It is Sabrina Inowlocki, Eusebius and the Jewish Authors: His citation technique in an apologetic context, Brill, 2006.  This, remarkably, was a PhD thesis in French. The study is interesting enough that I should like to read the paper volume. I have a PDF but […]
• Altercatio Simonis et Theophili online in English!
  Anthony Alcock has translated a much longer piece for us all this time – the Altercatio Simonis et Theophili, or, Disputation between Simon the Jew and Theophilus the Christian.  This has been dated to the 5th century AD, and is the oldest Latin dialogue between Christians and Jews.  It relies extensively on proof-texts.  Altercatio_Simonis_et_Theophili_Alcock_2017 (PDF) This […]
• The Annals of Eutychius of Alexandria (10th c. AD) – chapter 7 – part 1
  Let’s return to the start of chapter 7, in Old Testament times.  Compared to the last two chapters, this chapter is not very long.  So let’s have a crack at it.  Some of this story might be a little familiar…  Read the names aloud, and see if you recognise them. 1. In the eighteenth year […]
• Reading the Italian translation of Methodius “De resurrectione”
  The Italian translation of Methodius of Olympus, De resurrectione, has arrived.  I was able to order it from the publisher without undue difficulty (although IBS.it would probably have been easier, had I remembered them!)  I have now scanned some of it, which means that I can now use Google Translate on the Italian.  Google Translate handles […]
• From my diary
  Well!  I have finally reached the end of chapter 19 of the Annals of Eutychius.  Of course I skipped chapters 1-7; and a long theological excursus in chapter 16 (?).  But it’s still very pleasing to get to the end of the interminable Muslim section.  Thank you, everyone who has offered encouragement. I probably ought […]
• The Annals of Eutychius of Alexandria (10th c. AD) – chapter 19m – Abbasids part 12
  The last chapter!  Continuing the reign of al-Muqtadir, the reign of al-Qāhir, the start of the reign of ar-Rādī, and the end of the Annals.  It ends with a solicitation of money – “O munificent king”!  9. Al-Muqtadir withdrew his favour from his minister Hāmid b. al-‘Abbās and had him killed in the month of Rabi’ al-awwal of […]
• The Annals of Eutychius of Alexandria (10th c. AD) – chapter 19k – Abbasids part 11
  A new caliph, al-Muqtadir.  In this period the entire population of Alexandria is ordered out of the city, and many perish in the countryside, leaving ruins behind.  Some do return in the end. As is often the case in chroniclers, the events of recent history – but not contemporary history, which might be dangerous for […]
• There are Italian translations of Methodius of Olympus!
  Few are familiar with the works of Methodius of Olympus.  He is an Ante-Nicene Fathers whose works are hard to access. Most were not translated into English as part of the Ante-Nicene Fathers, because they are preserved mainly in Old Slavonic.  Only one large work was translated in the ANF series, the Symposium, because that exists […]
• “The miracle of St Michael at Colossae” – now online in English
  Anthony Alcock has taken a break from Coptic and translated for us all this Greek hagiographical legend, from the text given in the Patrologia Orientalis 4.  A few notes on the text from the PO might be of interest to readers. The Bollandist editors placed the composition of this text between 692, when Colossae was abandoned, and 787 AD, […]
• The Annals of Eutychius of Alexandria (10th c. AD) – chapter 19j – Abbasids part 10
  The decay of the Abbasid caliphate continues.  Egypt is almost an independent country; and the caliphate is also troubled by the Qarmatian revolt – a group of Shia fanatics who end up stealing the Black stone from Mecca.  CALIPHATE OF AL-MUKTAFĪ BI’LLĀH (289-295/902-908). 1. The bay’ah was given to al-Muktafī, i.e. Abū Muhammad [‘Ali] b. Ahmad al-Mu’tadid, in Baghdad, on […]
• A fragment of Bede’s “De ratione temporum” from his own lifetime?
  Here’s a fun item!  Inside the binding of a book, somebody found a really early fragment of a manuscript of Bede’s De ratione temporum.  (This is the only work which mentions “Eostre”, and includes all his calculations of dates and events.) Even more fun – it’s online in a nice high-resolution image at Darmstadt!  It […]
• The awful history of Brockelmann’s GAL (and why it is in the state it is)
  Six years ago, I wrote a post in which I roundly attacked Brockelmann’s Geschichte der arabischen Literatur for its copious failings.  Today I discovered online a piece which explained exactly why it is the mess it is. Would you believe: it’s because of German copyright law? The article that I found by Jan Just Witkam, […]
• The Annals of Eutychius of Alexandria (10th c. AD) – chapter 19i – Abbasids part 9
  The events of the Abbasid caliphs continue.  This reign is interesting for a curious storm that affected Egypt in 284 AH / 897 AD. CALIPHATE OF AL-MU`TADID (279-289/892-902). 1. The bay’ah was given to al-Mu’tadid bi’llāh Abū’l-‘Abbās, i.e. Ahmad b. Abū Ahmad al-Muwaffaq bi’llāh b. Ga’far al-Mutawakkil ‘alā’llāh – his mother was an umm walad named […]
• The Annals of Eutychius of Alexandria (10th c. AD) – chapter 19h – Abbasids part 8
  We’re getting to what for Eutychius is modern times.  The next caliph, al-Mutamid, seems to be almost a figurehead, in the account that Eutychius gives.  Real power is in the hands of Abu Ahmad al-Muwaffaq, and he is challenged by the ruler of Egypt.  The Abbasid caliphate is becoming merely a convention. Eusebius in his […]
• From my diary
  Hmm.  I wrote a long post yesterday “From my diary”, and published it; and it vanished, and there is no sign of it.  That hasn’t happened before, or not for a very long time.   Deeply worrying when that sort of thing happens.  Let me see what I can recall of the updates that I posted… […]
• From my diary
  I learn from Twitter that the North American Patristics Society (NAPS) is holding its 2017 convention, starting tomorrow.  I hope that everyone there finds it useful and productive, and maybe even fun! On this continent, I’ve continued hacking away at the Annals of the Arabic Christian historian, Eutychius.  I must admit that the Muslim sections […]
• The Annals of Eutychius of Alexandria (10th c. AD) – chapter 19g – Abbasids part 7
  We’re not that far from the close of Eutychius’ Annals, in his own times.  But we still have a few Abbasid caliphs to go through.  None of the next few caliphs lasted very long. Ominously the Turks start to appear as the king-makers. CALIPHATE OF AL-MUNTASIR BI’LLAH (247-248/861-862). 1.  The bay’ah was given to al-Muntasir bi’llāh/Abū Ğa‘far/ Muhammad b. […]
• The Annals of Eutychius of Alexandria (10th c. AD) – chapter 19f – Abbasids part 6
  Let’s carry on with the Annals of Eutychius.  In the Islamic world, the second-class status of the Christians means that they hold their property only at the whim of the caliph.  This starts to become an increasing problem.  Meanwhile in Constantinople the talk is all about iconoclasm. CALIPHATE OF ĞA‘FAR AL-MUTAWAKKIL (232-247/847-861). 1. The bay’ah was […]
• The Annals of Eutychius of Alexandria (10th c. AD) – chapter 19e – Abbasids part 5
  CALIPHATE OF AL-WĀTHIQ (227-232/842-847) 1. The bay’ah was given to al-Wāthiq, i.e. Hārūn ibn al-Mu’tasim – his mother was a umm walad named Qarātis, on the same day that al-Mu’tasim died. He left the internal affairs as they were in the days of al-Mu’tasim, He built the palace known by the name of al-Hārūni, and moved there.  Al-Wāthiq argued that […]
• From my diary
  Interesting.  I’ve received two emails from this blog in the past week, saying that I requested a change of password.  I did not, of course.  So either it’s a scam, or somebody is trying to hack this blog.  Time for a backup, methinks. For the last two and a half weeks, I have been laid […]
• The Annals of Eutychius of Alexandria (10th c. AD) – chapter 19d – Abbasids part 4
  CALIPHATE OF AL-MUTASIM (218-227/833-842). 1. The bay’ah was given to al-Mu`tasim, i.e. Abū Ishāq Muhammad b. Hārūm ar-Rashid – his mother was a “umm walad” named Māridah – at Tarsus.  But some of al-Ma’mūn’s generals advocated appointing al-‘Abbās, son of al-Ma’mūn, as caliph, and in fact acknowledged al-‘Abbās ibn al-Ma’mūn as their caliph.  All the other generals recognized al-Mu’tasim as their […]
• The Annals of Eutychius of Alexandria (10th c. AD) – chapter 19c – Abbasids part 3
  It’s good to return to the Annals of Eutychius.  We continue with the reign of al-Mamun.  CALIPHATE OF AL-MA’MUN (196-218/814-833). 1. In Khurasan, in the year 196 of the Hegira, the bay’ah was given to al-Ma’mūn, i.e. ‘Abd Allah ibn Hārūn ar-Rashid b. Muhammad al-Mahdi b. ‘Abd Allah Allāh b. Hārūn b. Al-Mansūr – his mother was Marāgil […]
• First use of “abracadabra”? It’s Serenus Sammonicus!
  The first writer to use the phrase “abracadabra” as a magical incantation is, I understand, the (probably) late second century AD medical writer Q. Serenus Sammonicus.  He does so in his two-book medical handbook, the Liber medicinalis, in chapter 51, as a cure for demi-tertian fever, which is perhaps some form of malaria. Here’s the […]
• Anthony Alcock: Three short texts relating to Severus of Antioch – now online
  Anthony Alcock is continuing his series of translations from Coptic and Arabic.  Today he emailed over a translation of three short texts in Arabic, relating to Severus of Antioch.  The original language material may be found in the Patrologia Orientalis 2 (1907). Three short Arabic texts relating to Severus of Antioch_alcock_2017 (PDF) This is very welcome.  […]
• An extant “sillybos” – parchment label – from an ancient roll
  The British Library manuscripts blog has produced a rather marvellous article by Matthew Nicholls on Ancient Libraries. But what made it special to me was an image of an item which I had never seen before. As we all know, ancient books were written on rolls of papyrus.  The modern book form or “codex” belongs […]
• From my diary
  I am still at home, ill with what I assume to be a flu virus or something.  It seems interminable.  But you could fry eggs on my forehead. I’ve just found a bunch of comments that WordPress unaccountably marked as spam.  I’ve now approved them.  My apologies for this.
• The codex Aesinas of the minor works of Tacitus now online (?)
  A correspondent advised me some time ago that the Codex Aesinas – the Iesi codex -, our sole remaining manuscript of the minor works of Tacitus, is now online in high-resolution images. This is marvellous news, obviously.  The link is here: https://iiif.lib.harvard.edu/manifests/view/drs:425333309$1i But … just at the moment the viewer did not seem to be […]
• Severian of Gabala news: critical editions from GCS, plus an online bibliography
  An Australian scholar who sometimes comments here writes with some interesting news about Severian of Gabala studies: … the GCS people announced last year that they are going to put out critical editions of Severian’s works.  This will take years of course, but it’s only the Germans who commit themselves to such long-term projects these […]
• John of Ephesus describes the Justinianic plague
  John of Ephesus was a monophysite bishop who worked for Justinian and was instrumental in destroying the Montanist holy places at Pepuza, including the grave of Montanus.  He wrote a Chronicle, much of which is lost.  But he was also an eye-witness of the outbreak of plague, known as the Justinianic plague, which affected the […]
• Apocryphal and then some: The so-called “Synopsis” of so-called Dorotheus of Tyre
  A correspondent asks me about Dorotheus of Tyre, Synopsis.  This is a patristic work of which I had never heard.  A Google Books search shows that scholars refer to the work from the 16th to the 19th century, after which there is a sudden silence. The Synopsis is a work that was first published in 1557 in a collection in […]
• From my diary
  I’ve been thinking about the (pseudo) Synopsis of ps.Dorotheus of Tyre, and I will have a blog post on this strange item just as soon as pressures of work permit.  I’ve also been unwell so apologies to anyone writing to me. I’ve also asked a correspondent to translate some of the ps.Dorotheus material.  I’m not […]
• An 1850 view of the Meta Sudans and the Arch of Constantine
  Another splendid find from Roma Ieri Oggi!  This shows the Meta Sudans, with the Arch of Constantine and the ruins of the Palatine … in 1850!  Unusually this was taken from high-up in the Colosseum.  Marvellous!
• The date of Hero of Alexandria, and another translation of some extracts of the “Mechanics”
  When did Hero of Alexandria live?  The truth is that we know little other than what can be inferred from his works. Karin Tybjerg tells us that Hero quotes Archimedes, who lived ca. 287-211 or 212 BC, and is quoted by Pappus who flourished around 320 AD.  But it seems that in his Dioptra Hero […]
• Cleomedes: how big is the earth?
  Some time between Posidonius and Ptolemy, i.e. between the 1st century BC and the 2nd century AD, a Greek named Cleomedes wrote a 2 book basic treatise on astronomy, De motu circulari corporum caelestium.  This was based mainly on the lost work of Posidonius, but also on others. Cleomedes is our primary source for the calculations […]
• Good Friday – the Pilate Stone
  It is Good Friday today.  By chance I found myself looking on Twitter at a picture of the so-called “Pilate stone”.  This is the Roman inscription which mentions Pontius Pilate.  Most of us will be familiar with its existence, but it seems appropriate to gather some of the information about it. In 1961 an Italian […]
• Extracts from Hero of Alexandria’s “Mechanics”
  Earlier this week I saw a reference online to a work by Hero of Alexandria, the ancient constructor of machines who lived at an uncertain time, possibly even in the late 1st century AD.  The reference was to his Mechanics. In the Mechanica, I am told, Hero explored the parallelograms of velocities, determined certain simple centers of […]
• “Burned without pity” – the fake quotation taken back to 1930!
  A few weeks ago, I discussed a fake quotation attributed to Pope Innocent III: Anyone who attempts to construe a personal view of God which conflicts with church dogma must be burned without pity. These kinds of “quotes” are often derived from opinions by modern writers, which someone has then turned into a quote by the […]
• Life of the Coptic Patriarch Isaac (686-689 AD) by Anthony Alcock
  Anthony Alcock has kindly translated for us all a Bohairic Coptic account of the life of the Coptic patriarch Isaac (686-689 AD), which he has sent to me for publication.  The PDF is here: Isaac_life_alcock_2017 (PDF) Isaac does appear in the History of the Patriarchs of the Coptic Church, but only briefly – this Life is […]
• From my diary
  I am now recovered from the virus that struck me down last week.  Thank you everyone who prayed for me.  I’ve spent the last few days preparing for a job interview with a new client.  This required quite a bit of revision of my skills, for the inevitable technical test.  But I was successful. Evidently the “other guy” bombed […]
• From my diary
  A week of illness, as I have had yet another bout of fever and stomach troubles, assisted by a dental problem.  It seems odd to get two episodes of the fever within two weeks, but so it is.  I’ve been unable to respond much to emails. Most days I have taken a ten minute drive […]
• Nice big image of the Nuremberg drawing of Rome (with Meta Romuli)
  Again seen on twitter, a link to a wonderfully large image of the page in the Nuremberg Chronicle (1493) with a picture of Rome.  It may be found here, but I reproduce it below because images vanish from the web like butterflies.  The basilica of Old St Peter’s may easily be seen; but also the […]
• The Meta Sudans in 1849 in Pierre Monami
  A twitter post alerted me to the existence of an oil-painting from 1849 by Pierre Monami, depicting the Roman forum with the Arch of Constantine, the Meta Sudans, the Temple of Venus and Rome, and the Via Sacra leading to the Arch of Titus.  The painting was sold recently at Bonhams, who have a viewer […]
• The Annals of Eutychius of Alexandria (10th c. AD) – chapter 19b – Abbasids part 2
  We continue with a couple more caliphs. CALIPHATE OF HARUN AR-RASHID (170-193 / 786-809). 1. The bay’ah was given to Harun ar-Rashid b. al-Mahdi – his mother was al-al-Khayzuran – in the same night that Musa al-Hadi died, the night of Friday 14 Rabi al-awwal in the year 170.  That night his son al-Ma’mun was born.  He […]
• Selling oranges outside the Meta Sudans, 1900-1910
  This item appeared on Twitter here today: “Woman selling oranges”, Colosseum, Rome, Italy. Between 1900-1910 Lantern slide (hand colored)”.  Marvellous!
• Alin Suciu on the Berlin-Strasbourg Apocryphon or “Gospel of the Savior”
  It’s taken four years, but Alin Suciu’s magnificent thesis on the so-called “Gospel of the Savior” has now appeared in book form from Mohr Siebeck, although at a huge price.  The abstract is as follows: The Berlin-Strasbourg Apocryphon – A Coptic Apostolic Memoir The present volume offers a new edition, English translation, and interpretation of […]
• Origen’s Commentary on Matthew – what exists in English?
  The remains of Origen’s 25-book Commentary on Matthew (CPG 1450) appear in four volumes in the GCS series.  These are: GCS 40 – “Origenes Werke X, Commentarius in Matthaeum I” – this contains the Greek text of books of books 10-17, covering Mt. 13:36-22:33.  (I found a PDF on ScribD and uploaded it to Archive.org here; […]
• New book on Hellenistic astrology
  Chris Brennan has written to tell me about his new book, on Hellenistic Astrology: The Study of Fate and Fortune. Ancient astrology is something that I ought to know about, but don’t.  There’s a whole class of ancient texts like Vettius Valens which incorporate information.  Probably if we knew more about it, we would see […]
• The Annals of Eutychius of Alexandria (10th c. AD) – chapter 19a – The Abbasids arrive!
  After the murder of Marwan II, last of the Ummayad caliphs, we begin the Abbasid caliphs.  These are basically Persians, so the centre of the Islamic world moves eastward.  The first few Abbasid caliphs seem to lack shelf-life.  Interestingly Eutychius does not have good information on the patriarchs of Constantinople or Rome from this point […]
• From my diary
  Bright sun this morning, the light reaching round into my bedroom as I get up, with a hint of summer on the way.  At lunchtime I saw crocuses coming into flower on a roundabout nearby.  A walk along the sea promenade was warm. All this was very welcome to a man recovering from a 48-hour […]
• A new Mithras inscription from Dacia
  Csaba Szabo writes to say that a new Mithraic inscription was recovered by the police in Romania in 2015.  His blog post about it is here.  He has published the inscription at Academia.edu here, which is very useful as otherwise it might be very difficult to get hold of. The inscription is on a half-column, which […]
• Origen: a very early copyist of Matthew made a mistake…
  Alex Poulos has posted what may be the most interesting blog post that I have seen for a very long time: Textual criticism and biblical authority in Origen’s Homily on Ps. 77.  It’s the text and translation of the first section of Origen’s first homily on psalm 77, with comments.  And by golly it’s interesting! […]
• The Annals of Eutychius of Alexandria (10th c. AD) – chapter 18i – The remaining Ummayads
  The last few Ummayads conclude chapter 18.  The seizure of the Damascus church was plainly not straightforward.  It looks rather as if at least some of the Muslims felt that the failure to honour the guarantee by Khalid ibn al-Walid was dishonourable, for the matter came up again under the next caliph, Omar.  Omar also made moves […]
• The Annals of Eutychius of Alexandria (10th c. AD) – chapter 18h – Abd al-Malik, Al-Walid and Suleiman
  The remaining Ummayad caliphs are dealt with briefly by Eutychius.  Muslim seizures of churches begin. CALIPHATE OF ABD AL-MALIK IBN MARWĀN (65-86/685-705) 1. The bay’ah was given to Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan b. al-Hakam b. Abi’l-`Ās – his mother was Aisha, daughter of Mu’awiya b. al-Mughira b. Abi’-`Ās b. Umayya b. Abd Shams -, in the […]
• The Annals of Eutychius of Alexandria (10th c. AD) – chapter 18g – the reigns of Yazid and Marwan I
  Eutychius does not seem to know that much about the next two Ummayad caliphs, so I include both of their short entries here. CALIPHATE OF YAZID IBN MU`AWIYA (60-64/680-683) 1. The bay’ah was given to Yazid ibn Mu’awiya  b. Abi Sufyan – his mother was Maysūr, daughter of Yahdak al-Kalbi -, in the month of Ragab in […]
• “Burned without pity” – a fake quotation attributed to Pope Innocent III
  While looking for some information on the Spanish Inquisition, I came across a whole slew of pages containing the following quotation (various, but here). Pope Innocent III: “Anyone who attempts to construe a personal view of God which conflicts with church dogma must be burned without pity.” ~Papal Bull, 1198, qtd. in Peter Tompkins, Symbols […]
• The Annals of Eutychius of Alexandria (10th c. AD) – chapter 18f – the reign of Muawiyah
  The murder of Ali ends the rule of the companions of Mohammed and ushers in the reign of the first of the Ummayad dynasty. Caliphate of Muawiyah I (41-60 / 661-680) 1. Muawiyah ibn Abi Sufyān advanced from Syria into Iraq and was [there] given the bay‘ah.  His name was Sakhr ibn Harb b. Umayya b. […]
• Temple of Mithras discovered at Mariana in Corsica
  A previously unknown temple of Mithras has been discovered in Corsica, in Lucciana, on the site of the Roman colony of Mariana. French website l’Express carries the story with more care than most, from which I learn of the following details. Mariana, a Roman colony founded around 100 BC, reached its peak in the 3rd […]
• String ’em up! How middle managers destroy the value of institutional websites
  Few things are quite as infuriating as an institutional website designed by somebody who will never ever have to use the service in question.  The designer is usually some group of bureaucrats, with a checklist of things that the service “must” contain.  Not infrequently a real user finds that the wasters have actually torpedoed any useful […]
• When did Christmas Day become a public holiday?
  In the legal code of Justinian, issued in 534 AD, we find the following entry, in book 3, title 12, law 6, Omnes dies: 3.12.6 (7). Emperors Valentinian, Theodosius and Arcadius to Albinus, City Prefect.  We order that all days shall be court days. 1.Only those days shall remain as days of vacation which each […]
• A “gentleman’s translation” by H.S. Boyd of Ps.Basil’s homily on Paradise
  A couple of weeks ago, Ted Janiszewski wrote to tell me about another volume of “gentleman’s translations” that he had found.  I see no purpose in paraphrasing his fascinating email, which is practically a blog post in itself! I’ve come across another gentleman’s translation of patristic writings: The Fathers not Papists: Or, Six Discourses by […]
• Let’s not shout at the Vatican library for digitising microfilms
  The Vatican library digitisation has made a bit of a left turn lately, and I’ve certainly complained about it, and I’m sure I’m not alone in this.  Instead of the high quality brand new full colour photographs, they’ve started to digitise vast numbers of rather rubbish quality microfilms. Today a correspondent from the library gently […]
• A close up of the Meta Sudans from 1910
  The invaluable Roma Ieri Oggi site continues to upload photographs of old Rome, including photographs of vanished sites like the ancient fountain, the Meta Sudans.  A new one appeared a couple of days ago here.  It’s a close-up of the Meta Sudans, although I had to disable my anti-virus software (Kaspersky) in order to view […]
• A new work by Apuleius!
  This story passed me by completely, until the excellent J.-B. Piggin tweeted about it, as part of his lists of Vatican manuscripts coming online.  Justin Stover has more here. In 1949, the historian of philosophy Raymond Klibansky made a dramatic announcement to the British Academy: a new Latin philosophical text dating from antiquity, a Summarium librorum […]
• Piranesi’s engraving of the Arco di Portogallo
  The “Arco di Portogallo” or “Arch of Portugal”, so called because it was located in the Corso in Rome near the residence of the Portugese ambassador, was demolished in 1662.  I had never heard of it, I confess, until Anna Blennow tweeted an engraving by Piranesi.  It stood near the Palazzo Fiano.  It seems to […]
• From my diary
  It’s been a busy few days.  I have a few blog posts backed up, which I shall now be able to get to.   The last few days have been taken up with life stuff, and also with thinking about the post by Richard Carrier that I responded to earlier. Reading polemic is a tedious business, […]
• More on the sestertius of Titus showing the Meta Sudans
  A correspondent kindly drew my attention to the following piece in the Daily Express. Rare Roman coin featuring early depiction of the Colosseum sells for £372,000 AN INCREDIBLE rare Roman coin featuring one of the earliest depictions of the Colosseum has sold for £372,000 – nearly five times its estimate. The bronze Sestertius coin that […]
• Words, Words, Words: A response to Richard Carrier on Feldman and Eusebius
  It’s always nice when my blog posts attract attention. I learned last week that an old post of mine, from 2013, has attracted a response from a professional atheist polemicist named Richard Carrier. In a rather excitable post here on his own blog he roundly denounces my casual remarks, and indeed myself (!), and offers […]
• Solomon in Coptic Songs – text and translation by Anthony Alcock
  Anthony Alcock continues his series of translations from the Coptic.  This new item consists of 10th century AD Coptic songs – folk-stories – which mention Solomon. solomon_alcock_2017 (PDF) Thank you, Dr A., for sharing this with us!
• From my diary
  A previously unknown Temple of Mithras was discovered last week at Lucciana in Corsica, during road improvement work.  The location is somewhere near or in the Roman city of Mariana, itself founded by Gaius Marius.  The archaeology suggests a third century date.  The usual cult benches on either side are present, and three fragments of […]
• The Annals of Eutychius of Alexandria (10th c. AD) – chapter 18e – the reign of Ali
  The murder of Omar was followed by the murder of Othman.  The next caliph, Ali, was unable to master the large realm that he had inherited and was swiftly murdered also. Caliphate of Ali ibn Abi Talib (35-40 / 656-661) 1. After Othman there was made caliph Ali ibn Abi Talib b. Abd al-Muttalib b. Hashim b. […]
• The Annals of Eutychius of Alexandria (10th c. AD) – chapter 18d
  After the  murder of Omar, the Muslims elect Othman. The Muslim conquests continue.  The Byzantines don’t make much resistance, apparently.  Othman too is murdered after drawing up an edition of the Koran and destroying all the other copies. Lots of theological letters in this section of Eutychius.  We also see the appearance of “Misr” for the […]
• A few thoughts on handling miraculous passages in ancient texts
  While I was thinking about Geza Vermes’ The Nativity, I realised that part of his difficulty with the text was his starting assumption that miracles did not happen.  But this didn’t just affect the miraculous bits of the text.  It actually led him into a strange wilderness of subjectivism, even with respect to non-miraculous events. The end result […]
• The Annals of Eutychius of Alexandria (10th c. AD) – chapter 18c (part 9)
  The Arab conquest of Egypt continues the story of the reign of Omar.  The small bands of Arabs naturally see their conquest of Egypt as merely a chance to loot. But faced with the enormous wealth of Egypt, Omar realises that if he can extract protection money on a continuing basis, this would be better […]
• Is scholarly scepticism about Gallio a modern legend?
  The presence of Seneca’s brother, Gallio, in Corinth, during the period when Acts 18:12-17 refers to him, is attested by an inscription.  The French excavators in the late 19th century found vast numbers of fragments, and Emile Bourguet in 1905 published a group, which contained a letter of Claudius, mentioning Gallio as proconsul. However, floating […]
• Review: Geza Vermes, “The Nativity: History and Legend”
  For my sins, which are clearly far more substantial than I had realised, I agreed last week to a request from a lay reader, to read through and comment on Geza Vermes’ book The Nativity: History and Legend, which I should otherwise never have read.  The book is indeed directed to the educated layman, so […]
• The Annals of Eutychius of Alexandria (10th c. AD) – chapter 18c (part 8)
  The Muslims capture Babylon fortress; but the fighting between the Arab force and the Roman force takes them both all over the place. Eventually the Muslims have to besiege Alexandria.  13. ‘Ubāda ibn as-Samit then returned to Amr ibn al-As and made him aware of what had happened.  When the Muslims heard that there were only a few men in the […]
• The Annals of Eutychius of Alexandria (10th c. AD) – chapter 18c (part 7)
  The Islamic raiders have now reached Egypt, and approach Babylon fortress, on the Nile.  The bitter ideological infighting of the past century has left the country and its rulers at odds, and both hate the Emperor Heraclius. The Persian war has stripped the country of soldiers, and left societal bonds weakened.  So the Prefect of Egypt is willing […]
• From my diary
  I’ve reached the last couple of volumes in the pile of books to slice and convert to PDF.  One of these was an old Loeb, but when I opened it, I found a “withdrawn” library stamp for Aberdeen University in it.  The book became an old survivor, and I couldn’t bring myself to pull its […]
• A couple more images of the Meta Sudans from Twitter
  Roma Ieri Oggi has posted yet another old photograph, from 1898, of the Colosseum, with the Meta Sudans: The angle on the Meta Sudans is a little unusual, and indicates that the top was not level. This caused a second photo to be posted, this one from 1865: Note how much the land level has […]
• The Annals of Eutychius of Alexandria (10th c. AD) – chapter 18c (part 6)
  We continue the account of the reign of Omar. 10. When he arrived at Medina, Omar ibn al-Khattab wrote a letter to remove Amr ibn al-‘As from office in Palestine, ordering him to equip himself and leave for Egypt, and he appointed Mu‘āwiya ibn Abi Sufyān as governor of Ashkelon, Caesarea and Palestine. Mu’awiya and his forces […]
• When a book order goes wrong: problems with Abebooks and Reuseabook
  I think most of us have used Abebooks as a valuable way to get hold of second-hand literature.  And it is truly valuable.  I well remember hunting bookshops for Tertullians in the 80s, unable to find even ordinary books. But Abebooks is not Amazon, and if things go even slightly wrong, the marvellous customer service […]
• Who was “Euthalius”, and what did he write?
  The Catholic Encyclopedia contains the following paragraph: The martyrdom [of St Paul] took place towards the end of the reign of Nero, in the twelfth year (St. Epiphanius), the thirteenth (Euthalius), or the fourteenth (St. Jerome). But who is this “Euthalius”? In medieval Greek bible manuscripts, there is a mass of commentary material.  For instance, […]
• If death did not exist, would Stalin still rule in Russia?
  I was reflecting on the career of Josef Stalin, the brutal bandit from the Caucasus, who rose to become Soviet dictator, and enslaved, first a huge nation, and then half of Europe.  He had total power.  The only thing that he could not control was death.  One day death came for him, and his empire crumbled soon after. […]
• Roman pranks: Glueing a coin to the pavement, in Horace and Persius
  While reading Horace at the weekend in the old Loeb edition, my eye fell upon a passage in Epistles I, XVI 63: Qui melior servo, qui liberior sit avarus, in triviis fixum cum se demittit ob assem, non video; nam qui cupiet, metuet quoque ; porro, qui metuens vivet, liber mihi non erit umquam. How […]
• More colophons from Coptic manuscripts, by Anthony Alcock
  A little while ago Anthony Alcock sent in a set of colophons – ending remarks – from Coptic manuscripts, which appear here. Today I have received a follow-up email from Dr A., with translations of a further 20 colophons found in Coptic manuscripts.  It’s here: Colophons of Coptic Manuscripts Part Two Upper Egpt (PDF) Here is […]
• From my diary
  I am continuing to turn my reference books into PDFs by taking the covers off and breaking them into sections, guillotining the edge and then scanning them.  This is going well. I also visited a local second hand bookshop and purchased a few classics for a couple of dollars each.  These were books that I […]
• The crucifixion graffito of Alkimilla from Puteoli
  I was unfamiliar with this item until today, and I doubt that I am alone in this. In 1959 a group of eight Tabernae were excavated at Puteoli.  Taberna 5 was a guesthouse, as is clear from the graffiti within it.  These mention various names and cities. On the west wall of taberna 5, a mass […]
• Review: “Before Nicea: The early followers of Prophet Jesus” by Abdul Haq al Ashanti and Abdur Rahman Bowes, 2005
  This book was drawn to my attention on Twitter, where it was offered as a scholarly source for some very odd remarks about ante-Nicene Christianity. The book has the ISBN of 0955109906.  But it circulates most widely in eBook form, e.g. Archive.org.  The eBook that I have marks it as “© SalafiManhaj 2005”, although it does not seem […]
• An aerial shot of the base of the Colossus in 1918
  Roma Ieri Oggi has posted a set of aerial photographs of Rome, made in 1918.  They are here.  And they are quite marvellous, and high resolution. Of special interest to us is one that looks at the Colosseum area: Note the area where today runs the Via del foro imperiali – mainly farmland on the […]
• The manuscripts of Manuel Paleologus, “Dialogues with a Muslim”
  Towards the end, the Byzantine state become nothing more than a city-state.  The emperor, John VI Paleologus, was forced to become the feudal vassal of his enemy, the Ottoman sultan Murad.  His son, Manuel Palelogus, in 1391-2, was actually obliged to go on campaign with Murad’s son Bayezid, and endure the contemptuous treatment of the latter.  […]
• How I do the footnotes on my blog; and other bits of blog configuration
  This blog runs on WordPress.  I host a copy of the software in a directory on my rented webspace (rented from the ever-reliable pair.com).  A commenter asked: Do you use a plug-in for footnotes? If so, could you please identify the plug-in, and comment on its usefulness? I do indeed use a plug-in. In fact, […]
• New dustjackets for old books!
  Via the H.V.Morton blog, named after the South African travel writer, I learn of a novel thing. How many of us have old hardbacks, bought second-hand, where the dust jackets have long since gone?  The colourful dust jackets of H.V. Morton’s travel books on my shelves are long gone, leaving only a bible-black cloth cover, […]
• A collection of colophons from Coptic manuscripts, by Anthony Alcock
  Anthony Alcock has kindly sent in a text and translation of some colophons – final material – from Coptic manuscripts.  It’s here: Alcock_Colophons of Coptic Manuscripts Fayyum_2017 (PDF) As ever, many thanks to Dr. A.  It is really useful to have this material online and in English!
• How I met I.E.S. Edwards
  A good long time ago, before I ever heard of the internet, I was a member of the Egypt Exploration Society (EES).  This society was founded in Victorian times in order to raise funds for archaeology in Egypt, and to promote interest in the country. Every year I used to receive a thick, uninviting-looking copy […]
• Two questions: can translations be biased? and are ancient texts reliable?
  I’ve had some correspondence in the last few days, posing a couple of interesting questions which are actually quite hard to answer definitively.  But I thought that I would mention both, and give some thoughts about them. The first asked about bias in translations of ancient texts.  It’s an interesting question.  Can you actually do […]
• From my diary
  Happy new year 2017 to you all! I’ve been busy, tearing the backs off books, in order to turn them into PDFs.  It’s far quicker, if you have a scanner with a sheet feeder, than turning pages laboriously.  First you pull off the card cover.  This leaves you with the book block.  Then you break […]
• From my diary
  I’ve spent this evening breaking another book.  This one is genuinely not valuable, selling for a few euros a copy on second hand site.  It’s a deeply dull exhibition catalogue in German from 1969.  I think I wanted a photograph from it or something.  Anyway it’s an inch thick, and will go to its reward. […]
• The base of the Colossus, next to the Colosseum, in 1920
  The Roma Ieri Oggi site is a vast resource of old and wonderful photographs of Rome.  It’s rather a pity that these are being embedded in an on-site “viewer”, to make it hard to download the things.  But in them we see Rome before Mussolini made his necessary but destructive changes. Today he posted a […]
• Low life in Cairo before the war, with Bimbashi McPherson
  The passing of the British Empire has deprived the world of the memoirs of colonial officials.  Doubtless some were leaden; but many a character, who might have been lost to obscurity in Britain, bloomed under an Eastern sun.  Last night my eye fell upon A Life in Egypt by Bimbashi McPherson, and I pulled it […]
• Goodbye Harpocrates, hello Hor-pa-khered!
  I’ve spent a little time looking for information about the ancient Egyptian deity who lies behind the Greek figure of Harpocrates. The results are discouraging, because I find so very little.  Admittedly I have no access to Egyptological databases; but I can’t help feeling that if there was much more to know, that the articles […]
• Temple of Mithras discovered at Diyarbekir in SE Turkey?
  A news report in Turkish newspapers suggests that a Mithraeum may have been discovered. Dec. 27, 2016: Excavations at Zerzevan Kalesi in the Cinar district of Diyarbekir suggest that there is an underground temple of Mithras, a mysterious cult of the Roman period. Excavations were started in 2014 at Zerzevan castle, located on a hill near the […]
• How can we write history or mythology when all we have is archaeology?!?
  In my last post I gathered the handful of Graeco-Roman literary references to Harpocrates, the Horus-the-child deity. But now we must venture behind the ancient world, into an area which few of us know well – ancient Egypt – and try to find some primary sources for the original Harpocrates, whatever his Egyptian name.  This leads us […]
• Who the heck is Harpocrates and why is he “really” Jesus?
  Let’s start looking at Acharya S, Christ in Egypt. In my last post, I discussed how you create a false story about some ancient person or event. With this in mind, I now want to look at Harpocrates, who appears as a key player in Acharya’s book. The central contention of Acharya’s book is that […]
• How to create your own crank theory about Christian Origins (or any other ancient event)
  I’m going to start looking at Acharya S, Christ in Egypt, a crank volume which I found myself turning into PDF a couple of days ago.  But first, a few words about how I always approach such things. Every Christmas the internet is full of stories which rewrite Christian origins to show that (a) the […]
• Acharya S, One year on.
  It is Christmas Eve.  Tomorrow is Christmas Day, which by chance falls upon a Sunday, when I do give myself a break from my PC.  So let me now wish all my readers a very merry Christmas! December 25th, 2016, is also the first anniversary of the death of anti-Christian writer Dorothy Murdock, better known as […]
• From my diary
  ‘Twas Christmas Eve in the workhouse, And the snow was raining fast. When a barefoot boy with clogs on, Went slowly speeding past. It’s Christmas, and all of us start to recall the Christmases of days gone by.  Not all of these may be positive. But the memories of gladness from childhood shine through. The […]
• Translation in progress of Hrabanus Maurus commentary on Judith
  Brian Glass has written to tell me that he is working on a translation of the commentary on Judith by 9th century Latin writer Hrabanus Maurus.  This writer is later than the scope of this blog; but I heartily approve of the project, which he is doing through a series of posts on his blog, […]
• From my diary
  The run up to Christmas is always busy, even if you are at home, and mine is no exception. A few months ago Dr Michael Fuller kindly sent me some excellent photographs from the Mithraeum of S. Maria Capua Vetere, and some Mithraea in Ostia.  I have finally got around to uploading them to my […]
• Coptic text of the Acta Pilati – translated into English by Anthony Alcock
  Anthony Alcock continues his splendid series of translations from Coptic with a translation of the Coptic version of the Acta Pilati, from a papyrus manuscript in Turin published in the Patrologia Orientalis 9.  This forms part of the text known as the Gospel of Nicodemus. Here it is: Acta_Pilati_alcock_2016 (PDF) Our thanks to Dr Alcock for […]
• For further reading: A bibliography and resource list for the pyramids at Meroe
  It might be useful to gather in one place the sources that I have found online for the pyramids at Meroe.  Doubtless some of the links will prove ephemeral; but corrections are welcome in the comments, however late.  The material here is not up to date – the most recent from the 1950s – but […]
• Viewing Cailliaud’s engravings of the pyramids of Meroe at the Biodiversity Heritage Library
  The first modern visitor to the pyramids of the black pharaohs at Meroe was the 18th century Scotsman, James Bruce.  In 1821 the ruler of Egypt, Mohammed Ali, sent a huge army up the Nile and occupied the Sudan. The next visitor, therefore, was the Frenchman Frédéric Cailliaud, who marched with the army.  Cailliaud wrote […]
• A labelled map of the north pyramids at Meroe, and a Google Maps satellite view on a phone!
  Let’s continue our series on the pyramids of the Black Pharaohs at Meroe in the Sudan. Now that we have seen all these pictures and photographs of pyramids, by Cailliaud, Lepsius, and others, the question arises… is there a list, with a map attached showing the layout of the pyramid field? In fact I see references […]
• Lepsius at Meroe – the some pictures of the pyramids
  The early German archaeologist Karl Lepsius came to Meroe after the treasure-hunter Ferlini had done his worst.  His engraver produced a number of rather charming depictions, which are all online here.  I thought I would include the Meroe pyramid images. The shattered state of the pyramids is obvious.  Modern German archaeologists have done some repairs […]
• The Annals of Eutychius of Alexandria (10th c. AD) – chapter 18c (part 5)
  Let’s carry on a little further with the narrative of Eutychius.  The Muslims now prepare to invade Egypt.  But first, some bureaucracy! The narrative of Eutychius contains endless letter-writing and refers to supposed Muslim guarantees. It seems unlikely that this is historically accurate, considering the illiteracy of most of the invaders, and their indifference to anything except […]
• Mithras in “Mythes fondateurs. D’Hercule à Dark Vador”
  I learn via Twitter that there is an exhibition doing the rounds in France, called “Mythes fondateurs” (=foundation myths).  It seems to be largely aimed at children, which of course is one of the genuine functions of public museums. Among the items in the exhibition is this: Now this is plainly two figures from the […]
• The pyramids of Meroe in 1821 – the engravings of Frederic Cailliaud
  The pyramids of Meroe, today Gebel Barkal or Mount Barkal, 100 miles north of Khartoum, were vandalised by an Italian, G. Ferlini, ca. 1832.  But between 1819 and 1822, a French explorer named Frederic Cailliaud also visited the area.  His discoveries were published in four normal-sized volumes of text, each around 400 pages, and two large […]
• The difficulties of consulting Libanius
  A kind correspondent sent me a link to a 1960 article by A. F. Norman on the book trade in ancient Antioch, in the latter part of the 4th century AD.  This was based mainly on statements in the orations of Libanius, then almost untranslated. In the half-century after that, Dr. Norman made a considerable number […]
• Just one Italian: the pyramids of Meroe and Giuseppe Ferlini, their destroyer
  Few people are aware of the amazing pyramids of Meroe in the Sudan, about a hundred miles north of Khartoum, and easily accessible by a day-trip from the city.  I have not been there myself, sadly. Sadly they are all badly damaged these days.  They look as if the tops were blown off with gunpowder; […]
• Collecting all ancient texts referring to the gift of tongues
  Charles A. Sullivan writes to say that his Gift of Tongues Project is up and running:  It has been a while, but I have the majority of ancient church writings located, digitized, organized, and analyzed for the Gift of Tongues Project. Of course, there is always more to do, but a sound framework is in […]
• A previously unknown governor of Judaea
  Via Haaretz (beware incredible amounts of popups, popunders and other junk), an excellent article gives us the following information: Divers find unexpected Roman inscription from the eve of Bar-Kochba Revolt – A statue base from 1,900 years ago found at Dor survived shellfish and seawater, and to the archaeologists’ shock, revealed a previously unknown governor […]
• English translation of Coptic apocrypha, “The Investiture of the Archangel Michael” – by Anthony Alcock
  Anthony Alcock has translated another Coptic apocryphon for us – the Investiture of Michael the Archangel.  It purports to be written by John the Evangelist, and narrates non-canonical discussion between Jesus and his disciples.    The complete text is preserved in a 9th century Sahidic codex, and fragments from a White Monastery parchment manuscript of the 9-12th […]
• Publishing in the ancient world
  A correspondent has written to me, asking an interesting question: Let’s suppose I’m living down the street from Philo in Alexandria and I’ve just written my book.  How do I get published?  I.e., I’ve written for other people to read so I want other people to get hold of my book–by having a scribe copy […]
• From my diary
  My contract has finished, so I am notionally a gentleman of leisure.  In actual fact I am at home, trying to put things back together after the work of the painters and the carpet-layers.  Most of my stuff is still in the garage, including all my books. As I gradually bring things back in, I […]
• The Obelisk of Antinous in the renaissance
  I have been reading about the obelisk of Antinous, which today stands on the Pincian Hill in Rome.  But it was not erected there in antiquity, but in some other location. In the 16th century, the obelisk was discovered in the ruins of the Circus Varianus.  This monument may be unfamiliar to most people – indeed […]
• Hugh Houghton on New Testament catenas
  The late antique and medieval commentaries on scripture took the form of chains of quotations from ancient writers, including much lost early Christian commentary.  These are known today as the catena (=chain) commentaries, and their study is a rather specialised one. Thankfully it is receiving some real attention today.  Hugh Houghton writes to say that a volume […]
• Returning to Antinoupolis by satellite photo
  Today I found myself looking at the splendid map of Antinoupolis in the Description de l’Egypte, made by Napoleon’s engineers.  When it was made, in the 1790’s, the Roman city still stood on the high ground – above the level of the Nile flood – to the east of a wretched village named Sheikh Abade. […]
• 18th century Egypt and a travelling Frenchman
  In C. S. Sonini de Manoncourt, “Travels in Upper and Lower Egypt”, vol. 3, (1807), p.292, I find this anecdote.  The Reis is the captain of the boat on which de Manoncourt is travelling up the Nile, and he is in the region of Antinoupolis. Among those persons whom the Reis had put on board, […]
• The obelisk of Antinous – the text written upon it
  Among the actions of Hadrian after the suspicious death of his “favourite” Antinous was the construction of an Egyptian-style obelisk in Rome, which still stands.  Each of the four faces has a text upon it in hieroglyphics.  It was constructed in Rome, where someone who knew how to write the ancient language wrote the text. The first two faces read as […]
• “In this sign shall you conquer… No, not in that sign. In *this* sign!”
  Among the remains of Latin antiquity to reach us is a volume known today as the Panegyrici Latini, or Latin Panegyrics.  These are twelve orations delivered to emperors, nearly all from the late empire, but also including the (unreadable) panegyric for Trajan by Pliny the Younger.  They are, in short, examples of flowery, professional-grade bum-sucking […]
• There is nothing like a Dane… Frederic L. Norden at Antinoe in 1737
  Another early traveller who voyaged up the Nile in 1737-8 was the Danish naval officer, Capt. Frederic L. Norden.  His Voyage d’Egypte et de Nubie, vol. 2, Copenhagen (1755) describes his trip, and mentions Antinoupolis during the account for Tuesday 26 November 1737.  Sadly it does not give us much. Here is an excerpt of plate […]
• Another patristic source on Antinous and Antinoupolis
  At the end of the 2nd century, Clement of Alexandria mentions the deification of Antinous in his Against the Heathens c.4 (online here): Another new deity was added to the number with great religious pomp in Egypt, and was near being so in Greece by the king of the Romans, who deified Antinous, whom he […]
• Another picture of the vanished Caesarium at Armant
  The temple of Caesarion at Armant is long gone, but early travellers made drawings of it.  Today I found another one, in J.H. Allan’s A pictorial tour in the Mediterranean, 1843, facing p.68.  Here it is.
• The “Chronicle of Alexandria” – a will o’ the wisp?
  Reading Jomard’s description of Antinoe, among the authors he lists a “Chronique d’Alexandrie” as an ancient work.  His reference is only “Chronic. Alexandrin. p.598″, which is less than helpful.  But what on earth is this work? A google search reveals little for “Chronicle of Alexandria”.  But the French version took me to this link which […]
• Some patristic sources on Antinous and Antinoupolis
  In his article on the city of Antinoupolis, Jomard quotes a few authors relevant to the story of the wretched Antinous, and the city that bore his name.  I thought that I would give a few here. Justin Martyr, First Apology, c. 29, writes: And again [we fear to expose children], lest some of them be […]
• The Antinoupolis inscription of Alexander Severus, in the “Description de l’Egypte”
  We’ve reviewed the earlier visitors to Antinoupolis.  It’s time to go back to the Description de l’Egypte, made by Napoleon’s engineers, and the detailed description of the city made by them. In fact it’s a relief to do so.  The shoddy engravings of Paul Lucas are not to be compared to the excellence of the […]
• From my diary
  I’ve had to change the WordPress theme again.  The one that I was using simply doesn’t display correctly.  Which is worrying, when you consider that it was an official theme, Twenty-Fifteen.  I’ve switched to Twenty-Sixteen, but I’m not very happy with it either.  I’ll have to change it when I get more time. It’s Friday […]
• 1743: publication of the visit of Charles Perry to Antinoupolis
  The English traveller Charles Perry visited Antinoupolis in the early 18th century, although I have not been able to see in his book the exact year without reading the whole thing through.  His account was published in 1743 as A view of the Levant: particularly of Constantinople, Syria, Egypt and Greece (London: Woodward & co, […]
• Drawing the ruins of Antinoupolis in 1778, while pursued by bandits! The account of C. S. Sonnini de Manoncourt.
  Travelling in Egypt could be dangerous, as one French visitor discovered. The natives did not always like to see people drawing the ruins! Our next early visitor to Antinoupolis was C.S. Sonnini de Manoncourt, a French Engineer sent out by the ancien regime in France in 1777, but published in “year 7” of the French Revolution, i.e. […]
• The 1714 visit of Paul Lucas to Antinoupolis
  Another early visitor to the ruins of Antinoupolis in Egypt, made by order of Louis XIV, no less, was the French knight Paul Lucas (1664-1737). His rather derivative account appears in his Voyage Du Sieur Paul Lucas, Fait En M.DCCXIV, &c. Par Ordre De Louis XIV. Dans La Turquie, L’Asie, Sourie, Palestine, Haute Et Basse Egypte, &c Ou l’on trouvera […]
• Preaching with cartoons?
  This week I saw on Twitter that a certain Jack Chick had died.  I was rather astonished at the outpouring of jeering, bile and vitriol in response!  In fact I had never heard of the man until a few years ago, when I heard some atheist cursing him. But apparently he was well-known in the USA […]
• Did Antinous pull Zeus from Olympus? Did Hadrian pave the way for Christ?
  The emperor Hadrian made the curious decision to deify his deceased favourite, Antinous, and to build temples and a city in his memory. It’s worth reflecting a little Hadrian’s absurd-seeming action of deifying his bum-boy.  It’s too easy to dismiss this action as merely the product of grief.  To do so makes  a good story, […]
• Sicard’s illustrations of Antinoupolis
  My last post gave an account of a visit to Antinoupolis in Egypt in 1715.  But without the illustrations!  Well, I have spent several days now, attempting to locate online a copy of Father Sicard’s Letter to the Count of Toulouse which had undamaged illustrations in it.  Not all copies were bound with illustrations, I […]
• A visit in 1716 to Antinoupolis by Fr Claude Sicard, SJ
  One of the earliest explorers of Egypt was the Jesuit missionary Claude Sicard.  His 1715 journey is recounted in a letter which he wrote to the Count of Toulouse on 1st June 1716, which was printed as “Lettre d’un missionaire en Egypte a S.A.S. Mgr le Comte de Toulouse”, in a collection of Jesuit missionary […]
• Faces in the streets of Antinoupolis
  A google images search, undertaken for other reasons, gave me a sudden picture of the people of Antinoupolis.  Here it is: Fascinating to see, isn’t it? I suppose some of them are from elsewhere in the Fayoum; but even so, this is a fascinating collection of people!
• An inscription from Antinoupolis preserved by Richard Pococke
  An earlier visitor to Antinoupolis was the Jesuit Father Sicard, whose work I have yet to locate.  But Richard Pococke gives (p.279) an item on his authority as follows: We’ve seen a reference in Vansleb to a “pillar of Marcus Aurelius”.  This must be the inscription. I don’t profess any skill with Greek inscriptions whatsoever, but even […]
• An English visitor to Antinoupolis in 1737
  Another early visitor to Antinoupolis was Richard Pococke, whose Observations on Egypt, vol. 1, 1743, begin with a picture (before page 73) of one of the gates still then standing at the city. He describes his visit as follows: On the fourteenth [of December, 1737] we had a good wind, and passed by Minio [Minya] on the […]
• Aerial photo of Antinoupolis in 2011 – before the destruction of the circus began
  Never rely on Google Maps for an aerial view of an archaeological site.  Always screen-shot it.  You may be grateful in future that you did. This thought was provoked by finding an aerial image of Antinoupolis in Egypt, modern Sheikh Ibeda, here.  Here it is: Comparison with the current view will quickly show that part […]
• From my diary
  I’m still looking at material on Antiopolis, so expect more posts on this. I’m dissatisfied with the new blog theme.  It looks as if the left menu frequently does not get displayed.  Rats!
• The journal of a French visitor to Antinoupolis in 1672-3
  There are many good things to be found online these days.  Among them is Father Vansleb Nouvelle Relation … d’un Voyage fait en Egypte, Paris 1702; the diary of a journey into Egypt in 1672-3.  On p.386, we find an account of his visit to Antinoupolis. I don’t guarantee the accuracy of my translation; but […]
• Antinoupolis at the British Museum – a project
  I was delighted to discover that the British Museum has initiated a project to catalogue its holdings from Antinoupolis in Egypt.  It seems that in 1913-14, John de Monins Johnson excavated at the site; but did not publish his work.  All that appeared in print was literary and documentary texts on papyrus!  The link above […]
• Antinoupolis in 1843 – the traveller John H. Allan
  The English traveller John H. Allan went up the Nile, and published his account, with drawings, in 1843, under the name A Pictorial Tour in the Mediterranean (online here). Coming back down the Nile from Nubia, he visited Antinoe or Antinoupolis, and included a sketch: He wrote as follows: January 31st. – Sheik Abadeh, site […]
• Antinoupolis today
  After my last post about Antinoupolis in Egypt in the Napoleonic period, I find that Google Maps can give us interesting pictures of the modern site, a village named Sheikh Ibada / Abada / Ebada (etc). I also learn from this site that the revolution in Egypt has been a disaster for the site, where the […]
• The lost city of Antinoupolis in Egypt, as seen by Napoleon’s expedition
  The emperor Hadrian founded (or refounded) a city in Egypt which he called Antinoupolis or Antinoe, in memory of his favourite Antinous.  The city was of considerable extent, and existed into the Islamic period. The ruins were destroyed in the 19th century for building materials to erect a sugar factory.  However they were still visible […]
• Snapshots of the secret world
  They play an unacknowledged part in our universe, yet when they vanish few remember them, and there are no records of what they looked like or contain. For the last few years, there have been a number of websites which contain large numbers of books in PDF or other format, making them available for free […]
• From my diary
  My house is still being painted.  My books are still in 70 plastic crates in the garage.  But this weekend I’ve managed to sneak my laptop back into the house.  I’ve brought in the router and got my internet working again! It is such a relief to be able to get online at home.  I can […]
• Petronius Secundus, Prefect of Egypt, at the Colossi of Memnon
  The “Colossi of Memnon” at Luxor in Egypt were a recognised tourist sight in antiquity, because one of them made a “singing” noise at dawn.  Few will be aware that the lower portions of the statues are covered with ancient graffiti and inscriptions. Among these, I learn from David Blocker, is an inscription by “Petronius”.  This […]
• From my diary
  I have lived at my current address for nearly 20 years.  When I took possession, on 10th February 1998, I was staying in a hotel with my property in storage.  So I arranged for the place to be painted throughout before I moved in, on the 20th.  I have never been able to arrange for […]
• A Japanese Edo-period woodblock image of the Roman forum
  Here’s a curiosity!  Have you ever wondered what Rome would look like, to someone from the alien cultures of China or Japan? David Blocker kindly emailed me the following image, which he found on Wikipedia here.  It was made by a Japanese artist who had never seen Rome, and to whom a ruined stone city was utterly […]
• The letter of Tiberius to Pilate (Epistola Tiberii ad Pilatum)
  A little while ago I wrote a post on the apocryphal Letter of Pilate to Tiberius, which is a Latin text of the renaissance period.  Perhaps it was written as a composition exercise, or something, but it is not ancient. A correspondent asked me about the date of another item in the same bunch of […]
• More paintings of the Meta Sudans
  The vanished Roman fountain next to the Colosseum, demolished by Mussolini, but not before being photographed, is a long-term interest of mine.  In its later years, the monument was only half its former height.  But if we look at older paintings of the scene, we can see how it was during the 18th century. A […]
• Materials for the study of the Ethiopian version of the history of al-Makin
  The Arabic Christian historians are largely unknown.  Starting in the 9th century, the main ones are Agapius, Eutychius, al-Makin, Bar Hebraeus, and one whom I always forget [Yahya ibn Said al-Antaki]. Al-Makin wrote in the 13th century, and contains a version of the Testimonium Flavianum of Josephus, which appears in Shlomo Pines’ much-read but much-misunderstood […]
• A parchment fragment of Agrippa Castor “Against Basilides”?
  A correspondent writes to tell me that there is a 5th century parchment item in the Bodleian Library in Oxford – a fragment from Egypt, of course – listed in the catalogue here, which the cataloguer attributes to Agrippa Castor: Shelfmark:  MS. Gr. th. g. 3 (P) Summary Catalogue no:  31812 Summary of contents: Theological controversy […]
• Reasons to hate Microsoft, part 2
  A beautiful morning, I have just got up, and already I hate Microsoft. That’s because part of my routine is to turn on my laptop and look at my email.  This I did and … it wouldn’t let me in. I don’t have a password on my laptop; it never leaves my house, and only […]
• Al-Aktal on “halal” food
  While reading this post by Nassim Nicholas Taleb yesterday, I encountered the following interesting statement: .. the 7th Century Christian Arab poet Al-Akhtal made a point to never eat halal meat, in his famous defiant poem boasting his Christianity: “I do not eat sacrificial flesh” The article is talking about ways in which a minority can […]
• A new translation of Agapius into Italian, plus the publication of two more pages of the text
  A correspondent has drawn our attention to a rarity – a new translation of the Arabic Christian writer, Agapius of Hierapolis (or Mahbub ibn Qustantin, in the graceless phrase of that language).  It is a translation into Italian, by Bartolomeo Pirone, who translated Eutychius back in the 80s.  Here’s the front cover: Bartolomeo Pirone, Agapio […]
• The Annals of Eutychius of Alexandria (10th c. AD) – chapter 1 (part 1)
  In the name of God, One, Pre-Eternal, Everlasting, without beginning or end, to whom we resort. 1. Let us begin, with the help of the Most High God and the goodness of His assistance, to write the Book of History, compiled critically and with verification, the work of Patriarch Eutychius, called Sa‘īd ibn Batrīq. God, powerful and exalted, created the world, […]
• The Annals of Eutychius of Alexandria (10th c. AD) – preface
  The Arabic Christian historians are very little known.  But they preserve Byzantine historian material, and indeed materials from elsewhere also.  No English translations exist of their works; indeed some have not even been printed in the original language.  The first two are Agapius and Eutychius.  I don’t know Arabic, but a few years ago I […]
• Two postcards of the Colosseum and the Arch of Titus (and the Meta Sudans)
  I found two 19th century postcards, taken from the Palatine, looking towards the Colosseum, at this site, which also includes many other interesting images. Note how the Basilica of Maxentius is enclosed in some now demolished building! And this:
• From my diary
  It’s been a little while since I posted an update.  Of course it is summer, here at Pearse Towers, and I spend my days frolicking in the sunshine, away from the laptop.  Or perhaps not. In truth the weather has discouraged indoor pursuits until this week.  Such time as I can spare from lazing around is […]
• An 18th century image of the Meta Sudans in a prospect of the Colosseum
  I came across an image on Twitter which shows the Colosseum, but also the ruined fountain that used to stand next to it, the Meta Sudans.  Here it is (click to enlarge): The tweeter had found it online “somewhere”.  Fortunately it is not too hard to locate: this is Prospetto dell’anfiteatro Flavio … detto volgarmente il […]
• al-Masudi on Christian Arabic historical writings
  The early Islamic historian al-Masudi has this passage in his Kitāb at-tanbīh wa’l-ishrāf: One of those who belong to the Maronite religion, known under the name of Qays [ = Nafis?] al-Maruni, wrote a good book about history:  starting from the Creation, and then all the [sacred] books, [the history] of the city, of the […]
• More old photographs of Rome
  Quite by accident, via the Daily Mail, I find this 1846 photograph online, taken by the Rev. Calvert Richard Jones (click for a larger size): The circular area to the right is the basin for the Meta Sudans, the now vanished fountain outside the Colosseum.  The man in the top hat, and the woman in the […]
• A supposed Mithraic mosaic, with zodiac, unearthed in Bursa / Prusa
  A news report from the Turkish website, the Daily Sabah, on 19th August 2016, contains a photo and a curious story: A Roman-era “Mithras Mosaic,” dating back nearly two millennia and depicting solar and astrological signs from the Roman zodiac has been discovered during archeological excavations in the Hisar region of the ancient province of […]
• An almost forgotten anti-Christian jibe by Golding, misquoting Richard Sisson, “Answering Christianity’s most puzzling questions”
  I’m purging my shelves at the moment, and I came across a volume which I bought only because of an online argument.  I can’t help feeling that I dealt with this online long ago, but if so I cannot find it.  So let me document here what was claimed, and the facts, and then I can […]
• Did the Catholic church oppose street lights? Some notes on the Papal States in the 1830s
  A couple of days ago, I happened to see a brand new anti-Catholic slur online on Instagram. Here’s the item: It’s not spread that far as yet, but claims to be from Cracked.com – a US humour site. The poster makes three claims: The Catholic Church opposed street lights. In 1831, Pope Gregory XVI even […]
• Anthony Alcock: translation Wansleben’s1671 account of Coptic church
  Anthony Alcock has translated a curiosity for us: an account of the state of the Coptic church in Egypt made by a certain Johann Michael Wansleben, and published in 1671.  Wansleben was a Lutheran traveller who hoped to reach Ethiopia.  His book is an account of Egypt as it then was. Here is Dr Alcock’s […]
• A note on the authenticity of Eusebius of Caesarea’s “Commentary on the Psalms”
  In Rondeau’s account of ancient Christian commentaries on the psalms, there is naturally a section on the commentary by Eusebius of Caesarea.  It contains an interesting footnote on the authenticity of the text.  But first, a few words about this little known item. Eusebius is a writer whom we do not usually associate with exegesis.  But […]
• From my diary
  I’m now on holiday, and starting to feel vaguely normal again.  Our working lives may be a blessing from God, but they do take it out of us! I’ve been working on the Mithras site, or trying to.  It is remarkable how technology has changed in a couple of years.  The front-end technology that I […]
• The manuscripts of Philostratus’ “Life of Apollonius of Tyana”
  The Life of Apollonius of Tyana by Philostratus is a curious text with an evil history.  It was perhaps originally composed in the Severan period, quite innocently, as a mainly fictional work based partly on earlier sources about the pagan sage of the last first century AD. But it was then used, and perhaps re-edited, […]
• Catenas on the Psalms – two important French works now online!
  Great news!  A correspondent writes to say that two important French works on commentaries and catenae on the Psalms are now available online in full: 1) M.-J. Rondeau, Les Commentaires patristiques du Psautier (IIIe-Ve siècles), 2 vols, OCA 219-220, Roma 1982, 1985.  Vol. 1: https://books.google.com/books?id=VT9iAAAAMAAJ&source=gbs_navlinks_s Vol. 2: https://books.google.com/books?id=fz5iAAAAMAAJ&source=gbs_navlinks_s 2) G. Dorival, Les chaînes exégétiques grecques sur les […]
• The new Chronica Tertullianea et Cyprianea is out
  Those interested in the Latin fathers prior to Nicaea will be aware of the annual list of publications, the Chronica Tertullianea et Cyprianea, published each year in the Revue des études Augustiniennes (et Patristiques) by the Institut d’études augustiniennes in Paris.  This invaluable resource has appeared each year since 1974, initially covering just Tertullian, and […]
• A curious bibliography: Angelo Uggeri and his “Journées pittoresques”, “Ichnografia”, “Icnografia degli Edifizj” etc
  The most accessible early account, of the discovery of an ancient house in the grounds of the Villa Negroni in Rome, is by Camillo Massimo in 1836.  But for his source, Massimo refers to a mysterious volume which is online, but nearly impossible to find. Massimo writes: Una esatta descrizione di quattro delle suddette Camere, […]
• A visit to the ancient Roman house in the Villa Negroni – rooms A and B
  Let’s return to 1777, and continue our visit to the ancient Roman house uncovered in the fields of the Villa Negroni. We shall descend into the pit, ably drawn by our English friend Thomas Jones.  It’s rather damp down there!  Since we’ve not been here before, I attach at the end the floor plan. We […]
• The Bloodsucker Award, July 2016 – the Royal Institute of British Architects
  In my last post, I quoted the Tate Gallery catalogue for Thomas Jones’ 1777 painting of the excavations of the Roman house in the Villa Negroni.  This referred to drawings and a plan by a certain Thomas Hardwick, in the “RIBA collection”. Well!  Thanks to Google, I have discovered what the “RIBA” might be – […]
• A visit to the Roman house at the Villa Negroni
  Imagine that the year is 1777.  Let’s go to the open fields to the east of the Baths of Diocletian.   I hear that a Roman house has been discovered in the fields of the Villa Negroni! The house lies between the Viminal and Esquiline hills.  As we approach from the north-east side, we can see […]
• An early account of the Roman villa at the Villa Negroni in Rome
  Pre-scientific accounts of archaeology can be very vague.  The 1777 discovery of a magnificent Roman house, near what is now Termini station in Rome, is naturally not properly documented.  It does not help that the area of ground – a farm within the walls, essentially – goes under various names, such as the Villa Peretti, […]
• I brought this back from Italy, my boy! – paintings from the Villa Negroni
  Last weekend I visited Ickworth House in Suffolk, the family home of the Marquess of Bristol.  An earlier Lord Bristol travelled to Italy on the Grand Tour, and brought back with him a taste for Italian architecture: and the curious structure of the house reflects this.  There is a huge central rotunda, with the entrance, family rooms, […]
• Where do you go to, my hateful?
  Where have all the atheist forums (sic) gone? I was reading Twitter earlier this evening, and did a search on “atheism”. I found some stale jeering, a few self-important or foolish tweets; and a mass of muslim propaganda.  If ever I saw an area dying for lack of participants, it was this. This made me think […]
• The Annals of Eutychius of Alexandria (10th c. AD) – chapter 18c (part 4)
  The discussion of the events of the Muslim conquest fills many a page of Eutychius.  I confess that it doesn’t excite me.  Much of the material seems written with an eye to the events, not of the 7th century, but of the 10th, and to safeguarding church property – always an important concern for senior clergy, […]
• Archellites – a 10th century Coptic poem, translated by Anthony Alcock
  Anthony Alcock has sent me another translation from Coptic.  There is a collection of 10th century Coptic poems, which were published in Oriens Christianus (the volumes are online at Archive.org).  One of these is about the martyr Archellites.  Here it is: archellites_alcock_2016 (PDF) There is no historical content to this, but it is useful to have […]
• Some notes on the sermon of Nectarius of Constantinople on the martyr Theodore Tiro (CPG 4300 / BHG 1768)
  On the first Saturday of Lent, the Greek church prescribes the reading of two sermons from the Fathers, both of them in praise of an obscure saint, Theodore Tiro, of Amasea.  The first sermon is by Gregory of Nyssa; the second by the much more obscure Nectarius of Constantinople (d. 397 AD).  The latter work […]
• Old photographs of the Nemi ships
  Here are some photographs that I found online about the massive pleasure barges of Caligula, excavated from Lake Nemi during the 30s, on the orders of Mussolini, placed in a “Museum of Roman navigation” by him, and then destroyed in 1944 during the fighting.  Worth looking at… and feeling sad about. There were two barges, […]
• The serpent column in Constantinople in early printed books
  More and more early printed books are becoming available online.  Fortunately the German libraries are scanning them at high resolution.  This includes the line-drawings, which have hitherto been difficult to access, and often only available under incredibly restrictive terms that meant only publishers could use them, and only a few.  But now, suddenly, a wealth of drawings is becoming available. […]
• That old bull again! – the recent international conference on Mithras in Italy
  I must have missed the announcement, but Csaba Szabo kindly drew my attention to his report on an international conference on Mithraic studies in Italy.  About 50 people attended.  Sadly the long-exploded Cumont theory was in evidence in some papers.  But it sounds as if it was an interesting event. The main impression that I gained […]
• Qasr Bashir – A Roman fortlet in Jordan
  I found this marvellous photograph of a Roman fortlet in the Jordanian desert on Twitter here.  The tweeter also added: Great photos & interesting survey diagrams of Qasr Bashir done by Brunnow & Domaszewsky in 1897 here. More useful to most of us is a nice blog post here, with many photographs and plans, to […]
• Scribes removing paganism from Galen’s “On my own opinions”?
  In 2005 a bored PhD student, left hanging around the catalogue desk at the Vlatades Monastery in Thessalonika, looked through the catalogue and discovered a previously unknown Greek manuscript of the works of the 2nd century medical writer, Galen.  The Ms. Thessalonicensis Vlatadon 14 contained complete Greek texts of several works previously known only from fragments […]
• WARNING!!! Fragments of Euripides “Palamedes” NOT rediscovered in Jerusalem
  On June 21 2016 I wrote a post here to the effect that fragments of the lost play, “Palamedes”, by Euripides had been found in a manuscript in Jerusalem by Dr Felix Albrecht.  This I based on other internet reports, in German, which themselves seem to misunderstand the sitiuation. But after communicating with Dr Albrecht, I find […]
• The Annals of Eutychius of Alexandria (10th c. AD) – chapter 18c (part 3)
  The reign of the Caliph Omar continues, with the seige of Damascus.  The Roman garrison defends the city against what is seen at the time as merely a large-scale raid.  But in the end, after six months, the governor surrenders. 6. When the Muslims arrived at Damascus, Khalid ibn al-Walid camped near the “Bab ash-Sharqi”, Abu Ubayda ibn al-Garrah near the […]
• The owner of the “Gospel of Jesus’ Wife” papyrus unmasked!
  Back in 2012 a Harvard “religious studies” academic named Karen King announced the discovery of a papyrus fragment containing a Coptic text which referred to Jesus having a wife.  It takes little knowledge of the methods of commercial forgers to see why someone would forge such a thing.  Nor is it hard to see why a […]
• Roman statue used for “alien relic” in album cover
  We forget, sometimes, how extraordinary the remains of antiquity really are, when seen for the first time. Look at this: An album by progressive rock group Magellan, it depicts a fantasy scene.  But the head will be familiar to many of us, because it is a real monument… the head of the monster statue of […]
• Text and translation of three Coptic stelae – by Anthony Alcock
  We don’t do a lot with inscriptions here.  But I wonder if people realise that there are inscriptions in Coptic?  I certainly never thought about this; but there are. Anthony Alcock has made a text and English translation of three stone stelae, which have Coptic inscriptions.  These are from https://niraengineers.com/nolvadex-online various locations around Egypt. 3_Coptic_Stelae_alcock_2016 (PDF) […]
• The manuscript tradition of the works of John the Lydian
  John the Lydian was an antiquarian writer of the 6th century AD, whose career flourished under Justinian.  His three works, De magistratibus Romanis, De Ostentis, and De Mensibus, all are full of information about Roman origins.  John wrote in Greek but knew Latin, and sought to transmit to the future information that was already fading […]
• Euthymius Zigabenus, Commentary on the Psalms – edition and translation completed!
  A few months ago I heard from John Raffan, who was industriously working on a translation of the immense Commentary on the Psalms by the 12th century Byzantine writer, Euthymius Zigabenus (or Zigadenus).  He had posted on his Academia.edu page a draft of the commentary for Psalms 1-75. Today I hear from him that he […]
• The Annals of Eutychius of Alexandria (10th c. AD) – chapter 18c (part 2)
  We continue our “grey translation” of Eutychius, and the reign of the Caliph Omar.  The treacherous governor of Damascus, who was slighted by Heraclius, prepares to betray the Romans to the muslims. There is a reference here to a patriarch “Swrs”, which ought to be Sawirus, or Severus.  Evidently there is some problem with this. […]
• An imperial civil servant of the time of Justinian, in John the Lydian
  While looking at John the Lydian, De magistratibus romanis, for quotations from Suetonius, I happened upon a story.  The manner of its telling is rather like Suetonius also!  It also refers to a lost work by Suetonius on famous courtesans.  But let’s have a look at the excerpt. The earthquake in Syria in the time […]
• Rome, Quirinal hill: access to the temple of Serapis / Sol Invictus?
  Regular readers will be aware of my interest in monuments of ancient Rome which were visible, and drawn, during the renaissance, but have since vanished.  Among these was a colossal temple on the Quirinal hill, often thought to be Aurelian’s temple of Sol Invictus, but today mainly thought to be a temple of Serapis.  Much […]
• The use of Coptic by modern Egyptians – Anthony Alcock translates
  I’ve been sent the attached PDF, which is a curiosity of great interest.  It is translated from a modern book, written entirely in modern Coptic, which Dr Alcock found on the web. Coptic_Quill_alcock_2016 (PDF) I think many of us would like to know more about how the last version of the Ancient Egyptian language is enjoying […]
• The lost opening of Suetonius’ “The Twelve Caesars”, in John the Lydian
  The biography and actions of the first twelve Caesars, from Julius to Domitian, were immortalised by a civil servant of the age of Hadrian.  Suetonius Tranquillus in his De vita Caesarum, On the lives of the Caesars, perhaps best known in English by the title of the Penguin edition, The Twelve Caesars, created a gossipy, colourful portrait […]
• Shenoute, On the invasions of the “Ethiopians” – translated by Anthony Alcock
  An item that Anthony Alcock translated some time ago, but did not reach me, is three texts by the 5th century Coptic abbot Shenoute, which are concerned with invasions by “Ethiopians” – presumably Nubians – at that period. It will be remembered that the temples at Philae, on the southern Egyptian border, remained open for […]
• Shenoute – Adversus Graecos de usura / On usury, now online in English
  The excellent Anthony Alcock has made a translation of a short but interesting text by the Coptic abbot Shenoute (or Shenouda).  The Latin title is Adversus Graecos de usura, but he titles it On labour relations and usury, and seems to question whether it can be really directed against the pagans. Here is the translation: […]
• Two photochromes of the Meta Sudans in Rome, from 1890
  A kind correspondent has pointed me to a site on mashable containing photochromes from 1890.  It’s here. But what is a photochrome?  The site says: These postcards of the ancient landmarks of Rome were produced around 1890 using the Photochrom process, which add precise gradations of artificial color to black and white photos. Invented in […]
• A collection of 31 (?) rolls and codices found in a jar: the Bodmer / Chester Beatty “papyri”
  Sometime in the 1940s, an Egyptian peasant found a large jar full of ancient gnostic books, at a place today known as Nag Hammadi.  The books passed into the art market, and caused a sensation, and various dealers made money on the find. The news made its way back to the region.  This stirred other peasants to […]
• 19th century treatments of palimpsests with chemicals
  The British Library assigns its Syriac manuscripts to the “Asian and African Studies” department.  The people there are far easier to deal with than the people in Western Manuscripts.  They also run a blog which from time to time contains frankly wonderful material. One such post was made back in September 2013, and I have […]
• Why should I ever buy another reference book? Give me a PDF!
  Recently I needed to consult a translation of an ancient author.  I don’t own paper copies of very many translations, and I never knowingly buy books that I will not read and reread.  But unusually for me, I did own a copy of this volume in printed form. However when I searched for it, it was nowhere to […]
• The Annals of Eutychius of Alexandria (10th c. AD) – chapter 18c (part 1)
  We move now to the second Caliph.  Heraclius is still Emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire.  Yezdigerd has managed to become the Sassanid Persian king of kings, after much bloodletting, and enjoys a shadowy authority.  As the Islamic hordes prepare to overrun the world, the nominally Christian ruling class of the Roman empire is engaged in […]
• Proclus of Constantinople, “Encomium on St Nicholas of Myra”, now online in English
  I have another piece for you of the ancient literature about St Nicholas of Myra.  This is an encomium which is found in the manuscripts among the sermons of Proclus, the 5th century Patriarch of Constantinople.  Although it has acquired his name, it is really anonymous.  Bryson Sewell completed a draft of the translation, and Andrew […]
• Paypal and “We’re sorry, but we can’t send your payment right now.”
  Paypal is pretty much the only game in town for online payments.  But as with every monopoly, that causes poor customer service. I needed to pay a translator yesterday, but I fumbled.  I entered the wrong password three times.  When I did manage to log in, I entered the details of my payment – to […]
• A drawing of the Meta Sudans by Piranesi
  A correspondent kindly drew my attention to this page on Wikimedia Commons, where there is a drawing published in 1756 by Piranesi, from Le antichità Romane vol. 1, pl. 36, of the Arch of Constantine, and the now destroyed fountain, the Meta Sudans.  The scans were made in Japan from a 19th century reprint. Here is a […]
• The hairstyle of Julia Domna
  Via Ticia Verveer on Twitter I came across this unusual item, today held in the Metropolitan Museum in New Year.  It is a gem, a beryl, an intaglio – i.e. an incised – portrait of Julia Domna, the wife of the emperor Septimius Severus.  According to the museum, it is 2.4 cms in height – just under an […]
• From my diary
  A translation of another piece on Nicholas of Myra has arrived.  This is the Laudatio S. Nicholai, found in the manuscripts of the sermons of Proclus of Constantinople – early 5th century – but is clearly not by him.  Once I’ve paid for it, I will release it online.
• From my diary
  My apologies for the test posts.  Twitter insists on displaying an image with every notification of a post made here, and it’s always blank unless I include an image.  I’ve just been tweaking the theme to ensure that an image is always displayed.  It took 3 goes to get right!
• The Annals of Eutychius of Alexandria (10th c. AD) – chapter 18b (part 2)
  We now get the first significant chunk of Islamic history. 5. When Abu Bakr became caliph, there was the first riddah [war] among the Arabs, but he fought those who did not remain in Islam to the end.  Then he sent Khalid ibn al-Walid with a huge army into Iraq.  Khalid encamped in Mesopotamia.  The […]
• Manuscript of Eusebius’ Quaestiones ad Stephanum/Marinum now online!
  Readers may remember that a few years ago I published a translation of Eusebius of Caesarea’s Gospel Problems and Solutions (Quaestiones ad Stephanum et Marinum).  Today I learn from a correspondent that the main manuscript, Vaticanus Palatinus Graecus 220, has been digitised and is now online at the Vatican website!  Folios 61-91 contain the work, which […]
• In Memoriam: Eve Parkes (d. 2016), Interlibrary loans officer at Ipswich Library
  Scholarship depends more than we sometimes admit on the support that we receive from library staff.  I learned today that the lady, who for almost two decades has handled my interlibrary loans, died suddenly in the street.  I’d like to acknowledge what she did for me, although she was a stranger to me. I first became seriously […]
• Paul the Persian: Zoroastrianism is incoherent, but science is a better guide
  In my last post, we found Armenian writer Eznik of Kolb stating that the Avesta was not in written form in his own time, the 5th century AD.  This information came to us via Zaehner’s book on Zurvan. Zaehner also gives us a comment on Zoroastrianism by none other than Paul the Persian!  This obscure writer will be […]
• Eznik of Kolb: the Avesta was not transmitted in writing but orally
  A tweet by @BLAsia_Africa led me to a neglected passage in Eznik of Kolb, the 5th century Armenian writer, and a quotation from Paul the Persian!  From it I learned that: …the Avesta was transmitted orally and not written down! The author drew this conclusion after reading some remarks by R. C. Zaehner in 1955: However, […]
• A couple of pictures of the start and end of Melito’s “De pascha” (On Easter)
  Until 1940 Melito of Sardis was an obscure figure of the 2nd century AD, known mainly from Eusebius, who mentioned that he wrote a work on Easter.  In that year there appeared an edition and translation of On Easter (De Pascha).  It was based on a 4th c. papyrus codex which had come from Egypt. This had been broken […]
• 1606 Aegidius Sadeler print of the Colosseum and Meta Sudans
  Here is another old print (from 1606, by Aegidius Sadeler) of the Colosseum and a curious view of the Meta Sudans to the right.  I found it here.  Click on the picture to get the full size image. The site adds: Rare and early copper engravings by Aegidius Sadeler (c. 1570-1629)from Vestigi delle antichita di […]
• Coptic “Life” of Maximus and Domitius
  Anthony Alcock has continued his invaluable series of translations of Coptic literature.  The new item is a translation of the hagiographic Life of Saints Maximus and Domitius, who were brothers.  He adds a preface – read all about it! Maximus and Domitius_Alcock_2016 (PDF) There is an article online in the Coptic Encyclopedia here, from which I learn […]
• The Annals of Eutychius of Alexandria (10th c. AD) – chapter 18b (part 1)
  We now come to the start of the portion of the Annals where the Muslims take centre stage.  But there is still some Roman and Sassanid Persian history to run. CALIPHATE OF ABU BAKR (11-13 / 632-634) 1. The Muslims were unanimous in giving the bay`ah to Abu Bakr, i.e. to ‘Abd Allah b. ‘Uthman b. […]
• Some post-renaissance paintings of the Meta Sudans
  Regular readers will be aware that I am interested in the Meta Sudans, a Roman fountain that stood in Rome outside the Colosseum, and behind the Arch of Constantine, until it was demolished by Mussolini in the 1930s.  By that time it was merely a stump, but earlier representations show that it was originally much […]
• What patristic authors are extant in Old Slavonic?
  An interesting volume came into my hands lately: Regarding your question as to what patristic works have been translated into Old Slavonic, the best resource to check with is a catalogue of the Old Slavonic texts prepared by a group of Russian scholars two years ago: Katalog Pam’jatnikov drevnerusskoj pismennosti XI-XIV vv. (rukopisnyje knigi), Studiorum […]
• From my diary
  Brady Kiesling has kindly sent me a translation from the Greek of codex 186 of Photius’ Bibliotheca.  I have added it to the translations that I have online here.  My list of all the codices – sections – in the Bibliotheca is here. Photius’ work, composed in the 9th century, consists of summaries of the content […]
• “I have run away. Seize me!” – a slave collar of the time of Constantine, and other similar items
  Roman society was a brutal place.  At the bottom of the heap were slaves, who could endure a very unpleasant time.  Not unnaturally, some of them ran away; and some were recaptured. In the museum in Rome in the Baths of Diocletian, there is a slave collar on display. Here are some images of it (click on the […]
• P. Petaus 30: A letter describing a travelling book dealer
  A tweet today from Sarah Bond drew my attention to an interesting papyrus: 2nd c letter of touring bookseller hawking small membranae (parchment codices) Details of the papyrus may be found here, with full-size photographs of recto and verso.  It was first published in 1969. The papyrus was written around 150 AD by a scribe named […]
• Why does the date of Easter move about so much?
  Very few people seem to understand how the date of Easter is calculated, or why.  I am not among that select group!  I am deeply ignorant of the details.  But I thought that I would share what I do understand, because most people don’t even know as much as I do.  And it is Good […]
• The Annals of Eutychius of Alexandria (10th c. AD) – chapter 18 (part 2)
  Heraclius arrives at Jerusalem, and massacres the Jews.  6. When he entered the city and saw that everything had been destroyed and burned by the Persians, he felt a deep sadness; then when he saw that Modestus had [re]constructed the Church of the Resurrection, of the Skull and the church of Mar Constantine, he felt great joy and thanked […]
• Is Easter really Astarte, a Babylonian goddess (or festival)?
  It is terribly easy for the learned and scholarly readers of this blog – and even its author – to forget that most people in this world honestly have no idea about history at all.  To the ordinary man, the present fills almost his entire field of view.  To him history is a kind of […]
• The Annals of Eutychius of Alexandria (10th c. AD) – chapter 18 (part 1)
  Let us venture into the second part of the history by Eutychius.  It opens with the reign of Heraclius and his war against the Sassanid Persian king Chosroes. PART TWO. FROM HERACLIUS TO AR-RĀDĪ (610-934) 1. In the first year of the reign of Heraclius, king of Rum, there took place the Hegira of the Prophet to […]
• The posts containing the translation of Eutychius’ “Annals”
  I’ve been working away on translating the Annals by the 10th century Melkite patriarch of Alexandria, Eutychius (or Sa`id ibn Bitriq, to give him his Arabic name).  Inevitably there are quite a lot, and a quick way to access them is useful. A kind correspondent has marched through them all, and I have created a […]
• Eutychius: an interlude
  My last chunk of the Annals of Sa`id ibn Bitriq, better known as Eutychius, the 10th century Melkite patriarch of Alexandria, took us up to the accession of Heraclius as Emperor of the East.  This concluded chapter 17, in Pirone’s Italian translation; and also concluded part 1 of the work.  A division into two halves […]
• An 1860 photograph of the Meta Sudans
  Another old photograph of the Meta Sudans has appeared online via Roma Ieri Oggi, this time on Twitter.  What makes this one interesting is the angle; it is taken with the Palatine hill in the background.  Here it is:
• TES article calls for translation of Latin, Greek, to be valid research goals
  An important article by Dr Emma Gee of St Andrews University has appeared in the Times Higher Education supplement here. Recently, an audience of “disadvantaged” 16-year-olds listened with rapt attention when I read from my translation of Lucretius’ On the Nature of the Universe. Written around 55BC, this is the first surviving full-scale account of a […]
• The Annals of Eutychius of Alexandria (10th c. AD) – chapter 17 (part 9 and end)
  The Persian king Chosroes II (=’Kisra’) began his campaign against the Eastern Roman empire under the usurper Phocas.  As the Persian troops overthrew Byzantine rule in Palestine, a Jewish revolt broke out.  Eventually Phocas was assassinated by Heraclius, with whom this chapter ends. 26. So he sent to Jerusalem one of his generals named Harwazayh, to […]
• A painting of the “temple of Serapis” / “Aurelian’s temple of Sol Invictus”
  In the 16th century there were a number of ancient monuments in Rome which have since disappeared.  Among these was a massive temple on the Quirinal Hill, which was generally thought to be the Temple of Sol Invictus dedicated by the emperor Aurelian in 274 AD, but today is thought to be the temple of […]
• The Annals of Eutychius of Alexandria (10th c. AD) – chapter 17 (part 8)
  My, this is a long chapter.  But it brings the whole pre-Islamic period to an end, so we’re stuck with it.  The narrative of Chosroes II continues. 24. When Kisra came to Maurice, king of Rum, he was received with very great honors and granted many soldiers in aid.  With the soldiers that Maurice had given him, […]
• The Annals of Eutychius of Alexandria (10th c. AD) – chapter 17 (part 7)
  Let’s carry on with events in the century from Justinian to Heraclius and the rise of Islam.  Eutychius now returns to events in Persia, where the new King Hormizd IV made himself unpopular and was murdered.  His son Chosroes II fled to the emperor Maurice for help.  This seemingly trivial action was to have immense […]
• Has the lost “De baptismo” of Melito of Sardis been rediscovered in Coptic?
  Alin Suciu has been undertaking the thankless task of sifting through Coptic patristic papyri.  It looks as if he may have struck gold!  A new second-century patristic text, no less!  From his blog: At the Coptic congress, which this year will be held in Claremont, California, I will speak about the discovery of Melito of […]
• Keep christian literature out of the classics!
  Today I saw a series of tweets which started with Tertullian’s Ad Nationes – a work rich in quotations from Varro – and then read as follows: @hashtagoras: Tertullian v neglected by classicists, methinks. @b_hawk: I’ve a feeling Tertullian is often relegated to religious studies, & often used more for contextual info. @hashtagoras: By virtue […]
• Bar Hebraeus, Chronicon Ecclesiasticum – English translation published
  David Wilmshurst writes to tell me that a really important book has finally come out – the first English translation of Bar Hebraeus, Chronicon Ecclesiasticum, is now available from Gorgias Press as The Ecclesiastical Chronicle, ISBN 978-1-4632-0535-5.  It’s a mighty 590 pages long, but sadly it costs $140 although various discounts are readily available. The work consists […]
• Where St Nicholas lived (if he did) – a paper on the city of Myra
  A correspondent draws my attention to a paper by Dr Engin Akyürek, Myra: the city of St. Nicholas, which is online at Academia.edu here.  Those who have followed the posts about Nicholas of Myra may find it interesting and useful, as the author discusses the physical layout of the ancient city.  That is something known […]
• The Annals of Eutychius of Alexandria (10th c. AD) – chapter 17 (part 6)
  Agapius now begins the events of the reign of the emperor Maurice.  This chunk ends with an oriental tale, with which authors of histories of that period evidently were obliged to lace their narratives.  17. Then Justin the Younger, King of Rum, died.  After him there reigned over Rum Tiberius, for four years.  This happened in […]
• Ezekiel the Tragedian’s play on Moses; quoted by Eusebius, found at Oxyrhynchus
  A number of news reports have circulated this week about the finds of Greek literature at Oxyrhynchus.  One of the better ones is in the Daily Mail, which has been running a lot of articles on subjects of interest lately.  The report by James Dunn (2 March 2016) is here.  It’s based on an article […]
• A quote from Tacitus and its source
  Around the web, you will find the following: Cornelius Tacitus: He had a certain frankness and generosity, qualities indeed which turn to a mans ruin, unless tempered with discretion. The thought was striking, as indeed it should strike anyone who is fairly open, like myself.  But is it Tacitus? Well it is!  It is in […]
• From my diary
  I’m on holiday, and not doing very much, other than dealing with some of minor nuisances that fill our days if we are not careful.  I have no desire to do anything very demanding!  I’m browsing twitter for anything of interest to us, and finding it rather full of tedious hooting and shouting about US […]
• The Annals of Eutychius of Alexandria (10th c. AD) – chapter 17 (part 5)
  The reign of Justinian continues, and after him Justin II.  We have two extracts from the lost Sassanid Persian chronicle that Eutychius has in Arabic translation.  The Persian chronicler was plainly very well-disposed towards the next Sassanid Persian king, Anūshirwān. 13. Qabād died.The years when Qabād reigned, together with the years in which Rāmāsf reigned, were around forty.  […]
• The Annals of Eutychius of Alexandria (10th c. AD) – chapter 17 (part 4)
  The Origenist disputes of the time of Justinian now make an appearance in the chronicle.  But was the bishop of “Manbig” (Arabic) / Mabbug (Syriac) / Hierapolis (Greek) really named Origen?  The Persian chronicle records plots against a weak king by the Zoroastrian priests. 10. In the time of king Justinian lived Origen, Bishop of […]
• The Annals of Eutychius of Alexandria (10th c. AD) – chapter 17 (part 3)
  The reign of Justinian continues: but we get the first mention of Islam.  4. After completing this, he returned to the king.  The king said to him: “Describe how you built the Bethlehem church.”  After hearing the description, the king did not find it to his liking and was not at all satisfied.  Great was his […]
• A new fragment of the “Forma Urbis Romae” discovered!
  On a wall in the Forum of Peace in Rome, Septimus Severus erected a huge map of the city, at a scale of about 1:240, on 150 marble slabs, between 203-211 AD.  It was 18 x 13m in size, approximately, and held on with iron pins.  This map is today known as the Forma Urbis Romae.  The wall is […]
• The Annals of Eutychius of Alexandria (10th c. AD) – chapter 17 (part 2)
  A revolt of the Samaritans is put down – Mar Saba requests a reduction in the land tax from Justinian, because Palestine was ruined – Justinian orders that the church of the Nativity in Jerusalem is rebuilt. 3. From the time when Proterius, patriarch of Alexandria, was killed and burned, to the time when Apollinaris killed the Jacobites […]
• The Annals of Eutychius of Alexandria (10th c. AD) – chapter 17 (part 1)
  With chapter 17 of the “Annals”, we move into the last chapter of antiquity – the century from Justinian to Heraclius – before the muslim invasions swept away the ancient world altogether.  As with most chroniclers of this time, Eutychius divides his work into two halves, so this is the last chapter of the first half.  It’s […]
• A hagiographer confesses: “I made it up”
  We sometimes wonder just how hagiographical texts came into being.  It’s obvious that the majority are a form of folk-story, rather than accurate narrative.  But wouldn’t it be nice if we actually had some information from the author of such a text? Today I came across an interesting passage in an otherwise tedious and annoying book […]
• The Annals of Eutychius of Alexandria (10th c. AD) – chapter 16 (part 5 and last)
  This next portion of the Annals of Eutychius of Alexandria (10th c.), also known as Sa`id ibn Batriq, starts with three theological paragraphs.  Since I don’t actually understand the points at issue here, even in English, it isn’t possible for me to translate them; and I doubt many of us are interested in them.  The three paragraphs […]
• From my diary
  I’m now on a much needed holiday, and I have been disposing of various minor tasks.  My long-serving inkjet failed at the weekend – well, it was 12 years old! – and had to be replaced, so that I could fulfil an order for a CD of the Additional Fathers collection.  This CD needs revising and […]
• Did Constantine put the Jews to death at Passover? A passage in Eutychius
  In a comment here on an old post, an interesting question is raised: Hi, do you have a translation of Patrologiae Graeca 111, pages 1012-13 where Eutychius talks about how Constantine killed the Jewish Christians on Passover? http://books.google.com/books?id=ZSNKAAAAcAAJ&vq=1012&pg=RA2-PA1004 The link is to column (not page) 1012 in PG 111. Doing a google search for a […]
• A challenge for Greek language nerds! What do you make of *this*?!
  One of the texts for St Nicholas of Myra is a beast and a monster.  No matter how good your Greek is, it is bafflingly hard.  Part of the problem is that it is written in a poetic style – the editor, Anrich, even marks the cadences with <> marks!  The opening section is highly […]
• From my diary
  The legends of St Nicholas of Myra, or Santa Claus, became known in the West through a Life composed by a certain John the Deacon, probably in the 9th century.  It was based on Greek models, especially – as it says in the prologue – on the letter of Methodius to Theodorus which has given translators […]
• “Non licet esse vos” – a modern politician’s wife writes…
  Sometimes you see something so outrageously false in the press that it becomes amusing, and so it was today. Sarah Vine, better known as the wife of British Conservative politician Michael Gove, wrote an article in the Daily Mail today: Why Islam is a feminist issue: Most Muslims lead decent lives. But, ignored by the PC brigade, […]
• Nicholas of Myra – the story of the generals, and of the three innocents – now online
  David Miller has kindly made us a translation of another of the legends of St Nicholas, a.k.a. Santa Claus.  This one is the Praxis de stratelatis, (BHG 1349z) which recounts how Nicholas dealt with three generals and also how the governor tried to execute three innocent men.  The narrative displays considerable knowledge of events of […]
• From my diary
  I’ve got a translation of another legend of St Nicholas of Myra ready for release as soon as I can find some time.  This is a translation of De Stratelatis.  I’ve also commissioned a translation of the Encomium of Methodius ad Theodorum – it will be interesting to see if we have more luck this […]
• Notes on the Life of Nicholas of Myra by John the Deacon
  Frequently listed among the important sources for the legends of St Nicholas of Myra is the Life written in Latin by John the Deacon.  This is not printed in Anrich’s collection of Greek sources, which is a nuisance.  Various versions of John’s text were created in the Middle Ages, and there is a translation of […]
• The Roman dice tower from Vettweiss-Froitzheim (=Vettweiß-Froitzheim Römisches Würfelturm aus Bronze)
  Here’s a picture of a rather interesting item – a pyrgus or Roman dice tower, used to throw dice and prevent dishonest manipulation of the dice: I found myself wondering what the other sides look like.  It wasn’t easy to find out much, so I thought I’d write up what I found. Via this forum, […]
• Nicholas of Myra in the Bibliotheca Hagiographica Graeca
  The Bibliotheca Hagiographica Graeca (3rd ed) gives a list of hagiographical texts about St Nicholas of Myra, the origin of our Santa Claus. As I am commissioning translations, I thought that I would run through this, in an abbreviated way, and see just what there is listed.  Nothing like typing it out, to get a […]
• No grant from the Arts Council to translate Methodius from Old Slavonic
  Last summer I wrote to the Arts Council, enquiring whether they would sponsor a translation of a couple of long works by Methodius of Olympus from Old Slavonic.  I usually pay for translations myself, but in this case the cost was beyond what I can reasonably afford myself. I was willing to pay a significant part […]
• Hero of Alexandria, on the making of automata
  The technical works of antiquity are not well known, not least because modern technical knowledge is often necessary to understand them.  For instance a reading of an alchemical work may well baffle anyone without a Chemistry degree!  So … they go untranslated and unread. Four years ago I listed the works of the engineer, Hero of Alexandria, […]
• Legends of St Nicholas of Myra: the miracle of the tax (Praxis de tributo, recension 1) now online in English
  Considering how important Santa Claus is to our culture, it has always seemed remarkable to me that the medieval sources for whatever stories we tell about him – or rather St Nicholas of Myra, his prototype – remained untranslated.  I’ve had a few translations made, and here is another.  This is a short medieval story about […]
• Severian of Gabala conference in November 2016
  A call for papers has reached me for a conference in Leuven on Chrysostom and Severian of Gabala, talking about their exegetical strategies.  Lots of good speakers are planned, and I suspect most of it will be in English. One of the main items will be Severian’s commentary on the six days of creation in […]
• Shenoute – Against the Pagan Philosopher. Now online in English
  Dr Anthony Alcock has just sent me another of his excellent translations from Coptic.  This one is an oration by the 4th century Father Shenoute, the most important figure in Coptic monasticism, against a pagan philosopher (Ad philosophum gentilem).  He has helpfully included an introduction and notes.  Here it is: Shenoute-Ad philosophum gentilem_Alcock_2016 (PDF) It is wonderful […]
• ‘Finding a home’ for copies of about 500 periodical articles and monographs on Tertullian
  Dr Ian Balfour is retiring, and writes: While working on a Ph.D. thesis on Tertullian in the 1970s, I photocopied about 500 periodical articles and monographs on Tertullian from libraries all over the country (with appropriate permissions) and bound them in spring-back foolscap-size folders, and stored them at home. My son took over our house […]
• Another photograph of the Meta Sudans
  Regular readers will be aware of my fascination with the Meta Sudans, the ruined Roman fountain that stood beside the Colosseum until 1936.  The Roma Ieri Oggi site tweeted another photograph.  Here it is:   There is always room here for photographs of the Meta Sudans!
• The faces of Theodosius and his sons
  A series of tweets by the Classical Association of Northern Ireland drew my attention to a curiosity about Theodosius the Great, and his two sons Arcadius and Honorius. Let’s look first at the disk of Theodosius: Note how long the face of Theodosius is.  He was only 48 when he died.  Next, a statue of Arcadius, […]
• The Annals of Eutychius of Alexandria (10th c. AD) – chapter 16 (part 4)
  In response to fan mail (!), here is some more of the Annals of the Arabic Christian writer, Sa`id ibn Batriq / Eutychius of Alexandria.  This is not a translation from the Arabic, and nobody has seen fit to make one.  So I’m turning the Italian translation of Bartolomeo Pirone (itself a very rare item, […]
• From my diary
  Two long works of Methodius of Olympus (d.311 AD) are preserved only in Old Slavonic: De Autexusio (=On Free-Will) and De Resurrectione.  Yesterday I applied for some grant money to get these translated and put online.  Wish me luck! I’ve never applied for grant funding before.  The price is just beyond my means to do; […]
• Andrew of Crete, Encomium on St Nicholas of Myra – now online in English
  Happy new year to you all!  Here’s a belated Christmas present – a translation of Andrew of Crete’s Encomium on St Nicholas of Myra, (BHG 1362 / CPG 8187), otherwise known as Santa Claus!  It would have appeared for Christmas, except for email communication difficulties (and believe me, we had a few!).  It was kindly […]
• The Annals of Eutychius of Alexandria (10th c. AD) – chapter 16 (part 3)
  9. Firuz died after reigning for twenty-seven years.  Then the two sons of Firuz, i.e. Qabād and Balābis, contested for the kingdom.  Balābis got the better of Qabād and drove him off, far away from him.  Qabād repaired to Khurasan to ask Khāqān, king of the Turks, to help him against his brother. 10. Balābis reigned well, and […]
• The Annals of Eutychius of Alexandria (10th c. AD) – chapter 16 (part 2)
  Eutychius (=Sa`id ibn Bitriq) is still writing the history of the 5th century AD, mainly from Greek/Byzantine chroniclers.  But he also has access to an Arabic translation of a lost Persian chronicle of the Sassanid kings, and material from this is inserted at intervals.  We now return to the Sassanid history.   The major threat to […]
• From my diary
  The Christmas and New Year holiday season has been in full swing here, although the very unseasonably warm weather – 14C most days, and warm at night – has disguised this.  We’ve even had sunny days, such as today. I’m spending this holiday quietly, as it is really the first holiday that I have had […]
• The Annals of Eutychius of Alexandria (10th c. AD) – chapter 16 (part 1)
  We continue our translation of the Annals of Eutychius, melkite patriarch of Alexandria.  The text has reached the second half of the 5th century AD.  Marcian became emperor in 450 AD.  At this point Eutychius (or Sa`id ibn Bitriq as he was known) again relates material from a lost Sassanid Persian chronicle.  As before, “Rum” is the Arabic name for […]
• In Memoriam: Acharya S
  Did you know that: Mithra [sic] was born on December 25th. He was considered a great traveling teacher and master. He had 12 companions or disciples. He performed miracles. He was buried in a tomb. After three days he rose again. His resurrection was celebrated every year. Mithra was called “the Good Shepherd.” He was […]
• When will the librarians start to throw offline literature away?
  When I started my projects, in 1997, there was little online.  To get access to books, I had to visit a major research library.  I cadged a reader’s ticket, sans borrowing privileges, and made day trips.  Once there, I browsed the stacks and photocopied and photocopied whatever I could, for an exaggerated price.  Some items – […]
• From my diary
  As you may have seen, I have resumed translating the Annals of Eutychius (or Said ibn Bitriq as he was known in life) from the Italian translation of Bartolomeo Pirone into English, with the assistance of Google Translate. I would much prefer to translate the Arabic directly.  But since I don’t know Arabic, and I […]
• The Annals of Eutychius of Alexandria (10th c. AD) – chapter 15 (part 4 and end)
  7. Theodosius the Less, king of Rum, died and after him Marian reigned over Rum, for six years.  This happened in the fourteenth year of the reign of Yazdagard, son of Bahram, king of the Persians.  When Marcian became king, the bishops of each country came to him, wished him a prosperous reign and spoke of […]
• The Annals of Eutychius of Alexandria (10th c. AD) – chapter 15 (part 3)
  5. This was the second council which was held in the city of Ephesus.  Presiding at this council were Dioscorus, Patriarch of Alexandria, Domnus, Patriarch of Antioch, Juvenal, Patriarch of Jerusalem and the legates of Leo, patriarch of Rome.  They examined the case of Eutyches along with that of Eusebius, bishop of Dorilea, and Flavian, […]
• Rome before Mussolini – what a map can tell us
  Mussolini demolished various areas of the city in order to create modern Rome.  I’ve given various photographs of the areas in the past; but today I learn that there is a zoomable map of Rome here, before his work began.  This has interesting things to show us. First, a map of the area before St Peter’s basilica.  […]
• From my diary
  I’ve finished work for the year, and I’ve been diligently clearing away all the things in my inbox.  It’s quite a relief to do this!  But most of them are done. Six weeks ago I started a new job which means that I have done nothing about applying for funds to translate Methodius.  I will […]
• John the Lydian – corrigenda
  Regular readers will remember that a translation of John the Lydian, On the Roman Months – a month by month explanation of the festivals of the Roman year – appeared in chunks in this blog (click here for the posts).  The translator, Mischa Hooker, has now sent in a couple of pages of corrections.  They are […]
• The Legend of Nicholas of Myra by Jacobus de Voragine, Archbishop of Genoa, 1275
  Thanks to the excellent (and too little known) Xmas website of Caitlin R. Green, I have discovered a translation into English of the Latin version of the legend of St Nicholas of Myra (a.k.a Santa Claus).  It exists in Archive.org, and in a couple of other places: but I feel that it would be seasonal […]
• Pietro Bembo: less than 1% of ancient literature survives
  Many years ago I learned from the eminent Greek scholar N.G.Wilson that less than 1% of ancient literature survives.  He referred to an statement by Renaissance humanist, Pietro Bembo, which seemed as good as any. The work in question is the Oratio pro litteris graecis (Oration in favour of studying Greek), addressed to the rulers of […]
• The grave of Nestorius in Egypt
  The exile of Nestorius to Egypt led him into a series of misfortunes, not all terminating with his death.  Ken Parry kindly drew my attention to a paper that he presented in 2011 on this very subject.  In fact I heard the end of this paper at the Oxford Patristics Conference, and wished that I […]
• The Coptic martyrdom of James the Persian, aka James Intercissus, aka James the Sawn-into-small-bits
  An early Christmas present – Anthony Alcock has translated the Coptic text of the Martyrdom of James the Persian into English for us all.  This is here: James the Persian (PDF) This martyr was put to death by having 28 bits of him cut off with a saw.  I was tempted to head this post […]
• Eusebius on the Psalms – a project for a new edition in Germany
  I heard this week about a new edition of the Eusebius Commentary on the Psalms.  It’s very good news! This monster work has survived in a rather curious fashion – the section on Psalms 51-100 has been transmitted directly, which is pretty unusual for an ancient biblical commentary.  But the sections on the other psalms are recovered […]
• Eusebius of Caesarea: Gospel Problems and Solutions – now online in English
  Back in 2010 I published the text and translation of the remains of Eusebius of Caesarea’s Gospel Problems and Solutions.  This was the work in which he reconciled the differences at the start and end of the gospels.  The Latin title is Quaestiones ad Stephanum and Quaestiones ad Marinum. Many people contributed to the project. My intention […]
• Photographs online about Mithras by Michael Fuller
  Archaeologist Michael Fuller, who has worked at Dura Europos, has been collecting photographs of Mithraic monuments.  He modestly writes to say: Here are a few of my webpages with images of Mithraic reliefs, altars, etc… Most of these duplicate images you already have, but a few maybe new to you. http://users.stlcc.edu/mfuller/Housesteads.html http://users.stlcc.edu/mfuller/canterbury/LondonRoman.html http://users.stlcc.edu/mfuller/yorkshireroman.html http://users.stlcc.edu/mfuller/DuraMithras.html http://users.stlcc.edu/mfuller/naples.html […]
• Euthymius Zigabenus, Commentary on the Psalms – draft translation online!
  John Raffan has written a comment on another post, which deserves to be much more widely known: On the topic of translations of Greek patristic texts, I would like to announce that I have made a new edition of the Commentary on the Psalter by Euthymius Zigabenus and have started to make an English translation of the […]
• Translation of Porphyry’s “Ad Gaurum” on ensoulment
  The technical works of antiquity tend to be neglected.  I have written before about the astrological works which, although on a subject of limited interest today, really should exist in English.  And indeed some modern enthusiasts for astrology have made such translations, and perhaps are the only people today to make use of the works […]
• Is there a distinctive iconography for Sol Invictus?
  It’s that time of the year, when the malevolent delight in posting wild claims that Christmas is “really” – in some undefined sense of “real” – the festival of Sol Invictus, recorded only in the Chronography of 354. Few of us know much about Sol Invictus, the state cult created by Aurelian in 274 AD.  […]
• The Meta Sudans and the Djemila fountain in Algeria
  I’ve posted a number of images of the Meta Sudans, the ancient Roman fountain that stood next to the Colosseum and was demolished by Mussolini, in posts such as this one.  Today on Twitter I saw a picture of a standing, much smaller, Roman fountain in Djemila in Algeria, posted by @AlgeriaTTours.  Here’s the image: […]
• The temple that Cleopatra built for Caesarion at Armant
  While I was looking at the Description de l’Egypte for information about the Serapeum as it was in Napoleon’s time, a whim came over me to look for the now-vanished temple at Armant (ancient Hermonthis), some 12 miles south of Luxor. The temple was destroyed in 1861-3 in order to get stone to build a sugar […]
• 1603 Zuccaro drawing in red chalk of Old St Peter’s, Rome
  Here’s another image of Old St Peter’s, part-way through the transformation into New St Peter’s.  The main entrance, steps and square are all still present.  From the Getty website: Federico Zuccaro (Italian, about 1541 – 1609).  25.9 x 41.3 cm (10 3/16 x 16 1/4 in.) Using red chalk in a highly detailed manner, Federico […]
• Latin translations of Chrysostom’s homilies on John – website
  Chris Nighman writes to me: I’ve just launched a new online resource for several Latin translations of Chrysostom’s Homilies on the Gospel of John. I will be seeking funding for this project in February and, if successful, expect that this resource will be completed by the end of next summer. I also plan to produce a […]
• The stadium, hippodrome or “Lageion” of Ancient Alexandria
  Just to the south of the Serapeum, which stood on a hill, was a Greek stadium or hippdrome.  The temple overlooked it, and there was seating.  The following map by Judith McKenzie indicates the location (click to enlarge): The area of the stadium was built over in the 19th century.  But it was still visible […]
• List of volumes of the “Description de l’Égypte, ou Recueil des observations et des recherches qui ont été faites en Égypte pendant l’expédition de l’armée française”
  Today I found that I needed to consult a plate in the Napoleonic Description de l’Egypte.  I had some difficulty in finding online volumes, and so I compiled the following list.  Please feel free to offer additions in the comments.  First edition (Imperial edition) Book 01 (1809), Volume I – Antiquités, Descriptions. Heidelberg. Book 02 (1818), Volume […]
• Timestamp: Alexandria in the 5th century. Sinister goings-on in the ruins of the Serapeum, in Peter the Iberian
  Peter the Iberian is a name that was unfamiliar to me.  He was a Georgian prince who lived in the 5th century A.D. and ended his days as a monk.  His Life was written by his close friend, John Rufus, in Greek.  The Greek is lost, but a Syriac translation survives in two manuscripts.  These […]
• What did the Serapeum in Alexandria actually look like?
  The destruction of the Serapeum in Alexandria in 392 AD by the Christian mob, headed by its leader, the patriarch Theophilus, is a famous moment.  It was the last temple to be closed, and by far the most famous. It stood on the only high ground in the city, in the South-West.  Rufinus gives us […]
• Images of Theophilus of Alexandria and the Serapeum in a 5th century papyrus codex
  Today I came across an image which, although striking, was previously unknown to me.  It can be found on Wikipedia here, and in other places.  It depicts Theophilus of Alexandria, standing atop the Serapeum at Alexandria: The destruction of the Serapeum in Alexandria in 392 AD – the date is not precisely certain – at the […]
• On finding my own books
  It is early here.  The sky is the deep overcast shade of an English winter’s morning in November.  But it is warm, too warm to stay in bed, so I have risen to begin the day.  As I did so, I noted that I needed a new bedside book, and the whim struck me to […]
• New edition of Cyril of Alexandria’s “Against Julian” is soon to appear – offline, and very pricey
  In the early 5th century, Cyril of Alexandria found it necessary to write a large apologetic work.  The book was in response to Julian the Apostate’s anti-Christian work Against the Galileans. This was written some 50 years earlier by the then emperor, but must have continued to circulate. Cyril made a series of extensive quotations from the work, […]
• Is “those whom the gods wish to destroy they first make mad” a classical quotation?
  Last night I was reading Boswell’s Life of Johnson, and came across the familiar quotation in a Latin form, Quos Deus vult perdere prius dementat – “those whom God wishes to destroy he first drives mad”.  Therein it was stated that the Latin quotation was on everyone’s lips, but its source was known to nobody. A […]
• From my diary
  I apologise for the lack of blogging.  Ordinary life has been getting in the way, as it does for us all, and I am in the middle of changing job, which is always rather tedious. I’ve not done anything further on applying for a grant for the Methodius translation.  I will; it is simply a […]
• A diadem of Serapis and a Fayoum portrait
  Two days ago the British Museum twitter account posted this item, which seemed to me worthy of wider circulation.  They posted a picture of an item in their collection, together with one of the Fayoum mummy portraits depicting it in actual use! This mystery object is a diadem ornament worn by priests of the god Serapis […]
• Still more Pantoleon!
  After writing my last post, I thought to check JSTOR.  And … I got a hit!  This discusses marginalia in an Old English manuscript, but the author wanders quite far afield, discussing devotion to St Michael the Archangel: Greek devotion to St. Michael is well attested, but one writer in particular deserves attention in connection with the […]
• I say Pantaleon, you say Pantoleon – more notes on this figure
  Yesterday I collected what I could find about the mysterious writer Pantoleon or Pantaleon, a bunch of whose sermons appear in PG 98.  The data was rather a farrago, and a testimony to the obscurity of this medieval figure or figures. This evening I venture a little further into the mine! Migne prints the following items.  I have […]
• Who *was* that masked man?! The mysterious Pantoleon
  A correspondent writes: Do you know anything about Pantaleon the Deacon? It looks like we have 5 sermons of his, in the PG 98 columns 1244-1269, though sermon 4 (apparently an encomium on Michael the archangel) is only given in Latin. … I was curious if you know if his works existed in English yet. This […]
• The Jests of Hierocles, and a Greek rascal named Minoides Minas
  While reading Boswell’s Life of Johnson this week, my eye fell on a note telling me that Johnson published an article with a free translation of the “Jests of Hierocles”.  Such a text was unknown to me, so I did a little research.  I find that it is very obscure, and seems to have attracted little recent attention. It […]
• New Mithraeum at Kempraten in Switzerland
  A correspondent Csaba Szabó has kindly written to tell us about a new discovery of what seems likely to be a Mithraeum in Switzerland, at Kempraten near Zurich.  Interestingly the site is by a lake.  Somewhat ominously, the remains of three large lime kilns were also discovered nearby. The newspaper article in Zurichsee Zeitung is here.  An exhibition […]
• A curious software puzzle
  A correspondent has sent me a link to a dissertation, which, he assures me, it is possible to download as a PDF.  Unfortunately his email was vague as to how, and I simply can’t work it out. It’s presented in some obscure online viewer software, which, to my eye, simply doesn’t have a download option. Can anyone […]
• Another Coptic translation from Anthony Alcock
  Anthony Alcock has completed a new translation of a Coptic text on the 24 elders.  It’s here: Alcock-The Twenty-Four Elders-2015 (PDF)
• From my diary
  Just small stuff lately, as I am rather busy with real life. The sample page of the translation of Andrew of Crete’s Encomium on St Nicholas of Myra has arrived.  I have passed it to Andrew Eastbourne for comment.  I’m optimistic about this one. A post I did ages ago on whether Pythagoras ever went […]
• From my diary
  I’m trying to push forward a couple of projects.  I’ve written to the translator for the Encomium on St Nicholas of Myra by Andrew of Crete, to see if the sample is available yet. I have also changed my plans slightly for the translation of Methodius from Old Slavonic.  The lady who was to do the […]
• Books lost, books retained
  This evening I was chagrined to discover that I cannot find anywhere my copy of Blanchard’s translation of Eznik of Kolb, On God.  I have relatively few translations in paper form, but I certainly had that.  I remember a small green hardback.  It was quite useless to me, frankly, although finely made, and it just occupied […]
• Cybele’s castration clamps – medical apparatus of the Magna Mater
  A couple of years ago I mentioned the eunuch priests of Cybele here, together with a couple of illustrations of a set of ornate castration clamps, found in the River Thames in the 1840’s, and now, supposedly, in the British Museum. This week I came across a 1926 article discussing how the items were used.  The […]
• The Annals of Eutychius of Alexandria (10th c. AD) – chapter 15 (part 2)
  3. Bahram Gur reigned over the Persians, after his father Yazdagard, son of Bahram, for eighteen years.  This happened in the thirtieth year of the reign of Theodosius the Less, king of the Rum.  In the twenty-seventh year of the reign of Theodosius, king of Rum, Sixtus was made patriarch of Rome.  He held the […]
• An anecdote on the perils of being “learned” in public; and some others
  Another anecdote from the collection of E.H. Barker: 7. Professor Porson. We have seldom read a better story, to say the least of it, than the following. As to the facts of it, we can only say that the statement rests on the authority of the author of Lacon, whence it is extracted. Porson was […]
• Some 4th century pagan festivals in Libanius
  Reading through the Literary Reminiscences of the ill-fated E.H. Barker, I find a short list of the works of Thomas Taylor, the 18th century translator known as the “English Platonist”.  Snobbery forbade his recognition in England, but his work was rated higher on the continent.  The list begins with some biographical details, for Barker knew […]
• An anecdote from 1827
  XXXIX. The Negro and the Fish. “A negro about to purchase a fish visited a shop, where several were exposed for sale; but suspecting that one, which he intended to buy, was not altogether as fresh as he could wish, he presumed either to dissipate or confirm his suspicions by applying it to his nose. […]
• No more free speech
  I have just updated the blog header, and also the About page, to remove the references to my interest in freedom of speech online.  Old posts on the subject will remain, but I have no plans to post more on this subject. I grew up in times in which you could express pretty much any […]
• From my diary
  I’ve been reading the Walpoliana, anecdotes ca. 1800 from Horace Walpole.  I like books of anecdotes!  They are easy on the eye and the mind after a long day.  I did try to obtain a printed copy, but the “reprints” are just print-on-demand items, available in two weeks.  By that time I will have forgotten […]
• Another image of the Meta Sudans
  Via Twitter, I saw this photo of the Meta Sudans from 1885.  It’s always nice to see these old photographs.  I wonder who the lady was?  Somebody’s wife, someone’s mother, someone’s grandmother.
• Al-Maqrizi’s account of Coptic feast days – online in English by Anthony Alcock
  In the Topographical and Historical Description of Egypt by al-Makrizi (or al-Maqrizi), a 13th century Muslim author, there is a section which describes the Feast Days of the Copts.  Anthony Alcock has translated this from the Patrologia Orientalis text into English and made it available for us all online.  It’s here: Al-Maqrizi-Coptic_Feast_Days_Alcock2015 (PDF) The work by al-Makrizi […]
• The encouragement of learning
  Edward Gibbon, the author of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, was a notoriously vain little man.  In the Walpoliana of Horace Walpole, a collection of anecdotes, I find this story: I was told a droll story concerning Mr. Gibbon, t’other day.  One of those booksellers in Paternoster Row, who publish things in numbers, went […]
• Notes upon the modern history of the “Bruce codex”
  A correspondent kindly sent me a copy of a rather interesting recent paper on the “Bruce codex”, which deserves the attention of many more people than it is likely to get.  The article author apparently lives in Canada, but for some reason has published in French, a language better known in Europe than in North […]
• The sack of Constantinople in 1453 (Part 3)
  In The sack of Constantinople in 1453, I quoted a very vivid description of the sack on Constantinople, found online and attributed to Critobulos, the renegade who served the Muslim attackers and wrote a history of the event.  But it was less than clear where the translation came from. In The sack of Constantinople in […]
• Methodius of Olympus, De Lepra (On Leprosy) – now online in English
  The fourth short work by Methodius of Olympus (d.311) is De Lepra, On Leprosy, an explanation of Leviticus 13.  The first English translation of it is now made available. Unlike the three previous works, some fragments of the original Greek text are preserved in a medieval anthology found in at least 20 manuscripts.  The task of […]
• The Greek fragments of Methodius translated in the Ante-Nicene Fathers series
  Most of the works of Methodius of Olympus (d. 311) are preserved only in Old Slavonic.  His Symposium exists in Greek, and was translated in the mid-19th century, and appears in the Ante-Nicene Fathers series in volume 6.  A modern translation by Musurillo also exists. Three short works exist in Old Slavonic only; a fourth, De Lepra, […]
• The sack of Constantinople in 1453 (Part 2)
  A commenter queried the outcome of an investigation that I began in The sack of Constantinople in 1453, and asked whether the “quote” with which I started was, or was not, found in Critobulous. Here is the Riggs’ translation of the passage describing the sack of Constantinople, which must be the passage in question (p.71 […]
• A Coptic fragment of Severian of Gabala on Penitence via Alin Suciu
  The excellent Alin Suciu has continued his trawl through uncatalogued Coptic papyri.  The lost papyri of Louvain have attracted his attention.  A post on his blog reports the discovery of parts of a Coptic version of CPG 4186, a homily by Severian of Gabala on penitence: Under no. 48, Lefort published an unidentified papyrus fragment […]
• From my diary
  Autumn has arrived very early this year, with its quota of draughts in the office, and consequent colds and chills and air-conditioner wars.  I am rather preoccupied with some work-related nuisance of just this kind, so don’t expect too much from me for a bit.  But things are moving slowly forward anyway. I’ve been corresponding […]
• Notes on Andrew of Crete’s Encomium on St Nicholas of Myra
  In all the Methodius stuff, I have not forgotten that there are many untranslated hagiographical texts about St Nicholas of Myra, or Santa Claus, which are still on my hit list.  A correspondent has written to offer help with translating Greek texts, and I recalled that the Encomium by Andrew of Crete (BHG 1362, CPG […]
• From my diary
  I have just spent four hours on an application for grant funding.  I ache as much as if I had been doing manual labour!  Why is this process so awful?  I did smile, though, at the assurances that the process is not intended to be a barrier to applicants – an assurance contained in a […]
• Thinking about Methodius, De resurrectione and De autexusio
  This evening I combined the English translation of the Old Slavonic text of De Lepra with the translation of the Greek fragments of the same work.  The latter were considerably fuller, where I had both, and sometimes with startling differences.  However I hope to have this completed before too long. This will complete the four […]
• Methodius of Olympus, On the Leech – now online in English
  The third of the short works by Methodius of Olympus, On the leech (De sanguisuaga) is now available online, thanks once again to Ralph Cleminson who has translated it from Old Slavonic for us all.  It’s an explanation of a couple of passages from the Old Testament. Here are the files: Methodius-On_the_Leech_2015 (PDF) Methodius-On_the_Leech_2015 (Word .doc) I have […]
• A list of translations of the Orations of Libanius, at Antiochepedia
  Libanius lived in 4th century Antioch, and he knew everyone who was anyone.  His very voluminous works have not received much attention from translators.  This is probably because his works are rather dull.  Nevertheless they contain valuable data on late antique culture.  But even finding what translations exist can be a challenge. A useful item, this, at the Antiochepedia website: […]
• From my diary
  Work is continuing on Methodius of Olympus.  There has been no progress for just over a week, thanks to a contaminated sandwich purchased at a garage, and then some other trivial but time-consuming difficulties.  It would be nice, sometimes, to be a man of independent means! However a translation of Methodius “On the Leech” has […]
• The last gladiatorial show
  In 325 AD Constantine passed an edict against gladiators (Codex Theodosianus book 15, title 12, leg. 1).  The version in Cod. Just. XI. 44 runs: Bloody spectacles in a time of civil peace and domestic quiet do not meet with our favor, wherefore we absolutely prohibit the existence of gladiators. But clearly nothing happened. In […]
• From my diary: Gentlemen say “Old Slavonic”, Yankee; the latest on Methodius; plus the Oxford Patristics Conference 2015. All in your soaraway blog!
  Sometimes, it’s just a very good idea to go offline! — I’m back after a very pleasant week of holiday, and I’m starting to pick up the threads once more.  I’m still feeling somewhat frivolous. While I was away, Ralph Cleminson sent over a fresh version of Methodius’ De Lepra (a text which gives an allegorical […]
• A visit to a church building in the weekday
  We all need holidays.  I’ve been on holiday for a week, and I’ve largely stayed away from the computer, and instead I have just enjoyed the weather, neither too hot nor too cold. On Friday I decided to do a trip out, and I went up to the Peak District.  This is quite a run, a round-trip […]
• The man who wrote the creed of Nicaea
  I always learn something from T. D. Barnes’ books.  While looking for something online, I happened across these remarks: Much will always be obscure about the Council of Nicaea. No stenographic record of the proceedings was taken and no minutes were produced by anyone. It is true that we have reports of different parts of […]
• The Annals of Eutychius of Alexandria (10th c. AD) – chapter 15 (start)
  Let’s do a little more of the Annals of Eutychius.  The author returns to his now-lost Sassanid chronicle, which clearly contained fanciful material as well as much history.  Here is the first two chapters.     *    *    *    * 1. Let us return now to our purpose and to the place in history where we were.  As for […]
• Just because you are an Old Testament scholar, that does not make you Moses!
  Academia is a cruel trade.  It means a life of loneliness in libraries, mostly reading rubbish articles purely to make sure that you need not pay any attention to them.  Every career ends in oblivion, however many professorships you obtain, however lauded you may be.  A day after you die, some whipper-snapper will publish an […]
• From my diary
  I’m now on holiday for a week.  I’m going to ignore nearly all correspondence, all comments on the blog, and generally go and do other things.  I have received an awful lot of correspondence lately, and I need a holiday from it. I may write the odd blog post, but I still won’t be taking […]
• How do we define “anti-semitism” so that we can use it for testing Matthew 27:25?
  I’ve written now a series of posts on the use of Matthew 27:25 – “His blood be upon us and upon our children” – in Christian writers up to the 6th century.  This was provoked by the question of whether this verse was the cause of, or contributory to, anti-semitism. In order to examine that […]
• Some reflections on translation styles, provoked by a passage in the NRSV
  Yesterday I was reviewing the translation of Methodius of Olympus, De cibis.  Believing that the NRSV was the modern standard academic translation, and remembering the original RSV with some affection, I recommended the use of that for biblical quotations. But perhaps I was too hasty.  For I noticed the following passage, from Numbers 19:18, in […]
• Methodius of Olympus, De Cibis – now online in English
  Once again Ralph Cleminson has very kindly translated for us a work by Methodius of Olympus out of the Old Slavonic, in which alone it now survives, and made the first-ever English translation! Methodius-De_Cibis_2015 (PDF) Methodius-De_Cibis_2015 (Word .doc) Dr Cleminson has done if anything a better job here than with the previous text, De Vita.  I’ve also incorporated into […]
• Origen, Homily 26 on Joshua and Matthew 27:25
  Another of the last remaining references to Matthew 27:25 is found in the Homilies on Joshua by Origen, extant in a Latin translation-cum-paraphrase by Rufinus.  It is found in homily 26, and as this is short, I thought that I would post it here.  The translation is from the Fathers of the Church vol. 105, […]
• From my diary
  Today I decided to have a go at finishing off my posts on the references to Matthew 27:25 in patristic literature.  This has really dragged on, and I want it done. At the moment I am working near Cambridge, in the UK, which means that it is possible for me to make use of the […]
• Augustine, Homily 229F and Matthew 27:25
  I’ve made a bit of an effort today to finish off my series on references to Matthew 27:25 in patristic literature.  One of these references can be found in one of Augustine’s sermons, number 229F (which was one of those discovered by G. Morin in the 1930’s). Today I was able to access the New […]
• From my diary
  The first draft has arrived of Methodius, De cibis, translated from the Old Slavonic, using manuscript 40 of the Lavra of Holy Trinity-Saint Sergius.  It looks very good, except that the translator has used the Authorised Version as the basis for the bible quotations and allusions.  I’ve suggested that he use the NRSV instead. The translation […]
• Severian of Gabala bibliography – another minor update
  I’ve just tweaked my working bibliography of Severian again.  Here are the new files: Severian-of-Gabala-works (PDF) – updated. Severian-of-Gabala-works (docx) – updated These replace the version in the last such post here. UPDATE (21st July 2015): I have updated the files to include the very useful comments by Sever Voicu in the comments below – thank you. […]
• The Annals of Eutychius of Alexandria (10th c. AD) – chapter 14 (Abbreviated)
  It’s been a while since I translated any of the Annals of Eutychius of Alexandria (= Sa`id Ibn Bitrik).  But I rather fancy doing some this evening. I should add that I am working, not from the Arabic, but from the difficult-to-obtain Italian translation of Bartolomeo Pirone, and using Google Translate to do a lot […]
• Spamming to promote the NIV bible?
  I have written a couple of times before about the collapse in confidence in the New International Version (NIV) of the bible.  This happened after Zondervan, the publishers, decided to revise it to be “gender neutral.”  As I wrote in my last such post: … “gender neutrality” is not a principle of text criticism, nor of biblical […]
• Methodius, On Life and Rational Action – online in English
  Today I am quite pleased to be able – at long last! – to upload the first English translation of De Vita, On Life and Rational Action, by Methodius of Olympus. The translation was made by Ralph Cleminson, from the unpublished Old Slavonic text, which alone has survived.  This was accessed using the online images of manuscript 40 […]
• From my diary
  I hope to upload Methodius On life and rational activity soon.  The translation is done, and paid for (as of today), and only needs a tweak to my introductory footnote. Less good news: the Trinity-St Sergius Lavra site,  which hosts the Old Slavonic manuscripts that we are using, is offline.  Fortunately I did download the images of […]
• Works of Fulgentius the Mythographer now online in English
  I learn via AWOL that the Ohio State University Press is sensibly placing online older volumes, of no conceivable commercial value.  Among these is the 1971 translation of the complete works of the 5th century Roman author Fulgentius Mythographicus.  He lived in Vandal Africa and composed a handbook of ancient mythology and other works.  The […]
• A little more Asterius
  Blogger Albocicade has very kindly sent me some excerpts from Asterius the Homiletist’s 31 homilies on Psalms, which he has culled from a French book.  Let me give them here; I’m sure we can all use Google Translate. Sur l’arbre verdoyant: “Le Verbe est le bois planté au bord des eaux, que le Père a […]
• Asterius on Matthew 27:25
  My original reason for interest in Asterius the Sophist, and the collection of 31 homilies that bears his name in Richard’s edition, is the reference to Mathew 27:25 – His blood be upon us and upon our children – in homily 21.  Of course we must now recognise that this is by Asterius the Homiletist, […]
• Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on Isaiah, on Matthew 27:25
  I learn from the TLG (4090.103) that there are two references to this verse of scripture in Cyril of Alexandria, Commentarius in Isaiam prophetam (Commentary on Isaiah). It is not mentioned in BiblIndex. Here is the TLG results: PG 70 col 52 line 18: τλήκασι γὰρ τῆς ἑαυτῶν κεφαλῆς τὸ τίμιον αἷμα Χριστοῦ, Πιλάτῳ λέγοντες· «Τὸ αἷμα […]
• Do we live in the age of Robert C. Hill?
  Few will ever have heard of Robert Charles Hill, sometime professor at an Australian Catholic university.  Indeed his name was unfamiliar to me also, until the last few weeks.  But in that time I have been looking for translations of ancient biblical commentaries.  And anyone who does so will swiftly realise the debt that we […]
• From my diary
  Some of the works of Methodius of Olympus (d. 311 AD) no longer exist in Greek.  But an unpublished Old Slavonic version of a few does exist.  Recently a couple of manuscripts of this appeared online on a Russian site; and a little while ago I commissioned a translation of “On life and rational activity”. […]
• A few more notes on Asterius the Sophist, Asterius the Homiletist, and the Commentary on the Psalms
  After my post yesterday, I did a google search and found a number of useful items of bibliography.  It seems that there was further work on Asterius, after Marcel Richard’s edition.  In particular there is a rather excellent work by Wolfram Kinzig, whose conclusions about this collection of 31 homilies on the Psalms (which he […]
• Some notes on the commentary on the psalms by Asterius the Sophist
  This morning a Greek text of the remains of Asterius the Sophist’s Commentary on the Psalms came into my hands.  The editor’s preface is quite interesting on this obscure writer, and I thought that I would transcribe a few remarks from it. But who was this fellow?  Asterius was a pupil of Lucian of Antioch, […]
• From my diary
  I am still collecting references to Matthew 27:25 in the fathers, and still encountering interesting and unusual texts that are unfamiliar to me.  The major chunk of material still in my hands is a bunch of references in the commentaries of St Jerome, and a library visit is going to be necessary to finish them […]
• Some more from St. Jerome on Matthew 27:25
  Last week, using the Brepols Library of Latin Texts Series A database (formerly Cetedoc), I was able to increase my list of references to Matthew 27:25 in patristic authors. It is slightly curious to discover that the results from a search of the database change, if I include a comma, but they do.  The search […]
• Anthony Alcock – text and translation of the Life of Barsuma the Naked
  Another translation from the Coptic by Anthony Alcock, this time of a medieval saint who emulated Job.  Here it is: alcock_Barsuma_the_Naked_2015 (PDF) A little after our time-frame, but always good to make literature accessible online!
• Translations of the biblical commentaries of St Jerome
  St Jerome produced a significant quantity of commentaries on the bible, and translated still others.  These last were mostly by Origen.  Yet his commentaries have remained untranslated until recent times; and it is actually surprisingly difficult to discover what has, and has not, been translated. I thought that I would give what information I have […]
• New Latin-Italian edition of the collected works of St Jerome from Città Nuova
  It is really remarkable that the works of St Jerome have never been translated in their entirety into any modern language. But the Italians are good on this kind of thing, and while searching for whatever exists, I learned of a project to do just that.  It is being directed by the excellent Claudio Moreschini, […]
• Some notes upon Apponius and his commentary on the Song of Songs
  It is rare that I come across a wholly unfamiliar patristic writer.  But among the results of a Cetedoc search on Matthew 27:25 was a quotation from “Apponius”: Apponius – In Canticum canticorum expositio (CPL 0194) lib. : 12, line: 1136 Quos omnes non est dubium manibus aures oculos que clausisse, ne tam horridam uocem audirent dicentium: […]
• More pictures of the Meta Sudans
  Here’s another photograph of this now vanished monument in Rome: The source for this is Flickr, which gives some more details of the photograph: Foto Fonti / foto source: Roma vista dall’alto (8) Colosseo. Fotografo: Stabilimento Costruzioni Aeronautiche Roma – Laboratorio Fotografico. Data: primo quarto 1900 Tecnica: gelatine Vecchia_Segnatura: Alb.25 Sottoserie: 12) Roma vista dall’alto […]
• From my diary
  This evening I emailed a correspondent, asking if he knew someone who might translate some works by Methodius out of Russian.  Knowledge of Old Slavonic would be good; and the translator must be a native English speaker, and familiar with Christian jargon.  I’ve had rough experiences when these last two were not present! The enquiry […]
• Further notes on Methodius in Old Slavonic
  I have written before on Methodius of Olympus (d. 311 AD), and how some of his works survive only in an Old Slavonic translation.  This week I scanned the preface of the Russian translation by E. Lovyagin (1905).  It proved to be in a pre-revolutionary spelling, but a kind correspondent modernised this for me, so […]
• A Coptic version of the Acts of Peter – translated by Anthony Alcock
  Anthony Alcock continues his programme of translations of Coptic literature with this item from a papyrus, P.Berol.8502, best known for containing a copy of 3 gnostic texts, including the Apocryphon of John.  Here it is: Alcock_Acts_of_Peter (PDF) As ever, we can all be grateful to have this accessible.
• The “Glaphyra” of Cyril of Alexandria and Matthew 27:25 (part 3)
  This continues the series dealing with patristic quotations of Matthew 27:25 – “His blood be upon us and upon our children.”  Cyril of Alexandria is our current target, but I think we’re getting close to the end. Now I’ve dealt with the first and second quotations from the Glaphyra.  I think that I probably got […]
• Playing with a 1905 Russian book, Finereader 12, and Google Translate
  This morning I decided to see what I could find out about a 1905 Russian edition of the works of Methodius of Olympus (d.311 AD), which I obtained in PDF form from a library in Chicago a year or so back. Now I don’t know any Russian … not even the alphabet.  But I have […]
• Sometimes it can be a long day at the monastery
  David Wilmshurst has sent me an amusing GIF of the (amicable) 13th century debate on christology between Latin and Syrian monks… ‘And how many natures, persons, hypostases, wills, energies and activities do you ascribe precisely to the Incarnate Christ? Think carefully before you answer …’ Click to enlarge.  
• The “Glaphyra” of Cyril of Alexandria and Matthew 27:25 (part 2)
  Yesterday I gave the first of the four passages in the Glaphyra in which Cyril quotes Matt.27:25, “His blood be upon us and our descendants.”  Today I continue with the second.  The TLG entry is as follows: PG 69 col. 349 line 29: Ἕτερον γὰρ, οἶμαι, παρὰ τοῦτό ἐστιν οὐδὲν τὸ ἀσυνέτως εἰπεῖν ἐπὶ Χριστῷ· […]
• Upcoming: translation (offline) of Bar Hebraeus’ “Chronicon Ecclesiasticum”
  The 13th century Syriac writer Bar Hebraeus wrote before the Mongol invasions that devastated the Near East and reduced it to the backward condition in which it has languished ever since.  The same events also brought an end to the production of Syriac literature, and caused the loss of vast amounts of what already existed. Among […]
• More engravings of Rome in the 18th century from Piranesi: Vatican Rotunda and Meta Sudans!
  A tweet this evening drew my attention to the fact that a search by author on Piranesi at the Spanish National Library produces heaps of results, available in very high quality and very large images.  I looked through these, and found a couple of gems. First, an external view of St Peter’s: “Veduta dell’ Esterno della gran […]
• The “Glaphyra” of Cyril of Alexandria and Matthew 27:25
  Cyril of Alexandria wrote quite a number of commentaries on the Old Testament.  There is the De adoratione et cultu in spiritu et veritate, in 17 books, in the form of a dialogue with a certain Palladius.  There is the massive line-by-line Commentary on Isaiah, in 5 books; and his Commentary on the minor prophets, […]
• Severian of Gabala, De Sacrificiis Caini (PG 62: 719-722 = CPG 4208) – now online in English
  Another work attributed to Severian of Gabala, On the sacrifices of Cain, CPG 4208, has come online at Academia.edu here.  It contains parallel Greek and Latin from Migne. Marvellous!
• The Meta Sudans in a drawing of the Arch of Constantine by Piranesi
  The Meta Sudans is (by now) familiar to us in old photographs, as a Roman fountain extant as merely a brick stump outside the Arch of Constantine in Rome, which was demolished by Mussolini in the 1930’s.  But until the 19th century it was twice the height.  Ancient pictures on coins show a slender, pointed […]
• Cyril of Alexandria and Matthew 27:25 (part 2): the case of the vanishing passage!
  Yesterday I discussed 5 passages from Cyril of Alexandria’s Commentary on the XII minor prophets, which according to a TLG search supposedly reference Matthew 27:25, “His blood be upon us all”.  Passage #1 was a glitch, and #3-5 are genuine and I gave the passages in translation using the Fathers of the Church translation. But it is […]
• Cyril of Alexandria and Matthew 27:25 (part 1)
  The evil day has arrived, when I have to sift the references to Matthew 27:25 found in the works of Cyril of Alexandria.   Woe is me. We start with his Commentary on the 12 Minor Prophets.  The TLG search gave us the following five references: Volume 1 page 90 line 7: φόνος καὶ κλοπὴ καὶ μοιχεία […]
• From my diary
  At least I got Procopius done.  But I really feel he’s too late a writer for me to worry about, in the survey of early Christian writers who wrote about Matt. 27:25.  I don’t know about anybody else, but I am getting a little fed up of this particular story.  Perhaps it’s time to write […]
• Procopius of Gaza and Matthew 27:25 (part 2)
  Let’s continue looking at the references to Matthew 27:25 – “His blood be upon us, and upon our children” in the 6th century writer Procopius of Gaza.  Earlier I translated a number of passages here.  We’re looking at this reference in BiblIndex: Procopius of Gaza, Commentarii in Octateuchum, PG 87.1, 21-1220. (p.252); (p.491, l.46); (p.919); […]
• From my diary
  It’s the end of a long hard week, and I can’t face any more Procopius of Gaza tonight!  So I’ve instead been downloading a few volumes of the Patrologia Graeca from Google Books to my hard disk.  It’s always helpful to have these locally, as hotel Wifi is not to be relied on when you want […]
• Post-antique / Byzantine references to Matthew 27:25
  Two kind correspondents have sent me the results of a search of the TLG for references to wording found in Matt.27:25.  I have used these (different!) outputs, to supplement my blog post on ancient references, which hitherto ends with Procopius of Gaza.  This has added a few extra items: the big finds are a bunch of references to Cyril […]
• Procopius of Gaza and Matthew 27:25
  Our review of patristic references to Matthew 27:25 (“His blood be upon us and our children”) has now reached the latest author given by BiblIndex, Procopius of Gaza.  With this author we have reached the 6th century, and there is a case that we are no longer dealing with patristic writers, but rather with Byzantine […]
• Augustine’s “Treatise against the Jews”
  Augustine’s Tractatus adversus Judaeos (Treatise against the Jews) is probably unfamiliar to most of us.  This short work – a homily, or a pamphlet – is printed in the Patrologia Latina vol. 42, cols 51-64.  But I was quite unaware that an English translation exists, in Fathers of the Church 27, published under the title Treatises on Marriage and […]
• Jerome, Commentary on Jeremiah, on Matthew 27:25
  The next patristic work to refer to Matthew 27:25 is in Jerome’s Commentary on Jeremiah.  BiblIndex gives the following information: Jerome, In Hieremiam prophetam libri VI. REITER S., CCL 74 (1960). § 2 (p.71, l.18) & § 3 (p.162, l.20 & § 3 (p.181, l.14) Which is fine if you have the Corpus Christianorum Latina […]
• Origen’s new homilies on the Psalms – now published!
  J.B. Piggin draws my attention to a marvel – a timely scholarly edition!  You may remember how, in 2012, a bunch of unknown homilies on the psalms were found in the Bavarian State Library in Munich?  This itself was a wonderful find: and the Bavarians went further, and put the manuscript online – a process that […]
• Origen on Matthew 27:25 from the Commentariorum in Matthaeum Series
  Only books 10-17 of Origen’s Commentary in Matthew survive in Greek.  But as I wrote yesterday, a Latin translation from antiquity renders a large chunk, from books 12, chapter 9 to almost the end of Matthew’s gospel.  Unfortunately there are no signposts in the text as to Origen’s book division: only a division into sections, […]
• Some notes on Origen’s Commentary on Matthew
  The Commentary on Matthew written by Origen of Alexandria in 25 books has not come down to us complete.  From SC162 I learn that the Greek text of books 10-17 has survived complete.  This appears as GCS 40, which is online here. Two independent but closely related manuscripts have preserved the text: Monacensis gr. 191, […]
• Jerome on Matthew 27:25
  While looking for information on the textual tradition of Origen’s Commentary on Matthew, I stumbled across a Google books preview of Jerome’s Commentary on Matthew, in the Fathers of the Church series, vol. 117 (2008), ably translated by Thomas Scheck.  This work in four books also references Matthew 27:25 (His blood be upon us and on our […]
• Another Matthew 27:25 reference in Theodoret on the Psalms?
  The next reference in the Fathers to Matthew 27:25 – “His blood be upon us and our children” – is to be found in Theodoret.  The Biblindex site gives the reference simply as “Theodoret, Interpretatio in Psalmos. PG 80, 857-1997″ which is notable for the lack of a precise column number.  Oh dear. Today I […]
• From my diary
  I’m still working on my post on the use of Matt.27:25.  It is really interesting, looking up all these unfamiliar passages in patristic writers.  Today I translated most of a question by Ambrosiaster; and several sections of homilies found in the Patrologia Graeca.  I can’t translate from Greek – my training as a scientist did […]
• Origen, Fragments on Proverbs – translation by Travis Fernald now online
  Travis Fernald has been doing an MA at Pittsburg Theological Seminary, on Origen’s views on human wisdom as expressed in his Commentary on Proverbs (CPL 1430); or rather, on what now remains of it – some 17 columns in the Patrologia Graeca 13.  He wrote to tell me about this, and has very kindly made the […]
• More pictures of the Septizonium
  My attention was drawn to a couple more pictures of the Septizonium this week.  First, drawing in B. Gamucci ‘Libri Quattro dell’ antichita della citta di Roma’ 1569: Next, a redrawing by Dutchman Matthijs Bril, via the Louvre: Interesting for showing the area beyond the monument.
• Three texts describing labouring jobs in a Coptic monastery – translated by Anthony Alcock
  Anthony Alcock has translated three Coptic texts which give instructions on manual labour to be undertaken within a monastery; at harvest, in the bakery, etc.  It’s here: Alcock_Work_in_a_Coptic_Monastery_2015 (PDF) This is very useful, precisely because it is not an “exciting” text.  But it gives a clear picture of an important aspect of monastic life.  Thank you, Dr Alcock, […]
• Online collaborative translation of the Lexicon of Harpocration
  A group of volunteers are making a translation online of the Lexicon of Harpocration.  This has some 300 entries, and the translation is nearly complete, in fact.  The project is here.  The entries seem mainly about people, rather than things, whom a reader of classical literature might find difficulty in identifying.
• From my diary
  This week I went to Cambridge University Library to obtain translations of some patristic quotations of Matthew 27:25 and Acts 4:10 for the post on the subject.  Instead of photocopying them, I used my smartphone and took pictures. I wasn’t sorry to avoid the charge of 15c per page!  On the other hand, trying to balance open […]
• Vatican Manuscript of the Chronography of 354 uploaded
  Another discovery by the excellent J.-B. Piggin is that a crucial manuscript of the Chronography of 354 has been uploaded at the Vatican site.  This is purely illustrations; but then that was always the hard part of this text to get hold of. In 354 AD a famous artist named Furius Dionysius Philocalus was commissioned to […]
• Vatican manuscript with Grimaldi’s memories of Old St Peter’s in Rome uploaded
  The digitisation of the Vatican manuscripts is a very good enterprise, but undertaken in a less than entirely satisfactory way.  The manuscripts are uploaded – but there is no indication of contents beyond the shelfmark.  Thankfully, and in the spirit of crowd-sourcing, J.-B.Piggin has been making notes on them as they appear, and publishing lists at […]
• Shenoute: Apocalypse and Testimony, translated by Anthony Alcock
  Anthony Alcock continues his programme of translations from Coptic with a couple of short texts, which profess to be the Apocalypse and the Testimony by Shenoute.  Whether these are indeed by Shenoute is not clear, but it is very useful to have this material in English! Shenoute-Apocalypse_and_Testament_Alcock_2015 (PDF) Thank you!
• “His blood be upon us”: The use of Mt.27:25 and Acts 4:10 in patristic writers
  An email from a correspondent reached me earlier this week, asking an interesting question: Lately I’ve been tackling arguments that passages like Matt. 27:25 (“his blood be on us…”) were a huge influence on later anti-Semitism. …  The key issue being: Just how influential were passages like Matthew 27:25, and Acts 4:10 (“Be it known unto you […]
• Chrysostom quote: “How is it that you come to be rich?”
  Today I saw an interesting quotation attributed to John Chrysostom, which reads as follows: John Chrysostom, a fourth-century preacher and bishop of Constantinople, wrote, “Tell me then, how is it that you are rich? From whom did you receive it, and from whom did he transmit it to you? From his father and his grandfather. […]
• Religious tests, profligate wretches, and the tricks of memory
  Many years ago – indeed in my last summer at Oxford – I formed a high opinion of the pre-WW1 essays of Augustine Birrell.  This opinion was not founded on any great study.  On the contrary: I was going punting, and looking for a book to take with me.  In a shop I found a copy […]
• A couple more drawings of the Vatican rotunda
  A couple more drawings have come my way of the Vatican Rotunda. I have blogged before about this.  It appears that a couple of circular tombs were built in the 3rd century AD in what had been the Circus of Gaius and Nero, just down the slope from where Constantine was to build the basilica […]
• Further notes on the “Cura Sanitatis Tiberii”
  Yesterday I wrote some notes on this curious Latin apocryphal text.  There is a whole cycle of medieval texts about what happened to Pilate after the gospels, often attached to the Gospel of Nicodemus in Latin versions, of which the Cura Sanitatis Tiberii is one. Today I discovered a few more bits of information, especially […]
• The death of Pilate: a text and some notes on the “Cura Sanitatis Tiberii”
  A correspondent enquired whether I knew of a translation of a text named the Cura sanitatis Tiberii.  Never having heard of this text, I looked into it.  Here is what I found. In the medieval Greek and Latin manuscripts, there are preserved a whole cycle of fictional stories known as the Gospel of Nicodemus, the Acts […]
• Severian of Gabala bibliography – minor update
  I came across an article by Alin Suciu on the Coptic ps.Severian homily In Apostolos, and thought that I had better update the bibliography.  It is, as ever, far from comprehensive – I am no compiler of bibliographies – but merely a tool for my own purposes. Severian-of-Gabala-works (PDF) Severian-of-Gabala-works (docx) This replaces the files uploaded here. […]
• A couple more photographs of the Meta Sudans and base of the Colossus
  A couple more interesting pictures appeared on Twitter tonight. The first of these was posted by Ste Trombetti, and shows the Arch of Titus in 1848 (!).  The photo is in the Getty archive, and was taken by Count Jean-François-Charles-André Flachéron (French, 1813-1883).  Through the arch, the Meta Sudans is visible, in its truncated 19th century […]
• Discovered: A 5-6th century fragment of Methodius’ “Symposium”!
  I learn from Brice C. Jones that a marvellous discovery has been made: a papyrus leaf, or the remains of one, containing a portion of the Symposium of the Ante-Nicene writer Methodius of Olympus (d. 311 AD, as a martyr): New Discovery: The Earliest Manuscript of Methodius of Olympus and an Unattested Saying about the […]
• Theodore of Antioch: Encomium on Theodore the Anatolian – now online in English
  Anthony Alcock has continued his marvellous programme of translations from Coptic.  Today’s item is the Encomium on Theodore the Anatolian, by Theodore, Bishop of Antioch.  It’s here: Alcock_Theodore_of_Antioch_on_Theodore_the_Anatolian_2015 (PDF) The manuscript that contains the work was published by E.A.W. Budge, and dates from 995 AD. The text is a hagiographical text, but St. Theodore the Anatolian […]
• Some tables of contents in minuscule Greek manuscripts
  Via AWOL I discovered the existence of a search engine for Greek manuscripts, made by David Jenkins and online at Princeton here.  I promptly started looking for examples of the “summaries” or “tables of contents” in Greek texts.  Not many of the texts that I looked at had them; but a few did. First off, let’s have […]
• Online: Free .pdf version of Lanciani’s “Forma Urbis Romae”
  Ste Trombetti draws my attention to the existence of a PDF of 19th century archaeologist R. Lanciani’s map of ancient Rome.  It’s here. It zooms really nicely too… Here’s a mirror of the PDF. lanciani_carta-archeologica.pdf0 (PDF)
• From my diary
  Oops.  I was just preparing the Italian text for the next chapter of Eutychius when I noticed that it was chapter 14; while my posts for the last five chunks were supposedly “chapter 12”.  They should, of course, have been headed “chapter 13”.  I have gone back and fixed the headings. The mistake was easy, […]
• The Annals of Eutychius of Alexandria (10th c. AD) – chapter 13 (part 5 and end)
  Eutychius continues telling us about the reign of Arcadius, in the 5th century, from his perspective of 5 centuries later, followed by the story of the Nestorian dispute. 13. In the fourth year of his reign, i.e. the reign of Arcadius, king of Rum, there reigned over the Persians Yazdağard (37), son of Bahram, called “the […]
• The Annals of Eutychius of Alexandria (10th c. AD) – chapter 13 (part 4)
  Here’s the next chunk of the Annals of Eutychius, covering the period of Chrysostom.  The story of Chrysostom and his violent disagreement with Theophilus of Alexandria must always have been difficult for the Copts, who revered both.  10. There lived in Egypt a bishop who had died leaving three children, who then all three became monks who […]
• English translation of Cramer’s catena on Galatians published
  John Litteral writes to tell me that a complete translation of Cramer’s catena-commentary on Galatians has been made by Bill Berg, and is available at a trivial price ($12)on Amazon here (US) and here (UK). Some will be unaware of what a catena is.  The medieval church created its bible commentaries by stringing together chains of quotations from […]
• The Nazis at Jesi: some notes on the modern history of the codex Aesinas of Tacitus’ “Germania” &c.
  The minor works of Tacitus include the Germania and the Agricola.  The history of the manuscripts is somewhat tangled.  Several manuscripts of the minor works reached the renaissance, but were then lost.  The only survivor today is the Codex Aesinas Latinus 8, possibly the same as that discovered at Hersfeld by Guarini.  It was discovered […]
• Drawings by Mercati (1629) of Aurelian’s “Temple of the Sun” / temple of Serapis
  The excellent Ste Trombetti has discovered online a couple more drawings made in the days when more of ancient Rome existed than does now.  This is really valuable, since locating such items is difficult for most of us. These drawings are by G. B. Mercati, from 1629, from the series Alcune vedute et prospettive di […]
• Anrich online at German site
  I keep losing these links, so perhaps a post will help. Most of the literary sources for St Nicholas of Myra were published by G. Anrich, Hagios Nikolaos. Der heilige Nikolaos in der griechischen Kirche, in two volumes before WW1.  These are online at Hathi Trust, for US readers only – in case worldwide rioting breaks […]
• The Annals of Eutychius of Alexandria (10th c. AD) – chapter 13 (part 3)
  Let’s carry on reading the “Annals” of Eutychius of Alexandria.  The translation that I am making from Italian is very rough, no doubt: but since nobody capable of doing so has ever made a translation of this work into English, it does at least give us some idea of what the work contains. 8. In […]
• The Easter Bunny must die! – fear and loathing at the Guardian
  There is an article published by the Guardian Newspaper in London in 2010, written by a certain Heather McDougall, which gets trotted out at this time of year.  It rejoices in the title The Pagan Roots of Easter. Easter is, of course, the festival of Christ’s death and resurrection.  Malicious or dishonest – but unscholarly […]
• From my diary
  It’s the evening of Easter Saturday.  I don’t use my computer on Sundays, so this is my opportunity to wish you all a happy Easter.  With or without chocolate eggs, bunnies, or whatever! All over the world, Christian bloggers are wracking their brains on what to say about today.  I have nothing original to say. […]
• Photos of the base of the Colossus of Nero, and Mussolini’s alterations to the Colosseum area
  While looking for material about the Meta Sudans, I stumbled across something which very few people know. Most people will know that the Colosseum is named after a colossal statue of Nero that used to stand nearby.  Originally cast in bronze and stood outside the Domus Aurea, it was changed into a statue of the […]
• Martyrdom of St. Lacaron – now online in English by Anthony Alcock
  Anthony Alcock has translated a long Coptic martyrdom or “passion” for us.  This is the Passion of S. Lacaron, which Orlandi dates to the 8th century.  The text and translation is here: Martyrdom_of_Lacaron_alcock (PDF) The Coptic Encyclopedia (vol. 5, 1991) has a useful article on Lacaron here, which reads as follows: (CE: 1423b-1424a) LACARON, SAINT, martyr in […]
• Further information on Mussolini and the Meta Sudans, by Elizabeth Marlowe
  On Wednesday I posted a selection of old photographs of the Meta Sudans, and asked why Mussolini demolished it.  I then came across an article by Elizabeth Marlowe, ‘The Mutability of All Things’: The Rise, Fall and Rise of the Meta Sudans Fountain in Rome, which answered some of these questions. Here is an illustration […]
• Mussolini and the Meta Sudans
  It’s been a little while since I posted a picture of the Meta Sudans.  This was the conical fountain at the end of the Appian Way, just outside the Colosseum. At Wikimedia Commons today I found an old photograph, from the Bundesarchiv Bild library (no 102-12292) of Mussolini, from a podium outside the Colosseum.  The […]
• More archaeology on our own PCs
  In my post Archaeology on my own PC, I discussed what I did with some files from the early 90s, that I found archived on my PC, and how I got them into a modern file format. Some of the files were in .drw format.  These were produced by a long-vanished DOS-based drawing package, Lotus […]
• 75 more Greek manuscripts online at the British Library – the last batch
  The final batch of Greek manuscripts has gone online at the British Library.  This means that pretty much all the mss are now online, except for a few fragments post-1600 bound in other collections; and a few (how many?) not digitised because doing so might damage them. Something that I have not mentioned, but which […]
• English translation of Shenoute’s “On those who have left the monastery” by Anthony Alcock
  This afternoon brings another gem from Anthony Alcock: a translation from Coptic of Shenoute’s De eis qui e monasterio discesserunt, his attack on monks who have abandoned their monastery.  He explains: The text translated here makes it clear that some of those who have left blamed Shenoute for his ill-treament, but others simply did not the […]
• Jona Lendering’s new “Ancient History” magazine
  An email from Jona Lendering of livius.org advises me that he has launched a printed magazine called “Ancient History”.  It will be bi-monthly, and aimed at a popular audience. It’s all pretty much funded already, via Kickstarter, and he’s hoping for lots of subscribers.  He writes: There’s a summary of everything here, there’s a more […]
• The Annals of Eutychius of Alexandria (10th c. AD) – chapter 13 (part 2)
  Here is some more of the Annals of Eutychius of Alexandria (= Sa`id ibn Bitriq), translated by me from the hard-to-find Italian translation of Bartolomeo Pirone.  We’re at the end of the 4th century AD, the reign of Theodosius the Great. 6. But let’s return to what we were saying about Theodosius and Theophilus.  Theophilus, the […]
• Your article, your footnotes: getting started with Zotero
  These days you may have to submit an article to one of a number of journals, each of whom uses a different format for footnotes.  To cope with this foolishness, it’s a good idea to have all your references in a database somewhere, and insert them into your paper in Microsoft Word using {field} tags, […]
• The Annals of Eutychius of Alexandria (10th c. AD) – chapter 13 (part 1)
  We continue the Annals of Eutychius, and deal with the Council of Constantinople and some anti-Manichaean material.  It is important to recall that Eutychius is a Melkite, and Patriarch of Alexandria. 1. Theodosius, called Theodosius the Great (1), reigned over Rum for seventeen years.  This happened in the fortieth year of the reign of Sabur, […]
• Archaeology on our own PCs – unravelling old file formats
  A good few years – seventeen! – have passed since I left off working for a certain major corporation, stashed a bunch of documents and sometime projects in a directory on my PC, and went off to seek my fortune.  But this week the past came back to me, in the shape of reunion drinks; […]
• Guest-post: Valesius, on Sozomen and Socrates (translated by Anthony Alcock!)
  The Ecclesiastical History of Eusebius ends in 325 AD.  It was continued by both Socrates and Sozomen. The opinions of early modern editors are often of considerable interest, but, since they wrote their scholarship in Latin, few today take the trouble to read them. Anthony Alcock has kindly translated for us the section de vita et scriptis […]
• St Nicholas of Myra, “Life” by Michael the Archimandrite (Vita per Michaelem) now online in English
  We all know who Santa Claus is.  Some of us may even know that he is derived from St Nicholas of Myra, who threw three bags of gold through the windows of three poor girls, so that they could have a dowry and get married.  But none of the medieval literature about St Nicholas – […]
• Uploading the remains of the failed al-Makin transcription project
  If you wish to learn the literature of a people, a good place to start is their histories of themselves.  For Arabic Christian literature – the literature of the Christian peoples occupied by the Muslims in the 7th century, there are five such histories.  I have done some work on Agapius and Eutychius. But the […]
• HMML microfilmed manuscripts in Syriac and Christian Arabic
  The Hill Monastic Manuscript Library, under Fr Columba Stewart, has been photographing manuscripts in the East for quite a few years now, and creating microfilms of them.  How necessary this work is, has been shown graphically in recent weeks by the barbaric destruction of Assyrian monuments in Iraq by Muslim thugs, apparently out of sheer […]
• Some stories from the Apophthegmata Patrum
  I suppose that only a few will download the PDFs of Anthony Alcock’s new translation from Coptic of the Sayings of the Fathers.  But it contains many stories that the monks told each other.  Here are one or two samples.  I have over-paragraphed them for readability. 226. It was said of Apa Macarius that one […]
• Anthony Alcock, Fourth part of Coptic Sayings of the Fathers now online
  Anthony Alcock continues his translation of the Apophthegmata Patrum – The Sayings of the Fathers with a translation of the fourth and final part.  The complete set are all here.
• The Annals of Eutychius of Alexandria (10th c. AD) – chapter 12
  This part of the Annals continues the history of the 4th century, interleaving material from the Greek chronographic tradition with a lost Sassanid Persian chronicle known to the author in Arabic translation.  Unfortunately the chapter ends with a curious oriental folk tale.  One wonders what Theodosius the Great would have thought of it! 1. Sabur […]
• Did St Nicholas of Myra / Santa Claus punch Arius at the Council of Nicaea?
  In many places online we can find the statement that St Nicholas of Myra – the basis for Santa Claus – was present at the First Council of Nicaea in 325 AD, where he punched Arius in the mouth.  So … is it true? Unfortunately we have almost no historical information at all about any […]
• Is this Katharevousa and can anyone translate it? A passage from Damaskenos Monachos on St Nicholas punching Arius
  Let me introduce to a certain Damaskenos Monachos.  Apparently he lived in the second half of the 16th century, and may (or may not) be identical with the man of that name who was Bishop of Liti and Rendini in 1564; and Metropolitan of Naupaktos and Arta in 1570.  He composed a biography of St […]
• Negotiating the use of another translation – the Vita Per Michaelem of Nicholas of Myra
  The earliest full-dress hagiographical “life” of St Nicholas of Myra, a.k.a. Santa Claus, is the Vita per Michaelem by Michael the Archimandrite, dating from the 9th century.  The first 11 chapters of this were translated by John Quinn of Hope College, Holland, Michigan, but he died in 2008 while out jogging without completing the work.  […]
• The Annals of Eutychius of Alexandria (10th c. AD) – chapter 11 (part 7 and end)
  This seems to wind up the stories about the Arian controversy, and we then continue with the death of Constantine, and events in the Sassanid realm.  An apocryphal and rather awful story about Constantine persecuting the Jews appears in this section, which gives a rather nasty impression of the attitude of the Melkites in the 10th […]
• Constantine banned crucifixion – sources
  Yesterday someone told me that crucifixion was banned by Constantine.  I wondered how we knew this. The actual edict has not survived, and is not included in our collections of Roman law.  Our source is only Sozomen, Ecclesiastical History I, 8:13, it seems.  First Sozomen: He regarded the cross with peculiar reverence, on account both of the […]
• Freaky Fables: The Career of Richard the Lionheart – according to Handelsman!
  Those of a bookish disposition have a tendency, in middle age, to go in search of the books that they read in their formative years.  I will not disclaim any such tendency.  Rather, I have just come across an item that I read when I was very much younger, which I thought that I might […]
• Some notes on Musonius Rufus
  C. Musonius Rufus (c. 30-100 AD) was a Stoic philosopher of the reign of Vespasian.  He belongs to the group of four Roman Stoics which comprises Seneca, Epictetus (who was a pupil of Musonius Rufus), and Marcus Aurelius.  He has been referred to as “the Roman Socrates”. Naturally he spent time in gaol under Nero, and was exiled under Vespasian. […]
• A trip to Colchester Castle museum
  The Roman site of Camulodunum lies beneath the modern British town of Colchester.  By a curious chance, it remains an army town, even today, almost 2,000 years later. Today I drove there, with the intention of photographing the Roman items on display in the Castle, which serves as the town museum.  The Norman Colchester Castle […]
• The Annals of Eutychius of Alexandria (10th c. AD) – chapter 11 (part 6)
  The story of the 4th century, as seen by a Christian Arabic writer of the 10th century, continues.  Thankfully we are now past the stuff about the finding of the True Cross. 15. In the twenty-first year of the reign of Constantine Athanasius was made patriarch of Alexandria (40). He was a Kātib.  He held […]
• Paulinus of Nola, and the “Liber Pontificalis”, on the courtyard outside Old St Peter’s
  In early 396 AD Paulinus of Nola wrote a letter of consolation to his friend Pammachius which contains an interesting passage on the entrance courtyard at the front of Old St Peter’s. It is a pleasure even now to linger on the sight and the praise of such a great work. For we do not laud the […]
• The Annals of Eutychius of Alexandria (10th c. AD) – chapter 11 (part 5)
  The next chunk of the 10th century Arabic Christian Annals of Sa`id ibn Bitriq / Eutychius begins with words that indicate that the text as we have it has been re-edited at a later time.  We’re still wading through dull twaddle about the Council of Nicaea. 12. Sa`id Ibn Batriq, the doctor, said: “I wanted to […]
• The fountain of the pine-cone outside Old St Peter’s in Rome
  In the little courtyard or “atrium”, inside the portico but outside the main doors of Old St Peter’s (and you can follow the tag below for many images of the church), stood a little fountain. It included a colossal pine-cone of bronze, which will be familiar to many who have visited the Vatican: I found online […]
• A drawing of the Church of the Holy Apostles in Constantinople?
  When the Muslims conquered Constantinople in 1453, one of their first actions was to tear down and demolish the Church of the Holy Apostles, the church to which the mausoleum of Constantine was attached, and to build on it the mosque of Mehmet the Conquerer. I have never seen a drawing of the church until […]
• New English translation of Coptic “Prayer of Athanasius” now online
  Anthony Alcock has very kindly sent me a new English translation that he has made of the Coptic Prayer of Athanasius.  It’s here: prayer_of_athanasius-alcock_2015 (PDF) The text used is E.A. Wallis Budge Miscellaneous Texts in the Dialect of Upper Egypt (1915).  However he tells us that the downloaded copy of this accessible to him was tightly […]
• A few more pictures from Heidelberg
  The Digital Library at the University of Heidelberg is a little difficult to use at first.  But if you go to the search page and enter “romae”, you will get a list of books.  If you click on one of these, such as Montjosieu’s Romae Hospes (1585), you will get the “home page” for the book, […]
• Dosio’s pictures of Roman ruins (1569) also online
  Searching the collection at UB Heidelberg for words like “Romae”, “Romanae” produces some excellent results, if you know a few of the artists of the period.   The drawings of G. A. Dosio have been referenced before on these pages!  They come from his Urbis Romae Aedificiorum Illustriumquae Supersunt Reliquiae (1569), online here.  The thumbnails of […]
• More images of then-surviving Roman monuments from “Speculum Romanae Magnificentiae” by A. Lafrery (1593)
  Following my post yesterday, Ste Trombetti has found that the prints by Lafrerie / Lafrery are to be located in the Speculum Romanae Magnificentiae (1593).  Happily this is online in high resolution, and downloadable in PDF form, at the UB in Heidelberg here (and the page shows all the pix in thumbnail too – a very […]
• Some more images of Old St Peter’s basilica in Rome
  This evening I did a Google Images search for images of Old St Peter’s basilica in Rome.  I’ve put some of these online before; but it’s always worth searching again, as new material appears all the time. Note that you can click on these images to get a larger picture sometimes. Via this site I […]
• The Annals of Eutychius of Alexandria (10th c. AD) – chapter 11 (part 4)
  Let’s continue reading this.  I’m taking the Italian translation by Pirone – itself a near-impossible item to obtain -, running it through Google Translate and cleaning up the output.  I know that “no true scholar” would do this; but since I see evidence that people simply don’t know what may be found in Eutychius, it seems worth […]
• A useful paper on Eutychius of Alexandria (Sa`id ibn Batriq); and some rueful reflections on why a useful tax-funded book has been made copyright of Brill
  A little while ago I came across an article, online in PDF format, which contained much the most useful overview known to me of the life and works of the 10th century Melkite patriarch of Alexandria, Eutychius, known to the Arabs as Sa`id ibn Bitriq.  The author is Uriel Simonsohn, an Israeli academic, and the […]
• Gamucci’s images of the Septizonium; the Temple of the Sun; the Arch of Claudius; and the obelisk and Vatican Rotunda
  Ste. Trombetti has continued to search through early books and prints for images of vanished Rome.  Here is another example, from the 1565 work Dell’Antichita di Roma by Bernardo Gamucci.  It depicts the remains of the monumental facade that Septimius Severus built across the end of the Palatine hill facing the Appian Way.  Behind it […]
• The Annals of Eutychius of Alexandria (10th c. AD) – chapter 11 (part 3)
  The story continues… sadly with very little historical value. 7.  Constantine made the necessary preparations and prepared to fight against Maxentius, King of the Romans.  He had prepared a large cross, placed it on top of a standard, and went against Maxentius, king of Rome.  Having heard that Constantine had moved to fight against him, Maxentius […]
• Draft translation of Chrysostom’s “Laus Diodori” now online
  Regular correspondent IG has written to say that her translation of the Laus Diodori by Chrysostom (PG 52: 761-766 = CPG 4406) is now available online on Academia.edu here.  It’s just the bare translation, no commentary yet; but it’s there and it’s hot!
• The Annals of Eutychius of Alexandria (10th c. AD) – chapter 11 (part 2)
  Once more Eutychius switches over again to the lost Sassanid Persian chronicle which he is interweaving with the Greek chronicles; and then back.  We are not told what became of Maximian: evidently the Sassanid chronicle did not say. 5.  As for Sabur, son of Hurmuz, king of the Persians, he grew up and become a young man, and, throughout […]
• The literary development of the “Life” of St Nicholas of Myra (=Santa Claus)
  The modern idea of “Santa Claus” derives, at some remove, from the medieval legends of the Greek orthodox St. Nicholas of Myra, recorded in the hagiographical texts known as “Saints’ Lives”.  Ever since I discovered that none of these vita‘s have been translated into English, I have been looking into the matter.  Of course the […]
• Why Methodius ad Theodorum (9 c.) is proving very difficult to translate
  Back in 2013 I wondered what the earliest sources were for the life of St. Nicholas of Myra, whose legends form the basis for the Santa Claus story.  There are three, all 9-10th century, in fact.  I decided that one of these, the Methodius ad Theodorum, c. 817-821 AD, would be a good candidate to get […]
• The Annals of Eutychius of Alexandria (10th c. AD) – chapter 11 (part 1)
  The memory of the Great Persecution, under Diocletian, persisted.  Unfortunately the details seem to have been entirely forgotten by Eutychius’ time, and been replaced by fiction. 1. Diocletian began to reign in the eleventh year of the reign of Sabur, son of Hurmuz, king of the Persians.  Together with Diocletian reigned Maximian called Ilkūriyūs (1).  They […]
• More online Greek manuscripts at the British Library
  Another batch of Greek manuscripts has gone online at the British Library, which is excellent news.  It’s a fairly miscellaneous batch, but that’s all to the good.  New discoveries are not likely to be made in the “mainstream” manuscripts that are turned over constantly; but rather in those which are never handled or examined. Here […]
• Sayings attributed to Jesus in Muslim sources, translated by Anthony Alcock
  In the Patrologia Orientalis 13 and 19 is a collection of deeds and sayings attributed to Jesus in Muslim sources of the 10th-11th century.  This was edited by Miguel Asin y Palacios in 1919 and 1924.  Asin apparently took the curious view that these went back to the 1st century.  (Anyone familiar at all with […]
• The Annals of Eutychius of Alexandria (10th c. AD) – chapter 10 (part 4 and end)
  Let’s continue using Google translate on the Italian translation of the Annals, with some smoothing and correcting, and see what Eutychius has to say.  This section again contains a chunk from the lost Sassanid Persian chronicle. 16. Ghallitīnūs Caesar, King of the Romans, died.  After him Claudius Caesar (61) reigned in Rome, for one year only.  […]
• Latin scribes getting Greek numerals wrong – authorial corrections in the text of Jerome’s Chronicle
  Sometime before 325 AD, Eusebius of Caesarea compiled his Chronicle, in two books.  The second volume exploited the new, large-size, parchment codex, and consisted of page after page of tables of dates and events, synchronising events in different kingdoms, and laying the basis for all subsequent history.  Around 380, Jerome came across a copy in […]
• From my diary – scanning my own past
  You do it.  I do it.  We all do it.  Yes, I’m talking about photocopies!  All those journal articles… all those books that we couldn’t get hold of in any other way. At least, that’s what we used to do.  I suspect that university libraries are allowing copying direct to PDF these days.  But certainly […]
• The Annals of Eutychius of Alexandria (10th c. AD) – chapter 10 (part 3)
  We continue reading the Arabic Christian Annals by Eutychius, Melkite patriarch of Alexandria.  The Sassanid kings, whose lost chronicle is used here, seem to have had a direct way with the Manichaeans. 9. Alexander Caesar, King of the Romans, died.  After him Maximinus Caesar (31) reigned over the Romans, in Rome, for three years.  This […]
• Why do Greek alchemical works get more and more obscure in terminology over time?
  Greek technical literature is largely neglected.  Few can work with it, unless they have both excellent language skills, plus knowledge of the specialised jargon, plus some knowledge of the subject area – medicine, chemistry, or whatever. But even someone who has all this may find themselves baffled.  The following section from a paper in Ambix: […]
• Some 1786 images from the Baths of Titus
  The Baths of Titus have long been destroyed.  They stood over part of the remains of Nero’s Golden House, itself filled with frescos. A volume published in 1786 and now online, Ponce, Description des bains de Titus, here, contains a general view of the Baths, as they then stood, together with the entrance to the underground […]
• A bunch of Chrysostom and ps.Chrysostom now online in English
  Sometime correspondent “Inepti Graeculi” has been working away on some of the untranslated works of Chrysostom, and also some of the mass of literature attributed to him in transmission. This sort of work is excellent.  Voicu has estimated that there are around 1,500 texts which are spuriously attributed to Chrysostom.  They are, of course, works […]
• The Annals of Eutychius of Alexandria (10th c. AD) – chapter 10 (part 2)
  Up to now, Eutychius has repeated material derived from the Greek chronographic tradition.  As we saw in the last post, in chapter 10, for the first time, he introduces material from elsewhere: a now lost Sassanid Persian chronicle, beginning with Ardashir, founder of that dynasty.  Since it is unlikely that Eutychius knew Middle Persian, we […]
• Constantinople photos: the original width of the Hippodrome, plus the column of Arcadius
  A couple of items have appeared on twitter this morning that I am loathe to let go by.  The first is a splendid, end-on view of the Hippodrome in Istanbul.  Note the arches at the foot of it.  This end of the Hippodrome was supported by them; which means that we can see just how […]
• A first century fragment of Mark’s gospel? Some thoughts by an outsider
  An article in Live Science two days ago: Mummy Mask May Reveal Oldest Known Gospel A text that may be the oldest copy of a gospel known to exist — a fragment of the Gospel of Mark that was written during the first century, before the year 90 — is set to be published. … […]
• The Annals of Eutychius of Alexandria (10th c. AD) – chapter 10 (part1)
  Eutychius is obscure, so perhaps a reminder is in order.  It is often forgotten that the lands conquered by the Arabs contained large populations which did not instantly turn into Arabs, or into Moslems.  This text, the “Annals” is by the Melkite patriarch of Alexandria in the 10th century, Eutychius, also known as Sa`id ibn Bitriq.  […]
• Help wanted by Perseus with metadata for Patrologia Graeca
  The Perseus project are working on the Patrologia Graeca and Patrologia Latina.  I’m not entirely certain what they are hoping to produce as output, but it looks as if they are OCRing the volumes, as best they can, and producing lists of what texts are contained, on what pages/column numbers, what footnotes, introductions, etc.  They […]
• The Annals of Eutychius of Alexandria (10th c. AD) – chapter 9 (to end)
  15. At that time the Jews returned to Jerusalem.  They then became so numerous that they filled the city, they decided to give themselves a king.  Hearing about this, Trajan Caesar sent one of his generals to Jerusalem at the head of a large army (41).  Countless Jews were killed in that way.  Now it happened […]
• John the Lydian, “On the Roman months”, books 1-3: now online in English
  Mischa Hooker has very kindly translated books 1, 2 and 3 of John the Lydian, De Mensibus (On the Roman Months) for us all.  The results are now in the public domain: do as you like with them, and use them for personal, educational or commercial purposes. Book 1 did not make it to us […]
• The Annals of Eutychius of Alexandria (10th c. AD) – chapter 9 (part 3)
  8.  At the time of Nero Caesar, there lived a sage named Andrūmākhus who prepared for king Nero a very effective theriac, called by the Arabs “Diryâq” (16).  King Nero was killed in Rome.  When he learned that the king had been killed, Vespasian lifted the siege of Jerusalem, returned to Caesarea and halted there.  After him [=Nero], there reigned […]
• A modern myth: that a soap factory was found at Pompeii, complete with scented bars!
  This evening I came across an assertion that a soap factory was found among the ruins of Pompeii.  Naturally interested, I did a google search and came across endless assertions of this kind.  Some of them asserted that the find came complete with bars of soap; some sites, indeed, felt able to state that the […]
• Zosimos of Panopolis on soap and soap-making
  Previously we looked at the claim that Galen knows of soap.  In the same article we find the claim: Zosimos the alchemist [148] (c. A.D. 250) mentions both soap (σαπώνιον) and soap-making (σαπωναρικὲ τέκνη). 148.  Berthelot, Collection des anciens Alchemistes Grecs, 1888, vol. ii, 142.3, 143.7.  (This contains Zosimos; French translation here). It is always good […]
• The Bufalini map of Rome (1551)
  Old maps of Rome can contain very useful information.  At this site is the 1748 reproduction of the 1551 Bufalini map of Rome.  The original is here, but for some strange reason is upside down and nearly unreadable.  (Both sites have annoyingly provided us with a “viewer” rather than a download of the whole map). […]
• Galen on the origins of soap
  I stumbled across an interesting claim this afternoon, in the Wikipedia article on soap, which I traced to a 1960 textbook on the history of Greek fire (!) by a certain J.R. Partington. The origin of the name sapo has been much discussed. Some think it is from the German saipjo, others from the English […]
• The Annals of Eutychius of Alexandria (10th c. AD) – chapter 9 (Contd)
  Let’s continue with chapter 9 of this Arabic Christian work: 5. As for those who wonder why the patriarch of Alexandria is called “Bābā”, we answer: “Bābā” means “grandfather”.  But from the time when Ananias was made patriarch of Alexandria by the Evangelist Mark to the time of Demetrius, patriarch of Alexandria, who was the eleventh patriarch […]
• John the Lydian, On the Roman Months IV: January now online
  Mischa Hooker has come up trumps and sent me a translation of the section of John the Lydian, On the Roman Months, book 4, which covers January!  As with previous sections of John, this details the various Roman festivals in the month, together with other calendrical information, often from lost sources.  Dr Hooker has also […]
• The Annals of Eutychius of Alexandria (10th c. AD) – chapter 9
  Let’s continue looking at how the 10th century Melkite patriarch of Alexandria saw the events of the 1st century AD, by giving a translation of the start of chapter 9 of the Annals: 1.  Pilate wrote to king Tiberius speaking of Christ, our Lord, and of his disciples and of the many miracles that they did, […]
• Conference: Syriac intellectual activity in late antiquity. Oxford, 30th-31st January 2015.
  Today I became aware of a two-day conference in Oxford that sounds rather interesting.  It takes place in three weeks time. The title is Syriac intellectual culture in late antiquity: translation, transmission and influence and the abstracts are here.  The cost is negligible – £5 / $8 – and accomodation is possible for a rather more […]
• Anthony Alcock, Third part of Coptic Sayings of the Fathers now online
  Dr Alcock has now sent me the third part of his translation of this work!  It’s here with the others.
• Matti Moosa, RIP
  Armeniologist Robert Bedrosian writes: On Tuesday, December 30, 2014, the great U.S. Syriac scholar and historian, Matti Moosa, passed away. Although we never met in person, he and I became close friends via the Internet. He heard from somewhere that I was translating into English the medieval Armenian versions of Michael the Syrian’s Chronicle. Matti […]
• The Annals of Eutychius of Alexandria (10th c. AD) – the remainder of chapter 8.
  (Continuing our translation from the Italian, itself a very scarce book): 6.  From the time when the star appeared to the Magi, to the time when they knelt before Christ, our Lord, and then returned to their country, was two years.  It was told in a dream to Joseph, Mary’s husband, to take the child and his […]
• Cassiodorus “Chronicle” now online in English
  Bouke Procee has kindly sent me a copy of his translation of this 6th century chronicle (CPL 2269), and made it public domain so that we can all use it.  A text is also included.  Here it is: Cassiodorus_Chronicle_Procee_2014 (PDF) Cassiodorus_Chronicle_Procee_2014 (.docx) Much of the material is reused from earlier Chronicles; the impact of Jerome’s Chronicle is […]
• The Annals of Eutychius of Alexandria (10th c. AD) – chapter 8, continued
  The story continues… (and, accidentally, rather seasonably!) 2.  From the reign of Alexander to the end of the reign of Cleopatra there were 289 years.  While Caesar Augustus was returning to Rome from Egypt, Herod met him a second time, in ar-Ramlah (11), bringing many gifts.  Caesar Augustus gave him power over the whole territory […]
• Anthony Alcock : the “Sayings of the Fathers”, from Coptic
  Anthony Alcock has continued his excellent translations of Coptic texts, which he continues to make available online.  A few days ago he kindly sent me the first two parts (of four) of a translation of the Apophthegmata Patrum – The Sayings of the Fathers, so that they could be available online.  Here they are: Apophthegmata Patrum […]
• And the tide rushes in: now self-service photography arrives at the British Library
  About ten years ago, when digital cameras had appeared, I went down to the British Library and asked if I could use mine to photograph manuscript items.  The female librarian to whom I spoke looked very angry and rudely and indignantly refused.  I remember thinking that the response was more or less as if I […]
• 46 more British Library manuscripts online
  The flow of manuscripts continues!  Here’s some highlights from the latest batch at the British Library. Add MS 26112, Georgius Cedrenus, Compendium historiarum (TLG 3018.001), imperfect, starting from vol. 1, 546.3 and ending with 750.22, συγχάρια τῷ βασιλεῖ (from AD 374 to 641). 12th century. Add MS 27862, John of Damascus, Dialectica sive Capita philosophica […]
• Locating images of monuments online
  A year or so ago I decided to collect some of the online images of monuments of Mithras, and put them together on my site with some explanatory material.  The reason is that I kept seeing some glorious images; with no idea what they were, or where they might be found.  Of course a complete […]
• Augustus’ own reason for attacking Anthony, and an 18th century forgery
  In the old Loeb edition of Martial’s epigrams, translated by Walter C. A. Ker, there is a curious epigram in book XI, 20, which gives Augustus’ own stated motive for the war with Anthony.                XX CAESARIS Augusti lascivos, livide, versus sex lege, qui tristis verba Latina legis: “Quod futuit Glaphyran Antonius, hanc mihi poenani […]
• The Annals of Eutychius of Alexandria (10th c. AD) – opening section of chapter 8
  (I thought that it might be interesting to see how an Arabic Christian writer of the 10th century, Eutychius, also known as Sa’id al-Bitriq, the patriarch of Alexandria, saw the events of the time of Christ.  I think we may all have some fun trying to recognise the names from the Arabic transcriptions!) 1. In the […]
• Severian of Gabala bibliography updated again
  I received an email this evening telling me about four new English translations of homilies by Severian on the ascension; also that De Spiritu Sancto, as published by Migne, is missing the last 10 lines; and that the Clavis Patrum Graecorum Supplement has quite a bit of extra material.  Which, I find, it does. I […]
• From my diary
  A new job at the start of November, so I have been rather preoccupied.  But a little progress has been made. I’ve commissioned a translation of the fragments of Theodore of Mopsuestia on Genesis.  The main part of this was published by Sachau from the Syriac, but there are also Greek fragments.  The tendency towards […]
• The life of St Nicholas of Myra in the “Methodius ad Theodorum”
  Further to my post about the ancient literary sources for Santa Claus – or St Nicholas of Myra – I have begun to look at getting translations made.  The first up is the “letter” of Methodius to Theodore, Methodius Ad Theodorum, BHG 1352y, which appears in Anrich vol. 1, 140-150 and in a revised version (with […]
• Half-way point on the British Library Greek manuscripts
  A post on the British Library manuscripts blog tells me something once almost unimaginable: that fully half the Greek manuscripts in the collection are now online and accessible to the world 90% of the Greek manuscripts of the BL will be online by March.  All credit is due to Julian Harrison and his team for […]
• What does Eutychius’ Annals contain?
  Arabic Christian literature is little known.  There is no English-language handbook, and even the “big histories”, the works in which Arabic-speaking Christians recount their own history, are mostly not translated into English; or, indeed, sometimes even edited. Eutychius – also known as Sa`īd al-Bitrik -, Melkite Patriarch of Alexandria between 877-940 AD, wrote one of the […]
• Coptic Acts of Andrew and Paul now online in English
  Anthony Alcock has continued his programme of translations with the first English translation of two Coptic fragments from a Vatican manuscript, which have been given the title of the Acts of Andrew and Paul.  The two were printed, with French translation, by X. Jacques, “Les deux fragments conservés des ‘Actes d’André et Paul'”, in Orientalia 38 […]
• No photos allowed inside the National Museum in Damascus
  It seems that the Syrian National Museum in Damascus does not / did not allow photography inside the building.  Not that it got many tourists, thanks to the grim reputation of the Assad regime in the old days, but those who did turn up were prevented from photographing, or rather recording, the contents. That doesn’t […]
• Wanted: an epigraphist. Or: Pancieri on “et nos servasti eternali sanguine fuso”
  One of the most famous discoveries in Mithraic studies is the text painted on the wall of the Mithraeum of Santa Prisca in Rome which reads “et nos servasti eternali sanguine fuso” – “and you have saved us through the shedding of the eternal blood.”  This has been widely compared to Christian ideas, and, outside […]
• Proof that Roman gladiators hated astronauts
  Seen on Twitter this morning: Proof that Roman gladiators hated astronauts pic.twitter.com/UUuCkNrXPO (via @CRKARLA) 😉 — Jason Major (@JPMajor) October 22, 2014 Hmm.  Maybe not. We’re often told that “archaeology is science so only archaeology is reliable.” So this is a fun illustration of the perils of that; of what can happen when you have no literary sources, and […]
• Acts of Andrew and Paul: Does anyone have access to “Orientalia”?
  I need an article: can someone help me?  We may get a translation out of it, if we can get hold of the text. The Apocryphal New Testament: A Collection of Apocryphal Christian Literature in an English Translation by J. K. Elliott makes mention of some 9th century Coptic Acts of Andrew and Paul, on p.243. The text […]
• 46 more Greek manuscripts online at the British Library – mostly classical or patristic!
  The British Library manuscripts blog has announced here (and in PDF form here) that another 46 manuscripts have gone online. Which is always good news! This particular group is rather special. For the first time it isn’t dominated by biblical texts. Instead we have mainly classical or patristic manuscripts. Of course a lot of these […]
• Part 3 of the Chronicle of Seert translated by Anthony Alcock – now online
  Anthony Alcock has continued translating the Chronicle of Seert.  Part 3 arrived last night.  I have added it to the post with his other translations, here. This is excellent news.  The more translations that appear on the web, the more people will see them.  In particular this promotes interest among the educated general public; educated, […]
• Choosing what we read: a spiritual warfare?
  It’s a dark, dull, rainy day today; and I am steadfastly refusing to notice.  Because I don’t want to let the rain influence my mood.  So far, it’s working! We all do the same, I know.  But why limit it to the weather? Yesterday I saw, on an American Christian site, Reviewing School Book Lists, […]
• How the church changed after Constantine
  Seen on Twitter this week, via David Walsh: Jesus: ‘If someone strikes you, turn the other cheek’. Chrysostom in 387AD: ‘Slap them in the face!’ – something lost in translation there. It is always good practice to verify your quotations, but this is entirely genuine.  The reference is to the Homilies on the Statues, 1, […]
• Two Pannonian monuments connecting Mithras with 25 Dec.?
  The Hungarian scholar Istvan Toth died this year.  I learn this from his page at Academia.edu, where may be found all his papers and books in electronic form.  This is no small thing, for many are quite inaccessible in the west, even in major research libraries.  Well done, Dr Toth, for making all this mass […]
• A previously unpublished ancient Greek lexicon
  A few months ago I wrote a post summarising the lexica that have reached us from antiquity.  Often ancient material is embedded in the Byzantine lexica, which were also included. Via Peter Head at ETC I learn today that a previously unpublished Byzantine lexicon has made it into print, in an inexpensive edition: Eva Villani, […]
• Primary sources for the Eleusinian mysteries
  At Eleusis stood the most important temple of Demeter, the Greek goddess of the crops and fertility.  The mysteries there were famous.  But what happened there? Needless to say there is a load of hogwash available in printed and web form averring that it was all exactly like a Christian ceremony, or maybe slightly like, […]
• Ps.Chrysostom, De Salute Animae, now online in English
  A rather splendid Greek sermon appears in the Clavis Patrum Graecorum as entry 4622 (vol. 2, p.577-8), among the spuria of Chrysostom, with the title De salute animae (on the salvation of the soul).  Some mss. attribute it to Chrysostom, others to Ephrem Syrus.  It exists in two versions in Greek, and also in Coptic, […]
• Norwich cathedral – no entrance unless you pay $8?
  The more things change, the more they stay the same.  All public institutions in our time seem to be in decay, with ever fatter salaries for those nominally in charge, and ever less concern as to whether the job gets done at all.  This is sometimes eerily remniscent of the 18th century.  Yesterday I found myself thinking of […]
• Some translations by Anthony Alcock from Syriac, Coptic and Arabic
  Anthony Alcock has been busy on a number of texts, creating new translations.  He has kindly sent a number of these to me for upload here, although I think that they are also available on Academia.edu and perhaps on Alin Suciu’s blog also. In each case he provides a useful introduction. Here they are (all PDF): Chronicle […]
• Severian of Gabala – On the Holy Spirit, now online in English
  Severian of Gabala (ca. 398 AD) was a member of the Antiochene school of biblical interpretation.  In consequence his sermons tend to be expository, and consequently still of value today.  Regrettably they have not been translated into English, for the most part.  Regular readers will be aware that I have commissioned translations of a number […]
• Managing the photocopies!
  Alright.  Confess.  Is there anyone who does NOT have a large pile of photocopies of articles, book excerpts, and even complete books, somewhere in their house or study area?  No?  I thought not. Dratted nuisance, aren’t they? Years ago I used to file them, in hanging folders in filing cabinets.  This week I have been […]
• The Green collection founder and his bible museum
  A commenter draws my attention to a most interesting article in the Washington Post: Hobby Lobby’s Steve Green has big plans for his Bible museum in Washington … The Bible museum taking shape in the building over the Federal Center SW Metro station started out in a very different location and with a very different […]
• H.V.Morton on Gregory the Great and the deserted Palatine
  This morning I read these words: I descended the noble steps [from the church of St Gregory on the Caelian hill].  Every day of his life, I reflected, St Gregory while in Rome, and before he went to live at the Lateran Palace as Pope, must have seen the Colosseum; a few paces would take […]
• From my diary
  The first complete draft of Severian of Gabala, De Spiritu Sancto, has arrived.  More to the point, I have now read through it all and given feedback.  One section of it is distinctly hard to follow in the original, because Severian is not being as clear as he might be.  In consequence he has to keep asking […]
• Origen on Ezekiel: yet another translation has been made!
  A correspondent writes: Just wanted to alert you that John Sehorn successfully defended his PhD dissertation on Origen’s Homilies on Ezekiel 1–14 not long ago (link). Apparently it includes a translation of the text. He’s been at it for over three years now – I guess working parallel to you and Scheck. I don’t know.  […]
• If you have access to HathiTrust, can you help me with a 1913 article?
  I’m trying to access an article from Italian journal Ausonia, from 1913.  Unfortunately, while many volumes of the journal before and after are accessible at Archive.org, the particular issue I want is not. The article I want is C. Huelsen, “I lavori archeologici di Giovannantonio Dosio”, in: Ausonia: rivista della Società italiana di archeologia e storia […]
• Sever J. Voicu’s 1990 article on Severian of Gabala
  It is hard to do much work on Severian of Gabala for lack of access to the basic materials; texts, translations and studies.  The list of works in the Clavis Patrum Graecorum is useful, but hard to access and split across various entries and sub-sections.  The most important article on the subject is, and remains […]
• Severian of Gabala news
  A couple of updates on the Severian of Gabala work. Firstly, Bryson Sewell has sent me a first draft of his English translation of De Spiritu Sancto (PG 52 813-826). It still needs heavy revision, and I haven’t commented on it yet, but it is there in skeleton at least.  It looks interesting, for the most […]
• More Greek manuscripts at the British Library
  An announcement this morning that 44 more Greek manuscripts are now online at the British Library, thanks to funding from Stavros Niarchos. Many are biblical manuscripts.  The following will be of interest to us. (Apologies for any errors; some thoughtless person at the BL site has fiddled with the copy and paste, removing all formatting and adding a pointless […]
• John the Lydian on August
  Another chunk of John the Lydian, De mensibus, book 4, has arrived from Mischa Hooker.  Indeed it arrived at the weekend, but was delayed by my own illness.  As might be expected, this covers the month of August. JohnLydus-4-08-August (PDF) JohnLydus-4-08-August (Word .doc file) There is material on Augustus, as might be expected, and calendrical material.  No […]
• Is it time to nationalise the academic publishers?
  A few tweets this morning were complaining about the inaccessibility of the main reference works for patristics, the Clavis Patrum Latinorum and the Clavis Patrum Graecorum.  These works are essentially lists of works by patristic authors.  Each is assigned a number, and the opening words of the first line are given.  If the text appears in the […]
• British Patristics Conference underway today
  The 5th British Patristics conference is beginning today in London, and it runs until Friday.  There is a great mass of interesting papers on offer. Unfortunately I am unable to attend.  I wish that I was there, and I booked back in January.  But a virus has laid me low since Saturday – undoubtedly acquired […]
• Having the right tools
  It is wonderful what a difference it makes to have the right tools. Years ago I obtained a thesis from the US, for which I was charged like a wounded bull.  It was printed double-sided, and I had no sheet-feeder able to handle that.  Today I found two very old Finereader projects on disk, neither […]
• Going a-Rome-ing in August
  Readers of twitter will be aware that I went to Rome last Friday, coming back Monday afternoon.  I booked only a couple of weeks earlier, so I had to pay a large sum to the airline.  But the hotel was cheap, relatively.  Even so, the money seemed to vanish! Going to Rome in August was […]
• Mithras, the church of Santa Prisca, and the perils of the imagination
  The Mithraeum of Santa Prisca in Rome is of great importance to Mithraic studies because it contains striking wall paintings, with text against the images.  The scenes depict a procession of the seven grades of initiate, and other interesting items.  Among the verses is a statement that “you have saved us after the shedding of […]
• From my diary: the evanescent internet
  Today, at work, I cast around for a web-based form to point a computer program at, for testing purposes.  I recalled my own feedback form, at Tertullian.org, and decided to use that.  I was having one of those days, you know, when everything goes wrong.  But at least my own website wouldn’t let me down, […]
• “Septimus Severus” or “Septimius Severus”? A false trail
  Today I came across an image by Sophie Hay, of the British School of Rome, of an inscription lying near the west gate of Leptis Magna in Libya.  She kindly sent me a hi-res copy, which I have sharpened (click on it to see the full size image): Looking at a section of the lower […]
• From my diary
  The sales figures for the books have come in.  The Eusebius is still selling, although not in great numbers; the Origen has yet to really get underway, although it may do better once the reviews appear. I’ve continued to work on the Mithras website.  For the most part this is reactive; e.g. somebody posts an […]
• Abandoning the transcription of al-Makin project
  In any language group the first literature that we read is usually the histories of themselves, by themselves.  In Arabic Christian literature there are five such histories: Agapius, Euthychius, Al-Makin, Bar Hebraeus, and one other whose name I can never remember. Of all of these, the 13th century history of al-Makin has attracted my attention […]
• Is “Happy Birthday” an egregrious example of fraudulent claim of copyright?
  Techdirt today have published an article making the extraordinary claim that one of the world’s leading music publishers has fraudulently collected hundreds of millions of dollars in royalties for the song, “Happy Birthday”, when – they say – it is in fact out of copyright: Lawsuit Filed To Prove Happy Birthday Is In The Public […]
• John the Lydian on “July” – now online in English
  For the last few months, each month we’ve had a chapter from a 6th century antiquarian on the festivals and days of the month.  Our translation of John the Lydian, De Mensibus book 4, has now reached July. As ever Mischa Hooker has done a super job on it, with copious footnotes.  This month contains […]
• From my diary
  It’s hotter than hell in the office in which I work, which is not helping me get anything done!  However I’m also close to Cambridge University Library, and I’ve made two trips there in the evening this week, in search of books and articles. I’m still thinking about Severian of Gabala.  I’ve now obtained a […]
• Severian bibliography updated
  A couple of tweaks to my Severian  bibliography.  As ever, this is not an academic bibliography but just something for my own use from which to commission translations. Severian of Gabala – works (PDF) Severian of Gabala – works (.docx) UPDATE: Forgot to add notes from Homiliæ Pseudo-Chrysostomicæ. UPDATE: Newer versions here.
• Unpublished homilies by Severian of Gabala which are not listed in the CPG?
  I’m preparing to commission an English translation of CPG 4188, Severian of Gabala’s De Spiritu Sancto (=PG 52. 813-826).  While searching the web for any indication of an existing translation – for I wouldn’t want to duplicate – I came across an article by Danish scholar Holger Villadsen here.  Then, blessedly, I came across a […]
• Severian of Gabala – On repentance and compunction – now online in English
  Bryson Sewell has now translated for us Severian of Gabala’s sermon on repentance, De paenitentia et compunctione (CPG 4186).  This is another rather splendid ancient sermon, as most of those attributed to Severian seem to be (so far!).  Whether they are really by Severian may reasonably be doubted a lot of the time, I admit. […]
• Notes on Walter Bauer’s “Orthodoxy and Heresy” – part 5. Afterthoughts
  It is now a year since I wrote four posts examining the first chapter of Walter Bauer’s Orthodoxy and Heresy, and others on points of detail.   All the posts may be found here. I had intended to write a further post, summing up what I had found.  But in the end I never did.  […]
• A book describing the ceiling of the vanished Septizonium in Rome
  A couple of weeks ago Ste. Trombetti posted on Twitter another couple of finds about the Septizonium.  This was a facade in front of the Palatine hill in Rome, erected at the end of the Appian Way as a kind of formal entrance to the palaces, by Septimius Severus.  It was pulled down in the […]
• Notes on the manuscript tradition of Marcus Aurelius’ “Meditations”
  A slim undated hardback of an old English translation of the “meditations” of the emperor Marcus Aurelius came into my hands last week for a couple of pounds in a seaside second-hand bookshop.  The long preface by the unnamed translator  -who proves to be George Long, a 19th c. scholar – was a bit odd, but contained […]
• Oxyrhynchus Papyri online … or maybe only in the US?
  Via AWOL: Oxyrhynchus Papyri Volumes 1-15 online The Oxyrhynchus Papyri Volume 1 (1898) The Oxyrhynchus Papyri Volume 2 (1899) The Oxyrhynchus Papyri Volume 3 (1903) The Oxyrhynchus Papyri Volume 4 (1904)[Alternative version] The Oxyrhynchus Papyri Volume 5 (1908) The Oxyrhynchus Papyri Volume 6 (1908) The Oxyrhynchus Papyri Volume 7 (1910) The Oxyrhynchus Papyri Volume 8 […]
• Origen of Alexandria: Exegetical works on Ezekiel. Sermons, scholia, fragments.
  The second book in Ancient Texts in Translation is now available.  This is a translation of all that Origen wrote on Ezekiel, together with the original text.  The work was translated by Mischa Hooker, who has gamely worked away at this for five years.  The results are really quite satisfactory. I’m not sure that I […]
• The demolition of the Meta Sudans
  Quite by accident these evening I discovered a photograph of the Meta Sudans which is different to the rest.  It shows what look like troops  marching past a half-demolished Meta Sudans.  Presumably these are some of Mussolini’s black-shirts. Here it is (from somewhere on this site – I got it via Google Images): Here is another […]
• Images of vanished Rome once more
  Ste. Trombetti has turned his attention to the Dutch Rijksmuseum in his search for old etchings and drawings of Rome.  The search for this museum is here. The first image is of the vanished Septizonium, from 1550, a drawing by Hieronymus Cock (Antwerpen c. 1518-1570).  The majority of the image consists of some unfamiliar-looking ruins […]
• A couple more images of the Meta Sudans (minus one I can’t show you!)
  Ste. Trombetti has had more luck today, this time finding images of the vanished fountain that stood between the arch of Constantine and the Colosseum. The first item is an undated photograph on a German site – the “- here.  It’s quite a splendid image.  The site owners seem to be demanding money, the thieves.  So I […]
• Images of vanished Rome : the Septizonium and the Meta Sudans
  Ste. Trombetti has been busily searching the online site of the Spanish National Library, and posting the results on Twitter. First of these is a view of the Septizonium, the vanished facade of the Palatine, built by Severus at the end of the Appian Way and demolished in the 16th century for materials to build […]
• Review: “Commentaries on Genesis 1-3: Severian of Gabala” from IVP Academic
  Severian of Gabala is best known, if he is known at all, for his six sermons on Genesis 1-3.  His fame, or notoriety, is because he expounds a curious flat-earth theory in them.   This opinion, very rare among early Christian writers, is enough to stigmatise him in modern eyes, and his work has consequently received far […]
• Severian of Gabala, “De fide et de lege natura” – now online in English
  Bryson Sewell has made the first English translation of another work by the 4th century preacher, Severian of Gabala.  This one is On faith and the natural law (De fide et de lege natura) (CPG 4185).  It is a homily on faith and works, in terms that would undoubtedly have interested Martin Luther, had he […]
• Another image of the Vatican rotunda
  In the modern basilica of St Peter’s in Rome, the high altar is at the west end. The same was true of the basilica built in the 4th century by Constantine. By the south door of the basilica stood two large round buildings, which ran in a line west-east.  The western-most of these was demolished […]
• Lexicon: an introduction to the dictionaries of ancient Greek that survive from antiquity
  Around twenty ancient and medieval lexicons/dictionaries/glossaries/encyclopedias of Greek words and their meanings have reached us, plus quite a number of minor lexica.  These works contain lists of Greek words, often dialect or otherwise unusual.  In many cases they are concerned with advising the reader how to write Attic Greek correctly. The works exist because, after the […]
• “Glossa ordinaria” on 1, 2 and 3 John now available in English
  The Glossa Ordinaria is a medieval Latin commentary on the bible, composed of excerpts from earlier writers (including the Fathers).  John Litteral writes to say that he has setup a project to translate it, here. The results are now starting to appear.  The translation of the section on 1 John, 2 John and 3 John into […]
• Translation of Bar Hebraeus “Chronicon Ecclesiasticum” to appear later this year
  David Wilmshurst writes to tell me that he has reached agreement with Gorgias Press and that his translation of the Chronicon Ecclesiasticum of Bar Hebraeus will appear in print before the end of 2014. This is excellent news.  All our knowledge of Syriac literature – who wrote what, and when – is based on this […]
• Jerome: God hates the sacrifices of heretics
  An interesting quote came my way on Twitter: God hates the sacrifices of these [i.e., heretics] and pushes them away from Himself, and whenever they come together in the name of the Lord, He abhors their stench, and holds His nose… Fortunately the tweeter had a reference: Comment in Amos Proph, P.L. 25 1053-1054. Those […]
• A change to comment policy
  The quantity of spam that is slipping past Akismet is now large enough that I feel obliged to change the comment setting.  From here all comments will be held foe moderation unless I have previously approved a comment by you. I wish that all the policemen busily trawling twitter for thoughtcrime would spend as much […]
• John the Lydian’s thoughts on the Roman months: June is now online in English
  Another chunk of John the Lydian, De Mensibus – on the Roman Months – book 4 is now available!  Find it here: JohnLydus-4-06-June (PDF) JohnLydus-4-06-June (docx) As ever, full of abtruse Roman customs, and copiously and learnedly annotated. Have fun!
• Basil the Great, On holy baptism – now online in English
  A correspondent writes to say that he has discovered a forgotten translation of Basil the Great’s Sermon 13: On holy baptism (In Sanctum Baptismum). He found it as an appendix in an 1843 American volume of Catholic anti-protestant polemic on the subject, issued by a certain Francis Patrick Kenrick who was later to become Archbishop […]
• A Coptic life of Severian of Gabala (!)
  Severian of Gabala was the enemy of John Chrysostom.  The latter’s importance necessarily involved Severian’s eclipse, and all the accounts of their quarrel are written from John’s point of view.  Or so I thought.  But an email from Albocicade, a correspondent of this blog, reveals a “Life of St. Severian of Gabala”, in the Arabic […]
• Severian bibliography updated again
  I’ve done a little more work on the Severian bibliography, so here’s an updated version.  It’s still a work in progress, but at the moment I have other things preventing me working on it. Severian of Gabala – works (PDF) Severian of Gabala – works (.docx) UPDATE: Later version here.
• Rome in 1557 – Old St Peters, the Septizonium, the Templum Solis
  Another marvellous find by @ste_trombetti at the Bibliotheque Nationale here; – a large map depicting Rome in 1557!  Here is an excerpt (click on the image to see it all)  I have ventured to highlight, in this excerpt, three monuments, all now vanished.  Near the Palatine, the remains of the monumental entrance to the Palatine, […]
• Patristics Carnival XXXV: Pentecost Edition – at Linguae Antiquitatum
  It’s now available here: http://jdhomie.com/2014/06/08/patristics-carnival-xxxv-pentecost-edition
• Some 1860 photos of the lost Meta Sudans fountain in Rome
  The meta sudans was an ancient Roman fountain outside the Colosseum.  It was demolished, atypically, by Mussolini in 1936 as part of his improvements to Roman road transport.  By then it was in a sad state. Two marvellous photos have been found by @ste_trombetti on Twitter in a volume of photographs taken in 1860 by […]
• How to download a book at the German Arachne – DAI site
  I had trouble with this, so I am going to document it here!  With pictures.  Because it’s about as user-friendly as a cornered rat; but obvious once you know. Say you want to download a volume of the Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum?  These are here.  So go to that link.  You get a page like this […]
• From my diary
  It’s been a busy 24 hours.  Another chunk of the translation of Eusebius’ Commentary on Luke has appeared – this work now nearly done, thankfully. As previous posts have indicated, Severian’s De pace came in.  I have commissioned another Severian, and a second gentleman has expressed interest in doing Severian as well.  I’m willing.  In […]
• The epigrams of Palladas of Alexandria
  On twitter a couple of days ago I came across this item by Bettany Hughes: Palladas of Alexandria c.350AD ‘in the darkness of night Zeus stood beside me and said: “Even I, a god, have learned to live with the times”. @Bettany_Hughes I confess that Palladas is not a name that I had ever heard […]
• What did the Romans bury with a 5th century empress?
  The demolition of the Constantinian basilica of St Peter’s in Rome, in the 16th century, in order to build the present church, also required the demolition of the neighbouring circular chapel of St Petronilla.  This building stood next to the south door, and probably predated the basilica.  Like the chapel of St Andrew nearby, it […]
• English translations of Chrysostom “De Severiano Recipiendo” and Severian’s “De pace” now online
  Long ago I became aware that there were two related sermons in the Patrologia Graeca.  The first was given by John Chrysostom, after the empress had interceded to patch up a dispute between him and another bishop, and entitled De Severiano Recipiendo (CPG 4395) – That Severian must be received.  The other was delivered the […]
• Severian of Gabala – bibliography (updated)
  I uploaded a list of the works of Severian of Gabala here.  I’ve worked on it a bit more since, and revised versions are now available: Severian of Gabala – works (PDF) Severian of Gabala – works (DOCX) I don’t seem to have done anything on these for a week, so best to park them […]
• Academic hoaxes, academic feuding – an article in the Oldie
  The Oldie magazine is probably read by few of us, being mainly for people who are, well, old.  A correspondent has sent me a copy of an article in this week’s issue, written by the editor, Richard Ingrams. Harvey’s revenge We love a spot of academic intrigue and so were delighted to receive an email […]
• “You’re not the same religion as me” – Severian of Gabala and his editors and reviewers
  Severian of Gabala (fl. 398 AD) was the enemy of John Chrysostom, patriarch of Constantinople, and assisted in driving the latter into exile and to his death.  The disagreement between them was not ideological, but arose from perceived snubs by John’s officials.  It seems that the patriarchal officialdom created enemies for Chrysostom faster than he […]
• Plans and illustrations of the Vatican from 1694
  We’ve been looking at old pictures of Old St Peter’s in Rome, and thinking about the Circus of Nero nearby, and other structures from ancient Rome. Last week Brent Nongbri very kindly sent me an extract from one of those tourist books, which the Italians do so well, about the pagan tombs under the Vatican, which contains some […]
• Boxes of papyri in Berlin “unopened” since they left Egypt a century ago
  I’m reading William Brashear’s 1991 publication of P. Berol. 21196, identified as a Mithraic “catechism”.  It probably comes from excavations at Ashmunein (Hermopolis), undertaken by O. Rubensohn in 1906.  He asks, in the preface, if any more fragments of the papyrus are extant, and was unable to find any.  But then he states that there […]
• Ancient sources on the Gaianum / Circus of Nero
  It might be useful to gather all the ancient testimonies on the Circus of Nero / Circus of Gaius, on the Vatican, and see what they do, and do not, tell us. Pliny the Elder, Natural History, NH book 36, chapter 14 / section 70 (Loeb, vol. 10, p.54-5): Divus Claudius aliquot per annos adservatam, qua […]
• An extract from Severian of Gabala “On Epiphany”
  While working on the bibliography of Severian of Gabala, I came across a 1952 paper by A. Wenger in which he publishes, with French translation, a portion of Severian’s homily on Epiphany.  I thought that it might be good to give this here in English. So great is the light, so great is the beauty […]
• Revue des Etudes Augustiniennes available online!
  I had not realised that the important French journal, Revue des Etudes Augustiniennes, was freely available online from 1955-2005, but so it is!  It’s here. Marvellous!
• How ancient writers lost their books? A modern parallel!
  Ancient writers often composed their works in many books.  Often, we find that not all of these books have reached us.  Some have; some have not. This evening I had an illuminating experience. Like many people, I have a directory on my hard disk, full of PDF’s of old Loeb editions.  Among these are nine volumes […]
• Works of Severian of Gabala
  Severian of Gabala (fl. ca. 398 AD) was the enemy of John Chrysostom.  A popular preacher at the court of Constantinople, where he preached in a pleasant Syrian accent, and favoured by the empress, he was among the various people slighted or snubbed by John Chrysostom’s officials.  In consequence he became an enemy, and was […]
• John the Lydian on the month of May – now online in English!
  The 6th century Greek writer, John the Lydian, composed a work in 4 books on the Roman months (De mensibus).  The work is full of antiquarian information, which makes it a fascinating source for Roman time.  Book 4 consists of 12 chapters, one for each month. In a very timely way,  Mischa Hooker has now […]
• Bits and pieces on the Circus of Nero
  Today I came across this picture here, clearly of a model, of the “Circus of Caligula / Circus of Nero” on the Vatican.  Whether the two circuses were indeed the same I do not know.  But the model-maker was clearly aware of the construction of a large circular building on the spina of the circus […]
• New translation of Chrysostom’s 3 sermons on the devil now available
  Bryson Sewell has finished making a new translation of the three sermons De diabolo temptatore (CPG 4332) by John Chrysostom.  These are now available here: chrysostom-devil-bryson-2014.doc chrysostom-devil-bryson-2014.pdf And I hope they will become available also at Archive.org in due course, but their uploader seems to be having an off-day. The sermons are really quite interesting […]
• Piranesi’s drawing of Old St Peter’s square ca. 1660
  Via Wikimedia:
• A wooden model of Old St Peter’s
  I found this on Wikimedia Commons here, and adjusted the image to make it clearer.
• Old St Peters, the Circus of Caligula and the Phrygianum
  The Vatican hill is famous today for the great basilica of St Peters, constructed in the third decade of the fourth century by Constantine, and demolished and rebuilt in the 16th century.  A collection of essays on this building appeared in 2013, edited by R. McKitterick, which contains various interesting snippets. Few today are familiar […]
• Worrying questions about the supposed new NT papyri from mummy cartonnage
  In my last post, I noted that Peter Head pointed out that we have a forger active among us, who knows how to play to the predispositions of scholars. I have just seen a very sound post by Roberta Mazza, discussing the supposed discovery of a bunch of interesting papyri from mummy cartonnage – papyrus […]
• How to scam a scholar – the ps.Gospel of Jesus’ Wife affair
  I expect many of us have watched the story of a papyrus fragment purporting to reveal that Jesus had a wife.  Coptologist Christian Askeland discovered clear proof of forgery, thanks to a bit of carelessness by the forger, and the story is now history. Peter Head has an article here which is so useful that […]
• Origen hardback arrives!
  The hardback test copy of Origen of Alexandria: Exegetical works on Ezekiel (text and translation of the homilies and fragments) has arrived and is fine.  This is the first time I have seen the hardback, and its cover, and it all looks very good!  It’s a meaty volume and no mistake! I’ve now pressed the […]
• Origen of Alexandria on Ezekiel has arrived!
  The paperback proof of the new book has arrived!  Origen of Alexandria: Exegetical works on Ezekiel, translated by Mischa Hooker, has hit my doormat with a mighty thump in its paperback incarnation: So far, so good.  I can’t see any obvious problems with it, which means that we can go to print and (I hope) sell […]
• Caesar’s reform of the calendar – some ancient sources
  Plutarch, Caesar 59: 59. 1. The adjustment of the calendar, however, and the correction of the irregularity in the computation of time, were not only studied scientifically by him, but also brought to completion, and proved to be of the highest utility. 2. For not only in very ancient times was the relation of the lunar to […]
• More on Old St Peters in Rome
  This morning I found some more material of interest about Old St Peters in Rome. Firstly, I found a rather good line-drawing of the appearance of the church here. https://www.highlandpediatricdental.com/getting-xanax-without-prescription/ This is really helpful in trying to visualise Constantine’s basilica. https://www.carolinasmilesnc.com/clomid-store/ The “atrium” at the front looked like this (drawing by G. Grimaldi), although normally […]
• De’Cavalieri’s image of the Septizonium.
  Well!  The British Museum seems to have quite a few engravings by Giovanni Battista De’Cavalieri online.  Browsing them here, I quickly see that some come from a 1569 book entitled, promisingly, Urbis Romae aedificiorum illustrium quae supersunt reliquiae, i.e. Remains of famous buildings of the city of Rome.  It contains some fascinating images. Here’s the […]
• Another image of old St Peters in Rome
  Old St Peters in Rome was not demolished until the end of the 16th century, so there ought to be quite a number of engravings and artists’ depictions of it.  I confess, tho, that I know little about early engravers, and so don’t know where to look. The following item, from 1575, is by Giovanni […]
• An evening in Cambridge, a strange phrase in a book, and a man who ran away
  Staying in a hotel with nothing to read is not a pleasant experience.  So I decided to drive into Cambridge town centre after work today. Those familiar with the city will know that such a decision is not idly taken.  The hopeless congestion, caused by two decades of mingled spite and negligence on the part […]
• Some early engravings of the Septizonium
  I have blogged before about the Septizonium, a monumental facade constructed by Septimus Severus at the foot of the Palatine where it faced the end of the Appian Way.  It seems to have had no function other than to impress the visitor.  The last remains of it were demolished to provide materials for new St. […]
• From my diary
  I have just deleted over 50,000 spam comments from this blog; all of them received within the last couple of weeks. I could wish that the politicians were rather less ready to arrest people for expressing dissenting views online, and rather more interested in dealing with this plague.  
• Greek and Latin Epigraphy – an absolute beginners’ guide
  A marvellous resource has appeared online here.  It’s by Onno van Nijf, and is named the “The Absolute Beginners’ Guide to Greek and Roman Epigraphy”. Since I don’t know anything about this myself, it’s wonderful to find an orientation guide. Recommended. Via AWOL.
• Struck by the Lightning Source … right in the Origen … ouch!
  The Origen book – a text and translation of his works on Ezekiel, including masses of catena material – is complete!  This afternoon, after a mighty struggle with the crummy online interface that Lightning Source Inc provide their hapless customers, I managed to upload the files and order the full proofs, complete with covers and dust-jackets.  […]
• Happy Easter
  Christ died.  Everyone dies.  But Christ is risen, to show that we too can rise. If we sign up with Christ, then we find that our lives have some point, and some prospect in the future.  May I recommend this to all my readers this Easter. Happy Easter to you all.
• A time to hold and a time to give – when to pass on old books
  Today I made a decision to do something necessary, yet it was a wrench.  I decided to give away my copy of the 1608 Commelin edition of Tertullian’s works. I bought it over the internet, years ago.  In those days we had no PDFs online.  The only way to get hold of the detailed apparatus, […]
• Rufinus’ account of the fall of the temple of Serapis in Alexandria
  This evening I  happened across some files on my hard disk containing an English translation of the Ecclesiastical History of Rufinus.  The following account is given of the fall of the Serapeum in Alexandria: 11.23. I suppose that everyone has heard of the temple of Serapis in Alexandria, and that many are also familiar with […]
• A marvellous collection of photographs – Following Hadrian, by Carole Raddato
  Over the last couple of months, I have become aware of another individual who, quietly, and without any fanfare, is making a real difference to ancient history online.  Her name is Carole Raddato, and she writes the Following Hadrian blog. What she is doing is travelling all over the Roman Empire, and photographing its material […]
• Copyright and critical editions – a French court says the text is not copyright
  Today I learned via Maïeul Rouquette of a fascinating court case in France, here, (in French).  The question is whether editing a critical text of an ancient author creates a copyright. The dispute is between two companies, Droz and Garnier.  Garnier placed online the text (without apparatus or commentary) of certain medieval texts, using the text published […]
• Proof-reading help wanted
  The edition and translation of Origen’s Homilies on Ezekiel that I commissioned is now in its final stages.  I need someone to check that the latest bunch of changes were applied correctly, and also to go through the footnotes in one (long 150 page) section and check that the numerals are in the right places, […]
• Chariot-racing at Leptis Magna in a mosaic
  The circus of the Roman city of Leptis Magna in Libya was plundered for stone by a rascally Frenchman a couple of centuries ago.  However we can get a good idea of what it looked like from a mosaic at the Villa Selene, nearby.  Unfortunately it’s not that easy to make out.  Here’s my 2006 […]
• A postit note
  The task is done; the peace is signed, Fearful tensions now unwind, Peace in our time! the foolish cry, The wise will keep their powder dry. — Bob Harrison, Ashford, Kent, 27 Feb. 98, on BBC Ceefax. It’s a new financial year, which means a new set of accounts here in the UK where I […]
• Digitising ancient texts – the future that did not happen
  This morning I saw the following announcement: We’re really proud to announce that EpiDoc XML versions of all 99 volumes of the monumental Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum (CSEL) are now being added to the Open Greek and Latin Project‘s GitHub repository! What it means, for non-techno junkies, is that someone has scanned the 99 volumes of the […]
• Where have all the photos (of archaeology) gone? Gone to recycle bins, every one.
  There’s no getting away from it: the Roman city of Leptis Magna in Libya is gorgeous.  It’s situated by the sea, the surrounding area is very underdeveloped, thanks to Gaddafi’s tyranny, and it gives you such a great idea of what a Roman city looked like.  I’ve been twice, and would gladly go again.  Even […]
• The inopportune polemicist in my email inbox
  I get a lot of email, either directly or through the form on this site.  Most of it is very interesting.  Some of it makes work for me.  And sometimes I get an email which makes me rub my eyes and wonder what – or if – the author was thinking. A couple of days […]
• From my diary
  Lately I’ve been taking an interest in the monuments of Mithras in Egypt.  Apparently some are in the museum in Alexandria, while others come from Memphis and are in the Graeco-Roman room in the Cairo museum.  I haven’t been very fortunate in finding images from either online.  Is it possible that one or both of […]
• English translation of Michael the Syrian by Matti Moosa now available
  A very large and unexpected parcel arrived today.  In it was … the first published English translation of the world history of Michael the Syrian, or Michael Rabo, to give him his proper name.  Matti Moosa, who has translated a number of important Syriac texts, is the translator, and he has kindly sent me a […]
• The decay of digital media
  This evening I was looking through some PDF’s of a Mithras reference volume, which a correspondent very kindly scanned for me some time back.   I keep a copy on my travelling laptop, and so when I am working away from home, I can work on the site in the evenings in the hotel.  I was, in fact, […]
• Damascius on Orphic mythology
  The philosopher Damascius was the last head of the Academy at Athens, at the time when it was closed down by Justinian in 529 AD. His Problems and Solutions concerning first principles has recently been translated by Sara Ahbel-Rappe, and a preview of the book is online. This is a very useful piece of work; […]
• From my diary
  I’m still working away on the Mithras site.  This week I’ve been dealing with the find of statues and inscriptions at Merida in 1902-3, when a bull ring was constructed.  No archaeological investigation was undertaken, and details are very hazy. Meanwhile I have discovered some time-consuming problems with the footnotes in the Origen book, in […]
• From my diary
  I’m very busy with the Mithras site, uploading more data about monuments.  Last night I worked on the page on the Caernarvon Mithraeum, adding information from the excavation report.  It was discovered in 1959, during preparatory work by a jerry-builder developer, and is now a set of rather dreary-looking 50’s houses.  Today I’ve been looking […]
• Origen’s Homilies on the Psalms – in English in a dissertation
  A correspondent has drawn my attention to the existence of an English translation of Origen’s nine surviving homilies on the psalms.  It is to be found in a dissertation by Michael Heintz, The pedagogy of the soul: Origen’s “Homilies on the Psalms“, Notre Dame, 2008.  It can be accessed via the commercial ProQuest database – […]
• Mithras scholar Vermaseren on the Mithras cranks
  There are endless crank books about Mithras, usually with an anti-Christian twist.  They go unnoticed by scholars, as a rule. A correspondent drew my attention to some remarks made by Maarten Vermaseren on one of them.  The title is Mithras: the fellow in the cap, by a certain Mrs Wynne-Tyson, back in 1958 (but reprinted […]
• Finding archaeology online about Mithras
  I’m extremely busy at the moment adding material to the Mithras site.  At the moment this is driven by a list of Mithraeums discovered since 1960.  I am attempting to research each of these online, grab some text, some images, and create a page for it.  This is, inevitably, a very time-consuming business. Several things […]
• A quotation from Libanius
  I found the following quotation online (on a tee-shirt!), attributed to Libanius: Men are neither suddenly rich, nor suddenly good. As an aphorism it is rather like Libanius himself; a bit trite.  But did he say it? I find the saying attributed already in A handbook of proverbs by a certain John Ray, published by […]
• Help! How can I get hold of this?
  Time for a public appeal!  I’m trying to get hold of an exhibition catalogue, for an exhibition held at the town hall in Viterbo on 21 June 1997-10th January 1998, title: Il Mitreo di Vulci : Montalto di Castro, Palazzo del Comune, 21 giugno 1997-10 gennaio 1998, which is 43 p. and was written by a […]
• Italian items online!
  I spend a very busy morning attempting to locate the publication of the Mithraeum in Vulci, in Etruria.  My search was rewarded, after around 3 hours persistence, by discovering that it was online!  It was certainly impossible to buy, probably because it seems to have been an exhibition catalogue. The site that made this possible […]
• From my diary
  I’m mainly busy with the Mithras site at the moment. I’ve been working through a list of new finds since 1960 made by John W. Brandt, together with a list by Szabo Csaba.  In each case I do a web search for pictures or sites.  I did the Riegel Mithraeum on Friday night.  It’s slow, […]
• A ray of light for Mithras at Hawarte on the 25th December?
  I’ve been back working on the Mithras site in the evenings, and in particular looking at Mithraea found in recent years.   I’ve created a page for these, and I’m going through them. Last night I was searching for material about the Hawarte Mithraeum in Syria.  The site was a 5th century church, excavated in the […]
• 1st century inscription mentioning the library at Alexandria
  A tweet drew my attention to a monument by a certain Tiberius Claudius Babillus which mentions the library of Alexandria.  There is a Wikipedia article about him here, asserting that he died in 59 AD (we will all be wary of anything in this source I am sure). An image is online at Wikimedia Commons here: […]
• Ancient Christian Writers volumes online at Archive.org
  A correspondant tells me of a website which lists the volumes of the ACW series, and, better, has links to some which are online at Archive.org!  The link is here. Ah, those were the days, before century-long copyrights!!
• The Bankes 2nd c. Homer papyrus roll now online at the British Library
  I wonder how many of us have ever heard of the “Bankes papyrus”?  Certainly not I, before today.  Yet it is a fascinating item. A tweet from Sarah Biggs alerted me that: The Bankes Homer is now online & blog post to come! (Papyrus 114, Greek, 2nd century). P.Lond.lit.28, British Library papyrus 114, is a 2nd […]
• Getty your hand out of my wallet – some way to go on open access, I fear
  The Getty Museum laudably makes some images available online.  Some of these (but not all) may be freely used for personal purposes online.  Most of the images on their site are NOT usable by anyone else, and they want money if we want to use any of them for scholarly purposes. This simple statement is […]
• What happened to the later neoplatonists – a quotation from Damascius
  A passage in Damascius’ commentary on the Phaedo sheds an interesting light on the later neoplatonist philosophers and their involvement in theurgy – the art of invoking the gods by magic: Some honour philosophy more highly, as do Porphyry and Plotinus and many other philosophers; others honour more highly the hieratic art [=theurgy] as do […]
• A list of the works of Origen (Jerome, Letter 33)
  A correspondent kindly sent me some extracts of a English translation of Henri Crouzel’s book on Origen.  On p.37-38 I find an English translation of the list of Origen’s works, as given by Jerome in letter 33.  This is very useful information, and I reproduce it below. On Genesis 13 books;[3] assorted homilies 2 books; on […]
• New edition of “Scribes and Scholars”
  Via Paleojudaica: 4TH EDITION: Scribes and Scholars: A Guide to the Transmission of Greek and Latin Literature by L. D. Reynolds and N. G. Wilson (OUP). Forthcoming at the end of February. One of the remarkable facts about the history of Western culture is that we are still in a position to read large amounts […]
• Google books lets me down badly
  I’ve just had a very bad experience, because I relied rather uncritically on a volume that I found on Google books.  It’s a warning, and I doubt I shall forget it in a hurry. I have someone out in the Middle East transcribing the Arabic from Erpenius’ 1625 edition of the 13th century Coptic historian, al-Makin.  Of […]
• Experiments in Arabic OCR
  A correspondent has suggested to me the possibility of using Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software to read a portion of al-Makin that was published in the Bibliotheque d’etudes orientale 15, back in the 1950’s.  I admit that I was dubious, but I’ve spent a little time this evening looking into the matter. I believe that […]
• Erpenius’ al-Makin arrives in Word format
  An email brings the text of the Erpenius (1625) edition of al-Makin.  The typist has done a good job. She’s also indicated that some words – especially names – seem to be corrupt.  These will need to be fixed by comparison against a manuscript. Erpenius was a very early editor indeed, and his edition is […]
• The Life of Severus of Antioch – part 12
  The place is Beirut (or Berytus as it was then) in the early 6th c. A.D.  Zacharias Rhetor, the author of the Life, and Severus of Antioch, its subject, are young men – students – at the famous law school.  The latter is considering becoming a Christian.  The two have decided to study the church writers together. The […]
• From my diary
  Regular readers will know that through an intermediary I have commissioned a lady in Syria to type up the Arabic text of Erpenius’ 1625 edition of the second part of al-Makin.  Al-Makin was a 13th century Coptic writer.  The first part runs from the creation to the 11th year of Heraclius; the second part (which […]
• They shoot webpages, don’t they? Some notes for a reader
  It’s fun, knowing a lot about the ancient world.  But it does mean that we are cut off from the great majority of people.  Most people don’t. To such people, the web is full of misinformation.  Web pages that we might smile at and ignore are a real source of perplexity. It’s easy for us.  […]
• Coin-images and smartphones
  Reading twitter on a smartphone has been unexpectedly beneficial.  The benefit is that I can zoom with a flick of my fingers; and this comes into play when someone posts Roman coins which display now vanished buildings.  I can then zoom in, very easily, and see what is portrayed on them. I have been impressed […]
• From my diary
  I had intended to go to Iceland on holiday this week.  Unfortunately the gods decided otherwise, and Hecate breathed her poisoned breath on me on Saturday.  However all things work together for good, for those who love God, and no doubt this is for the best. This leaves me here, wasting my time at home, and feeling […]
• CSEL volumes to be typed up and made freely available online
  An interesting announcement from the Open Greek and Latin Project, here at Digital Humanities Leipzig. The Open Greek and Latin Project (OGL) recently signed a contract with Data Entry Company Jouve to OCR and encode Latin works and collections in accordance with the latest TEI EpiDoc standards. First on the to-do list is the monumental Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum […]
• Augustine to Jerome on the inspiration of scripture
  An interesting article at ThinkTheology.co.uk draws together some useful quotations from St. Augustine on the inspiration of scripture. The quotations come from Augustine’s letter 82, addressed to St. Jerome himself. For I confess to your Charity that I have learned to yield this respect and honour only to the canonical books of Scripture: of these […]
• Photos of underwater basilica at Nicaea
  A wonderful article in a Turkish newspaper here (via Twitter).  It seems that someone has uncovered the remains underwater of a basilica at Nicaea (modern Iznik), just offshore in lake Nicaea.  It’s thought to have been demolished after the earthquake in the 8th century. Modern Nicaea is just a small Turkish town nestled within the massive double […]
• Investigating “quotations” online – another blog
  Regular readers will know that I sometimes investigate supposed quotations from the ancients which I have found online.  Often they prove to be bogus. I came across a blog which does nothing but check quotations.  I’d never heard of it, and it deserves wider notice: http://quoteinvestigator.com/ Recommended.
• What happened to the bindings of the Syriac manuscripts at the British Library
  A very interesting post on this here:   The Syriac manuscripts in the British Library: what happened to the bindings? (Liv Ingeborg Lied). Basically they were mostly discarded and rebound. H/T Paleojudaica.
• Might we lose money (shock) if we publish open-access?
  A correspondent has drawn my attention to the OAPEN-UK project, and the participation of Oxford University Press in it. This means that, temporarily, some monographs are online as PDF’s on various sites and accessible to us all, e.g. here. I think we must all be interested in  this project.  It’s quite an interesting idea: OUP is […]
• Fancy translating some of the Glossa Ordinaria?
  The Glossa Ordinaria is a Latin collection of patristic comments on scripture which circulated in the 9th century.  A project is underway to translate portions of it. The editor, John Litteral, has asked me to post an appeal for contributors, which is as follows: I have been working on the Gloss on 1 John, and have […]
• Chrysostom’s letters – more translations at Academia.edu, this time from Wendy Mayer
  A couple of days ago I mentioned the 30-odd letters by John Chrysostom which had appeared in draft form at Academia.edu, and the project (not mine) to translate the lot. Today I learn that Chrysostom scholar Wendy Mayer has also uploaded some draft translations of letters by Chrysostom.  They may be found here, and look very good […]
• The Roman sponge-on-a-stick
  The Romans didn’t use toilet paper.  Instead they used a sponge on a stick.  Or at least, that is my understanding. I’m not sure what our sources are for this, but one came my way this week.  It’s from Seneca’s Letters 70, ch. 20: 20.  Nuper in ludo bestiariorum unus e Germanis, cum ad matutina […]
• A list of translations into Arabic of biblical texts from Graf’s GCAL
  Seven years ago I placed online the table of contents to volume 2 of Graf’s GCAL,, which lists the original compositions in Arabic by Christian writers up to the 15th century.  I then promptly forgot all about it. This evening I have been looking at volume 1.  This contains details of the translations into Arabic […]
• Welcome to Christophe Guignard’s “Marginalia” blog
  The excellent Christophe Guignard has started his own blog (in French), on details of ancient Christian literature and its Graeco-Roman context.  It’s called Marginalia. He’s just done a post in both English and French on a “new” uncial fragment of John’s Gospel (0323). He’s also interested in Syriac mss. at Sinai. I think I shall […]
• From my diary
  The transcription of part 2 of al-Makin (from the Erpenius edition of 1625) is going well.  It’s arriving in 10-page chunks, and there are 300 pages in all so that will make 30 chunks.  Chunk 11 arrived today. I was reflecting at the weekend on our lack of knowledge of Arabic literature, including Arabic Christian […]
• Chrysostom letters – translations at Academia.edu
  I’ve mentioned this before, but “Inepti Graeculi”, who occasionally comments here, has been working away at translating the letters of John Chrysostom and posting draft translations at Academia.edu here.  An index of those letters translated is here. There are some 240 letters, nearly all from Chrysostom’s second exile, from which he did not return.  Remarkably only […]
• Divine disapproval: the complete letter from David Silvester
  Over the weekend the BBC and other media was calling for the head of a certain David Silvester, a councillor of the UKIP party in Henley-on-Thames.  His crime was to write the following letter to his local paper, the Henley Standard.  Since I can find the complete letter nowhere, I think it would be good […]
• Byzantine insularity in the early Dark Ages
  I’ve been browsing the introduction to Van der Vin’s book on medieval travellers to Constantinople, nearly all of whom visited after the 11th century.  It seems that the eastern empire became  very isolated from the west after the collapse of the western Roman empire. The book contains the following interesting statement (p.4): In the last few […]
• From my diary
  The translation of Origen’s exegetical works on Ezekiel has been proof-read all the way through, and a long but not very serious list of minor issues produced.  Next week I shall do a comparison of bold-face passages in the PDF with the original Word document, and then send the lot to the typesetter to be […]
• Did moral decay destroy the ancient world?
  The idea, that the Roman state declined, and ultimately collapsed, in part, because of the moral decay of the Romans themselves, is a commonplace of older literature. On the other hand many modern writers scoff at the very idea.  A Google books search will easily find examples such as this.  Blogger Gary Carson at Ancient World […]
• The Life of Severus of Antioch – part 11
  Zacharias Rhetor is talking ca. 500 AD to Severus of Antioch, who is considering becoming a Christian. Filled with joy, I replied, “I came to this town to study civil law, because I love the science of law.  But since you also care about your salvation, let me propose a project which, without harming the […]
• A useful map of Constantinople
  Van der Vin’s book also contains a rather useful map of Constantinople, which I think worth sharing.  In particular it shows the location of the Church of the Holy Apostles. UPDATE: I suppose this map will be more useful to more people, if I OCR the names at the bottom so that Google can find […]
• The church of the Holy Apostles in Constantinople – already in ruins before 1453?
  The church of the Holy Apostles in Constantinople was the location of the mausoleum of the emperors.  It doesn’t exist any more, as it was demolished by the Turks after 1453 and a mosque built on the site, the mosque of “Mehmet the Conquerer”. I’ve seen the statement online, made in such a way as […]
• More on the inscription of “D. Cetiannus”
  Four years after Wilhelm von Boldensele, in 1336, another German traveller visited the pyramids of Giza.  His name was Ludolf von Sudheim, the chaplain of another German nobleman on pilgrimage.  He also left an account of his travels, and a transcription of the Latin inscription on the pyramid at Giza.  His statement was as follows: […]
• An ancient Latin inscription on the pyramids of Giza
  The pyramids of Giza still retained their outer casing into the middle ages, and only lost it when the Arabs started to use it as a source of stone.  But in 1332 a German noble, Wilhelm von Boldensele, while on pilgrimage in the orient, visited the site.  In his Itinerarius Guelielmi de Boldensele in terram […]
• The Life of Severus of Antioch – part 10
  Let’s continue reading Zacharias Rhetor’s eye-witness account of the life of Severus of Antioch.  The date is the late 5th century.  The two friends have now gone to Beirut (ancient Berytus) to study law. Shortly afterwards, the man of God (=Severus) came to me.  He greeted me cheerfully and said, “God has sent you to […]
• From my diary
  Another chunk of the transcription of al-Makin has arrived, making 70 pages in all, or around a quarter of Erpenius’ edition.  This is going swimmingly! One of the reasons why I wanted an electronic transcription of the text is so that I — as a non-Arabic speaker — can use Google Translate on it.  Today […]
• From my diary
  The only useful thing I did today was to add the Inveresk Mithraeum to the Mithras website. I did a little work on the Origen book.  I tried to find out what size the thumbnail of the cover should be — for Amazon.com purposes.  In the process I discovered that I could no longer log […]
• From my diary
  2014 has certainly started with a bang!  Here I am, on the Friday of the first week back, and it seems as if I was never on holiday! The two monochrome microfilm-PDF’s of the unpublished history by the 13th century Arabic Christian writer al-Makin, from the Bibliothèque Nationale Français are now on my hard disk.  […]
• Street preacher arrested on frivolous grounds, held overnight, brought to court in Dundee, Scotland
  From time to time in every British town you see sandwichboardmen.  These are often elderly men, often alone or with a tiny group of supporters, preaching in the street.  They received their name from their habit of wearing sandwichboards, adorned with slogans such as “Prepare to meet thy God” and “The wicked shalt burn in […]
• An English translation of Martin of Braga’s “De correctione rusticorum”
  Rather to my surprise I found a website online dedicated to the 6th century writer Martin of Braga, best known for a work De ira which is based on Seneca’s lost work of the same title. The site is run by Angus Graham and is here. (Update 2017: link repointed to Archive.org)  He also scanned a bunch of […]
• Fortunatianus of Aquileia and his lost gospel commentary
  From Quasten’s Patrology 4, p.572: According to Jerome (De vir. into 97), Fortunatianus, an African was bishop of Aquileia in the mid-fourth century at the time of the Emperor Constantius. and Pope Liberius. He died, it seems, shortly before 368. Fortunatianus was at first a strong defender of Nicene orthodoxy and received Athanasius as a […]
• Honouring “Jupiter’s day” in the 6th century AD
  From Caesarius of Arles, Sermon 13, chapter 5: (5) Now, I believe that the unfortunate practices which have remained from the profane customs of the pagans have under God’s inspiration been removed from these places because of your reproaches. However, if you still know some people who practice that most sordid and disgraceful act of […]
• Major pagan temples still operating in the Eastern Roman Empire in the 5-6th century?
  The edicts of Theodosius I which closed all the temples and made offering sacrifice, in public or private, a crime of high treason were, of course, not enforced.  The code that transmits these edicts to us, the Theodosian code, itself bears witness that late emperors found the greatest difficulty in getting their edicts put into […]
• Julian the apostate and the magician
  From Eunapius, Lives of the Philosophers and Sophists, on Maximus the theurgist: But Eusebius [of Myndus], at least when Maximus was present, used to avoid precise and exact divisions of a disputation and dialectical devices and subtleties; though when Maximus was not there he would shine out like a bright star, with a light like […]
• From my diary
  Back to work!  And suddenly what I think of as my real life slows to a crawl… The proof-reader for the Origen volume is going great guns.  He’s picked up a lot of niggles of one sort of another, which won’t take much time to fix but would have looked bad.  It was a very […]
• From my diary
  I’ve spent today driving up to Cambridge to visit the university library.  My object was to obtain some articles by R. Delmaire on the subject of Chrysostom’s letters.  For the most part I was able to obtain these; although I was disappointed to discover that the latest available volume of one serial was not shelved […]
• Basil the Great discusses twitter, blogging and online discussion fora
  From On the Holy Spirit, 1.1: I admire your proposing questions not for the sake of testing, as many now do, but to discover the truth itself. For now a great many people listen to and question us to find fault. . . . [T]he questions of many contain a hidden and elaborate bait, like […]
• A catena fragment of Eusebius on Psalm 29:7
  John Literal has sent me a translation made for him by Peter Papoutsis of a catena fragment discussing Daniel, and attributed to our old friend Eusebius.  He has kindly allowed me to post it here.  The biblical passage being commented on is Psalm 29:7. Εὐσεβίου Καισαρείας ῥητοῦ προκειμένου, Φωνὴ Κυρίου διακόπτοντος φλόγα πυρός. [00003] Διεκόπη μὲν ἐν τῇ […]
• The curious case of the Tongeren codex
  From the science.history.papyri mailing list for December 2007: Dear colleagues, A few months ago a small papyrus codex was discovered in the Gallo-Roman Museum at Tongeren (Belgium). It consists of about 100 pages and measures roughly 14 x 13 cm. No writing is visible, but maybe we can read something after the book has been opened. It […]
• A mystery quotation attributed to Leo the Great
  A tweet alerted me to a patristic quotation new to me: “No degree of cruel inhumanity can destroy the religion founded on the mystery of the cross of Christ.” (Leo the Great) I find a source for this: R. L. Wilken, The spirit of early Christian thought (1985), p.1, but preceded by a biblical quote: […]
• The Life of Severus of Antioch – part 9
  We continue reading the French translation of the Life of the early 6th century Patriarch of Constantinople (and controversial political figure) Severus of Antioch. What I’m doing, in these posts, is taking the old Patrologia Orientalis translation from here, and running it through Google Translate (which is doing a rather fine job, I notice), and […]
• Some notes on the bindings of ancient codices
  A useful post at the British Library blog here drew my attention to an interesting question: what did the bindings of ancient manuscripts look like? We all know that ancient books in 1 AD were written on rolls of papyrus.  With these we are not concerned here.  Examples have reached us, notably the charred rolls from […]
• From my diary
  Happy new year everyone.  I’ve spent the last few days at a very nice house-party in Derbyshire, complete with evening dress dinners — no, it wasn’t at Pemberley! So, quite naturally, I haven’t done very much on any of my projects. However I did receive 10 pages of Arabic in a Word document: the opening section […]
• The Life of Severus of Antioch – part 8
  The story continues. But let no-one think that this story is irrelevant to our subject.  Our intention is to show that the accusation made against the great Severus is entirely unfounded.  Far from ever deserving the accusation and reproach of idolatry, he was constantly with those who gave proof of their zeal against the pagans, […]
• A curious tale about the burial of St Peter – a fake by Leo the Great?
  Headbanger websites can be very frustrating.  You know the sort of thing — the sort of website that eagerly recounts how the Fathers of the Church boasted of being liars, how Mithras had 12 disciples and was born of a virgin (sic), and so on. But they can also be a joy, for they can […]
• The Life of Severus of Antioch – part 7
  The pagan Paralios has just been converted after violent Christian-pagan rioting in Alexandria. Paralios then concerned himself with his two other brothers, who were pagans living at Aphrodisias.  One of them was the scholasticos of the country, and was named Demochares.  The other was called Proclos, and was the sophist of the town.  He wrote […]
• A typist for part 2 of al-Makin
  It looks as if another correspondent of mine will be making it possible for the second half of al-Makin’s History to be typed up.  I have today sent her a cut-down copy of the edition by Erpenius from 1625. Extraordinarily, there are only two editions of this half of the work (and none of the other half).  […]
• Connecting to tumblr
  I read an article this afternoon that Facebook is on its way out.  Whether or not this is so, it is certainly the case that my facebook connections post only rarely.  Comparing that with Twitter, where the flow of tweets is endless, there is no question as to where one tends to spend one’s time. […]
• From my diary
  If you can actually find anything on your hard disk any more — and I know that this can be difficult for many of us — then, sometimes, when you do, you get a little more than you expected. Regular readers will know that I have arranged to get an electronic text created of the history of al-Makin.  He […]
• The Life of Severus of Antioch – part 6
  Severus has yet to put in an appearance, as Zacharias Rhetor is busy telling us all about his own student experiences in Alexandria ca. 500 AD. Paralios, having offered God an exploit of this nature, received the baptism of the Redeemer when the Easter festival arrived, along with many pagans who had been zealous for […]
• The Life of Severus of Antioch – part 5
  The pagan Paralios has been flirting with Christianity, and talking with his Christian brother Athanasius and the latter’s friend Stephen, who are based at the monastery at Enaton.  He’s gone to the pagan oracle at Menouthis, demanding some answers, and has been snubbed.  So he got angry and went back to Alexandria.  There he started jeering at the pagan […]
• The Life of Severus of Antioch – part 4
  The pagan Asclepiodotus has passed off the illegitimate child of a priestess of Isis as the child of his sterile wife, claiming that Isis had cured her.  The student Paralios, vacillating between his pagan friends, and Stephen, the friend of his Christian brother Athanasius, has learned the story. Paralios, believing that this story was true, […]
• Hiring someone to type up an edition of al-Makin from a couple of manuscripts
  One of the great problems with accessing the history written by the Coptic Christian writer al-Makin ibn-Amid (13th century) is that you have to deal with manuscripts. I’ve been toying with the idea of getting a manuscript typed up.  After all, that would mean we could use Google Translate to at least get the gist […]
• The Life of Severus of Antioch – part 3
  From the Life of Severus of Antioch (6th c. AD), as written by Zacharias Rhetor: Shortly afterwards occurred the events relating to Paralios and Horapollon the grammarian, from which we learn that he [Severus] who has been slandered, contrary to the divine laws, is innocent of the slanders of his infamous slanderer.  Here’s what was […]
• From my diary
  ‘Twas Christmas Eve in the workhouse …  and I’m still busy even as late as this. I’ve been reading John Carey’s “Down with dons” (PDF) with great enjoyment this evening.  Written in 1975, it accurately predicts many of the disasters of the coming decades.  I love the way that it depicts the Oxford University establishment.  Indeed […]
• A new Claudio Zamagni article on Eusebius’ Gospel problems and solutions
  Claudio Zamagni has written to tell me that a new article of his is online at Academia.edu here.  It discusses the difficult question of the manuscripts of the fragments of Eusebius of Caesarea’s Gospel problems and solutions (Quaestiones ad Stephanum et Marinum).  It’s excellent stuff, as ever with Dr Z., and highly recommended. This holiday […]
• Ancient literary sources for St Nicholas of Myra
  It is Christmas Eve, and so what better time to ask the question: what, if anything, does the historical record tell us about a supposed 4th century bishop of Myra named Nicholas? Every Christmas there is a flood of articles in the press and online about the origins of “Santa Claus”.  It is a curious […]
• Proof-reader wanted
  This morning, to my considerable surprise, the proof copy of Ancient Texts in Translation 2 — Origen of Alexandria: Exegetical works on Ezekiel — arrived on my doorstep.  My surprise was because I do my proof copies through lulu.com, and I only uploaded the PDF to the site on 18th December.  Six days to print it […]
• How not to do scholarship – the perils of studying those we disagree with
  I trained as a scientist.  Like all scientists, I despised scholars.  I thought that they were just people decorating their prejudices with the results of a library search.  Given time, we all knew, we could do as well or better.  Inspecting the occasional volume of what was sold in Blackwell’s bookshop as “Biblical Scholarship” did […]
• The Life of Severus of Antioch – part 2
  We continue from the Life of Severus of Antioch by Zacharias Rhetor. The illustrious Severus is Pisidian in origin, and his home town is Sozopolis.  In fact it was this town that fell to him as his his home, after the first [birth], of which we have all  been banished following the transgression of Adam, […]
• The life of Severus of Antioch by Zacharias Rhetor – part 1
  Tidying your desktop can be perilous.  I found a PDF with the French translation of the Vita of Severus of Antioch on mine.  I had forgotten how interesting a work this was. I know that there is an English translation out there somewhere, but of course it is inaccessible to most of us.  So I […]
• An old engraving of the Hippodrome at Constantinople, sabotaged by Google Books
  This afternoon I was trying to find out what early engravings might exist of Constantinople.  The search was mainly vain; but I did learn that a certain Onofrio Panavinio in his Ludi et Circences (1600) had printed an engraving of the Hippodrome. This may be found here at Flickr, and I have uploaded the original […]
• The brass statue of Justinian in Constantinople
  One of the sights of Constantinople before the Ottoman conquest was the colossal equestrian statue of Justinian, standing in the Forum Augusteum, atop a 100 foot-tall pillar outside the senate house.  The statue faced east and was widely thought to have magical powers to repel invaders from that direction. At Robert Bedrosian’s site I have […]
• When interests collide: Elsevier start threatening the scholars who publish with them if they post copies online
  An interesting story which hasn’t really reached critical mass was mentioned to me by a correspondent this morning.  Via Wired I read: Elsevier clamps down on academics posting their own papers online … Guy Leonard, a research fellow at the University of Exeter, posted a screengrab of the message, which said: “Academia.edu is committed to […]
• Emperor with a crown of glass paste: John VI Catacuzene
  While looking for material about George Codinus, or pseudo-Codinus as we must call him, I came across a paper on Academia.edu here. which gave a striking picture of the poverty of the Byzantine court at the end of the 14th century: This picture of court life in the reconquered Constantinople, which is generally regarded as […]
• Narratives about Constantinople – the “Patria”
  There is a collection of medieval texts, more or less inter-connected, which contain descriptions of Constantinople, its monuments, statues, origins and so on.  I have mentioned a couple already in discussing the tombs of the emperors at the Church of the Holy Apostles, and I have discussed why George Codinus cannot be the author of […]
• Creating addiction – are there links between Wikipedia and the techniques used by online computer game sites?
  I read today a troubling article about online “free-to-play” games, which instantly reminded me of Wikipedia, and the way in which people become hooked on participating in it.  Chasing the whale: examining the ethics of free-to-play games is about online games, that encourage addiction in order to profit from the vulnerable. “I’d use birthday money, […]
• Why Codinus did not write the works ascribed to him – by Theodor Preger
  The Patria — the historical works describing the monuments of Constantinople — are ascribed to George Codinus in some of the manuscripts.  Averil Cameron states that: Preger demonstrated in 1895 (op. cit. n.8) that these works belong to the tenth century and are not (as previously supposed) by George Codinus. The reference given in Cameron […]
• How to find the digital manuscripts at the Bodleian-Vatican project
  Lots of ballyhoo in the press, but it is remarkably difficult to find any actual manuscripts digitised by this project, paid for by Leonard Polonsky (to whom all kudos), between the Vatican and the Bodleian libraries. Anyway, the Greek manuscripts to be digitised are listed here: http://bav.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/items-to-be-digitized-greek-manuscripts The tiny number that have been done so […]
• From my diary
  A bit of a red-letter day today: the interior setup of the Origen book — or Origen of Alexandria: Exegetical works on Ezekiel as I must get used to calling it — is complete.  This evening I uploaded the PDF to Lulu.com (which I use to generate proof copies, because Lightning Source do not provide such […]
• More on the tombs of the emperors at the Church of the Holy Apostles in Constantinople
  The now-vanished Church of the Holy Apostles stood on a high place in Constantinople with views of the sea to north and south.  It stood in the western part of the city, standing on the main street which connected the Forum of Theodosius with the Charisian gate (Edirnekapi), and which corresponds to the modern Fevzi […]
• “In the Heroon of the great and holy Constantine towards the east end lies the porphyry larnax of the great Constantine himself…”
  Another text in the PG 157 volume (col.725) is one describing the tombs of the emperors in the Church of the Holy Apostles, here: On the tombs of the emperors which are in the Church of the Holy Apostles. In the Heroon of the great and holy Constantine towards the east end lies the porphyry […]
• Some ancient statues taken to Constantinople under Constantius and Theosodius II
  Cyril Mango’s excellent article on the fate of ancient statues in Byzantium tells us: The importation of statues into Constantinople greatly diminished, but did not entirely cease, after the reign of Constantine. Individual statues were apparently brought in under Constantius II,[15] Valentinian,[16] and Theodosius II.[17] The references given are to a publication, the Scriptores Originum […]
• The “Testimonium Flavianum” in al-Makin
  The so-called Testimonium Flavianum of Josephus has provoked extensive discussion down the years, not all of it either measured or even sensible.  One witness to the text is the Arabic versions.  These were handled in a rather mangled way in 1971 by Shlomo Pines, who introduced the world to their existence in the World History […]
• The two recensions of al-Makin
  There are quite a number of manuscripts of the history by the 13th century Coptic historian al-Makin ibn al-Amid.  I have listed these in a previous post here.  Martino Diez, in his important article on the subject has obtained copies of three of the manuscripts.  This is no small feat in itself, as I can […]
• Diez’ article on al-Makin is online!
  I have started to blog about a fascinating article on the Coptic historian, al-Makin.  The article is Martino Diez, “Les antiquites greco-romaines entre ibn al-`Amid et Ibn Khaldun. Notes pour une histoire de la tradition”, in: Studia Graeco-Arabica 3 (2013), 121-140.  But I had not realised that the full article is online!  The PDF is here, […]
• Melting down the statues in Constantinople in 1204
  Looting the tombs of the emperors was one thing.  Choniates goes on with yet more examples of cultural vandalism.  The fate of statues, many obviously from ancient times, was the furnace, to be turned into coins. Because they were in want of money (for the barbarians are unable to sate their love of riches), they […]
• The Latins break open the tombs of the emperors in Constantinople
  The history of Nicetas Choniates ends with a mournful description of the damage done to the city of Constantinople by the victorious Latins in 1204.  It seems to describe events well after the initial capture and sack of the city. The following is very interesting: Exhibiting from the very outset, as they say, their innate […]
• From my diary
  I’ve managed to read Diez’ article on al-Makin ibn Amid, the largely unpublished 13th century Arabic Christian historian.  It’s a cracker!  It is, indeed, the new entrance-point to all the literature on the subject.  It also – ahem – mentions this blog. I’ll post some more about this in due course.  But I did start […]
• Ehrman on Epiphanius and the Borborites – some notes
  We have now gone through all the ancient evidence concerning the gnostic cult known as the Borborites (here).  This includes the long chapter (26) in the Panarion of Epiphanius in which he recounts their practices, says something about their mythology, and tells us of his own personal encounter with the group. The time has now come to […]
• Some Chrysostom, ps.Chrysostom, ps.Athanasius in translation at academia.edu
  I’ve just discovered a group of English translations available online here.  All of them are of previously untranslated texts.   Most excitingly (for me), the translator has started on Chrysostom’s letters. The translations are a work in progress; but very welcome! More!
• Al-Makin in prison
  The Diez article on the 13th century Arabic Christian historian, al-Makin ibn Amid, contains an interesting anecdote from the historian’s life: A second obscure point in the life of Ibn Amid concerns the period of the attempted Mongol invasion of Syria.  The functionary, who was then at Damascus, was accused of being in contact with […]
• LACE Greek OCR project
  On a better note, we live in blessed times where technology and the ancient world are concerned.  The astonishing results of a project to OCR volumes of ancient Greek from Archive.org may now be found online here.  Clicking on the first entry, and one of the outputs in it here gives astonishingly good results.
• Arrested for saying a word
  The BBC has the story, and, curiously, seems to approve. Two men have been arrested for posting anti-Semitic tweets following Tottenham Hotspur’s match with West Ham. …  Both men were arrested on Thursday on suspicion of inciting racial hatred. … West Ham told supporters that anyone caught behaving in a racist, anti-Semitic or homophobic way […]
• From my diary
  Is it just me, or is everyone frenetically busy right now?  For myself, it’s ridiculous; every day seems to bring an interesting or important email (or three) that I simply must deal with.  Often the issue is something well worth blogging about as well.   So suddenly I find myself snowed under. This week the new […]
• Epiphanius and the veil – a 4th century attitude to images
  While searching for old commentary on Epiphanius and the Borborites, I stumbled across something even more interesting. In The Catholic Layman in 1853[refTwo articles are referenced: ]”The Story of St. Epiphanius and the Veil”, The Catholic Layman, 2.17 (1853), 50, 56.[/ref] appear a couple of quotations from Epiphanius. The first (p.56) appears in a discussion […]
• Summing up the ancient accounts of the Borborites-Phibionites
  Now that we have access to all the relevant ancient sources, we can see what they say about this gnostic group, the Borborites or Phibionites, and evaluate what Epiphanius has to say a bit better. The sources, in chronological order, are: The Pistis Sophia 147, 3rd c.? The Second book of Jeu 43, 3rd c.? […]
• The Blue Mosque in the snow
  Via twitter:
• Diez on al-Makin and the Testimonium Flavianum
  Just a quick note to signal an important article: Martino Diez, “Les antiquites greco-romaines entre ibn al-`Amid et Ibn Khaldun. Notes pour une histoire de la tradition, in: Studia Graeco-Arabica 3 (2013), 121-140 (Online here).  (In this and what follows, don’t presume I have every letter just correct: WordPress won’t allow me to!) The abstract tells […]
• Eusebius Chronicon book 1 – portion of original Greek rediscovered!
  A very interesting article (in English) by J. Gruskova has appeared on the web, discussing recent work with Byzantine palimpsests, at the Austrian National Library.  Somewhat annoyingly the PDF doesn’t allow copying of the text, so I can’t give you more than snippets here. The article notes various palimpsests where modern technology – multi-spectral imaging […]
• In progress: an English translation of Cedrenus in Australia!
  A week ago I was searching to see if there was an English translation of the Byzantine history by George Cedrenus.  An awful lot of Byzantine chronicles have been translated (for the first time!) by Australian scholars, so I knew that it was a possibility. Well, I drew a blank.  No English translation exists.  The […]
• Do Syriac historians care about getting their dates right?
  A correspondent points out some very different attitudes towards chronological accuracy between Greek and Syriac historians. In his monster-sized world chronicle, Michael the Syrian (12th c.) quoted frequently from earlier historians.  I will let my correspondent describe what he found. “One of the sources Michael used was Ignatius of Melitene, whose preface he reproduced in full […]
• Mediceo-Laurenziana digital manuscripts site offline for fear of cyber-attack
  Via the Macrotypography blog I learn of some very bad news indeed: Java Disaster in Florence The digital library of 3,000-plus manuscripts at the Medicea Laurenziana Library in Florence was introduced on this blog as outstanding news three years ago. This year, disaster struck as hackers round the world exploited security vulnerabilities in Java software. Java’s security had to […]
• Is this the best Santa Claus post this Christmas?
  I’ve seen a few twitter posts about St. Nicholas punching Arius at the Council of Nicaea.  Now this (via Dyspepsia Generation):
• Titus of Bostra – critical edition of Greek and Syriac now available!
  There are quite a few of the fathers who we don’t know anything about, despite having their works.  Titus of Bostra is perhaps one of the most important of these.  We — i.e. almost everyone aside from one or two scholars — don’t know anything about him because his work Against the Manichaeans in 4 books […]
• The Borborites-Phibionites in the “books of Jeu”
  I have already mentioned a passage in the Pistis Sophia, found in the codex Askewianus, that refers to Borborite practices. But there is also a reference in the texts known as the “Books of Jeu” (the name is modern), in the so-called Bruce codex.  This was obtained by the Scottish traveller James Bruce ca. 1769, […]
• People Per Hour will simply take your money without telling you
  I’ve just had a rather unpleasant experience with People Per Hour.  I experimented with using this service a couple of years ago, and it didn’t turn out that well (through no fault of anybody).  But there was a sting in the tail, which I have just discovered. In order to use the service, you advertise […]
• More on the translation of Origen’s homilies on Ezekiel
  Back in 2011-12, a translation of all of Origen’s works or fragments of works on Ezekiel was in progress.  Things went very quiet, but the book more or less existed on disk, awaiting sufficient time to do something about it. This week I have been getting the first homily set up in Adobe Indesign CS5.  […]
• 170 Christian Arabic manuscripts from St Mark’s Cathedral in Cairo now online!
  They are here: http://cpart.maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/home/resources/manuscripts/cop/ Blessedly, they have all been placed on Archive.org!  So they are downloadable as PDF’s!!!  What an excellent decision! The images are all from microfilms.  But at least we have them! Mostly Arabic, some Coptic.  Lots of biblical mss, of course; This one caught my eye: COP 20-5 (Theology 30) Principal Work: […]
• Epiphanius on the Borborites or Phibionites
  In order to discuss this cult, we do need before us the testimony of Epiphanius from the Panarion 26.  We are a fortunate generation, in that Frank Williams has produced an English translation, although unfortunately the price of this places it outside the pockets of most of us.  The translation has, indeed, reached a second […]
• Ephraim the Syrian on the Borborites / Phibionites
  A rather baffling reference to “Ephraem the Syrian, Contra Haereses 79″ turns out to be a reference to Hymns against Heresies 22, 4, which, by happy chance, was translated for us a while back here.  Here’s the relevant section: 4D The Arians, because they added and erred; The Aetians, because they were subtle; The Paulinians, […]
• Filaster on the Borborians / Phibionites
  A further witness to the Borborians or Phibionites mentioned by Epiphanius is to be found in the catalogue of heresies by Filaster or Philaster in his Diversarum haereseon liber (PG12, col. 1186): LXXIII. Borboriani. Alia est haeresis Borborianorum, qui vitiis implicati saeculi, et malis concupiscentiis servientes, non sperant judicium futurum, sed potius carnalem saeculi concupiscentiam laudant.  […]
• Untangling the homilies of Chrysostom “on the resurrection”
  A correspondent has written to me, enquiring about “9 homilies on the resurrection”.  He’s been trying to find a text, and getting confused by what he finds, which includes spuria. Looking at the Clavis Patrum Graecorum vol. 2, that list of the works of Chrysostom, is always a pleasure.  One day I must make a […]
• When the emperor Constans looted Rome of all its statues in 663
  Cyril Mango’s article on the fate of ancient statues in the middle ages continues: It is, however, recorded that Constans II, during his infamous residence in Rome (663), despoiled that city of its ancient bronze ornaments, including even the copper roof tiles of the Pantheon, with a view to having them transferred to Constantinople. The […]
• A further reference to the Borborites-Phibionites in the Codex Askewianus
  A 4-5th c. Coptic manuscript now in the British Library (Ms. BL. Addit. 5114), acquired under unknown circumstances by a Dr Askew, contains a gnostic text which bears the title of the Pistis Sophia.  Another copy was found in a 5th century codex unearthed at Akhmim in 1896 also containing three other texts (now P.Berol. 8502).  The text of the Pistis […]
• Theodoret on the Borborites / Phibionites
  Epiphanius of Salamis devotes a section of his Panarion to the Borborites or Phibionites, a bunch of libertine gnostics of a pretty disgusting kind.  But few will know that Theodoret also mentions this group, in his Compendium haereticarum fabularum book 1, chapter 13.  The English translation of this is itself little known. Let’s hear what Theodoret has to say. […]
• Rather than ruin all the library books with photocopying…
  To the local library, to collect a copy of the English translation of a Byzantine text.  The volume was a substantial hardback, with the library plate of the John Rylands Library in Manchester.  Inside the book at various points was an old train ticket fromWigan, and two trading cards from some exhibition in 2007, all […]
• From my diary
  It’s been a while since I did anything with the translation of Origen’s Commentary on Ezekiel which I commissioned.  The book has sat in a collection of .doc files on my hard disk, while other tasks went forward. The main obstacle to progress is getting the book typeset.  I did buy a copy of Adobe […]
• Fire in the sky: a piece of ancient sorcery explained in Hippolytus
  The article by Dodds on theurgy and Neoplatonism mentions Compare … Hippolytus’ receipe for simulating a fiery apparition of Hecate by natural if somewhat dangerous means (Ref. Haer. 4, 36). The magician casts his spell, and … suddenly a flame is seen ascending in the sky nearby! The Refutation of Heresies IV, chapters 35-6 is […]
• An important 6th c. historical witness: notes on the ‘Life’ of Symeon Stylites the Younger
  In a preceding post I quoted from two different versions of the Saint’s Life of S. Symeon Stylites the Younger (521-592).  I have now obtained photocopies of much of Van den Ven’s edition, and I think a summary might be of general use. Manuscripts The following manuscripts exist. A = Codex Athous Lavra B 71 […]
• More from Mango on ancient statues in Byzantium
  I’m still looking at Cyril Mango’s marvellous paper on the fate of ancient statues in medieval Byzantium, and looking up references from it.  I learn something from every one of these. The last few posts concerned references to Christians smashing pagan statues: The deliberate assembling of ancient statues in Constantinople constitutes something of a paradox. […]
• Editing Chrysostom – an SC volume appears
  Nathalie Rambault has undertaken the task of editing some works by John Chrysostom for the Sources Chretiennes series.  Just to list the manuscripts of Chrysostom takes many volumes, so we may admire her courage! The first volume (of two) is now out, I believe, and includes homilies on the resurrection, ascension and Pentecost.  6 pages […]
• Idols “subjected to popular derision” at Antioch?
  The next statement by Cyril Mango on the subject of the destruction of pagan statues in the lives of the saints is as follows: At about the same time idols were subjected to popular derision by being hung in the streets of Antioch. The reference is to the Vita S. Symeonis junioris, the Life of Simeon Stylites […]
• The Walters understand that images of manuscripts should not be copyright
  A useful article: via here: https://twitter.com/WillNoel/status/404219313877684224
• Simeon Stylites – a new Diogenes?
  Earlier I posted Theodoret’s account of the life of Simeon Stylites.  Written while the saint was stil alive, and as an eyewitness of at least some of his life, it has considerable value as a historical source.  The portions in square brackets represent later interpolation, it should be added. Reading the life raised some uncomfortable […]
• Theodoret on Simeon Stylites
  Earlier we looked at the Life of Abraham as presented in Theodoret’s Lives of the Monks, written in 444 AD, and one of our best historical sources for an area generally represented by hagiographical texts. While reading the volume, in the same excellent translation by R.M. Price, I found myself reading the Life of the famous […]
• Haefner and Salvian on forgery
  In Forgery and Counterforgery, Bart Ehrman makes a series of statements about Salvian of Marseilles, suggesting that the 5th century monk and moralist was guilty of forgery, and also that Salvian actually confesses to the deed in his Letter 9. In earlier posts, I have evaluated E.’s statements against the text of the letter — not given by E., […]
• Theodoret’s “Life of Abraham” – related to that of “Abramius”?
  We have been discussing St. Abramius.  I’m not sure if the Life in the Acta Sanctorum is intended to refer to the same man, but let us read what Theodoret says, in his “History of the Monks” about St. Abraham.  There is no reference to idols in all thus. It’s worth remembering that Theodoret knew some […]
• More idols overthrown, this time by St Abramius
  The next reference in Mango’s article to idol-smashing is the following: In the middle of the sixth century we hear of St. Abramius destroying pagan idols near Lampsacus on the Hellespont, in a village that was totally pagan. The reference is to the Acta Sanctorum, the Acts SS, Abramii et Mariae, March, vol. 2, p.933.  […]
• Ancient Egyptian idols destroyed in the life of Severus of Antioch
  Here is another statement from Mango’s article: At the end of the fifth century a great number of idols, salvaged from the temple of Isis at Memphis, were concealed in a house behind a false wall. But their presence was detected by the Christians.  The statues were loaded on twenty camels and taken to Alexandria […]
• Mark the Deacon on the destruction of the statue of Aphrodite
  Following my last post, I find that the Life of Porphyry of Gaza, by Mark the Deacon, is online.  Mango states (p.56): At Gaza there stood in the center of town a nude statue of Aphrodite which was the object of great veneration, especially on the part of women. When, in 402, Bishop Porphyry, surrounded […]
• Ancient statues in medieval Constantinople
  A truly fascinating article has come my way, thanks to a tweet by Dorothy King: Cyril Mango’s Antique Statuary and the Byzantine Beholder (online here).  The tweet itself was as follows: Rare scene of pagan statues that survived being destroyed during later Byzantium in Constantinople pic.twitter.com/UYKMlAnIoS The article contains a great number of references to […]
• Theodore Abu Qurrah and an anti-Manichaean synod
  A correspondent kindly sent me an article which mentioned a synod against the Manichaeans, assembled by Theodore Abu Qurra, the Melkite bishop of Harran, at Harran in 764-5 AD.  This is mentioned in a 14th century source, a certain John Cyparissiotes.  The latter was previously unknown to me, but his works are found in PG152. It seems that […]
• Cramer’s catena on Mark translated into English!
  It’s remarkable what you can find on Google books if you look.  An idle search for “catena” yesterday revealed that someone has translated the entirety of Cramer’s catena on Mark into English!  Yay! But first, a few words about catenas! Not everyone will know what a “catena” (the word means “chain”) is.  The term itself […]
• Farewell to the NIV?
  The New International Version of the bible was on course to become the new standard English translation; until, in an act of incredible hubris and folly, the publishers, Zondervan, decided to tinker with it and keep tinkering with it.  Not, one might add, in the interests of greater accuracy, but to make it “gender neutral”.   […]
• Infra-red light can “remove” spilled ink from digital images of books?
  An interesting email on the Ethiopian literature email list: List members may value knowing that one of the positive results of the imaging of the 1513 first Ge’ez book – Psalterium Æthiopicum – Rome, Potken, http://www.kingscollections.org/exhibitions/specialcollections/psalter1513/ was the use of Infra Red imaging to ‘remove’ spilled ink. Please see:- http://www.earlybook.info/wordpress/?p=231 This is a printed text; […]
• Fire hits Internet Archive building
  Fire hits Internet Archive building http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-24848907
• From my diary
  On Monday I must go back to work, so blogging will certainly take a back seat while I get established in a new job. I have spent much of today converting a large 600+ page book into a PDF, so that I can search it, quote from it, and work with it more conveniently.   It […]
• A new 4th century fragment of Justin Martyr!!!
  Via Brice C. Jones I learn that the new volume of the Oxyrhynchus Papyri (vol. 73) contains a parchment fragment of the 4th century, with 6 lines from Justin Martyr’s First Apology on it! The reference is P.Oxy. 5129. This is quite a find, since the apologies of Justin are known to us only from […]
• The patristic idea that God is outside of time
  A post in an online forum drew my attention to some passages in which God is described explicitly as being outside of time, and seeing all eternity as the present. The first source mentioned is Augustine, Confessions, book 11.  The old NPNF translation is here, and a look at the (Victorian) headings for the chapters reveals […]
• From my diary
  I’ve been adding a few more Mithraic monuments to my collection of pictures online.  A Mithraeum from 1969 from Cologne is the focus. Otherwise I am doing little.  Gainful employment beckons!
• Church of Scotland trying to hide a scandal by editing Wikipedia?
  A few months ago I mentioned a very odd story from Scotland, where, in 2012, the Glasgow Presbytery of the Church of Scotland drove one of its largest congregations out of their own building, which they had just contributed $5m to refurbish, under threat of lawsuit.  There were many evil deeds by the church officials, all […]
• The “Senatus Palace” at Nicaea (Iznik)
  I have just returned from a coach tour around parts of Turkey.  One of the places visited was Iznik, formerly Nicaea. Nicaea stands at the eastern end of a substantial lake, and at the western end of a considerable plain filled with endless olive groves.  The lake itself is surrounded by mountains, with a breach at the […]
• Coptic Encyclopedia, Nag Hammadi photos, online at Claremont Colleges Digital Library
  Via AWOL I learn: The Claremont Colleges Digital Library is serving some interesting open access  material relating to antiquity: … Claremont Coptic Encyclopedia The Claremont Coptic Encyclopedia (CCE) will initially include  approximately 2800 articles published in The Coptic Encyclopedia (Aziz  S. Atiya, ed. NY: Macmillan, 1991). The CCE will continuously add  updates and new topics […]
• British Library beginning to digitise its papyri
  Sarah Biggs at the British Library Manuscripts blog writes: The British Library holds one of the most significant collections of Greek papyri in the world, including the longest and most significant papyrus of the Aristotelian Constitution of Athens, unique copies of major texts such as Sophocles’ Ichneutae, and the Egerton Gospel, as well as a […]
• Some observations on Bart Ehrman’s presentation of Salvian’s letter 9 and “Ad Ecclesiam”
  The last few posts have been concerned with establishing some basic facts about the priest Salvian of Marseilles.  I have discussed his Ad Ecclesiam; the text of “letter 9”, which he seems to have prefaced to the work; about his relationship with his friend and pupil Salonius, bishop of Geneva; and about the manuscript tradition of his […]
• Two opinions on Salvian’s Letter 9
  While online this afternoon I came across a copy of the Eva M. Sanford, 1930, translation of Salvian’s De gubernatione dei, “On the government of God”, complete with a lengthy preface.  After some time I realised that it was something I had scanned myself, transferred to another site. Sanford lists the works of Salvian in […]
• Is Salonius’ commentary on Ecclesiastes authentic?
  In my last post I raised the question of whether the two commentaries transmitted under the name of the 5th century bishop Salonius of Geneva were in fact authentic.  These consist of a commentary on Proverbs, and one on Ecclesiastes. This evening I stumbled across a 1987 dissertation by A.M. Wolters which mentions the scholarship […]
• Is Salonius’ Commentary on Ecclesiastes accessible?
  A commentary on Ecclesiastes attributed to Salonius of Geneva does exist in English, I find.  This Google Books page tell us that a certain William Pollard in 1615 produced a translation under the title, A misticall exposition of doctor Salonius, borne at Vienna and bishopp of Fraunce, upon the Ecclesiastes of Salomon, in manner of a […]
• Graf’s Geschichte der christlichen arabischen Literatur online!
  A correspondant kindly drew my attention to an online resource for Islamic manuscripts.  The address is here: http://www.islamicmanuscripts.info/reference/ The site includes all five volumes of Graf’s GCAL.  It may be 60 years old but it is still the only handbook of Christian Arabic literature. The site also has a vast array of manuscript-related catalogues and […]
• Was Salonius Salvian’s “own bishop”?
  One statement that appears repeatedly in the discussion of Salvian in Bart Ehrman’s Forgery and counterforgery is that Salvian was “caught by his own bishop” in writing a forgery.   The main question is one that I am addressing in this series of posts.  But was Salonius, Salvian’s friend and former pupil, as Salvian tells us in his […]
• Why did Salvian place the name of “Timothy” at the head of his “Ad Ecclesiam”
  I have been posting about Salvian of Marseilles, his early work Ad Ecclesiam (ca. 440 AD), which addresses the universal church under the name of “Timothy”, and what Salvian’s letter 9 can tell us about all this. Today I would like to address the question of why Salvian placed the name of “Timothy” on his […]
• Some notes on the transmission of Salvian’s “Ad Ecclesiam” and Letter 9
  There is an entry for Salvian in the continuation of Jerome’s De viris illustribus by Gennadius, written ca. 470 AD.  It forms chapter 68, and may be given in the NPNF translation: Salvianus, presbyter of Marseilles, well informed both in secular and in sacred literature, and to speak without invidiousness, a master among bishops, wrote […]
• The “Book of Ehud” – a modern apocryphon?
  As we consider Salvian’s letter 9, discussing why his Ad Ecclesiam was written under the name of Timothy, let us also include the following item, taken from the Private Eye Annual 2009, ed. Ian Hislop.  Private Eye is a British satirical magazine, and the “Book of Ehud” is an item that appears in very similar […]
• Salvian, Letter 9, to Salonius: on why he used the name Timothy when writing Ad Ecclesiam
  In Forgery and counterforgery, Ehrman makes great play of the “confession” of Salvian that he forged a work in the name of the apostle Timothy.  Unfortunately he does not give the text of the letter in question.  The reference is to letter 9 in the collected letters, although it is not found in the unique manuscript […]
• More on experimenting with Arabic and Ibn Abi Usaibia
  In this post I asked if anyone had access to the following texts: B. L. Van der Waerden, “Die Schriften und Fragmente des Pythagoras,” RESupp. 10 (1965): 843-64; see also idem, Die Pythagoreer. Religiose Bruderschaft und Schule der Wissenschaft (Zurich: Artemis, 1979), 272-73. A correspondent kindly sent me the latter item today.  A PDF is […]
• The informer and the sycophant in Diogenes Laertius
  I’m currently rereading Diogenes Laertius’ Lives of the Philosophers as my bedtime book.  This evening I came across a curious passage in the life of Plato (III, 24): There is a story that he [Plato] pleaded for Chabrias the general when he was tried for his life, although no one else at Athens would do […]
• Ehrman’s use of the term “forgery”
  Before I go further in reviewing Ehrman’s Forgery and Counterforgery, it would be good to look at what E. means when he uses the word “forgery” — a word which he uses very frequently — and what we mean when we use the word, and whether the two are the same and of the same extent. […]
• Ehrman on the long recension of Ignatius
  Some busy days have prevented me getting to grips with Ehrman’s Forgery and counterforgery.  My query about the Apollinarians earlier today led me back to it, as a Google link brought me to the Google Books version, where I found material on the long recension of the letters of Ignatius of Antioch.  I thought that […]
• The “forgeries of the Apollinarians”
  This evening I stumbled across a book which few, perhaps, will have read: Georges Florovsky’s The Byzantine Fathers of the Sixth to Eighth Centuries.  Fortunately the book is accessible here, for it is otherwise quite uncommon. What led me here was a question about the “forgeries” of the Apollinarians.  We know that in the 6th […]
• Getting started with the Fathers
  Via Twitter I learn of this post at Triablogue, answering the question: Jason, where would you recommend someone start with the church fathers, both in terms of primary and secondary reading? It seems such a dauntingly large field to a non-specialist… The answer is worth reading, but inevitably I disagree profoundly! If you are interested […]
• Doesn’t every library look like this? If not, why not?
  A photograph of the old Cincinnati Public Library, sometime in the 1870’s, from here (via here).  Impractical; but fun!
• Ibn Abi Usaibia – the GAL entry, and the manuscripts
  I have finally managed to find some hard information on Ibn Abi Usaibia (translation here), the two editions of the text, and the manuscripts of both.  What follows may be hard going; but it is almost entirely hard data. A google search turned up this site.  It gives, thankfully, the GAL reference for Ibn Abi […]
• A little information on Ibn Abi Usaibia, from Ibn Khallikan
  A thought struck me, to look into Ibn Khallikan’s biographical dictionary, of which an English translation exists.  The index to this is not nearly so confusing as for the GAL, and I eventually found a reference to vol. 4, p.158, where in the footnote we read: Abu ‘l-Abbas Ahmad Ibn al-Kasim Ibn Khalifa Ibn Abi […]
• From my diary
  I’m trying to discover whether there is knowledge anywhere that Ibn Abi Usaibia (d. 1207) did, or did not, produce two editions of his great work, The History of Physicians.  The reason that I want to know is the existence of a supposed quotation from Porphyry, extant in a version of the text different from that […]
• Experimenting with Arabic, and Ibn Abi Usaibia
  On p.109-10, in Forgery and counterforgery, Bart Ehrman quotes a passage from medieval author Ibn Abi Usaibia (here), supposedly about Pythagoras (as translated by Carl Ernst, from a private translation): But as for the books of Pythagoras the sage, which Archytas the Tarentine philosopher collected by himself, they are eighty books. But those that he […]
• From my diary
  For a few days now I have been wading through Bart Ehrman’s Forgery and counterforgery.  It’s a long book, not very well structured, and written in an off-putting way.  So it is taking time, which I rather grudge, from other things. Much the most interesting section so far is on the question of whether or not it […]
• More on the “arrest” of Josh Williamson
  I’ve been blogging about the arrest (twice) of preacher Josh Williamson in Perth, Scotland.  He said that he was arrested and was taken to a police station, where he was refused a solicitor.  The police have denied that he was arrested.  He was arrested again last Saturday.  The circumstances of all this seem very unclear, and the police […]
• Syriac and Manichaean-related materials on a British Library blog
  Via MedievalEgypt on Twitter I learn of a valuable post on Manichaean-related materials in the British Library, here, by Ursula Sims-Williams: One of the most important sources in the British Library is the Syriac manuscript Add.12150 which contains the treatise Against the Manicheans by Titus (d. 378) of Bostra (Bosra, now in Syria), translated from Greek. This codex […]
• A 2-3rd c. papyrus “title page”?
  An extremely interesting article on the Brice C. Jones blog about a piece of papyrus, found inside a leather binding, which is blank except for “Gospel according to Matthew” in Greek on the recto.  Simon Gathercole has written about it.  The suggestion is that this is the “cover-leaf” for a papyrus codex, and that the […]
• Dictating to a scribe can alter the language used?
  A fascinating post at Evangelical Textual Criticism (the post seems to have vanished for the moment, but, lucky me, I can see it in my RSS reader).  This gives abstracts for an Australian conference, Observing the Scribe at Work.  One of these caught my eye: Delphine Nachtergaele (Ghent University), ‘Scribes in the Greek Private Papyrus Letters’ […]
• The Codex Agobardinus of Tertullian is online at Gallica!!
  A red letter day, this.  I learn via Twitter and the Florus blog that some more Latin manuscripts have appeared on the French National Library Gallica.bnf.fr site.  Among them is the oldest and most important manuscript of the works of Tertullian, the Codex Agobardinus (Paris lat. 1622).  It may be found here.  100Mb of joy! […]
• Some new patristic translations in the pipeline at Moody – Spokane
  A correspondent writes to tell me that Jonathan Armstrong, at Moody Bible Institute-Spokane, is at work with his students on a number of patristic texts.  He writes: We have founded an early Church studies honors society complete with electives that are taught primarily by Dr. Armstrong. As part of the program, students will be taking […]
• Life of Mar Aba – final version now online in English
  I have collected together all the pieces of the Life of the 6th century patriarch of Persia, Mar Aba, and revised them slightly and uploaded them to the Additional Fathers collection, with an introduction.  The translation is here. I made the translation, not from the original Syriac, but from the BKV German translation.  It’s probably […]
• Theodoret’s Commentary on Romans – online in English
  Theodoret’s Commentary on Romans, part 1 and part 2, from the 1839-40 Christian Remembrancer (vols. 21 and 22) is now online. The translation appeared in installments throughout those two volumes, and the page numbers reset when the new volume came out.  So I have divided it into two web pages. Many of the notes are […]
• And yet another (!) street-preacher arrested in the UK
  No details as yet.  The preacher was a certain Josh Williamson, of Operation513 ministries.  I learned of the arrest via a tweet from Tony Miano, the US preacher arrested at Wimbledon for the same “offence”.  The Facebook post: I was arrested for “Breach of Peace” in Perth, Scotland. I was told the content of my message […]
• From my diary
  I’ve continued to work on formatting Theodoret’s Commentary on Romans for online accessibility. Another chunk of the translation of Eusebius of Caesarea’s Commentary on Luke has arrived from the translator – chunk 8 out of 14, if I recall correctly.  Apparently progress on this will slow down, tho, for term time. OUP are going to […]
• Oliver R. Barclay (1919-2013)
  I learn by email of the death of Oliver R. Barclay, a former chairman of the Cambridge Inter-Collegiate Christian Union (CICCU), and then general secretary of the IVF (now UCCF).  He was the author of Whatever Happened to the Jesus Lane Lot? (1977), an excellent informal history of Christian work and witness among students in Britain during the […]
• Bart Ehrman says that I am a Moonie. And a Scientologist.
  An interesting post at Paleojudaica here, drawing attention to a review of a new book by a certain Bart Ehrman, who is described as a professor of New Testament textual criticism and apparently writes books trying to prove that the New Testament is complete nonsense.  That would seem like an unusual role for the normal […]
• Feldman, the Testimonium Flavianum, Eusebius and the TLG
  Last year Josephus scholar Louis Feldman wrote a tentative article in support of the hitherto fringe idea that Eusebius of Caesarea composed the so-called Testimonium Flavianum found in Josephus’ Antiquities of the Jews, book 18.  On p.26 we find the following statement: There is one phrase in the Testimonium that, while it has been noted […]
• From my diary
  I am still struggling away with transcribing Theodoret’s Commentary on Romans.  15 pages to go. When I have it done, I will collect the bits of the Life of Mar Aba, write a preface and upload them as a whole.  It would be useful to know what the manuscript tradition is for the work. I […]
• Some questions about “looting matters”
  I have a certain amount of time for the antiquities trade.  If it did not exist, there can be little doubt that the majority of papyrus codices discovered in Egypt in the last century would have gone into the fires of local farm-workers in that country (and some did anyway).  The fact that, in modern […]
• From my diary
  One item that has hung around on my PC for ages now is Theodoret’s Commentary on Romans.  A translation actually exists of this obscure item, published by an Oxford Movement person in the 1840’s, in a journal, and then forgotten.  I did scan it in the then-new Finereader 11 back in early 2012; but a […]
• Yet another street-preacher detained for endless hours
  From Christian Today (6th September) comes news of yet another political arrest of a street preacher in Britain, this time in Basildon in Essex (also at Christian Concern): A street preacher was arrested in Basildon on Wednesday following a complaint by a member of public. The Christian Legal Centre reports that Rob Hughes was held for […]
• “Freedom of speech is not something to be awarded to those who are thought deserving and denied to those who are thought undeserving’ – judge
  Another valuable article appears today in the Daily Mail.  The context is a curious system of secret ‘family’ courts who take children from families but may not be reported by the press.  This evil seems peculiar to Britain, and the details may be read in the article.   The new judge in charge of the system, […]
• A modern pillar-hermit?
  An article in the Daily Mail today reports on a Georgian monk, Maxime Qavtaradze, who lives atop a “pillar” above his monastery.  The “pillar” seems to be a rather wide chunk of rock, with a little hut and a chapel on the top. It takes a strong mind and a lot of willpower  to become a […]
• Miscellania: some snippets about the CICCU and the SCM from Google Books
  For some reason today I did a search to find out when the Cambridge Inter-collegiate Christian Union (CICCU), one of the most influential Christian bodies of the 20th century, split away from the Student Christian Movement (SCM).  The CICCU had founded the SCM, but the latter became compromised with liberalism and had to be cut adrift.  […]
• Life of Mar Aba – chapter 41 (and end)
  We may as well add today the conclusion of the Life of Mar Aba. 41.  In order to avoid wearying you, through hearing too much, let us pass over what God soon did through him and for his sake in many distant countries, through arbitrating disputes which Satan, the enemy of our nature, had aroused; then in the […]
• Life of Mar Aba – chapter 40
  Dead but not buried yet! (I have split up some of the monster sentences in this one). 40.  He was honoured for seven days in the cathedral, day and night, with scripture readings, hymns, sermons and spiritual songs, and all the hosts of believers from all the provinces took the blessings home, by means of small […]
• Life of Mar Aba – chapter 39
  Mar Aba may be dead; but the political situation was still difficult.  The fire-priests had not forgotten their old adversary.  For Zoroastrians were not buried, and Mar Aba had been a noble Persian. 39.  Then the magians made so much fuss, that nobody dared to bury him until the King commanded it.  When he was laid […]
• Life of Mar Aba – chapter 38
  By this time Mar Aba was an old man.  Clearly he had reached an understanding with the Sassanid King, and was trusted to undertake what were really diplomatic missions.  But his health had suffered from his long period of imprisonment, and it is likely that everyone knew that he did not have long to live. […]
• Life of Mar Aba – chapter 37
  Let’s return to the 6th century Syriac Life of Mar Aba, the Nestorian patriarch.  This life is interesting since it is not far removed in time from the events, and contains what are clearly historical statements about an otherwise little-known period of the history of Christianity in Persia. A German translation exists, but no English […]
• Making money from my efforts; but do I care?
  A Google search for Pionius reminded me that, back in 2006, I had scanned the late Life of Polycarp by ps.Pionius — it is probably 4th century — and added it to my collection here. What I did not expect was to find the same item for sale on Amazon, here and here, added in […]
• Passion of St Saturninus of Toulouse – now online in English
  In the early 5th century an unknown writer edited an account from ca. 300 of the death of Bishop Saturninus of Toulouse.  He added a preface, and a conclusion recording the moving of the saint’s remains; but the main core of the account remained the same.  It is an interesting, and historical, insight into how Christians […]
• Admin: possible changes to the appearance of the site
  I may need to change the WordPress theme that I use for this site.  For some reason quoting material – which I do a lot – does not work very well since I upgraded.  My apologies if there is any oddness while I experiment! UPDATE: OK, I have reverted.  The same problems appeared in the […]
• More on the arrest of a preacher in Norwich for objecting to homosexuality
  Further to yesterday’s post, I have now seen the email which caused “Norwich Pride” to report Dr Clifford to the police.  It is entirely innocuous.  Every word of it is benevolent, and addressed to sinners, calling them to repentance.  I would post it here without a second thought except that I find myself asking…. would […]
• From my diary
  Some may recall that I commissioned a translation of the Passion of St Saturninus, written in the 5th century but the core of it 3rd century.  Saturninus was bishop of what is now Toulouse.  The oracles in the pagan temples started to fail, and go silent, and the priests enquired why.  Someone mentioned Saturninus, who […]
• English clergyman informed against, harassed by police for saying homosexuality is a sin
  There was a Gay Power march in the quiet rural city of Norwich in England a month or so ago.  I remember thinking how offensive it probably was — and was intended to be — to the conservative inhabitants of the city. I remember thinking how much it was a triumphalist proclamation of gay power over […]
• An extract from Eusebius, “Ecclesiastical Theology” III, 4-6
  A portion of Eusebius of Caesarea’s Ecclesiastical Theology, written against Marcellus of Ancyra, was edited and translated in John Mackett, Eusebius of Caesarea’s Theology of the Holy Spirit. Milwaukee, WI : Marquette University,  1990.  As it is not too long, I think it might be interesting to give the passage translated here. Mackett goes on […]
• Forthcoming: translation of Eusebius’ “Contra Marcellum” and “Ecclesiastical Theology”
  We have English translations of a great deal of Patristic literature.  One of the most conspicuous absences, however, has been the five books that Eusebius of Caesarea wrote against Marcellus of Ancyra after the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD.  These are the Contra Marcellum and the Ecclesiastical Theology. Today I heard from Dr Kelley […]
• A quotation from Thales?
  A correspondent writes: I have seen this statement all over the web referring to an alleged quote of Thales: Megiston topos: hapanta gar chorei (Μέγιστον τόπος• άπαντα γαρ χωρεί) “Space is the greatest thing, as it contains all things” However, I have never seen a reference to an ancient text.  Is this a web myth? […]
• The unlawful pleasures of the imagination
  While searching for something else, I found an interesting passage in Augustine’s De Trinitate, book 12, chapter 12: … when the mind is pleased in thought alone with unlawful things, while not indeed determining that they are to be done, but yet holding and pondering gladly things which ought to have been rejected the very […]
• Chrysostom, De terrae motu (on the earthquake) now online in English
  Bryson Sewell has kindly translated for us all the short homily by John Chrysostom, De terrae motu (on the earthquake; CPG 4366, PG 50 713-6). It’s here in HTML form.  I have placed the PDF and Word forms at Archive.org here. The translation is public domain: use it freely for personal, educational or commercial use. If […]
• Medieval poison ring found – get one now!
  NEW!  For the Borgia in YOUR church … a poison ring! SMILE … as your opponents die writhing on the floor while you preach a sermon about peace and unity! END … those interminable conferences by poisoning your enemies during the communion service! INVITE … your foes round for dinner: “The drinks are on me!” […]
• Notes upon the Acts / Passion of St. Saturninus
  An online forum asked about an ancient text named the Acts of St. Saturninus.  I had not heard of these, and my investigation is perhaps worth writing up. The Passio S. Saturnini is a text which describes the death of Saturninus and other martyrs of Toulouse in Gaul during the Decian persecution.  It belongs to […]
• More Egypt vandalism: the museum in Minya attacked and looted by Muslim Brotherhood
  From the Daily Mail (h/t Nebraska Energy Observer): Looters ransack Egyptian antiques museum and snatch priceless artefacts as  armed police move inside stormed Cairo mosque Museum in the Upper Egyptian city of  Minya was broken into on Thursday. Ministry accused Muslim Brotherhood  supporters of breaking in. Egypt’s famous Malawi National Museum has  been ransacked, looted […]
• Coptic monastery set alight; fate of Coptic manuscripts unknown
  There have been vague reports on twitter for a few days of a 4th century Coptic church, the “Virgin Mary church”, being burned by the Moslem Brotherhood’s thugs in Egypt.  Today I find something solid, and it looks grim. From Jihadwatch.org: Ancient Egyptian Christian Monastery Set Aflame As Muslim Brotherhood supporters continue their jihadi rampage on […]
• Notes on chapter divisions in Syriac manuscripts from antiquity
  The British Library holds some of the most ancient Syriac manuscripts in the world, brought there in 1842 by Archdeacon Tattam from the monastery of Deir al-Suryani in the Nitrian desert in Egypt.  Last Saturday I went down there, along with Syriacist Steven Ring, and examined four of them for evidence of chapter divisions.  This […]
• Updating the WordPress software
  My apologies to anyone who tried to visit the site over the last half-hour.  I was engaged in the long-deferred task of updating WordPress (and cursing the half-written upgrade instructions).  All seems to be well now.
• Google sabotaging Internet Explorer
  A new version of Google Mail yesterday; and today I find that it won’t work properly with Internet Explorer 10.  I was forced to use Chrome – which I dislike – in order to reply to an email.   (link; link) It looks as if it doesn’t work that well with Firefox either. This is not […]
• A visit to the Verulamium Museum
  A dinner engagement took me to St Albans this evening.  The road-widening on the M25 caused me to go early; and a look at my own Mithras site revealed that the Verulamium Museum there had some Mithraic items.  I took my mobile phone, paid for parking, then admission, and wandered in. The museum didn’t place […]
• Selections from Schröder’s “Titel und Text” – 4
  One of the most useful elements of Schröder’s “Titel und Text” is the appendix.  This attempts to work out what words were used by the Romans for “work-title”, “book-title”, “table of contents”, “item in a table of contents”, “chapter”, “title”, and “poem heading”. I would imagine that Dr Schröder compiled these references by a database search, but […]
• Augustine, Letter to Firmus – English translation
  An article by Lambot informs me of the existence of an interesting letter by St. Augustine, and a correspondent has let me know that an English translation exists in the Fathers of the Church volume of the City of God, to which the letter relates. While discoveries of sermons by St. Augustine have never ceased, […]
• British Library impressions
  It has been quite a while since I lasted visited the British Library.  It has been so long, indeed, that when I found a need to do so, I found that my readers’ card had expired in 2008, five years ago.  The building is in central London, a destination pretty much barred to those of […]
• Manuscripts online at the Walters Art Museum
  A bunch of gospel manuscripts and other items, mostly illuminated, are online at the Walters Art Museum here.  Blessedly, the Walters has made the images truly accessible: This Web page links to complete sets of high-resolution archival images of    entire manuscripts from the collection of the Walters Art Museum, along    with detailed catalog descriptions. They […]
• The Townley Homer at the British Library
  A very welcome addition to the British Library collection of digital manuscripts is announced on their blog today.  In an excellent article by Julian Harrison, Hooray for Homer!, we learn that BL. Burney 86, a 10th century manuscript with copious scholia, is now accessible here. The article itself is really useful, giving the history of […]
• Selections from Schröder’s “Titel und Text” – 3
  Here is a rough English translation of the conclusions for part 2 of Bianca-Jeanette Schröder’s book, Titel und Text.  It was made in haste for my own purposes, so is probably not 100% reliable.  Nevertheless, the material is so important, and is apparently so little known, that it seems well worth placing this here. Part 2 […]
• An extract from Galen’s “De Compositione Medicamentorum Secundum Locus”
  Another interesting snippet from Dorandi is a piece of a work by the 2nd century medical writer Galen. Galen’s works fill 20 huge volumes in the standard edition by Kuhn.  Few indeed have ever been translated.  Yet they contain interesting snippets on the history of books. Dorandi gives us the text and a French translation […]
• The origins of marking written work in red ink – Cicero and Atticus
  While reading Tiziano Dorandi’s fascinating work, Le stylet et la tablette, on how ancient authors composed their works, I find on p.113 a little snippet. Cicero sent his works to Atticus for correction and publication.  It seems that Atticus would ‘mark’ the work in red ink, just like a modern school-teacher. We learn from Cicero’s […]
• (Ps.)Chrysostom, Homily on the Nativity, now online in English
  Bryson Sewell has kindly translated for us a homily transmitted under the name of Chrysostom on Christmas.  This is not the better known Christmas homily, but a second one whose authenticity was defended by C. Martin. The translation of the homily may be found here: HTML at Tertullian.org PDF and Word format at Archive.org As […]
• From my diary
  I’ve been working away at Bianca-Jeanette Schröder’s Titel und Text for what seems like forever.  It’s an excellent book on chapter titles, tables of contents, and the like; but if your German is as limited as mine, it can take a while to get anywhere. I’ve actually been translating lengthy sections of the book, in […]
• Leontius of Byzantium, Against the frauds of the Apollinarists – now online in English
  The 6th century Chalcedonian theologian, Leontius of Byzantium, is most likely the author of a compilation of texts by the 4th century heretic, Apollinarius of Laodicea, entitled “Against the frauds of the Apollinarists”.  What was happening was that Monophysite polemicists were using these texts for anti-Chalcedon arguments.  The texts themselves were circulating under the names […]
• Which manuscript of Leontius Byzantinus did Angelo Mai use?
  The translation of Leontius of Byzantium’s Adversus fraudes Apollinistarum (CPG 6817) is going great guns.  But we have found at least one lacuna in the printed text, where a heading promises a quotation from Apollinarius, but is in fact followed by Leontius’ diatribe in reply. The Greek text of this work was published by Angelo […]
• Who translated Leontius of Byzantium, Adversus fraudes Apollinistarum, into Latin?
  The project to translate Leontius of Byzantium, Adversus fraudes Apollinistarum, goes on.  We’re using the text in Migne, Patrologia Graeca 86, and making reference to the parallel Latin translation.  But who wrote the latter?  And when? According to the table of contents in PG 86, the text is a reprint of an edition by Angelo […]
• Still more on early French travellers to Libya – Durand’s article at last!
  In 2010 I wrote about the circus at Leptis Magna, and how guidebooks say that Durand, a 17th century traveller, found it in much better condition.  In 2011 I found a snippet from it. This week Joe Rock, who commented on the article, has come to all of our assistance.  He has obtained a copy […]
• Selections from Schröder’s “Titel und Text” – 2
  Continuing from the table of contents of Schröder’s “Titel und Text” here, this is a rough translation of the conclusion to the first part, on the titles of ancient books.    *     *     *     *     *     * Part 1 – Conclusion (p.90) It should not surprise us, if the most ancient book titles seem unimaginative to modern […]
• No free speech in France – Jewish group successfully sues Twitter to hand over ID’s of foes to police
  A horrifying story which sets a ghastly precedent.  I have edited it slightly, for reasons that will become apparent. Twitter hands over confidential data of Jewish-sounding users to French authorities Twitter has handed confidential account information over to French authorities to track down the authors of Jewish-sounding tweets, to end the legal battle that started last year […]
• Selections from Schröder’s “Titel und Text” – 1
  B.J. Schröder’s Titel und Text is a profoundly important book for the subject of book titles, chapter divisions, chapter titles, tables of contents and the like.  Yet it seems to be largely unknown in the anglophone world.  I can find no reviews in JSTOR, nor a review at Bryn Mawr. For a few days now […]
• Alin Suciu on the Berlin-Strasbourg Apocryphon / ‘Gospel of the Savior’
  Alin Suciu notes on his blog that he has successfully defended his PhD thesis.  The content of it is very interesting indeed, and thankfully he has made it available online here: Apocryphon Berolinense/Argentoratense (Previously Known as the Gospel of the Savior). Reedition of P. Berol. 22220, Strasbourg Copte 5-7 and Qasr el-Wizz Codex ff. 12v-17r […]
• Armenian version of Chronicle of Michael the Syrian now in English
  This morning I received an email from Robert Bedrosian, the translator into English of a great number of Classical Armenian texts: The English translation of Michael the Great’s Chronicle is now online.  It may be freely copied and distributed. http://rbedrosian.com/Msyr/msyrtoc.html This is incredibly good news! The Chronicle of Michael the Syrian is the largest medieval […]
• From my diary
  I have continued to work on Bianca-Jeanette Schröder’s book.  This evening I have finished translating the conclusion to the second part.  From it I conclude that that section is, I think, something I really will need to read in detail.  Tomorrow I shall begin on the conclusion to the third part. I wonder if there […]
• Reading a book in a language you don’t speak
  For my sins, which evidently must be worse than I had realised, I need to master the contents of an entire book in German.  The book in question is Bianca-Jeanette Schröder’s Titel und Text, with the subtitle: Zur Entwicklung lateinischer Gedichtüberschriften. Mit Untersuchungen zu lateinischen Buchtiteln, Inhaltsverzeichnissen und anderen Gliederungsmitteln.  It was published by De […]
• A saying from Polyaenus’ Strategems
  I’ve been looking at the Strategems of Polyaenus.  These exist in eight books, dedicated to Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus.  In book 8 I find the following: 30.  After Caesar had seen all his enemies subdued, he empowered every one of his soldiers to save the life of any Roman he pleased.  By this act […]
• Saying grace before ….
  At the weekend, I ventured as far as the English coastal resort of Aldeborough.  Like all the little towns on the East Coast of England, it is gloomy and desolate for nine months of the year, its streets swept by the bitter weather that blows in from the North Sea.  But this weekend the sun […]
• From my diary
  A very hot day here.  I have been converting an out-of-copyright Loeb into PDF format.  The book is old and worn, and the binding is loose with much use.  Yes, it is a library copy. Yet somehow such old volumes have a charm of their own.  I did look to see if I might purchase […]
• Manuscripts online at the Spanish National Library
  A correspondent, Surburbanbanshee, has drawn my attention to the presence of digitised manuscripts at the Biblioteca Nacional de Espana website here.  If you click on the link “manuscritos” at the foot of the BNE page, you get all their manuscripts. Of course a lot of these are modern, and of no interest to us.  Instead […]
• Links on the Wimbledon preacher arrest
  The BBC has chosen to ignore the story of how a street preacher was sworn at by a woman and then arrested, for daring to mention homosexuality among a number of sins (see here and here and here).  Others have not. Cranmer broke the story, and the Daily Telegraph ran with it.  A few more links. […]
• Bamberg manuscripts online
  The library website does it’s best to conceal the fact, but there are a number of very interesting manuscripts online at the Staatsbibliothek Bamberg Kaiser-Heinrich-Bibliothek site in Munich.  The top-level site is here, but unless you can wade through oceans of PR waffle, you won’t find the manuscripts.  These are here. The online viewer isn’t […]
• Police statement on arrest of street preacher in Wimbledon
  Further to this and this, I have now received confirmation of the basic details of the story from the police at Wimbledon.  My enquiry was as follows: I read online a report that the police arrested a street preacher and held him for seven hours while quizzing him on his beliefs.  According to the report the reason […]
• Excel spreadsheet of all manuscripts at the British Library
  Someone at the British Library has had an excellent idea.  They’ve uploaded a spreadsheet listing all the manuscripts they have online, with the URL.  It’s here.  They have 856 mss online at the moment; a small proportion of their holdings, but still very useful. The spreadsheet lists shelfmark, contents, url and the project that did […]
• More on the arrest of the street preacher at Wimbledon
  Further to yesterday’s post: I learn from the comments at the Cranmer blog that the incident took place on Monday 1st July. I have had no reply to my enquiry to Wimbledon Police Station. The Daily Telegraph has today run the story, Christian arrested for calling homosexuality a ‘sin’. A Christian street preacher has been […]
• Street preacher arrested at Wimbledon, held for seven hours
  There is a worrying report at the Cranmer blog this evening.  It is good that they have highlighted this, because it seems to have gone otherwise unreported. Mr Miano has recently been out preaching in Wimbledon. He very much enjoys biblical evangelism, speaking about spiritual growth, personal holiness and the person and work of Jesus […]
• Chapter divisions, titles and tables of contents in the BNF Greek mss.
  Now that the French National Library has a bunch of Greek manuscripts online, we can use them to find out what proportion have chapter divisions and titles.  It can’t be comprehensive, but this limited exploration will give us some sort of idea.  It will also be interesting to see if I stumble across any tables […]
• E. Schwartz on the book titles and kephalaia of Eusebius’ Church History
  They certainly knew how to write scholarly editions, those editors of the Griechischen Christlichen Schriftsteller series.  A handful of pages on “titles and kephalaia” in GCS 9.3, by the editor, Eduard Schwarz, has nevertheless remained unchallenged for a century. Of course one reason for this may be that it is incredibly hard for any non-German […]
• The colloquia of the Hermeneumata PseudoDositheana
  A press release advises me that the excellent Eleanor Dickey of Exeter University has brought out a rather interesting book: The colloquia of the Hermeneumata Pseudodositheana are a set of little stories and dialogues about daily life in the Roman Empire, written for ancient Greek speakers learning Latin. Like modern language textbooks, they contain scenes […]
• Greek mss. at the French National Library
  I learned today from the Evangelical textual criticism blog that the Bibliotheque Nationale Francais have been putting manuscripts online, at their Gallica.bnf.fr portal. Locating these is not straightforward; but if you do an advanced search, leave blank the title etc, and select manuscripts, Greek, you get back a list. A good number are biblical mss., […]
• The Arethas codex (Paris gr. 451) of the Greek apologists is online!!!
  I’m looking through the Greek mss. of the French National Library online, and compiling a post with a list.  Dull work. But imagine my excitement when I find that Paris gr. 451 is online.  This is the manuscript that preserves for us a bunch of early Christian apologetic works!  It was copied for Archbishop Arethas […]
• Papyrus manuscript of Didymus the Blind’s “Commentary on Ecclesiastes” online!
  Quite accidentally I find that colour photographs of the pages of Didymus the Blind’s Commentary on Ecclesiastes are online here.  I can only say “wow!” This work was lost until 1941.  In that year, the threat of Rommel’s Afrika Corps caused the British Government to order works carried out at the Tura quarries near Cairo, […]
• Some notes on Parthenius of Nicaea, and his “Peri Erotikon Pathematon”
  Until a few weeks ago, I had managed to go through life without ever encountering the name of the ancient writer Parthenius of Nicaea, or being aware of the absence.   However today I found myself looking at his work, and so obliged to discover who he was, when he lived, and so forth. Our best […]
• Detlefsen on the “indices” of Pliny the Elder’s “Natural History”
  Pliny the Elder states, at the end of his preface to his Natural History, that a list of contents of the work follows.  In our modern editions this forms book 1 of the work.  The indices to each book are also found sometimes at the start of the book to which they relate.  The text of […]
• Buying images of pages from a manuscript in the National Library of Russia in St. Petersburg – part 1
  I need to look at some pages from a Syriac manuscript in the collection of the National Library of Russia in St Petersburg.   Rather than flying out there, paying for a hotel, it might be cheaper to just purchase a few digital photographs.  At least, one would hope so! After a look at page on the […]
• Leithart’s “Defending Constantine” – an interesting idea
  Constantine gets a bad press these days. It’s all down to the Hapsburgs and the Romanovs, really.  When you are trying to overthrow an autocrat who justifies his rule by appealing to Constantine as the source of authority, then the urge to rubbish Constantine is going to be strong.  And we find just this sequence […]
• A Christian inscription from Palmyra dated 135 AD?
  A discussion in a forum raised an interesting issue, and since I ended up translating material to answer it, it seems right to give it a wider currency. Steven Ring in his chronology of Syriac history here makes the following interesting comment: Dated Christian tomb inscriptions written in the Palmyrene Aramaic dialect were made in Palmyra, Syria. […]
• The manuscripts of Polybius
  The Greek writer Polybius wrote a history in 40 books which recorded events from 264 BC down to the fall of Carthage in 146 BC.  The work must still have existed in a complete form in the Byzantine era, when extracts were made from it, but has not come down to us intact.  However a […]
• The manuscripts of Pliny the Elder’s “Natural History”
  Pliny the Elder, who died in the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD, has left us only a single work out of his vast literary activity.  This is the Historia Naturalis, a compendium of information about natural phenomena of various sort.  The work consists of a prefatory letter, addressed to his friend, the emperor Vespasian Titus, followed […]
• Stephen Langton and the modern chapter divisions of the bible
  If you read any book on the text of the bible, you will sooner or later come across a statement that the chapter divisions in our modern bibles are not ancient, but are the work of Cardinal Stephen Langton, the medieval Archbishop of Canterbury, who died in 1228 AD.  I have never seen this claim […]
• Christians in the madhouse of the early 21st century
  Via Monday Evening I discover an amusing post, Anthony Esolen’s Welcome to the Mental Ward. The author points out that, in our day, the people who have power have reached such a point that their demands make no sense, even from their own point of view.  The article is impossible to epitomise, but is well worth […]
• The Law Society and the Mendham collection – afterthoughts
  I blogged earlier on a minor scandal of our times, and I have a few more reflections on the matter now. In 1869 Sophia Mendham gave her husband’s collection of early books to the Law Society of Great Britain, on the understanding that it would be preserved for all time.   However the current controllers of the Law […]
• Anyone have access to “Kanon in Konstruktion”?
  Does anyone have access to this item: Joseph Sievers, Forgotten Aspects of the reception of Josephus’ Bellum Judaicum: Its Lists of Contents, in Eve-Marie Becker, Stefan Scholz, “Kanon in Konstruktion und Dekonstruktion”, DeGruyter, 2011. p.363-386. Somewhat annoyingly, Cambridge University Library did not appear to have the book, and it isn’t listed in COPAC either. If […]
• Theses online at Oxford University Research Archive
  Via the excellent AWOL I learn of a digital repository for PhD theses.  Oxford, it seems, has declined to support the British Library’s EthOs initiative, preferring to keep material produced at Oxford on an Oxford website: Oxford University Research Archive. This afternoon I did a search of the archive (from my smart phone – the […]
• A manuscript of Polybius online at the British Library
  I’m getting interested in the manuscript tradition of the works of Polybius.  Basically books 1-5 of his history come down to us directly.  Books 6-18 are transmitted by a collection of excerpts known as the Excerpta Antiqua.  Finally there are long quotations in some of the compendia of the time of Constantine Porphyrogenitus.  I have […]
• Three kinds of hate mail
  An interesting post here. It’s been a while since I’ve had one of those coordinated attempts at stoning me in the comments.  It’s always a pressure group and their supporters.  I almost miss them … the comments coming in thick and fast and me deleting them after a sentence or two, unread.  Zap zap zap!
• Bibliography management tools – any suggestions?
  I’m writing an article at the moment, for publication.  I’ve got too much bibliography for me to remember everything any more. I’ve got lists of articles on bits of paper, and no idea, in some cases, why I looked at something.  I’ve got folders full of PDF’s.  And I’m forgetting stuff.  Stuff that I know […]
• In Cambridge today
  I’m having a research day in the university library. Feel free to say hello. I’m the chap with the white shirt, crimson tie, and grey trousers.
• The Repose of John – Alcock’s translation
  Anthony Alcock has produced a modern translation of a Coptic text, The Repose of St John the Evangelist and Apostle.  It was published originally in 1913 with a translation by Wallis Budge. The new translation (with facing text) is here: The Repose of John_alcock_2013 (PDF).
• The Syriac translation of Eusebius of Caesarea’s “Church History”
  Two very early manuscripts exist of a Syriac translation of the “Church History” of Eusebius.  One of these dates from 462 A.D. It was bought from the monks of the Nitrian desert in Egypt, and destined for the British Library; but the middleman, a certain Pacho, double-crossed his masters and instead sold it, together with […]
• An earlier Morton Smith – D’Antraigues and Clement’s “Hypotyposeis”
  I have today come across a very curious paper, telling a strange story.  I give the opening portion here. In the early Spring of 1779 a young French nobleman pulled up his camel outside the ancient monastery of Anba Makar, just off the main route between Alexandria and Cairo. He had in his pocket a […]
• Disabling IE10 auto-complete spam
  I upgraded to IE10 recently, but have been driven crazy by one ‘feature’.  When I type in the address box a few letters of one of my regular sites, it shows me a whole list of url’s which I have never visited and in which I have no interest.  This infuriating trick must be commercially […]
• Syriac manuscripts in St Petersburg, Russia
  It’s pretty hard to find out what the libraries in St Petersburg hold.  But today I discovered that Gregory Kessel produced an abbreviated translation of the 1960 catalogue by N. V. Pigulevskaya.   Better yet, he made it available online.  It’s here.
• “The Mysteries of the Greek Alphabet” – part 5 of translation from Coptic now online
  Dr Anthony Alcock has kindly sent me the fifth and final part of his translation of the 14th century Coptic text, “The mysteries of the Greek alphabet”.  It’s here: alphabet_alcock5 (PDF) See also: Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Very many thanks indeed to Dr Alcock for making this translation freely accessible online!  […]
• Break-up of the Mendham Collection – Law Society flogging their books to Sothebys
  The Law Society has decided to sell a collection of early printed books, bequeathed to it long ago in the expectation that they should be preserved forever.  Rebukes from academics have been met by stonewalling, and a refusal to discuss it.  The collection is now visible on the Sothebys website. A sad email appeared on the […]
• From my diary
  There’s quite a lot going on in my world at the moment.  Too much, indeed, for me to keep on top of it all. Firstly, I’ve been asked to write a paper for an academic volume.  As I am not an academic, this is quite unusual; the explanation, perhaps, is that the subject is an intractable […]
• John the Lydian – On April
  Mischa Hooker has sent over another chunk of John the Lydian, De Mensibus book 4.  This time it is the section on the events in the Roman month of April.  It’s very interesting, as ever! JohnLydus-4-04-April – final (PDF) We’ll need to decide whether to carry on with this project.  A printed translation of De Mensibus has […]
• A drawing of Old St. Peter’s and the Vatican palace from 1535
  I stumbled across the following sketch here.  It shows Old St Peters (left).  On the right is the wall that leads even today to the Castell Sant’Angelo, so the viewpoint is more or less that of every modern photograph of St Peters. From this, it is easy to see why the old basilica was not […]
• “The Mysteries of the Greek Alphabet” – part 4 of translation from Coptic now online
  Anthony Alcock continues working on this late Coptic text.  Part 4, of 5, is here: alphabet_alcock4
• Review: Tony Burke, “Ancient Gospel or Modern Forgery? The Secret Gospel of Mark in Debate”
  I have now completed my review of this book.  My thanks to Wipf and Stock for sending me a review copy.  Of course I write as an interested amateur, not a professional scholar, so my opinions are those of an educated layman. The review may be found here (PDF): Review_Burke_Secret_Mark
• From my diary
  Spent the evening labouring over a book review.  This item must have cost me several evenings work.  At least I have now got through to the end of it.  But I shall reread it in a couple of days time.  Always good to judge the tone first! It will be a good while before I […]
• Scribonius Largus – an authorial table of contents
  Scribonius Largus was a physician in the time of Claudius.  He was the author of a collection of medical recipes, written in 47-48 A.D. The work begins with a preface; then there is an index; and then the recipes. At the end of the preface, Largus writes: Primum ergo ad quae vitia compositiones exquisitae et aptae […]
• More on chapter titles
  I need to do some further research on chapter titles in ancient texts, and whether they are authorial.  A correspondent has drawn my attention to Bianca-Jeanette Schroder’s Titel und Text: Zur Entwicklung lateinischer Gedichtüberschriften. Mit Untersuchungen zu lateinischen Buchtiteln, Inhaltsverzeichnissen und anderen Gliederungsmitteln (De Gruyter, 1999, 349 pages).  It retails for the eye-watering sum of […]
• Chronica Tertullianea et Cyprianea 2011 now out
  Through the kindness of Pierre Petitmengin, a copy of the Chronica Tertullianea et Cyprianea 2011 has reached me.  This bibliography of Latin patristic materials before Nicaea, with short reviews, is published in the Revue d’etudes augustiniennes, which, I learn, has now become the Revue d’etudes augustiniennes et patristiques. So, what was published in the last […]
• The evil bishop, the evil pope, and the satire of Erasmus on such creatures
  I mentioned a little while ago how a Canadian episcopal bishop named Michael Bird is now suing a blogger who dared to criticise and satirise him, the Anglican Samizdat blog.  Bird has been fervent in promoting non-Christian causes such as homosexuality in his unfortunate church.  He has also been zealous in suing his congregations for […]
• Another angle on the Meta Sudans
  The Meta Sudans was a fountain in Rome on the Appian Way, just inside the Arch of Constantine.  Its remains were demolished by Mussolini to make way for a road.  In old photographs it is usually photographed from the Arch of Titus, which makes it look more complete than it was.  Today I found online another […]
• “The Mysteries of the Greek Alphabet” – part 3 of translation from Coptic now online
  Anthony Alcock continues his translation of the late medieval Coptic text which reads symbolism into the letters of the Greek alphabet.  Part 3 (of 5) is now available!  alphabet_alcock3 (PDF) See also part 1 and part 2. I’m sure that all of us are grateful to Dr Alcock for making this text available to us all.  This […]
• Back from Rome
  Just back from a long weekend in the Eternal City.  Went to Ostia as well!  Glorious weather, but a bit of rain two mornings only. Here’s a photo from a cafe on the Piazza Navona, late afternoon on Sunday.
• Attempts to hack the new Mithras pages
  When I wrote the PHP scripts that support my Roman cult of Mithras site, I incorporated some code to tell me if anyone was looking at the pages.  Specifically it tells me which pages are popular; information that is useful to me when deciding what to work on. Each page is accessed using an address like this: […]
• From my diary
  I’ve asked a colleague to translate for us Leontius of Byzantium, Adversus fraudes Apollinistarum (Against the forgeries of the Apollinarists) (CPG 6817, PG 86, col. 1948-1976).  This is fourteen and a half columns of Migne, and may well be interesting.  The circulation of banned works under other names was an inevitable consequence of the intolerance […]
• “The mysteries of the Greek alphabet” – part 2 now online in English
  Dr Anthony Alcock has continued his translation of this fascinating late Coptic text on the ‘meaning’ of the Greek alphabet (part 1 here).  Part 2 (of 5) is here: alphabet_alcock2 (PDF)  
• Isidore of Pelusium, Letter 78
  Edward Campbell has kindly translated for us this letter of Isidore of Pelusium, from the Patrologia Graeca text.  It came to my attention after a correspondent asked whether it referred to the Three Hundred Spartans. To Esaias[1] the soldier. To[2] the disorderly soldier. If, from among your weapons, you consider your spears and your helmet […]
• Anglican church of Canada bishop Michael Bird uses church funds (?) to sue blogger for “defamation”
  UPDATED: I learn that it is not clear whether Bishop Bird is actually using church funds to do this.  I suspect that he is, since few people can afford such vanity cases personally, but I do not actually know this for a fact. Anglican Samizdat blog is being sued.  The pretence is defamation, but the object is to […]
• “Ingesting the Godhead”? – a dubious “quote” from Cyril of Alexandria
  A correspondent has written to me with an interesting quotation which is being attributed on the web to Cyril of Alexandria.  It may be found here, among other places, and reads: When we ingest the Eucharist in reality we are ingesting the Godhead ….. because His Body and Blood are diffused through our members we become partakers […]
• Guidance in Christian life and the sort of things we should do
  An interesting post by the Ugley Vicar makes a point that is worth repeating: Maybe you are a square peg in a round hole – there is no shame in that. One of the turning points in my life came when, sitting in the vicarage in Sparkbrook, my eye was caught by Romans 12:6: “Having gifts […]
• Off to Rome
  I’m off to Rome for a few days in a couple weeks.  Just a long weekend — boy are those hotels expensive! — but nice all the same. I’m travelling independently with a friend who hasn’t been to Rome before.  I’d rather like to spend some time in museums; my friend, however, is not an ancient […]
• Jerome’s Commentary on Jonah – online in English
  I discovered today that there is online a thesis containing an English translation of Jerome’s Commentary on Jonah.  It was made by Timothy Michael Hegedus in 1991.  It’s here.  I am OCR’ing the PDF as I write! I learned about this via AWOL.  There is a website Open Access Theses and Dissertations.  This is a […]
• From my diary
  I apologise for the outage yesterday.  My website provider was having difficulties.  There was also an unusual amount of comment spam which naturally had to be manually deleted.
• “The Mysteries of the Greek Alphabet” – part 1 of Coptic text now online
  Dr Anthony Alcock has been at it again.  Fresh from translating the late Coptic poem, the Triadon, he has attacked another late Coptic text.  Today I received a PDF with the first part (out of five) of an English translation of a 14th century work, The Mysteries of the Greek Alphabet.  It is here: alphabet1_alcock_2013 (PDF) […]
• Eusebius book – doing the money
  A day that I have long dreaded has arrived – the day on which I have to work out just what it cost to make the translation of Eusebius of Caesarea’s, Gospel Problems and Solutions. Why now?  Well, it’s the end of the financial year.  The company has been selling copies of the book for […]
• Translation of the Triadon, part 2 – now online in English
  Anthony Alcock has continued translating the Triadon, the 14th century poem which happens to be the last literary text composed in Coptic.  He has kindly made this accessible to us all.  A PDF of the second part is here: Triadon_Part_Two_Alcock_2013.pdf Thank you very much, Dr Alcock!
• A note on Sir Henry Savile’s edition of Chrysostom
  A correspondent yesterday enquired whether the edition of Chrysostom prepared by Sir Henry Savile in the 17th century mentioned a Sir Henry Neville.  The latter, he said, was a student of Savile’s and contributed largely to the cost of the edition. As you can see from the title page, above, only Savile’s name appears.  But […]
• Life of Mar Aba – chapter 36
  The 6th century Saint’s life of the Nestorian Patriarch, Mar Aba, is an interesting document in that it contains real insights into the political maneouverings at the court of the later Sassanid kings.  The Nestorian patriarch now had a very substantial following in Persia.  Earlier Patriarchs were merely seen as the head of an unpopular sect […]
• Some information on the homilies of Severian of Gabala
  Severian of Gabala, the enemy of John Chrysostom, has left around 60 homilies to us, some in Greek, preserved under his enemy’s name, and others in Armenian or other languages.  Much of this material is unpublished, and nearly all of it is untranslated.  Being rather obscure, it can be hard to get a handle on […]
• Free ancient Greek OCR – getting started with Tesseract
  A correspondent draws my attention to Tesseract, a Google-hosted project to do Optical Character Recognition.  The Tesseract website is here.  Tesseract is a command-line tool, but there are front-ends available. I am a long-term fan of Abbyy Finereader, and, let’s face it, have probably OCR’d more text than most.  So I thought that I would […]
• From my diary
  I’m afraid the sickliness of the current season has interfered quite a bit with my ability to do anything other than work and sneeze! But I still have several projects going forward.  Eusebius’ Commentary on Luke is progressing – a third chunk arrived this week and I reviewed it yesterday.  Likewise the translation of a […]
• The man who discovered Egypt – a BBC TV programme on Flinders Petrie
  Last night, quite by accident, I found myself watching The man who discovered Egypt, an hour-long documentary on the founder of modern archaeology (and Egyptology), Flinders Petrie.  For the first time in a long time I watched a TV programme all the way through.  It was excellent! Ancient Egypt was vandalised by tomb raiders and […]
• Ancient Greek OCR – progress, perhaps!
  A correspondent has sent me a very interesting message from a Bruce Robertson, taken from the Digital Classicists list, which I think might interest people here. Federico and I have been working quite a bit on Greek OCR this past  year, and have made some advances since the publications below.  We now  have a process […]
• The dialogue of the Saint with the mummy of a Graeco-Egyptian: readings in the Life of St. Pisentius
  Dioscorus Boles has sent me a couple of links from his Coptic Literature blog which I think will be of wide interest.  The posts are referenced copiously, and of a very high standard. The first of these is an article on E. Wallis Budge, who published an immense amount of Coptic and ancient Egyptian material.  […]
• From my diary
  A virus has left me stuck at home, and I am therefore in need of  the less taxing kind of literature to pass the time.  I have fallen back on Cicero’s Letters to his friends, in the two volume Penguin edition from 1978, translated by D. R. Shackleton Bailey. Letters are a strange form of […]
• Press and web censorship to be introduced in Britain
  It’s mildly unbelievable, but apparently it’s true. The new regulation will cover “websites containing news-related material” apparently.  That means not only ones such as this, but the one run by your local parish council too.  And the one written by just about anyone with a blog. We now live in a world in which millions […]
• From my diary
  I’ve been looking at some of the entries for Syria in the CIMRM, the collection of all Mithraic monuments and inscriptions.  In particular the two altars at Sia have drawn my attention.  One is easy enough to deal with — I have a photo from the original publication, plus another from the web. But the […]
• From my diary
  I have been collecting images of Mithraic monuments from the web and identifying them, and adding them to my Mithras site.  It’s fun; and there are more to do. I’ve also written a short section in the site on Mithras and the Taurobolium.  Did the cultists of Mithras perform the taurobolium, a ceremony of being […]
• Christians rescue snowed-in motorists in UK: story in Daily Mail
  From the Daily Mail today: Thank Heavens for Snow Angels! How a group of Christians got through to help stranded drivers hours efore the emergency teams arrived Motorists stranded on A23 towards Brighton for up to 13 hours But more than 30 Plymouth Brethren turned out to lend a helping hand Airports and railways also […]
• Dishonesty at Wikipedia: “they don’t like it up ’em, sir”
  An amusing story from Wikipediocracy, the Wikipedia criticism site.  A user at Wikipedia has now banned any link to Wikipediocracy from Wikipedia, by adding the site to the “spam” blacklist.  Of course Wikipediocracy is not spam; this is censorship of an external site. Since Google privileges Wikipedia so much, this reduces traffic to Wikipediocracy and […]
• Finding interesting things at the Christies web-site
  Few of us will be aware that there are good quality images of past sale objects on the website of Christie’s, the fine art dealers.  But an accident took me there this evening, and I found half a dozen objects relating to Mithras, which had been sold over the last 20 years.  There were photographs […]
• From my diary
  I did a little more on the Mithras pages.  I was able to identify one of the images that I found online and create a CIMRM page for it.  The section in CIMRM on material from Alba Iulia is not very easy to work with, and I was reduced to looking through the limited number […]
• Eusebius on the Psalms – some old quotations on the sabbath
  A couple of years ago I discussed a quotation from Eusebius’ Commentary on the Psalms.  An incoming link alerts me to a discussion which gives a longer quotation, and a source for it. The source given is Moses Stuart’s Commentary on the Apocalypse (vol. 2, p.9, p.40; Andover: Allen, Morrill, Wardwell, 1845).  But a quick […]
• A Mithraic brooch in the Ashmolean in Oxford
  Last Saturday I was in the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, browsing idly the Roman exhibits.  Suddenly I realised that I was looking at a set of small finds, all of Empire-period deities; and I started looking much more closely to see if there was a representation of Mithras.  And so there was! Sadly I had no […]
• From my diary
  Last week and this I have been staying in two different hotels in neither of which it is easy to sleep.  How great the noise is, in our society!  It does make it difficult to do anything else. Last night there were a couple of comments on the post in which I ask whether there is any […]
• Egypt and Archduke Rainer
  I wonder how many of us know the name of Archduke Rainer?  Very few, I would imagine.  Yet he played an important part in the history of Egyptology.  Archduke Rainer (1827-1913) was an Austrian nobleman, some time Prime Minister of Austria.  He is notable for his collection of Egyptological items.  In particular his collection of […]
• About to die? “I’d rather not know”
  I have attended no death-beds, nor am I familiar with mortal illness, so this post might seem a little impertinent.  But I get the impression that the dying are frequently deceived as to the seriousness of their condition; that the nurses and the doctors and the relatives all shy away from telling a dying man […]
• From my diary
  I spent some time this evening writing a page on the Mithraeum discovered at Lugo (ancient “Lucus Augusti” in Spain) in 2003.  Found a few images online, mostly of the dig, but also of a rather splendid granite altar, about 3 feet tall. It was slightly frustrated to discover that the publication of the find […]
• Manuscript images at the British Library are “public domain”?
  There is an interesting post at the British Library manuscripts blog, Images in the public domain. Just a reminder that images from our Catalogue of Illuminated Manuscripts are now available under a Public Domain mark. This means that they are available for download and reuse, on condition that certain basic principles are observed: (1) please […]
• From my diary
  Last night I spent hunched over a hot scanner, transforming a text book from paper into a PDF.  My first reason for doing so is that it is simply more accessible in that format.  The library charges $8 to borrow it, and lends it to me for a fortnight.  That isn’t long enough to do […]
• The fetiales in Nonius Marcellus
  The Pater Patratus was the title of one of the priests known as fetiales, whose duties concerned treaties with other cities.  Nonius Marcellus quotes a passage from Varro, De vita populi Romana, book 3, concerning the fetiales. FAETIALES apud veteres Romanos erant, qui sancto legatorum officio ab his, qui adversum populum Romanum vi aut rapinis […]
• Inscriptions containing the title “Pater Patratus”
  At the moment I am looking at a mysterious Roman title, the Pater Patratus, of uncertain meaning.  Yesterday I looked at the passage in Livy which gives us most information about it.  Today I decided to look at inscriptional evidence. A search of the Clauss-Slaby database reveals only three inscriptions which use the title of “Pater Patratus”, […]
• The office of “Pater patratus” in Roman religion
  Yesterday I noted that the title pater patratus appears in some inscriptions connected with the cult of Mithras.  All these inscriptions fall between 100-400 A.D.  But the title is an ancient one, and we read of it as the title of the spokesman of a group of priests who acted rather like medieval heralds, but […]
• A Mithraic Pope? The “Pater Patrum” or “Father of Fathers”
  Among the nonsense that circulates on the web is an interesting claim, which may be found in the old online Catholic Encyclopedia, and spread into atheist literature via the medium of Joseph Wheless’ Forgery in Christianity..  It is perhaps most accessible today by means of the Christ Conspiracy by a certain Acharya S., a poor woman […]
• The monument of Vettius Agorius Praetextatus
  CIL VI, 1779 is a statue base.  Blessedly, a photograph is online at BBAW here, which I borrow (right), together with a transcription and a German translation.  I believe the monument may now be in the Capitoline museum in Rome. The statue which stood atop it has, alas, long since vanished, but on the base […]
• John the Lydian, On the Roman Months — “February” now online
  I am delighted to say that another section of John the Lydian, De Mensibus, book 4, has now made it into English!  This is the portion that deals with Roman calendar events in February.  As always, I make this public domain.  Do whatever you like with it, personal, educational or commercial. JohnLydus-February-final (PDF format) It’s really […]
• From my diary
  Roger Beck’s collection of essays, Beck on Mithraism, has arrived at my local library and I have taken possession of it.  It will be interesting to look at, although I find that it is difficult to concentrate on any project while I am working at full pressure in my day-job. I’m still working through Manfred […]
• A Greek Christian Text on the Seven Sages: Ps.-Athanasius, “On the Temple at Athens” now online in English
  In 1923 A. Delatte published a strange, short Greek text which consists of sayings predicting Christ attributed to the Seven Sages.  There are quite a number of collections of “sayings” in later Greek literature, which are studied under the intimidating title of “gnomologia” (i.e. “wisdom sayings”).  Most remain inaccessible and untranslated.  The sayings are usually […]
• Translation of the Triadon, part 1 – now online in English
  Anthony Alcock has been busy.  He has made a translation of the first half of the Triadon and is generously making it available to us all. The Triadon is a 14th century poem which has the distinction of being the last literary text composed in Coptic. Triadon.pdf
• From my diary
  Good news.  I have today received the first draft of the translation of “February” from John the Lydian’s On the months (De mensibus) book 4.  It’s a cracker.  How this text has avoided being translated before I do not know.  The footnotes added by the translator are also very, very useful.  To read this stuff […]
• The Dieburg Mithraeum – some reflections on the 1928 publication
  Great news – Behn’s Das Mithrasheiligtum zu Dieberg, De Gruyter (1928) has arrived.  Here’s an image of the title page as proof! The discovery of the Mithraeum at Dieberg was something of a watershed.  I don’t know if there were monographs dedicated to individual Mithraea before then, but it set a pattern for such monographs […]
• Celebrating the Lupercalia
  Bill Thayer writes to say that he has located a 1921 thesis devoted to sifting the evidence for the ancient Roman festival of the Lupercalia.  He’s typed it in, and uploaded it to the web.  It can be found here. If you are not familiar with Bill’s site, Lacus Curtius, it goes considerably further than the […]
• Chrysostom’s Christmas sermons – now online in English
  Maria Dahlin has done us all a favour, and made available her translation of five sermons by John Chrysostom!  Here’s what she says: Now available at http://archive.org/details/ChrysostomsChristmasSermonsTranslatedAndExamined are the translations of 5 of Chrysostom’s sermons on Christmas: In Christi Natalem Diem, In Christi Natalem, In Natalem Christi Diem, In Natale Domini Nostri Jesu Christi, and […]
• The Law Society and the Mendham collection – will no-one rid us of these turbulent …, erm, “books”?
  Many years ago I tried to consult a collection of rare books, owned by the Law Society of Great Britain, and known as the Mendham collection after the clergyman who assembled it and donated it to the society.  The bequest obliged the society to preserve it whole for perpetuity.  I failed to gain access.  Indeed […]
• How old are the Wikipedia administrators?
  An interesting article at Wikipediocracy makes some interesting points: Who writes Wikipedia? … In a recent op-ed published in the Los Angeles Times, Wikimedia Foundation executive director Sue Gardner proudly highlighted the fact that the Wikimedia community includes many very young contributors: The youngest Wikipedian I’ve met was 7 … There’s a recurring motif inside […]
• Vatican manuscripts online!
  Mike Aquilina of Way of the Fathers has drawn my attention to a Vatican Radio announcement: 256 Vatican manuscripts have gone online.  A list by shelfmark is here.  They are mostly from the Palatine collection, which in turn contains a lot of the loot from the ancient monastery of Lorsch, destroyed during the 30 years […]
• From my diary
  I’ve never actually owned a printed copy of Manfred Clauss’ The Roman cult of Mithras, which is the standard introduction to the subject.  I’ve made photocopies of bits of it.  Latterly I found online somewhere a PDF of the whole thing.  But I’ve never had a copy. Well, last week I cracked and bought one.  […]
• Mali and the politics of spite
  The events at Timbuktoo have been on my mind in the last week, and probably those of anyone interested in manuscripts. As we all now know, the colonial territory now called Mali is divided on race lines between Arabs in the north, plus some Touareg in the desert, and negros in the south.  When the Americans forced the colonial […]
• Piecing together Diogenes of Oinoanda
  A new blog from the author of Antiochepedia: Diogenes was an Epicurean Greek from the 2nd century AD who carved a summary of the philosophy of Epicurus onto a portico wall in the ancient city of Oenoanda in Lycia. The surviving fragments of the wall, which originally extended about 80 meters, 25,000 words long and […]
• From my diary
  I’ve started to look at the material on the earliest Mithraic monuments.  This is frustrating, because of what I know is online and cannot see!  Thus I cannot see pp.34-35 of Beck on Mithraism, even though I know it is online.  If you can, and feel like sending me some screen grabs, I would be […]
• A truly nasty IE9 bug: “” doesn’t work any more!
  I apologise to my non-techie readers.  But this issue cost me a couple of hours of my life, and I can’t find anything about it on the web.  So I feel morally obliged to write something. Yesterday a kind reader drew my attention to some mysterious behaviour in the new Mithras pages.  Lines that contained […]
• Finding the limits of the internet
  I’ve just added a page to my new Mithras site for CIMRM 1083.  This monument is perhaps the most complicated and well-preserved example of a carving of Mithras killing the bull.  It shows all sorts of events from his (unknown) mythology in side panels.  In other words, it’s a gem.  Vermaseren states that just about […]
• The Dura-Europos military calendar (“feriale duranum”)
  I wonder how many of us were aware that the excavations at Dura-Europos also included a papyrus with a  military calendar on it?  I certainly never was.  Its shelfmark is PDura 54, and it is held at the Beinecke library in the USA.  As with all papyri there are gaps, of course.  But the item […]
• From my diary
  I’ve continued to work on the new site about the Roman cult of Mithras.  I’ve added some more monuments to the page of selected monuments. Butr today I went through the section on the main page about initiation into the mysteries, and looked up all the material and checked it.  The results were not that […]
• Islamic criminals take down Egyptology web sites: TPTB take no action.
  I learn from Paleobabble that a particularly nasty bit of cyber-violence has been going on.  It seems that Moslem groups in Egypt have been running attacks on the Egyptology sites edited by Kate Phizackerly and others, notably the KV64 news blog, on discoveries in the Valley of the Kings, and their new project, the Egyptological […]
• New translation of the Coptic Apocalypse of Elijah online in English
  Dr Anthony Alcock writes to say that he has made a new English translation of the Coptic text of the Apocalypse of Elijah.  This is a curious text.  There is a fragmentary Jewish version and it was probably rewritten as a Christian apocryphon in the 3rd century A.D.  Some have suggested syncretism with ancient Egyptian ideas as well.  Charlesworth’s notes […]
• From my diary
  For the last week or so, I have been adding extra material to the new Mithras site from inscriptions and monuments.  I’ve been concentrating on the section on British monuments in Vermaseren’s CIMRM (collection of Mithraic monuments).  It’s been really quite interesting, ferretting around in Google Books trying to find this article or that book, […]
• From my diary
  I spent some time yesterday hunting for volume 4 of Archaeologia Aeliana, published in 1846.  This may contain an account of the discovery of the Rudchester Mithraeum, and so I wanted to read it. Sadly Google Books is really bad at handling series.  Archive.org generally is better, but I couldn’t find that specific volume.  Rather […]
• From my diary
  I’ve been lying on the sofa, reading Aelian’s Varia Historia.  I’ve just read the anecdote in which Lais boasts to Socrates that she could lure away all of Socrates’ followers if she wished, while Socrates could not possibly induce any of Lais’ admirers to behave philosophically.  Socrates acknowledged the truth of this, and replied that this was […]
• From my diary
  It seems that I have access to L’annee epigraphique through JSTOR.  This is convenient, although searching 50 years of issues for material about Mithras may take some time.  Rather less convenient is that each issue is divided into a bunch of separate PDF’s.  This makes searching quite a bit harder, if I have to download […]
• Versiones Slavicae: Greek texts extant in translation in Slavonic
  A really important project is announced at Alin Suciu today. In May 2012, Dr. Yavor Miltenov introduced on this blog a new project titled The Versiones Slavicae. A Corpus of Medieval Slavonic Translations and Their Greek Sources. You can read his post here. The aim of VERSIONES SLAVICAE initiative is to elaborate a freely accessible Internet-based […]
• From my diary
  Back at work after two weeks illness, and I find myself suffering from the tiredness that goes with being less than fully fit after illness.  But I’m still busy with this and that. I’ve been reading a little red hardback Loeb edition of Horace, and enjoying it more than I thought that I might.  I’ve […]
• Lobby your alumni association for JSTOR access now
  My own old university, Oxford, has already done this.  But if yours hasn’t do.  I can do no better than to repost the AWOL post on this issue. In memory of Aaron Swarz “May a hero and founder of our open world rest in peace.” While we work towards a world where scholarship is open […]
• Sudden ordination: the Great Mother wants you!
  In ancient Rome, unless you were a senator, almost anyone could “get religion” really rather suddenly.  Martial records one such instance: When a dismissed veteran, a native of Ravenna, was returning home, he joined on the way a troop of the emasculated priests of Cybele. There was in close attendance upon him a runaway slave […]
• Mithras and Ormazd in Britain
  I have continued to add material to the new Mithras pages.  In particular I am trying to track down photographs, drawings, anything on the monuments. I’m having quite a bit of luck in doing so, although I can see that I might have to do some photography trips. One item today caught my eye.  It’s CIMRM […]
• Offline and forgotten … but still $126, thanks!
  From time to time I find myself in uncharted waters.  The waters are always German, one finds; and the shouts that drift over the waters tend to things like “Hande hoch!” and “Internet Schwein!” and “Give us your money now, pig-dog”. These melancholy reflections were brought on by my discovery that the artefacts of the […]
• JSTOR: Now includes books, and more free stuff than before
  A correspondent advises me to go to JSTOR; that “something is happening”.  So I do.  And … the website has changed.  A big heading … “A new chapter begins: search journals, primary sources and now books on JSTOR”.  Hmm.  How does that work? There’s also better access to materials for those unfortunates who are not […]
• Wiki-nonsense – material about Mithras of very dubious standing
  I have been looking at a section of the article at the new Mithras pages on the initiation process into the cult.  This section is copied from the Wikipedia Mithras article as it was at the start of 2011, before the article was deliberately poisoned.  But that doesn’t mean, necessarily, that it is sound.  I’ve […]
• English translation of the Epistula Apostolorum now online
  A note from Dr Anthony Alcock to say that he has translated the Coptic Epistula Apostolorum for us all.  The PDF is here: epistula apostolorum_alcock_2012 So what is this text?  It seems to be a Greek text of the 2nd century A.D., extant only in translation, in a fragmentary Coptic version; in a complete Ethiopic […]
• From my diary
  I’ve spent some time this morning on CIMRM 829.  This is the supposed Mithraeum in Colchester, not from from the temple of Claudius.  It’s not actually that far away from me, so I had thoughts of going to see it when I was better.  On a raw, frosty morning like today, of course, such a […]
• A lovely view of the hierostheon at Nemrud Dag
  Antiochus of Commagene built a strange, syncretistic temple on the hill at Nemrud Dag, in which he depicted various Greek and Persian gods as identical.  Since one of the latter was Mithra, the monument appears in Vermaseren’s corpus of Mithraic monuments, under the impression that Persian Mithra is the same as Roman Mithras (which it […]
• From my diary
  I have flu and can’t do anything!  Rats!  But I did manage to add CIMRM 335 to my Mithras pages.  It’s a marble relief of Mithras killing the bull, with some quite clear images of the other figures that hang around while the Persian guy is sticking it to the bull.  So it gets referenced […]
• How we would prefer not to discover antiquity – Durighello and the Sidon Mithraeum
  The Mithraeum at Sidon is lost.  Indeed it was never discovered.  Our knowledge of it rests on two things; a small collection of exquisite statuettes in Parian marble, now in the Louvre; and a letter by their finder, a certain Edmond Durighello. Durighello’s letter was published in the obscure journal, le Bosphorus egyptien.  A year […]
• From my diary
  I’m still working on the Roman cult of Mithras site.  The what’s new page indicates roughly what I’ve been doing.  The list of artefacts – monuments and inscriptions -(with photographs) is growing ever longer.  The various scripts that I use to manage the site are getting more stable, and adding extra tweaks is getting easier too. The […]
• The joy of the hunt: some nice Mithraic sculptures and … Sidon?
  I have just stumbled upon a couple of very nice photographs of some very, very nice sculptures in the Louvre.  Here’s one: The image is on Picasa, here.  Blessedly the photographer, Julianna Lees, has also photographed the notice boards that went with the images, and written a note: Louvre, New Galleries, The Roman Empire in […]
• Surfing the information wave: yeeehaaaa!
  I found a picture of Mithras killing the bull online today.  There’s loads of photos on the web, of various monuments, all slightly different.  Identifying them is fun! Anyway, using the lettering “Alexander”, that I could see on the photo, I did a search in the PDF’s I have of Vermaseren’s CIMRM– collection of all […]
• Mithras in the Apocalypse of Adam
  At the 2nd Internation Congress for Mithraic Studies, held in Tehran in 1975, Edwin Yamauchi, a scholar specialising in the field of pre-Christian gnosticism, delivered a paper on the Nag Hammadi Gnostic text, the Apocalypse of Adam.  The work is of uncertain date, although transmitted to us in a coptic codex of the 4th century, […]
• From my diary
  Just busy working on the Roman cult of Mithras pages.  Adding comments using Discus is easy.  Adding “like” buttons for Facebook or Google+, etc, is much harder than you might think! I spent a little time today on Picasa, the online photo sharing site.  I searched for “Mithras” and added a comment with the CIMRM […]
• Accessing images of monuments and inscriptions of Mithras
  Anyone who searches for “Mithras” in Google images is confronted with a mass of photographs by all sorts of people from all sorts of sites across the web.  There’s a lot of good images there, clear and useful … but the site owners rarely give the CIMRM reference number, and usually have no real information […]
• Ezquerra, Romanising Oriental Gods – freely accessible online!
  Just discovered that Jaime Alvar Ezquerra and his publisher Brill have done something marvellous with Richard Gordon’s translation of his book Romanising oriental gods: Myth, Salvation and Ethics in the Cults of Cybele, Isis and Mithras (2008).  I needed to consult it, and Google books gave me so very little with which to do so. […]
• Wikipedia and the hoax articles
  You learn a great deal from a forum like Wikipediocracy.  A correspondent reminded me of this article today.  The Daily Dot gives the story in less abbreviated form here: From 1640 to 1641 the might of colonial Portugal clashed with India’s massive Maratha Empire in an undeclared war that would later be known as the Bicholim […]
• From my diary
  A correspondent reminds me that letter 100 in the Collectio Avellana, a medieval collection of papal letters, is a letter by Pope Gelasius to the senator Andromachus, justifying the abolition of the ancient Roman festival of the Lupercalia.  I mentioned it here, but then forgot all about it.  By chance another correspondent wrote on a […]
• From my diary
  I’ve spent some time working on the security of the Mithras site.  This now seems to be working, but we will see.  On Saturday I logged out and made sure that every page had some kind of security check.  No vandalism occurred yesterday, therefore.  Today I added a login page and password. The vandal made […]
• Vandalism already at the Mithras pages!
  I was doing a little work on the scripts, and happened to open an obsolete page on the site.  To my horror I found that it had been vandalised, with crummy html for some car insurance.  The vandal had edited it a couple of times, first inserting his muck into a footnote, and then, growing […]
• Life at the court of Lysimachus
  Athenaeus has preserved a jest from the court of Lysimachus, one of Alexander’s generals: King Lysimachus, who was somewhat stingy, once put a wooden scorpion into the dress of a parasite, for the purpose of frightening him. “I will frighten you, sir,” he said; “give me … two hundred pounds!” — Athenaeus, book vi. p. 246. […]
• Unbinding the Codex Alexandrinus to photograph it
  A marvellous post at the British Library manuscripts blog.  It begins with the encouraging statement: The British Library is committed to making available online as many of its medieval manuscripts as possible. And then it goes on to discuss how the ancient Codex Alexandrinus of the bible, currently bound in 4 volumes, had to be […]
• Ephraim Syrus, Hymns 23 and 24 against heresies now online in English
  Adam McCollum has kindly translated for us hymns 23 and 24 from the collection of Hymns against heresies by Ephraim Syrus, and I have placed them in the public domain.  Do whatever you like with them, personal, educational or commercial. I’ve uploaded the PDF and RTF files to Archive.org: http://archive.org/details/EphremSyrusHymnsAgainstHeresies23And24 I will do an HTML version when […]
• Update on the Rollston saga
  I learn from Paleojudaica that epigraphist Christopher Rollston has resigned from his post at Emmanuel Christian Seminary.  In this he has acted quite properly; the views he espoused cannot be compatible with the post he held. Instead he has accepted a post at George Washington University.  When I opened the website for this institution, I was confronted […]
• From my diary
  I’ve continued to add a few photographs of Mithraic monuments, with their entry in the CIMRM, to the new Mithras site, The Roman cult of Mithras.  It’s become increasingly clear that the approach that I have been following with these is not quite right.  What I have at the moment is one web-page per monument. […]
• BBC Radio 4 on Mithras
  A correspondent writes that the BBC Radio 4 has devoted 45 minutes to a discussion of the cult of Mithras.  You can find the programme here.  It was broadcast on Thursday 27 December 2012, as part of the series In our time, presented by Melvyn Bragg. The Cult of Mithras Melvyn Bragg and his guests […]
• From my diary
  It’s remarkable how much one can achieve in a few dedicated days.  I’ve managed to get my new Mithras site up and functional, although far from complete.  It may be found here. https://www.roger-pearse.com/mithras I don’t think that there is very much more to do to the PHP scripts, which is nice.  The content needs to […]
• Mithras the free-mason?
  Yesterday I showed the new Mithras pages to a correspondent.  He commented that a great deal of what we know about Mithras corresponds to what we know about Free-masonry.  An all-male group that got together in a closed room for secret rituals, had grades of initiation and titles, with a special handshake … well, the […]
• From my diary
  I have spent the day with the new Mithras site, to its great profit.  It is by no means complete, nor is it intended to be.  It is merely a starting point, based on the more reliable elements of the old Wikipedia site.  Much in it needs to be reverified.  Much will be worked on, […]
• Gaudete! Christus est natus!
  Via Monday Evening I find a link to an audio of Steeleye Span performing the acapella Gaudete.  The uploader has added a transcription of the lyrics, with English translation.  Worth a listen.
• Greek wit 2
  Another snippet from antiquity: The wife of King Hiero once asked Simonides whether it was better to be born wealthy or wise? “Wealthy, it would seem,” he replied, “for I always see the wise hanging about the doors of the rich.” — Aristotle, Rhetoric, ii. ch. 16.
• Greek Wit 1
  Merry Christmas!  Here’s a snippet of ancient life that appealed to me this morning. Antigonus the elder communicated to his son Demetrius his intention to put Mithridates to death, but bound him by a solemn oath “not to speak of it.” Demetrius took Mithridates a walk by the seaside, and wrote on the sand with […]
• ‘Twas Christmas Eve in the workhouse…
  It is now Christmas Eve.  A minority of people will be sat at home, in a traditional Dickensian family circle, waiting for Christmas.  In rather more households there will be excited children rushing around, and all blessing to them and their harried parents. But for a great many people, including most people who spend their lives […]
• French dissertations online
  Via AWOL I learn that French dissertations are starting to come online, at theses.fr. Good news.
• From my diary
  I have continued to work on the new Mithras pages.  Today I have found myself mostly working on PHP scripts.  Naturally I want to see if there are any hits on the pages, so I have written a simple statistics script.  I will beef it up once it goes live and I have more interest […]
• From my diary
  Well, that was a day that I intended to spend with Mithras!  But a member of staff decided to turn up at 1pm, rather than at 9am, and that put paid to that. However a few interesting stories have emerged in the media today.  There is a volcano erupting in Russia and temperatures of -20 C in Moscow on […]
• The man who gave a few pence to the emperor Augustus
  The story is in Macrobius, Saturnalia, book 2, chapter 4: [31] As he went down from his residence on the Palatine, a seedy-looking Greek used to offer him a complimentary epigram.  This the man did on many occasions without success, and Augustus, seeing him about to do it again, wrote a short epigram in Greek […]
• From my diary
  Yesterday I returned to working on my site about the Roman deity Mithras.  To my surprise and delight, I found that the code was stable enough to allow me to enter content, and I started doing so, using as a baseline the last reliable version of the Wikipedia Mithras article. I’ve been looking today at the material […]
• Macrobius on the date of Saturnalia
  Today is the first day of Saturnalia, the Roman winter festival which lasted from 17-23rd December.  In honour of the day, I thought that I would collect what the 5th century writer Macrobius has to say about the date, in book 1 of his book, Saturnalia.  I have added additional paragraphing, to make it easier […]
• Some sayings by Cicero from the ‘Saturnalia’ of Macrobius
  I have been reading the Saturnalia of Macrobius, that curious store of Latin learning from the very end of the empire.  Book 2 contains a collection of witticisms.  Here are a few. [ 1] But I am surprised, continued Symmachus, that none of you have said anything of Cicero’s jests, for here, as in everything […]
• Still more evil-doing by the Church of Scotland at St George’s Tron
  I referred in my last post to the extraordinary actions of the Church of Scotland towards one of their own congregations that wanted to leave.  Not a big deal, you would have thought; but the response has been vicious.  Today I have learned of further action, which is even worse.  The BBC story is here. […]
• Egyptological taken offline by ‘hackers’
  Via News from the Valley of the Kings, I learn that an online Egyptology magazine, Egyptological, has been attacked: Kate and Andrea are very sad to announce that Egyptological will be unavailable for the forseeable future.  It has been targeted by a professional hacking group as part of an onslaught on Egypt-related web sites during the […]
• Life of Mar Aba – chapter 35
  The hagiographical life of Mar Aba continues. 35. While the King of Kings intended that he should remain a few days after his release, and then go to the cities of his throne, Satan stirred up unrest and rioting through the actions of the heathen in Bet Huzaye.  The Magians accused the Blessed One before the King of […]
• The Community of St Mary the Virgin, Wantage, Athanasius and the ordinariate
  Fans of C. S. Lewis will recall that he wrote a preface to a translation of Athanasius, De incarnatione.  To my surprise, I find that the book is online here, including his preface.  This is a good thing, for it is a very nice translation. The translation was made by “a religious of C.S.M.V.”  This was […]
• Scottish congregation evicted and sued by Church of Scotland
  A story of evil-doing by the Church of Scotland officials came to my attention this week.  It has been kept quiet by the establishment, who are really responsible.  The Scottish Herald reports: LEADERS of the Church of Scotland have been accused of heavy-handed tactics after law officers disrupted a prayer meeting to demand the return of […]
• Life of Mar Aba – chapter 34
  The 6th century “Saint’s Life” of the East Syriac patriarch, Mar Aba, continues.  He has been loaded with chains, and is now being marched along on an expedition that the Sassanid Persian King of Kings is making up-country.  The Persian fire-priests at court are still trying to get him.  After the Saint had been dragged […]
• Nicht Christus folgen, sondern Horst Wessel!
  Now for something completely different.  This evening I came across a purported quotation from an anti-Christian Hitler Youth song.   I was suspicious, for it seemed a little too good to be true, but it appears to be genuine.  It ran in part as follows, in English: We are the happy Hitler Youth; We have no need […]
• New contexts for old texts: but no public please
  Via Paleojudaica I learn of a workshop, taking place in Oslo, which sounds rather interesting: WORKSHOP AT THE UNIVERSITY OF OSLO: Textual Transmission and Manuscript Culture: Textual Fluidity, “New Philology,” and the Nag Hammadi (and Related) Codices This is the first major international workshop of the NEWCONT-project.Starting tomorrow. Pseudepigrapha and Hermetica figure in the program […]
• An anecdote that mentions Solomon Caesar Malan
  Orientalist Solomon Caesar Malan lived in the middle of the 19th century, and his fluency in languages was legendary.  He is mentioned in Tuckwell’s Reminiscences of Oxford, which gives such a picture of the Oxford of the 1830’s. Last weekend, while reading a book of anecdotes, I came across a story in which he appears.  It would be […]
• From my diary
  Via AWOL I learn that an edition and translation of Bar Hebraeus’ scholia on the Old Testament is now available in PDF form online from the University of Chicago.  The PDF is here (linked on that page under the red down-arrow next to the text “Terms of Use”. In addition, an interesting volume, The Early Text of […]
• More modern Coptic literature online
  John Rostom has written to tell us of other places where we may find words by the modern Copts: Should you be interested in other books and publications by modern Coptic Orthodox writers, besides those authored by the late Pope Shenouda III, you can access and freely download these from another valuable online source known […]
• From my diary
  A little while ago I mentioned the lexicon of Sextus Pompeius Festus, a rather battered survival of Latin literature, probably from the 2nd century AD.  I also referred to the Festus Lexicon Project, which had set out to try to produce a reliable text and a translation.  The status of this was uncertain, so I […]
• Armenian sources online at Robert Bedrosian
  Robert Bedrosian writes to say that he has created a new collection of Armenian patristic materials on his website here.  In this he is rather too modest.  It is a cornucopia of PDF’s of Armenian materials. Anyone who has ever tried to locate an Armenian edition of an ancient text will know that it is […]
• Tufts University: banning Christians is “in keeping with Tufts’ commitment to a diverse and welcoming campus community and to a vibrant spiritual life on campus”
  Some time ago I learned that Tufts University in the USA had decided to ban the Christian Union.  The excuses made for such bigotry may amuse the educated reader, but need not concern us.  But today I received an email, under the name of Dr Anthony Monaco, President of the University, of which I give the body here. […]
• More on the Charities Commission and the Brethren
  Quentin Letts in the Daily Mail today comments: With what chewing-gum officialdom knots the shoelaces of its masters. Take a select committee meeting yesterday examining the charities world. Our witness was William Shawcross, new chairman of the Charity Commission. Mr Shawcross is successor to Dame Suzi Leather. You remember Dame Suzi: Labour’s little Miss Snippety […]
• Modern Coptic Christian materials online in PDF
  It’s not very easy for non-specialists to find material by modern Coptic authors in Arabic.  Yet it does exist, and much of it is even online. In a series of comments, John Rostom has very kindly let us know about a bunch of links which are simply too useful to be left only as comments.  Here […]
• Another Wikipedia murder
  One of the pleasures of reading the Wikipediocracy forum, as I do from time to time, is to see hard evidence of what I experienced myself, that it is very dangerous for ordinary people to attempt to contribute to Wikipedia. Today’s thread discusses a long term editor hiding behind the name “MaterialScientist”.  This post comments: […]
• From my diary
  I’ve been trying to think of an Arabic text which would be suitable for a beginner to translate.  No luck so far, mainly because I am so busy. An email tells me that the old translation of Macrobius, Saturnalia has arrived at my local library.  I look forward to perusing that! I’ve written to Francesca […]
• Is there an Arabic text of the “History of the Patriarchs of the Coptic Church” online anywhere?
  The monster history of the Coptic church, which Wikipedia says is called Ta’rikh Batarikat al-Kanisah al-Misriyah,  is online in English, at least as far as 1894.  But I know that modern authors have written continuations; and I wonder whether any of these are online. Does anyone know? I have someone who might be interested in translating some […]
• Progress on Paulys Realencyclopadie at German Wikisource
  Via AWOL I learn that the project to digitise the old (but comprehensive) Realencyclopadie is going very well indeed.  Ten thousand articles have now been completed.  The press release is here, and using Google Translate, we get something like this: For five years, there has been a project at Wikisource for Pauly’s Realencyclopädie of the study of classical antiquity […]
• Mithras and the Portable Antiquities Scheme database
  Another day another database, or so it sometimes seems.  But this is not a complaint!  On the contrary, it makes accessible material that no-one could ever see. Today I learn via Cultural Property Observer of the PAS database. The information provided by members of the public over the last 15 years is available for all […]
• Mithraeum in Rome under Baths of Caracala reopens
  Mike Aquilina of Way of the Fathers draws my attention to this piece: Few people have ever visited the long network of underground tunnels under the public baths of Caracalla, which date back to the third century AD and are considered by many archaeologists to be the grandest public baths in Rome. This underground network, […]
• Mithridates Chrestos – the fate of a younger brother
  The sleepy little kingdom of Pontus in what is now Northern Turkey was a backwater in the Hellenistic era.  Its rulers affected a Greek culture, but ruled over a largely Persian land, that had changed little since Alexander overthrew the Achaemenid Persian empire. Mithridates V Euergetes married a princess named Laodice, from the Seleucid dynasty […]
• Al-Maqrizi on the pyramids
  Jason Colavito has done something great, and something sensible.  He has translated all the passages in al-Maqrizi’s al-Khitat which relate to the pyramids of Egypt and placed them online: Ancient astronaut proponent Giorgio Tsoukalos claims that the fourteenth century Al-Khitat of Al-Maqrizi (1364-1442 CE) contains evidence that ancient astronauts assisted human beings in the construction […]
• An ancient roll-end from the 1st century BC / 1st century AD
  Francesca Schironi’s book on how the end of a work was marked in an ancient papyrus roll ends with a dossier of photographs, as I remarked earlier.  I think that it would be useful to give some extracts from this, as we all think about a subject better when we can see what we are […]
• From my diary
  I have continued to proof the OCR output of Sabbadini’s Scoperte chapter 3, in Finereader 10.  Note the version number! I have abandoned the disastrous Finereader 11 software, which has effectually prevented Theodoret on Romans coming online by erasing all the italics every time I try to export my work. Chapter 3 is the chapter concerned with […]
• How the end of a book was marked in ancient rolls
  Ancient works were frequently divided into many books.  What did the end of a book look like, in an ancient roll? To answer this question requires examining papyri which contain such items.  Francesca Schironi assembled a dossier, with photographs, of 55 papyrus fragments, 51 of them from Homer.  Her analysis is very dense, and her conclusions deserve to […]
• Machine translating unknown texts – the copiale manuscript
  Via Dyspepsia Generation I find this story at Wired: They Cracked This 250-Year-Old Code, and Found a Secret Society Inside It was actually an accident that brought to light the symbolic “sight-restoring” ritual. The decoding effort started as a sort of game between two friends that eventually engulfed a team of experts in disciplines ranging […]
• A letter of Francisco Filelfo to Theodore of Gaza about Plutarch
  Last night I started reading through a PDF of Legrand’s edition and translation of the letters of Francisco Filelfo.  Filelfo was a 15th century Italian involved in the rediscovery of ancient Greek literature, who made trips to Constantinople and translated texts into Latin. The version of the PDF available from Gallica is much better than the […]
• Phaedrus and Tiberius
  I have been reading the Fables of Phaedrus, in five short books, available from Gutenberg here.  These are adaptations of the older Aesop literature, as the prologue to book three makes clear. Few will know that the fables contain sidelights on the Rome of Tiberius.  Tiberius Cæsar, when on his way to Naples, came to his […]
• Aesopica: the horse and the stag
  The Fables of Aesop reach us through many derivative collections, such as those of Phaedrus and Babrius.  To edit a collection of them is no doubt a serious business.  But the fables are not lacking in contemporary relevance. In Britain the Exclusive Brethren church is being attacked by the Charities Commission, which seems to want […]
• Plymouth Brethren banned in Britain
  Or they might as well be, if their members have to pay 33% tax on every penny they donate, and the church then has to hand over 20% of all donations to the state. From the Daily Mail: MPs are demanding an inquiry into the Charity  Commission after the watchdog banned a Christian group from […]
• Soliciting donations
  For some years now I have commissioned translations of previously untranslated texts.  These I make freely available on the web. A correspondent has suggested that I should make it possible for generous-minded people to contribute.  As an experiment, I’ve added a “Donate” button on the right hand side. Not quite sure how I feel about […]
• A new review of the Eusebius “Gospel problems and solutions” book
  A fresh — and kind — review has appeared of the text and translation of Eusebius of Caesarea’s Gospel problems and solutions (Quaestiones ad Stephanum et Marinum) which I published last year.  It is by Michael F. Bird and can be found here at the Review of Biblical Literature site.  (h/t here).
• Sabbadini on the discovery of Greek and Latin codices in the 14-15th century
  Anyone at all interested in manuscripts knows that the definitive account of the rediscovery of classical texts is that of R. Sabbadini, Le scoperte dei codici latini e greci ne’secoli 14 e 15 (1905).  But these volumes have always been hard to obtain; and worse, were in Italian, a language few of us speak with […]
• A bit more from Festus’ lexicon
  A few more extracts might be of interest. MERCURIUS, so-called from merces.  In fact they consider him as the god of all commerce. MEDIALIS they call a black sacrificial victim which they immolate at mid-day. MACELLUM.  This place is so-called from a certain Macellus, who carried out robberies in the City.  After he was condemned, […]
• Some excerpts from Festus, De significatione verborum
  I have been idly looking through the section of Festus for the letter ‘M’ — the first book preserved in the damaged manuscript.  Here are a few extracts.  Perhaps others will find these interesting also. MINOR DELOS.  This name is given to Puzzuoli, because at one time Delos was the greatest commercial centre in the whole world.  It […]
• More on the manuscript of Festus’ Lexicon
  An early editor, Antonio Agustin, in his preface to his edition of 1559, describes the transmission as follows: In these twenty books, which he entitled de verborum significatione, or priscorum verborum cum exemplis, Sextus Pompeius Festus abridged the books of Verrius Flaccus on the same subject. For he omitted the words which were, in Verrius’ […]
• From my diary
  I’ve commissioned translations of Ephraim the Syrian, Hymns against heresies 23 and 24, to be done by Christmas.  Looking forward to those!  Together with hymn 22, they form a group against Marcionism. I’ve now received by ILL To Mega Biblion, on the presence of end titles and the like in ancient papyri of Homer.  It […]
• From my diary
  I’ve written to a couple of people who have done translations for me, offering them a better rate.  It would be good to get some projects in progress again. My local library has received an ILL request for the English translation of the Saturnalia of Macrobius, made by P. V. Davies in the 60’s.  I […]
• Paying more for translations
  Over the last few years I have commissioned various kind people to make translations for us of ancient texts.  But in that time prices have not remained static; yet I have tended to offer the same money.  I only realised this last night. Inflation is a curse, because it creeps up on you.  “Quantitative easing” […]
• Some notes on the lexicon of Festus
  There is a manuscript in the Farnese collection, in the Biblioteca Nazionale in Naples (shelfmark Bibl. Naz. IV.A.3), known as the Farnesianus or F, because it once formed part of the library of Cardinal Ranuccio Farnese.  This contains a text consisting of words and definitions, entitled De significatione verborum, On the meaning of words.  The […]
• The scientist revolt against academic journal publishing
  It seems that the scientists are getting fed up with the whole system of academic journal publishing.  A correspondent writes, drawing my attention to a rather wonderful story from the Guardian, back in April.  The story is long, and full of interesting detail. Academic spring: how an angry maths blog sparked a scientific revolution Alok […]
• Some literary sources on the “nundinal days”
  Yesterday I talked about the “nundinal days”, the “8-day week” that the Romans used for market day, in addition to the lunar 7-day week.  I thought that some primary sources might be useful here.  This site lists quite a few, and Lacus Curtius has a good article here.  So let’s look at this. The Saturnalia […]
• The Latium parapegma and the nundinal days
  In the Chronography of 354 A.D., which may be found online here, part 6 consists of a calendar.  The days of the month are listed. I give an extract from January here: I don’t know what the first column is.  The second column, in Roman numerals, are the days of the week, 1-7.  Each week […]
• British MP attacks Charity Commission attempt to tax the Brethren
  Good news.  British MP Douglas Carswell today writes how absurd it is that a modern quango is involving itself in deciding which religious groups are allowed to be charities, and which must be taxed: Religious freedom means – amongst other things – allowing practitioners of a faith to decide for themselves who is, and who […]
• Finereader 11 – do not install!
  I have just, this evening, finished adding manually italics to 40 pages of a scanned text in Finereader 11.  I export this to Word, and it doesn’t seem to contain my changes.  And … while I was fiddling with formatting on the very last page, and trying to export my work, it has silently erased […]
• Official: Christians banned from operating adoption agencies in UK
  It’s now official.  In Britain, you may not operate an adoption agency if you are a Christian.  That is, according to a doubtless carefully selected judge, the law.  The establishment have kept the story quiet, as well they might; but there is a report in the Daily Mail: … a  four-year legal battle by the adoption  society Catholic […]
• From my diary
  I’ve continued to work on the transcription of Theodoret’s Commentary on Romans.  It seems like I have been working on this forever! Last night I downloaded a copy of all the works of Synesius from Jona Lendering’s site, Livius.org.  Jona very kindly agreed, quite a long time ago now, to allow me to include these in the […]
• Does reading the New Testament in Greek undermine your faith? And what can you do about it?
  Christians revere the word of God.  We base our lives on it.  We study it, trying to immerse ourselves in it, in order to shape ourselves into what God wants us to be. But we do this using translations of the word into English (or French, if we are French; German if we are German; […]
• Chrysostom, Against the games and the theatres, now online in English
  Mark Vermes has completed for us an English translation of Contra ludos et theatra (PG 56, columns 261-270), which I have put in the public domain.  I’ll make an HTML version later, but you can get a PDF and a DOCX from Archive.org here: http://archive.org/details/ChrysostomAgainstTheGamesAndTheTheatres As always, you are free to use or distribute this for any […]
• The basic problem
  Via Trevin Wax: Andrew Peterson: Everybody’s got the same ache; everybody’s carrying around the same sense of dissatisfaction with the state of the world. If they claim otherwise, I just don’t believe them. No matter how happy we are, there’s something nagging at us, something troubling at the periphery of our days, like we’re on […]
• The difference between an LP and a CD
  Today I bought an LP.  Yes, that’s right: a vinyl long-playing record. I saw it in the window of Oxfam in Ipswich, as the rain pattered on the glass and a cold wind blew through the streets under a grey sky.  It was a second-hand copy of Christian artist Steve Taylor’s third album, I predict […]
• Vintage worship tapes and other memories
  Yesterday I encountered vintageworshiptapes.com, a site which is: A project to preserve classic worship music from the golden era of Harvestime worship music. Awake, O Zion! I should explain that in the late 70’s and early 80’s, there were a series of annual bible weeks held at showgrounds in the United Kingdom as part of the […]
• Incipits and explicits in extant papyri?
  How would I discover if, among our collections of ancient papyri, we have the beginning or ends of some rolls?  It’s an interesting question, but my knowledge of instrumenta is too limited for me to find them.  Has anyone any ideas? For instance, surely some of the charred Herculaneum rolls preserve their colophons?
• From my diary
  I’ve continued working on the PHP scripts for the new Mithras site.  It’s slow, because I don’t do much development work in PHP.  The reason for doing this is so that I can work on the site from anywhere, work or home; and so that it will support things such as footnotes, not found in […]
• List of inscriptions and literary works of Constantine
  A very useful list of these is here at Fourth Century.  Very useful indeed! I’ve noted an omission from their page on Eusebius of Caesarea, tho: they do not list the translation of Eusebius Quaestiones that David Miller &c made and I published.  Unfortunately there seems to be no way to contact them!
• From my diary
  A little more struggling with the PHP scripts for the new Mithras site, and they seem to actually work on the website now, in the version in my development area.  I haven’t written any content yet, tho: no point until saving works properly! I’ve got a dose of gastric flu, however, so that is slowing […]
• Did Origen say “The Scriptures are of little use to those who understand them as they are written”?
  I came across a post online which made some curious claims about Origen, repeated from here.  In particular: “The Scriptures,” Origen maintained, “are of little use to those who understand them as they are written.” But did Origen say this? At the Logos forums the same question is asked, but with little result. A Google […]
• From my diary
  This morning I opened volume 1 of the Loeb edition of Pliny’s letters, and read a few.  I also read the introduction.  This was fine, but I found it infuriating that the text did not include the chapter titles from the front of each book, since these alone supply the names of the people to […]
• Let us praise God for the persecution of Christians on campus
  I’ve mentioned a number of cases where Christian groups are being banned by universities on one pretext or another.  Of course, in a secular way, such persecution is disgusting. But if we look at it from the perspective of eternity, it looks very different. God is allowing these hateful and malicious persons to reveal themselves.  […]
• Christian Union banned at US university
  The tide of religious persecution in our universities has reached yet another nadir.  I learn today via Virtue Online here of this news report: Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts has banned a Christian group from campus because the group requires student leaders to adhere to “basic biblical truths of Christianity.” The decision to ban the group, called […]
• Translation of “The story of Joseph the Carpenter” (Coptic apocrypha) now online
  Anthony Alcock has uploaded to Archive.org an English translation of a 4th century Coptic apocryphon, The story of Joseph the Carpenter.  It’s here: http://archive.org/details/JosephTheCarpenter The text, in the Bohairic dialect of Coptic, was published by Paul de Lagarde in Aegyptiaca, (Göttingen, 1883), which is online here, with a pointer to the Google books volume (inaccessible to […]
• From my diary
  I’ve been doing some more work on the Mithras Project pages.  This has been entirely PHP and perl coding, tho. Daryn Lehoux kindly sent me a copy of the paperback of his book, Astronomy, Weather, and Calendars in the Ancient World.  CUP are now selling this on Amazon at USD$40.  It’s very excellent, and I […]
• Google being evil: removing close minimize restore button from IE9 but not from Chrome?
  I’ve just come across something that looks weird.  When I open Google mail in IE9, and hit Alt+Space to minimize it, I find that the menu bar has been interfered with, and the close, minimize and restore options are not there.  Do the same on any other site and it’s fine.  Do the same in […]
• Time to reinvent university education?
  Apparently people in the US are noticing that their universities arent much good either.  Via Trevix Wax I found this article: Shocker. An increasing number of intellectuals and major publications are questioning the value of America’s colleges. Recently Newsweek ran a cover story suggesting that college is a lousy investment, something not worth nearly the dollars […]
• From my diary
  This weekend was the end of another job, and gives me a chance for a break for a couple of weeks.  I wonder what the Lord has in store for me next, for I feel His hand in the choice of my next location.  It is quite weird to see it everywhere, after so many […]
• Does Eusebius give a date for the creation in his Chronicle?
  Another example of material dribbling out of Wikipedia into the minds of the unwary has come to my attention. In this article we get the curious claim: Many of the earliest Christians who followed the Septuagint calculated creation around 5500 BC, and Christians up to the Middle-Ages continued to use this rough estimate: Clement of […]
• Assessing a papyrus: is scholarship less valuable than science?
  Mark Goodacre (with whom I disagree profoundly on almost everything, I suspect) has an article at his blog today about the papyrus fragment which has been called the “Gospel of Jesus’ Wife” and is under suspicion of being a forgery.  He raises an interesting point: Another theme that has emerged in some discussions has been a kind […]
• Life of Mar Aba – chapter 33
  The hagiographical Life of the East Syriac Catholicos Mar Aba continues thus: 33. After the Mobed spoke thus to the Lordly one, the latter instructed him extensively from the Holy Scriptures on the true faith, the permanence of Christianity, the greatness of the economy of God, about the resurrection and the judgement, about the blessings […]
• Academic integrity 3 – the Rollston saga continues
  I learn today from Paleojudaica that Christopher Rollston, who works for Emmanuel Christian Seminary but published an article attacking biblical values, is now under investigation by the college.  The story is at the Chronicle of Higher Education here: In an undated letter to Rollston, forwarded to Inside Higher Ed by a person who does not work […]
• A mobile friendly blog
  I have installed the wptouch plugin to this site.  It should mean that it is now possible to read my posts on your mobile phone. 
• Academic integrity 2: Walter Bauer and the German Christian movement
  He was said to be a typical academic: desperate for admiration and inclined to intrigue. — Based on the Stasi file on Walter Grundmann Today I have been reading Susannah Heschel’s book The Aryan Jesus, from which I quoted previously.  The book is rather discursive than precise, but nevertheless it contains much interesting material.  It […]
• From my diary
  I’ve been working some very long days this week, which has left no time for anything in the real world.  So here are a few notes about this and that. On my bedside table here in the hotel is an interesting book, which I have had no time to read.  It’s published by the Cerf, […]
• Academic integrity or the lack of it – a thought about the Rollston saga
  I learn from Paleojudaica today that a US academic, a certain Christopher Rollston, is in trouble with his employer because of an article that he wrote on the leftist Huffington Post site, entitled The Marginalization of Women: A biblical value we don’t like to talk about. The article makes clear that Prof. Rollston is a […]
• Ephrem Syrus, Hymn 22 against heresies now online in English
  Adam McCollum has kindly translated this lengthy hymn by Ephraim the Syrian into English for us.  The translation is public domain; do whatever you like with it, personal, educational or commercial. ephrem_contra_haer_22.mellel (PDF) ephrem_contra_haer_22 (RTF) These files can also be found at Archive.org here. I will produce an HTML version when I can.
• We should blog in the Holy Spirit, and we should read blogs filled with the Holy Spirit
  Echurch Blog asks what biblical principles should guide bloggers, referencing a tremendous (if long) article by Bryan Chappell over at Gospel Coalition.  It’s full of good things: The reason some of today’s advocacy journalism and web commentary are so dangerous to Christians is not because we are blind to their biases. Rather, the danger lies […]
• Chrysostom’s Easter Sermon — an online mystery
  At the Trevin Wax blog today I read the following, Hell was in turmoil: Let no one lament persistent failings, for forgiveness has risen from the grave. Let no one fear death, for the death of our Saviour has set us free. The Lord has destroyed death by enduring it. The Lord vanquished hell when […]
• The Legend of St Mena
  A wonderful retelling of the Old Nubian legend of St. Mena, published by F. L. Griffith in 1903 in Nubian texts of the Christian period, is given at Suburban Banshee here.  Read and enjoy!  It makes plain why hagiographical texts have an appeal!
• The Antikythera mechanism — return to the wreck site
  The Guardian reported on 2nd October: Between 1900 and 1901, the sponge divers retrieved a string of stunning antiquities, including weapons, jewellery, furniture and some exquisite statues. But their most famous find was a battered lump that sat unnoticed for months in the courtyard of Athens’ National Archaeological Museum, before it cracked open to reveal […]
• The Qasr el-Wizz apocryphon
  Alin Suciu has another marvellous post on an item entirely new to me. When the High Dam was built in the 1960s, almost the entire Nile valley between Aswan and Wadi Halfa had been inundated in order to create the Lake Nassar. As the waters were rising, many archeological sites were destroyed, while others, such […]
• Where to find the “Clavis Coptica”
  An interesting post at Alin Suciu on some new Coptic fragments of ps.Severian of Gabala made reference to a mysterious “Clavis Coptica”.  A google search left me none the wiser, so I thought that I’d better write something. It looks as if “Clavis Coptica” is an informal reference to a “Clavis Patrum Copticorum”, which exists in […]
• A new translation of the Life of Samuel of Kalamoun
  A correspondent has written: http://www.scribd.com/doc/108046621/Samuel-Apocalypse The article contains the Arabic text with an English translation, accompanied by notes including references to the Coptic Life of Samuel of Kalamun. This is the Arabic text, with a new English translation, of the Life of Samuel of Kalamoun.  Get it while it’s hot!
• From my diary
  The first draft of a translation of Ephraem’s Hymn 22 against heresies has reached me; will look at it tomorrow. It seems that papyrologist Colin H. Roberts states that the papyri do not support the Bauer thesis as regards Egypt.  I have not looked into that chapter of Bauer, since I still need to complete […]
• Ever downloaded a pirate video? The publisher knows that you did it. Apparently.
  An interesting article in New Scientist here. Anyone who has downloaded pirated music, video or ebooks using a BitTorrent client has probably had their IP address logged by copyright-enforcement authorities within 3 hours of doing so. So say computer scientists who placed a fake pirate server online – and very quickly found monitoring systems checking […]
• Anyone like to suggest untranslated works of spiritual value to modern Christians?
  Someone has written to me, mentioning a translator who has done a couple of English translations of “spiritual classic”-type patristic works, and is open to translating more.  The results will be sold, unfortunately. What should I suggest to them?  That has not been translated before?
• Life of Mar Aba – chapter 32
  The hagiographical life of the 6th century East Syriac Catholicos Mar Aba continues. 32.  At the time of the journey, when the King of Kings set out to go to Azerbaijan, the saint was led with him in his fetters, in great discomfort, over mountains and hills, in heat and drought, in thirst and hunger, […]
• Notes on Walter Bauer’s “Orthodoxy and Heresy” – part 4 – Edessa (contd) – criteria
  I have been looking at Walter Bauer’s 1934 book, Orthodoxy and Heresy, in a series of posts.  My previous post consisted of taking his chapter on the earliest Christianity in Edessa, in Northern Syria — the home of the Syriac language — and summarising what he had to say.  Bauer’s argument is made in a really […]
• From my diary
  I’ve been adding some author names to volumes of the Patrologia Latina today.  I’ve also been cursing WordPress, which proceeded to join together URL’s on the right hand side of the page, for no apparent reason. It occurred to me yesterday that there can be relatively few people who have looked into all 161 volumes […]
• From my diary
  I have continued looking at the tables of contents in the Patrologia Graeca list on this site, originally compiled by Rod Letchford for the now defunct Cyprian Project, and adding notes about their contents to the list. Today I finally reached volume 161 and last.  It has been a mighty effort, just to click on […]
• More on codex Palatinus graecus 129
  A comment by Dr Divna Manolova on my post about some of the Heidelberg manuscripts picked up on a problem; that I could not tell what the 141 folios of ms. Palatinus graecus 129 actually contained. It seems that it consists of working notes by a Byzantine scholar, Nikephoros Gregoras (d. ca. 1359/1360).  The manuscript contains a […]
• When the political establishment wants to edit the bible
  A piece at Dyspepsia Generation, “If only we could edit the bible” drew my attention this morning.  It quotes a Huffington Post article. I have often wondered–quietly and usually to myself–what would happen if we could edit the Bible. After all, textbooks get edited and publishers bring out new and improved versions that are more in […]
• From my diary
  I’ve added some more contents to the page of Patrologia Graeca PDF’s.  This is going well.  I’ve been trudging through the writers who describe the fall of Constantinople in 1204.  I hope these exist in English.  There’s one in there, describing the ancient statues destroyed by the Franks. One thing I haven’t worked out is […]
• Another Heidelberg Palatinus graecus manuscript appears online
  Judging from their RSS feed, the university library at Heidelberg are actively digitising their manuscripts.  Another one popped up today, in addition to those that I mentioned last week: Palatinus graecus 40 (14th c.) — Sophocles, Ajax, Electra, Oedipus; Pindar; Dionysius Periegetes; Lycophron; Oppian, Halieutica; Aratus, Phaenomena; Homer, Catalogue of the ships &c; George Cheroboscus, […]
• From my diary
  A little while back I started developing some PHP scripts to support the new Mithras Project pages that I intend to create.  Today I went back to look at these, to see if I could merge them into what I have been doing with a top-level menu.  And I found … that I don’t seem […]
• From my diary
  I’ve continued to add contents to the page of Patrologia Graeca PDF’s.   I’m now moving into the period post 1000 AD, which means that I am now well out of my comfort zone.  This poses some problems, in that I have no idea what is important and what is not.  So writing a summary is […]
• Latin translations by Anianus of Celeda of the Greek fathers in electronic form
  Chris Nighman writes: A few weeks ago I uploaded digital transcriptions of Anianus’ Preface to his translations of Chrysostom’s Homilies 1-25 on the Gospel of Matthew and also the texts of Homilies 1-8 from Migne’s PG 58, 975-1058, onto the PGL Project website here. Today I uploaded digital transcriptions of Anianus’ translations of Chrysostom’s homilies […]
• From my diary
  I have updated the page of PDF’s of Migne’s Patrologia Graeca again.  I’ve added summary contents for each volume as far as volume 100.  That’s enough for the moment.  We’re already well into the iconoclast period, and the number of interesting works is diminishing very quickly.  The contents information is a little quirky.  It isn’t […]
• A Coptic papyrus fragment and the idea that Jesus had a wife
  There is a useful article here at Tyndale House by Simon Gathercole on this curious discovery of a 4th century fragment of papyrus with a Coptic apocryphal text on it. I hope that the media attention may raise the profile of papyrology, and Coptic studies, and perhaps draw people into an interest in either of […]
• The mystery of human nature: the determined evil-doer
  A party-political article by Andrew Klavan entitled Shame incidentally gave a splendid picture of one of the key problems of our age (and of every corrupt age): Over the course of time, I have seen many people ruin and waste their lives. Good people, smart people, talented people who sacrificed the gift of existence to […]
• Manuscripts at Cesena, the Malatestiana mss; mss at Lyons
  There are a considerable number of Latin humanist manuscripts online at Cesena here.  These include Augustine, Justinus, Pliny the Elder and Younger, Suetonius, and so on.  The introduction is here.  For some reason the catalogue entries are not with the images, not even which works begin on which folios.  But the images are super! Update: […]
• Digitised manuscripts at Heidelberg
  Yesterday I found that there are a number of manuscripts online at Heidelberg, here.  Looking around, there are a number there, which are of wide interest.  Better yet, you can download them in PDF form! The Palatini manuscripts are inevitably interesting.  Among the Greek mss are the following items of special interest:  Palatinus graecus 18 (13th century) — […]
• Notes on the manuscripts of the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea
  An email this evening requesting information tells me that someone, somewhere, has set his class the task of finding out about the manuscripts of this work.    The question is one of interest. The text is preserved in the ms. Palatinus Graecus 398, fol. 40v-54v, held today in the Universitäts Bibliothek, Heidelberg and online there.  This […]
• We are what we read?
  In the last year I have taken the time to read quite a few Christian novels.  I read a lot anyway.  But it is remarkable how much effect this has had on my attitudes, and on how close I feel to God. It makes sense, really.  What we take inside ourselves tends to determine what […]
• 10th International Coptic Conference at Alin Suciu
  Alin Suciu publishes the programme for the Coptic conference in Rome here.   The conference starts on Monday. Now I’ve seen what is happening, and that most of the papers are in English, I wish that I was going.  So much of the material and papers being given is of interest, and I would certainly love […]
• Digitised manuscripts at Verdun – Augustine, Ambrose, Jerome, liturgical
  J.B.Piggin drew my attention to a new site full of digitised Latin manuscripts, at Verdun.  The manuscripts are those of the abbey of St. Vanne, the cathedral, and others, doubtless seized at the French Revolution. Annoyingly you cannot download the things in PDF form, but are obliged to peer at them, squintily, through a keyhole […]
• From my diary
  At home and have been trying to regain control of my inbox! I’ve worked out how many copies of the Eusebius book have sold so far.  174 copies have been manufactured so far, paperback and hardback.  But probably around 30-odd were review or complimentary copies; and I have about a dozen paperbacks in a box […]
• Repertorium pseudo-Chrysostomicum at Alin Suciu
  At Alin Suciu, an invaluable tool has been posted in PDF form; J. A. de Aldama’s list of the spuria of Chrysostom.  These are interesting as preserving material by people who were later considered heretical, or were just unpopular.  A good portion of the works of Severian of Gaballa in Greek are preserved in this […]
• An interesting experiment at HMML by Adam McCollum
  Adam McCollum is the dedicated cataloguer of manuscripts at the Hill Monastic Manuscript Library run by Fr. Columba Stewart.  The latter is doing an enormously valuable job; of getting copies of all the Syriac and Arabic manuscripts located in oriental monasteries in places like Syria and Iraq.  The urgency and importance of this task should […]
• Some pages from a manuscript of Isidore of Seville’s Etymologies
  A post at the British Library manuscripts blog by Sarah J. Biggs about the Etymologiae of Isidore of Seville is rather interesting, and illustrated with some pages from the 11th century digitised ms. British Library Royal 6 C. i: Isidore of Seville (c. 560-636), the bishop of Seville from about 600 to his death, is better […]
• Life of Mar Aba – chapter 31
  31.  Then they bound the saint hand and foot and neck with heavy iron fetters, and covered his face so that no-one would know him and no rebellion would break out, placed him on a mule and handed him over to the mobed who had oversight of the prison at court.  The mobed did as […]
• From my diary
  The first chunk of a translation of Chrysostom’s homily on the circuses has arrived, and looks excellent.  I’ve paid for it and asked for more!  It will, of course, appear online and be placed in the public domain as per normal.
• Life of Mar Aba – chapter 30
  Here is another chapter of the 6th century hagiographical life of the East Syriac patriarch, Mar Aba I.  The text is valuable as it was clearly written in the Persian realm, and with knowledge of the political change going on in the mid-6th century.  This is the period in which the Sassanid monarchs begin to see […]
• Translations from Greek into Georgian
  1. Introduction. 2. The translations from Greek. 3. Conclusion. 4. Bibliography. 1. Introduction 1.1 Georgia and the Georgian language. Georgia is located at the southern foot of the Caucasus and represents the country which the Greeks called Colchis in the west and Iberia in the east. The Georgian language belongs to a group of southern […]
• The Ashgate companion to hagiography
  I had a weak moment at the Patristics conference last week.  It cost me rather a lot of money.  But I succumbed to the lure of “50% off” and bought a copy of the Ashgate Research Companion to Hagiography, volume 1. From the website: Hagiography is the most abundantly represented genre of Byzantine literature and […]
• Creating a charitable trust in the UK
  While I was on the 4th British Patristics Conference last week, there was mention of creating a “British Patristics Society”, and a charitable trust for it.  I suspect that such a thing would become an avenue for “imperial ambitions”, but I was wondering just how one would do such a thing.  British taxes are now […]
• Apocalypse of Samuel of Kalamoun – updated
  When I made a translation of the Apocalypse of Samuel of Kalamoun, I was missing a couple of pages of F. Nau’s introduction, and was therefore unable to give a version of that.  I have now added in the extra material.
• From my diary
  I have started to add some contents information to the list of PDF’s of the Patrologia Graeca here.  It’s not intended to be in any way comprehensive; just a guide to the major contents of each volume.  I’ll probably do a bit here and there over some time.
• British Government to take 20% of church collections in tax
  A story has surfaced (via eChurch blog) that some small Brethren churches were being “denied charitable status” on the grounds that the “2006 Act removed the presumption of public benefit from certain classes of charity including religious charities”.  Another small church is having its charitable status “revoked”.  But this rather hides what is happening here. This […]
• UK: Brethren church refused charitable status
  A group of Exclusive Brethren churches in the UK have been refused charitable status.  From here: A Brethren church has been denied charitable status, in a move which  some claim could lead other Christian groups into difficulties…. This is the first time that charitable status has been refused to a religious group, since changes were […]
• New review of my Eusebius book
  I learn that a new review of Eusebius, Gospel problems and solutions, tr. David Miller, Adam McCollum and Carol Downer, has appeared at the Review of Biblical Literature site here. Apparently another review will also appear sometime.
• 4th British Patristics Conference – day 3
  8am, and there is no-one at the breakfast queue.  Evidently attendees were catching up on their rest after the previous day.  It was necessary to vacate our rooms by 10am, so this was my own next priority. The day started with three sets of three papers.  Unfortunately I had to leave after the first paper, because […]
• 4th British Patristics Conference – day 2
  Not much sleep last night — the bed had a sag in it, and creaked when you moved — so off to breakfast at 8am feeling rather the worse for wear!  But breakfast was catered rather excellently.  It was again a brilliantly sunny day, which helped no end. At 9am Alastair Logan delivered an hour-long […]
• 4th British Patristics Conference – day 1
  Up and into the car at 6:15am to drive to Exeter University, where the 4th British Patristics conference is taking place today.  The sun shines, the roads are relatively clear, and I arrive at the St Luke’s Campus near the centre of the city around 10:15.  This is far too early for anyone at St […]
• Holy PG PDF with bookmarks, Batman!!!
  This evening I found a copy of a PDF of volume 56 (works of Chrysostom, vol. 6) of Migne’s Patrologia Graeca edition on my desktop.  I paged down a bit, and looked at the table of contents.  Then it occurred to me; shouldn’t the PDF have bookmarks?  Rather than forcing me to guess, each time, […]
• Isidore of Seville, good dragons, Moses and Christianity
  A fascinating post at Aliens in this world, about an unusual version of a biblical story, in Isidore of Seville, and its consequences.
• From my diary
  I intended to go to the launch of Mary Beard’s new book tomorrow.  But I  have a definite cold, and I don’t think I can.  This is mainly because I am certainly going to the British Patristics Conference, and, as luck would have it, that involves an early start on Wednesday.  If I were fit, […]
• Augustine and Secundinus the Manichaean – works now online in English
  Mark Vermes published translations of the Letter of Secundinus the Manichaean to Augustine and Augustine’s reply Against Secundinus, as part of his thesis in 1997.  The first item was then republished in Sam Lieu and Iain Gardner’s book on Manichaean texts in 2004; the second remains unpublished. Dr Vermes has very kindly made it possible for both […]
• Acts of ps.Linus now online
  The English translation that I commissioned of the 4th century fictional Acts of ps.Linus is now online in PDF form.  It can be found here: http://archive.org/details/ActsOfPseudo-linus I’m making the item public domain; do with it whatever you like, personal, educational or commercial. I will create an HTML version in due course, but at the moment […]
• Bauer, Eusebius HE, Rufinus and Edessa – and the Syriac text
  Yesterday I summarised, section by section, the content of chapter 1 (“Edessa”) of Walter Bauer’s Orthodoxy and Heresy, with a view to working out just what, in plain terms, his argument was.  I shall do more on this next week, and reduce the book to a series of testable statements and propositions, which we may […]
• Notes on Walter Bauer’s “Orthodoxy and Heresy” – part 3 – Edessa
  Today I’m looking at chapter 1 of Bauer’s Orthodoxy and Heresy, available here thanks to Bob Kraft. So I’m going to follow my own advice today and put the thesis into my own words.  However first, it’s necessary to work out what he is actually saying. We need to remember what Bauer is trying to demonstrate, because he […]
• Notes on Walter Bauer’s “Orthodoxy and Heresy” – part 2 – introductory material
  When you’re dealing with some theory or other, it is usually good practice to rewrite what is said in your own words, plainly and simply and without adjectives or distractions.   English prose can be used to conceal the deficiencies of a thesis; and this is how you deal with it. Firstly, I was looking for […]
• Life of Mar Aba – chapter 29
  29.  On the morning of the (following) day, when the blessed one in the company of the Christians went to the court in order to thank the King of Kings, the aforementioned magians sought for a way to kill him.  They were afraid to seize him openly on account of the number of believers accompanying […]
• Life of Mar Aba – chapter 28
  28.  Then the King of Kings told him: “That you ignored our command and come here, we forgive you.  But the four very serious accusations that the magians make against you are as follows: that you make magians leave their religion (dên) and into Christians; that you do not let your people marry many women as […]
• Life of Mar Aba – chapter 27
  The story continues.  A court intrigue has led a Christian renegade to Mar Aba’s place of exile, and witnessed an attempt on his life.  It is clear that the place of exile is not secure.  Some Persian terms are not translated in the Syriac, so remain just collections of consonants. 27.  Afterwards the blessed one […]
• From my diary
  Off to the 4th British Patristics Conference in Exeter next week.  That’s a long old drive for me.  Kick-off is around 2pm, which doesn’t leave a lot of time to get down there.  Incredibly — why does this happen? — I have an engagement in London the evening before, or I might be tempted to […]
• The demise of the Methodist central halls
  Today I find an article on the BBC website about the way that the Methodist Church in Britain has sold off many of its central halls.  It’s not a hostile article, and displays awareness of how important the Methodists were to the working poor in the last century.   It was a Methodist central hall and, […]
• What is bad scholarship?
  I’ve just carried out a Google search asking, “What is bad scholarship”?  I got a total of ten results, most duplicating one blog entry that really is about something else. That surprises me, I must say.  In view of the silence, I thought that I, in my amateur way, would make an effort to give a […]
• The Halkin “Life of Constantine” is now online in English
  The 9th century Saint’s life of Constantine the Great, known after its discoverer as the Halkin ‘Life’, was translated into English by Mark Vermes, but never published.  The translator has kindly sent me a copy, and given permission for it to appear online.  Today I did the deed, and the translation is now here. The […]
• From my diary
  Updated versions of the translation of the Passio Petri and Passio Pauli from the Acts of ps.Linus have arrived.  I will need to read these tonight, but they must be nearly complete, which is good news. I have been making enquiries about the supposed existence of a third volume of Maarten Vermaseren’s CIMRM collection of […]
• From my diary
  I’ve beaten the new PC into submission, and I am now engaged in the gruesome task of copying files and installing software. Meanwhile, a thought has occurred to me.  How do I find out if someone in Germany was a member of the Nazi party? Yes, alright, humour me.  But seriously … there ought to […]
• Still trying to set up my Samsung RF711 laptop with an SSD
  I’ve spent each weekend for a couple of weeks now trying to get my new Samsung RF711 laptop set up to use a solid-state drive (SSD).  It has been an experience of unmitigated pain.  Today is gone, and nothing to show for it. Not that this is the fault of Samsung.  Their kit works well, and […]
• Thou shalt not covet thy neighbours’…
  On Thursday night I went on a trip by car to see some old friends.  On the way I stopped at a garage.  I decided to give my car a wash in their automated car wash.  So I went and unscrewed the aerial from the roof.  And … it wasn’t my aerial. My aerial, you […]
• The fire of Cautopates
  On a Spanish site, I find the following photograph of Cautes and Cautopates, the twin side-kicks of Mithras.  It’s remarkable because the figure of Cautopates is still partly coloured!  And so, clearly, we can see that the objects that they carry are indeed lit torches. Considering how universally this is assumed, it is nice to […]
• Life of Mar Aba – chapters 25 and 26
  We’re now back to history. It is never safe for oriental potentates to be away from the centre of power.  They tend to get overthrown.  Being away from court, Mar Aba was now vulnerable to court intrigues. 25.  After the saint had spent seven years in this way, without ever crossing the threshold of the […]
• Life of Mar Aba – chapter 24
  Here is another chapter of the hagiographical life of the East Syriac patriarch, Mar Aba I, who ruled in the Persian empire in the late 6th century.  For those who have not seen the earlier chapters, Aba is a Zoroastrian official who has converted, and become patriarch.  He is on good terms with the King […]
• Notes on Walter Bauer, “Orthodoxy and heresy” – part 1
  A little while ago I was encouraged to read Bauer’s Orthodoxy and Heresy.  Last weekend the book (in English translation) arrived by ILL, and last night I started to read it. At the moment I have no overall verdict on the book, but a couple of passages struck me, and are worthy of comment for […]
• A bit more of Abu Qurra
  I thought that I would translate a little more from this text: 3.  I left these people, and then Samaritans approached me, saying: “Do not pay attention to these people, but come to us, because nobody is right outside of us. We are the children of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the friends of God, the […]
• From my diary
  I’ve been thinking again about how a reliable Mithras site might look.  One of the problems has been layout.  I’ve had great difficulty finding a format for the top-level page that worked for me.  But I had something of a breakthrough last night, when I started working from the Tertullian Project home page as a basis.  […]
• Reading what ex-Wikipedians have to say
  Regular readers will know that I had a very bad experience attempting to contribute to the Mithras article on Wikipedia, when I was the target of a deliberate campaign of violence and defamation by an obvious troll operating at least two accounts, who simply wanted to own my work and push a falsehood.  It ended with a […]
• The early translations of Chrysostom into Latin — 5. The collection of 38 homilies
  The next section in Voicu’s article discusses a collection of 38 sermons by John Chrysostom in a Latin version, which are found in various manuscripts of the 9th century onwards, including the one online at Cologne which I referred to a few posts back. Dom Andre Wilmart drew up a list of the contents in […]
• The early translations of Chrysostom into Latin — 4. The evidence of Julian of Eclanum and Augustine
  The Libellus fidei attributed to Julian of Eclanum (PL 48, 525-6, written in 418 AD), in chapter 11 (18) contains a long quotation from the Sermo ad neophytos.  This is the title under which the third baptismal catechism was transmitted in Latin.  The eight baptismal catecheses were rediscovered by Wenger only in 1970. In 419, Augustine tells […]
• The early translations of Chrysostom into Latin — 3. Anianus of Celeda
  In the next few years we have two groups of witnesses, distinct but related to the followers of Pelagius.  The first of this is someone about whom we would like to know more, starting with his exact name and place of origin: Anianus or Annianus, deacon from an unidentified place called Celeda.  Around 420 A.D. he […]
• The early translations of Chrysostom into Latin — 2. Pelagius and the first quotation
  This continues my previous post, based on the article by Sever J. Voicu, which is too interesting to be left in Italian. The first direct quotation of Chrysostom in Latin appears around 414 A.D.  Augustine tells us that Pelagius quotes Chrysostom by name (De natura et gratia 76 (64): Urba-Zycha 1913, p.291):  Ioannes … dicit […]
• The early translations of Chrysostom into Latin – 1. The first possible references
  The first mention of Chrysostom’s works in Latin comes from a very early stage of his life, when he was still only a priest.  In 392 Jerome mentions in his De viris illustribus ch. 129 that he has read De sacerdotio, or rather, as he states: Peri\ i(erwsu/nhj: John, presbyter of the church at Antioch, […]
• From my diary
  News on the translation that I commissioned of the 4th century Acts of ps.Linus .  The second half arrived last night!  That’s the Passio Pauli portion.  I’ve reviewed it, and it seems very close to completion, bar a couple of sentences.  That’s good news, and it will be good to have that complete and paid […]
• Life of Mar Aba – chapter 23
  I’m still translating chapters of the 6th century Saint’s life of the East Syriac patriarch, Mar Aba.  And I’ve had a complaint!  Let me say that I’m doing this, not because these hagiographical texts from the ages of superstition are edifying — far from it, to me — but because this particular one contains valuable historical […]
• Life of Mar Aba – chapter 22
  22. Then the blessed one came to the village which is the centre of magianism.  When he came to them, they said, “It has never happened, that a Christian came into this village and spent the night here.  But now the leader of the Christians has been sent to us, so that we give him a […]
• Wikipediocracy: a Wikipedia-watch site
  Incoming links revealed to me the existence of the Wikipediocracy site this weekend. Our Mission: We exist to shine the light of scrutiny into the dark crevices of Wikipedia and its related projects; to examine the corruption there, along with the structural flaws; and to inoculate the unsuspecting public against the torrent of misinformation, defamation, […]
• From my diary
  I’m still thinking about the sermons of the late 4th century church father John Chrysostom, the most important of the Greek fathers.  In particular I’m thinking about the one only extant in a short latin version, De recipiendo Serveriano, That Severian must be received, preached after his (temporary) reconciliation with Severian of Gabala. I mentioned […]
• The selfish generation get a bit more payback
  There has been hardly any reporting of this story, so obviously there is no need for anyone to, like, pay much attention. The list of effective antibiotics has been dwindling as the bacteria became resistant, and now it’s down to one. So, yes, getting gonorrhea now means that you have to go in and get […]
• The overwhelming quantity of John Chrysostom
  It can be a shock, sometimes, to remember that not every writer is extant in a single manuscript.  That shock just hit me, when I decided, in a weak moment, that I would “just” have a quick search in the British Library Manuscripts catalogue for works by Chrysostom. I’m looking for copies of the ancient […]
• From my diary
  It’s far, far too hot to do ANYTHING!!! Turn off your computers, disconnect your wifi, and go out of your houses and frolic on the grass. That should produce rain, and then we can all get back to work again.
• Chrysostom homilies which I just can’t access
  There are a couple of homilies by Chrysostom in the Patrologia Graeca which do not seem to exist in English, and which ought to be interesting.  They were delivered after he returned from his first exile, and attempted a reconciliation with his enemy, Severian of Gabala, who had been needlessly alienated by the arrogance of […]
• A text describing different religions by Abu Qurra
  One of the Syriac Christian writers who mention Persia is the 8th century writer Theodore Abu Qurra.  Quite by accident I have stumbled across a French translation of an interesting text by him on the different religions of his time.  The abstract indicates its contents: The Syriac Theodore Abū Qurra (c.750-c. 825), Melkite bishop of […]
• “Mopetan Mopet” or “Mobedan Mobed” or “Moabedan Mobed”?
  In the Life of Mar Aba, the German translation refers to the high priest as the “Mopetan Mopet”.  But when I search the web, I find almost nothing. Now a google search reveals almost nothing under that spelling.  I know that a “Mopet” is usually given as “Mobed”, meaning “priest”, in our literature.  So I quickly […]
• Life of Mar Aba – chapter 21
  21.  When the holy one heard this, he praised God: “I praise you, Lord Christ, Lord of all kings and King of all lords, that you have done me, a weakling, this great honour, that I am persecuted and reviled, because I confess you in truth as God, your Father and the holy, life-giving Spirit, and […]
• Life of Mar Aba – chapter 20
  20.  But since the Christians at court clamoured violently and shouted because of the blessed one, the King of Kings ordered that he should not be thrown into prison.  He was handed over to the Rad of Azerbaijan, named Dad(d)en, a man evil and hardened against everyone, but who through God’s grace was gentle, friendly […]
• Life of Mar Aba – chapter 19
  The negotiations proved fruitless.  Mar Aba felt that he had the backing of the king, and the magians suspected that this might be so.  They resolved to find out. 19.  A few days later, the King of Kings saw the blessed one on the road; he spoke to him and accepted the salutation which the […]
• Beware of “elevated vagueness”
  Via Trevin Wax I encounter this post by John Piper, referring to Fred Sander’s post about Victorian liberal preacher F. W. Robertson: There is a connection between skilled vagueness and concealed immorality. Why else would a man use great gifts to make things unclear unless he was afraid of clarity? And fear of clarity in […]
• Life of Mar Aba – chapter 18
  18.  As the Mopetan Mopet and the magians recognised that they had been refuted by the blessed one with these words, they sought out another method to link the issue with the command of the king.  The Mopetan Mopet said, “If in your (holy) scriptures it says, ‘If you do this, you do rightly’ and if […]
• Online sources and the classroom
  Jona Lendering has written a thoughtful article here on the problem on online websites and the classroom.  As the author of the respectable Livius.org site, he isn’t theorising, and his words need to be listened to. If students cannot check the information – if they cannot know how the facts* have been established and which […]
• From my diary
  I’ve received an email offering to translate the Life of Mar Aba into English from Syriac, rather than the retranslation of Oskar Braun’s BKV German translation which I have been doing this week.  The cost to do so is not prohibitive; but the translator has an eye on possible formal publication subsequently, so we need to find […]
• Life of Mar Aba – chapter 17
  17.  Because the blessed one had given himself over to the commandments of the Lord and the apostles, he warned the bishops and priests, their flock, all the time to warn all ranks (räy/ua) of the Christian community not to break the canons of the apostles and marry their stepmother, niece, wife of their uncle, […]
• Life of Mar Aba – chapter 16
  We’re now starting to get some of the meat of the issues.  The magian clergy play, it seems, a judicial role.  They are finding that the Nestorian patriarchs are overruling their judgements, when it is a case between two members of their community.  16.  After this the blessed one went daily into the assembly of […]
• Life of Mar Aba – chapter 15
  The fire-priests are finding it slow going, in their attacks on Mar Aba.  Nor is the Persian king as  helpful as he might be… 15.  At the meeting where they were negotiating with the blessed one was also a respected believer from Bet Ardashir, named Abrodak, a man who was very close to the king […]
• A bronze plaque recording 4th century Olympic victors
  A correspondent has drawn my attention to an article discussing a recently (1994) discovered bronze plaque from Olympia, somewhat cropped, but still showing lists of olympic victors. The interest of the item is that it lists victors from the late 4th century, not that long before the games must have ceased.  The number of the […]
• Life of Mar Aba – chapter 14
  14.  When the chief magian and his companions heard these words of the blessed one, they grew even more enraged.  They went to the King of Kings and complained to him, “This man, the leader of the Christians, must not live, because he is destroying the religion (dên) of Hormizd.”  Since they now pressured the […]
• Life of Mar Aba – chapter 13
  13.  When the chief magian and his companions saw that he was not afraid of their threats, they marvelled at the courage of the champion of Christ and released him the same day without asking him anything.  The chief magian did the same on the second and third days.   On the fourth day they clamoured […]
• Life of Mar Aba – chapter 12
  12.  Satan, the enemy of our race, could not look on, but writhed threateningly.  He worked on the chief magian, the Môpêtân Môpêt, named Dadhormizd, and his companions, the chiefs of the magians, so that they went to the King of Kings and stirred him up with their accusations, so that they said, “The Catholicos Aba, […]
• Life of Mar Aba – chapter 10 and 11
  10.  Such things and more did he work in the west, so that even the emperor of the west desired to see him because of the reputation of his teaching and piety.  When the blessed one heard this, he went away to Antioch.  And when he came to Nisibis, and saw the schism in the hierarchy, […]
• Life of Mar Aba – chapter 9
  The Life continues in the well-worn path of hagiography.  We may believe that he did indeed go to Constantinople and stay there for a year.  The heretics mentioned, who decide to murder him, are probably the monophysites, still very powerful at this period.  We may believe that he disputed with some of these in Athens.   Mar […]
• Life of Mar Aba – chapter 8
  In the last chapter we began to see hagiographical elements appear in the depiction of the travels of Mar Aba: everywhere he goes he teaches people, converts heretics and pagans, and demonstrates his moral and spiritual virtues.   But of course hagiography is primarily a form of fiction, rather than history, and, although the genre irritates me deeply, it […]
• Life of Mar Aba – chapter 7
  This continues the translation of chapters from the German translation of the anonymous saint’s Life of Mar Aba I, the Nestorian patriarch in Persia in the middle of the 6th century A.D., when Justinian was emperor of the Romans and Chosroes II was the King of Kings of Persia. 7.  When he came to Edessa, he […]
• Life of Mar Aba – chapter 6
  6. Then he went up to Nisibis, and joined the local holy school, and gained the opportunity to handle the divine scriptures, dearer than his life.  He learned the (Psalter) of David in a few days, and began with the contemplation of the divine scriptures.  He associated with the at-peace-in-God Ma’na, the bishop of Arzon, […]
• Life of Mar Aba – chapter 5
  5.  As the blessed one saw the virtue of this student, and thought much about his words, he decided in his heart to go and learn at the Christian college, and fasted and prayed much.  He was working for a respectable man named Chudaibod, the secretary of the Finance Director of the district of Beit Aramaye, and […]
• Life of Mar Aba – chapters 3 and 4
  More from the Life of the Nestorian patriarch, Mar Aba I, ca. 550 AD.  The anonymous biographer has already explained that Mar Aba was originally a Persian pagan who held a senior administrative post. 3.  When the blessed one looked at the habit (σχῆμα), which was chaste and (not) colourful (?), he became doubtful whether […]
• Life of Mar Aba – chapter 2
  The story continues: 2.  When the blessed one sat in the boat to go across, the student also got in, to go across with him.  Then the saint saw his dress (σχῆμα), took him for a Son of the Covenant, beat him, and took the bag that he had with him and threw it ashore, […]
• Opening portion of the “Life” of Mar Aba
  I thought that I would turn some of the German translation of the life of Mar Aba into English, since many of us find German hard to read. 1.  History of the wonderful and divine struggles of the holy witness Mar Aba, the Catholicos, the Patriarch of the East. (Introduction: if we honour great men with […]
• Gone rather horrible
  Well, it seems that I spoke too soon.  Once I started to fiddle with the disk drives, everything stopped working!  And you can’t get it back very easily either. Several hours of reinstalling and rebuilding now …
• From my diary
  A week ago I accidentally installed what I believe to be malware on my main PC, a Sony Laptop.  I uninstalled it at once, and scanned for malware using Kaspersky, but the damage was done.  Kaspersky could find no indication of malware.  But there is no reason why anyone would camouflage an installer as a […]
• From my diary
  Mostly writing emails, mainly to Syriac scholars.  I’m trying to get someone to translate the Life of Mar Aba.  I’d like to get some more of Ephraim’s Hymns against Heresies into English.  And there are probably other Syriac texts that could usefully appear online in English as well.
• More British Library mss.
  The British Library continue their digitisation of their manscripts, which is very welcome.  They’ve moved on to the Royal collection, although the focus seems to have drifted back to digitising “pretty books” and medievalia, rather than the material that classics and patristics scholars will want. There is a Tertullian in that collection, which ought to be online.  […]
• From my diary
  Home, with piles of electronic gear.  But when will I get time to set it up?  That said, being unable to use my main machine is becoming increasingly irksome.  I’ve been looking for possible Greek texts to get translated.  There’s a little pile of sermon material by Chrysostom. Most interesting of these are three items […]
• Papyri of St Augustine in the Green collection?
  Via Tommy Wasserman at Evangelical Textual Criticism I learn of some rather exciting news! The Baptist Standard reports (2012-07-10) from the same summer institute citing Jeff Fish (editor of the new Brill series) who said: Scholars also mentored students editing some of the earliest fragments of the New Testament, with some dating to the second […]
• Wikipedia bans the chairman of the Wikimedia charity
  There will be a more than a few people chortling today, at the news that the reclusive gang of anonymous editors who control Wikipedia have now banned a user who is, wait for it, chairman of the charity that raises funds for Wikipedia.  According to the Daily Telegraph, Ashley van Haeften, known as Fae was banned for […]
• Some primers on online security – because the criminals are really there
  I’ve found a number of articles online which seem to contain useful security advice. How Not to Become Mat Honan: A Short Primer on Online Security How to secure your Wifi while travelling Traverse corporate firewalls All tedious stuff that I’d better read carefully.  
• From my diary
  It’s depressing how prevalent internet vandalism has become.  I accidentally linked from this blog to an experimental online editor that I have been developing in PHP.  Today I followed the link and discovered my mistake.  But instead of the test material, the editor was full of spam.  Some evil person had followed the link to […]
• New issue of Hugoye (15.2)
  Via Paleojudaica I learn that the new issue of the Hugoye journal for Syriac studies is now available. Volume 15.2 (Summer 2012) Papers Syriac Manuscripts in India, Syriac Manuscripts from India Françoise Briquel Chatonnet, Centre National de la Recherche scientifique, Paris The Christian Library from Turfan: SYR HT 41-42-43, An Early Exemplar of the Ḥuḏrā […]
• From my diary
  I’ve been reading through the German translation of various Acts of the Persian Martyrs, with the aid of Google Translate.  My main interest has been in the Life of the East Syriac Catholicos, Mar Aba I.  But I have dabbled in some of the other, shorter, acts, which date mainly from the 4th century persecution.  […]
• Some notes on the life of Mar Aba I (=Maraba)
  Mar Aba I (the name is given as “Maraba” in some 19th century works) became Nestorian patriarch in the mid 6th century and revolutionised the relationship between the Christians and the Sassanid Persian state.  He was originally from the country on the right bank of the Tigris near Hale, the chief place in the district of […]
• When were the Olympic games abolished?
  In many places online you can find statements that the Olympic games were banned by the emperor Theodosius I.  The date is variable — 385 through to 393, and the claims are always unreferenced to ancient evidence which should make us all wary. A little earlier this afternoon I was looking for any evidence.  And […]
• From my diary
  I’ve managed to install some malware.  Oh bother. It’s something any of us might do.  I was accessing a site which was offering the download of a book.  The link took me to a site called “blitzdownload.com”, which downloaded an exe called “<book title>.exe”.  Naturally I presumed that the thing was an executable zip.  So […]
• An Iranian perspective on Christians in Sassanid Iran
  Today I encountered a book, written by an Iranian, discussing the position of “religious minorities” in Iran during the Sassanid and medieval period.  The author is Aptin Khanbaghi, the title is The Fire, the star and the cross: Minority religions in medieval and early modern Iran, I.B.Tauris, 2006, and there is a Google books preview here. […]
• An Armenian version of Ephraim’s commentary on Hebrews?
  An email in the ABTAPL list raised a very interesting question. In the IVP Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, in the volume on Hebrews, there is an excerpt from Ephraim the Syrian.  Looking at the reference, we find this: Marco Conti, trans. Commentary on the Epistle to the Hebrews. Works of Ephrem in Armenian.  ACCS translation […]
• Dishonesty at the BBC – as usual
  Over the last year or two I have noticed some curious reporting on the BBC website and Ceefax.  Whenever there are violent attacks on Christians around the world, the story is often titled “Clashes between Christians and <whoever>”.  It’s usually Moslem attacks on Christians, of course. They did it again on Wednesday. At least 16 […]
• BBKL site now pay-only
  The Biographisch-Bibliographisches KirchenLexicon site is no more.  Or, what comes to the same thing, has vanished behind a paywall. It was free from 1996 until this year.  From 2011 they asked for voluntary donations to fund the work, with little response.  So now they have imposed a pay wall. It’s not very clear why they […]
• Ephraim the Syrian, Hymn 23 Against Heresies
  I have produced a rough translation of the BKV German translation of this hymn, mainly while reading it to see what it said.  I make no claims for reliability, but it gives an idea of what the content is. The line divisions are my own. 23.  To the same melody. 1. The twelve apostles were […]
• On giving too much
  Adam McCollum’s blog HMMLOrientalia came back to life a few months ago, and unfortunately I did not notice.  But he is now posting some very useful material indeed, with good bibliographies, and each post contributes measurably the increasing the quality of information online. But this post caught my eye for other reasons: At the beginning […]
• Some notes on Ephraim the Syrian’s “Hymns against heresies”
  I have been reading the prefatory material to E. Beck’s critical edition of this collection of hymns.  The following is abstracted from these.  Ephraim’s collection of hymns Contra Haereses was printed by Petrus Benedictus (Mubarak) in the 2nd volume (syr.-lat.) of the Editio Romana in 1740, based upon the only manuscript of this work contained […]
• Some Roman law on adultery
  From Julius Paulus, book 2, title 26: (1) In the second chapter of the Lex Julia concerning adultery, either an adoptive or a natural father is permitted to kill an adulterer caught in the act with his daughter in his own house or in that of his son-in-law, no matter what his rank may be. […]
• A new work by Aristotle in the Green collection?
  Today I  learned of the Green Collection, a large private collection of manuscripts and papyri.  It is owned by the Green family of Oklahoma, who are (a) billionaires and (b) Christians.  In consequence they have been collecting material of wide interest.  Brill have announced a new series of publications for the papyri: The new series […]
• Eusebius book update
  The Eusebius: Gospel Problems and Solutions book is still selling copies, which is pleasing.  I put so much of myself into producing that book, and of course there was never any certainty of sales. This evening I received the monthly statements from Lightning Source (US and UK), which tells me how many copies were sold […]
• Did early heretics call themselves “Christians”
  I was answering an email in great haste earlier today, which contained the assertion that heretics like Marcionites or Valentinians (there was no specific) referred to themselves as Christians.  I think that I sort of assented, or at any rate did not disagree, in the rush to disagree with other parts of the email. But […]
• From my diary
  I’ve commissioned a translation of Ephraim the Syrian’s Hymns against Heresies 22.  I’ve also found somewhere that I can get hold of the text.  I also have a promise of an unpublished translation of the same work; and I have had an interesting email from someone working in the same area who has various translations […]
• More on Ephraem Syrus’ “Hymni contra haereses”
  The 56 Hymns against heresies of Ephraim the Syrian are not online in English, and it does not seem that any published English translation exists.  Sidney H. Griffith has published extracts in English.  The work was published by E. Beck in CSCO 169 (text) and 170 (Latin translation) in 1957, but of course none of us […]
• Whoopee!!! Pray-o-mat installed at Manchester University, UK! That’ll show ’em, man!
  I thought this story must be a spoof.  But apparently it isn’t: A multi-faith praying machine called the Pray-O-Mat has been installed at the University of Manchester. The specially converted photo booth offers more than 300 pre-recorded prayers and incantations in 65 different languages via a touch screen. The free-to-use machine, designed by German artist […]
• From my diary
  I’ve been thinking quite a bit about Marcionism in Edessa.  The idea that being a Christian in Edessa meant that you were a Marcionite seems to originate (rightly or not) from Walter Bauer’s Orthodoxy and Heresy.  Thankfully Robert Kraft arranged to translate this into English, and — mirabile dictu — to place the translation online.  […]
• A quotation on ordinary people, from Simeon the New Theologian
  From Mike Neglia via Trevin Wax: Why Does Jesus Identify With Us? (Part 2) Nearly all reject the weak and poor as objects of disgust; an earthly king cannot bear the sight of them, rulers turn away from them, while the rich ignore them and pass them by when they meet them as though they […]
• The cost of copying books by hand
  At the end of Ms. Vall. 2297, there is an interesting note by the owner, a 15th century chap named Sozomenus, about whom I know nothing except that he owned manuscripts: Melius est emere libros iam scriptos quam scribi facere: nam pro membranis exposui grossos tredecim, scriptori dedi libros duodecim, et cartorario grossos quatuor.  Summa […]
• Aurispa and his 238 Greek manuscripts
  We owe the preservation of a considerable portion of the Greek classics to the actions of a single man.  The Italian Giovanni Aurispa made a trip to Constantinople in the early fifteenth century.  On his return, in the winter of 1423, he came back with 238 Greek manuscripts.  Many of these are the only, the oldest or […]
• Law Society to sell Mendham collection – and my own experience of it
  In the days when I was hunting for rare early editions of the works of Tertullian, in order to photograph them and place them online, I became aware that a copy of the 1493 Scinzinzeler incunable existed at Canterbury cathedral, in the Mendham collection.  This was the property of the UK Law Society — the […]
• Marcionism in Edessa
  When did Marcionism arrive in Edessa, the home city of the Syriac language? What data do we have, concerning Marcionism in these parts? The Chronicle of Edessa begins thus: 1. In the year 180 kings began to rule in Edessa. 2. In the year 266 Augustus Caesar was made emperor. 3. In the year 309 our […]
• How to give money anonymously to friends
  Quite by accident today I came across a fascinating question.  If you know someone in the UK, who is struggling financially, just how, in practical terms, do you give them money?  I’m not the first to ask this question.  The recession has kicked in, and some people are really struggling.  Others are doing OK.  And we […]
• More manuscripts online at the British Library
  At the British Library manuscripts blog, there is news. Final Harley Science Manuscripts Published We are delighted to announce that the remaining manuscripts in our Harley Science Project have now been published to the British Library’s Digitised Manuscripts site. All 150 manuscripts in this project have been digitised and recatalogued thanks to the generosity of William and Judith […]
• Notes on the Askew codex
  Not all gnostic literature comes to us from Nag Hammadi.  A series of codices in Coptic have leaked out of Egypt and onto the art market down the centuries.  One of these was the Codex Askewianus, as the older literature calls it. On this item, the following information may be of use: The Askew codex, […]
• The “Res Gestae Divi Saporis”
  The middle part of the third century AD is not well endowed with historical sources.  We are largely dependent on later, often very abbreviated, texts.  But about 50 years ago, an inscription was found in Persia, at Naqsh-e Rustam, which supplements these: To these sources has recently been added a unique monument, the inscription of Shapuhr […]
• Website for Sidonius Apollinaris
  The last Roman of Gaul, Sidonius Apollinaris, has a new website dedicated to him!  It doesn’t come up in a Google search, strangely, but is here: http://www.sidoniusapollinaris.nl/ Contents include an excellent bibliography, and there are also links to some of the items.
• Developing web pages in PHP
  Most web space these days comes with the PHP language, usually running on the Apache webserver, with the MySql database.  When developing scripts of one’s own, ideally one replicates this on the PC.  But frankly, installing all this stuff is a faff. This week I came across the Wampserver package.  This allows you to install […]
• Graeco-Roman mummy portrait exhibition at the John Rylands Library
  A news item which seems to have passed unnoticed: the John Rylands library in Manchester, UK, is running an exhibition from today, 19th July until 25th December.  The ten mummy portrait panels and the 40 or so papyri, both from around 2000-years-ago, were mostly found in the Fayum region, south of Cairo. Dating to the Roman […]
• From my diary
  I spent some time today reading the online French translations of the poems of Sidonius Apollinaris.  I was very struck by the way that the poet appeals repeatedly to the works of the early empire, to Horace and Sallust and Varro and Tacitus.  I saw no mention of any later writers, indeed. This evening I found […]
• JSTOR access for Oxford University alumni
  I see that Oxford University has arranged to provide JSTOR access to its graduates, those who have left college and are sat in offices, vaguely longing to read another paper on Cicero. In this case you go to the alumni office website, obtain the card number for an alumni card (they email you after a […]
• French translation of the poems of Sidonius Apollinaris
  Looking around the web, I discover that the poems and letters of Sidonius Apollinaris are online in French and Latin at remacle.org.  In particular Carmen 5, the panegyric for Majorian, is here.
• British Library papyrus of the Aristotelean constitution of the Athenians – images online
  Via AWOL I stumbled across this item: Sean Bonawitz, Neel Smith, and Christopher Blackwell are working during the summer of 2012 on the first steps of a comprehensive publication of only surviving witness to the Aristotelian Constitution of the Athenians. The papyrus is B.M. Pap. 131, that is, British Museum Papyrus number 131. Christopher Blackwell and Amy […]
• Silencing dissent in the modern world
  It is extraordinary to me how something mad and evil, which was unheard of a couple of years ago, can suddenly become something which it is positively dangerous to oppose.  But so it is, in our unhappy world.  In this case I refer to “gay marriage”, but it could be any number of causes, where […]
• UK government promoting open access to research it funds?
  The UK government has done something or other, according to The Register.  But it’s not as clear as one might like: Universities will be provided with funding to ensure that their academics’ research papers are made more widely available, the government has said. The government broadly backed recommendations contained in a report by the Working […]
• Majorian in the De Imperatoribus Romanis site
  I have been reading the entry in the DIR website on Majorian (457-461 AD), the last effective western Roman emperor.  The article is by Ralph Mathisen, and is a model of what an online article should be.  The site is, indeed, invaluable. Majorian is an attractive figure, and it is a pity that the main source […]
• From my diary
  I have been away on holiday for a while, so most of my projects have taken a back seat. I’ve received the first draft of a translation of the 4th century Acts of ps.Linus, or rather of the “Peter” half.  This I hope to look at today. I’ve also started to do more work on […]
• 4th British Patristics Conference – Exeter, 5-7 September 2012
  The conference details are here: Fourth British Patristics Conference A 3-day conference to be held at the University of Exeter, 5-7 September 2012 The aim of the conference is to foster the study of early Christianity broadly considered in its social, historical and theological context and to cultivate a community of scholars of the subject inBritain.  We particularly […]
• Harassing the monastery of Mor Gabriel in Turkey
  Paleojudaica has been monitoring a rather sad story from Turkey, of a dispute between a Syriac monastery in south-east Turkey, in the Tur-Abdin region, and its neighbours.  The monastery was founded in 397 AD, and so it is of considerable historical interest. I’ve been aware of the situation for some time; but it can be difficult […]
• From my diary
  A few bits and bobs have attracted my attention today. More technical manuscripts at the British library.  This is mostly medieval, but includes BL Harley 6, which contains the Etymologies of Isidore of Seville. Via Dunelm Road I learn of an interesting rationale for Christians to be learning NT Greek. Curious Presbyterian has useful advice […]
• Hunting the wild misquotation – “our Father was crucified”
  At Paleojudaica, Jim Davila has an odd story from an Israeli newspaper, featuring a quotation from an ancient author: A VERY ODD STORY from Arutz Sheva: Shocking ‘Land of Israel’ Exam Shows Christian Crosses High school “Land of Israel” exam features Christian crosses. Is the Education Ministry trying to undermine students with Christianity? By Tzvi […]
• Dumbarton Oaks Syriac resources now online
  An interesting email: I write to announce the publication of a new online resource at Dumbarton Oaks aimed at the community of Syriac studies. We have assembled numerous freely available, digitized texts — most notably tried-and-true scholarly instrumenta — and organized them into an annotated bibliography that covers several categories (lexica, grammars, histories of Syriac […]
• Have you seen this (stolen) papyrus?
  Via Paleojudaica I learn that one of the Oxyrhynchus papyri has gone missing: Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 187. P.Oxy.187, a circa AD 150 business letter of Irene. Missing from Department of Classical Studies, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Australia since 1975 Jim adds:  If you find the papyrus, please contact Dorothy. I imagine the item has been removed […]
• From my diary
  I’ve received the printed copy of Lanciani’s Ancient Rome in the light of recent discoveries, and I’ve started to read it.  It’s a bit disappointing to discover that the reprinter, “Shelf2Life” (printed by Amazon themselves) didn’t trouble to get the reprint right.  The text is all stretched.  What they did was take a PDF, trim to […]
• A newly discovered Mithraeum in Scotland
  A correspondent writes to tell me of the discovery of a Mithraeum in Scotland, at Inveresk.  There is an announcement in Epistula 1 (PDF), page 5, the organ of the Roman Society, from John Gooder (AOC Archaeology Group) and Fraser Hunter (National Museums Scotland): Excavations on the eastern edge of the fort complex of Inveresk in East […]
• Vedius Pollio and the lampreys
  This evening I found myself wondering just what ancient sources record the story of the cruelty of Vedius Pollio.  For those unfamiliar with the story, Pollio used to keep man-eating lampreys in a tank.  When a slave displeased him, he would order the slave thrown to the lampreys.  One day the emperor Augustus was dining […]
• A series of posts on Cyril of Alexandria at “All along the watchtower”
  An incoming link draws my attention to a blog previously unknown to me, All along the watchtower.  The blog has begun a series of posts by “Chalcedon451” on Cyril of Alexandria. It is certainly the case that few of the Fathers enjoy a lower reputation in the English-speaking world than Cyril.  “Chalcedon451” suggests that we have Gibbon […]
• The festival of the Maiuma at Antioch
  I was discussing a description of a festival at Antioch by Ernest Renan last week, and following the references.  One reference remained outstanding: Renan’s abbreviated reference to “O. Müller, Antiquit. Antioch.” p.33 — and how would any reader know what this is? After some poking around, Müller turns out to be Antiquitates Antiochenae, Gottingen, 1839.  It may be found […]
• Free speech online gets less free … but who can blame them?
  The abuse — in every sense — of anonymity online has driven another major website to ban anonymous “comments”.  YouTube has given in, and who can blame them?  H/t the Daily Mail: YouTube puts an end to vicious, anonymous comments which have turned site into ‘Wild West’ YouTube is set to overhaul its comments system […]
• The importance of verifying your quotations, part 94
  In my last post, I quoted Ernest Renan on the depravities of the city of Antioch: The sights were strange; there were some games in which bands of naked young girls took part in all the exercises, with a mere fillet around them[22]; at the celebrated festival of Naiouma troupes of courtesans swarmed in public […]
• I don’t think they like us, Batman!!!
  At the Antiochepedia blog, a gorgeous quotation from Ernest Renan.  Here is the English translation.  The paragraphing is mine, and I have continued the quotation to  the end of Renan’s paragraph: … Antioch, at the end of three centuries and a half of its existence, became one of the places in the world where race […]
• ICUR – Inscriptiones Christianae Urbis Romae – online
  The ICUR series of inscriptions is not one that I have been familiar with.  But Lanciani references an inscription set up by the 4th century Pope Damasus over the Archivum, engraved by the artist Furius Dionysius Philocalus.  A google search for the Latin text reveals that it was published in De Rossi, ICUR, ii. 151.  So […]
• The things not stated, and opaque to later readers
  In the Journals of John Wesley, we find a couple of descriptive passages which must leave a careful non-English reader scratching his head in confusion. The first of these, from 2nd July, 1745, reads as follows: I was reading my text when a man came, raging as if just broke out of the tombs; and riding […]
• Migne, Dictionnaire des apocryphes – online
  Here’s something that I didn’t know.  Apparently there is a bunch of French translations of the apocrypha, published by J.-P. Migne.  They were printed under the title Dictionnaire des apocryphes: ou, Collection de tous les livres apocryphes relatifs à l’Ancien et au Nouveau Testament, in two volumes, vol. 1 (1855) and vol. 2 (1858).  They may […]
• The different grades of papyrus in use in antiquity, according to Pliny and Isidore
  Pliny, Natural History, book 13, ch, 23: 23. Paper is made from the papyrus, by splitting it with a needle into very thin leaves, due care being taken that they should be as broad as possible. That of the first quality is taken from the centre of the plant, and so in regular succession, according […]
• Priscilla Throop and the two translations of Isidore of Seville’s Etymologies
  The Etymologies of the last writer of antiquity (in the west), the 7th century Isidore of Seville, seem really rather interesting.  I’ve been browsing through book 6 at Lacus Curtius, and it has brief but useful notes on all sorts of things.  So I began wondering if I could get hold of a translation.  It’s much […]
• Pliny the Elder and others on the first ancient library in Rome, that of Asinius Pollio
  Every book that mentions ancient libraries tells us that Asinius Pollio was the first to organise a public library at Rome.  It’s always interesting to see what the source for the claim is.  When we look, sometimes we find other interesting details as well.  Here’s what I have found. Pliny the Elder, Natural History, book […]
• Learning about the ancient libraries of Rome
  Yesterday I started looking at Lanciani’s Ancient Rome.  Chapter 7 of this deals with the ancient libraries of Rome. It’s quite fascinating stuff, if you’re interested in books.  (I think it is a reasonable assumption that anyone reading this blog is so interested!)  But it is also frustrating.  Some of the statements are ones that you […]
• Lanciani on the pagan revival of the fourth century
  Quite by chance I found myself looking at a vivid description of the pagan revival of the late 4th century AD, in the elderly pages of Rudolpho Lanciani’s Ancient Rome in the light of recent discoveries (1888).  Lanciani was an Italian archaeologist who was digging in Rome, and unearthing all manner of ancient inscriptions.  His […]
• Britain will not contribute to the internet – copyright suicide proposed
  A curious report on the BBC today, indicating that the British government is pretty much owned by the music and book publishing industries. Under the plans users suspected of accessing or uploading illegally copied files will be sent letters from their internet service provider (ISP), delivered at least one month apart, informing them they are […]
• Looking for Gregory the Great, “lib. vii, ep. 64”?
  The letters of Gregory the Great do exist in English, as they were translated, complete, a few years ago.  Sadly none of us have access to them, unless we have $150 to spare.  But today the question was raised of just where a certain letter of Gregory’s can be found.  In various online sources, apparently […]
• Gregory the Great, “Moralia in Job”, now online *complete* in English
  Some years ago a dedicated soul decided to digitise the complete English translation of Gregory the Great’s Moralia in Job.  It is a task that I shirked, I admit.   But he’s done it!  It’s complete!  And it’s here, on a very nice-looking website. The translation was part of the Oxford Movement Library of the Fathers […]
• The ps.Acts of Linus (Acta Petri et Pauli gnostica)
  In the abbreviated Dictionary of Christian Biography edited by Wace and online at CCEL there is an article on Linus.  This refers to certain “acts of Linus” in the following terms: Under the name of Linus are extant two tracts purporting to contain the account of the martyrdom of SS. Peter and of Paul. These […]
• A gem with a Mithraic tauroctony of the 1st century BC?
  An email from a correspondent pointed me to an image in Wikipedia Commons, itself from the Walters Art Gallery, of an intaglio ring, and enquired about the date of the item.  The item consists of an ancient gold ring, with a depiction of the killing of the bull by Mithras cut into a gem of sard.  It […]
• An online edition of the Derveni papyrus
  The ever excellent Ancient World Online blog is indispensible for those wishing to keep aware of what is coming online, and should be in everyone’s RSS reader.  Today I learn that an online edition has appeared of the Derveni papyrus, on which I wrote some notes as long ago as 2006. The Derveni Papyrus: An Interdisciplinary […]
• From my diary
  This morning I’ve been poking around the PDF volumes of the Patrologia Graeca.  I was trying to find the Lexicon of Photius, in fact. I’ve not achieved much, because it’s quite hard to work out which volumes contain what.  Each volume does contain a table of contents; but you have to download and open the […]
• Pamphilus’ Apology for Origen and the fragments of Origen’s commentary on Titus
  I’ve been idly looking through the fragmentary exegetical works of Origen in the Patrologia Graeca for something interesting.  In the PG14, col. 1303, I find an excerpt from Origen’s work on Paul’s letter to Titus.  It concerns Titus 3:10, and is about heresy, a word that, curiously, doesn’t appear in more modern translations of the bible, […]
• The Acta Pauli blog and Wikipedia trolls
  By accident last night I came across the Acta Pauli blog.  I was hitherto unaware that this group blog existed.  It is, of course, dedicated to the study of the apocryphal Acts of Paul, and their better known extract, the Acts of Paul and Thecla.  The blog contains much useful information on this text, not […]
• Volumes of the Acta Sanctorum online
  Lately I’ve found myself looking for Saints’ Acta. I’m not sure how one finds translations.  In fact it’s really not that easy to find even the original texts.   But I believe that the “go to” source for the texts is the monster 17-19th century compilation, made by the Bollandists, the Acta Sanctorum. If you want editable text…  See https://www.heiligenlexikon.de/Literatur/Baende_Acta_Sanctorum.htm. […]
• From my diary
  A rather interesting snippet on the Alin Suciu blog.  Alin is presenting a paper at a French conference, and one item in it will interest many of us: 3. Newly Identified Fragments from Codex Tchacos It has been already established that Bruce Ferrini sold several fragments from codex Tchacos before the court obliged him to […]
• Another interesting fragment from Origen on Genesis
  In the Patrologia Graeca 12, col. 93-4, we have a further interesting fragment of Origen’s thought on Genesis 1:22. The PG is a reprint of the Delarue edition, and these Selecta in Genesim are extracted from the medieval Greek bible commentaries, or catenas (=’chains’), which were made up of quotations from earlier authors on each […]
• An interesting quote from Origen on Genesis
  I found a quotation attributed to Origen a few days ago, which I think we would all consider interesting. For Origen all Creation was “one act at once,” presented to us in parts, in order to give the due conception of order (cf.Ps. cxlviii. 5). Ps. 148:5 reads: Let them praise the name of the […]
• Sources for Punic inscriptions
  A little while ago I posted on the ancient evidence for child sacrifice at Carthage.  Part of this was an inscription, of doubtful meaning.  This led me to enquire just what sources there are online for punic inscriptions.  A kind correspondent volunteered some information, which may be of use to any venturing into these waters. […]
• Manuscripts of the Panarion of Epiphanius
  The Panarion, the great compendium of heresies by the fourth century Father Epiphanius of Salamis, is extant in a number of manuscripts.  They were detailed by Holl.  They fall into two groups, the older mss (VGMUW) and the younger group, all of which derive from U. Vaticanus gr. 503 (=V).  Parchment, beginning of the 9th […]
• Using aliases to manipulate debate online
  Jim Davila at Paleojudaica notes an interesting article and makes some useful comments upon it:  Are online aliases ever justified in academic debate? Sock puppets – online commenters that create a false identity – are disrupting academic freedom and scholarly debate, says Simon Tanner (The Guardian). If it’s just a matter of discussing evidence and […]
• And yet more on the Origen ms. from Alex Poulos
  Alex has posted a tutorial on Greek paleography: I spent the morning writing up a short Greek paleography tutorial.  It’s targeted at people who have at least an intermediate knowledge of Greek, but haven’t done much paleography themselves (ie, they haven’t read from manuscripts).  Because of the clarity of hand, I think the recently discovered […]
• Translation of part of one of the new Origen homilies
  Via Alin Suciu I learn that Alex Poulos has transcribed and translated part of one of the newly discovered homilies on the Psalms by Origen: As promised, this post will contain a short transcription and translation of Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Codex graeca 314, the codex which scholars recently have rediscovered and believe contains a large number […]
• Which of Origen’s homilies on the Psalms were previously known, and more on Jerome
  The new find of Origen’s homilies on the Psalms raised the question of what already existed.  Alin Suciu listed the homilies found, as I mentioned yesterday. Previously we had only extracts from catenas, plus a Latin translation of 9 homilies on the Psalms: 5 on Psalm 36, 2 on Ps. 37, 2 on Ps. 38.  These […]
• Jerome’s Letter 33, listing the works of Origen
  In my last post about the new find of homilies of Origen on the Psalms, I quoted a letter by Lorenzo Perrone.  He states that Dr Marina Molin Pradel “noticed that the list of the other homilies corresponded to a large extent to that presented by Jerome in his Letter 33 to Paula, the most […]
• More on the new homilies on the Psalms by Origen
  Alin Suciu has unearthed more details about the find, announced yesterday, of a Greek manuscript in the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek in Munich (ms. gr. 314) full of homilies on the Psalms by Origen.  The news is even better than we had first thought! In update 2 to his first post (which also includes an image of the […]
• Greek text found of Origen’s homilies on the Psalms!
  J.-B.Piggin draws my attention to a press release today by the Bayerische StaatsBibliothek.  My own very rough translation of parts of it: While cataloguing the Greek manuscripts in the Johann Jakob Fuller collection of books, a spectacular discovery was recently made in the Bavarian State Library.  The philologist Marina Molin Pradel during the cataloguing process identified […]
• A nasty new form of email spam
  A little while ago I had a slightly strange email via the feedback form on my blog.  Here it is: From: June Olsen <june.olsen@cilkr.com> Date: 5 June 2012 19:20 Subject: Religious Considerations in Higher Education Hello, I found the information on your blog post insightful as I was researching and writing a series of articles […]
• Two visions of the world
  During the reign of Tiberius, two rather different visions of the world were set forth. The first consists of a selection of anecdotes illustrating moral themes, in ten books, produced by a certain Valerius Maximus.  Much of made of old Roman virtue and severity.  A father executes a son who has charged the enemy without […]
• An English translation of a portion of the Acts of Processus and Martinianus
  VI. What the kind of life was which was thus led by Pomponia Graecina, and which, on the admission of Tacitus, turned to her glory even in the midst of the unconverted Imperial city, we shall here ask our readers’ consent to make known to them, by quoting a passage from the Acts of the Martyrdom of SS. […]
• From my diary
  This week I have been on holiday, at least notionally.  I had intended to undertake various projects, as well as visiting some friends.  Unfortunately a headache has been with me all week, and little has been done.  This afternoon I took down volume 1 of the Loeb edition of Valerius Maximus and dipped into it, […]
• The troll and the policeman — a natural connection?
  There was a time when the police paid no attention to anything posted on the web.  In the United Kingdom, at least, that time is past.  Over the last few months I have seen a series of stories, where offline people have called for the police to arrest trolls.  Routinely, now, the police are acting. […]
• An important victory for free speech in Canada
  We used to talk about politics, back in the 70’s, at school.  And sometimes we didn’t agree.  Sometimes someone would say something outrageous.  And it might earn the commonplace response, “It’s a free country”, with the understood corollary that anyone might say what they thought. It’s a saying that you never hear today.  Because in […]
• From my diary
  I chopped up the paperback English translation of Quintus Curtius, and ran it through my sheet-fed scanner.  It did work, but the results were less than satisfactory.  The scanner — a Fujitsu Scansnap — tended to look through the paper, or distort the colour of it.  That said, the OCR took place just fine.  But […]
• Corpus Inscriptionum Semiticarum
  The Corpus Inscriptionum Semiticarum (= Collection of Semitic Inscriptions, abbreviated as CIS) is a series with which few of us will be familiar.  The following notes come mostly from the Italian Wikipedia. The CIS is a series of volumes containing inscriptions in semitic languages written in a “semitic character” (i.e. not cuneiform) and giving them a […]
• Manuscripts of Quintus Curtius Rufus
  The Penguin translation of the History of Alexander the Great by Q. Curtius Rufus tells me that there are 123 manuscripts of this work.  A list is apparently given by Dosson in his Etude sur Quinte Curce, 1887, p.315-356 (online here). The work was originally in 10 books, but books 1 and 2 are lost.  There […]
• Why can’t I buy a PDF?
  Sometimes I need books.  And sometimes less so.  I’m about to do something which seems totally unnatural to me. I’m going to destroy a book.  I bought it for the purpose.  It’s a cheap modern translation of Quintus Curtius in paperback.  But I don’t want the paper book at all.  What I want is a […]
• From my diary
  I’ve spent today working on some PHP scripts to work with the new Mithras pages.  It’s slow work, programming, especially when you’ve spent the week at the terminal.  Thankfully tomorrow is Sunday, and I never use my PC on Sundays.  I suspect that a farm near me will be selling home-grown strawberries, and I shall go […]
• Mithras and Jerome
  A comment draws my attention to E. H. Henckel, De philtris.  On page 39, there is an interesting statement. Magnam vim Basilidiani suo Deo ABRASAX (quem Basilides pro summo habebat numine, nomine prorsus fictitio; Sed quod litteris contineret numerum dierum, quos annus habet absolutus: unde & B. Hieronymi suspicio erat, Abraxas esse non alium, quam Persarum […]
• A possible Carthaginian inscription on human sacrifice
  While surfing for more literary references to human sacrifice at Carthage, I happened across a Punic inscription which may be relevant.  Now treat this with caution.  I have done no literature search.  The author, Bennie H. Reynolds, and the standing of this article, are both unknown to me.  But the publication is from Brill, which gives it […]
• From my diary
  The migration of my site has worked, and everything seems to be OK bar two things: I can no longer access the Tertullian.org mail through Demon’s old and obsolete Turnpike software.  That’s because the new site enforces the use of SSH.  I know a workaround; to use stunnel; or maybe I should just accept the […]
• Sacrifices of children at Carthage – the sources
  A mention in a post at the Theology Archaeology blog drew my attention to the question of the sacrifice of children at Carthage. I think that we all remember that the Carthaginians sacrificed their children to their god. It is, indeed, one of the things we think of, when the word “Carthaginian” is mentioned. But […]
• Christians in an increasingly hostile society
  Via the Trevin Wax blog, I learn of this article by Michael Bird: As we construct a Christian response to gay marriage, the evangelical and apostolic churches (not the liberals churches who are little more than chaplains for Nero) need to do from an ecclesiology of exile, not from an ecclesiology of christendom. We are on […]
• From my diary
  Microsoft do make some rubbish software, don’t they! This evening I sat down to work with the new Mithras pages that I am working on.  This involves running a little web server on my PC, so that I can run some PHP scripts. Last weekend I installed (with some difficulty) IIS, FastCGI and PHP on […]
• Possible outages
  My site will probably migrate to another server over the next week or two.  Expect some downtime on all my domains, including this blog.
• From my diary
  My travelling laptop contains the PDF’s of the books on the “right use of the fathers” which I discussed yesterday.  This evening I sat down to re-download them here, and also sought out the volume by Barbeyrac to which they allude.  In the process, I have stumbled across an interesting book. In Fathers and Anglicans: […]
• Sign a US petition that govt-funded research papers be available online to ordinary people
  Jona Lendering of Livius.org draws my attention to a White House petition that should interest everyone: We petition the Obama administration to: Require free access over the Internet to scientific journal articles arising from taxpayer-funded research. We believe in the power of the Internet to foster innovation, research, and education. Requiring the published results of […]
• From my diary
  The mobile broadband provided by O2 is of poor quality, in that it took me over an hour to connect to it.  It is very slow, as is proven by my utter inability to download an interesting article from Alin Suciu’s site, despite trying for two nights running; the download always times out. In desperation I […]
• Cranmer, the ASA and its gay chairman
  Ten days ago I wrote an article on this blog, about the Cranmer blog, and some threats which it had received from the British Advertising Standards Authority (ASA).  The “crime” was that Cranmer had run an innocuous advertisement for the Coalition for Marriage, opposing the current demand by the gay lobby for gay “marriage”.  The […]
• Facsimile edition of the ms. of Critoboulos’ History of the Fall of Constantinople to be published
  I have written before about the history of Kritoboulos of Imbros, which describes the sack of Constantinople in 1453.  The author was a Greek renegade who entered Turkish service.  The text was published in a critical edition in 1983. An English translation from an earlier edition exists by Charles Riggs.  From the latter I learn […]
• Armenian mss photographed in Syria by HMML
  Via Paleojudaica I learn of an interesting article on the PanArmenian website. PanARMENIAN.Net – Hill Museum & Manuscript Library at St. John’s University completed a manuscript preservation project in the Middle East shortly before the violence worsened in Syria, sctimes.com reports. “This was our last current project in Syria, and we had done actually a […]
• A Clavis for Old Slavic, and a site for Slavic Chrysostom material
  Alin Suciu is rapidly becoming one of the most important patristic bloggers.  His blog regularly announces finds of new material for Coptic.   But today’s post — a guest post by Yavor Miltenov — relates to Old Slavonic / Old Slavic.  It’s very exciting indeed! As a result of the work of generations of philologists, the […]
• Matthieu Cassin on the chapter titles of Contra Eunomium I
  In the Sources Chretiennes edition of Gregory of Nyssa’s Contra Eunomium, there is an annex which is of wider interest.  Annex II — p.359-364 — was written by Matthieu Cassin, and summarises rather nicely the question of indices and chapter titles in the manuscripts of this work.  I know that French is a closed book to […]
• From my diary
  I am cursing WordPress very much indeed.  I’ve just translated three pages of a French article, and written some comments of my own, pressed “publish”, and it then demanded I log in — to my own blog — again and discarded most of it.  That’s an hour of my life gone.  It’s almost beyond bearing.
• Stick with your work
  Some wise words from the Trevin Wax blog today: Stick with your work. Do not flinch because the lion roars. Do not stop to stone the devil’s dogs. Do not fool away your time chasing the devil’s rabbits. Do your work. Let liars lie. Let sectarians quarrel. Let critics malign. Let enemies accuse. Let the […]
• The Letter of Pilate to Tiberius
  One item that floats around the web is the Letter of Pilate to Tiberius.  It appeared in English translation in the Ante-Nicene Fathers vol. 8 (here), and from there to all sorts of other places.  Another translation appears online in The Lost Books of the Bible, 1926 Here is the ANF translation: The Letter of Pontius […]
• Advertising Standards Authority threatens the Cranmer blog
  The Advertising Standards Authority, a minor government body which exists to stop dodgy businessmen running dishonest adverts, has started to engage in some curious activity lately.  For instance it recently told a Christian group that it couldn’t mention God’s healing powers on its website (why?). Of course there must be some specific person — an atheist, perhaps? […]
• From my diary
  I’ve been trying to get into a mass of material about chapter titles that Matthieu Cassin has kindly sent me.  I hope to blog about some of this over the next few days.  In particular he has located scholarly material which tries to develop some criteria for the authenticity of these things.  This certainly sounds […]
• Gregory of Nyssa on chapter titles
  In his work De hominis opificio (On the making of man), in the praefatio, Gregory alludes explicitly to a list of chapter titles for the work: …and for clearness’ sake I think it well to set forth to you the discourse by chapters, that you may be able briefly to know the force of the […]
• Ancient texts with “indices”
  A little while ago a kind correspondent sent me a partial list of ancient works where the manuscripts contain “indices”, or “tables of contents” of the chapters or subjects covered in the book or books.  I had meant to go and investigate each of these, but my work life is eating all my time at […]
• “How long is in living memory”, part 2
  A little while ago I asked, “How far back is ‘living memory'”?  I got some interesting answers, but, far more interesting, Tom Schmidt was inspired to dig out some family memories of his own.  His post here deserves to be read by us all. It includes mention of memories of both C. S. Lewis, and the […]
• Not liking the desert fathers
  Someone tried to be kind to me a couple of weeks ago.  They sent me, anonymously, a copy of “The desert fathers: sayings of the early Christian monks”.  I have to say that I can guess who sent it; and that was supposing from my interest in patristics that I might be amenable to something of […]
• Automated microfilm readers to convert microfilms to digital form?
  In Oracle Magazine this month, there is an interesting article about a genealogical firm who are systematically converting microfilmed records into digital format. At one archival site, FamilySearch has been storing images of historic documents on microfilm since the 1930s and has amassed 3.5 million rolls of film containing 4 billion records. “Microfilm is a […]
• From my diary
  I’ve had an email with some material extracted from Matthieu Cassin’s thesis about Gregory of Nyssa, with the pages discussing the chapter titles in the manuscripts.  I’ve not had a chance to read it yet, but it looks fascinating.  Dr Cassin has done some real work here, and I will discuss it further. Also I […]
• Chapter divisions in Gregory of Nyssa’s “Contra Eunomium”
  There is a paper on the web by Matthieu Cassin, discussing the context of the three books of the Contra Eunomium of Gregory of Nyssa.  In the middle of it (p.112) he discussed the divisions in the text, as it has been transmitted.  It’s fascinating stuff. Besides the division of Book III, the different manuscripts present a […]
• A curious article opposing open-access to the products of state-funded research
  AWOL has drawn my attention to a rather curious article by the president of the Archaeological Institute of America, Elizabeth Bartman. The Federal Research Public Access Act of 2012 was introduced in both houses of Congress on February 9 of this year. The legislation would require that publishers of academic and scholarly journals provide the […]
• Images of 5th century letter titles in Pliny the Younger
  The Lowe and Rand publication of the Morgan fragment of the 5th century Saint-Victor manuscript of the letters of Pliny the Younger has, by great good fortune, images of the transition between books 2 and 3.  These include a contents list for book 3, consisting of the recipients, followed by the opening words. Let’s have […]
• Over 500 Latin Manuscripts available in PDF at the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris!
  The Pyle site aims to be a portal for manuscripts.  And it links to some very interesting stuff.  Among this is a link to Greek manuscripts at the BNF in Paris.  These are mainly late; but there are gospel manuscripts, catena manuscripts, and commentaries on the Iliad and Odyssey. But here is the biggie: you can […]
• From my diary
  I’m going through the mill at work at the moment, which makes life rather heavy, and engagement with hobbies impossible.  To add to the fun, I have only a slow mobile broadband connection on my laptop in the evenings, which makes the necessary task of collecting and responding to my email a slow and painful […]
• Eusebius book — first review, at Bryn Mawr
  The first review of the Eusebius Gospel Problems and Solutions book by David Miller, Adam McCollum, Carol Downer and friends, edited by me, has appeared here at Bryn Mawr.  It’s very kind and rather encouraging!
• Greek Papyri in Cairo now online
  Via AWOL, I learn that a Photographic Archive of Papyri in the Cairo Museum is now online.  It is mainly documentary material, but one literary codex seems to be involved: Gospel of Peter:  Photos of all the pages of the Gospel of Peter ms. from Akhmim (P.Cair. 10759) 1 Enoch, chapters 1-27 (same) A list of […]
• Trying to find a 1922 publication in Google books – for my US readers
  I’m trying to locate a copy of E. A. Lowe and E. K. Rand, A sixth century Fragment of the Letters of Pliny the Younger, 1922, in Google Books.  The date means that in the US it is out of copyright. There are pages from it in Hathi, which bear the mark of Google Books and […]
• Indexes in manuscripts of Pliny the Younger’s letters
  Six folios survive of a 5th century manuscript of the Letters of Pliny the Younger.  They are in New York, in the Pierpont Morgan collection, where they have the shelfmark M.462.  They contain letters from Book 2, Letter XX, line 13, to Book 3, Letter V, line 10.  But I learn that they also contain […]
• “Tertullian Tracts” … what can these be?
  A correspondent wrote as follows: Do you know of any writings by Tertullian call the “Tertullian Tracts”? They supposedly deal with early church mediumship or spiritualism or spirit contact of prior believers who died. I did not, of course, but a certain amount of cross-examination revealed that we were discussing a line on the following site, […]
• More on the ban on Norwich church by Norwich council
  I wrote yesterday about the banning of a Norwich church by the City Council.  Thankfully the widely-read Cranmer blog has picked up on this disgraceful story. This is the New Inquisition: the demand for theological orthodoxy has given way to prohibition of ‘feeling insulted’. And you might be next. Indeed, as His Grace has previously […]
• Norwich Reform Church banned from meeting and from their own market stall by Norwich Council for “hate”
  A BBC East report from yesterday (16/4/12): Norwich Reformed Church banned for Islam ‘hate’ leaflet A church has been banned from holding a weekly bookstall in Norwich following a complaint it was producing “hate-motivated” literature against Islam. The Norwich Reformed Church held the stall on the city’s Hay Hill, which is owned by Norwich City Council. The […]
• A Mithraeum in Iran? — The “Verjuy Mithra Temple”
  A post by a headbanger on a crank site drew my attention to this page on the web: Verjuy Mithra Temple, the Oldest Surviving Mithraist Temple in Iran By: Afshin Tavakoli Iran, Daily Newspaper No. 2802, May. 16th, 2004, Page 12 Abstract:Maragheh is one of Iran’s most ancient cities having its roots in legends. In the […]
• “Christians vilified” in Britain — yes or no?
  The headline story in the Daily Telegraph today is about a submission by George Carey, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, to a court case before the European Court of Human Rights.  Britain’s Christians are being vilified, warns Lord Carey Christians are being “persecuted” by courts and “driven underground” in the same way that homosexuals once were, […]
• Digitising the manuscripts of Lorsch
  After my last post, I started looking for evidence of the work of Heidelberg university in digitising Vatican manuscripts.  To my astonishment, I found a website for the now vanished library of the abbey of Lorsch!  It seems that a team from Heidelberg have been attempting to recreate this Dark Ages library, full of very interesting […]
• Vatican (and Bodleian?) Greek manuscripts to go online?
  Mike Aquilina writes to tell me about a new manuscript digitisation initiative.  The BBC has an article on the story: Oxford’s Bodleian Libraries and the Vatican’s Biblioteca Apostolica plan to digitise 1.5 million ancient texts to make them available online. The two libraries announced the four-year project after receiving a £2m award from the Polonsky […]
• Use DuckDuckGo instead of Google search?
  Marcel at Monday Evening today has written possibly one of the most important posts that I have read for some time. Google grew and profited because it was useful. It made finding stuff on the web easier, it made email easier, and it made a good rss feed reader. Then Google became a threat to privacy, or […]
• Would it really be so difficult to determine how chapter divisions are marked in all surviving ancient books?
  The question of chapter divisions and headings in ancient literary and technical texts is a long term interest of mine, as anyone who chooses to look may discover by clicking on the tag at the end of this post.  We find, in later medieval texts, that these ancient texts are often divided, not merely into books, […]
• Chapter titles in Pliny the Elder
  With the new availability online of images of the British Library ms. Harley MS 2676 (Pliny the Elder, Historia naturalis,  Florence, 1465-1467), we can now investigate just how the chapter titles are presented in a manuscript. Technical note: there seems to be no way to link directly from here to the pages in question.  Ideally I would […]
• New BL mss online: technical texts
  I learn from the British Library manuscripts blog that a further bunch of manuscripts from the Harley collection have now been placed online at their site, courtesy of funding by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation.  These are described as “science manuscripts”, which of course covers a multitude of things, not all of them interesting to us.  […]
• From my diary
  I’m just pottering around the blog, looking at this and that.  I’ve been checking some of the blogroll links.  The Egyptian State Information Service have changed their URL, I see. Grey and rainy here, but the Luxor Travel Tips site tells us that it is 33C in Luxor today!!!  I am so envious.
• Some musings on comment spam
  This blog has been running for two or three years now (I can’t remember when).  In that time I have written 2,340 posts, which have attracted 6,866 comments, and … 215,300 spam comments!!  That is, an average of 100 spams per post. Every morning I get a few of them in my inbox, which the […]
• Frustrated with Finereader
  I’ve been working on placing Theodoret’s commentary on Romans on the web for a while.  I OCR’d it in Abbyy Finereader 11, and I finished proofing the OCR in Finereader before Easter. Today I tried exporting the text to HTML.  It has rather a lot of italics in it, so imagine my fury when I […]
• IVP’s Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture
  Today I found myself wondering just what the early Christians would have to say on various controverted passages in Scripture, passages where modern issues cause us to look urgently at the text.  If Theodoret’s Commentary on Romans is any guide, not much: but I would like to know, all the same. This naturally caused me […]
• Talmud in Arabic
  Via Paleojudaica.com: The Jerusalem Post reports that a team of Jordanians has translated the Talmud into Arabic. A think tank on Middle East affairs in Jordan has for the first time published a translation of the Babylonian Talmud in Arabic. Middle East Studies Center based in Amman produced the 20-volume work, which took six years to complete and […]
• May God curse the NIV committee and its owners!
  I have, just this instant, come across an example of how the NIV is being corrupted deliberately, for politically correct reasons, in order to deceive.  It nearly caught me out, as I was doing a bible study.  I was asked to do something on St. Paul and leadership of women (why me?!).  So I looked […]
• From my diary
  Technical problems here, as I have started a new job and don’t have any access to the web at all!  I can get a bit of access in the evenings, but the link is too slow!!!  Working on all of this, so bear with me.  But probably means not much blogging for a bit. 
• From my diary
  I’ve spent some time messing around with perl yesterday and today.  I’ve been trying to find a way that I can edit a page using FrontPage — my usual HTML editor — and do footnotes inline, using <ref>…</ref> tags, just as if I were in Wikipedia.  A perl script then reads the file, strips out the references, inserts […]
• Texas Christians raise money to pay medical bill for atheist protestor
  I was impressed by this: A Texas atheist who earlier this year fought to ban religious symbols on government property in his town is reportedly “flabbergasted” that Christians have offered to help him pay his bills. The Tyler Morning Telegraph is reporting that Christians in Henderson County have raised around $400 to help Patrick Greene, […]
• How not to preserve Norwich’s city walls
  A sunny day and a trip to Norwich.  While standing in the W.H.Smith’s in the market, an item in the Norwich Evening News catches my eye. Norwich City Council faces an ongoing battle to preserve the much-loved walls, with water, road salt and plants causing damage throughout the year. Now officials at City Hall are […]
• From my diary
  I have to go back to work in a week, so whatever holiday I can cram in happens now.  And the weather has turned summery here, so I propose to take advantage of it!  I notice that Akismet does not seem to be stopping as much comment spam as it did.  It is frustrating, the […]
• Stupidity in Colorado prison administration
  An amusing item was posted by Professor Edith Hall on the CLASSICS-L list yesterday, which came into LT-ANTIQ as well: Meanwhile, proof has arrived of the potency of our subject. One of my PhD students, Katie Billotte, sent a copy of a scholarly book I published as a sedate OUP monograph in 1989, “Inventing the […]
• Library.nu has been shut down
  So I learn, from an article by Prof. Christopher Kelty at — of all places –aljazeera.com.  Kelty’s article is required reading: READ IT!  A couple of snippets:  Last week a website called “library.nu” disappeared. A coalition of international scholarly publishers accused the site of piracy and convinced a judge in Munich to shut it down. Library.nu (formerly […]
• Reading George Barna, “Revolution”
  A friend handed me a copy of this book, which basically suggests that Christians need not belong to a local church, and that to do so is empowering.  There is a review of it all here.  I’m committed to read all the way through it, but I have some questions after only 30 pages. To me, […]
• A bibliography of scholarship on Gregory of Nyssa
  A correspondent has drawn my attention to a treasure online: a site maintained by Matthieu Cassin, which consists of a bibliography of articles about Gregory of Nyssa, in reverse date order. What makes this special is that some of the articles are linked.  This includes translations of texts by the man himself: M. Cassin, « […]
• 40 days of prayer – an online Lent meditation
  I came across a blog run by Community Church Derby — about which I know nothing — here.  The blog is a set of daily thoughts on Psalm 23, for Lent.  The item for Sunday 18th March struck me particularly: Sunday 18th March ‘Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, […]
• What do you do, when swindled by a “Christian company”?
  An interesting ethical question reached me today, and although it has never happened to me — mostly because I don’t do much business with Christian businesses, I suspect, it raises all sorts of issues. Someone purchased a subscription for a service from a Christian company back in February. But he finds, now the first month’s materials have been delivered, […]
• Saudi mufti calls for all churches to be destroyed — UK media suppresses story
  I wouldn’t bother with this story, except that the UK media seem to have received a 3-line whip, directing silence about it.  ArabianBusiness.com reports (four days ago!): Destroy all churches in Gulf, says Saudi Grand Mufti The Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia has said it is “necessary to destroy all the churches of the region,” following […]
• From my diary
  I’m in Chester at the moment, on personal business.  Chester, I know, is a Roman city.  The street plan shows as much — it is, indeed, extraordinarily Roman, considering that nearly 2,000 years have passed.  Sadly I have been unable to devote any time to seeing antiquities, despite staying in the Crowne Plaza hotel pretty […]
• Why copyright does NOT mean money for those who create original material
  Quite by accident, I came across an interesting article which throws new light on why copyright is not quite what it is generally supposed to be. Copyright is not a moral axiom.  There is no teaching in the bible that states it, nor is it self-evident. The idea behind it is that people should be […]
• From my diary
  My days have been busy with personal business, but I did manage to get back to OCR’ing Theodoret’s Commentary on Romans.  It’s rather anaemic, tho.  I reached the portion where Paul advises submission to worldly authorities this evening.  Now the pressure on Christians to conform to whatever anti-Christian demand gay lobbyists dream up is reaching […]
• So, farewell, O dead tree Encyclopedia Britannica
  News today that Encyclopedia Britannica has decided not to print any more editions of its encyclopedia.  Sales of the paper version have been “negligible” for years, and 85% of the income comes from the online version.  I would imagine these sales are licenses to libraries and the like.  There is, apparently, some gloating from some […]
• International Congress on Patristics Studies, Argentina, 8-10th August
  An email draws my attention to a conference on Patristics studies in Argentina on 8-10th August.  This is a little far for me, but details can be found here.
• Eusebius of Emesa, Commentary on Genesis, reviewed at Bryn Mawr
  A correspondent writes to tell me about a new publication, the Commentary on Genesis by Eusebius of Emesa.  It’s reviewed by Mark DelCogliano at Bryn Mawr here. The present volume reassembles the four branches of the tradition, providing new editions of each that are accompanied by annotated French translations on facing pages, in this order: […]
• Why imposters love the church
  An excellent article here.
• From my diary
  I’ve had a cold for the last few days, and so I have been lying on the sofa reading a rather low-grade Christian novel.  Nothing much is happening here. One interesting thing is that I popped into the Premier Christian Radio forums.  Sadly the administrators have allowed them to be hijacked by atheist trolls.  It was […]
• From my diary
  I’ve been working on OCR’ing Theodoret’s Commentary on Romans, from the 1839 issue of the Christian Remembrancer.  I’m most of the way through this, although no clue as yet to the translator.  Notes are by a certain “E.B.” A kind correspondent has sent me PDF’s of the rest of the commentary, which appeared in the […]
• At last! An unreasonable copyright claim is rejected!
  Via the BBC: Football match fixture list copyright claim rejected Football authorities in England and Scotland have had a court claim over football fixtures’ copyright rejected. European judges said compiling match fixture lists needed “significant” work, but did not entail the creativity required for copyright protection. Yahoo, bookmaker Stan James and sports information firm Enetpulse […]
• From my diary
  I’m rather busy with other things, but I’ve done some work on OCR-ing the translation of Theodoret’s commentary on Romans from the Christian Remembrancer of 1839.  The 1840 volume of that serial has still not become available to me, unfortunately, in which the remainder of the translation probably appears. It’s a wearisome business, in truth.  […]
• Ethiopian biblical commentaries — the Amharic “Andemta commentary”
  In Amharic, the main biblical commentary is known as the Andemta commentary.  This is divided into four sections, which cover the Old Testament, the New Testament, Patristic works, and Monastic canons and texts. The Andemta commentary is an explanation in Amharic of passages in the Ethiopian biblical, patristic and liturgical books, themselves written in Geez.  […]
• More on the Ge`ez version of the Coptic-Arabic gospel catena
  It has taken some time since I wrote this initial article, but I am finally in a position to say somewhat more. The Gospel problems and solutions by Eusebius was used by the compiler of a now lost Greek catena commentary.  This catena was translated into Coptic (De Lagarde published it) and the Coptic into […]
• LICOSA.com — more thieving Italians
  I don’t know why Italian booksellers are dishonest.  But I have received precisely two orders for my book from them, and in both cases they did not feel any obligation to actually pay for the book. Thief of the week is Licosa.com.  Licosa ordered a book from me at the start of November 2011.  I sent […]
• More on Zeno of Verona
  The correspondent who first asked about Zeno of Verona (d. 371-2) has written explaining why he was looking for a translation: I am presently researching and compiling early church commentary on 1 Tim 2:15-3-1a, and more precisely, trying to ascertain which interpreters ascribed either a typological or illustrative reference of Eve to the church, and/or […]
• The homilies of Zeno of Verona
  A correspondent wrote to ask about an English translation of the sermons of St. Zeno of Verona: I am trying to find an English translation of St Zeno’s (of Verona) sermons.  In particular, I am looking for some typological comments he has said to have made on Eve and the church. The name was unfamiliar […]
• Following Jesus ever more closely … ouch
  I’ve just seen the website of St. Marys, Bletchley, which has the slogan: Following Jesus ever more closely Just like this: Hmm.  It’s probably my warped sense of humour, but this conjured up quite an image. Following Jesus closely… And more closely … And still more closely … And … ouch! I have this picture […]
• From my diary
  I’ve started OCR-ing the commentary of Theodoret on Romans from the Christian Remembrancer of 1839.  The translation belongs to the Oxford Movement period, so is pretty stodgy.  I’ve not seen any indication yet of who the translator is.  I’ve also bought a copy of Adobe InDesign CS 5.5 from Amazon, at some terrifying price.  At […]
• Partial translation of Theodoret’s Commentary on Romans online
  A correspondent writes: I have been enjoying Robert C. Hill’s two-volume translation of Theodoret’s commentary on Paul’s epistles.  For comparison of Romans, I found an older translation on Google books in The Christian Remembrancer, Vol XXI, 1839 (sadly, it only covers chapters 1-8).  The material is to be found on page 34, 93, 158, 231, […]
• From my diary
  Being offline last week for almost a week felt like a bit of a risk.  But in fact my email inbox is not too bad, and I have processed most of these.  A couple require a more considered response — or a longer response!  Nothing was shrieking for my attention. I notice that it is Lent next […]
• A pilgrimage to Israel
  Last Saturday (11th Feb) I met with a group of 18 people, mainly from local churches, at 4pm.  Destination: Israel!  The tour was organised by a clergyman as a pilgrimage, through a firm called McCabe.  Our flight from Heathrow was at 22:30, so we departed in order to have plenty of time.  Unfortunately the McCabe arrangements […]
• From my diary
  I’m back.  I’ve been in Israel on a pilgrimage since last Saturday night — overnight flight — and haven’t quite stopped moving yet.  By some fluke we had excellent weather throughout, and it’s been gorgeous.  But my trip home today started at 3am Israel time (=1am UK time), so I’m not quite with it at […]
• From my diary
  I have taken another step to prepare for my forthcoming trip to Israel, visiting Jerusalem, the Dead Sea, Galilee, etc.  It is a step that may strike fear into the hearts of many.  I have bought a pair of swimming trunks. I promise not to post pictures.  Lady readers might be overcome. UPDATE: The internet […]
• Evil in England – persecution of Christians grows
  Three stories in one day today.  The first is a general de-Christianisation thing; the other two involve state-backed attacks on Christians just going about their lives.  Three in a day is sobering, isn’t it? The first story is at eChurch blog, in the BBC and commented on by Cranmer.  This is headline news here, so needs […]
• From my diary
  I’ve been preparing for my forthcoming trip to Israel by getting dollars and shekels etc. One thing that has amused me rather is that, after arriving in Jerusalem at 5am on an overnight flight, we’re taken sightseeing!  There is quite a full programme for the day, with a break mid-morning at the hotel.  That sounds […]
• Comment stonings and comment warriors
  A couple of links that show how the internet is developing. First up are a bunch of pot-heads calling themselves “CLEAR”.  They know what they want, and they’re not about to let the fact that everyone else disagrees with them stand in their way.  They write. Every day the CLEAR Facebook page points to such […]
• Are these really the words of Ignatius?
  A splendid blog post at TrevinWax contains the following item: Please pray for me, that I may have both spiritual and physical strength to perform my duties; that I may not only speak the truth but become the truth; that I may not only be called a Christian, but also live like a Christian. Yet […]
• eChurch blog threatened with legal action for a post
  On January 28th 2012 eChurch blog included this post: I Tweeted earlier: “I sincerely believe that it is easier to publicly proclaim your sexuality than it is to declare mental illness and personality disorders.” This was met with a small chorus of agreement. This thought derived from an incident on a prominent Christian forum in […]
• Egypt kisses tourist industry good-bye — starvation to follow
  As I understand it, Egyptian president Mubarak — a relatively mild ruler — fell from power because many Egyptians could not afford to buy bread.  It was as simple as that. But the unrest has been very bad for the tourism industry, which is a major part of the money flowing into Egypt.  That income dropped 30% […]
• From my diary
  I’m getting ready to go on a trip to Israel with a local church group, as part of my cunning plan to make more links with the local Christian community.  It seemed to me, rightly or wrongly, that 6 days in the company of people from my area, looking at things in which we are […]
• A portrait of a damned soul
  An old college friend died a couple of years ago.  I only found out a week or so ago, when I did something that I never do — I logged into Friends Reunited.  A menu highlighted that someone that I knew at college had a page, and it was him. The page was written by him.  It discussed […]
• CIL to be digitised at last?
  Via Ancient World Online I learn of an initiative here to scan in the out-of-copyright volumes of the Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum.  This is very welcome news, so long as we get PDF’s out of the end of it. It probably takes an initiative to do this.  The CIL is really important, in that it contains all […]
• From my diary
  I went to Cambridge today to take a look at Roger Cowley, Ethiopian biblical interpretation, Cambridge 1989.  There is supposed to be a reference to a possible Ethiopic version of some of the Eusebius, Gospel Problems and Solutions material.  Unfortunately I was quite unable to find it.  I’ll have to order up the book by […]
• The modern way of death is cruel
  They are an embarassment, the dead, in our modern society.  Our masters prefer that the remains of the unimportant should vanish, it seems.  Only the rich and powerful get graves today. When the girl we loved dies, there is a funeral still.  But the graves of yester-year are no more, at least for us.  Instead the body […]
• Sunday and Eusebius — a supposed quotation?
  By accident today I came across a supposed quotation of Eusebius, used in a negative way. Eusebius, in AD 324, wrote, “We have transferred the duties of the Sabbath to Sunday.” Who are the “we”? Certainly not the apostles. They could not do so after the testament was ratified by the death of the Testator […]
• The Australian on “Scholarly licence to print money”
  A correspondent draws my attention to an article in the Australian on the academic publishing business by Colin Steele (Jan. 25, 2012).  It’s sitting behind a paywall, but if you search in Google for “scholarly licence to print money” you can click through to it. WHO pays the piper in scholarly publishing is a very hot global […]
• Ps.Chrysostom on the Ascension
  I’ve been sent a translation by KP of Ps.Chrysostom In Ascensionem 5 (PG 52:801-802), with notes and permission to put it online.  I do so gladly! IN ASCENSIONEM Sermo 5 ΕΙΣ ΤΗΝ ΑΝΑΛΗΨΙΝ Λόγος εʹ. ON THE ASCENSION Homily 5 Adest dominicæ Assumptionis dies : ac licet multi jam concionem habuerint, nostram tamen tenuitatem ad concionandum […]
• Getting the CIMRM in digital form – sadly not
  Today I’ve obtained copies of some of the pages from Maarten Vermaseren’s great compilation of Mithraic inscriptions and reliefs, the Corpus Inscriptionum et Monumentorum Religionis Mithriacae or CIMRM.  This work is frankly very useful indeed.  There are two volumes, and neither is at all easy to access, or available in print.  I do wish that it was […]
• Barney Coombs, “Dealing with what life throws at you”
  Before I went away, I was reading Barney Coombs, Dealing with what life throws at you, (2004). Coombs is someone unknown to me.  But apparently he was one of the “fabulous fourteen” of charismatic leaders in the UK during the 70’s.  He aligned himself with the stricter group led by Bryn Jones from Bradford, classified […]
• Grandsons of man born in 1790 are still alive today
  An interesting article in the Daily Mail today. John Tyler, the tenth president of the United States, was born in 1790. He grew up on a Virginia plantation, became a lawyer, and went on to the White House after the death of his predecessor, William Henry Harrison in 1841. … But it has been revealed […]
• From my diary
  I’ve been in Iceland for the last few days.  Wonderful! UPDATE: I didn’t say anything in advance because I didn’t think that I ought to announce in advance that I was away.   The web of today is not the friendly place of five years ago, sadly.  Now I’m not sure that my adventures in Iceland are really […]
• Bede on Yule
  In De ratione temporum (On the reckoning of time), chapter 15, the Venerable Bede lists the English months: In olden time the English people — for it did not seem fitting to me that I should speak of other nations’ observance of the year and yet be silent about my own nation’s — calculated their […]
• Wondering about Yule
  I was just wondering about “Yule”, and what is really known about it, what the ancient/medieval sources are.  Generally we hear jeering about it at Christmas, and that’s it.  A look at the web suggests that no-one online knows anything about the subject.  Certainly those who talk about it don’t seem troubled as to what, […]
• Early papyrus fragment of Romans 9-10?
  Via Paleojudaica I see a report on Evangelical Textual Criticism of an interesting CNN report.  The statement is that “within the last 48 hours” a fragment of Romans has been discovered, dated to the mid-2nd century AD.  The interview is vague, but it sounds as if a team somewhere in the US has been taking […]
• Glenn Myers, Life Lessons : life-changing stories for Christian growth
  Over the last few days, I have been reading life lessons: life-changing stories for christian growth, ed. Glenn Myers, Christian Focus, 2010.  It’s a slim paperback, less than 100 pages.  It consists of ten chapters, in each of which someone reflects on their life, and how God has worked in it. It’s been enormously helpful […]
• Does God only use “people” people?
  Does God only use the ‘people’ people?  There are two sorts of people out there.  There are those focused on other people, and there are the task- or thing-oriented people.  I know that I am in the latter class, and indeed I only function among others by means of some carefully fabricated plastic personalities.  Most […]
• Finding Christians in your local town in the UK
  I’ve been trying to connect with Christians in my local area.  It’s always a tiresome process, when you move to a new town, and a lot of people do not manage to make the transfer. Traditionally you made the rounds of the local churches, in a series of Sunday services; the good, the bad, the […]
• Ibn Abi Usaibia: an analysis of authority
  Douglas Galbi has been working on the text of Ibn Abi Usaibia, and has come out with some interesting metrics on how the author sees the authority of various people mentioned in it. Galen of Pergamon dominates among Greek figures in History of Physicians.  References to Galen measure 0.55 on an authority index in which […]
• Field research on manuscripts and monasteries in Ethiopia
  Via the EthiopianLit list, I receive this intriguing announcement of a talk at Princeton University in March, which I would certainly go to, if I could. Nobody has any idea what exists in Ethiopic.   There’s gold out there, you know? Preserving the African Archive: Field Research on Early Manuscripts and Monasteries in Northern Ethiopia Denis […]
• What kind of Thule am I?
  I’m off to Iceland soon, a trip booked early this year.  I hope to see the Northern Lights.  Considering the cost, I really hope to see the Northern Lights.  But man proposes, and God disposes, and it will be very well in either case. This evening I was wondering if there was any classical angle […]
• The church that Constantine built over the grave of St. Peters, 1450
  We all know that during the 4th century the emperor Constantine constructed a Roman basilica over the grave of St. Peter.  This was replaced during the renaissance with the current structure, as the old church had become structurally unsound during the interval. A reconstruction of the old church, drawn in 1891, is here: It would […]
• Google’s personal search makes the search engine useless
  I’d noticed for some time that I wasn’t getting very good results from searches on Google.  Kate Phizackerley explains why: I really hate what Google has done with search.  If I search for the Valley of the Kings of KV64 I looking for something I don’t already know, for news.  It’s bad enough for Valley […]
• How do we search sites that no longer exist?
  There’s a lot of material in the WaybackWhenMachine at Archive.org.  Images of websites from days gone by, full of material that may not be online now but that we might like to see if we could. But how?  If we know the site, we can go to it and look through. What we need is […]
• Christian bookshops — the key part of the local church?
  I did something unusual today.  I didn’t buy a book from Amazon. Not that I buy a book every day from Amazon: I mean that I decided to buy a book, but to order it in from my local Christian bookshop. Almost certainly it will cost more.  But the Christian bookshop is a funny thing.  […]
• From my diary
  I pulled up the OCR project for the Book of Asaph the physician in Finereader 11 this lunchtime.  It’s a 6th century Jewish medical text, which apparently contains interesting quotes from classical writers. Readers may remember — I can hardly remember myself — that I was experimenting with deskewing the pages, increasing the brightness, etc, in order […]
• A camel for your thoughts, my dear
  In certain societies, in order for a marriage to take place, the groom must purchase the bride from her father, in return for a certain number of camels.  (I vaguely remember reading this somewhere, or perhaps heard it on the radio, so it must be true) In others, the father is obliged to pay the […]
• From my diary
  Proofing of the Latin text of Origen’s Homilies on Ezekiel 8-10 has completed, and I have been sent a revised text of these, plus some tweaks to the English.  Tommy Heyne has kindly sent me a copy of his article on Tertullian and Medicine from Studia Patristica 50, for upload to the Tertullian Project.  I’ll […]
• From my diary
  This afternoon I sat down with Origen, Homilies on Ezekiel 8-10 (and Jerome’s preface), and compared our translation with the 2010 ACW one.  The object of the exercise was to locate any serious differences in understanding, and allow us to revise the translation if the ACW version suggested an improvement.  I am pleased to say […]
• A false quotation circulated by Christians?
  Curious Presbyterian falls into what seems to be a pot-hole: Janie B. Cheaney asks out loud what a lot of us have quietly thought: Why are Atheists So Mean? Seen on Answerblog.com: “How do atheists express their love for the rest of humanity?” Answer: “You don’t need religion to express love, you complete idiot.  Why […]
• More Origen Update
  Further to my post earlier today, the 7th homily of Origen on Ezekiel is now done, complete.  That was a very quick turnaround, thankfully.  We should have about an hour’s worth of formatting on homilies 8-14, and then an unspecified (but hopefully short!) period of checking the Latin text of 8-14 for typos.  I, for […]
• A 1918 list of English translations from ancient Greek
  This evening I ran across F. M. K. Foster’s English translations from the Greek: a bibliographical survey, Columbia, 1918 (Google books here).  A book of this date ought to be of great interest, in that all the translations listed will be public domain in the USA.  There’s even a good chance that they will be […]
• Origen update
  There’s not that much more to do on the Origen on Ezekiel book, and the translator has been in touch.  Homily 7 needs revision, which is the next priority.  After that, there’s some formatting changes to homilies 8-14, which is a couple of hours work, plus removing the Greek fragments from the footnotes (as these are […]
• From my diary
  I’ve been trying to do a little scanning today, but not getting very far.  I have a copy of Michael Bourdeaux’s Patriarch and Prophets : Persecution of the Russian Orthodox Church (1968) here to do.  Interesting he salutes the courage of the people of Czechoslovakia in the introduction — the “Prague Spring” had just been […]
• The forum of Nerva
  One of the images in Du Perac’s 1575 collection of sketches of Rome is of the forum of Nerva.  Here’s what he saw: The Temple of Minerva is at the front left. From the Murray guidebook of 1843, p.271, I learn that Paul V (Borghese) took down an entablature and pediment in the Forum of […]
• Looking back, looking forward
  So, farewell, 2011.  We’re all another year older, if not richer.  And welcome, 2012.  These are the days of our life, running through the hourglass, never to be seen again.  Let us use them wisely. Looking back, what did 2011 mean to me?  In no particular order, here are some memories. It was the year […]
• The threat of copyright claims to the web
  An article in the Daily Mail today makes grim reading for every website author, if you pay attention and ignore the “eBook” angle: eBook pirates cash in on Kindle sales boom as thousands turn to rogue sites for cheap downloads … there are fears that their profits could be hit by a the sheer number […]
• An 1843 guidebook to Italy, Rome and the Papal states
  Quite by accident I have stumbled across an old guide-book on Google books.  It was published in 1843 by John Murray, and is full of interesting details on how to travel in these now vanished lands.  On page 8 there are details of arrangements for carriage travel, and then something on inns, concluding with some […]
• Michael Bourdeaux: Religious Ferment in Russia (1968) now online
  By permission of the author (who is also the copyright holder), I have created a PDF of Michael Bourdeaux’s book, Religious Ferment in Russia: Protestant opposition to Soviet Policy, Macmillan, 1968.  It joins the other three books from the founder of Keston College.  These are all  here: http://www.tertullian.org/rpearse/keston/index.htm I have also made sure that the […]
• The arch of Constantine, the meta sudans, and the arch of Titus in 1575
  I suppose all of us have stood next to the colosseum and looked up the slope towards the arch of Titus, at the entrance to the forum.  Du Perac, in 1575, did the same.  His illustration of the scene shows the arch of Constantine to the left, as it still is (the colosseum is immediately […]
• From my diary
  I’ve done some more editorial work on the Origen book today, and I’ve sent the book — which is really starting to assume a book-like form now — to the translator for his input.  I’ve been staring at the pages for the best part of the last three days, and I think I’ll award myself […]
• Coptic-Arabic gospel catena also known in Ge`ez?
  This evening I found the following snippet in Google Books, given as in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, 1989, p.380: … Ethiopia’s access to foreign commentaries (including that of Iso’dad of Merv and the other Syrian scholars) is through the Geez version of Ibn at-Taiyib’s exegetica and the Geez adaptation of Coptic-Arabic Catena…. […]
• Origen project update
  The project to translate Origen’s exegetical works on Ezekiel has been dormant for so long than many readers will not remember it.  But again the idea is to commission a translation of these things, print them in book form with facing text, sell enough copies to recoup the cost of translation etc, and, once that […]
• Anyone know where I can get an electronic Greek text of the LXX for Ezekiel?
  There must be one, surely? I don’t know what the critical Greek text is, but that’s the one that I would prefer. Any help gratefully received!
• From my diary
  I’ve written a new beginning to the introduction to the Greek fragments of Origen’s works on Ezekiel.  The existing introduction is full of good stuff, but starts off a couple of rungs above the ground level!  It was tricky to do, as well.  My first effort didn’t work, and I had to try again before […]
• Searching for Lommatzsch
  I’m going through the Greek fragments of Origen’s works on Ezekiel at the moment.  The first thing I need to do is to get straight in my head just where all of them come from.  The translator has done a marvellous job of assembling material, but I got very confused from the emails, both at […]
• From my diary
  Some days, nothing works.  Anything we attempt only gets us bogged down. What we do then, however, depends on us.  I usually keep hammering away, getting more and more frazzled in the process.  By the time I’ve got past the obstacles — and, being a determined soul, I usually do — I’m too frazzled to care about […]
• Origen project update
  The translator sent me a bunch of Greek fragments with translation of the Homilies on Ezekiel today.  That was very nice to receive. I’ve been gathering the latest version of the files together, and adding a key on the front of the file name so they sort in the order that they will appear in the […]
• From my diary
  Lots of excitement on the Methodius manuscripts this morning — Adrian Tanasescu-Vlas has been through the STSL Ms. 40 and identified the works on Methodius in it.  I’ll do some more on this after lunch.  He confirms that De lepra is in there, which means that it is now possible to get someone who knows […]
• The return of “Roman Piso”!
  Cranks come, and cranks go.  If you’re around online long enough, you’re bound to see a few.  The turnover is probably for the best, in a way.  The nutters with online longevity seem to get nastier and nastier over time.  It’s probably the brooding, I imagine: however stupid other people are, sitting and concentrating on the defects of […]
• Russian State Library Methodius mss
  Well, I’ve now managed to create two PDF’s of page images of  the Old Slavic manuscripts of Methodius, one of ms. 40 and one of ms. 41.  The contents of the two mss are different, tho.  The PDF’s are really too large to use. I wonder if there is a catalogue around anywhere, that would […]
• An amusing critique of Wikipedia and the people who run it
  Quite by accident I found myself looking at this page (not safe for work), which calls itself “Encyclopedia Dramatica”.  It has some pithy (and very rude) things to say about Wikipedia.  The format would tend to make most of us dismiss it, but much of it is at least half true, and will bring a smile […]
• Google translate, on the Slavonic manuscripts of the Russian State Library
  I’m having some fun using Google translate to allow me to browse the online Slavonic manuscripts of the Russian State Library.  Occasionally the results are comic: “Number 140. The Psalter of St. sensible” made me smile, although it is combined with a text by Athanasius. The manuscripts are those of the Moscow Theological Seminary, the […]
• Manuscripts of the Old Slavonic Methodius online!
  A commenter has discovered two manuscripts of the Old Slavonic Methodius online!  The manuscripts used by Michael Chub, when he edited some of the works, are apparently accessible: Some good news. I found the scans of two Old Slavic manuscripts used by Archbishop Mikhail. See http://www.stsl.ru/manuscripts/index.php?col=5&gotomanuscript=040, the first two manuscripts (40 and 41) from the […]
• More on the Origen status
  Well, I’ve spent a couple of hours so far sifting through the Origen project materials.  It’s still very hard to work out what is where.  The Greek fragments are certainly in something of a mess, and I need to understand better what is involved and included.  The problem is that I lost understanding somewhere along […]
• Origen update
  A couple of years ago I commissioned a translation of Origen’s Homilies on Ezekiel.  This ground away between 2009-2010, and then stopped.  The fault, in truth, was mine, in that I diverted the translator onto Philip of Side, or so the emails show.  The problem now is to work out what was, and was not […]
• Michael Bourdeaux, Gorbachev, Glasnost & the Gospel (1990) now online
  I’ve just uploaded (by permission) the third of Michael Bourdeaux’s books here.  Written in 1990 it records many of the changes brought to the Russian church by perestroika and glasnost, but not the final break-up of the USSR. It’s sobering to think that much of what happened here has been erased from history, in that the […]
• Abbyy Finereader 11 – a dog indeed?
  I’ve scanned and uploaded two books by Michael Bourdeaux here.  The Faith on Trial in Russia volume in particular is important reading for the persecution of the Russian baptists in the USSR. I’ve been working on Gorbachev, Glasnost & The Gospel, one of the late Keston volumes.  I scanned the pages using Finereader 8 — […]
• Michael Bordeaux, Faith on Trial in Russia
  Back in the summer I noticed that there was very little material online about the Soviet persecution of the Christians.  This saddened me, since it was something that should not be forgotten. Keston College, which sought to publicize the situation in the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s, has disbanded but the Keston Institute still exists.  I […]
• Blogging about the Fathers is like seeing airships over Jerusalem
  Oops: The site explains: Two lengthy flights to the Middle East were conducted by the Graf Zeppelin in 1929 and 1931.  The ship’s flight over Jerusalem in 1929 took place at night, and no pictures of the ship were taken.  But the flight in 1931, in daylight, was photographed by the American Colony photographers and […]
• Bodleian to relocate books “to Antarctica”
  Yes, it’s true!  The Bodleian library, which receives all books in the UK for free from publishers, has moved all of its books to a large storage facility on a small island off Antarctica! The Bodleian Libraries are 40 libraries serving Oxford University, including the Bodleian Library founded in 1602. They are entitled to a copy of every […]
• From my diary
  Tomorrow is Christmas day.  But it is also Sunday and so, of course, I shall not be using my computer.  Allow me to wish all my readers a Merry Christmas today, therefore. I’ve just been pottering around today. It’s also the season to think about trips.  For a couple of years I have felt that I […]
• More (very small) images of the Septizonium
  Another website caught my eye yesterday, while I was surfing around looking for old maps and depictions of Rome.  This one consisted of a lot of images of the Palatine hill in Rome.  I am, in truth, not that sure what I am looking at; is this, perhaps, material from a book? The images themselves […]
• A cork model of the arch of Titus in Rome
  A delightful illustrated article here about reconstructing the appearance of ancient Rome.  One item in it caught my eye: The article adds: Among the most useful visual resources for studying the ancient city are the  physical models which, since the eighteenth century, architects started to  provide to help scholars and students better understand the ancient […]
• Russian translation of Methodius now online
  Some time back I discovered that a Russian translation existed of the works of Methodius of Olympus (d.311 AD).  This is significant, since most of the works of Methodius known today have survived only in Old Slavic, or Old Russian. The translation was made by Evgraf Loviagin, and the 2nd edition appeared in St. Petersburg […]
• Lanciani’s Forma Urbis Romae
  For some years I have been aware that a detailed modern map of ancient Rome existed, with the modern street layout superimposed on it.  Bits of it cropped up in this publication or that, but never referenced.  Quite by accident this evening I found out what it was — Rudolpho Lanciani’s Forma Urbis Romae, a […]
• Galen on Jews and Christians
  The Roman medical writer Galen (d. 199 AD) refers to Jewish or Christian ideas in six places in his works. Some of the works of Galen involved no longer exist in Greek, and the Arabic translation has to be used.  In some cases the Arabic translation also has perished — although we know from Hunayn […]
• Should we expect a translation when a scholar prints a previously unpublished text?
  At the Hill Monastic Manuscript Library, cataloguer Adam McCollum has written an interesting article on whether scholars publishing newly discovered ancient texts should be obliged to translate them as well. (H/t Paleojudaica) … the optimum scenario is to have texts and editions. No question: that way, those closely involved with the language and literature and […]
• ZDMG online?
  I have just discovered what looks like all the issues of the Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft online, for free, up to 2005, here: http://menadoc.bibliothek.uni-halle.de/dmg/periodical/structure/2327 It includes indexes, supplements and all. You can’t download whole volumes, but you can download the individual articles you want.  The scans are greyscale, and good quality. This journal is very […]
• From my diary
  The Roman medical writer Galen (ca. 190) mentions Jews and Christians in 6 places in his works.  This afternoon I have been trying to compose a sensible web page on these passages. The passages were collected (more or less) by R. Walzer in his monograph, Galen on Jews and Christians (Oxford, 1949).  But the book […]
• Du Perac’s 1575 picture of the ruins of the Septizodium
  I’ve posted before about the Septizodium (or Septizonium), an immense facade which ran across the front of the Palatine hill in Rome, in order to form a gateway for visitors coming up the Appian Way.  It’s all gone now, but parts of it still existed in Renaissance Rome, before being demolished for use as building materials. […]
• More images of the temple of the sun in Rome
  This collection of old photos includes this 1850 image of some large slabs of masonry from the temple in the Giardini Colonna: On this site I find another drawing: “Il Tempio del Sole e il Palazzo del Quirinale, 1616.” by Aloisio Giovannoli: Sadly the image is too small for me to even read the writing […]
• Another image of the ruins of the Temple of Sol Invictus
  I was surfing around, trying to locate the “Colonna gardens” or “Giardino Colonna” when I stumbled across this site, and quickly found myself looking at yet another old engraving of the ruins of the temple.  But this page is actually dedicated to the monument, and includes photos of ancient brickwork from the area. The towers […]
• David Ulansey to bring out new book on Mithras?
  A little while ago I read and reviewed David Ulansey’s well-known  book on the Origins of the Mithraic Mysteries.  The book has remained in print for many years now. On his website, there is an interesting announcement: I am also currently finishing a new book for Oxford called The Other Christ: The Mysteries of Mithras […]
• More on Aurelian’s temple of the sun
  A commenter added some very useful links to my last post on this.  The following is another drawing (from here) of the ruins of the temple of Sol Invictus, as they were before 1704, in a drawing by Jan Goeree.  The top bit is uninteresting, but the portrait at the bottom is another matter. The same commenter […]
• Ibn Abi Usaibia, “History of Physicians” now online
  I have finally completed the transcription of the 1954 English translation by Lothar Kopf of Ibn Abi Usaibia, History of Physicians.  It may be found here. I have divided the file into three sections, chapters 1-5, 6-10 and 11-15 respectively.  I have also written an introduction. All this material is public domain — use it […]
• Hunting for Ibn Abi Usaibia in Brockelmann
  I want to know some details about an Arabic writer.  I look in Brockelmann’s Geschichte der arabischen Literatur, right? It’s not very easy.  My first port of call was the index.  But this is in a strange order, and also heavily abbreviated.  After a lot of effort, I gave up. My next thought was to […]
• Atheists in Santa Monica hijack nativity displays
  Atheists often complain that they are not a popular group, that they are misrepresented and so forth.  In Santa Monica they’ve managed to give a whole city a reason to hate their guts.  (h/t Mark Steyn).  This from the Daily Telegraph: For more than six decades, religious groups have recreated life-size scenes   depicting the birth of […]
• Ibn Abi Usaibia update
  A day of misery.  I hate footnotes.  Particularly those which are positioned in some other place than the foot of each page of text.  If the notes were just a little less useful, and the work that I am scanning was accessible in any other way, then I probably wouldn’t bother. UPDATE: 259 footnotes so far.  […]
• From my diary
  A busy day working over the html files for Ibn Abi Usaibia.  25 of the 26 are now done.  26 contains the footnotes on the first 100 pages, added by someone else.  I need to consider how to present these.  I also need to join the first 25 files together and do some global changes.  […]
• Blogger considering legal action
  Still more on the curious case of blogger Tallbloke, who was raided by the police who seized his computers, about which I posted here.  Tallbloke has sought some legal advice, and is being advised that a goodly quantity of legally punishable wrongdoings may have been committed by the police and others.  Wattsupwiththat blog posts a legal opinion by […]
• A 1629 picture of the ruins of Aurelian’s temple of the sun
  Judith Weingarten has written a post on Whose Christmas is it anyway? at her blog, which is solid stuff, and kindly mentions me.  But I got very excited when I read it!  Because of this: a picture of the ruins of the temple of Sol Invictus in Rome, from 1629: The image is from the […]
• A letter of Jerome to Eustochia, on the fall of Rome
  I happened to come across the French translation of letters of Jerome online here — the menu on the left hand side divides them by date into several pages — and was struck by one, written in 410, to Eustochia, which mentions the fall of Rome and noble Romans turning up at Bethlehem who have lost everything. […]
• Academic papers want to be free
  An interesting article at the David Colquhoun blog, Open access, peer review, grants and other academic conundrums.  It’s a report of a debate on open data held on December 6th by Index on Censorship. People are obviously influenced by the release of the ClimateGate 2 emails, but if we look beyond this, the points being […]
• From my diary
  I’m still working on Ibn Abi Usaibia.  Yesterday I started going through the .htm files exported from Abbyy Finereader, to rejoin paragraphs and add in page numbers.  I’ve so far found two pages which are out of order in the manuscript — the numerals at the bottom in pencil were clearly added after the pages […]
• More on the raid on a blogger
  Further to the story earlier about a blogger’s computers being seized by Norfolk police on what seemed very dubious grounds, the victim is a blogger named “TallBloke”, who records events on the day here. Fortunately his sense of humour was not damaged in the raid…
• Converting a page photograph into black and white
  The typescript of Ibn Abi Usaibia reached  me in the form of digital photos of the pages.  These were evidently taken under fluorescent light, since the images are huge, green, and weirdly coloured.  They’re so large, in fact, that they are hard to manipulate. But I needed something a bit more normal.  So I was […]
• Ibn Abi Usaibia update
  I’ve got 26 .htm files now, which contain the output from the OCR process.  My task now is to go through each, rejoin separated lines, make sure that paragraphs appear at the right places, and add page numbers.  I’ve done the first two — some 60 pages.   It will be slow.
• “A leak?! Arrest those who found out what we’re doing!”
  Curious news today, that the British police have been seizing laptops and routers from a blogger, and requesting police action in two other countries as well.  This pretty clearly violates the principle of freedom of speech online, I think. The context of all this is the “Climategate” emails.  The climate research centre at the University […]
• From my diary
  Last night I completed the arduous task of manually correcting all the OCR’d pages of Ibn Abi Usaibia.  Not that it is perfect even now — optically correcting is an error-prone business. Today I moved on to the next step — getting the text out of Abbyy Finereader 10, and into some format that can […]
• Fleshpots of Egypt to be closed down as un-Islamic?
  Interesting article in al-Ahram on 13/12/2011: Salafist party vows to ban alcohol, beach tourism in Egypt Unlike Muslim Brotherhood, Nour Party promises blanket-ban on alcohol and beach tourism in event it takes power following polls. The Salafist Nour Party would enforce a ban on serving alcohol to foreigner nationals and Egyptian citizens alike if it came […]
• I wish I were a German
  Well, maybe I don’t. But I’m still OCR’ing the annotations to Ibn Abi Usaibia — page 32 of the 62.  Those annotations mention translations of various Arabic works.  And, you guessed it, they were translated into German. In fact they were translated into German yonks ago.   Back in the 19th century, to be specific.  Just […]
• Another go at Severian of Gabala’s “De Pace”?
  An email reached me today offering the chance to commission a translation of something from ancient or patristic Greek.  My mind was rather a blank — or I might have suggested letters of Isidore of Pelusium, or perhaps of John Chrysostom — and all I could think of was the sermon preached by Severian of Gabala after his […]
• The notes to Lothar Kopf’s translation of Ibn Abi Usaibia
  I’ve completed the OCR of a dozen pages of the notes.  It is becoming clear to me that the notes are not by the translator, Lothar Kopf. There has always been rather a mystery about the history of the typescript manuscript of the translation.  It was completed in 1956 by Lothar Kopf, as it says […]
• John the Lydian: December
  Mischa Hooker has kindly translated for us all the section on December from John the Lydian, De Mensibus, book 4. The hand-written copy which alone preserves this work is, unfortunately, badly damaged in this section, leading to various restorations and gaps. ——– [169] 153. December was so named as being itself the tenth [month] from March. […]
• On the right use of the Fathers 1
  In the summer I witnessed a scene at the Oxford Patristics Conference, at a session for evangelicals, of some confusion of mind about just how Christians today should make use of the Fathers.  At the time I said that I thought someone needed to write something about this.  I thought that I would start to think about […]
• Ibn Abi Usaibia update
  I’ve just finished proofing the OCR for page 900.  I think there is only another 50 pages to go.  There may be some pages of footnotes after that, but not very many. UPDATE: Page 946 complete, which is the end of the main text, although it ends suddenly and without any colophon which makes me […]
• An amusing OCR error
  While working through the output of my scan of Ibn Abi Usaibia, I have just come across a mildly amusing OCR error.  It’s caused by the fact that “ī” is often read as “f” or “r”. Thus I have just seen a reference to “Ibn Barrf‘s defence of al-Harfrf”.  It should, of course, be “Ibn Barrī’s defence […]
• From my diary
  Up to page 840 with correcting the OCR of Ibn Abi Usaibia. I also got my Christmas cards done and posted today, complete with financial enclosures for teenage nephews.  The latter is important — an uncle is not expected to send goodies, but to relieve the financial strain. It took me three goes before I […]
• Romanian patristics sites
  A correspondent has drawn my attention to a couple of sites with Romanian translations of the Fathers on them: As for [patristic literature in] Rumanian (i.e. translations from Fathers) I might estimate that there are some 50-60 volumes of PG authors and 5-10 PL authors translated, from 1700 up to our own days. There are also […]
• From my diary
  Reached page 800 of Ibn Abi Usaibia today.  Only another 150 to  go!  I shall be glad when this load is off my shoulders, that’s for sure.
• Access to the CIMRM – hurray!
  Thanks to the kindness of a correspondent, it looks as if I am going to acquire access to Vermaseren’s collection of Mithraic monuments, the two volume CIMRM!  I am very pleased, as you may imagine!
• A new device for photographing manuscripts?
  A correspondent writes with an interesting query about a novel book cradle for copying manuscripts. Most used are the copy stands, and I found an Austrian system called “Traveller’s copy stand”. But last year I saw in Athos someone using a portable device with 2 glass windows and a system allowing the camera to change position for […]
• From my diary
  A major, major answer to prayer came through today.  It was something that affects my ability to get work, so it could make quite a difference to the Pearse household finances over the next few months.   The diet coke will flow tonight! When my mobile rang with the news, I was walking on a path through […]
• Less of a YODEL, more of a scream
  I do wish Amazon wouldn’t use courier company YODEL to deliver books.  I ordered two on Wednesday.  Neither arrived; instead I came home today to find a snippy little card inviting me to negotiate with a robot at the YODEL site for delivery, and sit at home and wait.  I’ve just cancelled both orders, and placed […]
• Looking for the dragon standard
  It’s funny how ideas persist. A mention of the word “Dracula” led me to think of the historical Rumanian noble who adopted the title, which means “little dragon”, and is the diminutive of the Latin “draco” or “dragon”.  He did so,* because the “draco” was the standard of the late Roman armies, and so it was a symbol […]
• From my diary
  A busy day.  Up early, and an email brings an enquiry as  to whether the cult of Mithras may have arisen in Commagene — we have no evidence for this –, and invoking the name of Roger Beck.  This obliges me to read Beck’s paper, and write a reply, and then I am disturbed by […]
• Ulansey’s “Origins of the Mithraic mysteries” – reviewed
  I have now finished my book review of David Ulansey’s much read book.  It is here. Ulansey’s ideas are interesting, but ultimately quite improbable.  His star-map stuff just does not work.  The tauroctony is a star-map of the sky as it was in 2,000 BC?  I don’t think so, somehow. I don’t see anything that […]
• Rage and fury
  It’s all very well having the cloud as your editor.  But what happens when it all stops working, bit by bit? I’ve been writing a review of David Ulansey’s Origins of the Mithraic Mysteries this afternoon.  I’d done two chapters of it.  I’d chosen to use WordPress to edit the article, here in this blog. […]
• Methodius, De Lepra – opening portion now online in English
  Regular readers will remember that I commissioned an English translation of the German version by Bonwetsch of Methodius’ De Lepra (On leprosy).  I did so, because the work is preserved in an Old Slavonic text, which has never been published, plus Greek fragments.  The GCS series published a German translation by Bonwetsch of the Old Slavonic, […]
• Not quite Tennyson
  In the Winter 2011 edition of Evergreen magazine, p.125, there appeared a poem which struck a chord with me. End of the Day Is anyone happier because you passed this way? Does anyone remember that you spoke to them today? The day is almost over, and its toiling time is through, Is there anyone to utter […]
• Mithras in the papyri
  Few people can be aware that the papyrus discoveries of the last century have included references to Mithras.  I do not refer here to the use of the name of Mithras in the Greek Magical Papyri, in PGM IV, where one of the incantations was even given the name of the Mithras Liturgy by its […]
• Eusebius book update
  The sales figures for last month through Amazon for Eusebius of Caesarea, Gospel Problems and Solutions, have just arrived.  Sales continue fairly level, with no evident sign of diminishing, which is good news. The total sold through Amazon so far, since June, is 55 copies.  That includes both hard back and paper back copies, but […]
• Google or Bing? A surprising answer
  From time to time I do the unthinkable.  Yes, I go into Google and search for “roger pearse”. I’ve done this perhaps once or twice a year for many years, and I did it this evening.  I must say that I was rather surprised by what I found. Because the content in Google was rubbish.  […]
• Reading Ulansey’s “Origins of the Mithraic Mysteries”
  I got David Ulansey’s book on the Origins of the Mithraic Mysteries from the library this morning, and I’m reading through it.  I’ll probably do a review once I’ve read the whole thing, but here’s some thoughts so far.   This is the first time that I have really sat down with it and tried to […]
• Images of Perseus with a phrygian hat
  Reading David Ulansey’s Origins of the Mithraic Mysteries, I was struck by the following statement on p.26: However, in two of the earliest surviving pictures of the constellation Perseus — the Salzburg Plaque and Codex Vossianus Leidensis 79 — Perseus is shown wearing a Phrygian cap, demonstrating that this was a frequent attribute of Perseus the […]
• The translation of Methodius crashes and burns
  Sometimes it just doesn’t work.  This morning I started looking through the translation of the German version of Methodius, De lepra, as given by Bonwetsch from the Old Slavonic.  The translation into English — for which I am paying commercially — just didn’t work.  The translator did not have the feel for ecclesiastical works, and […]
• Ulansey on the origins of the Mithraic mysteries
  Into town bright and early, in the hope of avoiding the crowds of shoppers, and to the library to pick up David Ulansey’s Origins of the Mithraic Mysteries (1989).  Slightly nervous in case there is a later edition.  The library charged me 5.40 GBP (about $8) for the use of it for 3 weeks. I’ve […]
• Vale, the Cyprian Project
  Rod Letchford has written and let me know that he has taken down the Cyprian Project, and allowed its domain name to expire.  This is sad news.  But apparently the number of  visitors was too low for him to carry on.  Various snapshots of the site may be found in the WaybackWhen machine at www.archive.org. […]
• A manuscript collation of Pappus of Alexandria
  Via Ancient World Online I learn of something marvellous from the University of Newcastle in Australia. The Treweek Pappus Manuscript We are proud to provide researchers with an online copy of Emeritus Professor Athanasius (Ath) P. Treweek’s manuscript transcription and restoration of the Collection of Pappus of Alexandria (Vaticanus Graecus 218) A6617 (v) a-e [Original […]
• Writing your own “Atheist manual and cookbook”
  Via the eChurch blog I learn that secularist scholar R. J. Hoffmann is getting a little fed up with some of his atheist co-religionists.  In this post he outlines the tactics the latter employ. The Sure-Fire Atheist Rapid Response Manual When I wrote Atheism’s Little Idea I said atheists were small. But (and this is embarrassing […]
• From my diary
  A reader kindly purchased a CD of my collection of the Fathers in English (available here).  Since this collections is something that I work on continuously, I don’t keep a stock.  So the order meant that I had to produce one. I spent most of the morning trying to do so, and having baffling difficulties.  This was […]
• Known colloquially as “Biff” or “Sunny”
  In Ibn Abi Usaibia, one Egyptian practitioner is introduced as follows: Al-Shaikh al-Sadīd ibn Abī ‘l-Bayān. Sadīd al-Dīn Abū ‘l-Fadl Dā`ud ibn Abī ‘l-Bayan Sulaimān ibn Abī ‘l-Faraj Isrā`īl ibn Abī ‘l-Tayyib Sulaimān ibn Mubārak, was a Karaite Israelite. Cough, yes, well, say no more. Apparently — judging from a comment a bit further on […]
• Mithras: how scholarship really should be done
  John R. Hinnells begins his paper on Cautes and Cautopates by articulating precisely what he is going to do and how he is going to do it.   It’s a massive step forward from the random theorising of the Cumont era. Instead of starting with a mess of factoids and assembling them into a theory, Hinnells […]
• The perils of marrying an ignorant woman (however hot)
  Ibn Abi Usaibia tells the story of an Egyptian physician and scholar, who evidently married a woman of no education, as some scholars have been led to do, down the centuries.  The consequences of this particular mistake have been pleasantly depicted by no less a hand than Jane Austen, in Pride and Prejudice.  Here is what Ibn […]
• From my diary
  In to town, to hand back Vermaseren’s Mithras: the secret god.  No sign yet of two British Library loans of other Mithras books.  I was relieved to discover that the local library was open, as I had feared that it might not be — there is a public sector workers strike today. I am still […]
• Not quite what they had in mind
  On a visit to the Cranmer blog this evening, I was confronted with a confusing piece of advertising: Now what does “Passionate about Ajax?” convey to your mind? Is it this? Or even this? I fear that the IT recruitment company responsible might get some strange replies ….
• Something to dip into
  A few days ago I came across a bargain online.  It was a copy of Michael Grant’s “Greek and Latin Authors: 800 B.C.-A.D.1000”, which, including postage, came to a princely $6.  It arrived this morning, a big heavy book, ex-library. I had rather hoped, from the title, that authors would be listed in chronological order, […]
• Should we update Quasten?
  In my last post I mentioned how Quasten’s Patrology is becoming rather out of date.  For me, the most annoying thing is that I find myself looking at works thinking “that would be interesting to translate”, only to find that translations have come along since he wrote. Looking at Amazon I discover that it is […]
• Chrysostom’s “Quod Christus Sit Deus”
  Yesterday’s post on Chrysostom and the Jews led to some interesting questions about his other work, Against the Jews and Pagans that Christ is God.  These I have pursued in the comments thread. A look at Quasten’s Patrology says that the work is untranslated; but Quasten was getting tired by the time he did volume 3, […]
• Chrysostom and the Jews uploaded
  An email from a correspondent revealed to me that the anonymous translation of John Chrysostom’s Eight homilies against the Jews was no longer accessible at the Fordham University site.  This is a nuisance.  What to do? Back in 1998 Paul Halsall created the Medieval Sourcebook site there.  He included this translation which he found online on […]
• Chub’s preface to Methodius now online
  I’ve been translating from Russian the preface to a group of works by Methodius, as I mentioned here.  It’s no work of scholarship, but the end product, from some Google Translate and the kind help of Maureen in the comments, is now online here: http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/methodius_preface_chub.htm It’s public domain as usual: do whatever you wish with […]
• Ve haf vays of meking you translate … not you Google, sit down!
  Michael Gilleland has been trying out German on Google Translate, with mixed results. I used to tell students, “This passage makes sense in Latin, and your English translation has to make sense, too. It isn’t nonsense in Latin, and it can’t be nonsense in English.” Google Translate’s version of Wilamowitz’s German seems to fail the […]
• Translating the Russian preface to the works of Methodius
  This evening I sat down with the text of Michael Chub’s preface to his edition of a selection of the works of Methodius..  I took the output from Google Translate, and went through it, smoothing and amending. I got a very long way!  It’s about 3,400 words, and nearly all of it fell into English […]
• Get arrested for what you say on Twitter
  In the UK, the crackdown on political dissenters online is getting into high gear.  I don’t know how much is going on, but I see ever more reports, and I certainly don’t go looking for them.  But it seems clear that people are routinely being denounced to the police for what they say online.  The […]
• The text tradition of the Greek artillery manuals
  Few of us know much about the technical treatises of antiquity.  My last post, on Hero of Alexandria, inevitably mentioned his two works of this kind.  When I went to look at the volume in which a translation exists, I was drawn into the question of how these works reach us. As long ago as […]
• Translations of the works of Hero of Alexandria
  The appearance of a manuscript of works by the ancient engineer, Hero of Alexandria (ca. 62 AD) online at the British Library led me to look online for an English translation for his Automata.  I had no luck, but I thought that some notes on what he wrote and how we got it might be useful. […]
• From my diary
  A dull Saturday morning, and I went into town and visited the local library, in search of my book order from Tuesday.  On entering my ears were assailed with music, from some device stationed on the enquiries desk, and there were stalls filling the main library area.  Apparently the library had been turned into a tatty-looking craft […]
• Suffolk libraries and political thuggery
  Thuggery online is a problem for the ordinary blogger.  Many of us have had to close our comments, or else ignore whatever is in them, or both.  Too often our peace of mind is at the mercy of the online equivalent of a lynching, and the ordinary victim may not even be that sure as […]
• Reading Methodius in Russian
  Today I got hold of photocopies of the pages of Bogoslovskie Trudy that contained materials from the Old Slavonic text of Methodius of Olympus (died 311 AD).  I don’t know any Russian, but my theory was that I ought to be able to work with them anyway, thanks to Google translate. My first task was […]
• From my diary
  The sun shone today, so I drove up to Cambridge University Library. My first objective was the articles by archbishop Michael Chub in Bogoslovskie Trudy, which gave versions of the Slavonic text of Methodius.  The articles appear in issue 2 (1961) and 3 (1964). I don’t know a single letter of Russian, but the journal […]
• Another 75 Greek manuscripts online at the British Library
  The Stavros Niarchos foundation continue to fund the digitisation of Greek manuscripts at the British Library, who in consequence are still shovelling them online.  Thank you both, gentlemen: this is good news.  Long may it continue! A new tranche of 75 was released today, bringing the total to 500.  Fortunately the library staff have started […]
• When libraries forget their mission
  Into town this morning, and into Suffolk Central Library in Ipswich.  My purpose?  To enquire as to the whereabouts of the copy of Vermaseren’s Mithras: the secret god.  A copy lives 40 miles away in the county reserve in Lowestoft, and I ordered it online on Tuesday.  Yet here we are on Thursday, and it has […]
• From my diary
  I’m still proofing the OCR of the English translation of Ibn Abi Usaibia, and reached p.639 last night. The translation of Methodius De lepra is creeping forward.  I prompted the translator last night, and another couple of (short) pages arrived this morning, and I have just annotated them and sent them back.  These pages from […]
• C. S. Lewis died today
  N. S. Gill points out that today, 48 years ago, on Friday 22nd November, C. S. Lewis died at the age of 65. I do not know what can be said about C. S. Lewis that has not been said many times before.  As with most Christians of my generation, my bookshelves are studded with his books.  […]
• Notes from the preface to the 3rd edition (1913) of Cumont’s “The mysteries of Mithras”
  Until this evening I was not aware that Cumont’s The mysteries of Mithras existed in a 3rd French edition, published 10 years after the English translation of the 2nd edition.  But it may be found on Archive.org, and the note to the 3rd edition on p.xiii contains a couple of interesting remarks. In response to […]
• Canada to repeal thought-crime law?
  Regular readers will be aware that I post, from time to time, on threats to freedom of speech online.  Over the last few years there has been a definite trend towards censorship in the west.  While incitement to violence has always been an offence, and quite properly too, a new series of offences have been […]
• Finding Cumont’s “Textes et Monuments” online
  I’ve been looking at another story about Mithras originating with Franz Cumont.  In the process, I find that the PDF’s I have of his master-work, Textes et monuments figurés relatifs aux mystères de Mithra, 2 vols, 1899- are not that good where the pictures are concerned. A Google Books search reveals nothing.  But I suspect this is […]
• How do we know that Mithras’ sidekicks were called “Cautes” and “Cautopates”?
  Every temple of Mithras had a bas-relief at one end depicting Mithras killing the bull.  On either side stand two figures carrying torches, one with the flame pointing up, the other with it pointing down.  Every textbook refers to these as “Cautes” and “Cautopates”, although no literary text mentions either. So how do we know […]
• An inscription dedicated to “Sol Serapis”
  You can learn quite a lot from looking at non-English versions of Wikipedia. For instance the German Mithras article is quite a bit superior to the English one in several respects, handling the Mithra-Mithras dichotomy well.  It lacks the heavy referencing that I added to the English one; but since all that work did not save the article from […]
• London Mithraeum to be reconstructed on original site
  A truly interesting article at Past Horizons: Temple of Mithras to be restored to its original location. Plans to dismantle and move the  reconstructed Roman Temple of Mithras to temporary storage, ahead of a more  faithful reconstruction, will begin on the 21 November 2011 by Museum of London Archaeology. The temple, which is located at […]
• Still plodding on with Ibn Abi Usaibia
  The process of OCR’ing Ibn Abi Usaibia’s History of Physicians is continuing, and the proofing has reached page 600.  This is something of a milestone, in that this leaves only one more “chunk” — the portion from 601-946, which the translators thought of as “book 4” (although they did not divide the first 600 pages into […]
• The lost preface to Suetonius’ “Lives of the 12 Caesars”
  Many will remember the BBC series I, Claudius, which was based on Robert Graves novel of the same name.  The series drew heavily on his translation of the Vita Caesarum of Suetonius Tranquillus.  This was composed under Hadrian in the early 2nd century and published in 120 AD. Suetonius covered the lives of twelve Caesars, from […]
• Methodius in Russian to go online
  As I remarked a while back, the works of Methodius were published in Russian  by Evgraf I. Loviagin (d. 1909).  The second edition appeared in 1905, and although very rare, a copy does exist at the University of Chicago.  So I wrote to them and asked for a copy, but heard nothing. Today I’ve had […]
• Where do we find a primer on Christian history?
  An email, evidently from someone fairly young, reached me today. I don’t find many who might give me some deeper information about the historic document of the Christian faith. I am interested in learning more about the NT cannonization process.  I understand the Ethiopians, Orthodox, Protestants and Catholics have differences between their Cannons.   Which one […]
• No more typewriters (Greek or otherwise)
  In March this year I asked whether anyone knew where a mechanical typewriter fitted up to produce Greek characters might be found.  As might be expected, the answers suggested that they were few and far between. Today I read in the Daily Mail that the last typewriter factory in the world is to close. Godrej and […]
• Modern scholarship on the origins of Mithras
  A correspondent drew my attention to this interesting statement in a current handbook.  He also added some glosses (in square brackets) to make it generally comprehensible: Cumont’s [late-19th- and early-20th-century] reconstruction suffered a mortal blow at the first conference of Mithraic studies, held in Manchester in 1971 (GORDON, 1975), and has not been revived since.  […]
• From my diary
  Today was taken up with a trip for family reasons.  But I did manage to correct a few more pages of Ibn Abi Usaibia this evening.
• The seven initiations of Mithras in a bronze plaque in Budapest
  In the Budapest National Museum, there is a rather splendid bronze plaque depicting a tauroctony.  Julianna Lees has uploaded to Picasa this photo, which I came across this evening.  (I hope that link works, by the way: for some reason it isn’t at all obvious what the URL is).  She gives the date of the […]
• Problems upgrading from IE8 to IE9 on a Sony Vaio on Windows 7
  For some months I have been using Internet Explorer 8, when I really wanted to upgrade to IE 9.  But I just couldn’t!  When I tried, the installation seemed to work; then my PC would reboot; and then it would come up in black and white, attempting to set “personal settings”, and would just hang. […]
• From my diary
  I’m still chopping away at Ibn Abi Usaibia, and I’m on p.463 now.  <sfx:groan>  I’m almost sure this was less hard work ten years ago.  Of course the OCR software wasn’t as good back then.  Maybe it’s just my imagination.  I shall have some time over the next couple of weeks to make real progress with this, tho — […]
• Problems with Abbyy Finereader 11
  Tonight I realised that I was getting close to the end of one section of Ibn Abi Usaibia, and that the next 350 pages was in sight.  I thought that it might be a good idea to create a Finereader project for those pages, and run the optical character recognition on them, and do a […]
• Ibn Abi Usaibia update
  I may be on holiday this week, but the sky is leaden grey, and has been so for a week, apart from a few hours yesterday.  So I’m working on OCR’ing Ibn Abi Usaibia’s History of Physicians. I’ve reached page 353, where begins the entry on Hunayn ibn Ishaq, the great translator of Greek medical […]
• Methodius update
  I have now agreed terms to translate the Bonwetsch text of Methodius De Lepra.  The work survives in Old Slavonic, plus Greek fragments.  Bonwetsch did not print the Old Slavonic, but a German translation of it, interspersed with untranslated passages of the original Greek.  I would have much preferred to translate the Old Slavonic, but […]
• From my diary
  I’ve spent part of this afternoon working on proofing a fresh chunk of the translation of Ibn Abi Usaibia, History of Physicians.  I’m beginning to find that I need to make global find and replaces in each chunk for the same sorts of things: Abu needs to become Abū, Air to become Alī, Ibrāhfm change […]
• The date of the Mithraeum of San Clemente in Rome
  Someone online told me today that the Mithraeum underneath the church of San Clemente in Rome was first century.  Of course I knew that Mithraic archaeology starts ca. 100, so I wondered what date the Mithraeum really was. The Mithraeum was discovered by an Irish father, Fr. Joseph Mullooly, whose publication Saint Clement (1873) is […]
• From my diary
  Today has been dedicated to life’s little chores.  But there is a little news. Last night I did some more OCR on Ibn Abi Usaibia.  We passed the page 320 mark. I’m still negotiating to translate Methodius, De Lepra from the mixture of German and Greek that Bonwetsch printed in GCS 27.  The price is […]
• ALDL demanding copies they aren’t entitled to?
  A letter arrives today, addressed to my company, Chieftain Publishing, from the “Agency for the Legal Deposit Libraries”.  In the UK there is a duty on publishers to supply a free copy of each of 6 libraries: The British Library, Oxford, Cambridge, National Library of Scotland, ditto of Wales, and Trinity College Dublin.  It is a […]
• From my diary
  I’m continuing to scan the History of physicians by Ibn Abi Usaibia.  I’ve done another 40 pages lately, which takes us up to 288.  But we’re still only about a third of the way through. I’ve had a possible bid at PeoplePerHour.com to translate Methodius De lepra; the first bid was too high, but we’re much […]
• Converting DjVu into PDF
  The volumes of the GCS at the Kaiser Wilhelm Library in Posen in Poland are in .DjVu format, which is rather inconvenient.  So today I have been looking at whether it is possible to convert them to PDF.  I’ve had some success, I must say. I obtained a copy of IrfanView from the web.  You […]
• From my diary
  Thankfully my PC decided that it would boot second time around.  Windows is quite an unstable platform these days, I find. A correspondent writes that there is now OCR software available which can recognise Arabic.  It’s sold by Novodynamics of Michigan and called “Verus”.  Sadly it is ridiculously expensive — $1300 for the “standard edition” and […]
• From my diary
  Some update on Saturday is now preventing my PC from starting (I’m typing this on my backup PC).  Oh joy.  And even the automatic recovery won’t start…
• Eusebius supplementa update
  The Latin preface of De Lagarde’s Coptic gospel catena was translated into English for the project, but not included in the book.  The translation has now been uploaded to the Supplementa page in PDF and Word .doc format.
• Nuance Omnipage 18
  This morning I got hold of Nuance Omnipage 18 standard edition.  The box was very light: mostly air, a CDROM, and a cheeky bit of cheaply printed paper announcing that they included no manuals at all, in order to save the planet.  Humph. The footprint is quite small, and I copied the CDROM to my hard […]
• From my diary
  I’ve been poking around the web, trying to find out how we identify a particular image of a goddess as “Isis”.  No doubt the answer is some examples of an ancient statue with the goddess’ name on the bottom.  But I’ve had no luck so far in finding an example. In the process I came across something […]
• Translating Methodius
  I thought that I would have a go at getting a piece by Methodius into English.  I’ve placed an advertisement on www.peopleperhour.com (not appeared yet, tho).  The Old Slavonic text of Methodius has never been published.  Rather reluctantly, therefore, I think we must work from the German translation of it, which is interspersed with Greek from […]
• John the Lydian — On November
  Mischa Hoooker has sent me a further chunk of John the Lydian, which again is seasonable.  This is the first English translation of John the Lydian, On the Roman Months, (De Mensibus) book 4.  The manuscript is increasingly damaged towards the end of the text, and the translation indicates damage with <> accordingly.  A version of […]
• GCS 27 – Methodius – *is* online!
  Andrew Eastbourne writes to point out that the Bonwetsch edition of Methodius, GCS 27, is actually online at Internet Archive here.  Yet I couldn’t find it this afternoon! This is very, very good news!
• A. C. Swinburne on dealing with trolls and other internet low-lifes
  Quite by accident I stumbled over the following interesting passage, by which we all might profit: The attitude which Swinburne took up and, except for a few spasms of irritation, steadily maintained was one of great dignity.  The best statement of it is not in any surviving correspondence of the time but in a letter […]
• First impressions of Abbyy Finereader 11
  Finereader 11 looks quite a lot like Finereader 10.   So far, it seems very similar.  Once nice touch is that when it is reading a page, a vertical bar travels down the thumbnail. But I have already found an oddity.  I imported into it the project that I am currently working on in Finereader 10 — […]
• More on literary sources for Isis
  I’ve continued to collect ancient literary sources about Isis.  I have a set of working notes (in no particular order) here.  There seems to be a lot of wild talk around about Isis too. Today my objective was to discover the attitude of Augustus to the cult.  I have read unreferenced claims that Augustus described […]
• A list of GCS volumes online
  Ages ago the PLGO group compiled a list of GCS volumes online.  This vanished recently, as I discovered when I went looking for it.  A version still exists in ScribD, but, you know, I don’t find stuff in ScribD that accessible. Rather than go without, I have transcribed the list and placed it on a […]
• OCR: Omnipage and Finereader
  Scanning and OCR is on my mind at the moment.  A new version of Abbyy Finereader — version 11 — is out.  Since I have some 750 pages of Ibn Abi Usaibia to do, any improvement in accuracy is welcome, however slight.  Originally I did my OCR using Omnipage.  It is many years since I was […]
• From my diary
  I’ve been making a bit of progress on Methodius today.  I learned from an academic that no published text of most of the Slavonic Methodius exists.  The manuscripts are 15th century or later, as we already knew; and I suspect that the Russian volumes (from 1877 on) are simply updated versions of these.   A couple […]
• More on Methodius
  My posts on the works of Methodius in Old Slavonic here and here have attracted a wealth of learned comment, for which many thanks. Mikhail Vedeshkin kindly left links to online Russian resources about Methodius. Here you can find a few works of Methodius translated into modern Russian. http://mystudies.narod.ru/name/m/methodius.htm “The feast of 10 virgins or about virginity” […]
• Hunting for publications of Methodius in Old Slavonic and Russian
  The comments to my article yesterday on the Works of Methodius are very useful.  Commenter “Maureen” has tracked down what look very like publications in Russian of some of the smaller works — precisely the ones that I want to get hold of. I’ve never tried to get hold of material in Russian, and of course […]
• More Greek manuscripts online at the British Library
  From the BL manuscripts blog I learn that a further 74 Greek manuscripts have been added to their online site.  The site uses proprietary technology to ensure that users can’t download images — perish the thought! — but is still better than nothing. The blog post gives a list of manuscripts.  Previous lists just gave […]
• The works of Methodius
  Methodius of Olympus is one of those patristic authors who tends to be rather forgotten.  He died in 313 as a martyr, and wrote a reply to Porphyry’s Against the Christians.  There is one recent English study of his works, but even the bibliography in this shows that Methodius has been neglected. One reason for […]
• Isis and Valerius Maximus
  I’ve started to think about sources for Isis.  In particular I was wondering when the cult came to Rome.  I stumbled across a statement that Tiberius repressed the cult, while Caligula built a temple on the Campus Martius.  This led me to this link, by a certain Stephanie Dray, apparently an author of historical fiction […]
• The difficulty of orientation: trying to learn about Isis
  I’ve been thinking about Mithras and Mithra, Roman and Persian.  Some of the comments on my recent post, Why Cumontian Mithras studies are dead, suggested that Roman syncretism could not be left out of account, and that any eastern cult that entered the Roman world was likely to undergo modification.  There is much truth in […]
• A forgotten Coptologist, Arthur des Rivières
  Arthur des Rivières (d. Cairo 1849 ) was an early French Coptologist who copied by hand a number of Coptic texts.  Little seems to be known about him.  His handwritten copies are sometimes all that remains of early papyrus discoveries, where the originals are now lost. He saw the Coptic fragments in the Harris collection […]
• Why Cumontian Mithras studies are dead
  Like most people online, I first encountered references to Mithras in the kind of rather crude atheist polemic that goes, “Jesus is really Mithras! Har har!”.  A correspondent has written to me about this, and it turns out that he has been reading into the scholarly literature as I have.  An interesting paper by a […]
• Eusebius update
  Now that the Eusebius book is ‘live’, and selling reasonably well, the question of errata arises.  That’s right — errors that we didn’t spot during development. There are also things that we should have done and did not.  We could have done with more cross-referencing between the Coptic materials and the rest, for instance. In addition […]
• Easily the most inaccurate statement about Mithras I have ever seen
  Mithras, the subterranean sun, must be the most unfortunate of ancient deities.  There is so much twaddle talked online.  A correspondent today drew my attention to what must easily be the most ignorant statement about him that I have ever seen.  And there is considerable competition for that title, you know!  As usual, it is […]
• From my diary
  I decided that I’d better upgrade the blog software — WordPress — to the latest version.  You worry, if you don’t, about security.  Just done the deed from 2.9, and we’re now on 3.2.1.  I don’t really think the new look and feel is an improvement, in truth, but if you use someone else’s free […]
• From my diary
  I am just plodding along OCR-ing Ibn Abi Usaibia.  I was doing a few pages just now after lunch, and I saw page number 254 at the foot of a page that I had just completed.  So I must be approximately a quarter of the way through.  A long way to go yet, of course. An order for three […]
• As the evenings draw in and the mornings grow frosty…
  Every year, I look forward to a couple of things as the evenings draw in, and the mornings begin with frost in the air. The first of these is that, mysteriously, men appear in the town square on Saturday mornings who sell roast chestnuts. Admittedly in my own town, they don’t bother to get set […]
• From my diary
  Today I sent off 50 copies of the leaflet promoting the Eusebius book to someone who can make use of them at a conference next week.  I also heard from the translator of the Coptic section of the book, who has some suggestions for improvements.  This will probably become a list of errata — although […]
• Ibn Abi Usaibia in French in the Journal Asiatique
  A correspondent has written and let me know that French translations exist of chunks of Ibn Abi Usaibia’s History of Physicians.  They were done by Sanguinetti in the Journal Asiatique, with the chunks starting in 1854.  I’ve seen five bits so far.  The first chunk is here (1854, series 5, tome 3, p.230 f.), and includes […]
• JTS charging far too much?
  From the ABTABL list I learn that the Journal of Theological Studies this year is demanding £277.80 for two issues.  This seems rather excessive.  In consequence smaller libraries are now considering cancelling their subscription. In the pre-internet days, the academic journal was the only sensible means to disseminate research.  Containing a range of articles written […]
• Some notes on blogging
  From time to time all of us who upload content to the web get to wondering what we’re doing and whether it’s worth it.  This happens, even if you don’t have someone spitting insults at you — it’s a normal part of human nature.  This was brought on by a question asked at eChurch blog, Does anybody […]
• Political imprisonment in Britain today
  A horrible story on the BBC today, written in a manner that indicates the BBC is on the side of the nasty people. A man who posted sectarian comments on a Facebook page called “Neil Lennon Should be Banned” has been jailed for eight months. Stephen Birrell, 28, from Glasgow, admitted posting the religiously prejudiced […]
• From my diary
  A very interesting article by Alin Suciu reveals an unnoticed fragment of the Coptic translation of Revelation.  As with the Greek world, Coptic writers such as Shenoute seldom refer to the work, it seems. Here I’m continuing with the OCR of Ibn Abi Usaibia. 
• Galen: what the Arab knew and we only discovered in 2006
  I’m still OCR-ing the English translation of Ibn Abi Usaibia’s dictionary of medical writers.  But I have just come across the following line, in a list of Galen’s books: In his book “The Negation of Grief” he says that many of his books and much of his valuable furniture were burnt in the royal storehouses […]
• From my diary
  I’ve just completed another 50 pages of the unpublished English translation of the 13th century Arabic writer Ibn Abi Usaibia’s dictionary of medical writers.  Thankfully he has now reached Galen.  It was the material on Galen that led me to look at this work.  It’s much more interesting than the material which has preceded it. […]
• From my diary
  The change of season is at long last perceptible, and for the last two or three days it has actually felt like autumn for the first time.  The bright warm weather has concealed the fact that the nights are drawing in, but now, suddenly, it is evident.  Waking early one morning by chance, at 6:30, I […]
• Rochester abbey library catalogue – manuscript page online
  A very useful post at the British Library manuscripts blog today gives an image of the medieval catalogue of the books owned by the Abbey of St. Andrew at Rochester.  The page is from Ms. Royal 5 B XII, and is doubtless one that was stolen by the crown when the abbeys were closed down at […]
• An interesting overview of Coptic Patristic literature in the Cambridge Ancient History
  Quite by accident today I stumbled over a rather interesting overview of Coptic Patristic literature in a Google books preview of a volume of the Cambridge Ancient History, vol. XIII, The Late Empire, A.D. 337-425, ed. Averil Cameron &c, (1998) p.725 f. here.  It is quite difficult for the non-professional to get an orientation in this sort […]
• John the Lydian, “On the Roman Months 4”: October
  The next chunk of the first ever English translation of the calendrical book by the 6th century antiquarian, John the Lydian, has arrived! And very seasonal it is too!  The chapter is a short one, which means that it can appear here.  Please note the excellent note 7 by the translator.  A number of the […]
• An English translation of the Life of Samuel of Kalamoun
  I learn today that an edition of the Coptic text of the life of Samuel of Kalamoun does exist, with English translation.  It was edited by Anthony Alcock, and published in 1983 in Warminster by Aris & Phillips, ISBN 0856682195.  It is useful to know it exists.  According to COPAC, it is based on his 1972 D.Phil. […]
• Image of Mithras at Dura Europos
  Looking around Picasa, I came across the following fascinating photograph by John Bartram of a pair of tauroctonies (click on the image for a larger view):   Now the resolution is a little low but … what is the script on the lower tauroctony?  The upper inscription is Greek, plainly enough, although I can’t quite […]
• Images of Persian Mitra
  An idle search in Google images for “Mithra Zoroastrianism” brought up precisely NO images of the Zoroastrian god.  It’s quite interesting, really, not least because I have no idea how he was depicted — if he was depicted — in reliefs. It also brought up a number of unfamiliar tauroctonies of Mithras.  The need for […]
• From my diary
  Tonight I completed scanning another 50 pages of the English translation of Ibn Abi Usaibia.  That makes a total of 100 so far.  900 to go!  It’s slow, because my current job leaves me very tired every evening; but we’ll get there.  I started at the beginning of chapter 1, but there is some prefatory […]
• More on Jesus in the Greek Magical Papyri
  Further to my post last week, I thought that people might like to see the texts.  I think that they were published long ago in Deissmann, Light from the Ancient East, but this is not before me.  Instead let’s quote from a very useful modern collection of the magical texts.  The bits in bold and […]
• Plato says “Be kind”
  Following the links on other blogs usually leads you to tedious nutters, although not the ones that lead here.  Obviously. One such spin of the chamber on the roulette revolver brought me to the Bloggess blog, and this delightful post. A friend of mine was being hassled by assholes, so I made him this card. […]
• Jesus in the Greek Magical Papyri
  An email this morning asks about the probable date of the exorcism spell in the Paris magical codex (PGM IV, lines 3007-86 and 1227-64) which references Jesus, and quoting a 2006 article on Hypotyposeis by Andrew Criddle (which itself seems to have been replicated around the web). …lines 1227-64 of this papyrus [contain] another Exorcism with […]
• From my diary
  The sales figures for September for my book — Eusebius of Caesarea, Gospel Problems and Solutions.  Text and translation.  Get yours from Amazon now! — have arrived and are acceptable.  For a change most of the sales were in the UK.  More acceptable still is the first chunk of payments.  Lightning Source, the distributor, delay […]
• Delving in the Analecta Bollandiana
  A post in an online forum queried whether an English translation existed of the “Halkin Vita” of Constantine.  I had never heard of this item, but a little searching revealed that it is a medieval Greek Saint’s “Life”, mostly fictitious, of the Emperor.  A reference to a medieval patriarch dates it to after the iconoclast disputes, […]
• From my diary
  A couple of snippets only. Firstly, an email tells me that someone is producing audio versions of some of the ante-Nicene fathers, here.  Apparently they have backing music, which sounds unusual.  I have a vague idea that other people have done some of this, but it can only be a good thing! Secondly, via Ancient […]
• From my diary
  Over the weekend I was thinking about the ancient information that has reached us about the cult of Mithras.  There is a considerable quantity of not-very-useful literary testimonies, but the majority of the material is inscriptional or in the form of reliefs and statuary. All this was sparked by thinking about a depiction of the […]
• From my diary
  I’ve done a little more OCR on the English translation of Ibn Abi Usaibia, but it is slow going.  Unfortunately I have had a cold for some weeks — symptoms are coughing and indigestion, curiously — which restricts what I can do in the evenings.  When I get well, it will be easier to spend more time […]
• From my diary
  I’ve found some rather good photographs of a fresco in a Mithraeum at Marino in the Alban Hills near Rome on a blog entry here.  The fresco depicts the “tauroctony” — Mithras killing the bull.  This is present in every temple of Mithras, but in this case it is a colour painting on the wall, […]
• Is ambiguity in ancient texts a problem for the translator?
  At work today one of my colleagues had received a particularly hasty email from a customer.  The sentence was somewhat difficult to parse, and could be read in two ways.  But we worked out what it meant.  And then — for, unusually, my current colleagues know who I am — he asked me this: When […]
• John the Lydian, September – now online
  There is a chapter on the events of September in John the Lydian, On the Roman months, book IV.  The final version of the translation by Mischa Hooker has arrived!  I’ve uploaded the raw Word document here.  And, since it is September, it seems rather timely to see what the Romans did and saw in September.  […]
• Another UK attack on free speech
  This report on a “bigot” who is to expect a jail sentence for expressing dislike online of those whom he saw as his enemies should make us all shiver.  There is no pretence that the man did anything except say how much he hated Catholics.  Apparently that is justification enough for “a substantial jail sentence”. […]
• Bibliography (with links) of Pachomian literature
  Alin Suciu has collected a bibliography of publications of works connected with the 4th century founder of Egyptian monasticism, St. Pachomius.  He’s also linked to downloads.  You know, five years ago you just couldn’t have got these books! The first on the list is a publication by Egyptologist E. Amelineau.  Amelineau is a name that I came […]
• US universities harassing Christian groups
  Some years ago a nasty episode of Christian-bashing took place at Exeter university, with the connivance and support of the university authorities.  I read this evening (via Dyspepsia Generation) of similar harassment in US universities.  The university headlining the article is Vanderbilt. Is Vanderbilt University flirting with the suppression of religion? Yes, according to Carol […]
• The image of Christ-Helios in the mosaics of Vatican tomb M
  Quite by accident I came across the daunting opus by Steven Hijmans, Sol: the sun in the art and religions of Rome, 2009, in which he attempts to classify all the material about “Sol” in the historical record.  I must say at once that the book is partially impenetrable to those not deeply involved in […]
• An example of why abolishing AD and BC causes problems
  A report in the Daily Mail at the weekend highlighted a fresh stage in the step-by-step campaign by the establishment to replace AD and BC with the Jewish-originated CE and BCE.  The BBC’s religious and ethics department says the changes are necessary to avoid offending non-Christians. It states: ‘As the BBC is committed to impartiality […]
• Forthcoming: an English translation of Michael the Syrian
  The World Chronicle of the 12th century Syrian monophysite (or Syrian Orthodox) patriarch, Michael Rabo — aka Michael the Syrian — is the longest medieval chronicle that has survived.  It was composed in Syriac, making use of extensive earlier chronicle material, reaching all the way back to a now-lost Syriac translation of the Chronicle of […]
• Writing a page or pages on Mithras
  I want to write an article on the Roman cult of Mithras for my website, using the material that I originally contributed to Wikipedia, since I am reluctant for that to disappear.  But of course I also want to add to it as I learn more on the subject.   The article will be what the Wikipedia […]
• From my diary
  This evening I had an email from Matti Mousa, who has translated the whole of Michael the Syrian’s enormous Chronicle from Syriac into English, and is now revising it.  He very kindly condescended to ask if I had any suggestions about what should go into the introduction.  Well, I always have opinions!  So I offered mine, […]
• Christianity — the only belief you can censor?
  My attention was drawn by eChurch blog to a rather worrying report, on the threat of anti-Christian censorship on new media platforms.  The report on Internet censorship is by the  National Religious Broadcasters (NRB) and the American Center for Law and Justice and is entitled: An Examination of the Threat of Anti-Christian Censorship and Other Viewpoint Discrimination […]
• A little plank of wood
  Here’s an epigram of Martial, that caught my eye, as I was reading it this evening (book 7, no.19): The fragment that you regard as cheap and useless wood, This was the first keel to stem the unknown sea. What the clash of the azure rocks could not shatter of old, Nor the wrath, more dread, of […]
• More Coptica at the British Museum
  I tried searching their new database for “codex”.  The results were interesting.  You have to get past some tosh about Mexican materials first. Here is a parchment sheet from a codex, with two columns of Coptic on either side.  It is largely complete, and should certainly be readable to those with the language skills (are […]
• Eight Evil Thoughts
  An incoming link drew my attention to a wonderful series at Patristics and Philosophy, entitled Eight Evil Thoughts.  The summaries of each Evil Thought are marvellous!  The material is drawn from Evagrius. Particularly interesting to me was the Sixth Evil Thought.  It is: …a type of restlessness that comes upon the monk around noon. What […]
• John the Lydian on September and October
  The translations of John the Lydian’s comments on September and October in book IV of his On the Roman Months have arrived, and are very good as always from this translator.  One needs a footnote finishing, but otherwise they are done.  Once they are complete (and after I have paid for them!) then I will place […]
• Don’t deal with Libreria Ancora Roma
  I’m getting rather impatient with an Italian bookshop who ordered a copy of my book back in July and still haven’t paid for it.   The name of the firm is “Libreria Ancora Roma”, who are in the via della conciliazione.  Libreria Ancora — “Ancora International Bookshop”, as they called themselves — ordered it on 22 July, and I […]
• Cheap desktop multi-spectral imaging
  Via Apocryphicity I learn that a multi-spectral imaging scanner is due to hit the market which should be affordable by everyone.  Oxford University have developed it, and gone into partnership with a Chinese company to exploit.  Tony Burke’s explanation is to the point: Oxford University has developed a portable multi-spectral scanner that is inexpensive enough to be […]
• Papyri in the British Museum database
  A link from Alin Suciu’s blog drew my attention to a discovery: that the British Museum (not the British Library) searchable database of its holdings also includes papyri.  A search on “coptic” lists quite a number; and if you search for just images, you get back a goodly quantity of papyri.  Dr Suciu has already […]
• Athanasius on the cult of the martyrs
  Skimming through the Coptic letters of Athanasius in my last post but one, I came across this interesting letter (letter 41, p.41f.) from 369 AD discussing the habit of digging up the bodies of the martyrs to create cult objects.  Considering that the Coptic church was to do a lot of this, Athanasius’ remarks are interesting.  […]
• British Museum catalogue now online and searchable (with pictures!)
  Another item I spotted via AWOL is that the British Museum (upon whom be blessings) has made its database of what it holds available on the web.  You can search it here, and an advanced search is here. Welcome to the British Museum collection database online. Search almost two million objects from the entire Museum […]
• Early CSCO volumes from the Coptic series online
  Via AWOL I learn that some of the early volumes of the Corpus Scriptorum Christianorum Orientalium series are now online.  All of them are from the Scriptores Coptici sub-series.  The gentlemen responsible are the University of Chicago Oriental Institute. vol. 1 = series secunda, tomus II, textus: Iohannes Leipoldt, W. Crum (eds.), Sinuthii archimandritae vita […]
• From my diary
  A CD arrived today from a kind correspondent, containing photos of the entire unpublished study and translation of the 6th century Jewish medical text by Asaph.  I confess that Jewish literature is not something I know anything about; but it seems clear that this item is not otherwise translated.  The translation is public domain, but […]
• More on John the Lydian
  I spent a bit of time this evening with the 1898 edition of John the Lydian, De mensibus, which I got from Google books.  There is no table of contents, so I opened it in Adobe Acrobat pro and went through adding bookmarks.  The result was as follows.  It’s far more useful as a guide to […]
• Getting John the Lydian into English
  The 6th century antiquarian John the Lydian has left us three works, all of great interest for the light they shed on Roman customs.  Most interesting of these, to me at least, is De mensibus — On the Roman months.  This is in 4 books, and the fourth book walks us through the year, detailing […]
• From my diary
  Very busy with ‘real life’ at the moment, so I’m in no position to make progress with any of my projects.  Someone suggested that I do a kindle version of the Eusebius book, containing only the translation of the Gospel Problems and Solutions.  Helpfully he offered advice on how to make the thing.  I will certainly […]
• Islamic medical manuscripts now online at the Wellcome trust
  A correspondent directs my attention to an announcement by the Wellcome Trust. Arabic medicine was once the most advanced in the world, and now digital facsimiles of some of its most important texts have been made freely available online. The unique online resource, based on the Wellcome Library’s Arabic manuscript collection, includes well-known medical texts […]
• An unintentionally humorous passage in Ibn Abi Usaibia
  The following passage in the dictionary of medical writers by the 13th century Islamic writer Ibn Abi Usaibia made me chuckle. The physicians of note who lived in the time between Hippocrates and Galen, apart from Hippocrates’ own pupils and his sons, were the following: S . . . , the commentator on Hippocrates’ books; […]
• JSTOR start to make content available to independent scholars
  An email has reached me this evening, drawing attention to a change of policy from JSTOR, announced yesterday. On September 6, 2011, we announced that we are making journal content in JSTOR published prior to 1923 in the United States and prior to 1870 elsewhere freely available to anyone, anywhere in the world.  This “Early […]
• Materials from the Greek Ephraim
  Dominique Gonnet from the Sources Chretiennes has drawn my attention to a little known Greek Orthodox site, http://www.anastasis.org.uk/.  It is the property of an “Archmandrite Ephrem” and it contains English translations of all sorts of snippets.  In particular there are a  number of letters and sermons by Ephrem the Syrian, translated here.  I think few of these […]
• The assault on free speech in our time
  Today I learned that a 65-year old Suffolk woman is to be dragged through the courts for “racially aggravated harassment”.  Her real crime?  To place a golliwog in her window.  She was denounced to the police by a coloured neighbour who has a grudge against her. Mark Steyn, himself a victim of these thought-crime laws, has […]
• From my diary
  I’m still full of cold, but I have been trying to get back to the keyboard. In fact I have managed to proof the OCR output for the first chunk — very small chunk! — of Ibn Abi Usaibia, and confirmed to myself that it’s doable.  Working on this, therefore, will be a nice winter project.  […]
• Eusebius update
  This evening I had an email from a French journal, asking for a review copy of the Eusebius, Gospel Problems and Solutions book.  They seem very reputable, and I suspect the enquiry comes thanks to my friends in the Francophone world — thank you all.  I’ve placed the order, and they should get it in […]
• From my diary
  There are times when all of us need a certain kind of book to read.  It should be a shapeless, gentle, unexciting but mildly interesting book, that requires little concentration.  It should be the kind of book that you can dip into anywhere, and leave off reading at any time.  It is the sort of […]
• From my diary
  I’ve decided to have a go at OCR’ing Ibn Abi Usaibia myself, now I have established that the OCR quality is not really that bad.  I’ve taken the first 195 pages and divided that up into 4 Abbyy Finereader projects, of 50 pages each (well, 3 lots of 50 and one lot of 45).  I’ve also customised […]
• Google “lobbying hard” to change UK’s backward copyright law
  An interesting snippet at political blog Guido Fawkes: Back in July the Sunday Times’s FOIs revealed that senior Downing Street officials have had over twenty meetings with Google since the election. Accusations of preferential treatment were thrown around when Hilton, whose wife is a Google VP, did not declare all of his meetings with the group. This is […]
• Getting Ibn Abi Usaibia into electronic form
  Some time back I discovered that in 1956 the US government commissioned a translation of the great history of medicine by the medieval Arabic writer Ibn Abi Usaibia.  The translation completed by Arabist Lothar Kopf in Israel, was filed, and forgotten.  I discovered that it existed quite by accident when I was doing a Google […]
• From my diary
  A couple of interesting articles have come my way today. Tommaso Leoni has written an overview of the textual transmission of the works of Josephus.[1]  This reads rather like a summary of secondary literature, rather than a piece of new research, but, since much of that literature is in languages which anglophone scholars tend to […]
• Musing about Mithras
  An email from my old Wikipedia account alerted me to some pointless dispute going on there. So this evening I went onto the account and shut off further emails and made sure the account was dead.  There is no purpose in sensible people attempting to contribute to Wikipedia, since it is really a collection of hearsay edited […]
• Arabic biographies of Mohammed – Brockelmann’s bibliography
  More than a month ago I obtained paper copies of Brockelmann’s great but flawed reference volumes on Arabic literature.  Seeing only a page or two on the Arabic biographers of Mohammed, I was moved to try to scan these, and then turn them into English.  Well, it’s been one heck of a fight!  The abbreviations were […]
• Manuscripts of the catena of Nicetas
  The PDF is a useful thing.  If you have a copy of the editor software, Adobe Acrobat, you can do many useful things.  I got hold of Sickenberger’s study of the catena of Nicetas a couple of days ago.  Because I had Acrobat, I added a set of bookmarks for the bits I wanted.  I […]
• Some interesting thoughts on copyright and copyfraud
  None of us object to those who create original works receiving payment for their labours.  But those of us who place stuff online — usually stuff long forgotten, where the creators have never received much, and are in any case long gone — find it a real problem.  The problem is that copyright has become […]
• Network solutions get it wrong again
  For many years Network Solutions has been the place where my domain names are hosted.  They were,  in truth, a company that I trusted.  Many internet hosters and registrars are cowboys, and it is nearly impossible to find good people.  Once you have found them, you stick with them. But my liking for Network Solutions has got rather […]
• Academic publishers charging $30 for a PDF — but for how long?
  A deeply cheering article from George Monbiot at the Guardian. Academic publishers make Murdoch look like a socialist Academic publishers charge vast fees to access research paid for by us. Down with the knowledge monopoly racketeers … You might resent Murdoch’s paywall policy, in which he charges £1 for 24 hours of access to the Times […]
• How giving a beating has replaced discussion online
  The internet has always been a rough place.  People feel anonymous, and feel able to behave in ways that they would not dream of doing offline.  Because it’s “only words”, people used to think that it didn’t matter.  Accidental rudeness is easy online, where there is no body language.  But as long as the internet […]
• More on Ibn Abi Usaibia
  I’m interested in the references to the Christians that appear in the works of the 2nd century medical writer Galen.  I discovered that a bunch of them appear only in the medical dictionary of the Arabic writer Ibn Abi Usaibia.  A while back I discovered that an unpublished English translation exists in typescript at the […]
• People with guitars busted by heavy-handed Feds in 2011?
  Apparently so.  The story goes that the Feds were heavily armed, and taking no chances with these desperate criminals. Federal agents swooped in on Gibson Guitar Wednesday, raiding factories and offices in Memphis and Nashville, seizing several pallets of wood, electronic files and guitars. As you may imagine, this is all about illegally-grown stuff.  In this case, […]
• From my diary
  Network Solutions, the domain name registrar for tertullian.org, are going down and down in my estimation.  I asked them on Saturday to transfer it elsewhere.  Their response was an email demanding that I call their call centre in the USA.  The object of the latter is to hassle people into renewing, of course.  I wrote […]
• Still waiting for Tertullian.org to transfer…
  The domain name transfer of the Tertullian.org name is still pending.  Network Solutions are evidently sitting on it, the weasels. When it happens, Tertullian.org will go down until I can set the DNS settings at the new registrar.  Sorry about that.
• More on catenas
  Something I had meant to do, when I wrote about the catena of Nicetas, was to track down the works of J. Sickenberger mentioned as published in TU.  I have, in fact, now updated that page with some links to Google books, although, as ever, non-US readers will not be able to read them. TU […]
• Tertullian.org may go down over the next day or two briefly
  I’m transferring the domain name from Network Solutions — who are a pain to deal with — to PairNIC.  Unfortunately the latter won’t let me enter the domain name servers until the transfer actually happens.  Tomorrow is Sunday, when I do not use my computer or the web.  So it is possible that I will […]
• From my diary
  I had to empty my loft a week ago in order to have some insulation fitted.  I still have rather a lot of items lying in a heap.  Last night I put some of the heavier stuff back up.  But I noted that a lot of things were just in plastic carrier bags, and I wondered if […]
• From my diary
  Oh bother … the cough I have been struggling with for the last week or so, and the sensitive stomach that I have lived with for nearly three weeks, have ganged up now with a streaming cold that came on last night.  It must be holiday time!  This business of living in an organic construct […]
• From my diary
  First, a gorgeous statement from the Monday Evening blog: It’s a mistake to think, since they thought the sun and planets revolved around the earth, therefore medieval men were egocentric fools. It’s not so much they thought the earth was at the center, but that they thought it was at the bottom. I am no […]
• Eusebius update
  The book is still selling well, I think.  Amazon are fulfilling orders quite quickly, or so I hear, which says that they are holding stock and, pleasingly, selling them! Carol Downer and her team, who did the translation of the Coptic fragments, are thinking about translating more of the Coptic catena.  I am encouraging them! […]
• Idiot of the week award goes to …
  …, erm, <cough>, me. “Why so?” I hear you cry.  (At least, I hope that’s what you’re saying.)  Well, it’s like this. I’m interested in the Coptic catena on the Gospels, published without a translation by Paul De Lagarde back in the 1850’s-ish.  I knew that an Arabic translation exists of that catena, and that […]
• Christophe Guignard on the catena of Nicetas
  Continuing from yesterday, here is another excerpt from Christophe Guignard’s book La lettre de Julius Africanus à Aristide.  As I remarked, one of the charms of this book is that, in order to establish a text of the fragments of the letter of 2nd century writer Julius Africanus to Aristides on the genealogy of Christ, it provides a […]
• The “Sententiae” of Publilius Syrus
  Publilius Syrus is a name that few will know.  According to Pliny the Elder, he was brought to Rome in the first century BC as a slave, and rose to become the author of many mimes.  These are lost, but a collection of sayings or sentences is preserved.  The 1895 Cambridge edition here has 70 pages […]
• Christophe Guignard on Julius Africanus’ letter about the genealogies in Matthew
  I’ve started to read the volume of Christophe Guignard, La lettre de Julius Africanus à Aristide sur la généalogie du Christ, De Gruyters (2011).  It’s full of good things, like a well-baked cake in which every bite includes a nut or a raisin.  I have, so far, merely nibbled at it.  It is, in truth, a […]
• More on Armenian catenas
  In my last post, I mentioned the existence of an Armenian catena on Acts, published in Venice in 1839, and evidently of interest for the study of the so-called ‘Western’ text of Acts.  Since then I have been attempting to locate a copy online, or, indeed, to determine its title.  This is no easy task, […]
• Some notes on Armenian catenas
  Medieval commentaries (=catenas) on the bible were composed out of chains of quotations from earlier writers, with each verse of the bible having a chain of comments.  The Greek catenas have been classified by Karo and Lietzmann, but I have often wondered about Armenian catenas. Robert W. Thomson refers to “the first Armenian catena of patristic […]
• Notes on Libanius, his manuscripts etc
  In his panegyric oration on Antioch, Libanius tells us that he has delivered more orations and declamations “than anyone”.  The extent of his surviving work tends to bear this out.  He was very popular as a stylist during the Byzantine period, and more than 250 manuscripts of his collection of letters (or portions of it) survive.  […]
• A maxim by Libanius, on the love of learning and literature
  I think that I would have followed Odysseus’ example and spurned even marriage with a goddess for a glimpse of the smoke of Athens. — Libanius 1 1. Oration 1, 12. Given in Selected letters of Libanius: from the age of Constantius and Julian, tr. Scott Bradbury, Liverpool, 2004, p.49, n.58.
• How far back is “living memory”?
  At political blog CrashBangWallace, the answer is “quite a long way”.  He writes that the great events of history are within touching distance. In one of these pleasingly highbrow moments which proves that the internet is not just about videos of cats and moon-walking budgies, a clip has gone viral on Twitter today showing a […]
• From my diary
  Rather busy with the chores of life this week.  But last night I was able to acquire some books on ancient Persian religion, and the texts in which they are preserved.  I’ve been looking through some of them.  The key fact, however, is that most of the literature is very late.  The Avestan texts do […]
• From my diary
  This evening I had another go at the web version of Brockelmann’s notes on the authors who give the history of Mohammed.  It is a mark of how bad Brockelmann’s Geschichte der arabischen Litteratur is, as an organised source for information, that I have still not managed to get the stuff into some format that I […]
• Some notes on the Von der Goltz codex of Acts, Paul’s letters, and the catholic letters
  Codex 184.B.64 of the monastery of the Laura on Mt. Athos was one of the manuscripts examined by von Soden and von der Goltz in a trip to the mountain in the winter of 1898.  The presence of subscriptios to the letters of Paul, and scholia, caught the attention of the latter, who published an article […]
• The literary remains of Shenoute of Atripe
  Coptic literature is an under-studied area for most of us.  But today I have been finding out that significant work has been done in the last decade on an important figure of the 4th century, Shenoute of Atripe, the leader of the White Monastery at Panopolis. For this we have Stephen Emmel to thank.  It […]
• Alice Whealey, SBL 2000 paper on the Testimonium Flavianum
  One of the most accessible resources on Josephus and the Testimonium Flavianum has always been a paper delivered in 2000 to the Society of Biblical Literature conference by Alice Whealey.  For years it sat at http://josephus.yorku.ca/pdf/whealey2000.pdf but this link is now dead. Rather than lose it — I needed to refer to it this evening […]
• The shifting, sifting sands of what is normal on the internet
  Reading the Cranmer blog this evening, I find that the good archbishop has been obliged to place some limits on who can comment. His Grace is now forced to devote more time each day trying to stem the tide of offensive and irrelevant comment than he is able to dedicate to each morning’s missive. When […]
• The letter of Dioscorus to Shenouda about heretical books
  Following on from Hugo Lundhaug’s paper on  Origenism in 5th century Upper Egypt: Shenoute of Atripe and the Nag Hammadi codices, delivered at the Oxford Patristics Conference, I wrote to him, asking about the sources: the letter of Archbishop Dioscorus of Alexandria, and a text by Shenoute himself.  Today I received an email from Dr Lundhaug, […]
• Oxford Patristics Conference – Saturday (Contd.)
  I forgot to mention that at breakfast I found myself in the queue, and talking to a chap who, like myself, wasn’t wearing his name badge (the name badges this year were excellently readable).  It turned out to be Mark DelCogliano, who has translated a number of the prefaces to books of the Vulgate and […]
• Oxford Patristics Conference – Saturday
  Up with the lark, and off to breakfast at 7:45.  A queue of disappointed people outside, tho, because it turns out that on Saturday it’s at 8:15.  It’s another warm day, and is raining slightly.  I’m going to leave my bags in the porter’s lodge for an hour or two and wander around Oxford!
• Oxford Patristics Conference – Friday (Contd.2)
  I spent the evening trying to get the Kindle application to install on my mobile phone, and enduring various obstacles and difficulties.  At 8:30pm there was a session at the university church of St. Mary the Virgin, and I was eventually obliged to leave my phone downloading that application, pop it in my pocket, and […]
• Oxford Patristics Conference – Friday (Contd.)
  I returned to my room ca. 1pm, and uploaded the last blog, got photos off the mobile phone, ordered various books for purchasers and so forth.  But a couple of further ideas caused me to return to the Examination Schools.  As I did so, it became clear that all the major publishers were packing up.  […]
• Oxford Patristics Conference – Friday
  I made to breakfast this morning in Queens College.  This is from 7:45-8:45.  Rather foolishly I presumed that no-one would be there at 7:45, and arrived just after 8.  I had difficulty getting seated! Then off to the Examination Schools, and into the South School, an immense area with a handful of people.  But the […]
• Oxford Patristics Conference – Thursday (Contd. 4)
  In the afternoon I bunked off.  I really did.  There were three sessions on Chrysostom in Syriac, but I looked at the abstracts and the urge to go waned.  The sunshine called to me, and I went out instead.  First I walked up to the Bodleian Library, and dropped into the admissions office.  My pass […]
• Oxford Patristics Conference – Thursday (Contd 3)
  I then went to hear Hugo Lundhaug talk about Origenism in 5th century Upper Egypt: Shenoute of Atripe and the Nag Hammadi codices.  This was fascinating, and discussed two texts.  The first was a letter from Dioscorus of Alexandria, telling people — and Shenoute in particular — to hunt out heretical books associated with Origenism […]
• Oxford Patristics Conference – Thursday (Contd 2)
  Between 10:20 – 11:20, I spent my time in the marquee at my stall.  I arrived to find that a group of Russians with a film crew had positioned themselves with a table right in front of my table, thereby preventing anyone from visiting it.  Promises that they would not be long proved empty.  By […]
• Oxford Patristics Conference – Thursday (Contd)
  I’ve just attended a truly fascinating paper “Marginalizing Paul of Samosata: scholia and Origenism in the exemplar of codex von der Goltz“, given by Eric Scherbenske. The codex is a biblical ms., Aland number 1739, Ms. 184 B64 of the Lavra monastery on Mt. Athos.  This contains extensive scholia, which clearly come from the scriptorium […]
• Oxford Patristics Conference – Thursday (Contd)
  Now looking at the programme.  There are a number of sessions today that I would like to attend.  None of the plenary lectures or workshops today appeal.  Not that this worries me — one conference member whom I met yesterday wisely said that most papers appeal to a narrow group of people within the patristics firmament.  […]
• Oxford Patristics Conference – Thursday
  It’s 7:38 and sadly my fears about the rooms here in the Queen’s college Annex have been realised.  I’ve had virtually no sleep at all because of the noise.  The conference organisers should never have put people in here – only those who are heavy sleepers could have any chance of repose.  But it’s like […]
• Oxford Patristics Conference – Wednesday (Contd 2)
  I’ve just got back from a very pleasant gathering at the Head of the River, where the food was as excellent as ever, and beautifully served.  One of us chose Italian, however, only to discover that they had run out of parmesan cheese — a curious failure, considering that a Tesco Express stood just down […]
• Oxford Patristics Conference – Wednesday (contd)
  Rather more cheery than I was earlier.  A Dutch chap came to the stall and showed signs of wanting to buy a copy of the Eusebius book, which is nice, particularly since I haven’t been at the stall that much.  I’ll be there between 10:20 and 11:20 tomorrow, tho, because I left a note saying […]
• Oxford Patristics Conference – Wednesday
  This morning I drove to Oxford, and parked at a house in the suburbs using www.parkatmyhouse.com.  That went well — there was someone there and they even gave me a lift into Oxford.  So far, so good.  The sun is shining but it is not incredibly hot, and the various accidents on the M25 this […]
• A thousand page English translation of Ibn Abi Usaibia at the US NLM
  A little while back I discovered that an English translation of the dictionary of medical writers by Ibn Abi Usaibia might exist at the US National Library of Medicine, and I sent an enquiry.  The enquiry was ignored; but my second enquiry got a response! Firstly, apparently I can’t have a copy.  The thing is […]
• Oxford Patristics Conference: I shall be late!
  I’ve gone down with a virus.  Here I am, surrounded by all the stuff necessary to go, and it’s a beautiful morning.  But I spent all of yesterday in bed, unable to move, and awoke with a temperature/headache again this morning.  Fortunately rather better today, but rather frustrated. Maybe I shall be fit tomorrow, or […]
• From my diary
  Volume 2 of Vermaseren’s Corpus of Mithraic inscriptions and monuments has arrived.  It doesn’t contain literary texts, as I thought it might (and probably should have done).  Instead it’s more archaeology.  As with the first volume, the further east you go the less there is, although this might also reflect the political problems of the […]
• From my diary
  Out after work this evening, and bought a new, disposable laptop which I can take to Oxford and lose without heartburn.  Now setting this up.  At the moment it is creating recovery disk(s), and taking ages to do so.  Next I shall have to remove all the crapware and install the stuff I want to […]
• From my diary
  Managed to find somewhere to park at Oxford for 30 GBP — via www.parkatmyhouse.com! — which was a relief.  I’d intended to park at the park-and-ride car parks, but found out to my horror that they only allow you a max of 72 hours.  For one awful moment I feared that I would have to […]
• Still searching for Ibn Abi Usaibia
  I’ve spent some more time today hunting for the great dictionary of medical writers by Ibn Abi Usaibia.  In the process I find that I have done this before!  But yesterday I discovered that all the Arabic quotations of Galen on the Christians are in the entry on Galen in this work. Thanks to a […]
• From my diary – translation projects and other things
  The July sales figures (through Amazon) for Eusebius’ book on differences between the gospels (and how to resolve them) have arrived and are encouraging.  I still haven’t launched an online marketing campaign, yet we sold more in July than in June.  Interestingly most of these seem to have been hardbacks.  The purchasers certainly got a good deal […]
• Arabic sources for Mohammed – from 1854
  Brockelmann’s History of Arabic literature does list English translations known in 1940.  One of these was by Alfred von Kramer, from 1854, and was a translation of al-Wakidi’s biography of Mohammed.  It was published in British India at Calcutta as the History of Muhammad’s Campaigns by Aboo Abd Ollah Mohammad bin Omar al Wakidy, by […]
• An unpublished English translation of Abd al-Latif?
  It’s always worth doing a Google trawl.  You never know what you may find. This evening I was idly looking to see what I could find in English by Galen.  I kept hitting “next page”.  Much of it was dross.  But then… I struck gold. I found myself looking at a page at the British […]
• Eusebius update
  Long-time readers will be aware that I’ve been engaged, as publisher, in producing the first English translation of Eusebius of Caesarea’s Gospel Problems and Solutions — Quaestiones ad Stephanum et Marinum — and getting it available in printed form.  The long term intention is to make the translation at least freely available online.  But I’ve produced a hardback […]
• Still working with Brockelmann
  For the last two evenings I’ve spent an hour or two working on the section in Brockelmann’s History of Arabic Literature on the biographers of Mohammed.  This will appear here once I’ve finished editing and translating it. It’s proving quite hard work.  It’s not that Brockelmann’s prose is difficult, as that the work is very […]
• Andrea Gehrz blog
  Translator Andrea Gehrz, who produced an English version of the Tetrabiblos of Ptolemy, has started her own blog here.  She’s posted some material from the ancient astrologer Vettius Valens.  I hope that she will turn more of these kinds of works into English.
• Any more bloggers at the Oxford Patristics Conference next week?
  A group of bloggers and people who make stuff available online will be gathering for a drink one evening at the Oxford Patristics Conference.  If this is you, please drop me a note and I’ll pass on the details.
• Annoying copyright problem
  I want to buy a download of Sister Hazel’s track Change your mind.  It’s a trivial amount.  It’s available for download on Amazon.com.  But … it’s not available, as far as I can see, in the UK.  And US sites won’t sell downloads to people in the UK. Anyone got any ideas?
• Extracts from Brockelmann’s “History of Arabic literature” – 1
  For the last week or so, I’ve been reading sections of vol. 1 of the 2nd edition of Carl Brockelmann’s History of Arabic Literature.  I’m starting to get some idea of what exists, which is the object.  I thought that it might be useful to give some extracts in English here.  Let’s look at some […]
• What I did on my holidays
  The silence earlier this week was caused by an unannounced outbreak of holidays.   I didn’t feel that it was a good idea to announce online that my house would be vacant, and I took a very welcome break from using a computer at all. I finished work on Friday, and then had Saturday free.  This was […]
• From my diary
  Up late last night trying to produce printed copies of a large book which I have in PDF.  I did most of it — will do the rest today. One nice thing that happened is that an Italian bookshop ordered a copy of Eusebius, Gospel Problems and Solutions.  They’re in the road that leads up […]
• From my diary
  I can’t read PDF’s on-screen, and so this evening I’m putting together another PDF to upload to Lulu, so I can get a printed form that I can hold in my hand. But disaster!  Lulu will only do paperbacks up to around 740 pages, and this one is 1,000 exactly. I suppose what it means […]
• From my diary
  One of the few Arabic historians that I know by name is Abulfeda.  This evening I thought that I would see what I could find about him online. A Google search brought up a rather useless Wikipedia article.  Once I might have edited it, but these days I know better. But it seemed to be based […]
• Problems in the broadcast media
  We’ve all seen the story about the explosion and shootings in Norway yesterday.  I’ve noticed something worrying in the reporting of the story by the BBC and SkyNews on their teletext service, yesterday and today. Yesterday, the word “Moslem” was not used.  On page 6 of 7 of the SkyNews report a mention was made […]
• Not obtaining the catalogue of the manuscripts of Vlatadon in Thessalonika
  Back in early June, I ordered, from the French National Library in Paris, by email, a photocopy of the hard-to-find catalogue of the manuscripts of the monastery of Vlatadon in Thessalonika.  It was published in 1918.   This is the library, remember, that had a manuscript of the works of Galen, containing his Peri Alupias (On […]
• Working with Brockelmann’s history of Arabic literature
  Yesterday I started to compile a list of the passages in Galen where he mentions the Christians.  I believe that there are six.  Unfortunately Walzer’s book Galen on Jews and Christians has not arrived, so I had to make do with whatever PDF’s I had.  Two of the fragments come from Arabic authors of the […]
• JSTOR: your articles are mine!
  JSTOR, the electronic archive of academic journal articles, has been in the news this week.  A programmer charged with massive theft turns out to be a 24 year old Harvard researcher named Aaron Swartz, who downloaded 4.8 million articles from JSTOR to hard disk, using a script. His identity was known, and JSTOR involved the police: Swartz was […]
• On actually reading texts
  Duane Smith of Abnormal Interests usefully highlights on his blog a post by John Hobbins of Ancient Hebrew Poetry: Scholars are known to succumb to a grave and debilitating disease: that of spending all their days reading each other rather than the texts and other artifacts that are supposed to be the objects of their […]
• From my diary
  I’ve tried to use Xoom.com to send money to the St. Ephrem Ecumenical Institute (SEERI) in India, for the copies of the English translation of Aphrahat’s Demonstrations that they sent me.  The last time I used this, I could fund it from Paypal.  This no longer seems to be available, and only US bank accounts […]
• From my diary
  The leaflets promoting the Eusebius book arrived, and I went up to the DHL office, opened the box and inspected them.  They’re OK — the design is good — but I’d hoped for  a higher-gloss finish.  Too late now, so I crossed DHL’s moist palm with silver, and the leaflets should be at the Patristics […]
• From my diary
  A parcel arrived today, containing the German reference book which I laboriously scanned, turned into a PDF, and had printed as a book by Lulu.com.  It’s the same general standard as all books printed there — rather too thick paper, rather too thin cover — but it’s entirely serviceable and I shall feel no hesitation […]
• Philip of Macedon on those who spoke ill of him
  A quotation from Paley’s collection of Greek Wit, p.42: Philip, King of Macedon, thanked the Athenian demagogues for their abuse, and said that his morals were much improved by it, for his constant endeavour was both by his words and his deeds to prove them liars. —  Plutarch, Philip c. 7.
• Did the Romans eat strawberries?
  Summer is upon us.  I can’t really be bothered to sit at the computer.  Mild air, soft rains, hot sun and dusty blue skies … the time for indoor activities is the winter.  All I can think of, this evening, is that I intend to go out tomorrow to a farm near my home, and […]
• From my diary
  Grey, drizzling, with bursts of heavy rain.  Must be summer!  Hard to wake up today, although the arrival of a postman with the hardback of the Eusebius book at 7:50 am did force me out of bed somewhat sooner.  Fortunately I was semi-awake, and I know the knock on the door.  The postie had tried […]
• Islamic manuscripts website with many PDF articles on it
  … is here. I found this article about Ethiopian gnomologia, derived from Arabic.
• From my diary
  I spent this evening turning Michael Bourdeaux, Risen Indeed: Lessons in faith from the USSR (1983) into PDF form, with the consent of the author-copyright holder.  In a way it was just like old times, when I spent many a happy evening on a Friday night, after the week’s work was ended, hunched over the […]
• More on “human rights” for Christians in Britain
  Following the announcement by the Orwellian-sounding “Equalities and Human Rights Commission that it regrets some of the harassment of Christians in the UK which it funded, on which I posted earlier, “eChurch blog has helpfully listed the resources and online responses.  They make interesting reading indeed.  Four victims have brought test cases to the European court, and this […]
• OCR with macrons and other funny letters in Finereader
  I’m scanning Brockelmann’s Geschichte der arabischen Litteratur.  It’s mostly in German, of course; but the Arabic is transliterated using a wide variety of odd unicode characters.  There are letter “a” with a macron over it (a horizontal line), and “sh” written as “s” with a little hat on it and so forth.  These don’t occur […]
• Can we stop kicking Zahi Hawass, please?
  The director of the Egyptian Antiquities Organisation — or whatever it is currently called — is one Zahi Hawass.  He dresses like Indiana Jones, and has brought colour and enthusiasm to the cause of promoting interest in Egyptology.  It is difficult, indeed, to see any TV programme about Egyptian archaeology which does not feature him. […]
• Christians in Britain may have rights after all, announce thought police
  Curious Presbyterian has some interesting news for us, which might otherwise go unnoticed.  He reports — from the Daily Mail, for the BBC has ignored it — that the Orwellian-sounding “Equalities and Human Rights Commission” has executed something of a U-turn — or at least a zigzag — on the question of whether “human rights” legislation might […]
• This week in patristics
  A week of patristics posts are linked here.  Thank you, Phil.
• Adding your own notes to your own print-out of an old book
  There is a German textbook which is unavailable for purchase, although still in copyright.  I need access to it.  So I borrowed a copy from the library, and for the last week I have been copying it. In days of yore, this would leave me with a pile of photocopies.  Today I merely create a […]
• More papers of interest to be presented at the Oxford Patristics Conference
  I’ve only scratched the surface of the papers being offered, but just looking down the list of tags on the conference blog is a treat! Eleni Pachoumi is giving a paper on the invocation of “Christos” in a magical text: This paper examines the spell “releasing from bonds” (XIII.288-95), in which Chrestos is invoked “in times […]
• Oxford Patristics Conference blog – abstracts online
  The Oxford Patristics Conference is now less than a month away, although it seems a lot more to me, snowed as I am in work.  Quite by accident, I learn this evening that the abstracts have been posted online as a blog by Markus Vinzent. The Eusebius papers to be offered are here.  At least […]
• A Babylonian priest of Roman Mithras
  I came across a reference yesterday to an inscription referring to a “babylonian priest of mithras”, here.: Amar Annus, The soul’s ascent and Tauroctony: On Babylonian sediment in the syncretic religious doctrines of late antiquity, Studien zu Ritual und Sozialgeschichte im Alten Orient, 2007, p.1-54.  On p.31 we find this interesting statement, after noting that “Chaldean” […]
• From my diary – translating Cyril, marketing Eusebius, and Keston College
  An email reached me last week from someone claiming to have experience of translating Cyril of Alexandria.  I have dusted off the Apologeticum ad imperatorem, therefore, and asked him to do the first page as a sample.  If it is OK, then perhaps we will at last get that work in English.  The text is […]
• Mithras in Plutarch
  In the Vita Pompeii Plutarch tells us that the Cilician pirates, originally equipped by Mithradates VI of Pontus, as we learn from Appian 63 and 92, worshipped “Mithra”.  They were accustomed to offer strange sacrifices on Olympus and to observe certain secret rites, of which that of Mithra is maintained to the present day by […]
• Greek books online
  An email from Stephan Huller brings the following interesting information: Did you know that all the old books in Greek public libraries – many dating to the sixteenth, seventeenth or eighteenth centuries – are available online at this address: http://publiclibs.ypepth.gr Just press the large orange banner and then type in the Greek name of any […]
• From my diary
  Oof!  A concerted effort, and I have just turned the last page of the massive tome that I got from the library and which I have been scanning all week.  I can’t afford to buy a copy — no-one could — and yet I need to consult it.  Solution: photocopy a library copy, or — in […]
• From my diary
  To London, to the Warburg Institute, with a car boot full of academic books to give away.  Some, I confess, I shall miss.  But I find that increasingly I prefer electronic versions of most academic books.  And I really haven’t the space.  Eight plastic bagfulls … wonder what I paid for those?  But the last […]
• Manuscript stolen in Spain
  The 12th codex Calixtinus, an illuminated guide for pilgrims going to the shrine of Compostela in Spain, has been stolen from the cathedral library. Reports suggest that it was a professional job.  More at eChurch blog.  It sounds as if it was stolen to order and is perhaps now in some private collection.  If so, it will […]
• From my diary, Michael Bourdeaux, East German anti-Christian policy in 1973, and a Swedish Syriac seminary
  I have a pile of academic books which I have concluded that I no longer need.  I’ve been fretting about how to post these to a colleague overseas.  But I find that he is at the Warburg Institute in London this month.  So I have spent this evening trying to work out where that is, […]
• From my diary
  Another 120 pages of the book through the scanner, hum, turn, hum, turn.  I shall be doing a fair bit of this during my evenings, I think. Meanwhile I did indeed get a reply to my enquiry to Keston College about the works of Michael Bourdeaux.  Then I got an email from Dr Bourdeaux himself, […]
• From my diary
  I wrote to Keston College this evening, to ask why none of the books and articles in which  Michael Bordeaux promoted knowledge of the persecution of Christians in the old USSR are online.  This stuff is fading into history.  I came across one poster who simply denied that the Soviets ever locked up believers in […]
• Can this be true?
  A report at Reuters, which somehow has not reached the BBC as far as I can tell. World temperatures did not rise from 1998 to 2008, while manmade emissions of carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuel grew by nearly a third, various data show. The researchers from Boston and Harvard Universities and Finland’s University of […]
• From my diary
  The final version of the leaflet for the Eusebius Gospel Problems and Solutions book has arrived.  I’ll check it at the weekend. A purchase of a CDROM from my site has involved me in a dispute.  The owner of the credit card has claimed that the purchase is not his.  I have already posted the […]
• Databases of Greek mss
  From this source, on NT textual criticism, itself well worth reading, I learn of two databases which are worth a look. The Pinakes database (http://pinakes.irht.cnrs.fr/) aims to bring together catalogue entries for all manuscripts of Greek texts predating the sixteenth century, supplementing the Leuven Database of Ancient Books (LDAB, http://www.trismegistos.org/ldab/). The latter gave some interesting […]
• From my diary
  Isn’t it odd that a difficult day at work tends to leave you too exhausted for anything else?  I’ve known husbands to make the same complaint of a row with their wives.  All these interruptions to what we think of as our “real” life! I went to the library at lunchtime and picked up vol. […]
• Mithras in Commagene — the hierothesion at Nemrud Dag
  Turkey is a land of many interesting archaeological sites, and I would very much like to go there some day!  One of them is a curiosity — a site in the minor Hellenistic kingdom of Commagene, at a place today known as Nemrud Dag in South-Eastern Turkey, adjoining Syria.  There is a website for an […]
• Aphrahat in English
  I can’t find the post, but a month or two back I decided that I really ought to try to get hold of the complete English translation of the classic Syriac author Aphrahat.  He wrote 26 sermons, and a selection was included in the Ante-Nicene Fathers series so is online.  But few people even know […]
• From my diary
  At home today, and I’ve spent part of the afternoon OCR-ing and proofing the section of Brockelmann’s History of Arabic Literature dedicated to historical writers of the classical period (750-1000 AD).  I hope to turn it into English and put it online.  It’s only from the first edition, but should still be useful.
• The discovery of Manichaean literature at Medinat Madu
  There is an excellent and delightful article on this here, which I thoroughly recommend.  I can’t wait for the next part, on the Turfan discoveries! For those interested, I have some rather dry notes on the discovery of the Medinat Madu codices here.
• Dionysius of Alexandria on Gutenberg
  Mike Aquilina draws my attention to a new arrival on Gutenberg, the old SPCK translation of letters and treatises by Dionysius of Alexandria.  It’s here, and done rather splendidly!  I didn’t even know the book existed, or I should long since have scanned it. Thank you Mike!  And thank you Gutenberg!
• Getting a TP-Link wifi router to work with Orange Broadband
  Some time back my broadband wifi router packed up, and I had to buy another.  I bought a TP-Link ADSL2 and wireless modem, model TD-W8960N.  Since my PC is always next to my router, I connected using the wire, and never worried about wireless.  I entered the connection details for Orange broadband, and it all worked […]
• Table of contents of Brockelmann’s history of Arabic literature
  I’ve been looking at the 1898 edition, and the contents gives an idea of the subject all by itself.  Here is the opening portion: Introduction 1 Book 1. The Arab national literature. Section 1.  From the beginnings to the emergence of Muhammad. 1.  The Arabic language. . 11 2.  The beginnings of poetry 12 3.  […]
• BBC: Those Christians are out rioting again
  A curious report here from the BBC.  Apparently a Coptic business man has reposted a cartoon of Mickey and Minne Mouse in Moslem dress.  I found the Minnie mouse one online, which I attach; I couldn’t locate the other.  Apparently a Moslem cartoonist has — rightly — retaliated with a cartoon of said businessman, which again […]
• From my diary
  Small stuff today.  A revised version of the leaflet for the Eusebius book arrived today — better, but not there yet.  Also a note from the library that Bloch, God’s plagiarist, — a biography of the Abbe Migne — has arrived.  I’ve started in on the OCR of the first edition of Brockelmann’s Geschichte der […]
• Death by heatstroke
  Some days nothing works.  It was 30.5C outside when I came out from work, and it’s hotter than hell up here in the study room.  I was going to take my PC downstairs, where I have an aircon unit working, but today, of all days, my Wifi has decided to take a break.  After an […]
• From my diary
  I have volume 1 of Brockelmann’s Geschichte der arabischen Litteratur (2nd ed. 1941) on order via my library.  But a correspondent sent me an interesting word document yesterday.  He’d downloaded volume 1 of the 1898 first edition, run it through some OCR, and then run the output through Google Translate.  The .doc file contained the […]
• Arrian’s lost work on “After Alexander” and what survives of it
  The second century writer Arrian is our best source for the life of Alexander the Great, using impeccable sources then extant but now lost.  A number of his other works are extant, and indeed his work On hunting even exists in ambien generic English, and can be found on Archive.org.  But equally interesting to us […]
• Brockelmann’s Geschichte der arabischen Litteratur and the greed of Brill
  I realised this evening that I really do need to look at the definitive work on Arabic literature, the Geschichte der arabischen Litteratur by Carl Brockelmann.  He did a first edition back in 1898, and a second edition in 1943.  The second edition is the standard work.  It was issued in two volumes, and there […]
• Hunain ibn Ishaq on the perils of jealousy at the Abbasid court
  Thanks to the generosity of David Wilmshurst here, we have this passage from Bar Hebraeus, Chronicon Ecclesiasticum, iii.198-200, which does not show the great translator from Greek to Arabic, Hunain ibn Ishaq, in a very favourable light: There flourished at that time the doctor Hunain, son of Isaac, the translator of books of medicine. He quarrelled […]
• Searching for Ibn Abi Useibia’s work on medical writers
  Using the form of the name “Ibn-e-Abi Useibia”, I was able to find a bunch of matches for “ibn abi usaybiah” in Worldcat.  We’re looking, of course, for his ʻUyūn al-anbāʼ fī ṭabaqāt al-ʼaṭibbāʼ.  It has things to say about Hippocrates and Galen, and also about Hunain ibn Ishaq. There are several publications listed in Worldcat.  The […]
• Ibn Abi Useibia and his history of medical writers
  R. Haddad wrote an interesting article Hunayn ibn Ishaq, apologiste chrétien (1974), which I was reading this evening, thanks to the kind gift of a bunch of articles over the weekend.   On p.293-4 he gives details of the appalling treatment of the great translator by the Caliph al-Mamun, which apparently come from a History of […]
• Eusebius update
  The proof copy of the paperback of Eusebius of Caesarea, Gospel problems and solutions (Quaestiones ad Stephanum et Marinum) has arrived this evening, and is perfectly fine.  I’ve marked it as approved on the Lightning Source site, so it should now start to trickle through the distribution system. Once I know that I can order […]
• British Library to place 250,000 books online — thanks to Google
  It seems that the BL will allow Google to place 250,000 books published between 1700 and 1870 online.  See AFP article here. All the works will be available for text search download and reading on the British Library’s website www.bl.uk and at Google Books on books.google.co.uk. The cost of digitising all 40 million pages will […]
• UK: Harassment of Christians to resume
  Yesterday the Sunday Telegraph published an interview with Trevor Phillips, the black Ghanaian-born former newsreader placed in charge of the UK Equalities and Human Rights Commission.  There was also a headline article on p.1 and 2 ‘Moslems are integrating better than Christians’, which summarised the interview. A web version of the article is here, but is […]
• Book review: After Alexander
  James Romm, Ghost on the throne: The death of Alexander the Great and the War for Crown and Empire, Random House (2011). 368p. $28.95. ISBN: 978-0-307-27164-8. The story of how Alexander of Macedon inherited the army that had conquered Greece and used it to conquer the world is known to us all.  Much less well […]
• A note on Evanthius grammaticus
  Bill Thayer of Lacus Curtius emails to ask if I have seen this link.  It’s a parallel Latin text and French translation of Evanthius grammaticus, De fabula and de comoedia excerpta.  I find that the name is also given as Euanthius.  Here’s a few notes on what I can find. Evanthius (or Euanthius) of Constantinople […]
• From my diary
  Yet another attempt to install IE9 on my machine has failed.  For a moment this morning it looked as if my attempt to do so had hopelessly corrupted my windows install.  It always fails when restarting on “setting up personalized setting for browser customizations”.  I don’t have any browser customisations — not intentional ones anyway […]
• From my diary
  Ordered vol. 2 of Vermaseren’s CIMRM today.  Let’s see if my local library can get it. Ordered 1,000 flyers from a local designer, to go in the welcome pack of the Oxford Patristics Conference.  These are due by 4th August, so need to be ready by then.  Some poor souls then have to make up […]
• A scholion on Lucian about Mithras, and a translation of Theodoret
  Here’s a couple of stray thoughts, relating to previous posts. Firstly, I can confirm that there is a translation into English of Theodoret’s Fabularum Haereticorum Compendium in the 1990 these by Glenn Melvin Cope, An analysis of the heresiological method of Theodoret of Cyrus in the “Haereticarum fabularum compendium”.  I got hold of a copy today, […]
• More on the Eusebius and Hegesippus of Rodosto / Raidestos
  Today I managed to get a look at R. Forster’s De antiquitatibus et libris manuscriptis Constantinopolitanis, 1877. [2019 update: now here]  This, if you remember, contains a catalogue of Greek manuscripts said to exist in the 16th century at Rodosto / Raidestos, a town just outside Constantinople. Well, it does contain such a list.  The […]
• Mithras in Tarsus
  Today I had the chance to look for ten minutes at volume one of Vermaseren’s Corpus Inscriptionum et Monumentorum Religionis Mithriacae (CIMRM).  The second volume was inaccessible, unfortunately.  The two volumes apparently parallel the two volumes in Cumont’s Textes et Monumentes, so I infer that the second volume may contain literary references. Vermaseren arranged his collection […]
• Is there room for a remake of “Up Pompeii”?
  Do you remember the old TV series, Up Pompeii?  Possibly not.  It hasn’t been shown in many, many years.  It was a hit before most people reading this were born.  There was also a film version, from which the image (left) is taken. The comedy — or farce, for such it was — was set […]
• From my diary
  I have gone through my page of literary testimonies to Mithras and added references to Cumont.
• I hate Lightning Source
  Yup.  They’ve done it to me again. I uploaded the stuff for the Eusebius paperback three weeks ago.  Yesterday I got impatient and asked where the proof was — no reply.  Today I got onto their chat system, and they tell me my order wasn’t processed because the book files were not uploaded!  Oh yes […]
• Ambrose of Milan on Mithras
  I’ve been going through Cumont’s Textes et Monumentes and adding material from it to my page of literary sources for Mithras.  One rather interesting snippet appeared only in a footnote, and was a quotation from Ambrose of Milan’s letters (which, fortunately, I have online), addressed to the emperor Valentinian. It seems that Ambrose knew so little […]
• The fate of the manuscripts in Rodosto
  I have now located E. Bratke’s article in Theologisches Literaturblatt 15 (1894), cols.65-67.  Here is a translation, with the German at the end.  “Rodosto” is also known as Raidestos, modern Tekirdag, and its inhabitants now live in Nea Raidestos, in Greece. I must admit my confidence that any such manuscript as the Eusebius Against Porphyry exists […]
• A mysterious reference to Theodoret in the NPNF John Damascene
  An email reached me asking: I was reading John of Damascus in NPNF Series 2, and a comparison was made to Theodoret’s “Epitome of Divine Dogmas.”  I tried searching with Google but gave up.  Do you know of an available English translation? The reference is to the prologue here, “From the Latin of the Edition […]
• The British Library — whoring the national library?
  They say a leopard cannot change its spots, and too often, this is so.  Over the last few years I have documented various outrageous examples of greed and cynicism by the British Library.  The BL is, remember, a body entirely funded by the money of others.  That money is not given freely.  It is exacted by […]
• Manuscripts of Rodosto / Tekirdag
  Last year I wrote about the manuscripts of Rodosto, now modern Tekirdag, which once contained a copy of Eusebius’ work against Porphyry, now lost.  There is a statement in Harnack’s edition of the fragments of Porphyry’s Against the Christians, p.30: A listing of manuscripts in Rodosto, written between 1565 and 1575, on p.30b: Eusebiou tou […]
• Syriac Wiki locked back down again
  I popped over to the wiki I have of notes about Syriac, to find it had been thoroughly vandalised.  Thank you, whoever did this — I now have to clean up the mess.
• How the lost “Peri Alupias” by Galen was found
  I have received an email from Veronique Boudon-Millot telling the story of how this lost work was found.  I have made an English translation of what she says, and, by permission, give the relevant portion here. Hello, Thank you for your email, your encouragement and enthusiasm, which Greek studies need now more than ever. Since you […]
• From my diary
  I’ve boxed up a few books that I want to send to a colleague in the EU.  Weight turns out to be around 7.5 kgs.  Prices, tho, seem prohibitive, whoever I  go to.  I mean … 110 GBP? ($160) Perhaps the trick is to send a few at a time.  Take them out of the […]
• Insomnia, old backups to CD, and books to post off
  Insomnia.  How tiresome.  But productive too. I wandered into my front room where a pile of books, mostly Tertullian-related, sits on the side gathering dust.  I intend to donate most of them to a scholar I know who has only limited access to such texts.  I sort out a handful which I am pretty sure I […]
• The sack of Constantinople (part 2)
  Just over a week ago I posted here about a supposed eyewitness account of the sack of Constantinople by the Turks in 1453 which was travelling around the web.  The source was Critoboulos, or Kritovoulos as it is also spelled.  I now have the Riggs English translation before me, and a comparison is interesting.  For it […]
• One evening
  “Alas, alas!” I cried.  For I thought that I had found a treasure, and it was brutally jerked from me at the last moment!  I am inconsolable. The history of Mehmet the conqueror sits in my scanner, and I turn the pages as I type.  The library lent it to me today.  It is a scarce […]
• Books by the Coptic Pope Shenouda III at Google Books
  I accidentally stumbled on a mass of English translations of works by the current Coptic Pope, Shenouda III, at Google books.  This search brings up a long list.  Some have preview; some are full view, and can be downloaded in PDF form. The first one I saw was a hagiography of St. Mark, here.  The work […]
• A list of the new manuscripts online at the British Library site
  At the British Library manuscripts blog, Julian Harrison is paying attention, and well done to him.  In response to comments like those here, he’s today posted a list of the 25 newly uploaded manuscripts.  Here it is, with extra text by me. Additional MS 4949  – 12th c. four gospels Additional MS 4950 – 13th […]
• Obtaining the catalogue of manuscripts of the Vlatadon monastery in Thessalonika
  I have just placed an order for a photocopy of the catalogue of the manuscripts of the Vlatadon monastery in Thessalonika.  This is the place which had the unknown Galen manuscript, which recovered such treasures for us.  I’ve ordered it from the French National Library using their online (and unduly complex) form.  Here’s their catalogue […]
• “I have outflanked these miserable insects…”
  An interesting email came to me today from David Wilmshurst, discussing the problems that a scholar has in editing Wikipedia, with a very nice turn of phrase in it: No agreement will ever be possible in a democratic forum like Wikipedia, because Assyrians and Chaldeans cannot agree on the basic premises.  Instead, I have outflanked these […]
• Papers on Eusebius at the SBL, 2009-11
  Aaron Johnson added a comment to a previous post which is most interesting, and liable to provoke separate discussion.  Here it is! Here’s the list of past and upcoming papers on Eusebius delivered at the SBL (2009-2011).  Sections 5-6 below are the ones slated for this November (in San Francisco). “Eusebius and the Construction of a […]
• British Library to digitise all its Greek manuscripts
  An announcement on the British Library manuscripts blog here tells us: Phase two of the British Library’s project to digitise all of its ca. 1,000 Greek manuscripts is now well under way. This phase — also generously funded by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation) — will digitise and make publicly available a further 250 manuscripts, adding […]
• The Vlatadon library in Thessalonika
  I have had an email back from Veronique Boudon-Millot today, giving the story of how the lost text by Galen, Peri Alupias (On consolation for grief) was found.  It’s very interesting, and I have asked for permission to translate it and place it here.  She also mentions that Vlatadon 14, the manuscript that contained the […]
• Montanus in the Chronicle of Zuqnin
  After my last post, I realised that I had a copy of Amir Harrak’s translation of parts 3 and 4 of the Chronicle of Zuqnin, which, for the section about Montanus, is based on John of Ephesus.  Here it is (Harrak, 1999, p.123-4): 549-550 The year eight hundred and sixty-one: Concerning the flood of the river […]
• The pagans at Constantinople in the time of Justinian
  Vivian Nutton’s paper From Galen to Alexander, Aspects of Medicine and Medical Practice in Late Antiquity,1 continues to give interesting pieces of information.  On page 6 he discusses the relationship of antique medicine to Christianity at the opening of the Byzantine period, and tells us: … John of Ephesus denounced in the persecutions of Justinian an […]
• Paul of Aegina and his medical handbook
  The technical literature of antiquity is generally hard for us to access.  Few would perhaps be able to venture much beyond Galen and Hippocrates for ancient medical writers. This evening I learned of the existence of Paulus Aeginata, Paul of Aegina, a 7th century compiler of a medical encyclopedia.  An article by Vivian Nutton, From […]
• R.J.Hoffmann on “Movement humanism”, while Mary Beard writes against attempt to limit smut for kiddies
  Two interesting posts came in via my RSS feed. The first, via eChurch blog, is by atheist R.J.Hoffmann, and entitled Movement Humanism.  What he describes is what most of us experience, when we encounter atheists or atheist writing: While often claiming the protective cloak of science and reason as their aegis for intellectual rectitude, movement humanism […]
• From my diary
  Two parcels this morning from Amazon. The first one contained a print-off version of Baumstark’s handbook on Syriac literature.  I ordered this while I was working on the Encyclopedia of Syriac Literature wiki, although I had a PDF.  But I can’t read a book in a PDF.  This one will get marginal notes that help […]
• Mithras and 25th December in Franz Cumont, English and French
  The great Franz Cumont, the founder of Mithraic studies, was not well served by his publisher.  The latter permitted an English translation to be made, not of the whole Textes et Monumentes — which would have been of great use — but instead of merely the last portion of only tome 1, the Conclusions.  The work was published […]
• From my diary
  I heard about elance last week, and decided to invite proposals for typesetting.  The site was not very friendly.  It demanded that I create a “job” in order to see what sort of people were available, whereas I would rather have done the opposite.  Anyway I did so.  When I started to get replies, I […]
• The library at Meshed / Mashhad in Iran — unknown classical texts!
  Let me direct you all to the comments on my earlier post about the discovery of some lost portions of Galen’s On my own books here.  The material is in Arabic translation, and found in a manuscript in Iran, at the library of Meshed.  I’d never heard of it! A commenter has dug into the question […]
• How long were ancient manuscripts used?
  An interesting but unsatisfying post at Ben Witherington, actually by Larry Hurtado: How long were ancient manuscripts used? George W. Houston, “Papyrological Evidence for Book Collections and Libraries in the Roman Empire,” in Ancient Literacies: The Culture of Reading in Greece and Rome, ed. William A. Johnson and Holt N. Parker (Oxford/New York: Oxford University […]
• Bar Hebraeus, Chronicon Ecclesiasticum vol. 2 now on Archive.org
  I’ve just created and uploaded a PDF of the Chronicon Ecclesiasticum of Bar Hebraeus, vol.2, to Archive.org.  The url is here: http://www.archive.org/details/BarHebraeusChroniconEcclesiasticumVol.2 Many blessings on Glasgow University Library who kindly photocopied this 19th century volume for me.  It arrived this evening, so I have spent the time since productively!  It cost about 25GBP to get the copies, […]
• More on Critoboulos of Imbros
  Looking at the introduction to the German edition of Critoboulos’ history, I find that a German translation is promised.  And it was so: Das Geschichtswerk des Kritobulos von Imbros, Reihe ‘Byzantinische Geschichtsschreiber’, Bd. XVII, hg. von J. Koder, übersetzt, eingeleitet und erklärt von Dieter Roderich Reinsch, Graz, Wien, Köln 1986. Useful to know, anyway.
• The sack of Constantinople in 1453
  I happened across the following item online, described as an “eyewitness”, but not properly referenced.  We all know how unreliable such things can be, so I started to hunt around.  The text is given on this website here, and then repeated on various other sites.  Pajamas Media gives it in an article Turkey celebrates 558 […]
• Sisters of Sinai, and other snippets
  Yesterday and today I have been reading Sisters of Sinai by Janet Soskice, which I bought in Heffers in Cambridge on Saturday.  This is a biography of Agnes Lewis and Margaret Gibson, the two sisters who discovered the Old Syriac palimpsest of the gospels at Mount Sinai back in the late 19th century, in company […]
• The critical marks of Aristarchus in Andronicus of Alexandria
  A comment on my post from Diogenes Laertius, listing the critical marks in use in the 3rd century, drew my attention to the work of the Augustan grammarian Aristonicus of Alexandria.  Apparently Friedlander in 1853 published the remains of his work on the critical signs used for the Iliad and Odyssey (Peri Semeion).  Friedlander is […]
• Books, libraries, codices and punctuation in Rome in Galen’s “Peri Alupias”
  Galen’s Peri Alupias, (On the Avoidance of Grief), contains many interesting statements about the destruction of libraries in the fire.  The following excerpts are from the translation by Clare K. Rothschild and Trevor W. Thompson 1, of the fire and its aftermath. 6. Likewise, it is no (longer possible to have) the books – corrected versions, […]
• Eusebius update
  No sign yet of the proof copy of the paperback. I’ve uploaded the hardback to Google Books.  No doubt it will appear there, in preview, in due course. I’ve contacted the Oxford Patristics Conference about having a flyer in the welcome pack promoting the book, with sample pages etc.  Also I’ve emailed a local design […]
• From my diary
  A kind correspondent has sent me the translation of Galen’s Peri Alupias from Early Christianity.  It seems that the latter journal is not very widely subscribed to, which is curious since it seems to be of a high standard.  Mind you, they need to think about that charge of $33 for downloading a copy of […]
• Galen, “On my own books” — the translation of Hunain ibn Ishaq
  The second century medical writer Galen left behind such a vast array of works that it has been estimated that around 20% of the surviving volume of ancient Greek was written by him!  I’m not sure where this estimate comes from, but it is a remarkable amount. Ancient medical texts are a specialised interest.  Our […]
• From my diary
  I’m in Cambridge University Library.  I’m looking for articles in Early Christianity,  a new journal.  There is a translation of Galen’s Peri Alupias in it.  But it seems that CUL does not subscribe.  To access it means $33 (plus tax).  There’s no sign of a paper subscription.  Why, I wonder, do we pay taxes for […]
• From my diary
  Lightning Source got back to me and said that the hardback version of Eusebius, Gospel Problems and Solutions, should be available through Amazon in up to 15 days.  This prompted me to look at the Amazon page, which revealed that two sellers were offering the book for sale!  Most interesting! One was Amazon itself; but […]
• A newly discovered text by Galen
  David Wilmshurst has drawn my attention to a find.  It seems that a French scholar discovered a lost work by Galen in a monastery in Thessalonika, not long ago!  Apparently there was a Times Literary Supplement article which mentioned it, and I found this word document — apparently abstracts from a 2007 Classical Association of […]
• Greek non-technical works in Arabic
  An interesting comment on my last post deserves further examination.  It read, in part: Okasha El Daly’s Egyptology: the missing millennium: ancient Egypt in medieval Arabic writings mentioned a number of unexpected Arabic translations of Greek writings, including poets like Homer. The link to the Google Books preview allows us to investigate a bit.  The book, […]
• Notes on the transmission of Aeschylus
  The fifth century BC dramatist Aeschylus is one of the few Greek dramatists whose works have survived.  Originally more than 80 plays existed, and official copies were deposited in the Metroon in Athens.  His plays remained popular during the fourth and third centuries BC.  1 Some time after 240 BC, when the Library of Alexandria […]
• On the lives of the philosophers
  It is a salutary experience to read through Diogenes Laertius, Lives of the eminent philosophers.  I have just completed volume 1, and in the process have gained quite an insight into the running of the Greek states, just from the way in which they interacted with various individuals.  The wills of some of them are […]
• Greek text critical marks as described by Diogenes Laertius
  I’m reading through the first volume of Diogenes Laertius Lives of the Philosophers.  In book 3, devoted to Plato, we find the following interesting excursus, which I copy from a version present on Wikisource here. 65. The right interpretation of his dialogues includes three things: first, the meaning of every statement must be explained; next, […]
• From my diary
  I’ve been updating the Encyclopedia of Syriac Literature wiki in fits and starts, mainly for my own use.  I may do some more tomorrow.
• More on getting hold of Bar Hebraeus
  A very quick reply from Glasgow University Library.  It’s good news — they can do me a photocopy of vol.2 of Bar Hebraeus Chronicon Ecclesiasticum for 24 GBP ($36).  That is not much more than I spent on a Kessinger reproduction of vol. 3 last week.  Unfortunately we have to pay a further 20% to the […]
• From my diary
  Now that the Eusebius book exists, it is possible to order copies.   The Amazon site doesn’t show it as available, but I can certainly order them myself.  The hardback is pricey tho — $75.  But if you want one, send a message to me and we can talk.  I have various people I need to email, but I […]
• From my diary
  I have a bunch of notes online about Syriac writers.  I entered these by setting up a wiki on my own site, and doing it there.  The url is https://www.roger-pearse.com/wiki, and, since I had to give it a title, I rather grandly titled it the Encyclopedia of Syriac Literature.  I didn’t actually want other people […]
• From my diary
  I’ve received the modern printing of vol. 3 of Bar Hebraeus Chronicon Ecclesiasticum.  It’s OK, if a bit grainy.  But of course what we all want is PDF’s.  I will look at scanning it into PDF when I recover from my little indisposition. But I’ve also found that Glasgow University Library has a copy of the work.  […]
• Eusebius update — the proof has been approved
  Much rejoicing here at Pearse Towers.  The proof copy of the hardback of Eusebius, Gospel Problems and Solutions, has arrived.  I examined it, and I’ve gone onto the printer’s website and given my approval.  It’s done, basically. The next question is when we can buy copies.  I have emailed Lightning Source asking this question.  I suspect that […]
• An article on the life and works of the Coptic saint Pisentios
  Dioscorus Boles has written an excellent article on one of the Coptic Fathers: An aid to the study of St. Pisentios, bishop of Coptos: his life and two famous letters.  Even the most detailed patrologies give little information about this 7th century Father, but his life and letters are important among the Coptic Fathers.  Dioscorus […]
• From my diary
  Over the weekend I decided to order a copy of Diogenes Laertius in the Loeb Classical Library, for purposes of personal reading.  I already had a PDF of the book, but you can’t really read a PDF. Today the book arrived.  Interestingly there was a new introduction in it, with some interesting details about the translator, […]
• Josephus and his assistants
  In Contra Apionem book 1, 50, (p.183 of the Loeb) we find the following interesting statement about how Josephus worked on the Jewish War: Then, in the leisure that Rome afforded me, with all my materials in readiness, and with the aid of some assistants for the sake of the Greek, at last I committed […]
• From my diary
  I’ve just got back from a rather ridiculous business trip, where the company made no concessions to human nature in its demands for long hours and travel.  Silly people. I’ve finished reading Aulus Gellius, and have moved onto Josephus Contra Apionem in the Loeb, which I found in my pile of books to be disposed […]
• Eusebius update
  Apparently the proof hasn’t even been ordered.  I did what Lightning Source asked; I queried progress several times; but they tell me today that this was wrong, apparently.  They’ve now asked me to do something different, on their useless online system.  But their “instructions” do not work. I can’t even work out how to do it.  […]
• Pythagoras is full of beans!
  From Aulus Gellius’ Attic Nights, book 4, chapter 11, we find this curious tale about Pythagoras, the philosopher well-known for his vegetarianism and opposition to eating beans.  It is, perhaps, from an anti-Pythagoras source. 11. The nature of the information which Aristoxenus has handed down about Pythagoras on the ground that it was more authoritative; […]
• From my diary
  I’ve discovered that volume 3 of the Abeloos and Lamy edition of Bar Hebraeus Chronicon Ecclestiasticum is available from Kessinger in a reprint.  Not that you will discover this from the Kessinger site; but if you go to www.abebooks.com, and search by title, it’s there. Ordered one this evening!
• For sale: two slave girls. Slightly used.
  In the Attic Nights of Aulus Gellius, in book 4, chapter 2, there is an interesting passage on the buying and selling of slaves.  Here it is: 2. On the difference between a disease and a defect, and the force of those terms in the aediles’ edict; also whether eunuchs and barren women can be returned, and […]
• What did the Romans eat? – by N. S. Gill
  The ancient history blog by N. S. Gill at About.com is in my RSS reader, so I see the posts there.  For some time I have noticed that the posts have begun to be very useful indeed, and, better yet, well-referenced!  That is such an improvement on the posts that I saw in former times.  It may […]
• From my diary
  While turning out a drawer, I came across two old CD’s, containing photographs taken in Egypt a long time ago.  They were, indeed, Kodak PhotoCD’s.  The original photographs were on film, taken 20 years ago, and then I paid for them to be placed on disk.  The disk could be read on pretty much any […]
• From my diary
  It is summer here, and has been for some weeks.  Yes, I know it’s only the middle of May, but it is Saturday morning and there is a cloudless blue sky out there. A couple of weeks ago it was so nice that I went out for a country walk, along I route I did […]
• Stats on the blog
  Something made me look at the WordPress statistics page on this blog.  It seems that in March the blog received 15,485 hits.  In April, however, I was more boring and only got 13,906. I have no idea whether those stats are real, or good, or bad.  But the trend seems to be steadily upwards.  It […]
• Speaking for others: Cicero and the people he put in his dialogues
  I am always suspicious of generalities.  One generality that has bothered me for a while concerns the works of Cicero. Some of these works, like the Tusculan Disputations, assemble a cast of Romans who engage in a debate.  These are usually important people, and are all deceased.  It is routinely said, without discussion, that this […]
• A note on “brinking” — how trolling is done in moderated forums
  The internet jargon term “brinking” is one that seems to be falling out of use.  Never commonly used online, and often used with slightly different meanings, it is now scarcely heard.   But the activity denoted by the word has not diminished, and indeed, if anything, has increased, especially on Wikipedia.  The loss of the word, indeed, is […]
• An intelligent question about Mithras
  I found this in a headbanger forum, in an otherwise foolish post about Mithras: How many gods do you know who were born wearing a hat and packing a shiv? Good question. (The monument is CIMRM 353, reproduced as figure 100 in that corpus).
• Casaubon and the exposure of the Hermetic corpus
  Today I learned from a post by Jim Davila that Isaac Casaubon, the celebrated 17th century philologist, determined that the works transmitted from antiquity under the name of Hermes Trismegistus were not the ancient items that they professed, but rather belonged to the Hellenistic era.  I knew that the “Hermetic corpus” was bogus, but not why.  […]
• Notes on the works of the alchemist Zosimus of Panopolis
  Quite by chance, I came across a PhD thesis online from 2006,1 which contained a rather interesting discussion of the sources for the ancient alchemical writer, Zosimus of Panopolis.  A few notes from this may be of general interest. Alchemy is usually defined as the attempt to transmute base metals into gold, and the methods […]
• Cyber-attacks on Lacus Curtius
  I learn from the New at LacusCurtius & Livius blog that there have been another round of attacks on the Lacus Curtius site, hosted at the University of Chicago. For those who do not know it — and why on earth do you NOT know it? — it is the personal site of Bill Thayer, […]
• Bettany on Atlantis, yum! yum!
  OK you chaps.  Enough of poring over a grimy Illiad, men.  We have important news.  Bettany Hughes, the pin-up of the pre-socratics, has a new TV programme out.  It’s called Atlantis: the evidence.  And very nice she looks in it too.  Lots of stuff about Thera and the Minoans, although I don’t think she puts on […]
• Light on Peregrinus Proteus
  The second century philosopher Peregrinus Proteus is best known to us because of a rather vicious satire directed at him by Lucian, The Passing of Peregrinus.  The satire has achieved a wide readership because it is one of the early texts which mention the Christians. But a far more kindly, and probably more accurate, portrait […]
• The duties of the Flamen Dialis
  Readers of Lindsay Davis’ “Falco” detective novels, set in Vespasian’s Rome, will remember One Virgin too many.  This novel was the last good one in the series, after which they deteriorated.  It featured murders in the family of the Flamen Dialis, the priest of Jupiter in the state cults.  Much is made of the restrictions on the holder […]
• The tomb of a Greco-Egyptian priest and his papyrus codices
  Felling rather lighter in heart, I spent this evening creating a Wikipedia article for Leyden papyrus X.  This is an alchemical papyrus codex of 20 leaves, dating from around 300 AD or just before, and dedicated to metalurgy.  It came out of Luxor in Egypt, or rather, out of Thebes.  It’s written in Greek with […]
• From my diary
  I’ve had to write two emails today that I really didn’t want to write.  But I have reached the end of the day in a state of exhaustion, and, when you get that tired, you have to load shed.  It is my turn to do so. Firstly I have written to say that I cannot […]
• More on Persian Christian literature
  There have been a number of further posts in the NASCAS forum on the subject of Persian Christian literature, all of considerable interest. Thomas A. Carlson writes: At one time there was a larger corpus of Persian Christian materials.  In Middle Persian there were some psalms, translations from Syriac Christian authors (including Abraham of Nathpar […]
• Persian Christian manuscripts
  The NASCAS Christian Arabic group is one I look into from time to time, because of my interest in Christian Arabic literature.  But I find today a couple of messages there on something even further removed from the comfortable shores of Greek and Latin patristics.  Who in the world knows anything about Persian Christian literature? […]
• John the Lydian, ‘March’ from book 4 of “On the months” now online
  The 6th century writer John the Lydian wrote a book De Mensibus, On the months, in which he gathered a great deal of antiquarian lore about the Roman world.  Book 4 of this work goes through the months, noting the festivals together with other information. Some time back I commissioned a translation of “March” from […]
• From my diary
  Back on the chain gang, moan groan … until I consider that there are many people who would gladly swap places with me! I’ve just upgraded the memory in my laptop this evening from 4Gbto 8Gb.  It makes quite a remarkable difference to the speed of the machine.  The memory I got from Crucial.com, whose […]
• Not talking, not talking, just send me messages
  This evening someone wrote to me, and asked for my phone number.  I think they wanted to convey some information without leaving a trail, and of course this is understandable.  But from time to time people do this.  They write an email, and then I get a request to talk by telephone.  It is never […]
• Osama bin Laden dead
  Apparently the US got him at last — he was shot dead in a gun battle in Pakistan.  Let us rejoice at this, for it means that the world is a better place today. He inherited huge amounts of money, and was evidently a man of much ability.  He used that money and ability to […]
• Origen update
  Slightly horrified to discover that the last email exchange with the translator of Origen’s Homilies on Ezekiel was 18th May 2010!  It’s been a hard year, I know, and the Eusebius has eaten all my time and energy, but even so that’s too long.  And it’s my fault; I simply cannot keep track of everything […]
• Publishing Michael the Syrian
  An email has arrived, inviting me to publish commercially an English translation of the World Chronicle of Michael the Syrian.  This is a surprise, although a welcome one.  It is a very great honour also. The Chronicle of Michael the Syrian is an enormous thing.  The French translation by J.-B. Chabot, made a century ago, […]
• The lighthouse at Leptis Magna
  The harbour at Leptis Magna is a bay between two headlands, as this map from the web shows (click on the images for full-size).  It is silted up now, and a sandy beach runs between the two: Lighthouse at Leptis Magna On the far headland stands the lighthouse, or what now remains of it.  It […]
• Dreaming of Rome
  For the last few days I have been dipping into a general tourist guide to Rome at odd points during the day.  It’s been very pleasant, imagining myself there, thinking of the Piazza Navona or the Spanish Steps, or the little shop not far from the Pantheon where one can buy bread and cheese and […]
• Mithras in the Greek Magical Papyri
  A chance query led me to Betz’ English translation of the Greek magical papyri.  This is a collection of magical texts in multiple volumes discovered at Thebes in the early 19th century.  The best known of these is the so-called Mithras liturgy, which is in reality just a spell like the rest.  The reason it […]
• A letter of James of Edessa on various issues
  Here is a translation (from the French of Francois Nau in ROC) of a letter of James of Edessa, to John the Stylite.  The headings in italics are by Nau. ANOTHER LETTER FROM THE SAME TO THE SAME.  To our spiritual and beloved brother, to the religious and pious priest Mar John, (from) James the […]
• Hunain ibn Ishaq from the Encyclopedia of Islam
  Yesterday I mentioned that the PDF’s of the Encyclopedia of Islam 2nd edition had appeared online.  I downloaded them last night, and then went to look at the article on Hunayn ibn Ishaq, the 9th century Christian who translated the Greek scientific works into Arabic.  It was rather good; so much so, in fact, that […]
• Brill’s Encyclopedia of Islam (2nd Ed) online at Archive.org?
  An amazing report at AWOL from Charles Jones: Encyclopaedia of Islam, New Edition (1986-2004) Leiden, E.J.Brill at the Internet Archive Vol. 1 Vol. 2 Vol. 3 Vol. 4 Vol. 5 Vol. 6 Vol. 7 Vol. 8 Vol. 9 Vol. 10 Vol. 11 Vol. 12 Index Wow.  And I say again, wow! I don’t know why […]
• Eusebius update
  The revised cover has now been uploaded to Lightning Source and a proof ordered.  If that is OK, then we are go! This is the hardback cover, of course.  Nick the designer has spotted a glitch with the paperback cover.  I’ve asked him to come up with a slightly smaller bitmap for the cover, which […]
• Mithras: list of literary testimonia
  When I encounter twaddle about the ancient world online, I always find it  useful to gather all the relevant ancient sources.  Long ago I did this with Mithras.  I have just revised my collection and expanded it, and included also the references to Persian Mitra in Greek and Roman literature.  The result is here.
• More on early French travellers to Libya
  A year ago I posted a photo of the circus at Leptis Magna, and queried whether the circus — now reduced to foundations — really was standing to some height back when the first explorers arrived in the 17th century. A commenter has directed me to an article with a figure from Durand’s article, from […]
• The harrowing of hell, or the clearing of the inboxes?
  On Easter Saturday, some of my readers are rather busy. I can tell that they are busy from my inbox.  It’s stonkingly hot out there today — it reached well over 80F today, or 27C in our devalued French measures.  But too many of you were sat in front of your computers for my comfort, when I […]
• Eusebius update
  Still trying to get the cover together.  At the moment it is one step forward, one step back!  I’ve now got the hardback and paperback covers, which look very good.  Unfortunately we have now lost in the process at least one important graphic element.  But Ben who is doing the final edits is picking up on […]
• The headline-grabbers of yesterday
  A curious and rather sad article by Mark Tooley, Celebrating the Resurrection, at the American Spectator, (via Curious Presbyterian): The Jesus Seminar, founded in 1985 to adjudicate over which Scriptures were historically accurate, and which always excluded any talk about miracles, once gained widespread attention for its routine objections to traditional Christian belief.  “Christ’s Body Actually […]
• Dumping Falco down the charity shop
  It’s time.  I’ve had enough.  I’ve decided to dump all the Falco novels by Lindsay Davis after The Jupiter House down at the charity shop. This series is one that I used to really enjoy.  I even bought some of the hardbacks, rather than wait for the paperback.  But it has got steadily less good.  […]
• How to send a bunch of books from the UK to the Czech Republic?
  I have a bunch of books which I should like to send from the UK to a scholar in the Czech Republic.  Trouble is, this could easily get pricey! Does anyone have any suggestions as to how best to do this?
• From my diary
  We all know Franz Cumont’s Textes et Monumentes, which collected all the ancient sources on Mithras known a century ago.  What few realise is that a translation was made of most of the literary fragments that he published.  It’s A. S. Geden, Select passages illustrating Mithraism.  It was published by SPCK in 1925; and since Mr. […]
• From my diary
  You’re expecting blogging on a day like this? I’ve been out in the garden, giving the grass the first cut of spring.  I’ve been down at the sea side, walking along the sea wall, buying an ice-cream from a vendor. Go thou and do likewise.
• A Coptic fragment of the Gospel of the Twelve at Sothebys
  Alin Suciu has the details.
• Montaigne’s tower and other delights
  Just a quick note on a piece that I have found on Laudator Temporis Acti, Montaigne’s tower.  It is always good to find a blog which is a scrapbook of fascinating stuff.  After reading The foundation of all Greek scholarship, I found this, invoking the spirit of the French essayist Montaigne: Geoffrey Grigson, Montaigne’s Tower: […]
• From my diary
  Still busy with dull stuff, but I have been revising the Wikipedia article on Areimanios.  “Who he?” I hear you cry?  Well Areimanios is the Greek name for Ahriman, the Persian evil spirit, used in descriptions of Zoroastrianism in Plutarch and the like. Except … there’s more.  There are some odd traces of a non-evil […]
• A curious quote from one of the Greek magical papyri
  I happened to see this claim in an online puff for the curious theories of Acharya S: The salvific death and resurrection at Easter of the god, the initiation as remover of sin, and the notion of becoming “born again,” are all ages-old Pagan motifs or mysteries rehashed in the later Christianity. The all-important death-and-resurrection […]
• Some notes on the Great Paris spell-book
  I’m looking at Preisendanz’ edition of the Greek magical papyri.  I thought some notes on one of them, PGM IV, also known as the great magical book, or the great spell-book, might be useful.  This is the codex that contains the so-called Mithras liturgy — in reality merely a spell-ritual. The so-called “great Paris magical […]
• Eusebius update
  The revised cover design now seems OK to me.  I’ve asked Ben, who is doing the revising, to make sure it’s exported to PDF precisely as Lightning Source want.  Once that’s done, I’ll reupload, order a new proof, and … hopefully … we can go to print.  The process has been delayed by a fortnight […]
• Did Basil of Caesarea attack science
  In my post yesterday I discussed an online quotation from Eusebius in an anti-Christian diatribe: #300 #Noted Catholic Bishops declare science to be of no interest to Christians The attitude of most of the Church Fathers towards science, however, was one of indifference or hostility. Bishop Eusebius, the noted historian of the early Christian Church, […]
• Did Eusebius attack science?
  Browsing a usenet forum today, I came across a vitriolic post attacking the Christians by quoting all the ancient Christian authors who did not happen to hold the same views of science as those living nearly a score of centuries later.  For some reason the poster did not include the ancient non-Christian authors in his […]
• Life on the edge of the forum
  When I read the epigrams of Martial or the satires of Juvenal, what strikes me more than anything else is the sheer discomfort of living in ancient Rome.  Martial himself had no running water laid on at his home.  Juvenal describes the risk of a poor man on his way home being crushed in the mass […]
• Preisendanz’ edition of the Papyri Graecae Magicae
  An email this evening asks where the Greek text of the Greek Magical Papyri might be found.  The wikipedia article tells me that Karl Preisendanz published them between 1928-31, and that a revised edition came out in the 70’s. Interestingly someone has placed the first edition online here.  I wonder whether they are indeed out […]
• The demands of the world on the church
  Two quotations.  The first, from the Christian Post via Curious Presbyterian, relates to an atheist academic.  Dr A. became a Christian and was then denied tenure at the university.  A court has ruled this was unlawful discrimination.  From the plaintiff: Adams and his attorney … assert that both Levy, an outspoken feminist, and Cook, an atheist, denied the full professorship […]
• From my diary
  A correspondent is helping revise the Eusebius book cover.  A problem that I am encountering is that Nick the graphic designer is using Adobe Indesign CS3, while Bob the typesetter is using CS5 and Ben who is doing the revision is doing the same.  It turns out that you can’t export from Indesign CS5 back […]
• A letter of St. Pisentios on Islam
  While looking rather carelessly through the online volumes of the Revue de l’Orient Chretien, whose Syriac contents are listed here, I found myself looking at something interesting and non-Syriac. In ROC 19 (1914), on p.79f. and 302 f. (the article was split into two parts, issued in successive quarters), A. Perier publishes the Arabic text […]
• An online translation of the Greek magical papyri
  At Abnormal Interests there is an interesting poston the find of the Greek magical papyri.  The anecdote is taken from H. D. Betz translation of all these papyri, which someone has uploaded to ScribD (Hans Dieter Betz, ed., The Greek Magical Papyri in Translation, Including the Demotic Spells, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1986.)    This […]
• A new Coptic nationalist blog
  Dioscorus Boles, who comments regularly on Coptic materials here, has started his own blog here, discussing history and politics from a contemporary Coptic point of view.
• Slightly worrying…
  … that over the last 5 days, since 4pm on 1st April, I have received or sent 184 emails. No wonder I find myself gasping for breath!
• Did the plays of Menander survive to the renaissance
  I was very tired last night, and in need of something gentle to read.  So I took Andrew Lang’s Books and Bookmen to bed with me.  The name of Andrew Lang is one that I knew when I was a lad, for Tolkien refers to him often in his essay on fantasy, as the author […]
• Coptic fragments from Sothebys
  Alin Suciu has a couple of interesting posts, identifying some Coptic fragments recently auctioned at Sothebys.  More info here! http://suciualin.wordpress.com/2011/03/25/the-identification-of-the-coptic-fragments-auctioned-by-sothebys/ http://suciualin.wordpress.com/2011/03/28/the-sothebys-coptic-fragments-supplementary-identifications/
• Bibliotheca Orientalis online!
  An email from a correspondant brings great news: Assemani’s Bibliotheca Orientalis is online! You have here the list of the 4 volumes from Bonn’s University : http://opac.ulb.uni-bonn.de:8080/webOPACClient/search.do?methodToCall=volumeSearch&dbIdentifier=-1&forward=success&catKey=708760&periodical=N   And the pdf for each volume is here (I had no time to download them): Vol. 1 = http://s2w.hbz-nrw.de/ulbbn/content/structure/31899  Vol. 2 = http://s2w.hbz-nrw.de/ulbbn/content/structure/32610 Vol. 3 = http://s2w.hbz-nrw.de/ulbbn/content/structure/33339 […]
• Some notes on David Elkington
  The Jordan Lead Codices continue to attract my interest.  This evening I went looking for an email address for the gentleman, with a view to asking him some questions.  It is, after all, entirely possible that he is the victim of a fraud, rather than its perpetrator.  The latter, indeed, seems unlikely to me. I […]
• From my diary
  Starting a new job today, so not very much free time.  The new job demands 8 hours a day, rather than the usual 7.5 — there is a nasty trend in modern work to increase hours worked, and to try to get even more than that, and get hours unpaid.  Oh well.  Meanwhile a correspondent, who […]
• Lead codices are fake
  I mentioned a few days ago the find of a stash of lead books, supposedly from the time of Christ, in Jordan.  One of the few people to see the collection is David Elkington, a scholar of ancient religious archaeology who is heading a British team trying to get the lead books safely into a […]
• Eusebius update
  I’m trying to get the issues with the dustjacket fixed.  Everything is taking longer than it might!  The graphic designer isn’t responding to my emails — I don’t think I was nasty to him, but I did have to say that the proof showed up problems, because it did.  A reader has kindly jumped in […]
• “According to Realencyclopaedie, the inscription Chrestos is to be seen on a Mithras relief in the Vatican”
  I love modern legends.  They have been the stimulus for much of what I have done online.  The effort to research, access and document has given me many happy hours. This morning I was sitting in front of the monitor, looking for inspiration and stimulation.  Then a Google Groups search on Mithras brought up this […]
• Cybele in the fables of Phaedrus
  I was looking at the talk page of the Wikipedia Cybele article and a reference to Phaedrus 3:20 caught my eye.  I thought this must be the fabulist, rather than the dialogue of Plato, and so it proved.  A translation of all the fables is at Gutenberg here.  Apparently there is some question as to […]
• New attacks on Christians in Britain
  At Oxford the university has always had a number of colleges associated with it which train people for the Christian ministry.  This is a legacy of the days not so long ago when every college fellow was in orders.  The colleges degrees are issued by the university. Well, apparently that’s now illegal in Britain.  At least, […]
• Eusebius update – the proof copy has arrived
  The proof copy of the hardback of Eusebius Gospel Problems and Solutions has arrived.  And it looks great!  The cover image is exactly right.  The book as a whole looks very solid.  I’m glad about that.  I’m also glad I went with a dust-jacket. However … I’m not happy, tho, about the typesetting of the text matter […]
• Eusebius update
  The cover graphic that I released into the publishing system has turned up on Amazon and … is terrible.  That settles it.  I have written to the logo designer I used earlier this year and asked him to quote to work over the cover graphics — i.e. the text — and turn it into something […]
• The anonymous atheist
  Curious Presbyterian signals an article here in Christianity today about an atheist who converted to Christianity after seeing how appalling the atheists were online.  It’s well worth reading, and any sensible person must have had the same experience.  An excerpt: As time went on, he began to see more and more the brutality and harshness […]
• Arrian “Ars Tactica” on Cybele and Attis at Rome
  N. S. Gill writes the following here: A pine tree was made to represent the dead Attis for the day of the entrance of the tree. The reference given is “The Cannophori and the March Festival of Magna Mater,” by Duncan Fishwick. Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association, Vol. 97. (1966), pp. 193-202.  […]
• Origen on unnatural vice
  I was reading through Origen’s Dialogue with Heracleides and came across the following interesting comment on sin: The things that are liable to punishment, therefore, are not merely the terrible and fearful sins which should not even be named, whether sins of life or of thought, but also sins commonly thought to be of less […]
• From my diary
  No internet access at home this morning — my broadband provider must be having a problem.  But I have to go out this morning anyway.  Today is the day my cleaning lady comes in, and, if I stay, she talks at me rather than doing her job! So I’m sat in the local library.  Fortunately […]
• Scrolls and lead codices?
  According to the BBC website, A group of 70 or so “books”, each with between five and 15 lead leaves bound by lead rings, was apparently discovered in a remote arid valley in northern Jordan somewhere between 2005 and 2007. A flash flood had exposed two niches inside the cave, one of them marked with […]
• A forgotten poet and the limits of the internet
  This evening I was reading an atheist forum.  Most of them were insane, chattering how Jesus never existed, never walked on earth, and — so often had they told themselves the lie — that there was no evidence whatever that he had.  One, however, much reviled by the rest, continued to protest that this was […]
• Still more on the collectio avellana
  I have just become aware via this site that quite a number of the letters in the Collectio Avellana, a mass of 243 papal and imperial letters of the 5-6th centuries, may exist in English.  There is a three volume collection by P. R. Coleman-Norton, Roman State and Christian Church, 3 volumes (London: SPCK, 1966), […]
• From my diary
  A sunny day this morning – far too nice to sit around in front of the computer with the light on.  But also a day on which chores have to be done.  So I was off out and doing them.  Luckily (?) it clouded over this afternoon so here I am.  But if it is nice […]
• Dies sanguinis – what do we know about this?
  There are some pretty adventurous claims out there, about the Roman holiday of the “dies sanguinis” or “day of blood”.   This article from About.com is rather better than most, in that it is referenced, but it includes one of the odder claims I have seen: In ancient Roman history, the 24th of March (VIII Kal […]
• Macrobius on Dionysius in the Commentary on the Dream of Scipio
  The final text referenced by J. G. Frazer in the Golden Bough when discussing the “resurrection” of Dionysus was the Commentary on the Dream of Scipio by Macrobius.  A kind correspondant has emailed me a page or two from Stahl’s English translation of this. Part of what Frazer said is this (see a fuller discussion earlier): […]
• Angelo Mai’s Nova Patrum Bibliothecae now online complete at Archive.org
  I learn from this link that the whole series is now online for the first time with the arrival of volume 4.  Excellent news! Volume 2  => http://www.archive.org/details/novaepatrumbibli02maiauoft Volume 3 => http://www.archive.org/details/novaepatrumbibli03maiauoft Volume 4 => http://www.archive.org/details/novaepatrumbibli04maia Volume 5 => http://www.archive.org/details/novaepatrumbibli05maiauoft Volume 6 => http://www.archive.org/details/novaepatrumbibli06maiauoft Volume 7 => http://www.archive.org/details/novaepatrumbibli07maiauoft Volume 8 => https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_avgztuwAX1IC
• The colophon of the Tura papyrus of Origen Contra Celsum
  At the end of book 1 of the papyrus containing extracts of books 1 and 2 of Origen’s Contra Celsum, is an interesting note: μετεβληθη και αντεβληθη εξ αντιγραφου των αυτου ωριγενους βιβλι[ων] Revised and corrected from the copy of the books of Origen himself. This is quite a statement, in a manuscript of the […]
• The abolition of the Lupercalia – letter 100 of the Collectio Avellana
  I thought that I had blogged about this, but it seems I did not, or at least, can’t find it if I did. The ancient festival of the Lupercalia was only abolished late in the 5th century.  Pope Gelasius wrote a letter to the senator Andromachus, justifying the move.  It’s found in the Collectio Avellana, […]
• The third Vatican mythographer and the resurrection of Dionysus
  As I was saying earlier, J. G. Frazer in the Golden Bough made some claims (with references) about this.  In particular he said: In other [stories] it is simply said that shortly after his burial he rose from the dead and ascended up to heaven;[1] … Where the resurrection formed part of the myth, it […]
• From my diary
  Bright sun and blue sky this morning, and little or no wind.   My cleaning lady came in at 8:30, and therefore I went out.  For if I remain, she talks (and talks) but doesn’t get on with the job. I drove up to Norwich and pottered around in the sunshine.  I went into the Castle Mall […]
• The NIV translators get their just reward
  Readers will know that I don’t believe any ancient text should be given in an English version revised in accordance with a political programme.  It’s dishonest.  If I want to read Vergil, I want to read Vergil, not Vergil-as-some-old-hippy-says-he-should-have-written. The editing of the NIV for “gender-inclusivity” — to conform to the political demands of those […]
• A system of invisible punctuation in papyri and medieval Greek codices
  How faithfully do medieval Greek manuscripts reproduce their ancient ancestors?  It’s a question that all of us ask ourselves, from time to time, and it can be hard to answer other than subjectively.  In some cases, however, we can compare ancient papyrus copies with much later medieval versions.  The accuracy can be uncanny. Origen’s Contra Celsum […]
• The orations of Himerius and the resurrection of Dionysus
  The name of Himerius is not one that most of us would instantly recognise.  In fact he was a pagan Greek orator of the 4th century, contemporary with Libanius and an ally of Julian the Apostate.  He was from Prusias in Bithynia, and ran a school of oratory at Athens.  His career is tied up […]
• More thought police in Britain
  Another day, another sinister story.  It seems that mainstream conservative British magazine “The Spectator” is being ‘investigated’ — harassed, rather — by the police for a blog post. The threat to British liberty. It’s a funny old world. I have now been contacted by two journalists informing me that Bedfordshire Police are investigating The Spectator. […]
• Eusebius update
  Good news.  I have just submitted to Lightning Source the PDF’s for the hardback version of Eusebius of Caesarea: Gospel Problems and Solutions.  It’s now in the works.  I’ve ordered a proof copy — necessary mainly for the cover.  I’ll wait until I’ve seen that before I submit the paperback.  Intended real publication date for […]
• More sources on the resurrection of Dionysus
  I’m still looking at J. G. Frazer’s list of sources.  The next one is this: Where the resurrection formed part of the myth, it also was enacted at the rites, [7] and it even appears that a general doctrine of resurrection, or at least of immortality, was inculcated on the worshippers; for Plutarch, writing to console […]
• Oxford Patristics Conference again
  Apparently I’m not going to be staying in Christ Church — I’m going back to Queens again.   This evening I had a call from Priscilla Frost, the organiser.  Fortunately I heard the phone ring and got to it in time.  It seems that the website has confused quite a few people — exactly the same problem has affected […]
• Dionysus in Firmicus Maternus
  In 350 AD Firmicus Maternus dedicated a diatribe against paganism to the emperor Constantius.  In the process he recorded various details of pagan mythology, some not otherwise known. Now as we have seen, J. G. Frazer makes the following statement, while discussing the resurrection of Dionysus: Turning from the myth to the ritual, we find […]
• Religionsgesprach am Hof der Sasaniden (the Legend of Aphroditian) online in English
  The anonymous sixth century novel, De gestis in Perside – On events in Persia, CPG 6968, depicting a fictional dialogue between Christians, pagans and Jews at the court of the Sassanid Persians is also now online in English, thanks to the splendid efforts of Andrew Eastbourne. Religionsgesprach_am_Hof_der_Sasaniden (PDF) Religionsgesprach_am_Hof_der_Sasaniden (Word .doc) These are also at […]
• Fragments of Philip of Side now online
  There are quite a few fragments of the monster Christian History of Philip of Side around, but no complete English translation has ever been made — until now.   Last year I commissioned Andrew Eastbourne to do it, and it is now complete and online. A PDF of the collection is available from Archive.org here, or here: […]
• Mithras in Scotland
  Mike Aquilina has kindly emailed me notice of the discovery of a couple of altars of Mithras in East Lothian in Scotland.  The BBC have the story here. The first stone has side panels showing a lyre and griffon as well as pictures of a jug and bowl, objects which would be used for pouring […]
• The Leimonos Monastery manuscripts — online in PDF form!
  This is very, very exciting!  A Greek monastery at Leimonos, on the island of Lesbos, has put 108 of its manuscript collection online!  And … better yet … it has done so in PDF form.  You can download the things, which is what we all want to do.  To access it, go to its Digital […]
• Online Libanius Translation Project
  I wish this one all the best — it’s a great idea.  The Libanius Translation Project: You are invited to join this open, collaborative project to translate the writings of the the fourth-century CE orator Libanius of Antioch. The first phase is the translation of the fifty-one Declamations, short orations on historical and mythological subjects. […]
• Difficulties with the Herculaneum rolls
  From Kentucky.com: (via Blogging Pompeii). Some 2,000-year-old Roman scrolls are stubbornly hanging onto their ancient secrets, defying the best efforts of computer scientists at the University of Kentucky to unlock them. … The UK team spent a month last summer making numerous X-ray scans of two of the scrolls that are stored at the French National […]
• Proclus, Hymn to Minerva, on the resurrection of Dionysus
  The next source given by Frazer is the Hymn to Minerva of Proclus.  Here I find myself mildly embarassed — it turns out that I scanned this and placed it online long ago, here. Once by thy care, as sacred poets sing, The heart of Bacchus, swiftly-slaughtered king, Was saved in aether, when, with fury fired,                       […]
• The third Vatican mythographer on the resurrection of Dionysus
  In my last post, we saw that one of the sources given by J. G. Frazer for the ‘resurrection’ of Dionysus was an anonymous text found in a medieval Latin manuscript in the Vatican. Scriptores rerum mythicarum Latini tres Romae nuper reperti (commonly referred to as Mythographi Vaticani), ed. G. H. Bode (Cellis, 1834), iii. […]
• The resurrection of Dionysus every spring?
  From time to time I come across curious claims online, which seem worth investigation to me.  At this link I find the following post, evidently responding critically — but perhaps not critically enough? — to some nonsense from the film “Zeitgeist” by quoting from this page: … Dionysus died each winter and was resurrected in […]
• The abolition of the Lupercalia
  Apparently there is a (false) legend that Valentine’s Day derives from the ancient Roman festival of the Lupercalia.  I admit that I had never heard this one — but the excellent Bill Thayer has gone to some trouble to research it, so clearly it does. He has also added an article from Classical Philology about the festival […]
• Copyright law change: Google “could never have started their company in Britain” says PM
  Apparently David Cameron, the UK prime minister, has grasped that the UK copyright law is rubbish.  I learn from this article: “The founders of Google have said they could never have started their company in Britain,” the prime minister told his audience of thrusting internet entrepreneurs. “The service they provide depends on taking a snapshot […]
• More on the Oxford Patristics Conference
  Well I won’t be staying at Queens College for the conference after all.  The online system mucked up my booking, as I indicated earlier.  But it took two days to get any kind of response to my email of enquiry — no phone number on the website –, and by the time I decided just […]
• Translation of Didymus the Blind’s commentary on Job from the Tura papyri
  Quite by chance I stumbled across a PhD thesis from 2000 here (PDF). Title: The Tura papyrus of Didymus the Blind’s Commentary on Job: an original translation with commentary, by Edward Duffy.  I don’t think it is a complete translation of the whole text, but at least it exists and is accessible.  
• The need to uphold biblical inerrancy
  I have just read an article at Cranmer’s Curate, Edmund Grindal and the need to uphold biblical inerrancy, with much interest.  In the course of his spiritual reflections at Wycliffe, it struck your curate forcibly that the need for a clear conviction about biblical inerrancy is the underlying issue facing the modern Church. Inerrancy is […]
• Oxford Patristics Conference
  Well I’ve booked my place at the Oxford Patristics Conference (Monday 8th August to Friday 12th August 2011), using the website.  The cost was less than I had feared — £256 — which is not too bad considering it includes accomodation.  But with my record on conferences and cancellations, I ought to insure it, I […]
• A gospel manuscript that depicts the telegraph
  Yes, there is indeed a gospel manuscript which has a picture of a set of telegraph poles, running from Constantinople to “Babylon” — i.e. Baghdad.  Adam McCollum has written a fascinating post on it at the HMML blog.  There doesn’t seem to be a way to link to specific articles, but it’s here. The manuscript […]
• From my diary
  All this work with James of Edessa has reminded me that I never got his preface to his Chronicle online.  It’s quite interesting, being a discussion of whether Eusebius’ calculation of years is correct.  I’ve emailed someone who might do it, offering the usual, and I’ll stick it on the web when it’s done. I […]
• Clavis to the letters of James of Edessa
  This is J. J. van Ginkel’s list of all the extant letters of James of Edessa.  Since he has drawn it up, and it is visible online in toto, I hope he will not mind if I post it here.  My purpose in doing so, of course, is to bring this numbering into general use.  […]
• Collecting information about the letters of James of Edessa
  On Friday I started hunting around the web for more information about the letters of James of Edessa.  I knew that there was a collection in a single British Library manuscript, consisting of a bunch of letters (numbered) to John the Stylite, plus a bunch of letters to other people.  But that was about it. […]
• Eusebius update
  The cover photo is chosen and purchased from istockphoto.com, for the trivial sum of $50 for the largest size image — a tenth of what other libraries wanted.  I sent that to the designer last night.  We’re getting very close to the final cover design.  I wrote a blurb this morning and sent that over.  […]
• Further attack on Christians in Britain
  Well that didn’t take long.  Yesterday I posted on how the Prime Minister endorsed the court judgement that forcing Christians to promise to endorse homosexuality was legal.  Several of us said this was a green light for further attacks on Christians. Today I learn that the two gays who sued the elderly owners of a Christian […]
• James of Edessa on the Old Testament apocrypha
  Ca. 700, the Syriac writer James of Edessa had this to say in response to a question: Let’s look at the second question: Why are these books not counted among the canonical books of the Church? I speak of the great Wisdom and of Jesus son of Sirach, and of many others which are rejected, […]
• From my diary
  Some more designs have reached me for the dust-jacket cover of the translation of Eusebius’ Gospel Problems and Solutions, that I commissioned and shall be publishing.  I hope to have the book out this month.  The new designs refine the direction of the last set, and confirm which cover image we will be using.  When Nick […]
• Very bad things happening in Britain to Christians
  The tide of public opinion in Britain is becoming increasingly hostile to Christianity.  In the last year the establishment has begun to move to force Christianity to the margins of society.  The tool being used is “gay rights”, but of course it could be anything.  Everyone knows that Christianity condemns unnatural vice.  So, as in the days […]
• Eusebius update
  Four images of possible dust-jacket covers for the Eusebius Gospel Problems and Solutions book have today arrived by email from the graphic designer.  They all look good — far better than anything I would have managed.  A quick query with some work colleagues, and we have a clear leader from the four, and some suggestions […]
• WordPress problems with IE
  I notice that my blog is not displaying correctly in Internet Explorer.  Since I haven’t changed anything, I am somewhat perplexed.  My apologies for the problem while I try to work out what is happening. UPDATE: A post earlier today had some corrupt HTML tags in it.  Probably caused by pasting into the WYSIWYG editor.  […]
• More on the letters of James of Edessa
  As reported in my last post, British Library Additional manuscript 12172 contains a bunch of letters by the Syriac scholar-bishop James of Edessa.  Nearly all are unedited and untranslated.  Vellum, about 9.5 in. by 6  3/8, consisting of 71 leaves (Add. 12,172, foll. 65-135), a few of which are much soiled and slightly torn. The […]
• Letters of James of Edessa
  When I was looking last week at the letter on the genealogy of the Virgin Mary, by the 7th century Syriac scholar-bishop James of Edessa, I noticed that the Revue de l’orient chretien contained texts and translations of several other letters by James.  The list of contents here indicates that Nau edited several: Lettre de […]
• Classicorum auctorum e Vaticanis codicibus editorum – download pdf’s
  Angelo Mai’s great series of volumes of publications from palimpsests in the 1830’s are accessible online.  Unfortunately the titles tend to be abbreviated and hard to find.  Here’s what I can find. Vol. 1 – Cicero, De re publica, etc.  http://books.google.com/books?id=akEYAQAAIAAJ Vol. 2 – http://books.google.es/books?id=J2HXkuvmAVwC (thanks Jose!) Vol. 3 – Mythographers etc. http://books.google.com/books?id=0lIPAAAAQAAJ Vol. 4 – […]
• From my diary
  Hunting this morning online for photos that might be used for the book cover.  Boy, do some of these people want a lot of money! I’ve also been working some more on the translation of Porphyry Ad Gaurum. Last night I started writing a post on the “resurrection” of Dionysius.  Quite a lot of obscure […]
• How the text of Nonius Marcellus reaches us
  The 4th century Latin dictionary by Nonius Marcellus is our main source for the fragments of lost Latin literature from the Roman republic — works like Accius, the satirist Lucillius, Varro’s Menippean Satires, the Tragedies of Ennius, Sissena and the Historiae of Sallust.  The format of the work is a word, a definition, and then one or more […]
• From my diary
  I’ve generated the cover template for the hardback, and downloaded it.  I’ve also heard from one of the people with whom I am discussing cover design, with a sensible price, and written back.  The difficulty now is finding a cover image that I like.  I’ve been hunting around, but with limited success so far. Meanwhile […]
• New bibliography blog
  John Carr has emailed me: I am starting up a small web-log with no other aim than to collect bibliographies of English translations of the fathers, both in print and online.  I’m also linking either to your ‘Additional Fathers’ page or to google books if there is a free version online.  The URL is http://bibliotecapatrum.blogspot.com/ […]
• A gorgeous article at BAR on the Oxyrhynchus papyri
  Read it.  The remarkable story of Grenfell and Hunt and the Oxyrhynchus Papyri is told by Peter Parsons in a delightful new book, The City of the Sharp-Nosed Fish.2 Parsons, employed since 1960 with cataloging, deciphering and publishing the Oxyrhynchus Papyri under the auspices of the British Academy and the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, is […]
• The Archko volume is on the loose again! Everyone under the table!
  Curses, curses.  The Archko volume is loose again.  This evening I found a bunch of posts on various fora around the web, all referencing it to show that Jesus was white.  It seems an unnecessary effort, surely, given that we all know that God is an Englishman. The Archko volume appeared in 1884 edited by a certain […]
• Eusebius update
  Earlier this week I posted an advert at Student Gems.  It read: I’m publishing a rather dull academic textbook. It’s going to need a nice dust jacket to sell it. I need someone to design me one. Something like a picture of the Greek islands and some text. I’ve had about 10 responses.  Four of them seem […]
• James of Edessa (d.708) – letter on the genealogy of the Virgin Mary now online
  The Syriac scholar bishop James of Edessa, who continued the Chronicle of Eusebius and introduced Greek vowels into West Syriac, has left us a number of letters in a 10th century manuscript in the British Library, ms. Additional 12172.  Several of these were published by Francois Nau in the Revue de l’Orient Chretien between 1900 […]
• Greek mechanical typewriter?
  An unusual question — does anyone know whether people make typewriters which do Greek?  I don’t mean stuff for a PC — I mean the old-fashioned mechanical or electronic gizmos that we all remember? Why do I want to know?  Someone has asked me, that’s why!
• Eusebius update
  Bob the typesetter has now emailed me the book in .rtf form.   When the translation goes online, this is what will be used to make the htm files. The rtf’s of the native languages will also get used, I suspect, probably by later editors.  So this stage of the book is done. I’ve put out an […]
• A saying of Musonius, quoted by Aulus Gellius
  From book 16, chapter 1: If you accomplish anything noble with toil, the toil passes but the noble deed endures.   If you do anything shameful with pleasure, the pleasure passes, but the shame remains.
• From my diary
  I’m stuck at home with a headache-inducing virus still, and getting very bored and frustrated.  Unfortunately I can’t do much without setting it off again.  Health is something we all take for granted, until we lose it!  I’m not being paid while I sit here, so I urgently want to go back to work. I […]
• Aulus Gellius thought of his own work as being divided into “chapters”
  Book 11, chapter 9 of the Attic Nights of Aulus Gellius is a tale from the lost author Critolaus.  It relates how Demosthenes accepted a bribe not to speak against the Milesians.  Chapter 10 begins as follows: 10.  Quod C. Gracchus in oratione sua historiam supra scriptam Demadi rhetori, non Demostheni, adtribuit; verbaque ipsius C. […]
• TLG has a free improved LSJ and click-through to texts
  Tom Schmidt writes: The TLG added a new free section to their website which contains a updated and digital version of the LSJ a dictionary which supersedes the version available at the Perseus Project. It’s quite good and has all sorts of good hyperlinks for cited authors. I talk about it a bit on my […]
• Why the life of men is like a lump of iron, according to Cato “Carmen de Moribus”
  Book 11 of Aulus Gellius preserves a delightful remark by Cato the Elder from the lost Carmen de Moribus: Indeed, human life is very like iron. If you use it, it wears out; if you do not, it is nevertheless consumed by rust. In the same way we see men worn out by toil; if […]
• From my diary
  My enquiry about cost of a book cover brought back a quotation of 600 GBP for a cover with plain text on it, and 1200 GBP if some picture research was required.  That’s well outside my budget.  I’ve today posted a job on the Student Gems website for a student doing graphic design for the […]
• Secret Mark conference
  An blanket email from Tony Burke of Apocryphicity: I just wanted to bring your attention to a conference that Phil Harland and I are planning at York University April 29, 2011 on the Secret Gospel of Mark. This is intended as the first in a series of annual symposia on Christian Apocrypha, so we really hope […]
• From my diary
  I think I really do need a dust-jacket for the Eusebius book.  I’ve emailed a website which had an image that I would greatly like to use and asked if they have a larger image and if so for permission.  I’ve also emailed a designer and asked for some prices.  Let’s see what comes back.
• Solon and Lycurgus in the marquis de Sade
  Few of us, I hope, will have spent our time turning the pages of the kind of literature written by and for the corrupt.  If you are what you eat, in body at least, then what does “what we read” make us?  We need to be at least as careful of what we let into our […]
• A medieval catalogue of classical books at the abbey of Arras
  Opening my copy of G. Becker’s Catalogi bibliothecarum antiqui to a random page, I find myself looking at the following entry (p.254): 126. Monasterium S. Vedasti Atrebatense = Arras. saec. XII. Libri philosophice artis et auctores beati Vedasti hi sunt: 1. 2. duo Virgilii. – 3.4. duo Lucani. – 5. unus Oratius. – 6. Priscianus […]
• From my diary
  Some samples of book production and paper have arrived from Lightning Source, so I can make the final decisions for the Eusebius book.  I’m not as impressed with the general standard of book construction as I would like to be, although it is certainly better quality than Lulu.   I’ll need to email them about the quality of […]
• Superstition and fraud: the saludadores of early modern Spain
  I picked up Arthur Bryant’s Samuel Pepys: the saviour of the navy from my shelves, and opened it at a passage where Pepys was travelling through Spain, while assigned to the evacuation of Tangier.  One of his aims was to investigate the Spanish saludadores — people supposed to have supernatural powers of healing.  He met […]
• From my diary
  At home, watching some double-glazing being fitted to my house.  I thought I’d scan some old papers into PDF’s with my portable Fujitsu Scansnap S300.  In the process I managed to break off some small but crucial bit.  Oh well.  It has served me well.  So I ordered another — turns out to be an […]
• From my diary
  I’ve ordered vols. 2 and 3 of the Loeb edition of Aulus Gellius Attic Nights.   I intended to order them from Amazon.co.uk, but I found that they marked them as unavailable.  Could there be a new edition in the offing, I wonder?  So I ordered them from Book Depository instead. No news on the Eusebius […]
• Did Amr ibn al-As refuse to pray in a church in Jerusalem in case the Moslems seized it?
  Anglican Samizdat tells the story of a US church offering to share its building with a Moslem group.  This reminded me of a story about the Moslem conquest of Jerusalem, which I find in various places on the web such as here. The gates of the city were now opened. Omar went straight to Al-Masjid-i-Aqsa. […]
• Letters 97-101 of Isidore of Pelusium
  LETTER XCVII — to Hymetios.  Against the Macedonians, or Spirit-Contesters. It was in order to show the union of the most Holy Spirit with Himself and the Father said to the disciples that Our Lord and Master, after rising from the dead, said to his disciples, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive any ones’ sins, […]
• Let’s do that jargon thing, Mr. Porphyry
  I’ve started translating Porphyry’s Ad Gaurum, on how unborn babies get souls.  It uses quite a few technical terms, and although I have Festugiere’s French translation to hand, examination of the Greek is unavoidable, and puzzling over what each word means likewise. Porphyry begins his treatise thus: In general, men of learning and almost all […]
• From my diary
  The resized PDF of Eusebius has arrived.  I have asked Lightning Source for samples of their paper — no answer today.  I’m hoping to find out a bit about the product before just throwing it over the wall and hoping for the best!  They do blue cloth and grey cloth hard backs — but what […]
• From my diary
  Life’s little difficulties are leaching time and energy at the moment.  But I’m still pressing on.  This evening I went through the pages of Festugiere’s French translation of Porphyry’s Ad Gaurum, correcting OCR errors.  I then exported the result to Word, or at least I think I did.  Abbyy Finereader 10 managed to write a […]
• Porphyry Ad Gaurum in Festugiere’s translation
  The volume of Festugiere, La Revelation d’Hermes Trismegiste III, which contains a French version of Porphyry Ad Gaurum, has arrived!  My local library is open late on Tuesdays, and I drove into town and collected it.  All I’ve read so far is the opening portion of the prologue, in which Porphyry argues that unborn children […]
• More on Severian of Gabala
  It seems that I am not the only person interested in Severian of Gabala.  I have come across a series of publications by Remco F. Regtuit, who is assistant professor of Greek at the Rijksuniversiteit Groningen. So far I have seen none of his works, but articles on “The Charm of Severian of Gabala” — […]
• Severian of Gabala, “Homily on the Seals”
  While surfing this evening I came across a reference to a Discourse on the Seals by our old friend Severian of Gabala, the bishop who preached with a pleasant Syrian burr and was a rival of John Chrysostom’s.  It was in an 1815 book  by Nathaniel Lardner, on p.620 of vol. 2 of his works, […]
• From my diary
  Festugiere’s translation of Porphyry Ad Gaurum has arrived at my local library.  I have discovered that it is open until 7pm tomorrow, so I may be able to get it then. I’ve also got two modern translations of Juvenal.  The one by Peter Green is pretty slangy, and I disliked it a lot.  The one […]
• Eusebius update 2
  We have the final PDF of the Eusebius book!  How do I express deep joy in mere words?
• Eusebius update
  I have just finished checking over the final PDF of the book (Eusebius of Caesarea, Gospel Problems and Solutions or Quaestiones ad Stephanum et Marinum).  It’s pretty nearly perfect.  There are two small changes to be done, both because I didn’t understand a note from the translator.  But they’re trivial.  Bob the typesetter has understood […]
• Book cover design with Lightning Source
  One of the tasks that I have shirked for the Eusebius book is designing the cover.  That’s mainly because I’ve been too busy with getting the book actually complete, but also because of a misunderstanding. When you go to Lulu.com, you get an online interactive designer tool.  The results when I have used it have […]
• A description of Alexandria in Achilles Tatius
  A review at Bryn Mawr draws my attention to a new book on the famous library by Monica Berti, La Biblioteca di Alessandria.  But the review (in English) mentions descriptions of Alexandria in ancient literature.  One of these is at the start of book 5 of the 2nd century novel by Achilles Tatius, Leucippe and […]
• If only we had a time-machine to take us back to ancient Rome!
  Reading in bed can be perilous.  I was just reading this in Aulus Gellius’ Attic Nights (book 5, ch. 4), and had to get up and write about it: 4.  On the word duovicesimus, which is unknown to the general public, but occurs frequently in the writings of the learned. I chanced to be sitting in […]
• The transmission of Aulus Gellius down to our own days
  Texts and Transmissions tells me that the fundamental edition of Aulus Gellius’ Attic Nights is the editio maior of M. Hertz, Berlin, 1883-5 (2 vols).  This is online in two volumes here(1883) and here (1885), although the title pages in these two PDF’s seem to have been exchanged.  The Teubner text of C. Hosius (1903) involved […]
• From my diary
  Aulus Gellius arrived today.  The most interesting thing so far is that, like Pliny the Elder, he has a collection of all the chapter titles at the end of the preface and before book 1.  This is useful, because book 8 did not reach us.  But we know what it contained, because the “capita” are […]
• Armenian versions of Michael the Syrian
  The massive world chronicle of Michael the Syrian, composed during the crusader period, survives in a single manuscript in a box in Aleppo.  The box has two locks, each held by a senior figure in two different churches.  Access is difficult. Making things worse is that J.-B. Chabot in the early 20th century somehow got […]
• Galen’s preface to Hippocrates “On the workshop/laboratory of a doctor” in English
  Andrew Eastbourne has come through, and a .doc file of this text (De officina medici) arrived today and can be downloaded from here: Galen_-_Preface.   I have also uploaded it to the Fathers site here.  I’m placing this in the public domain — do whatever you like with it (except stick your own copyright notice on it!) It […]
• Notes on the Laus Pisonis
  My copy of Texts and Transmissions is still lying beside my computer with a bookmark at the page on the manuscripts of Juvenal.  But over the page is a short entry on a Latin text previously unknown to me.  This is an anonymous Latin panegyric known as the Laus Pisonis (Praise of Piso).  Fortunately I […]
• A thought on the end of Juvenal
  The 16th and last satire breaks off mid-flow.  The ending is lost, therefore, or perhaps was not written. Ancient books were written on rolls.  One modern author theorized that the end of a text ought to be safer than the start, because it should be inside the rolled up scroll.  He seems to think that […]
• The manuscripts of Juvenal
  L. D. Reynolds, Texts and Transmissions: A survey of the Latin classics, Oxford 1983, is the first port of call for any enquiry into the transmission of any of the Latin classics.  On p.200-3 is the article by R. J. Tarrant on Juvenal. Juvenal went through a period of obscurity after his own times.  Not […]
• The scholia on Juvenal
  A few days ago I managed to find an edition of the “scholia vetera” on Juvenal, in an 1839 edition .  It starts on p.153, here.   It’s not a critical edition.  Indeed I believe the critical edition is that of 1937, but this is not accessible to me.  So … let’s make do with what we […]
• From my diary
  Lots of emails yesterday and today. Firstly and most importantly, the PDF containing Eusebius has come back.  This should be the last, final version.  I will check it over at the weekend — otherwise the translator will lynch me — but that means the book is done.  The next stage will be creating a cover, […]
• UV light to reveal colours of ancient statuary?
  An interesting article here via Dyspepsia Generation: Original Greek statues were brightly painted, but after thousands of years, those paints have worn away. Find out how shining a light on the statues can be all that’s required to see them as they were thousands of years ago. Something about this reporting — reproduced widely on […]
• Problems with Eusebius
  Three weeks ago I sent a dozen corrections — the last! — to the Latin and the Coptic to Bob, who is typsetting the book.  I’ve heard nothing since, although I’ve sent a reminder.  I greatly fear that they went into the spam folder. Bob, if you’re reading this, could you confirm you received the […]
• From my diary
  Odds and ends today. I was thinking again about Severian of Gabala, and the glowing prose that he wrote.  I must do something about getting more of his stuff into English.  There’s a bunch of homilies in Armenian, which might be attacked; and intermingled with them, some by Eusebius of Emesa.  The one sermon of […]
• From my diary
  I’m reading Juvenal again.  This time I keep noticing the portions which the translator omitted, of some length in some cases, such as in the Sixth Satire.  The grounds for the omission is obscenity, of course, but even so, it is a pity.  And I could use more of a commentary than the old Loeb edition […]
• Does Royal Mail have a death-wish? Apparently not.
  Home, to find a red card on the mat.  Even since the advent of Amazon, these have been regular sights when I came home at night, and I thought non-UK readers might be interested to see these common yet ephemeral items. OK, they tried to deliver at 10:05 am.  Naturally I was at work then, like […]
• From my diary
  We all know the Amazon.com book ordering process — you register an account, choose the book, hit the button, enter the delivery address, hit the button, choose a credit card, hit the button, display the order, and hit go. I’d always thought of that as pretty streamlined, until today when I ordered a copy of […]
• Galen on a 300-year old papyrus roll
  Another interesting statement from Reynolds and Wilson, Scribes and Scholars (3rd ed) appears on p.34: Although papyrus is tougher than most people think, and a roll might last as long as 300 years (Galen 18(2),630), the average life would be shorter, and parchment was a much more durable material; in time its toughness was to […]
• Translations of ancient Greek literature into Middle Persian
  In 529 AD the emperor Justinian closed the Academy in Athens.  The remaining heirs of Plato chose to travel to the court of the Sassanid Persian King of Kings in order to continue  their studies there.  Finding conditions among the barbarians uncongenial, in time they returned.  But it raises the question of why we never […]
• Masses of scholia online at Archive.org
  Searching for “scholia” in Google or Google books is disappointing.  But try searching at Archive.org!  This search, http://www.archive.org/search.php?query=scholia, gives a huge list! Did anyone know there were scholia on Suetonius, Vitae Caesarum?  I certainly didn’t! UPDATE: Oh bother.  The “scholia” on Suetonius is merely a modern set of comments in Latin, not ancient scholia!
• A new nadir in atheist behaviour
  I find that the Wikipedia Mithras article is currently being vandalised by an anonymous atheist who has read one article (by Marvin Meyer) in one non-scholarly book on the subject, and is determined that all articles in Wikipedia shall reflect what he believes is the truth — that Christianity and Mithras are somehow connected.  With […]
• Latin scholia
  I was writing yesterday about scholia, mainly with reference to Greek scholia.  But then it occurred to me to wonder what there was by way of Latin scholia. A search online quickly revealed that, as with ancient Greek literature, the scholia is mainly attached to poetry and drama.  Two exceptions I came across were Lucan’s […]
• A modern story about Louis Pasteur and the atheist
  Curious Presbyterian has a charming story, which I reproduce below. A story is told of a young businessman sharing a compartment on a train with an elderly gentleman.  When he noticed that the old fellow was quietly and intently praying with his rosary, the young man chided him for his ‘superstition’ and told him that […]
• The origins of scholia
  Homer and other poetical texts were used in school rooms during the classical period, and after.  Inevitably this led to a need for explanation of unusual or obsolete words, summaries of books, and explanations of mythological events — the same sorts of things that modern students seem to require in order to read Jane Austen or Shakespeare. Ancient […]
• From my diary
  Last night I was reading some Christian blogs and I stumbled on Curious Presbyterian.  The author has run a series of detailed posts about some of the problems Christians are facing in modern Britain, and unlike so many has not minced his words.  Comments seem to be disabled — at least I couldn’t add comments […]
• Do we find the New Testament church in the Fathers?
  The New Testament is the word of God, and the basis and of a Christian’s daily walk with Christ.  It is our SatNav in the motorway network of life.  May we always turn to it before we get to Spaghetti Junction! The church that we see in the NT is (a) mostly Jewish (b) based […]
• Islamic mss now online
  I’m not sure whether it is relevant or useful to any readers of this blog, but I saw an email saying that the Islamic manuscripts at the University of Michigan are now pretty much all online here. It’s all happening, people — the manuscripts are coming online, slowly.  The dam is bursting, and we will all […]
• From my diary
  Eleanor Dickey’s Ancient Greek Scholarship has arrived.  A couple of cans of decaffeinated diet coke, a handful of Marks & Spencers chocolate eggs, and a sofa will help me read it.
• Handbooks of ancient literature
  Regular readers will recall that I found reference to a possible pagan festival, supposedly in Antiochus of Athens.  I tracked down the text and made a translation, as part of the annual struggle against those headbangers who every year celebrate Christmas by jeering “Christmas is really a pagan festival” at the nearest Christian.  My knowledge […]
• Cracking down on crime online — or on freedom?
  I apologise for all the free speech items today!  It’s not what I want to blog about.  However today seems to be a write-off, as far as other subjects are concerned.  So let me finish the series of free speech-related  posts with another news item.  This evening I learn that five people have been arrested by […]
• More gay interference with free speech in Britain
  I hardly thought, when I wrote one of my rare political posts a couple of hours ago, on the attacks on Christians by gay groups, that I would feel obliged to write another this evening.  But so I must.  For another attempt at politically-motivated censorship has been put into effect this evening. From the BBC […]
• More on Antiochus of Athens
  I’m not really all that interested in ancient astrological texts.  What I am very interested in, tho, is that we should have access to ancient literature, whatever it may be.  And it’s really quite hard to access to stuff when you don’t know it exists! The technical works of antiquity are just as much part […]
• Is Christianity actually legal in modern Britain, for practical purposes?
  Something really horrible is happening in the United Kingdom.   The mass media are nearly silent.  No politician dares do more than mumble a few hesitant queries.  When I look at my TV, at my newspaper, I see mostly silence.  Bloggers are silent, with the exception of the mighty Cranmer here and here. The story is […]
• Adonis and the scholia on Theocritus
  The 15th Idyll of Theocritus describes a festival of Adonis in Alexandria in Ptolemaic times.  A commenter has suggested that the ancient scholia on Theocritus might contain more information. I was not aware of the scholia, but a Google search quickly finds a reference to “Scholia in Theocritum vetera by Carl Wendel”.  According to the […]
• Serapio’s book of definitions
  In the updates to my last post, I stumbled across a translation of Porphyry’s introduction to Ptolemy’s Tetrabiblos that included an interesting-sounding work by a certain Serapion Alexandrinus, consisting of a short explanation of terminology.  A Google search brings me to this page, which gives the text of the work (from CCAG vol. 8.) plus a […]
• Porphyry’s introduction to Ptolemy’s Tetrabiblos
  I’m thinking of commissioning a translation of Porphyry’s Introduction to the Tetrabiblos of Ptolemy.  It’s 44 pages of the CCAG volume 5, and I estimate it’s worth $1,000 to me.  The work will require knowledge of the technical vocabulary of ancient astrological texts, so I’ve asked a scholar with knowledge in this area whether he […]
• Porphyry, Ad Gaurum
  In my last post I mentioned some works by Porphyry which have not been translated into English.  One of these was the Ad Gaurum, on how the soul enters the unborn child.  The text was edited: K. Kalbfleisch, Abhandlungen der königlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin; Philosophische-historische Klasse, 1895 p. 33-62.  That is one of […]
• From my diary
  So much literature remains inaccessible. Last night I was thinking about the works of Porphyry.  He is a well-known figure, the arch-enemy of the Christian writers of the early 4th century, and the hero of those moderns who share his animosities.  Most of his output is undoubtedly lost.  Yet more survives than we might suppose.  […]
• A new apocryphal gospel in Coptic
  I’ve just discovered a blog by Alin Siciu which will be of interest to those interested in papyrology and early Christian texts.  One post caught me eye in particular: An Unknown “Apocryphal” Text From the White Monastery I recently edited together with Einar Thomassen a parchment folio owned by the Norwegian collector Martin Schøyen. The Schøyen leaf […]
• Is there any point in translating ancient texts
  All of us know that the internet has revolutionised our access to ancient texts.  First sites like CCEL came into being, back in the mid-90’s.  This made the Ante-Nicene, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers accessible to us all.  Indeed I remember, long ago, seeing a bound set in 38 volumes of that collection, in Mowbrays Bookshop […]
• Porphyry on astrology
  I’ve become aware that the 3rd century anti-Christian writer Porphyry of Tyre wrote at least some work on astrology.  This seems to be very obscure, tho, and I’m not quite sure what exists.  Nothing seems to exist in translation.  I did come across a reference to Porphyry, Introduction to Ptolemy’s Tetrabiblos (CCAG vol. 5 part […]
• Eusebius project update
  We’re getting very close.  This morning I sat down with the Latin section in the new proof and checked that the typesetter had applied all of the enormous number of revisions made to this section during the main proof-reading.  Only seven glitches, all tiny, compared to the army of changes, additions and deletions of footnotes […]
• From my diary
  A couple of interesting posts have caught my eye, which I thought I would share. From AWOL: Open Access ProQuest Dissertations & Theses (PQDT Open) PQDT Open provides the full text of open access dissertations and theses free of charge.You can quickly and easily locate dissertations and theses  relevant to your discipline, and view the […]
• From my diary
  An evening of uploading.  I’ve added a few more volumes of the RealEncyclopadie (all pre-1923, of course) to Archive.org, which will doubtless appear in the search in a few days.   There are now the first 16 volumes accessible there.  I had an email from the German wikisource project, working on digitising the RE there.  It […]
• Article wanted
  Does anyone have a copy of Reeve, Michael D., “The Transmission of Vegetius’s Epitoma rei militaris,” Aevum 74 (2000) 479-99 that they could let me have?  Less important, but also interesting would be Shrader, Charles R., “A Handlist of Extant Manuscripts Containing the De re militari of Flavius Vegetius Renatus,” Scriptorium 33, no. 2 (1979), […]
• Thinking of Libya
  In the spring a young man’s fancy, lightly turns to thoughts of foreign holidays, as Tennyson might have remarked in Locksley Hall, but, obsessed with his piffling love affair, for some reason did not.  The sun broke through the incessant rain yesterday, giving that bright winter sunshine which always reminds me of the Mediterranean.  I found […]
• Eusebius update
  Regular readers will know that I commissioned a translation of all the fragments of Eusebius of Caesarea’s Gospel problems and solutions.  This meant translating from Greek, Latin, Syriac, Coptic and Christian Arabic.  The plan is to sell a book version of the result (with facing text and translation), and, once that has sold whatever it […]
• Classics triennial conference
  There is a triennial Classics conference in Cambridge in late July.  Details from here. I’ve never been to a classics conference, but it sounds interesting.  I might attend.
• More Papias fragments
  Tom Schmidt writes: I added 11 new fragments to my page on Papias. I also gave parallel translations from the Syriac and Greek of Eusebius’ Ecclesiastical History and Armenian and Greek of Andrew of Caesarea’s Commentary on Revelation among other things as well. All very useful to us all!
• Did the Adonia last two days?
  I have been hunting around for the origins of the following statement, which I first found in the Wikipedia article on the Adonia (the festival of Adonis), and then as copied from Smith’s Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, p.14: ADOʹNIA (Ἀδώνια), a festival celebrated in honour of Aphrodite and Adonis in most of the Grecian […]
• Locating the Golden Bough online
  One of the primary sources of material used by atheists for “Jesus = <insert god here>” is J. Frazer’s The Golden Bough, 1911.  In my experience, whenever I look at this kind of material, it is always worth checking what Frazer said.  In my case I want to find the origin of some curious statements […]
• What is Bombycin?
  I mentioned that one of the manuscripts of Photius’ Lexicon was written on ‘bombycin’, and a commenter has asked what this is.   It’s Arabic paper, used widely in Byzantium from the 9th century onwards until superceded by western methods of paper manufacture. One of the key references is J. Irigoin, Les premiers manuscrits grecs écrits […]
• The Lexicon of Photius
  One of the references to the festival of the Adonia is supposedly in “Photius”.  Perhaps his Lexicon would help, perhaps under Adonis or Adonia?  This led me to wonder where this text might be found.  I quickly found that a Google search needs “lexicon photii” to find anything at all.  Is there no Wikipedia article, […]
• More on the scholia on Aristophanes
  I’m still looking for a scholion on Aristophanes which gives real extra information on the festival of Adonis, the Adonia. The Koster volumes mentioned by Eleanor Dickey in the previous post turn out to be Scholia in Aristophanem, Groningen 1960.  I doubt I can access this. But I find a bibliography (with horrible pop-ups etc) of […]
• The scholia on Aristophanes
  Since I discovered yesterday that a scholion on Aristophanes Peace 412 was an important source for information on the Adonia, I have been trying to find the text.  A search today led me to here.  This is a Google books preview of Eleanor Dickey’s Ancient Greek Scholarship: a guide to finding, reading, and understanding scholia, […]
• The Project Hindsight translations of ancient astrological texts
  A few weeks ago I wrote of my discovery that a bunch of ancient astrological texts existed in an largely unknown English translation by Robert Schmidt of Project Hindsight.  These can be obtained by emailing the site and sending money by Paypal (a price list is here, but prices are actually more flexible than the […]
• The Realencyclopadie on the festival of the Adonia
  A commenter asked about the date of the Adonia.  I confess I had never considered the matter, and posted the German text of the Realencyclopadie entry in the comments.  Here is a translation.  Adonia. The feast of Adonis, celebrated in midsummer festival, whose main component is the lament for the death of Adonis who was represented […]
• From my diary
  I find it convenient to use Google mail for my email, mainly because of its excellent spam filtering.  But it is also an advantage that it is online wherever I am.  However I do want to hold a local copy which I can backup, and I have recently installed Mozilla Thunderbird for this purpose.  It […]
• From my diary
  The review of the four letters of Isidore of Pelusium that I commissioned from a new translator has come back, generally positively.  But I haven’t had a chance yet to examine this in detail.
• Has Markus Vinzent been abducted by aliens?
  An email draws attention to some remarks, supposedly by Markus Vinzent, here. … let me just mention, that Marcion could take the place that was previously given to Q, yes, but Marcion provides, of course, not just a sayings source, but a Gospel that includes narratives. Moreover, he seems not only to have cooined the […]
• More on Anianus of Celeda
  An email reminded me of this post about Anianus (or Annianus) of Celeda, who flourished ca. 413 AD and translated a number of the works of Chrysostom into Latin, in which form they circulated in the Middle Ages.  I’ve been looking for a bit more information about him. An index entry for Anianus at CERL […]
• The manuscripts of Caesar’s works
  An email reached me this evening, asking what are the earliest manuscripts of the works of Julius Caesar.  I thought my reply might be of general interest. I obtained the following details from L.D.Reynolds, Texts and Transmissions, pp.35-6, written by Michael Winterbottom. The extant mss fall into two families.  The alpha family contains only the Bellum […]
• A new study on the horrible reality of ancient prostitution
  From RogueClassicism I learn of a new book which is more timely than we might suppose: Prostitution has been called arguably the world’s oldest profession. And the world can now get rare insight into some of the earliest prostitution from ancient Greece in a new book that was co-edited by Madeleine Henry, a professor in […]
• The Serapeum of Alexandria, described by Aphthonius of Alexandria
  For the last day I have been hunting down a description of the Serapeum in Alexandria.  I learned of it from Philip Amidon’s translation of Rufinus.  The description is recorded — of all places — in the handbook of rhetoric by Aphthonius of Antioch.  This writer was a friend of Libanius, and lived in the late […]
• Vettius Valens translation revised
  A note from Prof. Mark Riley to say that he has fixed a few bugs in his translation of Vettius Valens, and uploaded a revised PDF here.  Grab it while it’s hot! I’m getting snippets suggesting that the upload of this complete translation to the web is causing rather a stir in astrological circles.  Which […]
• From my diary
  I’ve spent some time collecting literary testimonies about the origins of Serapis.  For the moment, these are here.  A useful article by Richard Gordon is here.  Meanwhile Andrew Eastbourne has agreed to review the translation of 4 letters of Isidore of Pelusium which reached me earlier this week. Yesterday I also went back to the […]
• Serapis and Osiris-Apis
  I always get a bit jumpy when I read statements like “Serapis is the same as Osiris-Apis.”  I want to know how anyone knows. Today I was reading the Realencyclopadie article on Sarapis (col. 2369), which goes some way to answer this question: Die ägyptische Schreibung des Namens S. ist Osiris-Apis, wie aus den bilinguen […]
• From my diary
  An email arrives, asking about translations of Cedrenus and Nicephorus Callistus.  As far as I know neither has ever been translated into any modern language.  The problem is partly that both quote verbatim earlier writers, I think. I’m still hunting around for material about Cedrenus.  There might be an Italian version of part of it.  […]
• Serapis, his origins and sources
  It is often said that Serapis was a fake god, invented by Ptolemy Soter in order to unify the Greeks and Egyptians in his realm.   This has led me to wonder what the sources are for this statement. A look at the Wikipedia article gives very little information.  Gibbon tells us that Macrobius, book 1, […]
• From my diary
  F. L. Griffith’s publication of Christian Nubian texts peeped out of my bookshelf earlier today.  I bought it, intending to put it online.  A quick search at Archive.org, and I find it is already online in PDF.  I have transferred it, therefore, to the pile of academic books in the next room, intended for disposal […]
• Daryn Lehoux’s thesis on ancient astronomical calendars is online
  I’m still thinking about parapegma, the ancient peg-calendars to predict star- and weather-movements.  A google search has revealed that the opening parts of Daryn Lehoux’s 2007 book are a version of his 2000 PhD thesis, which is online at ScribD here.   It’s a Canadian thesis, which leads me to wonder whether Canadian theses are online for free, and […]
• A new year — looking forward, looking back
  2010 is nearly at an end.  It is my custom, at this time, to look back over the last year and see what I can remember of it.  Which bits of it left a lasting memory?  What did I achieve in the year now gone? Of course there are unpleasant memories in every year.  There is the […]
• Manuscripts of the calendar of Antiochus of Athens
  I thought it might be useful to signal how the calendar of Antiochus got to us.  We have Boll’s nice printed edition, and Daryn Lehoux’s even nicer text, translation and explanatory notes.  But … how did these get to us?  What is the text based on?  Boll lists the copies available to him, which were […]
• The calendar of Antiochus of Athens as a ‘parapegma’, and an existing translation (!)
  In a very useful comment on a recent post, Alexander Jones drew my attention to the term “parapegma”, and to Daryn Lehoux, “Astronomy, weather, and calendars in the ancient world: parapegmata and related texts in classical and Near Eastern societies”, CUP, 2007. The link is to the Google Books preview.  At a price of $155, […]
• December in the calendar of Antiochus of Athens
  At last, here we are at the point of greatest interest — December.  But we now have much more context for what we find. Μὴν Δεκέμβριος. December βʹ. Κύων ἑῷος δύνει. 2.  Sirius sets in the east. γʹ. Ἀρκτοῦρος δύνει · ἐπισημασία. 3.  Arcturus sets : weather change. δʹ. Σκορπίος ἐπιτέλλει ἅμα ἡλίῳ · ἐπισημασία. […]
• November in the calendar of Antiochus of Athens
  Μὴν Νοέμβριος. November αʹ. ὁ κατὰ τὸ γόνυ τοῦ Τοξότου κρύπτεται. 1.  The portion below the knee of the Archer is absent from the sky. γʹ. ὁ λαμπρὸς τῶν Ὑάδων ἑσπέριος ἀνατέλλει. 3.  The radiance of the Hyades arises in the west. εʹ. Ὑάδες δύνουσιν · ἐν ἡμέραις ἑπτὰ ἐπισημασία. 5.  The Hyades are setting […]
• October in the calendar of Antiochus of Athens
  Μὴν Ὀκτώβριος. October βʹ. Αἲξ ἑσπερία καὶ ὁ Στάχυς ἀνατέλλει. 2.  The Goat arises in the west, and Stachys. εʹ. ὁ λαμπρὸς τοῦ Στεφάνου ἀνατέλλει · ἐν ἡμέραις θʹ ἐπισημασία. 5.  The radiance of the Crown arises: weather change in 9 days. ζʹ. Ταύρου οὐρὰ καὶ ὁ λαμπρὸς τῆς βορείας χηλῆς τοῦ σκορπίου ἀνατέλλει. 7. […]
• September in the calendar of Antiochus of Athens
  The Chronography of 354 tells us of a Roman state festival on 25 December.  I saw a reference to the Calendar of Antiochus of Athens, quoted to support the idea that this festival was earlier than 354 AD.  After all, Antiochus must pre-date Porphyry, who refers to him.  So I’ve been translating the calendar.  But […]
• August in the calendar of Antiochus of Athens
  Μὴν Αὔγουστος. August αʹ. Λέων ἀνατέλλει · ἐπισημασία. 1.  Leo arises : weather change. βʹ. γαυρίαμα Κυνὸς σὺν εξάλματι Λέοντος. 2.  The exaltation of Sirius with the interval of Leo. ζʹ. Ὑδροχόος μέσος δύνει · ἐπισημασία. 7.  The middle of Aquarius sets : weather change. ιαʹ. ὁ ἐπὶ τῆς καρδίας τοῦ Λέοντος ἀνατέλλει καὶ Λύρα […]
• Syriac manuscript dated 1992 AD
  On Facebook, Adam McCollum of the Hill Monastic Manuscript Library posted an extraordinary snippet which I think deserves wider attention: Yesterday I came across a Syriac manuscript written in 1992—yes, just 18 years ago—that was copied from an 1184/5 manuscript, i.e. a leap of eight centuries! It’s a hagiographic ms containing the stories of Jacob […]
• Watching the omissions in a current media story 1
  After my post on how the media always identifies paedophile priests as Catholics, while suppressing mention that terrorists are Moslems and immigrants, I’ve been having some fun with media reports this evening about the attempted massacre in Denmark.  It’s a chance to play a game, actually. The game is played like this. How many use […]
• July in the calendar of Antiochus of Athens
  Μὴν Ἰούλιος. July βʹ. ὁ ἐπὶ κεφαλῆς τοῦ ἡγουμένου τῶν Διδύμων ἐπιτέλλει. 2. The region next to the head of the leading part of Gemini rises. θʹ. Κηφεὺς ἀνατέλλει · ἐπισημασία. 9.  Cepheus rises : weather change. ιαʹ. Ὁ ἐπὶ τῆς καρδίας τοῦ Λέοντος κρύπτεται. 11. The region next to the heart of Leo is absent […]
• June in the calendar of Antiochus of Athens
  Μὴν Ἰούνιος. June αʹ. ὁ λαμπρὸς τῶν Ὑάδων ἐπιτέλλει καὶ Ἀετὸς ἀνατέλλει · ἐπισημασία. 1.  The radiance of the Hyades rises and the Eagle arises : weather change. ϛ̕. ὁ ἐπὶ τῆς κεφαλῆς<…> τῶν Διδύμων λαμπρὸς κρύπτεται · ἐπισημασία. 6.  The region next to the head <…> the radiance of Gemini is absent from the […]
• More on the “birth of the sun” at Chronicon blog
  Tom Schmidt is still excerpting material from ancient sources on this mysterious “birth of the sun” on 25 Dec.  And he’s translating some untranslated material himself!  He’s got a bit from Hephaistio of Thebes on Antiochus of Athens.  Read it here.
• An interesting current example of mass media deception
  I think many Roman Catholics must be tired of the stories that appear on the national TV News.  Catholics are against paedophilia, so when they hear of a priest who has violated his vows, they are angry.  So many stories like this one have appeared: An “unimaginably wicked” former priest has been given a prison sentence […]
• May in the calendar of Antiochus of Athens
  Μὴν Μάϊος. May αʹ. Ὑάδων ἐπιτολή · ἐπισημασία. 1.  The rising of the Hyades : weather change. βʹ. ὁ λαμπρὸς τῆς Λύρας ἑσπέριος ἀνατέλλει · ἐπισημασία. 2.  The radiance of the Lyre arises in the west : weather change. δʹ. Αἲξ ἑσπερία δύνει · ἐπισημασία. 3.  The Goat sets in the west : weather change. […]
• April in the calendar of Antiochus of Athens
  The second century astrologer continues: Μὴν Ἀπρίλλιος. April αʹ. ὁ λαμπρὸς τῆς νοτίας χηλῆς τοῦ Σκορπίου ἑσπέριος ἀνατέλλει καὶ Πλειάδες κρύπτονται · ἐμισημασια. 1.  The radiance of the southern claw of Scorpio arises in the west, and  the Pleiades are absent from the sky. εʹ. Πλειάδες τελείως κρύπτονται · ἐμισημασια. 5.  The pleiades are completely absent from the […]
• March in the calendar of Antiochus of Athens
  Here’s the next chunk of the astrological calendar of Antiochus of Athens. Μὴν Μάρτιος March αʹ. ὁ κοινὸς Ἵππου καὶ Ἀνδρομέδας ἑσπέριος ἀνατέλλει. 1. The common region of the Horse and Andromeda arises in the west. γʹ. ὁ ἔσχατος τοῦ Ποταμοῦ <…> καὶ Ἰχθὺς νότιος ἀνατέλλει · ἐπισημασία. 3. The end of the River <…> and […]
• Hippolytus, On the anti-Christ
  An interesting email arrived today, asking about the manuscript tradition of this work.  The email ran: I was wondering if you could offer me any comments on the textual tradition of the treatise “de Christo et Antechristo,” the authorship of which is typically attributed to a Hippolytus of Rome (I understand this to be debated […]
• Eusebius update
  The proof copy fixes to the Eusebius have all been done and entered.  Yippee!!!   I have finally, finally, got all the Coptic changes into the PDF, decided what they all should be, etc.  To do so, I’ve actually had to learn some Coptic, in order to work out what to do, which has delayed matters […]
• February in the Calendar of Antiochus of Athens
  Here’s the next portion of the calendar. Μὴν Φεβρουάριος. February αʹ. ὁ ἐπὶ τῆς καρδίας τοῦ Λέοντος ἑῷος δύνει. 1. The region over the heart of Leo sets in the east. δʹ. ὁ λαμπρὸς τῆς Λύρας ἑσπέριος δύνει · ἐπισημασία ἀκινδυνος. 4. The radiance of the Lyre sets in the west: harmless weather change. ϛ̕. […]
• From my diary
  Happy Christmas, everyone, particularly to those on their own. Bloggers tend to have families and tend not to write on Christmas day.  I’ve got a journey to do — unusually for me –, but with luck there will be more of Antiochus of Athens later on!
• A translation of January in Antiochus’ Calendar
  Μὴν Ἰαννουάριος. January αʹ.   Ὁ ἐπὶ τῆς κεφαλῆς τοῦ ἡγουμένου τῶν Διδύμων ἑῷος δύνει. 1st. The head and leg of Gemini set in the east. εʹ.  Δελφὶς ἐπιτέλλει. 5th. The Dolphin rises. ζʹ.  ὁ κατὰ τοῦ γονατος τοῦ Τοζότου ἐπιτέλλει. 7th.  The portion of Sagittarius above the knee rises. ιαʹ.  ὁ λαμπρὸς τῆς Λύρας ἑσπέριος […]
• More on the calendar of Antiochus
  I’ve been looking at the portion of the calendar of Antiochus of Athens which I posted earlier, and trying to work out what the meanings of the words are.  I can feel the jargon behind some otherwise innocuous phrases, and Mark Riley’s glossary of terms confirms that at least one of them does have a […]
• The opening section of the calendar of Antiochus of Athens
  I’ve transcribed the Greek into unicode.  Who knows, it might even display correctly here!   The first three lines are the heading, in each of three different manuscripts. Περὶ ἀστέων ἀνατελλόντων καὶ δυνότων ἐν τοῖς ιβʹ μησὶ τοῦ ἐνιαυτοῦ σὺν τῷ ἡλίῳ.   Ἀντιόχου Ο περὶ ἀστέρων ἀνατελλόντων καὶ δυνόν των ἐν τοῖς ιβʹ μησὶ τοῦ ἐνιαυτοῦ. […]
• From my diary
  Just bits and pieces happening at the moment. So, you want to learn Coptic? arrived from Lulu.com very quickly indeed.  I’ve had it a couple of days, and it’s very easy reading indeed.  I do need to actually memorise the ‘extra’ Coptic letters, tho, I find. I saw a facebook post in which someone referred […]
• First Coptic fragment
  I began translating the first of the two Coptic fragments published by Amelineau, and this was what I came up with, as far as I got: … they’ve left.”  The steward [1] said, “I don’t know why they’ve left.”  He [2] ordered him to be beaten until the steward told him everything that had taken place.  […]
• All the classical MSS in Florence now online!
  Two posts at the Evangelical Textual Criticism blog here and here — neither makes it quite clear — have made me aware that the Laurentian library in Florence has put online a mass of manuscripts! ETC only refer to Greek New Testament mss, but I discover that in fact it is all the Plutei collection. […]
• How to justify the humanities in a time of cut-backs
  I am a king.  I sit in the hall of my ancestors, on a throne of gold and crystal.  My castle overlooks the land, where there are many towns.  I rule as my fathers have done, justly, that all may live in freedom and enjoy their property without fear of robbers or invaders or my […]
• The reputation of Amélineau
  I spent part of yesterday evening updating the Wikipedia article on Émile Amélineau.  The old version described him as an archaeologist, but was oblivious to his work as a Coptologist.  More seriously it was unaware of the very serious criticisms levelled against his excavation work at Abydos by the great Flinders Petrie.  Petrie more or […]
• From my diary
  An email drew my attention to an article by Amelineau in the Journal Asiatique for 1888,  Fragments coptes pour servir a l’histoire de la conquete de l’Egypte par les Arabes.  This gave two Coptic fragments with a French translation.  Let’s hear Amelineau introduce them. If we except the two works to which I drew attention […]
• Getting Al-Makin online
  I received an interesting email this morning: Arabic manuscript of Elmacin’s history Dear Sir, My search for Elmacin led me to your most interesting blog, namely to this post. I am working on a translation of Edward William Lane’s Description of Egypt [into Arabic], and he quotes Elmacin. I’ll of course need to use Elmacin’s […]
• From my diary
  I came down this morning at 7:15 am.  The outside temperature on my wireless thermometer told me that it was -10.8°C outside.  The max/min display told me that it had reached -12.5°C during the night.  Driving into work, rather gingerly, the thermometer on the car, while I was on the Ipswich bypass, read -10.5°C.  I’ve lived in […]
• From my diary
  Apparently Coptic doesn’t have “endings”,  in the way that Greek and Latin do.  Not sure how it does things, then — apparently prefixes are important. I’ve ordered a copy of So you want to learn Coptic? A guide to Bohairic grammar, available here with sample chapter, and from Lulu.com here.  Lulu have lately been sending out […]
• From my diary
  I written a couple more emails this morning.  The first is to a certain Ellen Black, who is apparently one of those in charge at the Project Hindsight website.  They sell what I believe are photocopies of translations of Hellenistic and Roman astrological texts, made by Robert Schmidt during the 80’s and 90’s.  There are none in the […]
• More on Macrobius Saturnalia at Chronicon blog
  There’s a very interesting post on the Saturnalia of the 5th century A.D. pagan writer Macrobius, here at Chronicon blog.  The editor has obtained access to the English translation — lucky chap — and has discovered that a new translation and edition has appeared in Loeb.  This I did not know. It’s a really interesting […]
• Morphologized Coptic texts?
  I’ve been working on my translation tool for ancient Greek again.  The calendar of Antiochus of Athens seems like a perfect text to translate using it.  But the deficiencies of the software are still great.  I’ve been adding code to handle numerals today, with modest success.  Much of the trouble is in the unicode-to-betacode converter.  […]
• Cicero: The arrogance of officialdom should be tempered and controlled…
  The following quote is circulating online: The budget should be balanced, the treasury should be refilled, public debt should be reduced, the arrogance of officialdom should be tempered and controlled, and the assistance to foreign lands should be curtailed lest Rome become bankrupt. People must again learn to work, instead of living on public assistance.” […]
• The sun as a child at the winter solstice
  I’ve been reading the article in which Franz Boll published the calendar of Antiochus of Athens, with special reference to the entry on 25th December. It is good to have a publication of the calendar, although the lack of a translation for the Greek is irksome.  But I haven’t read many articles which are less satisfactory […]
• The Robert Schmidt translations of Roman astrological works
  There is a list of these translations here.  It is not at all obvious from the site, but these are still available for purchase.  On the “Price list” page at Project Hindsight, right at the bottom, is the following statement: Preliminary Translation Series (re-prints) Retail Price: $45.00 per volume plus shipping All of the titles […]
• How to do a word search for all uses of Nazaraeus in Latin?
  I have a problem.  I want to know where and how Nazaraeus is used in Latin.  I know it can mean Nazirite; I want to see where it is used instead to mean “Nazarene”. If this were Greek, I’d search the TLG.  Anyone know what I could use for Latin? 
• Vettius Valens now online in English
  Prof. Mark Riley has uploaded his translation of the 2nd century astrologer, Vettius Valens, to the web!  From his website: Vettius Valens: Find a link here to a translation of Vettius Valens Anthologiai, the longest astrological text from Greco-Roman antiquity. What you find here is a preliminary translation completed in the 1990’s and not perfected […]
• Eusebius update
  I’ve been trying to process the last outstanding problem on the text of the Eusebius Gospel Problems and Solutions book.  In essence the translator has decided that she wants to include an extra fragment.   Of course that also means hunting out the Coptic text, and transcribing it, and recognising — although I don’t know Coptic […]
• Lord Macaulay on the unwise extension of copyright
  At Dyspepsia Generation I happened to see this post: Speech to the House of Commons 1841. Can you imagine a modern Congressman making a speech like this? Can you even think of one that wouldn’t need to have it explained to him in simpler words? The proposal is to extend the term of copyright from […]
• The Mark Riley translation of Vettius Valens
  Mark Riley has sent me PDF’s of his entire unpublished translation of the second century astrological handbook, the Anthology of Vettius Valens.  This was translated from the Kroll edition (which is online) and the revised Pingree text (which is not).  I’ve combined them into a single file and emailed them back, and he’s going to make […]
• Griechische Kalender: the four calendars published by Franz Boll
  I’ve now uploaded PDF’s of four ancient Greek calendars to Archive.org.  All were edited by Franz Boll, and published in Sitzungsberichte der Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften, Philosophisch-Historische Klasse, vols 1 (1910), 2 (1911), 4 (1913) and 5 (1914).  Here are the links: http://www.archive.org/details/GriechischeKalender1DasKalendariumDesAntiochos http://www.archive.org/details/GriechischeKalender2Quintilian http://www.archive.org/details/GriechischeKalender3Euktemon http://www.archive.org/details/GriechischeKalender4ClodiusTuscus Franz Boll, who edited them, died in 1924, so these are […]
• Sanity on cuts in the humanities
  I don’t work in Higher Education, and, while I try to avoid it, it isn’t quite possible to read history blogs without encountering the discussion about the current climate of cutbacks, particularly in the United Kingdom.  Unfortunately most of that “discussion” consists of ever more strident demands “give us money!” and the sense of entitlement […]
• From my diary
  The calendar of Antiochus is not online, it seems.  It forms part of the Sitzungsberichte der Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften, Philosophisch-Historische Klasse — part of volume 1 (1910), in fact.  Like most out-of-copyright German academic publications, these are online only if places like Harvard contributed them to Google Books.  But I want to access it.  […]
• A free speech victory
  Freedom of speech for those of us who are not part of powerful pressure groups with armies of lawyers and/or rioters at their call has become a somewhat fragile thing in recent years.  The police have felt no option but to enforce laws designed to chill the expression of various opinions.  But there good news […]
• The Babylonica of Iamblichus the Syrian
  The 1853 Manual of Greek literature by Charles Anthon may be antiquated, and its opening portions discursive to the point of madness, but it still has use.  Indeed I don’t quite know where else one might go for a survey of Greek literature in the Roman period and after. I picked it up casually last […]
• Eusebius update
  All the corrections to the proof of Eusebius: Gospel problems and solutions were entered on the PDF as stickys a week or so ago.  I’m quite impressed, actually, by Acrobat as a tool for collaborative editing. The remaining issue is a chunk of text in the Coptic.  The problem is that the manuscript is damaged.  […]
• Vettius Valens at Mark T. Riley
  Back in the 70’s a young scholar named Mark T. Riley made a translation of Tertullian’s Adversus Valentinianos.  So obscure a work suddenly came alive, in a marvellous manner!  Who would have thought that the work still lived, had things to say to us all, based on the dull ANF version? I have been reading […]
• Use of “inappropriate force” in schools
  I saw a headline in a local paper: “Teacher suspended after using ‘inappropriate force’ to restrain pupil”. For some reason my mind drifted back to the halcyon days of Down with skool, and the varied methods of assuring justice favoured by the cane-wielding masters of the day. What would Nigel Molesworth, the curse of St. Custards […]
• More on Antiochus of Athens
  With Antiochus we are indeed at the edge of knowledge, or so I infer from the article in the Realencyclopadie, which is meagre indeed: 68) Aus Athen (Hephaistion Theb. II 1 bei Engelbrecht Hephaest. von Theb. 36), Astrolog. von dessen Büchern manches handschriftlich erhalten ist (vgl. Englebrecht a.a.O Fabricius Bibl. Gr. 1 III c. 20). […]
• Manuscripts of Greek astrological works
  Looking at the calendar of Antiochus of Athens, as I was yesterday, led me to a corpus which was unfamiliar, the Catalogus codicum astrologorum graecorum.  Seven volumes of this are on Google books. Vol. 1 – Florence mss Vol. 2 – Venice mss Vol. 3 – Milan mss Vol. 4 – Italian mss Vol. 5 […]
• The calendar of Antiochus and the new birth of the sun
  Roger Beck, The Religion of the Mithras Cult in the Roman Empire: Mysteries of the Unconquered Sun, Oxford University Press, 2006, makes the following interesting remark on p.209-10: … the nominal solstice on 25 December, becomes the Sun’s birthday, the ‘Natalis Invicti’, as the Calendar of Filocalus famously notes—to which phrase in Greek (heliou genethlion) […]
• From my diary
  A hard frost here last night, and I find myself coughing and coughing, just from the cold.  Then I see this: Why am I living here again!?
• Useless anger, and doing something with it
  There is an article in today’s Daily Telegraph — soon to vanish behind a paywall, alas — by Boris Johnson (or his ghostwriter) on Useless Anger.  I recommend it.  …as I held that thought in my head the full difficulties of all these projects became clear, and depression set in — the depression that always […]
• Why the Wikileaks attack on the US is bad news for free speech
  Wikileaks was once a reputable website which published things that the powerful and corrupt — especially third-world states and nastier corporations — would rather we did not see.  At that time I believe it was run by a group of people, some of them Chinese dissidents.  I don’t know who this Julian Assange might be, […]
• Artemidorus Daldianus and the interpretation of dreams
  An email arrives today asking about Artemidorus Daldianus.  “Who?” I hear  you ask?  It seems that he lived in the 2nd century A.D., and he was a professional “diviner”.  A work of his survives “On the interpretation of dreams”, in five books.  Interestingly it was translated into Arabic by no less than Hunain ibn Ishaq.  […]
• The festival of Adonis in Alexandria
  I’ve never really read much Greek poetry, but I found myself looking at the Idylls of Theocritus yesterday.  The 15th idyll depicts in dialogue form the hustle and bustle at the festival of Adonis — the Adonia — in Alexandria in Ptolemaic times.  It ends with a dirge mourning Adonis and looking forward to his […]
• The Berlin Didymus / Hierocles papyrus
  In his paper on ancient chapter titles, Mutschmann next discusses something which I had never heard of before.  Here is what he says: R. Laqueur (Berliner Klassikertexte XLIII 1908, p. 220 ff) has already taken the Berlin Didymus papyrus (Diels and Schubart, Berliner Klassikertexte I, reprinted in the Teubner library) as the starting point for […]
• UK internet to be controlled by police
  A curious story here at political blogger Guido Fawkes.  He says that Nominet, the controller of the .uk domain, has decided to take down any site, if the police make a request for it to be taken down.   Apparently they will do so without any requirement for a court order. The impetus behind this is to deal with sites […]
• Eusebius update
  I’ve entered all the Coptic corrections as sticky notes on the PDF of Eusebius, Gospel Problems and Solutions!  VERY loud rejoicing here.  It took about 3 hours in the end, which is not at all bad.  There’s one query outstanding, which is to do with a couple of paragraphs the translator is quite keen on […]
• N. G. Wilson, Scholiasts and commentators
  N. G. Wilson is perhaps the dean of studies on the transmission of Greek literature.  By chance I found online a paper of his, in PDF form, here, dealing with ancient commentaries.  A little known subject, being discussed by a master — recommended.
• The manuscript of the Chronicle of Zuqnin (Ps.Dionysius of Tel-Mahre)
  Amir Harrak, who published an English translation of parts 3 and 4 of this world chronicle, introduces the manuscript in the following, very interesting way. The Chronicle of Zuqnin is a universal chronicle which begins with the creation of the world and ends with the time of writing, A.D. 775-776. The Chronicle is known from […]
• Coptic in unicode when you don’t know the alphabet
  I’ve been trying to enter corrections to the Coptic section of my book.  Unfortunately all I got from the translator was *paper* corrections.  I don’t know the Coptic alphabet.  Worse still, I’m working with Bohairic, using the Alphabetum unicode font, rather than the commoner Sahidic unicode fonts.  What am I to do? Luckily we live […]
• The manuscript of the Chronicle of Zuqnin
  Brent Landau’s online thesis of the Revelation of the Magi contains a Syriac text of this work, extracted from the first part of the Chronicle of Zuqnin.  The third and fourth parts were translated into English by the excellent Amir Harrak.  Landau has some interesting things to say about the manuscript: II. The Chronicle of […]
• Review: The heresy of orthodoxy, part 1
  Andreas J. Köstenberger and Michael J. Kruger have written an interesting book by the title of The Heresy of Orthodoxy.  They contend that New Testament studies is being corrupted by a theory originally advanced by Walter Bauer in 1934 in his book Rechtgläubigkeit und Ketzerei im Ältesten Christentum, and popularised by an English translation and the […]
• The Revelation of the Magi
  Quite by accident I came across an online dissertation of an interesting yet obscure text here, via Flow of Consciousness: Oklahoma has been hiding one of its most interesting secrets for two years, namely its very own Syriac scholar. Dr. Brent Landau, graduate of Harvard Divinity School, is Assistant Professor at University of Oklahoma’s Religious […]
• Classics for all? Or classics for a few, funded by all?
  There is an encouraging post by establishment blogger Mary Beard at the Times website (freely accessible, tho) entitled Classics for all.  She discusses how the tide is now starting to flow in favour of the classics generally. In fact, so widespread is the feeling in favour of Classics that the rumour is that the Today Programme had […]
• Searching for Aphroditian
  The archmage Aphroditian, the Persian judge who takes the Christian side in the fictitious 6th century Religious dialogue at the court of the Sassanids, is an unfamiliar name.  A google search produces much that is of interest to the curious reader, for precisely this reason.  Here are a few examples from “Aphroditian”, mostly in German.  It seems […]
• Housekeeping on the Religionsgesprach
  I’ve just been through my posts about this 6th century fictional dialogue at the court of the Sassanids, and added a new tag to them all “Aphroditianus”.  This is because the main character in the novel is the Persian magus Aphroditianus, and the first half of the work is his speech.  Material about Aphroditianus forms […]
• Did Hippolytus think Christmas should be on 25th December?
  It’s that time of year again.  Over the next few weeks, legions of weenies will excitedly post online various stale old myths about how Christmas is really a pagan festival.  I have already seen one tell me that it must be copied from the Germanic “Yule” and the Anglo-Saxon goddess Eostre, oblivious of the detail that first […]
• The Chronicle of Zuqnin continues
  The next installment makes clear how the Moslems even of this period behaved largely as bandits rather than rulers. In the year 1062 (749-750), the Arabs of Maipherkat spread themselves across the region and began to do much harm to the inhabitants of the mountain and to all the country.  Qore (Korah) Ibn Thabit went […]
• Continuing the Chronicle of Zuqnin
  The unknown 9th century chronicler from the abbey of Zuqnin in Mesopotamia, known to us as pseudo-Dionysius of Tell-Mahre, is continuing his tale of events after the Persians overthrew the Arabic Ummayad dynasty of Caliphs. Of the pastors of the Church who flourished at that time. After holy Athanasius, holy Mar John was patriarch of […]
• From my diary
  I had to telephone my business bank today, so it was a good opportunity to ask about getting my “Chieftain Publishing” trading name set up as a “trading as” name on the account, so I can take cheques and payments under that name.  All I have to do, I learn, is write a letter telling them, […]
• From my diary
  Looking out of the office window at 4 minutes to 4pm.  Thick fog is gathering outside.  It’s getting dark.  It’s Friday evening.  It’s foggy.  Soon the lorry drivers will pour out of goods’ yards onto the motorways and jack-knife their lorries across the main commuter routes, as is traditional under these conditions.  Such conditions must have […]
• SBL Greek New Testament
  A little behind the times, I admit, but I learn today that the Society of Biblical Literature is producing a new critical edition of the Greek New Testament.  Better news yet — it is not based on Nestlé-Aland and is being made freely available online in unicode form with the creation of derivative works encouraged and […]
• Memorable history
  Devotees of 1066 and all that, the only reliable guide to English history, will enjoy this article by John Crace in the Guardian, parodying Radio 4’s History of the world in 100 objects.  It’s a joy!  A couple of extracts: 33 The Rosetta stone This seemingly ordinary stone tablet (196BC) was the key that unlocked […]
• Not quite the way to do scholarship
  One bit of The heresy of orthodoxy book which I commented on yesterday came back to me as I was reading Mutschmann’s engaging 1911 paper on chapter titles.  As quoted here, it said: modern (supposed) truisms do not “function as good historical arguments, nor can they be substituted for such”. An illustration of this struck […]
• The art of cheating in American universities
  A curious article here via SmallDeadAnimals: It turned out that my lazy, Xanax-snorting, Miller-swilling classmates were thrilled to pay me to write their papers. And I was thrilled to take their money. Imagine you are crumbling under the weight of university-issued parking tickets and self-doubt when a frat boy offers you cash to write about Plato. […]
• The heresy of orthodoxy
  I learn from the blogosphere that an interesting book has been published.  The title is the “Heresy of Orthodoxy”, by Andreas Köstenberger and Michael Kruger, of Wheaton College, published by Crossway.  Tim Henderson devotes three posts at his blog, Earliest Christianity, to a review, here.  The review gives us quite enough to go on, and […]
• From my diary
  All the way through the Greek and Latin proof corrections now.  It was pretty important, this stage.  Some of the Latin text entered contained terrible typos.  Thankfully the translator picked them up.  Tired but feeling less like a worm under a stone than I did. Next it will be the Coptic proof corrections.  I haven’t […]
• From my diary
  Busy.  I’m about half way through processing the Latin proof corrections into Eusebius Gospel Problems and Solutions.  I’ve also tentatively commissioned a translation of a few more of Isidore of Pelusium’s letters.  And I’m reading Mutschmann’s article on chapter divisions.
• Anyone got a PDF of W.G.Kummel, Introduction to the New Testament?
  Someone, seemingly of no great honesty, has professed that a footnote somewhere in this book justifies a claim he is making online.  Does anyone have access to a PDF of it, so I can look? 
• More on chapter titles
  Here is a little more from Diana Albino’s article: Più recentemente, occupandosi del problema della divisione in capitoli presso gli antichi, il Mutschmann (16) ha espresso la convinzione che tale metodo, ostacolato dapprima dalle esigenze artistiche degli scrittori, dovette diffondersi quando si sentì vivo il bisogno di mettere ordine nel caos del materiale letterario tramandato […]
• From my diary
  A busy few minutes, dealing with the emails this morning!  I got a cold over the weekend which limited what I could do. The first draft of the remainder of the Religious Dialogue at the court of the Sassanids has arrived and I have annotated it with suggestions.  We were translating this because it contains chunks […]
• Ernest Bramah’s “Kai Lung” stories
  If you have not read Kai Lung’s Golden Hours, by Ernest Bramah, do so.  Together with The Wallet of Kai Lung and Kai Lung unrolls his mat, it forms a little-known English classic.  The humorous stories are set in an imagined version of Imperial China where everyone talks in a kind of English Mandarin.  Kai […]
• How not to do atheism
  Quite by chance I found myself looking at something that made me first rub my eyes and then burst out laughing.  I thought I would share it with you before it vanishes from the web.  From here: The Bible was wrong. For evidence look to, well, the Bible. Such is the conclusion of this stunning, provocative […]
• From my diary
  This evening I had another bash at applying the Eusebius proof corrections to the PDF.  I’m now up to p.274 of the PDF file, which means all the proof corrections to the Greek have been done (I think!).  But there will be some footnote renumbering, which is a pain.  This takes me up to around […]
• 14 letters of Isidore of Pelusium
  Isidore of Pelusium: Letters 1-14 (PG 78, cols. 177-189) 1. To the monk Nilus. The holy bishops and the guides of the monastic discipline, from the conflicts and struggles which they underwent,[1] established fitting terms, for activities for our instruction and knowledge. They called the withdrawal from the material world “renunciation,” and ready obedience “subjection.” […]
• Back to Isidore of Pelusium’s letters
  An email reached me today from a chap volunteering to take on a commission for some Greek and Syriac (and Armenian for that matter, although I have none in mind at the moment).  I’ve written back and asked for some details.  It might be nice to get him to do a few of the letters […]
• More on the paragraphos mark
  I’m ridiculously busy, but came across — drat, I was interrupted by the phone even as I typed that! — … but I came across a very nice article online about the ancient paragraphos in — drat, interrupted AGAIN! — … about the ancient paragraphos in French here, complete with a very nice photograph of […]
• Paragraphos and Coronis – the joy of the chase
  After my last post, I was wondering what the paragraphos and coronis marks in a papyrus looked like.  A search on “paragraphos coronis” in Google quickly revealed that each had a Wikipedia article, albeit a pretty empty one: paragraphos and coronis. Looking in Google books revealed much more. This page seems to be a French discussion […]
• Abu’l Makarem online?
  The NASCAS list for Arabic Christian scholars contains this interesting note: Since we discussed the work of Abu al-Makarim (Tarikh al-kana’is wa-l-adyira) a while ago, I thought you might be interested in the following website of the Dayr al-Suryan in Egypt, where the book (4 vols.) is downloadable, together with much other useful material. http://www.st-mary-alsourian.com/Library/books.php […]
• Chapter divisions in Pliny the Elder
  I’ve returned to looking at Diana Albino’s article on ancient chapter divisions and summaries, and I was rereading my translation of a long chunk here. One bit caught my eye, about the use of the diple, coronis and paragraphos marks: Already in the papyri, in fact, the various parts are often separated from each other […]
• Eusebius update
  I’ve started working through the 6 pages of revisions to proof text the Greek and Latin text of the forthcoming Eusebius Gospel Problems and Solutions.  Most of them are indeed proof corrections, which is something — missing commas or closing quotes and the like.  I’m going to see if I can move this forward in […]
• Letter 133 in the letters of Leo the Great – Proterius on the calculation of Easter
  A post in an online forum has drawn my attention to the letters of Pope Leo I (d.461).  He is probably best known for persuading Attila the Hun to leave the defenceless city of Rome alone.  Among patristicians, he is remembered for his Tome to Flavian, a letter sent to the Council of Chalcedon in […]
• The merriment of devils and the anger of the saints – the NIV saga continues
  Would you like to rewrite the Moslem Koran?  Perhaps add a couple of modifying words to reflect our own views.  Maybe strengthen the bits about “protecting” non-Moslems, and, when it talks about holy war against unbelievers, add an adjective or two to make sure this is “spiritual” war? Or maybe we could work over the […]
• Copyright claim on all images of Stonehenge ever
  An amusing example of bureaucratic hubris has reached me.  A post here on the fotoLibra blog — a commercial picture library — reveals an email from English Heritage, claiming copyright on all images ever made of Stonehenge. We are sending you an email regarding images of Stonehenge in your fotoLibra website. Please be aware that any images of […]
• Byzantine automata – the emperor is on the throne!
  Hero of Alexandria devised various water-powered machines in antiquity.  But one of the ways in which the Byzantine emperor impressed the barbarians was the presence of automata at his court.  Mechanical marvels were part of their arsenal of influence. One account records that the emperor had a throne which could whisk him up towards the ceiling.  It […]
• From my diary
  It’s all a bit boring here at the moment.  I can’t pay any attention to antiquity because of the pressure of other dull but necessary things.  The days are short, the evenings dark, and all that jazz. I don’t know how interesting people find the details of producing the Eusebius volume.  All the proof corrections […]
• How to find a lost manuscript of Eusebius
  The lost manuscript of the full text of Eusebius’ Gospel problems and solutions was last seen in Sicily five centuries ago.  But it could quite possibly still be there. It might be nice to search for Sicilian mss.  I was thinking about it last night.  We have a couple of clues.  Latino Latini writes that […]
• End-titles in Greek verse
  An email brings me word of a new publication by F. Schironi on the ends of books and the titles that appeared there, mainly connected with Greek poetry. A systematic and chronoloical investigation into the nature and development of end-titles in papyrus rolls and codices of hexameter poetry from the III century BC through the VI […]
• New Mithras frescoes in Syria
  Mike Aquilina sends me word of an exciting find in Syria: Syrian Archaeologists: Rare 3rd Century Frescos Undergoing Restoration at Hama Museum  By H. Sabbagh      Syria (Hama) – A group of experts from Poland are currently working to restore a number of rare frescos dating back to the 3rd century AD at the Hama Museum […]
• Did the Romans believe their myths?
  Blogger N.S.Gill is apparently asked some version of this interesting question often enough that she has compiled an FAQ on it.  She writes: Almost every week I simplify a welter of contradictory stories for the Myth Monday.  … Some readers ask how the ancients reconciled seemingly unrelated versions of the same event. Historian Charles King (The […]
• A new harvest of myths
  Christmas is coming, and with it comes the annual flood of stale old stories cynically designed to cast doubt on whether Christmas is a Christian festival, and eagerly believed by those who feel that way inclined.  The favourite “authority” for these folk is Wikipedia — once one of their friends has suitably amended it, of […]
• Arabic gospel manuscripts
  There is a two volume thesis by Hikmat Kashouh, The Arabic version of the gospel: the manuscripts and their families, accessible online at EthOS here (you have to create an account and do a rather silly ‘order’ but the PDF download is free, and the PDF is searchable).  This thesis was done in 2008 at the […]
• Eusebius update
  A long email from the translator about some issues with the Latin text.  One problem is that we are reprinting three different bits of Latin — one from a modern edition, with “young man” given as “iuuenis”, another from a 19th century edition where it is “iuvenis”, and another from a 16th century volume where […]
• The books and the art trade
  Every year the winds blow across the desert.  Every year, the sands drift in those winds, heaping up against mysterious worked blocks of ancient sandstone.  Little by little the last visible remains of some forgotten Coptic monastery vanish under the sand. It’s not just stone work from once proud buildings.  There are books in the sands.  The monks often […]
• CSEL online again
  Thanks to this post at PLGO, I learn that a vast number of the CSEL volumes have been uploaded to ScribD.  This is excellent news – well done, lads!
• Back to the Religionsgesprach
  The project to translate all the fragments of Philip of Side is still progressing.  A bunch of these are in a 6th century fictional text depicting a religious debate at the court of the Sassanids.  More or less by accident, I seem to have commissioned a translation of this text, although it is turning out […]
• Fame indeed
  It seems that I have been mentioned in the Jakarta Globe.
• The things we rely on
  We do rely on our health, don’t we?  Just take it for granted, and complain that we can’t pack any more into the hours we have.  That is, until the plague strikes, and suddenly we can do nothing.  Nothing at all.  At such times, I become conscious of how much I take for granted.  A […]
• You just can’t get the servants
  A curious story, via F.A. Paley, Greek wit, 2nd ed. 1888: Lysander, after the final defeat of the Athenians, despatched a quantity of coin and treasure to Sparta by sea, under the care of Gylippus, who had been the Spartan commander at Syracuse.  He, not aware that each sealed box contained under the lid a […]
• The official 50 funniest jokes
  Read ’em and giggle. 50. I went to the Doctors the other day, and he said, ‘Go to Bournemouth, it’s great for flu’. So I went – and I got it.  49. A seal walks into a club… h/t eChurch blog.
• More notes on tables of contents and chapter titles from the Sources Chrétiennes
  I’m still looking at the question of whether ancient books had divisions within a book into “chapters” of some sort, and whether they had tables of chapters at the head of each book, and whether the divisions were numbered, and whether the titles in the tables were in the text or not, and whether any […]
• More on tables of contents and chapters in Irenaeus “Adversus Haereses”
  Yesterday I translated what the Sources Chretiennes volumes containing books 3, 4 and 5 of Irenaeus Adversus Haereses had to say about the tables of contents (or argumenta) in the manuscripts.  Chapter titles and divisions are also discussed. Book 1 is covered in SC263, p.30-1. The manuscripts C and V do not contain the Tabula […]
• Eusebius update
  The saga of the translation of Eusebius Gospel Problems and Solutions continues.  I had never realised just how much work it is to get a book to print. We’ve had our first glitch.  An email has arrived from the Coptic translator to the effect that the proof copy does not incorporate a bunch of changes […]
• Tables of contents and chapter divisions in Irenaeus’ “Adversus Haereses”
  The Greek text of the five books of Irenaeus Adversus Haereses is lost, aside from quotations.  A Latin version exists, created in antiquity, and also an Armenian version of books 4 and 5.  The French Sources Chrétiennes text contains some interesting statements about the tables of contents prefixed to each book, and chapter divisions. In Sources […]
• Saying farewell to Falco
  Some time ago I made a momentous decision.  I decided not to buy any more of Lindsay Davis’ “Falco” novels.  For those who have not encountered them, they are detective fiction set in the days of Vespasian. This was quite a decision.  I started buying them in paperback yonks ago.  Then, one day, I was […]
• Say No
  An important article at Monday Evening for those who are generous, and perhaps tend to attract freeloaders: Here’s how to deal with an annoying mooch who is otherwise a basically decent guy: Just say no. Don’t say why not; that invites negotiation. If asked why not, say no again, and ignore any uncomfortable silence. You […]
• From my diary
  Now that I have lots of PDF files of articles, it seems like a good idea to do regular backups.  So I mirror all the key directories onto an external drive. Last night I did the same — and the external disk started clicking.  And clicking.  Yes, it’s the “click of death” — a hard […]
• Hippolytus, Commentary on Daniel, now published
  Tom Schmidt writes to say that his translation of the Commentary on Daniel by Hippolytus is now published in book form, and also online: Wanted to let you know, the commentary is complete and online (and on amazon and createspace.com).  I blogged about it here.  It’s a good feeling to have it done! Tom has […]
• Tables of contents in Josephus’ “Antiquities”
  In the medieval manuscripts which transmit to us the text of Josephus Antiquities, each book is preceded by what looks to us like a table of contents.  These are present in the Loeb edition edited by Henry St. John Thackeray, who very properly includes and translates them, although they are at the back of each […]
• Where the shoe pinches, there the martyr will be found
  I have found online a quotation, which is widely attributed to Martin Luther but seems in fact to come from a 19th century novel about the reformation (which may be found in full here, although I have not tried).  If I profess with loudest voice and clearest exposition every portion of the truth of God except that little […]
• Not the best argument against the authenticity of chapter divisions in ancient works
  I referred a while back to Matthaeus Gesner’s opinion, delivered in 1787, as to why chapter divisions were not authentic.  Diana Albino gives him as her first reference on why there is a habit of treating such things as inauthentic. Prior to his chapter 21, which I translated there, he makes the following remarks: Commode […]
• Birt’s revised thoughts in 1923 on ancient chapter titles, divisions, summaries
  When I translated the relevant portions of Theodor Birt’s 1882 classic, Die antike Buchwesen (The ancient book trade), I mentioned that Birt revised his opinions after the discoveries of papyrus fragments of actual ancient books.  In his Abriss des antiken Buchwesens  (Outline of the ancient book trade)(1923), he makes the following remarks. [p.10] The ancient […]
• From my diary
  My new job is going well, so I must start chasing up projects like Philip of Side and the Origen book.  It’s not been possible to do anything interesting this week.  It’s hard to think of anything else when you’re up early and back late.  But I will get back to ancient world stuff soon. […]
• Eusebius update
  The proof copy has arrived from Lulu, and looks very good.  This is all down to Bob Buller, the typesetter, and the amount of work he did is only now clear. Terrible cover, tho — it looked fine on screen, but not in reality.  The proof copies I have just ordered will just have white card covers.  […]
• From my diary
  Back to work yesterday, so suddenly rather tired in the evenings.  I’ve not heard back from the Sources Chretiennes about the Eusebius volume.  I’m using their Greek text for part of it, and the contractual condition is that I get their OK at proof stage.  So I’ve prompted them today, in case the email went astray.  […]
• The Roman art of satire
  Yesterday I picked up one of my favourite books, an old Loeb edition of the satires of Juvenal and Persius.  I don’t quite remember where I got it.  I seem to think that I found it somewhere in the west country, perhaps in a second-hand bookshop on a trip to Minehead.  Anyhow it sits on […]
• Another source of nonsense about Jesus and Mithras
  Today I read online that: Mithras, the Persian divinity, was also given this title of “Unconquered”; and as one of the very earliest Christian writers tells Justin Martyr (Dialog with Trypho, p. 305) Mithras was mystically said to have been born in a cave or grotto, as was also Jesus, according to very early and […]
• Timothy I and the Dead Sea Scrolls found in the 9th century AD
  The letters in Syriac of the East Syriac patriarch Timothy I are of considerable interest, and it is a great pity that no translation of them exists.  They are, admittedly, of great length. But few people realise that the caves around the Dead Sea have been producing manuscripts for rather longer than the last 50 […]
• P.Oxy.10 – a chapter number in the margin?
  The 1897 publication of the Oxyrhynchus papyri contains an interesting fragment, P.Oxy. 10.  This is third century A.D., and is in the Bodleian.  It contains parts of two consecutive columns from the lost Πεντέμυχος of Pherecydes of Syros.  The author wrote in the 6th century BC and was one of the first Greek prose writers.  A […]
• T. Birt in 1882 on chapter titles
  In Die antike Buchwesen T. Birt discusses the division of books into chapters.  He was to change his views, and I intend to translate his revised statements from 1923 soon.  But for now, here is what he says in 1882.  I have augmented the footnotes by looking up the reference, and placed my additions in […]
• Trying to deal with Lightning Source
  I’ve been told that the people to print the books that I have commissioned are Lightning Source.  They have printers in the US and UK, and access through Amazon.  The quality of the job is apparently rather better than Lulu.com. But they do seem rather difficult to deal with.  First they won’t give you any kind […]
• Eusebius update
  Bob the typesetter popped a PDF to me this morning containing all the corrections that I know about, and ready for printing proof copies.  He’s really done a sterling job, and I am deeply grateful to him. The real printing will be done at Lightning Source.  I’ve now “registered for an account” — the first step […]
• Ancient Greek civilisation a forgery; and 10 things to do with a female Mossad agent
  The Onion has the story: Historians Admit To Inventing Ancient Greeks WASHINGTON—A group of leading historians held a press conference Monday at the National Geographic Society to announce they had “entirely fabricated” ancient Greece, a culture long thought to be the intellectual basis of Western civilization. The group acknowledged that the idea of a sophisticated, […]
• From my diary
  I’ve been translating the discussion of Theodor Birt from 1882 on chapter divisions in ancient books.  This I have done, but I want to augment the footnotes somewhat, by  giving the text where he merely gives a reference to some ancient work.  Birt also revised his views in 1923, as the papyri became available.  I […]
• A 12th century trilingual Arabic, Greek and Latin psalter
  A correspondent tells me about this post at Arab Orthodoxy: On the website of the British Library they’ve posted images of a Psalter dated to 1153 written in parallel Greek, Latin, and Arabic. The Arabic translation of the Psalms is that of Abdallah ibn al-Fadl al-Antaki, the famous 11th century deacon and translator from Antioch. You […]
• Bigotry in Colchester?
  Persecution does not necessarily hit the headlines.  Most of it goes on “under the radar”.  The large-scale violence of the Great Persecution under Diocletian was abnormal.  Tertullian lived in a world where the proconsul did not, as a rule, orchestrate attacks on Christians.  Rather the Roman state put in place the legal framework which denormalised […]
• How ancient writers marked the start of each new book
  I’ve been translating a section of Theodor Birt’s Die antike Buchwesen for the last couple of days.  The book may be elderly, but is still the standard reference.  Pages 14-146 are concerned with prefaces, introductions, tables of contents and the like.  Here is what he has to say.  It is somewhat discursive, unfortunately.  I have […]
• Eusebius, Gospel problems and solutions update
  The last fixes have been applied to the PDF and sent to the typesetter.  There are only about 20 of them, all trivial.  Once I have the revised PDF, I shall upload it to a print-on-demand site and generate some proof copies.
• Book on Syriac historiography
  Several people have sent me a link to the Bryn Mawr review of Muriel Debié (ed.), L’historiographie syriaque, published in Études syriaques.  This discusses how historical writing went into the Syriac world, how it changed, how it was influenced by Armenian texts, and what the effect of the Moslem conquest was — which was to isolate it […]
• Literary activity of Sir Henry Savile
  Following on from this post and this one, inter alia, I received an interesting email this morning about other work by Henry Savile, in his days at Eton. From John Warwick Montgomery, “Ecumenicity, Evangelicals, and Rome”, p. 52. Sir Henry Savile “was responsible for translating sections of the Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, and […]
• Digitizing your own library, and how to build your own book scanner
  The existence of Google books is causing some interesting ripples.  Some people are now wondering whether they really need all those books in paper form. From Ancient History Ramblings I learn of this interesting article in the Chronicle of Higher Education, Digitizing the personal library: Books take up space. That’s a problem for any librarian […]
• From my diary
  Employment beckons, and dealing with the paperwork associated with that, chasing people up, and so forth, has filled up today.  I’ve emailed a PDF of the Eusebius book across to the Sources Chretiennes people for their approval.  I’m reprinting their Greek text, so it is a condition of doing so that they review the manuscript.  There […]
• More on Polybius and tables of contents
  In a comment on my post about Polybius and his discussion of tables of contents versus prefaces at the start of his books, Ted Janiszewski has kindly pointed out that Walbank’s remarks about the passage are online.  In fact at the PACE site, the text of Polybius with facing translation are available, with notes.  This […]
• Coptic language course at Cambridge in November
  Quite by accident I see that a weekend course in Coptic is on offer at Madingley Hall at Cambridge, at the Cambridge University Institute of Continuing Education which runs leisure courses.  It starts at 19:15 on Friday 19 November 2010, and ends at 14:00 on Sunday 21 November 2010.  It costs £350 residential and £240 […]
• More on chapter titles from Albino’s article
  I got a little ahead of myself, discussing Birgk’s 1872 comments about lists of subjects at the start of books of Polybius.  I was in fact going through the article in Italian by Diana Albino on chapter titles, and started by translating the bit about Gesner, the first to write on the subject.  Let’s hear […]
• Google translate does Latin?
  The Daily Telegraph has an article that Google has added 50 languages, including Latin, to the translator.  It’s here. So…. does it work?  Well, not very well as yet.  I grabbed the start of Friderici’s book on ancient books, which starts thus: Quamquam plurimae fere quaestiones, quae ad antiquorum rem librariam pertinent, his temporibus pertractatae […]
• Polybius on prefaces and summaries for his books
  Let’s return to chapter titles, summaries at the start of books, and the question of chapter divisions.  In my last post I translated Bergk, but did not give the Greek of Polybius, book 11, nor an English translation.  He says that Polybius says he started his multi-book history by giving each book a summary or headings […]
• An overview of and introduction to Coptic literature
  Here are a few notes from a lengthy article in the DACL, which I found on my shelves in photocopy form this afternoon. 1. COPTIC LANGUAGE.  This is the language of Christian Egypt, ancient Egyptian with many borrowings from Greek, even in documentary texts, but written in Greek letters with some demotic letters.  Almost all […]
• Chapter titles in the first printed edition of Tertullian’s Apologeticum
  I’m still turning photocopies into PDF’s.  Today I reached a photocopy of an incunabulum of Tertullian’s Apologeticum, which I scanned and have uploaded to Archive.org here. Very early printed books, produced before 1500, are known as incunabula from the Latin “in the cradle.”  Early ones are essentially facsimiles of the manuscripts from which they were […]
• Bergk (1872) on chapter titles and divisions in ancient writers
  Bergk is the second author quoted as an authority on the history of scholarship in this area.  He writes so long ago that he uses “Capiteln” rather than “Kapiteln”!  But I think it is interesting to see what this foundational author on the subject actually says. I have scanned and corrected his text.  Since I did […]
• Cyril of Alexandria and chapter divisions in the “Glaphyra”
  Matthew Crawford has kindly pointed out a passage by Cyril of Alexandria discussing chapter divisions.  This passage is new to me.  It may be found in his commentary on the Old Testament, in the preface to the Glaphyra in Genesim.  This is online in PG 69, col. 16.  I don’t know a lot of Greek, […]
• Early opinions on chapter divisions
  I have been reading an article about the history of scholarship on the subject of chapter titles, from 1962-3, by Diana Albino.(1)  It begins with some interesting remarks. In modern printed editions the surviving works of the Graeco-Latin civilization are published divided into books and in chapters.  But the scholar who wants to restore the […]
• From my diary
  Greetings to any Mertonians who are lured hither by the mention of this site in Postmaster.  Those who remember me may recall that even at college I was interested in the Church fathers! My apologies for the limited blogging.  I have been interviewing for a new contract this week.  One that I had favoured, with […]
• Some notes on chapter divisions in ancient books
  I’ve always been interested in the question of when chapter divisions and chapter titles arrived in ancient books.  Various articles on the subject have passed through my hands in recent days as I converted photocopies to PDF’s, and again I found them interesting.  But in those days the German sources, Birt and Bergk, were inaccessible […]
• 284 Greek manuscripts online at the British Library
  I learn from here via here that Juan Garces, the go-ahead curator of Greek manuscripts at the British Library, has got 284 manuscripts online.  It’s well worth browsing the four pages of the list.  There’s a manuscript of Zosimus New History in there, for instance.  Despite pleas from Biblical people, it’s mostly classical or patristic or […]
• A second connection between al-Qifti and Bar Hebraeus
  We all know that Bar Hebraeus described the destruction of the library of Alexandria by the Moslems, and we have seen a very similar story at somewhat greater length given by the Moslem writer al-Qifti translated for us yesterday. Quite by accident I have come across a mention of an example where Bar Hebraeus displays […]
• Al-Qifti on the destruction of the library of Alexandria
  Emily Cottrell has made a translation into English of the relevant passage from al-Qifti, based on Lippert’s edition, and kindly allowed it to appear here.  Here it is.  I am not absolutely sure that WordPress will allow some of the characters used — if it all  gets corrupt, I shall simplify it. Ibn al-Qifṭī p. […]
• From my diary
  I’m going through my filing cabinets, turning paper articles into PDF’s using my trusty Fujistu S300 scanner.  In the process I am finding some gems. I’ve just found a photocopy of a complete book on the History of Durham Cathedral Library, which I have uploaded to Archive.org.  The book was published in 1925, and I […]
• Putting the RealEncyclopadie online
  An article here tells us that people unspecified are beginning to create an electronic version of Paulys RealEncyclopadie at the German Wikipedia.  Some 3,957 articles have been turned into text.  Someone has noticed that the early volumes are all in the public domain (although the whole work was only completed in 1980). Google books and Archive.org […]
• Did you know it was illegal to burn your own copy of the Koran in England?
  No?  Well, until yesterday, neither did I.  But apparently it now is, as of yesterday.  On Thursday 23rd September 2010 it became a crime.  We found this out when six men were arrested for doing so.  No-one knows who decided it was a crime.  They were charged under “inciting racial hatred”, one of those laws […]
• From my diary
  Too busy trying to find a job today to do anything useful.  My QuickLatin utility is causing me some grief.  I have to copy protect it, because it’s used in education and no-one ever registers software in that world.  But the copy protection is behaving a bit weirdly.  Two users have reported that the code […]
• Eusebius update, and other things
  The last news was that I sent the typesetter a huge number of corrections, as “stickys” on the PDF.  These have now been processed, and the file has come back.  I now need to add in the changes that have arrived since then, which I hope to do this week. Bar Hebraeus tells us that […]
• Automated Arabic to English translation
  An electronic text of the world history by Bar Hebraeus, known as the Book of the dynasties, has come into my hands.  This led me to wonder whether Google translate does Arabic.  And it does! So I pasted in the first few paragraphs, to see what it made of it.  Well… it was largely gibberish.  […]
• The lack of Harnack remedied
  The ancient sources for Marcion were all compiled by Adolf Harnack in  his Marcion: Das Evangelium vom fremden Gott, Texte und Untersuchungen 45, 2nd ed. Leipzig, 1924.  Since Harnack died in 1940, all his work is out of copyright in Germany and the EU, and presumably in the US also, therefore. Unfortunately this work is […]
• Simple Latin required for online project
  I’ve had an email from someone who has been laboriously placing online a medieval Latin text.  It’s one of those catalogues of patriarchs and kings, with snippets of simple Latin in between.  Unfortunately our friend doesn’t have much Latin himself, so is rather stuck.  Can anyone help him?  I’d do it, if I wasn’t so busy.  […]
• The risks of snobbery in the classics
  A few days ago I was reading the 17th century John Aubrey’s Brief lives when I came across the following statement in the life of Sir Henry Billingsley (d. 1606), who translated Euclid into English. Memorandum. P. Ramus in his Scholia’s sayes that the reason why mathematiques did most flourish in Germanie was that the […]
• Bar Hebraeus on the destruction of the library of Alexandria
  Dioscorus Boles has kindly translated the passage describing the destruction in Bar Hebraeus, Historia Compendiosa Dynastiarum. He made it directly from the Arabic of Pococke’s edition — the only edition — p.180-1, and made it as literal as possible.  Here it is. And in this time Yahya (1) who is known to us by the name Grammaticus (2), which […]
• Finnish translation of Tertullian’s Apologeticum uses an image from my site?
  I had an email today from a chap in Finland which interested and amused me. Here in Finland, Tertullian’s Apologeticum has just been published in Finnish  translation made by certain Lutheran emeritus bishop Juha Pihkala. The publisher is Kirjapaja, and it looks like they have used in the cover your photo of the codex Romanus […]
• I’m going to have to stop using Amazon
  It’s becoming impossible to use Amazon any more.  Here they’ve decided to use courier companies to send out books, instead of putting them in the post.  Stuff that is sent by post arrives.  If it does not, it’s taken to a local depot and you can pick it up. Courier companies are set up to deal […]
• From my diary
  I’m being very good, and I’m not mentioning the Pope’s visit to the UK.  I felt that I’d better say something about the vandalism of Livius.org, but again I don’t want to dwell on it. One thing that has come to my mind, tho, is the lack of an English language handbook on Islamic literature.  […]
• Islamic attack on Livius.org
  Last night the Livius.org ancient history site was hacked and defaced.  It is down at this moment.  The vandalism indicated that the culprits were a Turkish-speaking Islamic group. We don’t quite know why they did this, or what they disliked about the site.  Jona Lendering created the site, which is invaluable for people interested in ancient history and the […]
• al-Qifti and the destruction of the library of Alexandria
  My enquiry in NASCAS brought a note from Prof. Samir Khalil, that the Bar Hebraeus reference is actually just a copy of the statement in al-Qifti.  Dr Khalil published on this in «L’utilisation d’al-Qifṭī par la Chronique arabe d’Ibn al-‘Ibrī († 1286)», in : Samir Khalil Samir (Éd.), Actes du IIe symposium syro-arabicum (Sayyidat al-Bīr, […]
• Let’s just do Bar Hebraeus on the library of Alexandria!
  I’ve weakened and put out a tender in the NASCAS Christian Arabic group, for a translation from the Arabic of Bar Hebraeus’ words about the library of Alexandria.  I’ve offered $30, which should be ample.  Let’s get a translation made, and have done with it. In case anyone is interested, a PDF of the pages from […]
• Butler on Bar Hebraeus and the destruction of the library of Alexandria
  A. J. Butler, The Arab Conquest of Egypt and the Last Thirty Years of the Roman Dominion, Oxford, 1902, Chapter 25, p.401 gives the following version of the story from Bar Hebraeus, or Abu’l Faraj, once again not quite in verbatim quotation: The story as it stands in Abu’l Faraj [1] is well known, and […]
• Gibbon on Bar Hebraeus and the destruction of the Alexandrian library
  I have now located the passage where Gibbon discusses the destruction of the library of Alexandria by the Arabs, as recounted by Bar Hebraeus, and thereby gave rise to a large progeny of English-language quotations of the words of Omar given in it.  It may be found here.  Unfortunately I haven’t found a reliable volume/page […]
• Bar Hebraeus, Abd al-Latif, and the destruction of the library of Alexandria
  I’m trying to find some specific sources for the claim that the Caliph Omar ordered the burning of the library at Alexandria.   Yesterday we looked at Abd al-Latif.  The source most commonly quoted is Gregory Bar Hebraeus, also known as Abu’l Faraj, writing in the 13th century.  He was the last great writer of Syriac. Bar […]
• Abd al-Latif’s “Account of Egypt” and the destruction of the library of Alexandria
  I was reminded this evening of the stor about the destruction of the library of Alexandria under Omar.  The conqueror Amr wrote to the Caliph Omar to ask what to do about all the books.  He got back the reply: As for the books you mention, here is my reply. If their content is in […]
• Speculative invoicing for copyright violation
  Online piracy of games and DVDs is widespread, or so I gather.  I don’t myself play computer games and I don’t have a DVD player, and furthermore I’m not really the right generation.  But considering how music sharing worked in the 70’s and 80’s, I fully believe that it is widespread.  Notoriously peer-to-peer networking has […]
• And more from the Chronicle of Zuqnin
  This continues as follows: In the year 1057 (745-746), Marwan went out from the Gate of the Turks. It is written in the prophet Jeremiah: “Therefore thus says the Lord: See I will put pitfalls before this people: fathers and son will fail together; neighbour and friend will perish.” All these things happened to the […]
• Back to the Chronicle of Zuqnin
  The plague is raging in the East in the 740’s AD.  We’ve already seen quite enough about it, but the chronicler is not finished.  He ends his description of it as follows: Everywhere, those who remained – a very small-number –removed the dead, and all day without pause carried them away, threw them down as one would […]
• Patristics Conference addendum
  One of the papers that did not really get delivered, because of technical problems, was by Allen Brent on pagan imagery in Christian art.  He started by putting up a list of possible explanations.  This he has kindly sent to me at my request, because I thought it was interesting all by itself.  The explanation […]
• Tertullian in Norwegian
  Ten years ago I was still scanning material for the Tertullian Project.  One thing that I started to do was acquire foreign-language translations.  In a way this was a mistake; it was quite hard to scan and proof these, and really those who speak that language group will be far better at it.  So after […]
• Other reports on the patristics conference
  … are starting to appear online.  Here is one from Sara Parvis.  This mentions a very interesting paper: Scott Manor, a third-year PhD student here, meanwhile presented a paper arguing that Epiphanius’ Alogi (a group beloved of scholars who want to argue that John’s gospel was a disputed text right up to the end of the […]
• From my diary
  It seems that there is no PDF online of Harnack’s collection of all the ancient data on Marcion.  This seems extraordinary to me —  the book is certainly out of copyright — but that seems to be it.  If anyone knows where pirate PDF’s of German books may be found, I’d be glad to know. […]
• Always practice safe grammar
  As Count Yor used to say (an in-joke for readers of Yor’s Revenge). Who knew that careless capitalization could cause so much trouble?
• A lack of Harnack
  Adolf Harnack died in 1930.  That means his works all came out of copyright, even in Germany, in 2000.  Yet very few of them seem to be online. I was looking for his Marcion: the gospel of the alien god, in which he openly avows his support for the idea of dropping the Old Testament.  […]
• From my diary
  I’m still in Northumberland.  Motorway signs indicating that the A1 is closed this weekend — the road I intend to use to go home on! — means that I had to pay the blackmail-level wifi price at the hotel and get online.  I have therefore posted the two conference reports that I did last night.  I […]
• Patristics Conference Diary 4 – Day 3
  This day also started early as I had to get to my car (25 minutes walk away), get it into the Bailey, load it up, while parked on a double yellow line, drive it back, and walk back again!   At breakfast (8-9am) I found myself sitting opposite a post-grad from Exeter who turned out to […]
• Patristics Conference Diary 3 – day 2
  These reports are being posted late.  The reason is lack of internet access.  There was no wifi at the conference, so I had to use some static machines with guest logins.  On the evening of Wednesday 1st September 2010 (day 1) these failed to work, and continued to be out of service all day on […]
• Patristics Conference Diary 2
  I checked in, and at 2:30 went down to the book displays.  These were fairly limited, but since I was resolved not to buy any more academic books if I could help it, this was all to the good.  About 60 participants are listed. The first session at 3:30 was a lecture by Caroline Humfress […]
• Patristics conference diary – day 1
  I drove up to Durham yesterday — 277 miles — in glorious sunshine and got myself checked into the Durham East premier inn.  The conference arrangements have been somewhat haphazard, so I called St. Johns College and enquired about early arrival today.  They told me that I could have saved myself the hotel bill!  Memo: […]
• What happens when the state pulls out of Constantine’s deal with the church?
  Phil Snider has (somehow) been reading Ephrem’s Hymns against Julian the apostate.  His summary of what they say is fascinating, and may be very relevant to our world. I’ve always been interested in these hymns, but as far as I knew, no translation existed in any modern language.  Does anyone know of one? UPDATE: Apparently […]
• Patristics Conference – a grumble
  I’m off to Durham tomorrow to attend the patristics conference on Wednesday.  So I’ve been going through the emails, printing off copies, printing out a map of what and where. One thing that strikes me strongly is that the conference is not being organised very well.   My experience has been quite negative.  For instance, when […]
• I’m going to have a Religionsgesprach
  One of the drawbacks of doing too much is that you tend to deal with emails a  bit too hastily.  One of those too hasty “yes that is fine” has come back to bite me. Regular readers will remember that I commissioned a translation of all the fragments of Philip of Side.  Five of these […]
• Not going to church (even though you want to)
  A post on an important subject: For the first time in our Christian lives we experienced the total despair of essentially giving up and not going anywhere for almost six or seven months. And I didn’t miss it. I didn’t miss the clueless worship, lack of Bible, historical ignorance, Great Commission absence or lack of community. […]
• 9 literary sources for Tiberius before AD 187?
  I came across an interesting claim online yesterday: …[there] are 45 ancient sources of Jesus within 150 years of His death. Nobody even comes close to this. Tiberius who died just 4 years after Jesus did only had 9 sources within 150 years of his death. This seems to be based on this: Dr. Gary […]
• From my diary
  The sun is shining, the sky is blue, and in a minute I shall venture out!  It’s the holiday weekend. Time for us all to get away from the keyboard!  
• Miscellaneous projects update
  I’ve been really unwell this week, so all my projects are on hold.  Fortunately, for most of them, the ball is in someone else’s court. One project has been abandoned.  The translation of the remains of Polychronius’ commentary on Daniel will not go ahead.  The translator has decided to write an academic article around what he […]
• Freedom of speech ten miles away from me
  This post is written under UK government restrictions on discussing homosexuality. Premier Christian Radio reports today: Preacher’s trial over homosexuality comments adjourned.  While standing as an independent election candidate in Colchester Paul Shaw distributed leaflets on which he stated homosexual acts should be made illegal. Christian Quoter tells us: Colchester Magistrates today agreed to adjourn […]
• How to sell your unwanted books online
  I have quite a few academic books, mostly about Tertullian, which I know that I will never look at again.  I’d like to sell these off and get rid of them — they’re occupying space I require for other purposes — but how? Suggestions welcome!
• Sentimental about old technology
  HP ScanJet 6350C Old computers never die — they just get shoved to the back of the cupboard, and gather dust.  Old peripherals are much the same. I thought it would be nice to put online a picture of my scanner.  Not the one I use today, but the one I bought more than 10 […]
• More problems for UK Christians
  During the 13 years of the Blair government, a considerable number of laws were passed whose effect was to interfere with Christians, their organisations, and their right to express their beliefs verbally, in print, or by preaching in public.  This was quite intentional. I remember one cabinet minister boasting that the churches had better start […]
• Eusebius book to be delayed
  I had intended to try to get the Eusebius book out in September.  I have just realised that this must be impossible.  I have quite a list of things which depend on others.  The Greek can’t be proof-read any sooner than 20 September, and it may be later.  I can’t proceed without the approval of […]
• From my diary
  I seem to have done a bit too much on the Eusebius on Monday and Tuesday.  I feel as if I have the equivalent of a work “hangover” today, and I have been useless for anything.  Stupid of me to go at it that hard, I know.  So don’t expect anything very useful out of me for […]
• Who are the classicists?
  An interesting article from Vitruvian Design on  how non-scholars are pushing the boundaries of technology in a way that must revolutionise much of what scholars do. We heard from the Alpheios project about recent development of their language learning tools. I’m thrilled to be using alpheios this fall both as a teacher of intermediate Latin and […]
• How not to evaluate evidence
  With kiddies editing Wikipedia to reflect what they wish was true, and other kiddies believing what they read is authoritative, universities are starting to try to get students to think more critically.  This can only be a good thing. Unfortunately, in the humanities, critical thinking comes a long way second to herd-instinct.  This process was […]
• Notes on Eusebius of Emesa
  Ever since I found a sermon by Eusebius of Emesa and placed it online, I have been somewhat interested in this obscure figure.  He was a pupil of Eusebius of Caesarea, and has been called a semi-Arian, although he had no political interests and lived in the times of Constantius when such views were perhaps […]
• Eusebius once more
  I’m supposed to be on holiday — indeed I must spend a few days NOT working on projects!  Perhaps later this week. I’ve just emailed Les editions du Cerf about getting their approval for the manuscript of the Eusebius book.  This was a condition of them allowing me (on very generous terms) to use the […]
• From my diary
  Today is the day I go through all the corrections on the Greek fragments and process them into the PDF to send to Bob the typesetter.  It’s rather boring, frankly.  Worse yet, the editor has mingled text in unicode with characters in non-unicode Greek.  Every bit of it has to be converted to unicode, and […]
• Letters of Isidore of Pelusium
  A translation of the first 14 letters of Isidore of Pelusium came in this morning.  It’s generally looking good, although the people I use to verify this are on holiday!  But I’ve paid the sum agreed anyway — the chap has certainly worked on it seriously — and commissioned letters 15-25 for the same treatment. […]
• British patristic conference, 1st-3rd September 2010
  Just a quick note to say that bookings for the conference, to be held in Durham at St. Johns College, are still possible.  Accomodation and meals have to be booked by Monday, but of course there is plenty of hotel accomodation in the city, within walking distance of the college.  It might even be more comfortable! If […]
• Eusebius update – whole book typeset!
  Rejoice!  The whole Eusebius Gospel Problems and Solutions is now in typeset form, with page numbers etc!  This is a massive step forward, and all credit is due to Bob Buller who did the job, did it very quickly and efficiently, and turned a bunch of word files into something professional. Of course it has to be […]
• British Patristic Conference – conference schedule
  The list of papers and what happens when has been posted on the web site here.  The papers look good.  A quick glance shows several that I want to to hear, straight out of the box.  I do want to hear that paper about Eusebius in the 17th century.  The myths started then still enjoy […]
• Google books not visible outside the US — people are starting to notice
  I was delighted to see an article at Mark Goodacre’s blog, The bizarre case of Google Books unavailable outside the US.  I’ve been banging on about this for some years. There’s a great mass of material on Google Books.  Full copies of all works up to 1923 are online.  But … if you live outside […]
• British Patristics Conference
  The British Patristic Conference at Durham is due in a very short time indeed.  It kicks off on 1st September, which is now merely a week and a half away.  So I’m slightly nervous that no programme or acknowledgement of my registration has appeared!  Still, if they haven’t got me on the list, I just won’t […]
• Eusebius again
  Bob Buller, who is typesetting Eusebius’ Gospel Problems and Solutions, has just sent over the typeset version of the Latin fragments and translation.  He tells me he’s starting in on the Syriac now.  After that, only the front matter — a few pages — remains!  At that point I’ll send in the collected corrections — […]
• On the tombs of the emperors in the Church of the Holy Apostles
  One of the various antiquarian compositions of Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus (913-959) was De cerimoniis aulae Byzantinae.  The work was revised in the following reign. In the Book of Ceremonies ii, 42, the following list of tombs in the church may be found.  Other excerpts from this work translated by Paul Stephenson can be found here.  Glanville Downey […]
• Eusebius update
  Bob Buller, who is heroically typesetting the manuscript of the Gospel Problems and Solutions of Eusebius, has sent over another chapter.  This time it’s the Arabic text and translation.  It looks very good, and the manuscript is probably now 70% done.  The chapter containing Coptic fragments has been sent to the Coptic team for inspection […]
• Cyril of Alexandria buys the government
  The collection of letters of Cyril of Alexandria that has come down to us is really a dossier of materials surrounding the Nestorian controversy.  That unedifying story has many low points. One that sticks in my mind is letter 96.  This consists of a list of bribes of courtiers in Constantinople.  I found a copy […]
• Julian the Apostate on Constantius
  I imagine that most of us have read Ammianus Marcellinus.  The gloomy pall of the reign of Constantius, which opens the remaining books of that work, is almost palpable.  The atmosphere of suspicion and oppression, the constant denunciations, the fear of ordinary decent people confronted by people like Paul “the chain” … all this is […]
• Nicolaitans in patristic literature
  I’ve had an email from Daniel R. Jennings who has compiled a list of references to the Nicolaitans in the available patristic literature.  It is here. Such collections of sources are always valuable, and Daniel is doing a useful job in making this.
• Gnomologia on the web
  Everyone knows that the Arabs had collections of the “sayings of the poets and philosophers” with which they bored each other at those lengthy dinner parties during the middle ages while they were waiting for the crusades to begin.  Few perhaps realise that collections of this kind actually start with the Greeks, and are extant […]
• Sarcophagi of the Eastern Roman emperors still around?
  I wonder how many people know that the sarcophagi of the Roman emperors buried in the Church of the Holy Apostles are still around?  The following picture from Wikimedia Commons and this one show some of them stood outside the Istanbul archaeological museum.  The one without a cross on is said to be that of Julian […]
• The letters of Julian the Apostate
  For some reason today I found myself looking at the Wikipedia page on Julian the Apostate, the last of the family of the emperor Constantine who tried to turn the empire pagan again.  Indeed I ended up adding a little known snippet on the end of his time in Antioch.  Julian found that Antioch was […]
• What they will not allow you to see online
  Jona Lendering writes about censorship in the Netherlands. The Dutch Royal Library is currently making available online all newspapers from the Second World War, which includes Nazi propaganda. Now the Dutch department of Justice has advised the library not to make digital versions of these publications, because it is possible that the Public Prosecutor might […]
• The morning after the night before
  Time to tidy the blog.  I thought I’d go through all the linked blogs and check they still exist and are still active.  Not all of them were!  A reduced list appears to the right of this post.  I do read quite a few of these, although more are reference sources than anything else. I also […]
• Why we need Akkadian
  Jim Davila has an interesting column entitled Why we need Akkadian.   I think we all know that the earliest civilisation of mankind arose in Sumer and Akkad, in the plains of Mesopotamia, when men started to build mud-brick houses, build cities, and soon to produce those curious cuneiform tablets, the earliest widespread writing system of […]
• The felicitous misquotation
  I have been reading the essays of E. M. Blaiklock, a Christian scholar and professor of Classics at Auckland university for many years, published as “The best of ‘Grammaticus'”.  He remarks on an occasion when a quotation from St. Paul suffered a ‘f’ where a ‘g’ should be: …overcome evil with food. Hermann Goering was doubtless excellent […]
• From my diary
  What happened to summer?  It looks like November out there; cold, grey, windy.  Driving to work this morning at 8am everyone had headlights on! Still I shan’t have to do that again for a bit.  Today I resigned and walked out of my new job, which I started last week.  I lasted five whole days!  […]
• The chronicler of Zuqnin continues…
  The next passage of the anonymous 9th century Syriac chronicle is as follows.  After the widespread flooding, which of course polluted the water supply, the inevitable plague struck.  This is happening towards the end of the Ummayad caliphate, in the early 700’s. It is interesting to note that, while the Arabs and Jews buried their […]
• From my diary
  A massive and unexpected bill arrived today — nearly $400 — from the translator of the Greek for comparing the Greek text of the fragments of Eusebius back against the printed pages of Mai etc.  Ouch!  I had not realised that so large a bill was pending; I thought the comparison would be relatively quick.  […]
• What’s in that “Eusebius book” I’m commissioning?
  I’ve been reminded that the Eusebius project has been running so long that many people may not recall what it contains. Eusebius wrote a work on Gospel Problems and their Solutions.  This covered disagreements at the start of the gospels, and at the ends.  The work is lost, but a substantial selection in abbreviated form […]
• Eusebius book again
  The Eusebius book is still coming along. The ISBN agency have been sending me bumpf about customers ordering copies via themselves, as a free service, which is odd since I never asked them to.  I need to read all their tosh first and see what it all amounts to.   I also need to get a […]
• Cheap flights to Luxor
  If you want to go to Egypt, there is some rather good news.  EasyJet is to start flights to Luxor from Gatwick.  Jane Akshar’s blog tells us:  EasyJet to start Gatwick flight to Luxor – www.travelweekly.co.uk: “Services will depart Gatwick twice a week, on Monday and Wednesday, with passengers bound for the Valley of the […]
• Would you like to buy some volumes of the Patrologia Graeca?
  We all know — or should know — about the massive 19th century 160 volume collection of Greek patristic texts.  These come with Latin translations.  The whole enterprise was really just reprinting and collecting earlier editions, but J.-P. Migne, who masterminded it, did such a service to the world that his collection has been a standard […]
• From my diary
  Lots of work this afternoon.  The translator writing direct to the typesetter with instructions caused quite a flurry!  But the situation is now under control and I’m back in the middle, vetting and batching up changes.  It’s quite impossible for anyone  to do something like typesetting with two people issuing instructions anyway. So it meant […]
• Eusebius update
  This evening has mostly been spent with the PDF’s which contain proof copies of the book.  No more has been typeset — we’re still with just the ecloge plus the Greek fragments of the Ad Stephanum.  But layout tweaks and minor changes abound. One interesting issue of consistency has arisen.  For the ecloge we are […]
• Lots of UK university theology departments to close?
  A story from the Church Times here makes entertaining reading for those of us who were active Christians at college, and had to endure the incubus of university “theology” students — impious, drunken, debauched, vicious and perpetually determined to corrupt or insult Christians.  Apparently the secular establishment won’t pay the bills any more!  UNIVERSITY theology departments are facing […]
• The plague and famine under Hisham – from the Chronicle of Zuqnin
  The translation continues: Of the drought and famine that also took place on the earth in those days. At that time, God sent us on these most cruel and terrible plagues: the sword, captivity, famine and pestilence, because of our sins and the misdeeds that our hands had engaged in. “Even if Moses and Samuel […]
• More from the Chronicle of Zuqnin
   The story continues: In the year 1047 (735 736), `Attiq rebelled and embraced the sect of the Harourites. When he rebelled and embraced the sect of the Harourites, he did as the Arabs used to do when they abandon their women and all they have. He went with twenty companions to Sigara. Hisham heard this, […]
• Eusebius update
  Good news and bad news.  The good news is that the Bob the typesetter has done all of the ecloge — the abbreviated selection from the full work published by Angelo Mai — and the fragments of the “To Stephanus”.  This is great progress, and looks good.  He’s raised some interesting issues along the way. […]
• A note from the Chronicle of Zuqnin
  I’m translating the next chunk of the Chronicle of Zuqnin, and was amused by the French of one passage: At the same time Edessa was also flooded. There was in fact a great and violent flooding in the river, which crosses the city and called the Daishan.  The waters came in abundance into the city, […]
• ISBN for Eusebius book arrives!
  The text and translation which I am bringing out of Eusebius of Caesarea: Gospel Problems and Solutions now has an ISBN – 978-0-9566540-0-7.  Another step forward!
• The conman and the Jews, in the Chronicle of Zuqnin, part 4
  Here’s the next chunk of the 8th century anonymous Syriac chronicle, written at the monastery of Zuqnin, just north of Amida (= modern Diyarbekir), and once wrongly attributed to Dionysius of Tell-Mahre. In the year 1040 (728-729), Neocaesarea was taken by Maslamah [27] who took captive the people of this town and sold them into […]
• Gregory of Nyssa fails to adapt to then contemporary attitudes on slavery
  Look at who is linking to you, and you can find some interesting things!  One was this post, and of course I shall have to read this blog some more! Another of these is an extract from Gregory of Nyssa’s Homilies on Ecclesiastes here (over-paragraphing by me).  This is from Homily 4, on Ecclesiastes 2:7. ‘I got […]
• Quiet flows the Don
  Everyone must be on holiday.  The usual forums are quiet, and the volume of emails has dropped to almost nothing.  Not that I am complaining, you understand, but it is curious.  Everyone, evidently, has better things to do than sit in front of the evil machine.  There’s a lesson there for those of us still […]
• Scythians worship Zalmoxis, and serve them right!
  According to Herodotus, the Getae were a godless lot, but they worshipped a certain Zalmoxis.  Herodotus also repeats a story current in the local Greek settlements that made this Zalmoxis a pupil of Pythagoras, who worked a con on the ignorant Scythians.  He hid in a cave in the ground for three years, and was […]
• Google funding for discovery of ancient texts online — and some unforeseen difficulties
  Stephan Huller has drawn my attention to a press release from the university of Southampton: A University of Southampton researcher is part of a team which has just secured funding from Google to make the classics and other ancient texts easy to discover and access online. Leif Isaksen at the University’s School of Electronics and […]
• A myth-take about Helice, the earthquake, and Diodorus Siculus
  In 373 BC, two years before the battle of Leuctra, an earthquake destroyed two cites of the Achaean league, pitching them into the sea.  This evening I received an email about this.  I am writing a book about the science of disaster prediction, and will be making a brief reference to anecdotal evidence (and, more […]
• More from the Chronicle of Zuqnin, part 4
  Here is the next section of the 8th century anonymous chronicle, written at the monastery of Zuqnin, just north of ancient Amida, now Diarbekir in Eastern Turkey: Wonders worked by holy Mar Habib, Bishop of Edessa. “In these days it is good to hide the secret of the king, but it is always right to […]
• Difficult decisions or discrimination at Oxford centre for Jewish studies
  There is a curious news report in the Daily Telegraph today here, reprinted at VirtueOnline here.  There is also a Telegraph blog by Damian Thompson here. Oxford University lecturer ‘discriminated against’ after converting to Christianity A lecturer at Oxford University’s centre for Jewish studies claims colleagues discriminated against her after she converted to Christianity. Dr Tali […]
• More from the Chronicle of Zuqnin
  I continue translating part IV of ps.Dionysius of Tell-Mahre.  Dates are in AG, but Chabot has added AD to them. In the year 1008 (696-697), died Constantine, Emperor of the Romans; he was succeeded by Justinian who reigned ten years. In the year 1017 (705-706), a synod met in the monastery of Mar Silas. The […]
• Always verify your references
  To Norwich this morning, mainly to escape my cleaning lady.  But I went into the cathedral library, where I knew that they had a 1696 edition of the works of Julian the Apostate.  This includes the text of Cyril of Alexandria, Contra Iulianum. According to the Sources Chretiennes edition of books 1 and 2 (only), […]
• The Chronicle of Zuqnin, part IV — another chunk
  I translated here the start of part IV of the Chronicle of ps.Dionysius of Tell-Mahre, also known as the Chronicle of Zuqnin.  I thought I would do a little more.  Chabot prints a footnote on most lines, but I have omitted these.  He does say that the poll-tax imposed by the Moslems was actually brought […]
• Borrowings from Christianity in late paganism
  Quite by accident I encountered a paper by Andrew Fear in a Festschrift, entitled “Cybele and Christ.”[1]  In this article, he makes the interesting suggestion that late paganism started to adopt various features from Christianity.  His examples are the cult of Cybele, but probably the trend would be equally visible elsewhere. There is the well […]
• A little light dusting and the Chronicle of Zuqnin
  I have a tendency to have Word documents on my Windows Desktop.  A couple of these have been staring at me for a while now, and I decided that I needed to do something about them.  What, I wondered, was “denys.doc”? Well, it related to this post; the opening portion of the fourth part of […]
• From my diary: Problems with the Nielsen UK ISBN Agency
  One of the minor pieces of bureaucracy in publishing a book is getting an ISBN for it.  The International Standard Book Number is something all books need to have. The translation of Eusebius Gospel Problems and Solutions will be published in the UK, which means that I have to apply to the Nielsen UK ISBN […]
• Religious persecution in Britain today
  I happened to see this item, which succintly highlights why Christians in the UK are in trouble.  The writer omits to mention the attempt by the last government to make any statement about homosexuality other than warmest approval liable to prosecution.  Attempts to introduce a free speech clause were repeatedly voted down.  A government minister […]
• From my diary
  We all need to take our holidays, if we wish to remain in good health.  I’m feeling very tired indeed, and the last three weeks have been nightmareish.  I’m going to take some downtime over the next week, so don’t expect a lot of posting or replies to emails.
• Severian of Gabala, sermon 1 on Genesis online
  A little while back I started translating the six sermons of Severian of Gabala on Genesis from the French version of Bareille.  Not that this process  has any scholarly value, but it should help to get Severian better known.  Unfortunately I had to stop after the first sermon for pressure of other things. I found […]
• Yet more Eusebius
  I do need to take a week off and just potter around. But I’m still hacking away at the Eusebius.  I sometimes go out to a local restaurant.  I tend to find that it takes them a while to take my order, to serve each course, and so on, so I tend to take a […]
• Eusebius the liar
  The testimony of Eusebius of Caesarea about Christian origins has often been found inconvenient by those determined to attack the church.  Ever since Gibbon, the accusation has been made that Eusebius deliberately suppressed material that might throw discredit on the church.  Indeed Gibbon insinuated, and fools have believed, that Eusebius actually made a policy of […]
• From my diary – book completion day
  Today is the day that the Eusebius book must be completed and sent to typesetting.  Up early and on with it! First I’ve reread the contract with the Sources Chretiennes and made sure I acknowledge them in the proper way on the title page and reverse. Next I’ve applied for a block of 10 ISBN’s […]
• Eusebius again
  An offer of assistance typesetting has come in.  I’m going to try to get the manuscript completely finished on Friday, print the thing off, read it, check it and send it off for typesetting.  There has to come a point to say, “Enough” and put it out there, whatever might remain to be done.
• Laying out facing Greek and English – and being laid out by it
  The Eusebius book consists of a Word document containing all the Greek for the Quaestiones ad Stephanum, and another one containing all the English translation of that.  Then there are further pairs of files; text, translation for Latin; text and translation for Syriac, and so on.  Word has no way to get the multiple languages […]
• Eusebius once more
  I’m weakening.  Faced with the difficulties of commercial typesetting, I’m downloading the demo of Adobe InDesign, and I’ll try using it again.  Wish me luck!
• He’s getting all Coptic on me
  Isn’t it funny how different various groups of scholars are?  Some are all free and easy and helpful.  Others are all suspicious, riven with rivalries.  The first lot respond to enthusiastic but ignorant emails kindly.  The second ignore them.  The first band together to get things working.  The second sit in their various bastions and […]
• Eusebius update again
  I’ve been too zonked from travel to do much today, but I’ve been working on the mysterious annotations in the manuscript.  Thanks to a correspondent I have now worked out what these are.  In fact they are all OK.  Indeed one that provoked violent indignation seems to be a problem with the file, and nothing […]
• Eusebius update
  I had a review of the manuscript today with David G. D. Miller, the principal translator.  This made me realise that there is more to do to it than I had realised!    It’s largely small stuff, but it needs to be done. A couple of issues have emerged.  Firstly it looks as if some of […]
• From my diary
  I’ve been looking into another Syriac chronicle today, in between chores.  This is an East Syriac chronicle, by an unnamed writer, written about 660 AD, and known as the Chronicle of Khuzistan.  It covers the final years of the Sassanids and the first three decades of Islam.  Interestingly there is an English translation by Sebastian […]
• From my diary
  The last couple of days have been very hot during the day — well over 30C in direct sun, and up to 29C in the shade.  I’ve had to bring my laptop downstairs, because it is simply too hot up.  I sat here last night until 2am, because it was so muggy last night.  The roads […]
• Eusebius update
  I have now discovered a typesetting firm online who look like exactly the people I need to deal with.  They understand the “Sources Chretiennes” layout, with facing Greek and translation.  They understand oriental languages.  They’re called Atelier Fluxus Virus.  So … I have written to them this evening asking how to do business with them.  […]
• English translation of book 15 of John bar Penkaye now online
  If we are going to get a BBC TV series on early Islam which mentions John bar Penkaye, there may be an opportunity to collect some interested people for Syriac studies.  John bar Penkaye is a non-Islamic witness to the first century of Moslem rule in the middle east, you see.  He was a Nestorian […]
• Should we blame our sins for plague? Or blame God for not preventing it?
  The Ris melle or Brief world history of the East Syriac (Nestorian) monk John bar Penkaye was written ca. 690 AD.  It contains in memre (=chapter or book) 15 a harrowing description of the famine and plague of 686-7.  It describes the bodies left unburied, people fleeing to the mountains and then being robbed there by […]
• Manuscripts of the history of John bar Penkaye
  The seventh century Syriac writer John bar Penkaye wrote various works, according to Ebed-Jesu, most of which have perished or are extant still only in manuscript.  One that has attracted attention is a chronicle in fifteen chapters.  The last of these deals with the rise of Islam, and, since it was written within the century, […]
• How the works of the elder Seneca get to us
  Seneca the elder has left us two works, the Controversiae in 10 books and the Suasoriae in 2 books.  Both are textbooks on how to address a Roman court.  A supposed case is proposed: e.g. a priest is burned rescuing the image of Minerva from a burning temple.  Now because a priest must be whole in body, some […]
• Updates to the list of online CSEL volumes
  I’ve held a copy on this blog here of Stefan Zara’s list of CSEL volumes.  A correspondent writes that he has detected some errors in the links, and sent me a couple of corrections already.  I’ll add these in today as they come in. I’ve been intending to download the CSEL volumes for a while.  Maybe I […]
• Wolfenbuttel do something original with manuscripts
  This press release (Google translate here) is rather unusual.  The Herzog August library in Wolfenbuttel hold quite a collection of manuscripts and rare books.  They’ve just introduced a new service to allow you to look at these, via a webcam, in real time. What you do is book an appointment with the library to look at […]
• Q. Haterius and the “duty” of a freedman
  The elder Seneca compiled ten books of controversiae: possible legal cases, with the arguments for and against.  Each came with a preface.  I quoted a phrase from one a little while ago, attributed to Haterius, an orator of the time of Tiberius: impudicitia in ingenuo crimen est, in servo necessitas, in liberto officium. Unchastity is a […]
• The exegesis of Polychronius
  It looks as if the Lord is going to answer my prayer for another contract rather sooner than I had expected.  If so, I shall  have money once more, and one of the items on the slate for translation is the remains of the commentary on Daniel by Polychronius. “Who he?” I hear you cry.  Andrew […]
• From my diary
  Busy today with Adam’s curse, so I haven’t managed to get to posting about the Controversiae of the elder Seneca.  But I will! Another correspondent asked if I knew where all the volumes of the Oxford Movement Library of the Fathers translations might be found.  I’ve been looking for them and downloading them.
• More on Eusebius on the Psalms
  Alex Poulos is starting to translate portions of the commentary of Eusebius on the Psalms.  Catch the English and the Greek here. Alex modestly deprecates his work, but frankly everyone seems scared to translate stuff from this huge work.  So whatever he does, however he does it, he’s a pioneer in an unexplored land.  Well […]
• Sir Henry Savile and the perils of editing Chrysostom
  The best edition of the works of John Chrysostom (including sermons by Severian of Gabala) remains that made by Sir Henry Savile in the 17th century and published at Eton college where Sir Henry was provost. On Monday I went into the second-hand bookshop Treasure Chest in Felixstowe in search of something literary to read, and […]
• Digging in Pepuza
  William Tabbernee and Peter Lampe successfully identified the site of ancient Pepuza a few years ago, and published their findings as Pepouza and Tymion: The Discovery and Archaeological Exploration of a Lost Ancient City and an Imperial Estate. De Gruyter, 2008.  I’ve been reading this volume this evening. The book is unusual in that the […]
• The end of Montanism
  The author of the 8th century Syriac Chronicle of ps.Dionysius of Tel-Mahre is preserved in a single copy written ca. 903 AD.  This was preserved in the monastery of Deir al-Suryani in the Nitrian desert, but brought to the Vatican in 1715, where it is Ms. Vaticanus Syr. 162, 173ff. Some missing leaves were retrieved by Henry Tattam in 1840, and are […]
• From my diary
  My last contract finished on Friday, so I’m at home and looking for another.  It’s also a good opportunity to catch up on outstanding projects. I got hold of a copy of Vermaseren’s excavation report for the Mithraeum under the church of Santa Prisca in Rome.  I’m trying to make a PDF of this for […]
• The dialogue of a Montanist with an Orthodox
  In my last post, I mentioned the existence of this mysterious Dialogue of a Montanist with an Orthodox (Dialogus Montanistae et Orthodoxi).  Thanks to Jesus de Prado, I’ve been able to access the text.  As far as I can tell, no English translation exists.  But I find that the Dialog was edited with an Italian translation […]
• Filing cabinets full of my own past
  It’s odd how the weather determines what you work on.  Because it has been hot, I’m using my laptop downstairs, where I have a mobile air-con unit.  Upstairs was so hot yesterday, that after sitting at my desk at the laptop for ten minutes I could feel the sweat pouring off.  So I brought the […]
• Downloading the Iliad
  I’ve pointed some mirroring software at the Centre for Hellenic Studies site where they have online some high-resolution images of the Venetus A manuscript of the Iliad.  It’s been downloading images for the last three hours, and has managed a princely 37 files so far.   It might take a while, methinks! The reason is that […]
• Eusebius update
  I need to get the Eusebius book into PDF form ready for printing.  I’ve had some emails from a chap who is willing to help with the final editing.  I’ve also written today to another chap who knows about setting up the book in Adobe Indesign for layout etc.  One issue is how I arrange […]
• Eusebius on Psalm 51 (52) uploaded in English
  A while back Andrew Eastbourne translated a portion of the Commentary on the Psalms by Eusebius of Caesarea (CPG 3467), starting at psalm 51.  The remains of the commentary on the first 50 psalms are recovered from catenas, but a manuscript of the complete text of the next 50 survives in Paris, so this was […]
• Montfaucon on Eusebius’ Commentary on the Psalms
  Volume 23 of the Patrologia Graeca contains the start of Eusebius’ monster commentary on the Psalms.  At the start of it is a preface, presumably by Bernard de Montfaucon, the 18th century Benedictine scholar.  It’s the size of a small book itself! It would be interesting to know whether Eusebius takes a literal or allegorical […]
• Don’t let readers photograph rare books – let thieves steal them instead
  An interesting story in the Guardian a few days ago highlights the criminal foolishness of the British Library policies.  These prohibit legitimate readers from photographing pages.  A Cambridge graduate who stole more than £1m worth of rare books during his career as a professional book thief was today found guilty of stealing £40,000’s worth of […]
• From my diary
  It’s been almost too hot to breathe for the last few days.  I’ve been very grateful that I purchased an air-conditioning unit for home a year or two back — last night it didn’t get below 27C upstairs until after 11pm!  So not much is happening.  At work we sit at our desks in heat-exhaustion; in the evenings […]
• Driving in Rome
  This morning I found myself wondering where the church of Santa Prisca was in the city of Rome.  Naturally I thought of Google maps, and experimentally typed maps.google.it to see what would happen.  Sure enough I found the church easily; and then I noticed that Google Streetview was active for that area.  Quickly enough I […]
• Images from the Santa Prisca Mithraeum
  In the Mithraeum under the church of Santa Prisca in Rome, there are a number of verses written on plaster around the walls, in between or above various images in the frescoes.  The frescoes themselves have been badly damaged, partly because of the poor quality of the material on which they were placed, but also […]
• More on the ancient Greek and Latin at Google
  A few days ago I gave a link to 500 ancient Greek and Latin texts at Google.  What I had not realised was that this list was not just a bunch of pointers, but a new set of scans, done at high resolution specifically to aid OCR.  A reader has emailed me a link to […]
• How not to publish an excavation
  I’m still (10:30am) in the West Room in Cambridge University Library, where I have been working on Vermaseren’s The excavations in the Mithraeum of the church of Santa Prisca.  The objective is to obtain an image of the inscription said to record that Mithras “saved” people by the shedding of the eternal blood, not least in […]
• Indolence at Cambridge University Library
  Up this morning at 7:15 am and into the car.  I reach Cambridge at ten minutes to 9am, and cool my heels outside the front door.  The library only opens at 9am, you see — very nice for the staff, not so nice for anyone seeking to use the place.  Through the glass I see […]
• The nasty side of Roman life
  A horrific story is reported by the BBC News here.  A mass burial of 97 new-born children, next to a Roman villa at Hambleden in Buckinghamshire, has been excavated, and identified as waste products of a Roman brothel. Imagine the story of human misery that lies behind these mute remains.  The women were slaves, little more […]
• Celsus philosophus and the headbangers
  The amount of fictitious material spewed onto the web by Christian-hating groups is extraordinary.  Another example came my way today, from one of the “Jesus is really pagan! tee hee!” types, whose ignorance is generally exceeded only by their credulity and quarrelsomeness.   I was told very positively that Celsus said the following: Are these distinctive […]
• Did victory for the Spartans destroy their state?
  Mike Anderson has written a very interesting article about the Spartan army after the Peloponnesean war, with that invaluable thing, numbers attached.  At the end of the war, by 398 BC, the Spartans could field 6,000 hoplites – Spartiates, who lived as permanent soldiers and ate in the communal messes, under their peculiar but egalitarian polity.   But […]
• Splendid Roman frescoes in the catacomb of Santa Thecla
  A Daily Mail article is filled with glorious photographs of Christian frescoes from a catacomb in Rome. 
• Greek translations of Latin literature
  Greek language and literature enjoyed considerable status among Roman optimates during the republic and after.  Cicero himself did not disdain to translate treatises into Latin.  But in late antiquity, as the centre of Roman government moved to Constantinople, there began to be a need to translate in the other direction.  I must say that I […]
• Choking off non-Americans from Google books?
  Non-US readers of Google Books aren’t allowed to see most of the content.  This is because of threats by European publishers afraid that somehow they might suffer some financial loss if their captive market could see books before 1923.  Google responded by simply barring access to people outside the US.  After all, if people outside […]
• Philip of Side update
  I forgot to mention that fragment 7 of Philip of Side arrived over the weekend as well.  It’s the bit which is alchemical in nature.  I’m always wary of alchemical texts.  I have a degree in Chemistry, but I find them quite hard to understand.  However this one is clear enough, and refers to dyeing […]
• Mischa Hooker’s links – a new incarnation
  I can’t be the only one who has found some pages compiled by Mischa Hooker of links to material on Google books extremely useful.  His table of links to the PG was long an aid, although these days I prefer the Cyprian project list. It seems that Dr Hooker has started a new set of […]
• Chrysostom’s sermon on new year (in kalendas) now online in English
  The translation that I commissioned of John Chrysostom’s sermon on the new year festivities is now online here.  I hope it will be useful!  It’s public domain – do whatever you like with  it!
• From my diary
  Up early and to the laptop to work on QuickGreek, my tool for working with ancient Greek.  It really has suffered from being worked on in bits and pieces.  Moving bits of code around to simplify things, so I can build on top of it. While doing so, downloading more of the RealEncyclopadie in PDF […]
• Greek and Latin books at Google
  An extremely useful list (thanks to George Kiraz): http://www.google.com/googlebooks/ancient-greek-and-latin.html
• From my diary
  I’ve pulled QuickGreek out of the drawer and I’ve been working on it again.  It’s always hard to remember where I was with the code.  Software development is definitely NOT something best undertaken in short bursts with weeks in between. This time I’m trying to include some matching for Greek words by stripping off the […]
• The manuscripts of Socrates Scholasticus
  I have Gunther Christian Hansen’s evidently excellent new critical text in the Berlin GCS series of Socrates Scholasticus before me.  So I have placed online a summary of what he says about the extant manuscripts of that work, plus their translations into Armenian, Syriac, etc.  The notes are here.
• Translation of Chrysostom “In Kalendas” has arrived
  The translation that I commissioned of John Chrysostom’s sermon In Kalendas, on the kalends of January — i.e. on New Year — has arrived and looks good.  It will be released into the public domain and placed online this evening. There may be a bit of a hiatus with various projects over the summer.  I […]
• Working on QuickAccents and other things
  A few years ago I wrote a little tool called QuickAccents.  What it did was add the correct accents to a Greek word as you typed it, using the accentuation in the New Testament.  Hardly anyone ever bought a copy, and it languished until I finally withdrew it a year back. Over the weekend I […]
• How do we get people to photograph stuff overseas?
  Under the church of Santa Prisca in Rome is a crypt which was once a Mithraeum.  It was excavated in the 1960’s by Martin Vermaseren and G. Van Essen, and contains some striking frescos.  But it is probably best known for a series of inscriptions which I think are scratched in plaster.  One of these, […]
• Update on Philip of Side
  The project to translate all the remaining or supposed fragments of Philip of Side’s 24-book Christian History is going well.  Regular readers will remain that the fragments were classified into seven groups.  Nos 1, 2, 5 and 6 are done, and 7 is in progress.  The translator is doing is very good job, and the […]
• The Hilaria and the resurrection of Attis
  I read somewhere that the festival of the Hilaria in Rome on March 25th marked the celebration in the cult of Cybele of the resurrection of Attis. This evening I consulted a PDF of the relevant volume of the old Realencyclopadie, which stated the following: Hilaria. Ἱλάρια war der Name verschiedener in der griechischen Welt […]
• Mister, do my homework for me, huh?
  This morning I received an email, sent through the feedback form on the Tertullian Project website, from someone calling himself “Dan”, sent from an AOL address.  It was untitled, and the entire text was as follows: What does Tertullian identify as the cause of heresy? How does Tertullian respond to the quoting of “Seek and […]
• Oxyrhynchus papyri vols 1-14 online at Archive.org
  Mark Goodacre has made a valuable discovery: Archive.org now has the first fourteen volumes of The Oxyrhynchus Papyri online in toto and in a variety of formats, for viewing and for download; Volumes 1-5 are digitized by Google Books from Harvard University Library and so should appear also on Google Books in due course.  They […]
• Wikipedia and the British Museum
  The British Museum seems to be run by some clever people.  At Digging Digitally there is an article quoting the New York Times, Venerable British Museum Enlists in the Wikipedia Revolution. The British Museum has begun an unusual collaboration with Wikipedia, the online, volunteer-written encyclopedia, to help ensure that the museum’s expertise and notable artifacts […]
• Stephanos of Alexandria steps out of the shadows
  In the early 600’s Stephanos of Alexandria was a philosopher interested in alchemy.  His extant works consist of nine orations on alchemy, the last delivered in the presence of the emperor Heraclius. Three of these were translated into English and published before WW2 in Ambix, the alchemy journal, by Sherwood Taylor.  As I have mentioned […]
• From my diary
  Cambridge University Library is going to put Codex Bezae online, or so I read in a Daily Telegraph story.   Better still, they’re preparing to put all their books online, and make them freely available.  That’s what we want to hear. Anne Jarvis, the university Librarian, said that the exciting new plans would open up priceless […]
• More on the Santa Prisca Mithraeum
  The inscription painted on crumbling stucco in the Mithraeum under Santa Prisca has provoked much discussion. This image comes from Martin Vermaseren, The excavations in the Mithraeum of the Church of Santa Prisca in Rome, p.215 in the Google preview.  It’s a diagram, not a plate; although apparently plate LXVIII shows it. These are lines 13-15 […]
• The Santa Prisca Mithraeum in Rome
  Under the church of Santa Prisca in Rome is the remains of a Mithraeum.  It is notable because of an inscription somewhere in it, which is often supposed to refer to Mithras “saving” people “by the eternal blood”.  There seems to be more than a little doubt about whether it really does say this, tho.  […]
• From my diary
  An email this morning to say that the translation of John Chrysostom’s In Kalendas is now done all the way through and just needs revision.  This is excellent news.  When it arrives I will post it online.
• From my diary
  A week or two back I placed an order for Croke and Harries, Religious Conflict in Fourth Century Rome.  This has now arrived at my local library, it seems.  I’ll pop in at the weekend and pick it up.  The library demand $8 for every loan of this sort, which means I can do few […]
• Let us praise the men who burned all the ancient books
  The translation of the remains of Philip of Side’s book is coming along.  Much of it is deeply tedious.  I was reading one of the fragments, which consists of a long and boring speech by Constantine, which has not even the merit of being authentic.  Another fragment consists of one of the most inept pieces […]
• Evoe! Evoe! Let the wine flow tonight! (well, the diet coke anyway)
  It is a time of solemn rejoicing here at Roger Pearse Towers.  The staff have been given the evening off to make merry, and are even now dancing on the lawn wearing masks and wreaths of vine leaves and in their Sunday best.  The maids are carrying candles and one and all are sampling the new […]
• Someone who knows about Coptic writes…
  I had an email from Christian Askeland, who tried (and failed) to comment on the Coptic posts, but kindly emailed me anyway.  Spam is such a nuisance; you get rubbish you don’t want, and lose stuff you do.  But the email was so useful that I post it here. 1) Your editor is technically incorrect […]
• Carmen ad Antonium
  The last in our short series of short anonymous late Latin Christian poems discussing paganism is the Carmen ad Antonium, the Poem to Anthony.  This is preserved in a couple of manuscripts of the poems of Paulinus of Nola, where it appears, following the poems of Paulinus, but without name or title.  It was first printed […]
• More on the Alphabetum font
  An email this morning from Juan-Jose Marcos, the developer of the Alphabetum font.  It seems that he keeps the font under development, for the email announces an upgrade.  Unicode 5.2 includes a couple more obscure Coptic characters, and since I registered the font, he’s sending me the upgrade. He also points me to an improved […]
• Have asked Hercules to consider doing a swap
  I’ve asked Hercules if he’d consider allowed me to clean the Augean stables, in return for cleaning up the word document containing the Coptic fragments of Eusebius Quaestiones.  At least, I would have done but I don’t have his mobile number.  And anyway, I think the big lunk would refuse.  The file contains any number […]
• Notes on unicode editing in Coptic
  Here’s a couple of notes on how I’m editing unicode Coptic in Microsoft Word 2007. I’m using Wazu Japan’s Comprehensive Unicode Test Page for Coptic a lot.  This allows me to identify characters and unicode character sets. I find I can enter any character in word by just typing the four-character code, and hitting Alt-X.  […]
• Sympathy for Hercules
  An Augean day today.  I’ve received an A4 envelope containing a print-off of the translation of the 18 Coptic fragments of Eusebius Gospel Problems and Solutions (Quaestiones ad Stephanum et Marinum) with pencil revisions in the margin, plus revisions of the Coptic transcription, plus notes on the translation of De Lagarde’s Latin preface.  Also an […]
• More on Coptic unicode fonts
  A few minutes ago I wrote about Alphabetum, the commercial Coptic font which uses the Bohairic typeface, and the way in which this limited people working with Coptic.  This led me to think about the idea of commissioning a free font. Of course really this is something that a grant body should make happen.  A hunt […]
• More on the Alphabetum font
  My copy of the alphabetum font has arrived.  Unfortunately the email that supplied it added some extra conditions on use, not disclosed at time of purchase.  I bought the license that allows use in books, you see, for the Eusebius project. First he wants purchasers who use it in a book to acknowledge the use […]
• Alphabetum – a more “Bohairic” coptic font? Plus notes on Coptic
  I’ve had complaints from my translator that the Keft unicode font for Coptic isn’t that “Bohairic” in appearance.  Well, I could pass a Bohairic book in the street and not recognise one!  But I do recognise a difference in letter forms between Keft and what is used by De Lagarde in his 19th century printed […]
• From my diary
  Very busy this week with work-related stuff; too much so, to do anything useful!  The fragments of Philip of Side are coming along nicely. The translator is doing his usual excellent job and ferreting out a lot of useful related information buried in articles in languages none of us know.  The publication — which will be […]
• A quotation from Seneca the Elder
  Portions of this post are written under the UK government legislation controlling criticism of homosexuality I came across this appalling quotation recently while looking for legal materials online, quoted by Seneca the Elder in his Declamations.  In the Controversiae IV, pr. 10 and made by the orator Quintus Haterius, who lived in the days of Tiberius: impudicitia in ingenuo […]
• Carmen ad Senatorem quendam
  Another little poem from the dying days of paganism is the Carmen ad senatorem quendam.  This turns up on old editions of Cyprian, and sometimes Tertullian, but its author is in fact unknown.  Long ago I scanned the Latin text, which is here. I mentioned recently that Brian Croke and Jill Harries in their excellent […]
• Eusebius update
  Bad news — the chap who was to help with the editorial cleanup, indexing, cross-referencing of the Eusebius Gospel Problems and Solutions is over-committed and has had to withdraw.  I need to find someone with plenty of time and an appetite for sorting out the dull but necessary stuff.  I’m paying, of course.  Anyone any […]
• Bohairic unicode font?
  Does anyone know of a Bohairic unicode font?
• Obituary of Mark Ashton in June edition of “Evangelicals Now”
  An email this morning tells me that there will be an obituary of Mark Ashton in the forthcoming June edition of the monthly paper “Evangelicals Now”.
• Early French travellers to Libya
  A brief note in one of the guidebooks I brought back from Libya tells me that in the 17th century a French traveller named Durand found the circus at Leptis Magna in considerably better repair than it is now.  In particular the starting boxes — now vanished — were visible at the straight end of […]
• From my diary
  A very hot weekend, very suddenly.  Headaches all round, I suspect.  But it reminded me of a verse current among British servicemen in Libya in the 50’s.  There was no air-conditioning in those days, and it could get pretty unpleasant in the summer. Welcome to El Adem where the heat is like a curse, And each […]
• The book is doomed, and the dataset is coming!
  Books are dead.  Yes, I know they still exist and are produced in great numbers, but they are dead, and will start to vanish in the next 10 years.  Within our lifetimes we will see days when the book as we now know it is hardly remembered. I’m thinking, of course, of academic books.  These […]
• From my diary
  Portions of this post are written under the UK government legislation controlling criticism of homosexuality. Summer has suddenly arrived, with massive heat and glaring sun.  I’ve had to go and lie down with a headache!  Not used to the bright light, I’m afraid.  I have some interesting emails to deal with, but they’ll have to wait […]
• The Society for the History of Alchemy and Chemistry
  I mentioned some time back that I came across the works of the philosopher Stephanos of Alexandria.  In particular I discovered that he delivered nine discourses on alchemy, the last before the emperor Heraclius in the early 7th century. Three of these discourses were translated into English before WW2 by a chap called Sherwood Taylor, […]
• Philip of Side update
  The first two fragments of the translation of the Christian History of Philip of Side have arrived!  And they look very good indeed.  The footnotes are very enlightening. The translator has also volunteered to write an introduction, bringing together an explanation of the various Byzantine epitomes from which the fragments are drawn.  This will be of […]
• Theodore of Mopsuestia on Genesis
  I have started another little project and written to someone to translate a bit of Syriac into English.  It’s fragments of Theodore of Mopsuestia on Genesis.  I found a PDF of Sachau’s 1869 edition, and uploaded it here. The Latin translation starts on p.14 of that PDF; the Syriac text on p.94 of the PDF file.  There […]
• Testimonia for Philip of Side
  When dealing with a lost text, the comments by other ancient writers who read it are usually included with the fragments as testimonia.  I need to pay attention to these for Philip of Side. There seem to be three for Philip of Side’s Christian History.  Photius and Socrates HE, book 7, c.27.  I would have […]
• Berthelot’s Greek Alchemical Texts
  I never knew that a collection of Greek alchemical texts existed with French translation in four volumes, but it does: Edition: M. Berthelot/Ch. Em. Ruelle, Collection des anciens alchimistes grecs , Paris 1887-1888.  Better still, much of it is online. Volume 1 (Archive.org) Volume 2-3 (Archive.org).  Vol. 2 is Zosimos; p.244 of the PDF is the start […]
• Carmen adversus paganos
  I mentioned that Brian Croke and Jill Harries had put together a volume of documents around the fall of paganism and the final establishment of Christianity during the fourth century, entitled Religious Conflict in Fourth-Century Rome.  Some pages of this have reached me, and I have been pretty impressed. Among the texts translated for the first […]
• Mark Ashton and the bishop
  One thing that struck me as odd when I was looking back at Mark Ashton’s life was that he was never made an honorary canon of the cathedral, Ely.  His predecessor, Mark Rushton, did receive that honour.  I thought it was worth asking the diocese about this. I had a somewhat stiff reply from the […]
• The Bringel thesis of the Religionsgesprach
  Fragments of Philip of Side are in the 6th century fictional dialogue set at the court of the Sassanids and known as the Religionsgesprach after Bratke’s publication.  But since I learned that Pauline Bringel had made a critical edition in an unpublished French thesis a few years ago, I have been attempting to obtain a […]
• Hunting the wild (mis)quotation
  As I wander around the web, I come across supposed quotations which slap me in the face and shriek at me “fake”.  Today I found this: The following creed is that of a church at Constantinople around the time of the “Council of Nicea”: “I renounce all customs, rites, legalisms, unleavened breads & sacrifices of lambs of […]
• The church-historical epitome
  I’ve been trying to understand just what this “kirchegeschichtliches Epitome” text is that all the articles about Philip of Side mention.  The catalogue of fragments referred to it quite a bit. It seems it’s a text whose existence is inferred (don’t you hate that?).  Apparently there are three 14th century manuscripts containing excerpts from church […]
• From my diary
  A useful trip to Cambridge this morning, and I got several articles in photocopied form about the fragments of Philip of Side.  Now to read them! Cambridge was beautiful in the sunshine.  In the library there were few people, although since I arrived at 9:15 I suspect many were yet abed.  The characteristic smell of […]
• A list of the fragments of Philip of Side’s “Christian History”
  The rambling 24 book history written by Philip of Side is lost. The fragments that remain are of considerable interest, however. I intend to get them all put into English and make them available online. There is an excellent article by Katharina Heyden, which lists all the fragments and discusses them: Die Christliche Geschichte des […]
• Eusebius update
  Very little remains to do of the Eusebius volume.  There’s some editorial work to do, probably only a few hours of it.  But … I don’t seem able to get to it.  The muscle injury in my hip that prevented me going to Syria is also preventing long periods of work at my laptop.  So […]
• Obituary of Mark Ashton in the Times
  An email tells me that there is an obituary of Mark Ashton in the Times here.  It contains some errors of detail — the church plant at Little Shelford was at the Anglican parish there, and led by one of the curates at the Round.  But it does contain much information which I didn’t know.  […]
• 3rd British Patristics Conference in Durham in September 2010
  A correspondant asks me whether I am going to the British Patristics Conference.  I hadn’t even heard of it, although a google search reveals that an email with a call for papers must have gone out in January.  The website does not reveal who is organising it, but makes a link to the “Second National Conference” apparently held […]
• Works of Cyril of Alexandria not present in the TLG
  A correspondant writes that he has been in contact with Maria Pantelia of the TLG about works of Cyril of Alexandria which are not yet in the TLG.  He’s sent me the list that he sent in, which is useful anyway as a guide to works by Cyril and their editions.  By permission I reproduce […]
• Killing the dipsticks of the world
  It’s funny how the world can suddenly become a hostile place!  I thought people might be amused by the litany of improbable problems that has prevented me from doing something simple this evening. I got an email today from one of the people I’m working with, saying that they couldn’t work out how to install […]
• More on Philip of Side and the Religionsgesprach
  I’ve now got hold of Wallraff’s book with its list of fragments of Philip of Side – thank you to the chap who made that possible – now I must actually look at it, and start seeing what other bits exist.  Unfortunately the article is in German, but machine translators are a wonderful thing.  I […]
• Progress on Philip of Side
  The fragments of Philip of Side’s monster Ecclesiastical History — or more likely, World Chronicle — are being looked at.  Most interesting are the bits embedded in the fictional text the Religionsgesprach am Hof der Sassaniden, published by E. Bratke, Das sogennante Religionsgesprach am Hof der Sassaniden (TU 19, 3) Leipzig 1899, 153-164.  (Bratke starts on […]
• Thinking about Severian on Genesis
  Severian of Gabala ca. 400 preached at least six sermons on the six days of Creation.  Six have reached us in Greek; there are rumours of a Seventh in Arabic, although this is unpublished.  The sermons are notorious as advocating a flat-earth cosmology, although I suspect this projects back quite a few ideas not present […]
• Fancy a scroll of Caesar’s Gallic War?
  If so, there is a vendor who is selling a copy of the opening chapters in roll format, here.  It’s interesting to see how ancient books really appeared.
• Burning past the libraries
  Today I drove up past Cambridge on some domestic business.  Being in the area, I wondered whether to pop in to Cambridge University library.  I didn’t, tho.  I didn’t feel the need.  Last night I downloaded 10 volumes of Angelo Mai’s 1825 extravaganza, Scriptorum Veterum Collectio Nova, in which he published the finds he made […]
• Gregory of Antioch – a sixth century figure of whom I knew nothing
  Gregory of Antioch began as a monk in the monastery of the Byzantines in Jerusalem, or so we learn from Evagrius Scholasticus.  He was transferred by the emperor Justin II (565-578 ) to Sinai.  He was abbot there when the monastery was attacked by Arabs.  John Moschus mentions he was also abbot of Pharan in […]
• Mai’s Scriptorum veterum nova collectio e Vaticanibus codicibus – online!
  I have just discovered the volumes of Angelo Mai’s massive collection of materials here, all derived from google I think. I can find some of them directly.  Not sure where the rest are.  Here’s the list (updated – thanks Dioscorus / Walter): Volume 1 Volume 2 Volume 3 Volume 4 Volume 5 Volume 6 Volume 7 […]
• Polychronius, Porphyry and Daniel
  One of the 5th century commentators on scripture was Polychronius, brother of Theodore of Mopsuestia (ca. 430 AD).  He belonged to the Antioch school of biblical interpretation, who took a fairly literal approach to scripture.  His works are lost.   But the interpreters of that school were used extensively by the compilers of catena-commentaries from the […]
• Sixth century writers of whom I know nothing
  A correspondant wrote to me about some writers of the sixth century whom it might be interesting to have online and in English.  Unfortunately he is clearly more erudite than I, because I don’t recognise most of the names! I was thinking of Anastasius of Antioch who influenced both his time and later debates and also Maximus […]
• Did Eusebius forge the Testimonium Flavianum?
  Notoriously some years ago Ken Olson revived this allegation.  I have today found an article by Alice Whealy, who specialises in the historiography of the Testimonium Flavianum, reviewing Olson’s arguments and disagreeing fairly firmly.  It appears in a collection of articles, and there is a preview on Google books.  Does anyone have an electronic copy […]
• The religious debate at the court of the Sassanids
  I was looking at the fragments of Philip of Side, and found myself examining a text of some 40 pages of Greek in E. Bratke, Das sogennante Religionsgesprach am Hof der Sassaniden (TU 19, 3) Leipzig 1899, 153-164 (PDF page 448 f.)  An earlier edition of the same text appears in A. Wirth, Aus orientalischen […]
• Acta Conciliorum Oecumenicorum
  Apparently I goofed yesterday in referring to the fragment of the lost history of Hesychius.  It’s not from the Acts of the Council of Chalcedon, but probably from the Second Council of Constantinople (553 AD), or so a correspondant writes.  Also Mansi is not the latest edition of the material from the councils.  This is […]
• Materials on Philip of Side
  I need to look in Quasten for some references.  In the mean time I found this online at CCEL: A number of his fragments have been edited by Carl de Boor (ZKG, vi. 478-494; TU, v. 165-184), and his history seems also to have influenced the “Religious Conference at the Sassanid Court ” (ed. Eduard […]
• Mansi and the Acts of the Council of Chalcedon
  I’ve been looking at the volumes of Mansi on the Documenta Catholica Omnia site.  Volume 7 is really of quite poor quality, possibly too poor to use.  I went to look at p.187 to see what it had to say about Theodoret at the Council of Chalcedon, where he was met with suspicion as being […]
• Sorry about the outage
  …I was just upgrading WordPress, and encountered a few difficulties.  Everything should be fine now.
• Possible short works to translate from the Greek Fathers
  I’ve now finished reading all the way through the 3rd volume of Quasten’s Patrology, looking for shortish works that would be interesting to turn into English and post online.  Here’s a digest.  I haven’t yet looked at any of the refs given. Acacius of Beroea.  The literary remains of this contemporary of Cyril of Alexandria comprise […]
• Links to Mark Ashton’s sermons
  Further to my other posts about Mark Ashton, Vicar of St. Andrew the Great in Cambridge, I’ve created a page which links to all the MP3 files of his sermons.  It’s here.  The files are on the church website, although I have taken a copy should they disappear. UPDATE: This post at the Vicar’s Wife […]
• Still thinking about Mark Ashton
  I still can’t really come to grips with the death of Mark Ashton, of St. Andrew the Great in Cambridge.  There’s quite a few of his sermons in MP3 form on the church website, and I have been downloading them.  Somehow this is painful too; because it brings home to me that there won’t be any more; […]
• Severian of Gabala, De Pace – translation is go!
  I’ve been negotiating to get a translation of the full Greek text of Severian of Gabala’s sermon On Peace made.  The translator has accepted, and it should be ready by the middle of May, or — more likely — end of June.  The translator is not a Yank or a Brit, so some correction of […]
• More digging in Quasten
  I’m still reading through Quasten’s Patrology volume 3, looking for interesting texts which might be translated.  A few more have caught my eye. It seems that Epiphanius of Salamis, author of the Panarion, also wrote three works attacking the veneration of images.  He became concerned that people were putting up such images in the churches, […]
• Smiling men with bad reputations
  … Or so the Arians must have thought!  Yes, it’s the Cappadocian Fathers.  These are the group of clergymen who turned the tide against Arianism in the mid-4th century; Basil the Great, Gregory of Nyssa, and Gregory Nazianzen. Less well known are some of their associates, such as Amphilochius.  I’ve been looking at his works […]
• Eusebius Update
  The translation of Eusebius Gospel problems and solutions (Quaestiones ad Stephanum/Marinum) is nearly done.  The one big chunk to do is the transcription of the Syriac fragments.  Producing an electronic file containing the text is not quite as simple as it sounds, tho; and not merely because of the Syriac alphabet!  The words were originally printed […]
• Mark Ashton, Vicar of St. Andrew the Great, has died
  I bought a copy of Evangelicals Now today, and saw with delight a picture of Mark Ashton, Vicar of St. Andrew the Great in Cambridge at the top of an article.  This is a student church, and I have always thought of it as my ‘home’ church, although I cannot get there very often because I live a long […]
• From my diary
  The carmen adversus paganos is a late 4th century poem which is one of only four texts that record the Taurobolium.  This ritual was when a bull was slaughtered over a grill, with people standing underneath to get bathed in the bull’s blood.  So I asked someone to do a translation.  Unfortunately it looks as […]
• A work of Athanasius extant in English, possibly out of copyright
  I was reading Quasten’s Patrology vol. 3, looking for interesting untranslated texts, when I came across (p.57-8) mention of a work of Athanasius on the Holy Spirit, consisting of four letters to bishop Serapion of Thmuis.  Quasten lists an English translation: C. R. B. Shapland, trans., The Letters of Saint Athanasius Concerning the Holy Spirit, […]
• Parker library on the web… or rather, not
  A BBC News item caught my eye. One of the most important collections of Anglo-Saxon manuscripts – for centuries kept at Corpus Christi College in Cambridge – has been entirely digitised, and is now available on the internet. The college’s Parker Library holds more than 550 documents – including the 6th Century St Augustine Gospels, […]
• The ruins of Salamis in Cyprus
  When I was a boy I lived in Cyprus for two years.  This was before the division of the island after the Greek attempt at annexation in 1974.  I remember holidays in the east of the island, especially around the ruined Roman city of Salamis. It was possible to camp in the ruins, to kick […]
• Chrysostom sermons that exist
  It looks as if some of the sermons by Chrysostom that I was thinking of getting translated already exist in English.  The sermon on his return according to this is said to be included in W. Mayer and P. Allen, John Chrysostom (The Early Church Fathers), London: Routledge, 2000.  A look at the table of contents confirms […]
• De ligno vitae – The Tree of Life
  There are a number of short poems which appear in the manuscripts and older editions of the works of Tertullian and Cyprian.  In truth their authorship is unknown, but they seem to belong to the end of the 4th century. One of these is De ligno vitae, The tree of life.  I was considering commissioning […]
• Sermons of Chrysostom after his first exile
  John Chrysostom made a lot of enemies very quickly in Constantinople after he became patriarch, especially among the more corrupt clergy and court officials who objected to his campaign for higher standards of behaviour. They quickly arranged for him to be deposed and exiled.  But when the Constantinople mob found out, a riot was threatened […]
• Quick! Fetch the doctor!
  A useful resource, via Adrian Murdoch, Corpus Medicorum Graecorum/Latinorum Online: a bunch of ancient medical texts online here: http://cmg.bbaw.de/epubl/online/editionen.html
• Anianus of Celeda and Chrysostom’s sermons in the West
  The sermons of John Chrysostom became known to fathers such as Augustine at a very early date.  Apparently a bunch of them were translated by the deacon Anianus of Celeda in the early 5th century.  Emilio Bonfiglio has written a dissertation on the translations of Anianus, although I have not seen this, and it may be […]
• More on Chrysostom and Bareille
  A correspondant whose return email address was invalid — preventing a reply! — wrote to me: Just a quick message to inform you that Bareille’s french translations have a reputation of not being accurate. There’s a much better translation (and a new edition of the greek) of Chrysostom first sermon in Sources Chrétiennes 272 as […]
• Eusebius, On Easter now in English
  I now have the translation which I commissioned of Eusebius De solemnitate paschalis, on the celebration of Easter (CPG 3479).  This will go up in HTML form soon, but I have moved PC and I need to do some setup before I can deal with the Greek text in the footnotes. In the meantime I […]
• Chrysostom’s “First sermon” now online in English
  I’ve finished translating Chrysostom’s first sermon into English from the French of Bareille.  As far as I know it hasn’t previously been translated into English.  It’s here.  I place the translation in the public domain, so do whatever you like with it, personal, educational or commercial.  Of course it would be far better to have this translated […]
• I hope that I am misunderstanding Chrysostom
  I’m translating his first sermon, preached when he was ordained priest.  The first couple of chapters are so-so, although theologically a bit dodgy at one point, where he suggests that there cannot be sinners in heaven, nor sinners worshipping God, so we had better pray to some intermediary saint or other.  In chapter three he […]
• Were cultists of Mithras marked with a sign on their foreheads?
  The great French scholar Pierre Petitmengin has kindly sent me an off-print of the new Chronica Tertullianea et Cyprianea (CTC 2008).  This is a list of new publications about Tertullian, Cyprian, and the other ante-Nicene Latin Fathers, with a short review of each.  It has long been essential reading for Tertullianists (at whom it was […]
• From my diary
  This is a busy time of year, when the government requires that we do unpaid labour as clerks, filling in tax returns.  It’s worse if you are self-employed, for your business also must be accounted for to the tax collectors.  That time is now upon me.  Still there is progress. The Eusebius project is now […]
• Manuscripts for sale
  Got a spare 20,000-50,000 euros?  Why not buy a manuscript?  Listed in that price range are a renaissance copy of Vegetius, The art of war.  Or you might fancy a handwritten copy of some works by St. Cyprian.  And what, after all, in these days of devaluation, is 50,000 euros?  Not a lot, really; not […]
• The commentaries of Theophlyact and their reference to Papias
  People online asking about fragments of Papias, who knew the apostles, lead you to obscure authors.  I had heard the name of Theophylact before, but never knew much about him until today. The biblical commentaries of Theophylact — who was Byzantine Archbishop of Bulgaria — fill four volumes of Migne, 123-6.  Somewhere in one of them is a quotation […]
• A passage of Papias in Cramer’s catena
  There is a fragment of Papias, quoted by Apollinaris, in Cramer’s catena on Acts.  It’s on page 12, against Acts 1:17 (p. 33 of the Google books PDF).  It is translated by Lightfoot and Harmer: Fragment 3 (Preserved in Cramer’s Catena ad Acta SS. Apost. [1838]) 1  From Apollinarius of Laodicea. `Judas did not die […]
• From my diary
  I’ve been asked how it is that I have moved from Tertullian to Chrysostom. The answer is that I haven’t moved to Chrysostom, really.  I started work on the web with the Tertullian Project, because there was nothing much about him online and I was filling a gap. But when I came online, I found […]
• Mysterious book – anyone know what it contains?
  A correspondant draws my attention to this book at Brepols.  But I’m blessed if I can work out what the book contains: Homiliae Pseudo-chrysostomicae Instrumentum studiorum I. K.-H. Uthemann, R.F. Regtuit, J.M. Tevel (eds.) 309 p., 153 x 245 mm, 1994. ISBN: 978-2-503-50340-0. Languages: Greek. Paperback. Retail price: EUR 113,00 German is not my language, […]
• Chrysostom’s first sermon
  The first sermon preached by John Chrysostom as a priest in 386 AD is extant (PG 48, 693-700).  A German translation exists in the old Bibliothek der Kirchenvaters 3 (1879), p.401-414.  It is also one of the texts translated by Bareille’s 11 volume French translation, and appears in volume 1.  As far as I know, no English […]
• The pyramids of Meroe again
  Last night a TV program showed a trip up the Nile as far as Khartoum.  They stopped off at the pyramids at Meroe, which looked spectacular as always. Hunting around the web for some images, I stumbled across this page.  It’s full of photos from a trip to Sudan, all excellent and evocative, and I really recommend […]
• Thinking about fonts to use for book
  Professional publishers do not print using Microsoft’s “Times Roman” font.  Instead commercial fonts are used.  I don’t know much about these, but I’ve been looking around the web. A font called “Bembo” seems widely used.  Unfortunately the character map does not include polytonic Greek.  I don’t expect these fonts to include Syriac, but that much […]
• Origen project update
  The translation of the Homilies on Ezechiel by Origen is almost done.  There’s merely revision to do.  But a project can get very bogged down at that stage.  The very lack of structure can give a feeling of sinking in a morass! I always hate it when I’m handed something like that at work.  It’s […]
• Severian of Gabala and the heavens as a “tent”
  Severian is famous — or infamous — because he compared the sky to a “tent” and then to a “pavilion” in his sermons on Genesis, e.g. in homily 1, 3:5.  I’ve been thinking about this.  A tent to us is a square thing, and the idea is outlandish.  But what did the word mean to Severian?  What […]
• Thinking about typesetting
  The two translations that I have commissioned are both very nearly complete.  In fact I hunger for the day when they will be entirely complete — which will probably be in a month or two.  It is remarkable how long it has all taken. Then I need to create a book form of them both, so […]
• Severian of Gabala in Arabic
  Some materials by the 4th century bishop made their way into Arabic.  Here is what Georg Graf says.  German is not a language I find easy, but I have attempted a translation and placed it below. 92. Severianus, Bischof von Gabala (gest. nach 408). 1. Von seinem reichen Homilien schätz ist nichts vollständig in arabischer […]
• Eusebius update – Coptic transcribed
  Excellent news – the chap I commissioned to type up the Coptic text of the fragments of Eusebius in that language has done so and I have the file.  He did an excellent job.  In fact he inlined extracts of the page images, and then typed underneath in unicode.  He said: I’ve used a Unicode […]
• Walking in Syria – a Daily Telegraph article
  A correspondant has sent me a link to a Daily Telegraph article on a walking tour in Syria.  It’s short and evocative; recommended.
• A volume of papers from a Eusebius conference
  A year or so back there was a conference somewhere in Europe about Eusebius.  I never saw it announced, and the few people who seemed to know about it responded evasively to my requests for further information.  Possibly they were afraid that someone as unacademic as me might turn up!  Indeed I might have done. The […]
• From my diary
  What happened to my evening?!  It sort of disappeared! First I had to deinstall Office XP from my PC, then install Office 2007.  Then Microsoft wanted to download some updates — about 1Gb of them!  I did some, and waited and waited, and then decided the rest could wait. Then I had to scan a […]
• Eusebius, De sollemnitate paschalis – translation done
  Angelo Mai retrieved various things from the margins of Vatican manuscripts in the 1820’s.  Among these was an epitome of another lost work by Eusebius of Caesarea, De sollemnitate paschalis (On the celebration of Easter).  This has never received a complete translation into English, although it is fairly short. I commissioned a translation of it […]
• Eusebius update 2
  I emailed someone this morning about transcribing the text of the Coptic fragments of Eusebius of Caesarea’s Gospel problems and solutions.  Rather to my surprise he did the first fragment then and there into unicode, and perfectly well.  I’m so used to delays on the Coptic that it is delightful to find someone getting on with […]
• Eusebius update
  Good news – the Greek text that the Sources Chretiennes sent me turns out to be exactly what they printed.  I had half the Ad Marinum checked, and there were no deviations.  This means that all the Greek text has now been checked and is ready to go. I’ve written to someone to type up […]
• Why Windows Vista was awful
  Microsoft Freelancer, a space-exploration game, worked fine on XP.  It wouldn’t run on Vista.  Thankfully it does run on my new Windows 7 laptop. And I’m not getting prompted “do you really want to do that?” every time I do anything any more either.
• Greek texts from the library of the Patriarch in Jerusalem
  John Chrysostom was exiled from Constantinople at the instigation of the empress Eudoxia, assisted by Severian of Gabala.  But the people rioted before he had gone far, and Chrysostom was recalled.  An armistice was patched up between the two men. In Migne there is a little group of three sermons, only in Latin, all headed […]
• Problems with Berchman’s translation of the fragments of Porphyry “Against the Christians”
  I’ve been looking at Harnack’s edition of the fragments of Porphyry’s work against the Christians, and comparing bits of Berchman’s translation against it.  Berchman did not translate Harnack, but had his own ideas; nevertheless, we can connect the two. Fragment 21, from Jerome’s prologue to his commentary on Galatians, reads: Quod nequaquam intelligens Bataneotes et […]
• An opportunity to translate some of Severus Sebokht
  The Syriac scientist Severus Sebokht lived in the mid-7th century in Syria and was possibly the most learned man of his day.  He lived at the great monastery of Kinnesrin, which was noted for Greek studies.  He is the first western writer to refer to what we today call “arabic numerals”.  Two works by him […]
• Eusebius’ lost work against Porphyry – extant in 1838?
  Eusebius’ refutation of Porphyry’s attack on the Christians is lost; but it seems it may not have been lost that long ago. Does anyone know whether there are manuscripts still in Rodosto, a town 60 miles west of Istanbul and now known as Tekirdag? Or if not, where the mss of the expelled Greek community […]
• A novel from the Theodosian Code
  The emperor Theodosius II drew up a legal code in the 430’s AD, which reduced Roman law to a manageable proportion.  Further enactments were known as “novels”, and were added on the end.  This one caught my eye, while browsing the English translation by Pharr. Notice how the emperor blames those he intends to persecute […]
• Jerome’s Commentarioli in Psalmos exists in English
  An email from Andrew Eastbourne reveals that the Commentarioli does indeed exist in English already: It looks like this Tractatus / Homily is in a FotC volume (The Homilies of Saint Jerome: 1-59 On the Psalms, translated by M. L. Ewald — “preview” at least in the US at http://books.google.com/books?id=2MBHW1WHAbsC ; in case it’s not […]
• Thinking about Jerome’s “Commentarioli in Psalmos”
  A look at the PDF of the Morin edition of this work by Jerome reveals 100 pages.  The comments are all fairly short. I’ve been looking to see what translations exist.  An edition exists in the Corpus Christianorum from Brepols (CCSL 72, 100 euros), but since the editor given is Morin I suspect this is […]
• A passage in Jerome on Revelation
  A correspondent asked me for a translation of this: Legimus in Apocalypsi Johannis (quod in istis provinciis non recipitur liber, tamen scire debemus quoniam in occidente omni, et in aliis Faenicis provinciis, et in AEgypto recipitur liber, et ecclesiasticus est: nam et veteres ecclesiastici viri, e quibus est Irenaeus, et Polycarpus, et Dionysius, et alii Romani interpretes, de quibus est […]
• Latin texts that ought to exist in English
  I’ve been looking through volume four of Quasten’s Patrology, trying to find anything that I think really should exist in English.  I didn’t do very well.  Part of the problem is that volume 4 was not written by Quasten, and is quite inferior in a number of ways.  Quasten always made sure you knew why […]
• Savile’s edition of Chrysostom
  The text of the complete works of Chrysostom published by J.-P. Migne was a reprint of the Benedictine edition by Montfaucon of a century earlier.  Rather surprisingly, it does not contain all the material included in the 8-volume edition produced a century before that by Sir Henry Savile.   I learn from Quasten’s Patrology 3 and […]
• Leontius of Byzantium, “Adversus fraudes Apollinistarum”
  If you browse idly through Quasten’s Patrology volume 3, a little here and a little there — if you do this idly but often, you will acquire quite a fund of knowledge about the later Greek fathers, their lives, their quarrels, and their works; and about what editions and translations are commonly relied on for […]
• Stopped by a PC
  The Dell I mentioned a week ago turned out to be a turkey.  It was a Dell Studio 15, but it vibrated so strongly that my desk shook, and also had a headache-inducing mid-tone howl.  It’s going back, naturally.  Today I went out and got whatever was for sale in local shops, which turned out […]
• Henry Savile and his edition of the works of Chrysostom
  Looking at the Clavis Patrum Graecorum — a text that should certainly be online — we find that the works of Severian of Gabala appear in two main editions, under the name of Chrysostom.  There is the 1718-38 century edition of the works of Chrysostom by Montfaucon, the Benedictine editor in France.  This is what […]
• Severian of Gabala, Homily 3 on Genesis, chapter 5
  I’ve translated roughly a little more of the French translation of Bareille of these sermons, which I increasingly find interesting.  I’m getting an idea of why Severian was such a popular preacher.  I really think that I will commission a translation of the homilies on Genesis by Severian (although I think I would use the […]
• Good Friday: evil triumphant
  We’re all basically nice people, aren’t we?  Few of us are powerful, or important.  We endure the edicts of the latter patiently.  We help each other out as we can.  Always we remember that what you hand out is what you may get back. The struggles of John Chrysostom with his rivals in Constantinople in […]
• Severian of Gabala on Genesis, sermon 2, chapter 3
  I was browsing the Bareille French translation of Severian’s homilies, and came across this interesting passage.  But I can’t work out which bits of the bible he is quoting — not even when a ‘reference’ is given! 3.  “But, the land was invisible.”  What does it mean, invisible?  I have heard several of our holy […]
• Wace, Dictionary of Christian Biography, in Wikisource
  While creating a basic Wikipedia article on the Arian bishop Patrophilus of Scythopolis I stumbled across the fact that someone has placed a scanned version of Wace’s Dictionary of Christian Biography to the end of the Sixth Century in Wikisource.  This is invaluable for obscure patristic writers, as every statement tends to be referenced to the […]
• Armenian sermons of Severian of Gabala … or Eusebius of Emesa?
  In a post a few days ago I mentioned that I had discovered an English translation of a sermon by Severian of Gabala on the sufferings and death of our Lord, and placed it online.  The sermon was translated from an 1827 publication of sermons in Armenian — probably from the parallel Latin text, rather than the […]
• Chrysostom “In Kalendas” translation progress
  I’ve received the first column of Chrysostom’s sermon on New Year, and it’s been checked over by someone I trust who has given it the all-clear (i.e. only a couple of minor glitches).  Full-speed ahead!
• Notes on the Theodosian Legal Code (438 AD)
  I’ve been reading the French translation by Elisabeth Magnou-Nortier of book 16 of the Codex Theodosianus, the law book compiled under Theodosius II from rescripts or letters issued by preceding emperors.  A couple of passages struck my eye, and I translate these here with a few of the footnotes: Under the empire, custom (mos) continued to play […]
• Some remarks about John Chrysostom’s homilies against the Jews
  A. L. Williams useful book Adversus Judaeos was composed in 1935, well before modern political correctness or post-WW2 guilt.  It is written to be of use to Christians considering missionary work among the Jews, and to advise them of older apologetic, which he suggests is mostly useless today.  Nearly a hundred writers are summarised, and […]
• Chrysostom “In kalendas” progress
  The first column of Migne’s text of John Chrysostom’s sermon On the kalends of January, translated and transcribed, has arrived!  I have sent the sample to a trusted translator for comment.  With luck it will be good and we can proceed.
• Why Severian of Gabala is famous
  Apparently he was a flat-earther.  Wikipedia has no article on him in English (which I may rectify tomorrow).  But there is a French article, and a German one, as well as a rather dense BBKL article. The Wikipedia flat-earth article quotes Severian thus: The earth is flat and the sun does not pass under it […]
• Vatican library to digitise 80,000 mss
  The story is here. This project may be achieved over a span of 10 years divided into three phases, with possible intervals between them. In a preliminary phase the involvement of 60 people is planned, including photographers and conservator-verifiers, in the second and third phases at least 120. Before being able to initiate an undertaking […]
• ‘Severian of Gabala’ on the sufferings and death of our Lord
  In 1827 J.B.Aucher published a set of sermons from Armenian at the press of the Mechitarist Fathers in Venice, Severiani sive Seberiani Gabalorum episcopi Emesensis homiliae nunc primum ex antiqua versione armena in latinum sermonem translatae, Venetiis, 1827.  A homily on the sufferings and death of our Lord appears on p.428 of that edition.  Unfortunately it […]
• Never had this problem with clay tablets
  A new PC arrived today, so I am wrestling with that.  I won’t bore you with the details!
• No Syria trip for me
  It seems that I will not be going to Syria.  I hurt myself a week ago, quite by accident, and have been something of a temporary cripple since.  While it’s healing, it isn’t healing fast enough.  I’m not fit to go.  I am a bit sad about this — I booked at Christmas time and I’ve wanted to go […]
• Projects progressing, projects new
  My project to publish an edition and translation of the remains of Eusebius of Caesarea’s Gospel problems and solutions continues to progress.  I still intend to make the translation freely available online, but first I need to sell some paper copies to recover the money spent.  The total of the money is now assuming quite impressive […]
• Preparations for Syria and Lebanon
  Today I started to get ready for my trip to Syria and Lebanon, upcoming this week.  There’s no way I want to be out of contact.  Getting my mobile phone to work is more of a challenge than it should be, because of the greed of the mobile operators.  Being told it will cost $1.50 […]
• Eutychius on the events in Egypt in 820-30 AD
  I’ve translated from the German the last portion of the Annals of Eutychius, who was Melkite Patriarch of Alexandria, and whose autograph manuscript has been edited in the CSCO. 33.  EVENTS IN JERUSALEM AND LOWER EGYPT (820-830 A.D.)  [286]. When morning came, the Patriarch Thomas and his companions were brought.  The Muslims came and testified […]
• Go tell the Spartans: Plutarch’s “Moralia” online
  I had not realised that so much of Plutarch was already online.  The excellent Attalus has compiled an index of the essays in the Moralia which are online, thanks to Bill Thayer at Lacus Curtius and others. Among these is the Sayings of the Spartans.  These are easy to read, and worth reading.  Here are a few. […]
• Hunting the wild quote 2: Metrodorus of Chios talks about life on other planets
  In the comments on my last post, commenter ikkoki offered this quotation from Metrodorus of Chios (4th c. BC): Also I remember that quote [from Xenophanes] coming up especially in conjunction with Metrodorus of Chios (4th century BC) of how “expecting life to exist only on Earth is like seeding a field and expecting only one […]
• Some notes on Thomas Gaisford
  The classical scholar Thomas Gaisford (1779-1855) is a name that I have run across several times while looking for editions of obscure works.  Among others, he edited the Praeparatio Evangelica of Eusebius.  Some interesting material about him appears in Rev. W. Tuckwell, Reminiscences of Oxford, p. 124, which is on Archive.org.  Gaisford was regius professor […]
• Yet more treasures at Archive.org
  The pace of additions at Google books shows no sign of slowing, and the indexing at Archive.org is becoming an increasingly valuable way to find out what exists.  This is particularly so for non-US searchers.  The Google book search does not work very well if you are outside the US; it does not return the […]
• Hunting the wild quote: Xenophanes on gods of different colours
  I was looking at an article on the eChurch blog, which reprinted an article from here, entitled Why do we anthropomorphize God?  It included this: This is close to what Xenophanes observed when he coined the term “anthropomorphism,” stating: Ethiopians say the their gods are flat-nosed and dark, Thracians that theirs are blue-eyed and red-haired If oxen […]
• Steven Hijmans on the iconography of Sol
  Unknown to most people, and hidden on a Dutch website, is a set of PDF’s for a two volume book by Steven Hijmans, whose work is all about Sol and Sol Invictus.  It’s here.  Ignore the Dutch text, and click on the Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 links.  Despite the titles, nearly all the PDF’s […]
• Chronicle of Hippolytus now online!
  Tom Schmidt has now posted the final version of his translation — the first — of the Chronicle of Hippolytus.  He talks about it here: I have posted the final version of Hippolytus of Rome’s Chronicon here. … Hippolytus wrote his Chronicon in the year 235AD as he himself tells us.  His goal seems to […]
• More on QuickGreek
  I’m still stuck at home with a temporarily dodgy leg, so I’ve been looking again at QuickGreek.  This is a bit of software to help people like me, who know Latin, deal with polytonic Ancient Greek text.  The idea is that you paste in a bunch of unicode Greek into one window and hit Ctrl-T.  It […]
• Bettany Hughes on the history of Alexandria tonight on More4
  While looking through the Radio Times I came across a picture of the lovely Bettany Hughes, who is presenting a TV programme on More4 tonight.  Judging from reactions online, a lot of people will be watching just because she’s presenting it. What’s it about?  Oh, some nonsense about the history of Alexandria, I believe.  I […]
• ‘Ancient’ texts composed in modern times
  Before the internet, people could circulate documents containing quotations from ancient writers in reasonable safety.  It was very hard for anyone to check them.  This difficulty was enhanced by the tendency of these collections of quotations to be vague about the precise reference.  But the internet has thrown light into quite a few dark corners.   […]
• When will the police come for me?
  Yesterday it became a criminal offence in the UK to express strong approval of some sections of the bible in public or to reproduce them on the internet, punishable by up to seven years imprisonment.  For instance: Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination (Lev 18:22). If a man also […]
• An algorithm for matching ancient Greek despite the accents?
  I need to do some more work on my translation helper for ancient Greek.  But I have a major problem to overcome.  It’s all to do with accents and breathings. These foreigners, they just don’t understand the idea of letters.  Instead they insist on trying to stick things above the letters — extra dots, and […]
• Notes on Severian of Gabala
  Who was Severian of Gabala?  And do we care? In Gennadius’ continuation of Jerome’s On Famous Men, c. 31, we read: Severianus, bishop of the church of Gabala, was learned in the Holy Scriptures and a wonderful preacher of homilies. On this account he was frequently summoned by the bishop John [Chrysostom] and the emperor Arcadius […]
• Festival of Cybele today?
  My attention was drawn to a post at about.com by a certain N. S. Gill here: On This Day in Ancient History: Entrance of the Tree Monday March 22, 2010 The ancient Roman festival of the Magna Mater (Great Mother Cybele) included the Arbor intrat (entrance of the tree) on March 22. An imported goddess […]
• Updates on various projects
  Origen’s Homilies on Ezechiel: homilies 11-14 have come in, in Latin, with a revised nearly-final version of the English translation.  The translator has been struggling with how to format the catena fragments in a readable, usable way — not nearly as easy as you might think, without ending up with very intrusive signs and brackets […]
• The decline of the legend of the Seven Sages and theosophical prophecies
  A. Delatte begins his article of the above title with the following words: Never did anyone prophesy so much, in the special form known as prophecy post eventum, as in the first centuries of Christianity.  The rapid conquest of souls by the new ideal and the solid establishment of the Christian churches showed the hand […]
• Piles of paper on the side and a rainy day at home
  I doubt that I am alone in possessing piles of photocopies from books and articles.  Like blocks of stone they rise on every side.  Made by my own hands, mostly, the photocopies were paid for in time and money.  Many a trip to the university library has ended in a session at home reading through […]
• Iturbe on Arabic Gospel Catenas
  I had to scan the introduction to Francisco Javier Caubee Iturbe’s edition of a Christian Arabic catena on the gospel of Matthew.  I found myself wondering how well Google translate would handle Spanish.  After all, it gives Spanish as the default foreign language, so I hope it might be good!  So I experimented a bit.  The […]
• Eusebius update
  Iturbe’s edition of the Arabic catena containing bits of Eusebius has arrived.  There are five fragments.  I’ve commissioned a translation of them, and also a transcription; also a transcription of the Syriac text translated earlier.
• Eusebius update
  I’m still trying to get the manuscript of Eusebius Gospel problems and solutions completed.  We’re getting ever closer, tho! I’ve started working on the text of the Latin fragments myself, faux de mieux, which I will get done by the end of the week.  The two extra Syriac fragments, culled from Severus of Antioch and […]
• People with knowledge of Coptic and Arabic
  A touch of insomnia this evening led me to hunt around the web for native English-speaking academics who know Coptic and Arabic.  No luck so far!
• Critical edition of the Koran in preparation?
  Ghost of a flea pointed me to jeff black, berlin, who writes: German researchers preparing “Qur’an: The Critical Edition” This is a serious business. A team of researchers at the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences is preparing to bring out the first installment of Corpus Coranicum – which purports to be nothing less than the first critically […]
• Interesting article on the preparation of the Sources Chretiennes’ Jerome commentaries
  A note in LT-ANTIQ drew my attention here.  A PDF at the foot of the page not merely lists the manuscripts of some of the commentaries of St. Jerome on scripture but discusses how the editions are being prepared for maximum clarity, what font is used, what forms of quotation marks, etc.
• Using Greek Transcoder
  I’ve been converting a load of Greek text into unicode using Greek transcoder with much success.   But I ran across a glitch.  Depending on the option chosen, the accents can all end up to one side! The option responsible is this one, “Use composing characters”.  I checked that, and I should not have done; it caused […]
• Copyfraud once more
  Today I received an email from a Romanian gentleman, asking about the translation of the lost passage by John Chrysostom from Oratio 2 adversus Judaeos, which I commissioned and then gave away recently.  He wanted to make a translation into Romanian.  So he asked what I paid the journal, in which Wendy Pradels published the Greek […]
• Bootlegging the Theodosian code
  One of the texts that is not online and really should be is the legal compedium assembled in the reign of Theodosius II in 450 AD and known as the Theodosian code or Codex Theodosianus.  The work was compiled from earlier collections of imperial edicts, or rescripts as they were known.  These took the form […]
• When did the Christians start to reuse the temples?
  From archaeologist Rodolfo Amedeo Lanciani, The destruction of ancient Rome: a sketch of the history of the monuments, p. 36 f. (here): To what use the temples were put immediately after the expulsion of their gods, we do not know; but it is certain that they were not occupied by Christians, nor turned into places […]
• Atheist graffito – and comment
  I was not created! — Were you found in a doorway instead? UPDATE: No, I was found in some bull-rushes! — Well, if you think you’re Moses, you should start taking tablets.
• Grafton & Williams on Origen, Eusebius and the library of Caesarea
  Wieland Wilker kindly sent me a copy of Anthony Grafton and Megan Williams, Christianity and the transformation of the book: Origen, Eusebius, and the Library of Caesarea.  This arrived on Friday, and I read through it over the weekend. The first thing to strike me was the absence of footnotes.  That’s because they had all […]
• Dancing with the Greek
  Electronic texts are wonderful things.  But you always wonder how accurate they are.  I now have the Greek portions of Eusebius Gospel Problems and Solutions in unicode in Word format.  But I can already see errors. I’ve advertised for someone to read through it, and correct it against the printed editions.  It will be interesting […]
• From my diary – Chrysostom and Eusebius
  I’ve just spent a busy couple of hours writing emails to people who host copies of Chrysostom’s Sermons against the Jews online, asking them to update the page with the extra material I’ve had translated.  Paul Halsall is going to update the Fordham site, which is probably the parent of many of the others.  No […]
• Chrysostom, Against the Jews homily 2 (missing part) is now in English!
  Ever since the eight sermons against the Jews by the 4th century writer John Chrysostom were published, men have noticed that sermon 2 is only a third of the length of the others, and speculated that some of it is missing.  The missing portion was discovered in a manuscript on Lesbos a decade ago and […]
• Note on Google Street View and maps
  Google Street View has rolled out across the UK.  I’ve just found a curious inconsistency between the Street View images and the Satellite maps.  Here is King Edward VI School (as was) in Stafford, originally founded as a grammar school, and the satellite shows the school, and to the left, the school playing fields, surrounded by mature […]
• Typing in unicode Greek
  I’ve just come across this site which allows you to type in ASCII — A)\ etc — and converts what you type on the fly into unicode Greek.  It’s fast, neat and effective. And better yet — it’s all done in Javascript, which means if you save the .htm page locally, your local copy will […]
• Recent studies on the Coptic catena of de Lagarde?
  Looking at the summary of information on catenas on the gospels in Di Berardino’s latest volume of Quasten’s Patrology, I notice an intriguing couple of entries: E. J. Caubet Iturbe, La Cadena arabe del Evangelio de san Mateo,1 Texto; 2 Version, Vatican City 1969-1970. and E. J. Caubet Iturbe, “La Cadena copto-arabe de los Evangelios y […]
• More on Abu’l Makarim
  It’s been a while since I wrote about the 13th century Arabic Christian history once ascribed to Abu Salih the Armenian and today to Abu’l Makarim.  But a friend has sent me a new article on the subject, by Mouton and Papescu-Belis, in Arabica 53, p. (2006), which discusses the unique manuscript. B.T.A.Evetts in 1895 published part of […]
• Chrysostom against the Jews — online copies
  Once we have a final version of the missing portion of Chrysostom against the Jews, I need to make sure that it is added to the copies of the defective text that are around online.  Of course that means I need to know where they are.  A google search provided quite a few links: www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/chrysostom-jews6.html http://www.todayscatholicworld.com/homily-ii.htm www.kalleres.com/doc/Chrysostom.doc […]
• Google goes to Rome
  AP has this excellent news: Google says it will scan up to 1 million old books in national libraries in Rome and Florence, including works by astronomer Galileo Galilei, in what’s being described as the first deal of its kind. … Culture Ministry official Mario Resca says the deal will help save the books’ content […]
• Greek.ttf – the curse of pre-unicode Greek fonts
  Once I signed an agreement with the Cerf to use their Greek text of Eusebius Gospel Problems and Solutions, I asked and received a copy of the text in electronic form.  This turned out to be a word file, with an attached font: greek.ttf. How I cursed that file name!  Because it was clear that […]
• On the spend in Syria
  The postman brought a guidebook to Syria yesterday, the first to reach me.  The first question I had was “What currency should I take with me?”  Because, of course, if I need to obtain some Venezualan bolivars or Swiss Francs or whatever, some warning would be helpful! The answer seems to be a mixture of […]
• Dreaming of Chrysostom and his works
  I often take a volume of Quasten’s Patrology to bed with me.  In times past I tended to turn down leaves where English translations that were not online were marked.  These days I find myself looking at texts and wondering whether a translation of them would be worth commissioning.  Short, obscure, interesting texts are the sort […]
• Really Important: tell the British Library which manuscripts you want to see online
  Juan Garces is inviting suggestions for manuscripts to be digitised here. The obvious answer to this question is: all of them! We all want access to free digital resources, but creating them is tempered by a series of practical considerations. How can we best deliver digitised manuscripts to your desktops? One answer is to secure […]
• A.L.Williams, “Adversus Judaeos” (1935)
  I was browsing through Quasten vol. 3 and noticed several short anti-Jewish pieces.  I am rather tempted to commission translations of these while I’m dealing with Chrysostom’s anti-Jewish work as well.  Quasten says that Williams’ book is a guide to all these works.  It is rather curious tho — it isn’t online, and no copies […]
• Curious QuarkXpress
  I have been experimenting with the trial download of desktop publishing package QuarkXpress.  What a curious thing it is!  I have been quite unable, for instance, to import a Word .doc file with footnotes and get footnotes.  This — surely elementary — ambition has cost me an hour or so of my life. Off to […]
• Update on Chrysostom on the Jews
  John Chrysostom delivered eight sermons against the Jews.  All are of about the same length, except for sermon two, which is about a third of the length of the others.  The 18th century editor Montfaucon signalled a lacuna (reprinted by Migne), i.e. that part of the sermon was lost. German scholar Wendy Pradels conducted a search […]
• Forgotten translations of the Fathers
  An email tells me of this volume, which on the face of it is a translation by S.C.Malan of Russian meditations on some material by Ephrem Syrus.  But it’s actually much more interesting than it appears; because at the back is a translation of Chrysostom’s Sermon on Passion Week, Severian’s sermon on the same, and […]
• Militant atheist and free speech
  The Liverpool Daily Post reports a curious incident: A MILITANT atheist was found guilty of leaving grossly offensive religious images in a prayer room at Liverpool’s John Lennon airport. Jurors took just 15 minutes to convict Harry Taylor, 59, of leaving obscene material depicting figures from Christianity and Islam, often in sexual poses, in the […]
• Thinking ahead to Syria
  I’m starting to prepare for my upcoming holiday.  I’m off to Syria and Lebanon on a package tour for 8 nights.  It starts in Damascus, tours around places like Palmyra (left) and Aleppo, and then darts across into Lebanon to Beirut, the Bekaa valley, and Baalbek. My main reason for going is to see the […]
• Eusebius in Syriac, in a literal German version
  Hunting around the web for Sickenberger’s publications on the catenas in Luke, I stumbled across a review of one of them — on the remains of the homilies of Titus of Bostra in the catenas — in the Catholic University Bulletin here.  The review does great credit to the periodical; but it also tells us about […]
• Notes from Devreesse on catenas on Luke
  I’ve been translating extracts relating to Eusebius and the Gospels from R. Devreesse’s magisterial article Chaines exegetiques grecques in Dictionaire de la Bible — Supplement 1 (1928) on this blog.  Here is what he has to say about catenas on Luke. IX.  THE CATENAS ON LUKE. — 1. OVERVIEW. — Printed and manuscript catenas. — […]
• Severian of Gabala
  I had an email today enquiring about editions of the works of Severian of Gabala.  This chap was a bishop from Syria who became well-known as a preacher in Constantinople at the end of the 4th century AD, despite a heavy Syrian accent.  Unfortunately he fell out with John Chrysostom, and became involved in the […]
• Who needs Stargate-SG1 when we have Meroe?
  Egyptology News gives us this link (PDF) to some gorgeous photographs of the pyramids of Meroe in Nubia.  You want to look at these, believe me you do.
• Palimpsest ms image of Severus of Antioch
  Over at Juan Garces blog, there are a couple of images of a page from a Syriac treatise by Severus of Antioch, Contra impium grammaticum, (=Against the impious John the Grammarian).  The treatise was composed in the early 6th century, and the argument forms part of the political arguments taking place in the Byzantine empire […]
• Devreesse, Eusebius and the catenas on Luke
  I’ve already posted a translation of what Devreesse said about material by Eusebius of Caesarea in catenas on Matthew, Mark and John.  Here’s what he said about material on Luke. Eusebius. — Cardinal Mai has given us several editions of the fragments of Eusebius contained in the catenas on St. Luke.  The first attempt is […]
• An Irenaeus at Lulu
  A group of post-graduate theology students wrote to me as follow: I wonder if you might put in a good word for our new publication, in a single volume, of the complete English text of Irenaeus’ Against Heresies. The text is freshly re-typeset, but retains the complete translation from the Ante-Nicene Fathers series, modified only […]
• Greek mss at the British Library
  I have been hunting around to see which Greek manuscripts at the British Library it might be interesting to get digitised.  It is remarkably difficult to find out. The BL catalogue is online; but it is largely useless because there is no way to restrict results to Greek mss only.  So a search for Chrysostom […]
• Never mind the New Testament – digital mss at the British Library
  All the NT people are getting excited about Juan Garces’ plan to digitise 250 manuscripts at the British Library.  But of course the rest of us have views too!  I have written today to Dr Garces asking for some classical manuscripts to be done as well. Some time ago I went through the introductions of […]
• Digitised mss at the British Library
  From Evangelical Textual Criticism I learn that the excellent Juan Garcés is revolutionising things at the British Library.   He’s leading a project to digitise 250 Greek manuscripts and place them online so scholars can consult the things.  He has obtained funding from the Stavros Niarchos foundation. He’s also created the Digitised Manuscripts blog to report on progress. It […]
• Classical Text Editor – useful?
  I was wondering about how to turn the .doc files for the Eusebius and Origen books into something printable, with properly kerned text, etc.  An email suggested that I might like to look at the Classical Text Editor.  So I pulled down the demo and had a play. Unfortunately all you are presented with on […]
• Theodore of Mopsuestia on Genesis
  My attention has been drawn (as the libel lawyers say), by this discussion, to the remains of the commentary on Genesis by Theodore of Mopsuestia.  These are not extensive, but are interesting. Migne prints a bunch from the catena of Nicephorus in vol. 66, cols. 633-646.  These are in Latin, not Greek, so I presume […]
• Origen problem
  The translation of Origen’s Homilies on Ezechiel is going very well, and we are deep into fragments from catenas.  These tend to make sense only if you have the biblical (=septuagint) quotation before you.  The NETS text and translation is the modern standard, but of course is heavily copyrighted by Oxford University Press.  I’ve been […]
• Eusebius update
  I’ve signed a contract with Les Editions du Cerf to use their Greek text for the Eusebius book.  Today I wrote to them asking where I can actually get the Greek text they print in electronic form.  I’m devoutly hoping that the answer is not “retype it”! Portions of Cramer’s catena are getting typed up, […]
• Two more Syriac fragments of Eusebius “Gospel problems and solutions”
  Ishodad of Merv, in his commentaries on the gospels, quotes from Eusebius To Marinus.  The commentaries were printed by Gibson in 1911 with an English translation.  Vol. 1,  p. 143 contains the Eusebius, on Mark 15.  This is online in PDF here.  The Syriac text is in vol. 2, here. The other passage appears in the […]
• Getting hold of books
  I pulled down from my shelves yesterday a cheap reprint of Lanciani’s The destruction of ancient Rome, and made it my bedside reading.  It’s full of interesting statements, about how the monuments disappeared into the lime kilns.  Unfortunately it is rather under-referenced.  The latter is very frustrating.  The book also refers to the destruction of the […]
• Devreesse: catenas on Mark
  Let’s continue to extract relevant material to Eusebius from Devreesse’s massive article on catenas. VIII.  THE CATENAS ON St. MARK. — 1.  OVERVIEW. — The most ancient edition of a catena on St. Mark is due to the Jesuit, Poussines:  Catena graecorum Patrum in evangelium secundum Marcum couectore atque interprete Petro POSSINO Soc. Iesu presbytero […]
• A curious copyright consideration on commissioned work
  The lawyers in the UK have done something odd.  They’ve decided that if someone commissions a bit of work from someone else, the copyright of the work remains with the author unless the contract explicitly says otherwise.  The details are here. It’s hard to imagine any circumstance in which X would pay Y to create […]
• Editions of Chrysostom “Against the Jews”
  The eight sermons by John Chrysostom against the Jews do not seem to have attracted the attention of editors.  The following list of editions and translations is given by Harkins: Erasmus, Desiderius. Divi Iohannis Chrysostomi et Divi Athanasii.. lucubrationes aliquot etc. (containing Discourses IV-VIII in a Latin translation] (Basle 1527). Hoeschel, David. Contra Iudaeos homiliae […]
• The price of being disorganized
  I’m so cross with myself.  Some years ago I ordered a paper copy of PhD thesis containing a translation of John Chrysostom’s Eight Homilies Against the Jews.  It cost real money.  For years I have tripped over it.  Now I need it, and it is nowhere to be found.  Drat the thing, where can it […]
• Eusebius update
  I’m still working on Eusebius of Caesarea’s Gospel questions and solutions, and on the task of getting the book together.  At the moment the intention is to include both a text and translation.  There’s been a little more progress over the weekend. A friend has typed up the Greek for letter 212 of Isidore of […]
• Devreesse – introductory notes on catenas on Matthew
  The post on the fragments of Eusebius extant in catenas on Matthew really needs some material from earlier in Devreesse’s article. VII.  CATENAS ON ST. MATTHEW. — 1.  OVERVIEW. — It is to P. Poussines, S. J., that we owe the first edition of a catena on St. Matthew, Symbolorum in Matthaeum tomus prior exhibens […]
• Devreesse on the fragments of Eusebius in the catena on Matthew
  In his article on medieval Greek commentaries made up entirely of chains of quotations from the Fathers — catenas, as they are called today — Devreesse has some good material on each of the four gospels on Eusebius.  This is very relevant to the translation of the remains of Eusebius’ Gospel Questions and Solutions.  Here […]
• Lemma-out of here!
  The word lemma is widely used in the humanities.  Indeed it leaves confusion wherever it is employed. Because no-one knows what it means.  When was the last time you went down to get your car serviced, and told the mechanic to look at the lemma?  When did you hear a TV announcement talk about the lemmas in […]
• Devreesse on the extracts of Origen on Ezekiel in the catenas
  I’ve continued to work away at the monster article on the catenas by R. Devreesse, Chaines éxégetiques grecques, Supplément to Dictionnaire de la Bible, vol. 1 (Paris: Letouzey, published 1928).   The print-out that I got using the default settings in Adobe was very hard to read, very grainy and faint.  Fortunately I found a way […]
• Devreesse on quotations from Eusebius in catenas in John
  There are quite a few nuggets of interesting information in the 78-page article by R. Devreesse on Greek exegetical catenas in the Dictionaire de la Bible — supplement 1.  Naturally there are catenas on each of the Gospels, and he lists the authors quoted.  Here is what he says on John’s gospel, under the heading […]
• Styles of translation – an example from Isidore of Pelusium
  A friend has been typing up the Greek text of letter 212 of Isidore of Pelusium for me.  This is one of the fragments of Eusebius of Caesarea’s Gospel Problems and Solutions, so I have a translation of it.  The friend commented on the style of translation adopted, versus a more literal approach.  Your translator […]
• Doing it right – an new edition and Italian translation of a work by Hunain ibn Ishaq
  It’s always delightful to see things moving in the right direction (especially when it isn’t because I pushed them).  Quite by accident I came across this site, which is the English-language page of an Italian journal. The arab version of De differentiis febrium of Galen, edited by Claudio De Stefani, is the first issue of […]
• Possible outages ahead
  I don’t mind posting my thoughts online. Why not?  But I do not want to post sensitive personal information online. Unfortunately doing the former without doing the latter is getting harder. More and more companies are taking — read “stealing” — freely available personal data and posting it on their own sites in order to […]
• Josephus in the catenas
  Reading Devresse last night, I was amused to discover that one author quoted in the medieval commentaries composed of chains of quotations from the Fathers is … Josephus!  In fact Philo is also quoted.
• The external appearance of catenas
  A kind correspondant has sent me a PDF of R. Devreese’ article Chaines exégétiques grecques, in the French Dictionaire de la Bible – supplement.  It’s around 80 pages long, and double columns, and very detailed even in the generalities.  I thought I would give an English version of a portion of the introduction, starting on […]
• Intellect and its opposite
  There is a atheist forum online which used to have a useful historical forum.  Unfortunately it has been invaded by the “Jesus never existed” crowd, and is rapidly becoming useless.  Most of the posters are atheists.  Most of these atheists seem to live and talk as if convenience was their guiding principle.   They tend not to […]
• Self-service photographing of manuscripts at Leiden
  I am rather excited to learn that Leiden university library apparently allows readers to photograph manuscripts themselves!  Details here: http://www.library.leiden.edu/collections/special/practical/reproduction-special-collections.html They don’t allow flash (understandably) or tripods (less so).  But this is great news! If anyone would like to try this out and see how it works, I think we would all be interested. The […]
• Photius online in Greek and French
  I have discovered that Photius is online complete in Greek and French here: http://remacle.org/bloodwolf/erudits/photius/table.htm
• Stobaeus, Florilegium
  I’ve been reading a volume of extracts of ancient Greek wit (by F. Paley), and enjoying them.  Many come from the Florilegium of Stobaeus.  I wondered whether the work has ever been translated into English?
• Snow falling in Rome
  This image from Rogue Classicism:
• Harnack’s Geschichte der altchristlichen Literatur online
  I learn from Wieland Wilker at the Textualcriticism list that all four volumes of this (vol. 1 pts 1 and 2, and vol. 2 pts 1 and 2) are online.  I was able to find three of them easily enough.  But the one I could not find was vol. 1 part 2; that is here: […]
• Testing the catenas – Carmelo Curti on Eusebius on the Psalms
  We all know that medieval Greek commentaries on the bible were compiled by chaining together extracts from commentaries on the book in question by the Fathers. Often these catenas continue to exist, when the original works are lost.  They are therefore a valuable source for retrieving early Christian comments on biblical verses. But … to […]
• Keyser’s “Encyclopedia of Ancient Natural Scientists”
  I was able to get a look at this today.  It’s interesting, but some elements of it left me wishing it had been done differently. One problem hit me immediately: Because the book primarily contains Greek scientists, Greek names are transliterated without prior Latinization. … Direct transliteration is no more arbitrary than any other system, […]
• An afternoon with the scanner
  A book arrived at my local library today, and I have spent a couple of hours turning it into a PDF.  After all, it cost me $8 to borrow, and I must return it in two weeks.   Also my command of the language in question is not great, so a machine translator will be necessary.  The OCR […]
• Dark ages, middle ages, and how it’s all the fault of the Christians
  While reading James Hannam’s blog Quodlibeta I noticed this post, discussing the history of vivisection and dissection.  It references a rather bad-tempered post by atheist polemicist Richard Carrier here.  The nice thing in the discussion is to see ancient medical writers discussed and quoted.  James shows that the Hellenistic physicians Herophilus and Erasistratus carried out […]
• More on the lost manuscript of Eusebius’ “Quaestiones” and the deeds of Cardinal Sirleto
  One of the mysteries attached to the Gospel Questions and Solutions by Eusebius of Caesarea is the question of what became of the last known manuscript of the full text.  It was seen “in Sicily” in 1563 by Cardinal Sirleto (who became a cardinal only in 1565, but was already librarian at the Vatican at that […]
• Why was Domitian unpopular?
  The emperor Domitian has never had a good press.  After his assassination, his successors awarded him the damnatio memoriae.  The account in Suetonius is evidently comprised mainly of scurrilous gossip.  Martial’s epigrams flattering the emperor become ever more fulsome as the reign progresses — although hardly more so than Pliny the Younger’s Panegyricus on Trajan […]
• My life as a television series
  Consternation in the office this morning.  The coat-rack has vanished.  I have offered the suggestion to my colleagues, based on intensive study of BBC’s Dr. Who, that in reality the coat-rack has not vanished.  Rather, we have all been transported to a parallel universe which is identical to our own, except for this small detail.  […]
• Origen update
  Translations of some more catena fragments from the work of Origen on Ezekiel have arrived.  These are useful and help get a complete picture. The second is a translation of Delarue’s introduction where he discusses what he does.  It’s very interesting!  These old introductions are often full of useful info.  Delarue frankly confesses that in […]
• The winter of 2009-10
  I thought that I would record my impressions of the current weather, which is the most extreme that I can remember.  I myself am fortunate in many ways, but not unaffected by it.  If I were older, I think it would be a terrible season. I need hardly tell anyone in the Eastern Counties what […]
• Graf on Arabic translations of Eusebius
  In Graf’s Geschichte der christlichen arabischen Literatur, vol. 1, p. 318, is a note on translations of Eusebius in Arabic.  Here it is: 85. Eusebius, Bischof von Cäsarea (gest. 339 oder 340). Abu’l-Barakät, Katal. 648 erwähnt von ihm “Erklärungen zu den Abschnitten des heiligen Evangeliums und verschiedene Abhandlungen”. Mit den ersteren sind eher die “Kanones” oder […]
• From my diary
  The first chunk of the translation of the Coptic portions of Eusebius on the Gospels has arrived!  This is very good news.  The translator is asking ab0ut how I formatted the rest of the work — a very good question — and asking to see the rest.  I must progress this.  An email came back from […]
• From my diary
  Andrew Eastbourne has now translated into English the Latin preface to De Lagarde’s Coptic catena, and this has arrived today.  I’ve passed it over to the lady translating excerpts from Eusebius from the Coptic in that catena, who requested it.  There will be probably be some tweaking as it contains fragments of Coptic.  With luck, this […]
• The lives of the Coptic Patriarch Isaac
  An interesting email arrived today. I am writing to you hoping that The Life of Isaac, Patriarch of Alexandria (686-689 AD) would see the light in English translation through you. Patriarch Isaac’s Life in the History of the Patriarchs of the Egyptian Church, which was complied by Severus of Ashmunin, is available in both Arabic […]
• Abu’l Barakat’s Catalogue of Christian Literature in Arabic now online
  Adam McCollum has kindly translated for me Riedel’s text of the catalogue of Arabic Christian literature by Abu’l Barakat.  It’s here: Abu l-Barakat’s Catalog (trans) (PDF) Abu l-Barakats Catalog (trans) (Word .docx) I’m placing this file and its contents in the public domain.  Please do whatever you like with it, for personal, professional, educational or […]
• 2011 Patristics Conference, Oxford
  The 16th International Patristics Conference (for summer 2011) is now putting out invitations for papers.  The infinitely smarter-looking web site is here. The conference takes place in Oxford.  The days are filled with papers, each of 15 minutes.  There is a book display by publishers, often with very good deals.  Accomodation is available (at a […]
• From my diary
  I’m going to have to load-shed a bit over the next week.  I don’t seem able to shed this cold that I have, and my job is not helping.  So … not a lot of action from me for a while.  Don’t expect much!
• The Latin introduction to the Coptic catena published by Paul de Lagarde
  The translator of the fragments of Eusebius found in the Coptic catena published by Paul de Lagarde — I’m never sure whether to write “de Lagarde” or “De Lagarde” — has asked for a translation into English of his preface, written in Latin.  I have hastily asked Andrew Eastbourne for a construe, and he has kindly said he will produce […]
• Origen update
  A translation of more of the fragmentary material has come through this evening.  There is now very little more to translate.  Once it is all done, the editorial task of assembling the book will begin.  I feel very unqualified for this, and I intend to look around to see if I can hire some help!
• Working on Eusebius
  The cold that I have had over the last couple of weeks has fairly thoroughly disrupted my work schedule on editing the Eusebius.  We all take the energy we have for granted; until it vanishes under the onslaught of a virus.   Now I have the translation of everything, aside from the Coptic; but it all […]
• Albocicade at Archive.org
  French internetter Albocicade has been busy at Archive.org, uploading material of considerable value.  You can see his efforts here. Among the jewels is an index to a French translation of the 19th century of the complete works of Chrysostom.  We don’t possess a complete Chrysostom in English, so it is something to know that Bareille’s […]
• Armenian bibliography of bible commentaries/catenas
  I’m still looking for Eznik Petrosyan’s book on Armenian bible commentaries. I have now found somewhere online where this item is available.  My interest is in catenas, of course.  The book is published by the Armenian Bible Society, who have a website.  It’s here. Bibliography of Armenian Biblical Commentaries ( Bishop Yeznik Petrossian & Armen […]
• An Armenian catena on the Catholic epistles
  My learned Armenian correspondant Seda Stamboltsyan has been looking in the electronic catalogue of the Matenadaran at Yerevan for us.  She reports at least one Armenian catena in the catalogue, which includes material by Eusebius. Doing so was not entirely straightforward, as the search tool is somewhat cranky.  You have to get the exact word correct — searching […]
• Manuscripts of Eusebius’ “Vita Constantini”
  A researcher from a Canadian film company wrote to me, saying they were doing a documentary on Constantine, would be in Rome and was there an original or an old copy of this work there, because they wanted to film it.  I went and looked in the GCS 7 volume online, and I thought I’d […]
• More Armenian info
  I’m still trying to find out about Armenian catenas and biblical commentaries. It seems that there are not many references to books in Armenian on the net. Apparently the Mesrop Mashtots Matenadaran, the Institute of Old Manuscripts, Yerevan (not the same as the Armenian National Library) has a new website. Unfortunately it is only in […]
• An email from Turkey
  I posted a query on the Hugoye list yesterday about the Seert manuscripts, and whether they might yet be found buried in boxes in the courtyard of the archiepiscopal residence.  Sadly no-one has replied, but I did get a private email from a chap with a Turkish name who has evidently been looking around the […]
• The lost manuscripts of Seert – a clue?
  The revival of interest in Syriac before the first world war led to the establishment of the American mission at Urmia, and also transformed some of the clergy in that region of the Turkish Empire into scholars, publishing previously unknown material in western journals.  Foremost among these was Addai Scher, Archbishop of Seert.  He gathered […]
• A fragment of the Didache in De Lagarde’s Coptic catena?
  I was looking at the introduction to Catenae in evangelia aegyptiacae quae supersunt by Paul de Lagarde (1886; available at Lulu here).  This is a publication of a Coptic catena on the four gospels, which contains a fair number of fragments of Eusebius, and that is why I was reading it.  But then I noticed something […]
• Eusebius update
  More news on Eusebius of Caesarea’s Gospel problems and solutions.  I’ve had an email from the lady who has been translating the coptic fragments of this work from Delagarde’s catena.  Apparently this is now close to completion.  She also tells me that Delagarde’s intro is interesting, and should be translated.  This I will put elsewhere, […]
• The hecastylon in Rome
  When I feel under the weather, and I can’t face anything heavy, I tend to resort to reading old favourites.  Often these include the old Loeb’s of Juvenal and Martial.  This week, attacked by a heavy cold, it has been Martial. I was reading book 3, epigram 19.  This describes a place of “a hundred […]
• Patristics Carnival XXXI
  … is here.  Thanks to Polycarp for putting it together.  I seem to have missed a few carnivals lately — evidently I didn’t appear in them!
• How not to do it; AbdulHaq’s “Before Nicea”
  I’ve come across a Moslem pamphlet rubbishing Christian origins.  It’s available as an eBook here.  The authors are not orientals, but Britons who have converted to Islam and taken Arabic names.  As such they have no access to Eastern literature and have had to make use of whatever anti-Christian literature they could find. I find it […]
• Catenas on the Psalms: the “Palestinian catena”
  There may be 29 different types of catena on the Psalms.  All of them contain quotations from works by the Fathers on the exegesis of the Psalms.  But the most important of these by far is the catena known to modern specialists as the “Palestinian catena”.  This catena was apparently originally compiled in 6th century Palestine, directly […]
• Catenas on the Psalms in print
  Karo and Lietzmann’s Catenarum Graecarum Catalogus lists 28 different medieval Greek catenas on the psalms.  These are not 28 different copies, but 28 different types.  I confess that I have not yet read through all this material, and am awaiting the printed copy that I made and ordered. Fortunately the printed editions of whatever exists appear at […]
• The sources for the downfall of Majorian
  The emperor Majorian was the last effective Roman emperor of the west.  He ruled from 457 to 461.  At that period the rule of the empire was actually in the hands of the sinister Ricimer, who appointed and killed a series of emperors to act as figureheads.  Majorian was one of these, but speedily proved […]
• Lost Roman legal text found
  There’s still stuff out there.  This report from University College London tells us that someone (unspecified) has found 17 fragments of parchment in a binding in a manuscript or book (unspecified).  They contain parts of a lost text!  It’s not at all uncommon to find bits of medieval books used as extra leaves at the ends […]
• A sad sidelight on academia
  Nothing to do with normal topics on this blog, but I came across http://bulliedacademics.blogspot.com/.  Sometimes I am glad that I work as a freelancer!
• Anthony McRoy responds to “SeismicShock”
  The police visit to blogger SeismicShock (real name Joseph Weissman) caused me to post here, and in the discussion at Index on Censorship, here, and here.  Seismic’s blog targeted mainly Stephen Sizer in his blog; but he also attacked Dr Anthony McRoy.  I queried his understanding of a lecture “The solace of the saviour” by McRoy online, here.  This evening […]
• Last section of Abu’l Barakat
  Good news!  An email tells me that another of my projects is coming in.  The catalogue of Arabic Christian books, by the 13th century writer Abu’l Barakat, is progressing nicely.  The whole thing has now been translated into English, in first draft.  The wording will now be revised over the next two weeks, and then […]
• How do you solve a problem like… Karo and Lietzmann?
  I’m still too unwell to go back to work, which is a pain because I only get paid when I’m in the office.  I thought I was well enough to go in tomorrow, but a walk to a shop this frosty evening speedily taught me otherwise.  So … another day at home, in which I can […]
• Catalogue of catenas
  I have referred previously to G. Karo and I. Lietzmann, Catenarum Graecarum Catalogus, published in the appallingly difficult to obtain Nachrichten der K. Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften zu Gottingen, Philologisch-historische Klasse, 1, 3, 5 (1902).  In pp. 119-151, they classify catenas as types I-VII, following a scheme drawn up by E. Preuschen.  This really should be […]
• What is a catena?
  An email recently reminded me that many people reading this will not know what a catena is.  I thought a post on this would be useful. The word catena is Latin, and means chain.  It is used to refer to a book which is made up entirely of quotations from older writers, arranged to make […]
• Cerf’s up!
  I agreed to use the Sources Chrétiennes Greek text of Eusebius’ Quaestiones with the editors.  This will appear opposite the English translation that I commissioned, when I publish the book. Well, the contract from Les éditeurs du Cerf has arrived! It’s all in French, of course, but is only three pages.  In fact it’s a sensible contract, designed […]
• Codex Aesinas of Tacitus
  An email tells me that quite a bit of the Codex Aesinas of Tacitus – the sole surviving ms. of the minor works – is online.  And so it seems to be.  You go to this website: http://www.icpal.beniculturali.it/esito_fotografico.html scroll down, and search for “Aesinas”.  And up come a lot of pages! I wonder what else is […]
• No danger to free speech? the “Seismic shock” incident
  NOTE: I revised this post, after further details became available.  I have now revised and updated it again.  I’m beginning to wonder whether this is about free speech at all. I was idly reading a blog or two while downloading Cramer’s catena, and I stumbled across this, which excited me so much that I felt […]
• In praise of footnotes
  Ill at home today with a horrible cold, and unable to read much.  I picked up the translation by Frank Williams of the Panarion of Epiphanius, that great late 4th century catalogue of ancient heresies.  It is indeed a blessing to have this material in English. But I found myself looking for footnotes, of the kind […]
• The Armenian manuscripts of the French National Library
  The catalogue of Armenian manuscripts at the French National Library tells an interesting story of how the pre-revolution holdings were assembled.  It all starts when Francis I of France entered into a treaty with the Grand Turk, and established a permanent ambassador in Constantinople.  This opened the Turkish state to French scholars in search of […]
• Finding Armenian resources
  My queries to professional Armeniologists have gone unanswered, doubtless because they are very busy.  But I am still interested to learn whether there are catenas on the gospels in Armenian. A thought struck me last night.  Suppose that none have been published?  Where could we find catenas? The answer, surely, is to start looking at […]
• The gospel of Judas saga continues
  Herbert Krosney, who wrote much the best book on the skullduggery around the finding, selling and dismemberment of the manuscript of the ps.Gospel of Judas has written an update on events since then.  This can be found here, at a page run by Marvin Meyer.  It’s explosive stuff. The manuscript floated around the art world for […]
• New Czech site on Tertullian and Perpetua
  Czech scholar Petr Kitzler has started his own site.  He writes: I have started my own site, as you advised. See https://sites.google.com/site/petrtert/.   For now, this is mainly my bibliography, with as many resources on-line or full-texts as was possible. I will of course update the pages, but it depends on my spare time (which looks bad these […]
• Another chunk of Abu’l Barakat
  The third chunk (of four) of the translation of Abu’l Barakat’s list of Arabic Christian literature arrived today.
• How the first Loebs were translated
  At a conference a few years ago, I remember hearing an anecdote about how the original Loeb translation of the Apostolic Fathers was made.  The translator was the great Kirsopp Lake. According to the story, Lake made his translation by lying on a sofa in his rooms with a copy of the Greek text in […]
• Dreaming of Marius Maximus
  We all know the Twelve Caesars of Suetonius.  I suppose most of us have read at least some of the Augustan History, similarly modelled, but largelya 4th century fake. But I found myself thinking of the author of the next twelve lives after Suetonius, the lost writer Marius Maximus. Maximus is referred to in the […]
• A quick quiz on evolution at Quodlibeta
  …is here, which I link to mainly as an excuse to display a rather amusing picture from it: Anyone who has “debated” with atheists online — especially anyone whom the atheists found better informed than themselves — will understand.
• Doing the numbers
  A comment asked how much the various elements of the projects I am doing actually cost, aside from the hours and hours of time.  I thought a post on this might be of interest. My trip to Cambridge to look at Anastasius of Sinai was 120 miles and cost me around $45 in petrol, plus […]
• Oriens Christianus come up trumps
  One bit of paranoia concerned the Syriac fragments of Eusebius, printed by Gerhard Beyer in 1926 in the German journal Oriens Christianus.  I couldn’t find any information on when he died.  In Europe, copyright extends until 70 years after the death of the author, you see.  So I wrote to Hubert Kaufhold and Manfred Kropp, the current […]
• Typing up Origen
  Origen’s Homilies on Ezekiel are mostly extant in a Latin translation by Rufinus.  For the book version, we’re going to need an electronic text.  I’ve scanned a few Latin texts in  my time using OCR, and the results have often been variable.  Back in 2000, the quality of software was lamentable.  Today it is better, […]
• The CCSG edition of Anastasius of Sinai’s “Questions”
  I thought I’d better sacrifice my Saturday and come up to Cambridge and actually look at the Corpus Christianorum edition of Anastasius of Sinai, before negotiations with Brepols to reprint extracts got much further.  It’s a rainy day, here.  The university library is full of students, some with college scarfs, working away — for with […]
• After the New Testament – the Early Christians on CDROM
  I’ve decided to see if I can market the CDROM of the Fathers and Additional Fathers a little.  It will be good practice for book selling.  I’m going to have an experiment on Facebook.  I’ve set up a couple of pages here to start with, and let’s see what happens!  It ought to get a […]
• Translating Anastasius of Sinai
  Joseph A. Munitiz SJ has edited the Quaestiones et responsiones of the 7th century writer Anastasius of Sinai, published by Brepols.  I learn today that he is working on an English translation.  This is excellent news, of course.  I was thinking about this, and realised that he might benefit from the translation of the three fragments quoted from […]
• Still cursing copyright
  On Wednesday I wrote to Hubert Kaufhold, editor of Oriens Christianus, which published the Syriac text of the fragments of Eusebius back in 1926 (OC 3).  I can’t find any evidence that the editor of that article, Gerhard Beyer, ever published anything else.  So … presumably the text is out of copyright, even under the […]
• Transcribing Eusebius’ Greek
  One thing I need to do for the Eusebius book is to get the extracts from Cramer’s catena transcribed into electronic form.  I’ve agreed with someone for this, and emailed him the details of the first couple tonight.  Let’s see how it goes! Meanwhile I have written back to Brepols.  They claim that they own […]
• More copyright, curses curses
  I don’t believe that the text of ancient literature can be in copyright.  Publishers claim otherwise, but as far as I know these claims have not been tested in court. The idea is a shameful abuse of copyright law; like claiming copyright of Shakespear.  Unfortunately once money is involved, it seems more prudent for a […]
• Gospel catenas – from Harnack
  Here is a translation into English of the interesting remarks by Harnack that I posted here.  What is striking is that we still haven’t really advanced much. VI.  J. A. Cramer has published catenas on the NT (8 vols, Oxford, 1838 ff).  But this edition in every way represents only a very modest beginning, and […]
• TLG Selecta in Ezechielem
  A sudden thought: is there already a Greek text of Origen’s Selecta in Ezechielem in the TLG?  If so, and anyone has access, would they send it to me? UPDATE: I have a copy of this now – thanks!
• How big is my Migne, part 2?
  I need to get an electronic text created of the polytonic Greek in Selecta in Ezechielem by Origen.  The Selecta are cols. 767-825 in PG13; but of course alternate columns are the Latin translation, so there’s only 29 columns of text. How many words per column?  Well, it seems to be about 400 words (although columns […]
• Armenian fragments of Eusebius on the Gospels?
  I’m having another attempt to locate any Armenian fragments of the Gospel Problems and Solutions of Eusebius.  There must be professors of Armenian who know where these might be found.  All I have to do is ask.  As a first shot, I’ve written to Theo van Lint, who is Gulbenkian Professor of Armenian Studies at […]
• Copyright, curses curses
  Printing a Greek and Latin text opposite the English translation involves me in the murky world of copyright.  One difficulty is that a work extant in fragments is liable to have bits copyright by all sorts of people.  If they all get greedy, this can render it impossible. The major chunks and their owners are: […]
• Loebs online
  A very useful page of links to Loebs online has been created here: http://www.edonnelly.com/loebs.html Highly recommended.
• Abu’l Barakat update
  The translation of the 13th century list of books extant in Christian Arabic by Abu’l Barakat is still progressing.  The translator has now sent me a schedule for the remaining half of the work still to translate: pp. 653-659  – Jan 19 pp. 660-666 – Jan 26 Final revision – Feb 8 This is all good news, […]
• The text tradition of Hippolytus “Commentary on Daniel”
  A question has reached me about the Commentary on Daniel of Hippolytus, especially with regard to the passage in 4.23.3: For the first advent of our Lord in the flesh, when he was born in Bethlehem, eight days before the kalends of January [December 25th], the 4th day of the week [Wednesday], while Augustus was […]
• A book on catenas which I can’t find
  Has anyone ever heard of or seen a copy of, or mention of Wolf, de catenis patrum graecorum (1712)? It’s a dissertation, and is quoted in older literature.  But … even mentions of it online are rare. I’ve looked in COPAC, and in the Library of Congress, the BNF… where else should I look?
• From my diary
  I have continued to read a cheap reprint of Harnack’s Geschichte der altchristlichen Litteratur bis Eusebius, Theil 1, Halfte 2.  The volume has no index, so I have amused myself by compiling one in pencil at the front, and scribbling English notes in the margins. While doing so I came across his notes on catenas […]
• Eusebius book news
  The remains of the Gospel Problems and Solutions of Eusebius of Caesarea exist in two chunks.  Firstly there is a long epitome, and then there is a mass of fragments of the original work, which together are longer than the epitome.  There is a critical text of the epitome, but not of the fragments. People […]
• Medieval mss from Switzerland online?
  Very good news from Switzerland, which has launched the e-codices site: The goal of e-codices is to provide access to the medieval manuscripts of Switzerland via a virtual library. On the e-codices site, complete digital reproductions of the manuscripts are linked with corresponding scholarly descriptions. Our aim is to serve not only manuscript researchers, but […]
• An introduction to Old Slavonic literature?
  I have spent a couple of hours online attempting to locate some evidence of an introductory work to Old Slavonic literature.  This has been in vain, although guides to the language are common enough.  The only text I have found is an 1883 SPCK publication here. Does anyone know of such a guide to what […]
• BBKL article on Ibn al-Tayyib
  The post on the Nestorian monk Ibn al-Tayyib and his commentary on the gospels, a source for the Diatessaron, has led to a very interesting set of comments and a large bibliography.  This is a text that really does need to be in English.  I shall continue to explore this in the comments on that […]
• Old Slavonic manuscripts online
  A comment on this post leads us to a wonderland of Old Slavonic patristic manuscripts, all online and in full colour.  I will repeat some of the information here. I wonder if you know about this website: http://www.stsl.ru/manuscripts . This an online collection of manuscripts from the former library of St.Sergius Monastery near Moscow, now […]
• From my diary
  Snow here. I had to leave work at lunchtime on Wednesday and have been home since. This morning I couldn’t see where my driveway was! I tried to drive to work this morning, but I had to turn back. The roads were not too bad, but accidents were happening, and a bridge near me was […]
• Supposed quotation by Hypatia
  An atheist post online used the following as a signature: “Fables should be taught as fables, myths as myths, and miracles as poetic fancies. To teach superstitions as truths is a most terrible thing. The child-mind accepts and believes them, and only through great pain and perhaps tragedy can he be in after-years relieved of […]
• Fathers in Old Slavonic – 2
  A number of ante-Nicene writers exist in an translation in Old Slavonic. Portions of the Shepherd of Hermas, from the Similitudes. The Letter of Barnabas. Ignatius of Antioch, Letters.  I don’t have any details of which ones, tho. The martyrdom of Polycarp The quotation of Papias in the work of Apollinaris on Judas. Barlaam and Joasaf […]
• Patristic literature in Old Slavonic – 1
  What do you do, when you find that the mediaeval Greeks carelessly forgot to preserve a copy of some patristic text in which you are interested?  Well, you have a couple of choices. Firstly you can go and search manuscript libraries and see if you can find it.  This option is rarely exercised, since dealing […]
• The last Byzantine ecclesiastical historian
  There’s nothing quite like having a book on hand in paper format.  Last night, troubled with insomnia, I browsed along my shelves for something gentle to read, and in vain.  But then my hand fell on a cheap modern reprint of Harnack, Geschichte der altchristlichen Litteratur bis Eusebius, Teil 1, Halfte 2. This is the […]
• How different is a critical text from a pre-critical text?
  We like to work from a critical text, don’t we? And rightly so; a text established in a scholarly manner, from a proper analysis of the witnesses and due consideration of the style of the author and the period is a good thing. But an awful lot of texts don’t exist in that form.  So […]
• Critical editions of the fragments of Eusebius
  If I’m going to print a text alongside the translation of Eusebius, then I need to try to print a critical text.  Now I’m not going to edit the text — that crosses a line which I have decided not to cross.  But if the text has been edited more recently than Mai — not […]
• Sources Chretiennes very quick on the draw
  My enquiry about rights for reproducing the Greek text of the epitome of the Gospel Problems and Solutions by Eusebius has proceeded very fast, considering that I wrote on Saturday night.  My friend there responded quickly and forwarded it to his contact, who wrote back immediately asking for some more details — what size of […]
• Printing the Greek text of Eusebius
  I never use my PC on Sundays.  I sit before the magic box all day and all evening, six days a week.  If I used it on Sunday too, I think I’d become insane.  I always recall the poor cabman in Black Beauty who had a seven-day licence, and died of overwork.  “I never got […]
• The Sunday Sermons of John Xiphilinus
  Among the fragments of the Gospel Problems and Solutions of Eusebius is one taken by Angelo Mai, back in the 1820’s, from a then unpublished Sunday Sermon by John Xiphilinus. Xiphilinus is best known to us as the author of an epitome of Cassius Dio.  The epitome of Xiphilinus, together with that of Zonaras, are […]
• Scanty referencing in older sources
  I’m going through the fragments of Eusebius printed by Angelo Mai in the 1820’s from catenas.  These often refer pretty briefly to the sources from which he copied them.  Thus one fragment is headed (translated): From Macarius Chrysocephalus’ Florilegium, in Villoison, Anecdota, vol. 2, p.74. Hum, yes, well of course. Fortunately I can find information […]
• Still asking for those strenae at New Year?
  An incoming link from here reveals a fascinating custom: I leave you with a little philological excursus on the meaning of “bistraynti `alayk”, the traditional greeting that every Lebanese kid learns to scream at the top of his/her lungs on New Year’s morning. I’ve always wondered about the etymology of this term, and I recently […]
• How do I find out how to sell my book online
  The two translations that I have commissioned are coming along nicely.   The Eusebius volume is pretty close to done. So… how to turn these collections of Word documents into books?  And how to sell the things when I have done so? Off to Amazon, where I find that there is a small industry of people […]
• Review: The Goodspeed Syriac fragments
  Fr. Dale A. Johnson has kindly sent me a PDF of his new book, The Goodspeed Syriac Fragments, Barhanna Monographs 2, New Sinai Press, 2009. ISBN 0-4116-1950-3.  The book is 34 pages long. One difficulty some may have with it is that it is a little hard to work out what it contains, and what the […]
• Another new year
  Now is the time of year to see where we’re going.  After all, just like a sailing ship on the ocean, if we don’t check our course periodically, we will drift.  And this voyage is one we don’t get the chance to do again. What I tend to do is look back over the last […]
• The perils of translating from old editions
  I’m still working on editing the translation of the Gospel Problems and Solutions by Eusebius of Caesarea.  The fragments of catenas and the like are all printed by Angelo Mai in the early 19th century, or reprinted by him from yet earlier non-critical publication.  In other cases he is printing unpublished material.  This means that […]
• Angelo Mai comments on a catena fragment of Eusebius
  In the fragments of Eusebius, Mai added this note.  It was translated for me by the translator, but has no place in the book, so I give it here. Another delightful thing has happened to me.   While I was translating from Greek into Latin all the passages of Eusebius in the MS of Nicetas’ Catena […]
• More on “Greek without Tears”
  I’ve been in correspondence with Dr Flynn, the author of the package Greek without tears.  This is essentially a keyboard for polytonic Greek, at a pretty cheap price.  My translator used it to enter the Greek text for Eusebius, so I have had to take an interest in it. The software has been upgraded to work […]
• Pseudonymous emails
  I received a delightful email today from someone calling themselves Pseudonymous.  I can’t ask his permission to post it, since he gave no valid email address.  But I would like to reply, and this seems to be the only way to do so.  The email began: You commented that Lewis apparently was unaware of IVF: perhaps it […]
• End of volume three
  I have now reached the end of the monster, 2,000 page, volume three of the collected letters of C. S. Lewis.  I seem to have averaged around 300 letters a day.  It is quite a testimony to the charm of his literary style, even with stock letters, which many of these were, that I reach this […]
• Editing Eusebius
  I’ve spent the day working on the Word documents that contain the new translation of Eusebius’ Tough Questions on the Gospels. It’s been about turning the notes into Word footnotes, correcting the margins, fixing issues with the typefaces. One curious feature is that my translator chose to use the specialised commercial non-unicode font GrkAcca.  This […]
• Back to Eusebius
  The Tough Questions on the Gospel by Eusebius of Caesarea has been sitting on my hard disk for a few weeks now, awaiting some editing.  On Boxing Day I went out and bought a laser printer.  I can’t edit long documents on screen — I need something I can look at!  Today I went out […]
• More on the Collected Letters of C.S.Lewis
  I’ve been reading the massive 2,000 page third volume of the Collected Letters of C. S. Lewis (available here).  It must be one of the very few books of which I can say, “I’ve only read 700 pages so far”!  What an ass the publisher was, not to split it into three. I’m not finding […]
• C. S. Lewis, Collected Letters volume 3
  The third and last volume of the Collected Letters of C. S. Lewis is out, and available here from Amazon.com.  Santa brought me a copy of the UK edition (with rather nicer cover) for Christmas. I’ve started reading it, and find to my astonishment that it is almost 2,000 pages long.  The paper is the sort you […]
• Christmas day on the winter solstice?
  The time has come to summarise some of the findings of the dozen or so posts on questions related to whether Christmas, on 25 December, was on the winter solstice in antiquity.   I think we can say with certainty that it was thought to be on 25 December, or at least when the solstice was […]
• The Christian-baiting season is now open!
  Yes, it’s that time of year again.  Time to BASH THE CHRISTIANS!  Time to dig out those dog-eared bits of hearsay, and prepare to throw them.  Whenever someone dares to suggest that Christmas should be about Christ, rather than drink, gluttony, fornication and selling stuff to morons who should know better, you’ll be ready!  Just […]
• Off to Syria and Lebanon in the spring
  This Christmas Santa brought me a copy of National Geographic, which had an article on Syria.  He also brought a travel magazine, which had an article on Syria.  I’ve wanted to go to Syria for a couple of years now, especially to see Palmyra.  I went online, therefore, and checked a couple of companies.  Abercrombie […]
• Augustine on pagans at Christmas
  Here’s an excerpt from one of Augustine’s Christmas sermons, delivered on 25 December 401: Stop these latest sacrileges,  stop this craze for vanities and pointless games, stop these customs, which no longer take place in honour of demons but still follow the rites of demons … Yesterday, after vespers, the whole city was aflame with stinking fires; […]
• ‘Twas Christmas Eve in the workhouse…
  I’ve mentioned my computer woes last weekend.  The problem seems to be a failed update to Windows Defender (which I don’t even use, but can’t be uninstalled from Vista and I can’t delete the failed update).  The PC keeps locking up.  So … complete reformat, reinstall everything. Wish me luck.
• The calendar of Polemius Silvius
  Our discussions about bruma and the solstice have led me to look again at the calendar of Polemius Silvius, the mid 5th century calendar.  This was printed by Mommsen in 1893 in the ILA series. These massive volumes, all in Latin, are pretty much inaccessible to us all. Years ago I paid heavily for photocopies […]
• What to do on Christmas day when there’s only one of you
  It is forty years after we were told “All you need is love”.  The law of unintended consequences means that more of us than ever before are on our own at Christmas.  Sometimes this is because we have no close family. Sometimes it is that we cannot be with them, for whatever reason.  This year, as it happens, I’m […]
• Abu’l Barakat part 2 has arrived
  The second tranche of Abu’l Barakat’s 13th century catalogue of Arabic Christian books has arrived today.  It’s very, very interesting.  The translation is getting better, and the translator is going to cross-reference the authors and works to Quasten’s Patrology and Graf’s Geschichte der christlichen arabischen Literatur.  I’ll release this into the public domain, with transcription, when […]
• A note on Hemitheon of Sybaris
  I was reading the old Loeb Martial, and came to one of the obscene epigrams (12:95).  This mentions some of the dirty books of antiquity, and begins: Musaei pathicissimos libellos, qui certant Sybariticis libellis,… The mega-pathicus books of Musaeus, which rival the books of the Sybaritis,… and the footnote said that the Sybaritis was a work […]
• Another bit of Sbath commissioned
  A while ago I commissioned translations into English (with transcription of the text) of some of the Arabic Christian texts in Paul Sbath’s Twenty Philosophical and Theological Treatises.  Treatises 15-19 were translated by Sam Noble, and I placed them online and into the public domain.  You can find them here.  So do as you like with […]
• A review of Crawford on the Bruma and Brumalia
  Andrew Eastbourne has sent me an interesting review of what must be an interesting book; a Latin dissertation on the bruma and brumalia.  I think it is worth reproducing in its entirety here.  UPDATE: I have found the dissertation online here. De Bruma et Brumalibus Festis. By John Raymond Crawford. Harvard University Dissertation. Printed in […]
• The joy of windows
  I must be careful about taking a volume of Quasten to bed.  I did so last night, and saw a couple of untranslated works (or rather, remains of them), and decided to blog about them.  So I got out of bed, went to my PC and … it wouldn’t boot.  Nothing I could do would […]
• Death, mutilation, castration, blinding, fun!
  An interesting discussion in BYZANS-L began with this comment: Pero Tafur had an interesting conversation in 1437 with John VIII.  He had complained to John about a theft, the thief was taken,  his eyes put out and his hands cut off.  Pero asked why they didn’t just execute him.  John said that no man had […]
• A translation of John the Lydian, “De Mensibus” 4.158 (on December)
  Here’s a little translation that I commissioned of a page of book IV of John the Lydian “On the Months”.  It’s relevant to our discussions of bruma.  This translation is public domain – do whatever you like with it, commercial or educational. The Romans customarily divided their citizenry into three [groups] and distinguished those who […]
• Historia Augusta on Hadrian
  I scanned a page of the Censorinus translation for my last post, and rather to my surprise found gossipy material about Hadrian that could have come from Suetonius.  After I posted it here, as from Censorinus, something made me pull down a translation of the Historia Augusta, and sure enough I found it there!  The translator […]
• Abbyy Finereader 10 upgrade now out
  For many years I have used Abbyy Finereader as my OCR software.  Version 10 is now out, and I have just bought an upgrade. Mind you, I have retained copies of FR8 and FR9 on my disk, installed and ready to use.  FR9 was quite an improvement in OCR terms on FR8, and has better […]
• Daremberg and Saglio’s “Le Dictionnaire des Antiquités Grecques et Romaines”
  … is online here.  (The page is the start of stuff on bruma).  This French dictionary looks very useful, and the referencing to ancient sources isn’t bad either. Thanks to Bill Thayer for pointing me at this one!
• Authorities for the Julian year
  A search on Google books produced an elderly reference, Wm Ramsay, Ovid: selections for the use of schools (1868) discussing how the Julian year worked (p.333).  But as with so many of these old sources, the referencing to ancient texts is really quite good. In giving an account of the Roman Calendar, it will be convenient […]
• From my diary
  Another chunk of the Selecta in Ezechielem — the remains in Greek of material by Origen on Ezechiel, as printed by Migne — has arrived, leaving only another 11 pages of Migne to go.  I’m told that these chunks of catenas tend to be corrupt and awkward; but sometimes the thought is considerably simpler than it […]
• “Killer” Carlson unmasks another fraud
  This article came through from CLASSICS-L: Science Daily 12/15/09: Ancient Book of Mark Found Not So Ancient After All” A biblical expert at the University of Chicago, Margaret M. Mitchell, together with experts in micro-chemical analysis and medieval bookmaking, has concluded that one of the University Library’s most enigmatic possessions is a forgery. The book, […]
• The copyright status of Liddell and Scott
  This Spanish post discusses issues around the electronic XML version of Liddell and Scott.
• Ancient medicine online
  AWOL notes that a French site has a massive collection of ancient medical writers online here.  Not that any of us want recipes for colds from that source, but the incidental information about ancient society is worth looking at.
• Origen on Ezekiel; update
  Another large chunk of the remains of the Greek text of Origen on Ezekiel has come in, and very welcome it is too!
• Roman calendars online
  I know that we have Roman calendars incised into monuments.  Does anyone know if we have any online?
• A 7th century Syriac mathematician
  Before the first world war there was a flourishing of interest in Syriac studies among oriental Christians.  Patriarch Aphram I Barsoum wrote in Arabic a patrology of their works, referenced mainly from manuscripts then existing in Eastern libraries.  This was published but inaccessible by reason of language.  However a few years ago the excellent Matti […]
• Someone to work on Severus Sebokht?
  The 7th century Syriac father Severus Sebokht has left several scientific and philosophical works behind.  I grew interested in him, enough to acquire a PDF of the main manuscript of his mostly unpublished works, but other things supervened and I never pursued the matter.  There are several unpublished letters in the ms. (BNF Syriac 346), […]
• Paulinus of Nola
  Paulinus of Nola (353-431) has never come to my attention hitherto.  He was a contemporary of St. Augustine and lived through the times of the fall of Rome.  His works consist of poems and letters.  The poems include anti-pagan material which must therefore be of value for late paganism.  His works were translated in the Ancient Christian Writers […]
• Censorinus and the secular games
  One  benefit of my fruitless efforts to determine the meaning of the word bruma was to cause me to read bits of the Birthday book (De die natalis) by Censorinus.  This work was written in 238 AD (as he tells us) as a present for a friend, and is a compilation of material, mostly linked […]
• Too much data to find out what “bruma” means
  There seem to be 336 results on a search on bruma in the PHI Latin CDROM (thanks to those who did the search).  There is probably more data in the Greek side.  And then there is the question of brumalia, which I have not even started on.  I have only one hour this evening which is […]
• Searching classical authors in Latin
  Does anyone know of a website where I can type in the Latin word “bruma” and see which classical authors use it, and the text?
• More sources for the meaning of “bruma”; winter solstice? midwinter? etc
  Following this post, in which I listed the supposed sources for the meaning of the term “bruma” and quoted some, I have been looking up some more.  The English translations are not specially concerned with this word, so should be treated only as a guide. Ovid, Fasti, book 1, line 163: quaesieram multis; non multis ille […]
• Is there an English translation of Varro’s “De lingua latina”?
  I find that book 6 has an interesting bit on the bruma and the solstice; quoted in this post of mine.  I’d like to see a professional translation. UPDATE: There are two volumes in Loeb, and they’re on Archive.org: Vol. 1 and Vol. 2
• More on Choricius of Gaza
  We’re interested in Choricius because one of his works contains a description of the magnificent celebration of the winter festival, the brumalia, by the emperor Justinian.  We’re interested in the facts about the brumalia because there are rumours online that Christmas is ‘really’ the brumalia. This evening I find the following in the latest Patrology […]
• Was the winter solstice on 25 December in the Julian calendar
  This claim seems to be widely made online.  But is it true?  Does anyone know, and how do we know?
• Choricius of Gaza, the Suda on the “brumalia”
  One of the authors mentioned in yesterday’s post about evidence for the winter festival of the Brumalia was Choricius of Gaza.  Apparently he records the magnificent celebration of this festival in the first consulship of the emperor Justinian.  If you’re like me, this is an author about whom you know very little.  He seems to […]
• On “bruma” and “brumalia” in ancient Rome, as found in the OLD
  There is a certain amount of wild talk around online about a festival of bruma, or the brumalia, connected with Christmas.  It would be interesting to find out what is truly known and discoverable from ancient sources about the nature and date of this event.  So I reached for the OLD! According to the Oxford […]
• Ancient wargaming figures
  Somewhere in my loft is a 25mm Seleucid wargames army.  Metal figures, all painted by me, glued onto cardboard which I painted green.  It fought a good few times at a wargames club near my school.  Mostly I lost, as I had no better idea of tactics than to advance and roll the dice when […]
• Glad I didn’t go to Egypt this Christmas
  For the last two years I have escaped the drizzle and misery of “Exmas” by going to Egypt for a week, coming back on Christmas Eve.   I stayed in the best hotel in Luxor, the Maritim Jolie Ville.  Indeed last year Suzanne Mubarak, the wife of the Egyptian president, stayed there.  I nearly fell over […]
• New forms of devotion in Firmicus Maternus? Or possibly not…
  I’ve returned to translating Firmicus Maternus.  Part of the preparation for doing so was to get hold of the French editions and translations, and I ran one of these through a machine translator.  Working through this, I came to the following remarkable output:  Si tu veux, libéré, suivre la lumière de l’époux, rejette tes erreurs […]
• The transmission of the Blessing of Isaac, Jacob and Moses by Hippolytus
  In the Patrologia Orientalis 27, fascicle 1-2, a text called The blessing of Jacob appears.   It is a commentary on Genesis 49.  This is given in Greek, but also in Armenian and Georgian.  A French translation is included.  The Greek text seems to have been discovered relatively recently, and contains glosses at some points, as […]
• That which we are not allowed to hear
  The UK mass media is controlled by a relatively small number of people, but sets the “tone” of public debate.  In the last week I have come across three examples where stories of considerable public interest are simply not reported, and strangled by silence. The first of these is the climate-change emails scandal.  Hackers stole […]
• The “Mithras was born on 25th December! Tee hee” myth
  Every year at Christmas time the web is filled with people jeering at Christians.  Such is the society we live in.  A common jeer is to shout exultantly that Christmas is really a pagan festival.  In years gone past these people mocked that it was really the birthday of Mithras. It looks as if my […]
• More on the Septizodium
  The fragmentary map of ancient Rome does show a portion of the Septizodium, an expensive facade designed to impress people arriving at the foot of the Palatine hill up the Appian Way.  Here is the fragment. The photo has East at the top.  To the right is one end of the Circus Maximus.  The Palatine […]
• A new blog on fragmentary texts
  This might be interesting! http://www.fragmentarytexts.org/
• Why I don’t believe that NT studies is an academic discipline
  I’m not going to write an essay on this.  I trained as a scientist, and so was naturally sceptical that the humanities were doing more than wiggling their prejudices.  I came to think differently about patristics after reading T.D.Barnes Tertullian, which convinced me that objective data-driven work was possible.  One factor in my disbelief in […]
• Abu’l Barakat’s catalogue of patristic books is underway!
  This evening I received the first chunk of the English translation that I commissioned of the 13th century list of Christian books by the Arabic Christian writer Abu’l Barakat.  It’s all Greek fathers so far, starting with Clement of Rome and winding down to Cyril of Alexandria.  The lists are fascinating, and cry out for […]
• An atheist guide to ancient Rome
  While hunting around for material on the Septizodium, I came across a genuine curiosity, here.  The title is “Walking tours of ancient Rome: a secular guidebook to the Eternal City” by a certain Gary M. Devore.  The blurb reads: This guidebook is designed for tourists and scholars who are interested in exploring first-hand the grandeur […]
• Images of the Septizonium from the renaissance
  When I was scanning the Chronography of 354, one part of the book was The fourteen regions of Rome.  This listed all sorts of monuments, and I was reminded today of a mysterious monument named the Septizonium.  It appears on the fragments of the ancient marble map of Rome that I was talking about earlier.  […]
• The marble map of Rome
  Does anyone know if there is a picture online of the Severan map of Rome, made of marble and attached to a wall in Rome?  The phrase I have seen is the templum sacrae urbis, but I really know very little about this item and what it depicts.
• The administration of Roman libraries
  An interesting post on this subject is here.  It’s a follow-up to a more general article on Roman libraries here, which has a nice bibliography in the footnotes.  Apparently ‘Boyd 1915 “Public Libraries and Literary Culture in Ancient Rome”‘ contains the references to the primary data.  With that publication date, it should be online.  And […]
• The Hypotyposes (Outlines) of Clement of Alexandria
  Clement of Alexandria believed that “Cephas” was different from “Peter”. This information comes to us from Eusebius (Eccles Hist, 1.12.2).Here is the text: They say that Sosthenes also, who wrote tothe Corinthians with Paul, was one of them. This is the account of Clement in the fifth book of his Hypotyposes, in which he also […]
• Some notes on Jupiter Dolichenus
  In the ruined Roman city of Leptis Magna in Libya there is an impressive set of temple steps leading up to what is now merely a foundation.  This was the local temple of a deity little known today, named Jupiter Dolichenus.  Jona Lendering has some notes on this site here, and the following image is […]
• Generosity is its own… punishment
  People who write books or place materials online must expect to receive emails of enquiry, and these are normally welcome.  They consist of enquiries about topics already of interest, or can spur further research. But the generous must be aware that their generosity can be abused.  There are people out there who consider good men […]
• Petition against Islamic attacks on Copts
  I’m not sure whether such things do much good, but Dioscorus Boles has started one in defence of Coptic Christians in middle Egypt currently under Moslem attack.  You can sign the petition here. It seems to be taken for granted that Copts in Egypt should live in subjection to the Arab majority.  The people who acquiesce […]
• Ibn al-Tayyib, Commentary on the whole bible
  I’ve had an email this morning asking me if I know of an English translation of a commentary on the four gospels by “ibn al-Tayyib”.  My first reaction is the same as yours — “who?”! A look in Georg Graf’s Geschichte der christlichen arabischen Literatur vol. 2, p. 160f reveals a Nestorian writer of that […]
• Mithras, “protector of the empire”
  The silly season is well underway, and daft stories about Christian origins being really pagan — all told with glee — are circulated uncritically and believed unquestioningly by those so inclined. We might reasonably wonder, however, just why every major Christian holiday is subjected to this ritual of debunking, with the evident approval of those […]
• Leo I and sun-worshippers at Christmas
  I see that the stale old anti-Christian legends are going around again this Christmas.  I’ve just seen one misrepresentation and had to look it up. In fact, it is recorded that Pope Leo the Great, in the fifth century, had to tell Church members to stop worshiping the Sun. Note the lack of verbatim citation […]
• The anniversary of the death of C.S.Lewis
  … was yesterday, 22nd November 1963.  Few people so unrecognised by the establishment have had so wide an influence, on me as on many.  He provided a framework for Christians to think about what they believed. Much as I like his theology, I do wish he’d written more fantasy.  I loved Out of the Silent […]
• Linking Egyptian and Babylonian chronology
  Jona Lendering points to a discovery of a Babylonian royal seal impression in a tomb in Sinai belonging to one of the Hyksos kings.  If true, this would provide a direct link between the two chronologies.  Read it – this is important. For myself, I didn’t know that the tombs of the Hyksos monarchs were […]
• Origen update
  I commissioned a translation of Origen’s fourteen homilies on Ezekiel earlier this year.  Today I had what must be very nearly the final versions of homilies 11-14, including translations of relevant Greek fragments from the catenas.  This means that the job is nearly done.  It also means, less pleasantly, that I need to start thinking about […]
• New blog from Charles Sullivan
  Charles Sullivan, who is working on a history of Speaking in Tongues, writes to say that he has started a new blog: http://charlesasullivan.wordpress.com/ The only thing I have in html right now is the “Translation Tips on the Greek Church Fathers” but more will come.  Blogging every day takes time.  But if you don’t, then […]
• An interesting online colour image of Mithras killing the bull
  I was experimenting with the new Microsoft Bing image search, which gave me quite different results to Google image search.  One of these caught my eye, on a Dutch forum, here.  A better version of the image, this time with real data attached, here.  It looks as if both have been scanned from a book, the first not […]
• Last ancient reference to the temple of Sol
  An article at Lacus Curtius on the temple of Sol Invictus in Rome contains the following interesting statement: The last reference to it in antiquity is in the sixth century (Anon. de Antiq. Cpl. IV.66, ed. Banduri) when eight of the porphyry columns were sent to Constantinople for the church of S. Sophia… These abbreviated references in older literature […]
• The rule of experts
  We are often advised to follow some policy or other on the grounds that all the experts agree in recommending it.  Such reliance on “wise men” rather than democracy reminded me of a saying, I think by C. S. Lewis, which from memory runs as follows: Who are these “wise men”?  Either they are those whom […]
• Update on Abu’l Barakat
  There is a 13th century list of works that exist in Arabic Christian literature by a certain Abu’l Barakat.  It was published long ago by Riedel, with a German translation, but has never found an English translator. Such a list is a “road-map” of the unexplored land, a guide to the wayfarer as to what […]
• Troubles at Documenta Catholica Omnia
  Paul Chandler writes to query what is happening with the Documenta Catholica Omnia site. Roger, do you know the story of Documenta Catholica Omnia and what’s going on there? Their project seems hugely ambitious but strangely unusable. They had the Patrologia Latina up in beautifully OCRed, proof-read, re-typeset versions, keyed in the margin to the […]
• Pythagoras in India?
  I had an comment on Origen and Buddhism which I had to disallow as too far off-topic.  But it contained an interesting assertion, which I reproduce here: Pythagoras, for example, who handed down and was influenced by certain concepts, was himself heavily influenced by Egyptians and the Buddhists in India, as he stayed there and was […]
• From my diary
  My free translation of Firmicus Maternus continues to make progress, slowly.  I have hopes of completing this and placing it online before Christmas.  I’m not quite sure when I can get to editing Eusebius, Tough Questions on the Gospels, as Real Life is going to interfere.  But on a positive note it looks as if […]
• CCEL Mirror of Additional Fathers collection updated
  My own collection of English translations of the Fathers not included in the 38-volume series is mirrored at a couple of places on the web.  There has long been a mirror at CCEL, which has been decaying.  As of this evening, it’s up to date again.  Many thanks to Brian at CCEL for sorting that […]
• Books to read when you have a cold
  For the last three days I have been observing the “season of mists and mellow fruitfulness” in the traditional manner, by going down with a cold, a runny nose, a sore throat and a temperature.  Fortunately when I moved into my current abode I did the calculations of radiator size appropriate for each room and purchased […]
• Origen and “Buddhism in Britain”
  An email has reached me, on an interesting topic: I’m trying to establish the authenticity or inauthenticity of a purported quote attributed to Origen.  A brief English translation purportedly of Origen appears frequently in atheist polemic and on wikipedia. It reads as follows: “The island (Britain) has long been predisposed to it (Christianity) through the […]
• Hannibal and king Antiochus – a story from Macrobius
  Praetextatus: Hannibal of Carthage made this very cheeky jest, when he was living in exile at the court of king Antiochus.  This is what he said. Antiochus was holding a review, on some open ground, to display the huge forces which he had mustered for war against the Roman people, and the troops were marching past, gleaming […]
• Extra French translations of classical texts
  I’ve found a bunch of these here: http://pot-pourri.fltr.ucl.ac.be/files/aclassftp/TEXTES/ It includes a French translation of the Saturnalia of Macrobius.  There is an English translation of that work, but sadly in copyright.
• Finereader 10 is out – dedicated users must wait until December
  I stopped using Omnipage years ago, thanks to a tip from Susan Rhoads of Elfinspell.com that there was a new kid on the block.  This was Abbyy Finereader, and I bought a copy of version 5, with the Cyrillic option which was extra.  They were a Russian company.  The rumour was that the software was […]
• Cumont on the end of the cult of Mithras
  I’ve been at it again.  I’ve done some more on the Wikipedia article on Mithraism.  This time I updated the section on when the end came, and they had to put their bull away.  Manfred Clauss says that the deposits of coins left as offerings in Mithraea all stop by 400 AD.  He gives an […]
• What did Late Roman senators wear to the senate?
  To Canterbury to see Luke Lavan who is an archaeologist working at Ostia and generally interested in daily life in late antiquity.  In passing he says that most ordinary people imagine senators in late antiquity running around in togas as in the early empire.  I’d never given the idea a moment’s thought.  What DID they […]
• Still thinking about archaeology online
  … and wondering what is NOT online that we all would like to see? In my case, more photos of statues, inscriptions, labelled with their date might be useful.  What else?
• Light from the ancient East
  After scribbling about the Paris magical codex, and giving a link to a “preview only” version of Adolf Deissmann’s Light from the ancient East (1910), I wondered if a full version was around online.  Perhaps I might scan that spell of pagan exorcism from it, I thought.  Off I went to Google books; but no […]
• How do we put archaeology online?
  Imagine you were an archaeologist.  You have people digging for you, you end up with a heap of photos, some plans, a cardboard box full of artefacts, pottery, bones … perhaps a crate with the Ark of the Covenant in it … and you need to make this stuff accessible to people who live in […]
• The spirit of persecution in Firmicus Maternus
  In Firmicus Maternus, The error of profane religion, 16, we read the following exhortation to the emperors (ca. 350): 3. These temples, very holy emperors, one should call them bonfires. Yes, bonfires of poor wretches, this is the name which is right for them. Because the deplorable servitude of men has led them to raise […]
• All the PDF’s for the Patrologia Graeca online
  After collecting a set of links to all the volumes of the PL online, Rod Letchford has done the same for the volumes of the Patrologia Graeca which are online: http://cyprianproject.info/PG.htm This again is fantastically useful, considering how awkward it can be to find particular volumes.  Thanks Rod!
• The Paris magical codex
  In the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris is an early fourth century papyrus codex (ms. supplement grec 574) which contains a variety of texts, spells, hymns, etc.   It is 36 folios in length – large for a papyrus, and contains 3274 lines. The manuscript was acquired in Egypt by the collector Giovanni Anastasi (# 1073 in his collection) […]
• All the PDF’s for the Patrologia Latina
  Rod Letchford has written to say that he has compiled a list of links to all the volumes of the Patrologia Latina available online.  It’s here: http://cyprianproject.info/PL.htm Apparently they all work from where he is, in Australia.
• Virgin birth of Mitra from Anahita?
  I’ve had an email directing me to a webpage supposedly containing an article by Mohammad Moqadam (Moghdam), with the subtitle “The Second International Congress of Mithraic Studies, Tehran 1975″.  This makes the claim: The Saviour was born in the middle of the night between Saturday and Sunday, 24th and 25th of December, 272 BCE, and […]
• The evil bishop of Amida, Abraham bar Kaili
  My queries about the Chronicle of Zuqnin led me to read the translation of the Third Part of the Chronicle by Witold  Witakowski.  This covers the period from the reign of Anastasius (ca. 500) to the end of the century.  In the Byzantine empire no political dissent was permitted.  The emperor was absolute, and he made […]
• More from the Chronicle of Zuqnin
  A couple of days ago I wrote a post on this 8th century Syriac world chronicle.  Someone was suggesting that it is one of the earlier Christian referrences to Mohammed, although this looks doubtful. Part IV, which starts just before the Moslem period, is online with French translation here: http://books.google.com/books?id=s5UWAAAAIAAJ although unless you’re in the […]
• Eusebius update
  I now have the final version of the translation of the Greek, and also of the Syriac fragments, of Eusebius of Caesarea’s Gospel questions and solutions.  Unfortunately the Greek material will now need editing and sorting out.  I hope to get into this in the next week or so.  In the mean time I’m only […]
• Syriac tablet found at Edessa in Turkey
  The Turkish press reports that farmers ploughing a field at Urfa in South-East Turkey struck a hard object, which turned out to be a tablet inscribed with Syriac, using the Estrangelo alphabet. It was found about eighteen inches below the ground, and weighs about 100 pounds.  It seems to be about 30 x 60 (either […]
• New online Syriac manuscripts, catalogues of Cairo mss
  Kristian Heal at BYU has been busy, and is doing some excellent work in making resources available.  The following announcement appeared in Hugoye and in Nascas. I am pleased to bring to your attention some additional resources now available on our website. 1.       Manuscript catalogues Almost 20 years ago, Professor Kent Brown […]
• Books of my childhood
  As a boy I read all sorts of childrens’ fiction.  Many of these books left lasting impressions on me, and I recall them faintly even 30 years later.  But of course children don’t notice the name of the author, or the title of the book; and some of these books I would dearly love to […]
• Origen on the gift of tongues
  Charles Sullivan has written a chapter of his forthcoming book in which he goes through all the works of Origen and looks at what is said about the gift of tongues.  The chapter is here.  It can only be read online, tho, and not downloaded.  I’ve skimmed it, as I don’t read stuff online all that well, […]
• The Chronicle of Zuqnin (ps.Dionysius of Tell-Mahre)
  In the Vatican library there is a manuscript written in Syriac containing a world chronicle in four parts, ending in 775 AD.  The shelfmark of the volume is Vatican Syriac manuscript number 162.  The manuscript contains 173 leaves or ‘folios’ in manuscript-speak, each with two sides, the front (‘recto’) and the reverse (‘verso’).  The manuscript […]
• James of Edessa, Chronicle now online
  I’ve placed online an English translation of the table of years and events in the Chronicle of the Syriac writer James of Edessa. This continues the table in the Chronicle of Eusebius of Caesarea from where that ends, in 325 AD, down to the early Islamic period ca. 700 AD. Naturally it focuses on eastern […]
• From my diary
  Driving in the sunshine can be very therapeutic.  I spent quite a bit of today doing this.  I’ve been wondering how to write a preface to the Chronicle of James of Edessa.  The steady beat of tyre on tarmac helped, and I’ve just written the first draft of the preface.  The problem is how to […]
• Where misty mountains rise and friendly fires burn
  How quickly the past vanishes.  A few memories came back to me this evening. Back in the 1980’s, I bought my first PC.  It was a plasticky Amstrad PC1640, with a hard drive on a card.  I bought it with a bank loan, and returned it very quickly for the screen was of poor quality […]
• Michael the Syrian quotes Theodosius of Edessa on James of Edessa
  I’m looking at Michael the Syrian, and in the first volume of the French translation, I find the following: Note by Theodosius of Edessa. — You should know that Eusebius, in the Chronography he wrote, began with Abraham the Canon of years and continued until the year 20 of Constantine. But James, of the city of […]
• More Origen and James of Edessa
  I’ve now finished skimming through James of Edessa, and straightening it out.  I did about half of it in the last couple of days, interestingly.  All those evenings in the hotel trying to do a page or two didn’t really achieve a lot. The first draft of Origen’s 13th Homily on Ezekiel has arrived.  With […]
• James of Edessa: update
  I’ve just typed the last line of the table of years and events in the Chronicle of James of Edessa, not without relief.  Now I need to go back and review it from the top, as I started it so long ago that there will be consistency errors.  Ideally I’ll add dates AD to it, […]
• Olympiads in the 6th century AD
  I’m still transcribing the Chronicle of James of Edessa, who wrote in the mid 7th century.  He starts with the reign of Constantine, continuing the Chronicle of Eusebius.  Naturally he has a new line for each new olympiad, just as Eusebius does. I’m typing in the table of years.  Tiberius II becomes Eastern Roman emperor; […]
• Updates on Origen, and Stephanos of Alexandria
  I’ve received a revised version of Origen’s 12th homily on Ezekiel, and paid for it, and apparently homily 13 is in an advanced state.  So very good news here. I need to review it and comment, which I will do in a day or so. Meanwhile my alchemical friends have transcribed the unpublished English translation […]
• 16 pages of James to go
  Still transcribing James of Edessa’s Chronicle.  Was 21, now 16.
• Back to James of Edessa
  I’ve gone back to my occasional task of transcribing the 7th century Chronicle of James of Edessa, to put it on the web.  This is a continuation of the Chronicle of Eusebius, and is important for early Islamic history.  It is in tabular form, which is why it isn’t already online.  Let me tell you, […]
• Quiet flows the don…
  I have in my hands the complete Greek of Eusebius.  The Syriac should be with me by next Monday.  But I can’t do anything with either, from pressure of domestic urgencies.  I don’t think I’ve had a single day without some kind of panic or disaster for a fortnight!  I hope to get back to […]
• GCS electronic texts for free download
  Stephen C. Carlson kindly points out here that some of the GCS Greek texts have been transcribed and are available for free download here.  I’ve translated the German: Starting with vol. 7 NF (= Daniel-Kommentar des Hippolyt)  a selection of reading texts from the editions in the GCS series is available for free download. Release of […]
• Is the Patrologia Graeca bed-time reading, and should it be?
  In a parallel universe where the sun always shines, the girls are all pretty, none of us grow sick or tiresome — and where I hold a prestigious and well-remunerated teaching post at a major university — one of the things I recommend to my better students is to buy or print copies of the Patrologia Graeca and […]
• Hippolytus “Commentary on Daniel”
  Tom Schmidt writes to say that he has started a translation of the Commentary on Daniel by Hippolytus, which he mentions here. Fragments of the work appear in the ANF collection, but a nearly complete Old Slavonic version exists (used by the Sources Chretiennes) and likewise a Greek version, which was published by GCS.  So this […]
• Reference for the claim that only 1% of ancient literature survives
  People sometimes make arguments from what our surviving collection of classical texts do NOT contain.  I tend to reply by pointing out that only 1% of classical texts survive, which makes such a procedure very risky.  This figure comes from a statement by N. G. Wilson on the Archimedes Palimpsest Project web page, although the […]
• Obscure material
  When I look at older editions and translations of the classics, or indeed the fathers, I am sometimes struck by the way in which the authors make use of curious and recondite sources such as scholiasts.  Never have I seen it explained, however, how they come to locate these.  Looking at 16th and 17th century editions, […]
• Demonax and the trolls, and other snippets from Lucian
  I was reading Lucian’s Life of Demonax here and came across this remark, which seemed eminently applicable to much online posting: He once saw two philosophers engaged in a very unedifying game of cross questions and crooked answers. ‘Gentlemen,’ said he, ‘here is one man milking a billy-goat, and another catching the proceeds in a […]
• What percentage of ancient literature survives: some data
  An interesting discussion is going on at CLASSICS-L at the moment. Jeffrey Gibson: How much pre-second century CE literature is lost to us — and how has this figure, whatever it may be, been determined? … Patrick T. Rourke: Even if you limit yourself to the plays produced at the Greater Dionysia during the productive […]
• List of CSEL volumes at Google Books
  Fr. Stefan Zara’s site used to contain a list of the volumes of the CSEL in Google Books.  Unfortunately it has just been shut down.   It was hosted by WordPress who understandably took exception to some of the material that he was sharing.  I think that some was copyright in the US if not in his […]
• Doubts about the discovery at Nag Hammadi, and some comments on papyrology
  Mark Goodacre has posted some comments on his blog by a couple of scholars casting doubt on how the Nag Hammadi codices were found.  I’ve added to his post a fairly long comment about some of the scholarly rivalries behind all this.  But you can read it there. It led to me recall my own […]
• Lying awake and thinking about Eusebius
  These days I seem to get insomnia the night before any journey. I wish I knew why. Anyway tonight I find myself thinking about the Tough questions on the gospels and their solutions by Eusebius of Caesarea.  I’ve had all the Greek fragments translated, even the ones which largely duplicate other fragments.  The question now […]
• Sisyphus and Wikipedia
  I’ve spent a few hours over the last week or two trying to clean up the Wikipedia article, and got it into some kind of shape.  It has taken but a few days for someone (anonymous!) to turn up and start reintroducing rubbish that I had removed.   I added a whole load of valuable data; […]
• Stephen of Alexandria’s fourth lecture on alchemy before the emperor Heraclius
  The philosopher Stephen (or Stephanos) of Alexandria delivered a series of lectures ca. 620 AD in Constantinople at the court of the emperor Heraclius.  These were concerned with alchemy, in the main. The fourth lecture begins: Of the same Stephanos on that which is in actuality the fourth lecture with the help of God Every […]
• Ever heard of the Cyranides?
  Did you know that there is an ancient Greek text called the Cyranides?  I certainly didn’t, until I saw a message in CLASSICS-L.  A good article in Wikipedia tells me that it is a 4th century AD compilation in four books of Hermetic magical/medical texts, amulets, etc.  An English translation exists of book 1.
• Ancient references to Montanism
  Daniel R. Jennings writes to say that he has compiled all the ancient references to Montanism in English into a single page.  This must be useful to everyone, I would have thought.  It’s at: http://danielrjennings.org/AncientReferencesToMontanism.html He adds: I have attempted to compile ancient and medieval references to Montanism (the 2nd-6th century heretical group) from patristic […]
• The Stapleton manuscripts in Oxford
  An email brings news of an interesting collection of papers in the Museum of Science in Oxford.  These are the papers of H.E.Stapleton, who was a contributor to Ambix, the scholarly journal of Alchemy, along with F. Sherwood Taylor who translated Stephen of Alexandria.  I’ve also been sent a catalogue of the manuscripts, which are […]
• Patrologia Graeca online
  Adrian Murdoch writes: I often find that these links get out of date pretty rapidly, so here is the latest one I have come across. The Ancient World Online links to the complete Patrologia Graeca in a pretty user-friendly downloadable pdf format. From the Library of Ruslan Khazarzar. The PDF’s are not just images, but […]
• On Martial’s flattery of Domitian
  For the last few days I have been reading the epigrams of Martial, in the two volume Loeb edition with parallel Latin and English.  Many of the epigrams throw a great deal of light on what it was like to live in ancient Rome.  Some are intentionally obscene, and done in order to sell more […]
• A bunch of manuscripts online from the Syrian Orthodox Monastery of St. Mark in Jerusalem
  All done by Brigham Young University, and are here.  At the moment I think there is a problem with some of the links, but this will be fixed. Most of the books are liturgical etc, but there is a Syriac New Testament, another containing Paul’s letters, a collection of Isaac of Scete and Cyriacus of […]
• Stephen of Alexandria
  At the court of the emperor Heraclius, the philosopher Stephen of Alexandria (or Stephanos of Alexandria) delivered a series of nine lectures on alchemical subjects.  Translations of three of these were published in early issues of Ambix, a scholarly journal dedicated to early chemistry, before WW2.  I found a first draft of a translation of […]
• Patristics carnival 28
  is here.
• From my diary
  I am continuing to revise the Wikipedia Mithras article.  I’ve added a whole load of material about the earliest archaeological remains, none of which can be securely dated earlier than 80 AD as far as I know.  There is quite a lot to be gleaned from books present in limited preview on Google books, and […]
• Anthon’s “Manual of Greek literature from the earliest authentic periods to the close of the Byzantine era”
  I have been reading this 1853 book by Charles Anthon, of which I obtained an off-print some time ago.  In fact I’ve been reading it from the back forwards, as I wanted to know about Greek writers of the Imperial and Byzantine periods.  Most of the book concerns the classical period, padded with a great deal […]
• Daily Mail article about extant speeches on the Catiline conspiracy
  Delightful to see Robert Harris in the Daily Mail drawing parallels between the corrupted politics of Westminister and the session of the Senate that dealt with the conspiracy of Catiline in 63 BC.  One part caught my eye: That debate … was a turning point in history. Three of the speeches made during it – by […]
• Revue de l’Orient Chretien online; list of Syriac-related articles and links
  There is a very useful list of links to the ROC, with details of the Syriac materials in them, here. The volumes are all at Archive.org in complete form, and the scanning was sponsored by Gorgias Press, who thereby deserve our gratitude.  I thought the list could usefully appear here also: Revue de l’Orient Chrétien Volume […]
• Eusebius, “Tough questions on the gospels” more or less done
  An email this morning tells me that the English translation of the Greek text of Eusebius of Caesarea’s Quaestiones ad Stephanum/Marinum and the catena fragments are all revised and pretty much done.  I expect the finished text tomorrow.  I must hurry up the Syriac reviser!  And then begins the task of getting the thing into […]
• Origen Homily 12 on Ezekiel
  The first draft of the English translation of Origen’s 12th Homily on Ezekiel has arrived!  I hope to read through it later today. I’ve been reading F.A.Paley’s collection of Greek witticisms, Greek Wit.  This was in two volumes, which later editions bound together, as the copy I have seems to be.  My first attempt to […]
• Nero’s revolving dining room
  A couple of weeks ago the story broke that archaeologists engaged in conservation work on the Palatine hill in Rome had discovered the remains of the rotating dining room built by Nero in his palace, and mentioned by Suetonius in his Lives of the Twelve Caesars  (Nero 31:2).  A few images from the web are […]
• Why do we allow Russia on the internet at all?
  Just come back after a couple of days away doing chores.  I find a bunch of Russian language spam comments on this blog.  I’ve had to put moderation on for any comments coming out of Russia or Ukraine; then they switch to spamming from free email addresses.  Frankly I’m sick of seeing them.  All they do is […]
• More on Eusebius on the Psalms
  I got curious as to what else might be found using Google books. about Eusebius of Caesarea’s Commentary on the Psalms.  Apparently Syriac fragments also exist, mentioned in Wright’s Catal. Syr. MSS. Brit. Mus. pp. 35 sq., 125.  A certain Robert Leo Odom, Sunday in Roman Paganism: A history of the planetary week and its “day […]
• A stray quotation from Eusebius, “Commentary on the Psalms”
  Quite by accident I came across some supposed quotations from the Commentary on the Psalms by Eusebius of Caesarea.   Since this work has never been critically edited, and never been translated into English, I thought it might be interesting to see what he has to say. This first link gives a reference: ” All things whatsoever […]
• Christian sympathy for sun worship in late antiquity
  While translating the 4th century attack on paganism by Firmicus Maternus, I was struck by the content of chapter eight, which begins as follows: If the sun gathered all humanity assembled together for him to address them, he would undoubtedly attack your despair by a discourse such as this:  “So who, weak mortals, revolting every […]
• Serious excitement – copies of British Library Arabic manuscripts for less than $1?
  In the NASCAS forum a poster mentioned: Speaking of manuscripts, friends, I wanted to let you know that the Bibliothica Alexandrina has the WHOLE Arabic collection of manuscripts held at the British Library. One can obtain a digital copy for only 5 (yes five) Egyptian Pounds, i.e., 90 US cents! Now this is very, very exciting news.  And I […]
• More on Firmicus Maternus
  I started translating Firmicus Maternus some months ago, in what feels like a different world. But it has sat on my desktop since, looking at me, and yesterday I did some more.  It was painless, so I will probably carry on. There is already a perfectly good English translation of this curious anti-pagan work from […]
• Working on Mithras on Wikipedia
  I’ve spent much of the afternoon working on the Wikipedia Mithras article again.  It may all be labour lost, if some stroppy so-and-so comes and reverts it all.  The challenge is to edit in such a manner that they won’t feel able to!
• Chrysostom on corrupt priests – part 2
  Two days ago I posted on a strong expression attributed to John Chrysostom: The road to hell is paved with the skulls of bishops. Commenters united to say that the ‘quote’ is bogus, and has long been known as such.  T.J. Buckton in Notes & Queries ser.1.V.117 (1852) p.92 (online here) writes as follows: Hell […]
• Back to normality
  Today I came to the end of a very pressured project.  Ah, the relief!  Mind you, it also means I have to find a new job, but not for a couple of weeks.  Isn’t it funny how we all have what we think of as our ‘real’ selves, and all this earning a living stuff […]
• Chrysostom on the fewness of those who will be saved
  An article at Virtueonline on a corrupt Episcopalian bishop included in the comments a quote ascribed to John Chrysostom, which is found in various forms around the web, but always without attribution.  The road to hell is paved with the skulls of bishops. The fullest form seems to be: The road to Hell is paved with the […]
• Anonymi Oeconomica?
  A copy of Paley’s Greek wit: a collection of smart sayings and anecdotes (second series) has reached me.  Most of the sayings are from Diogenes Laertius Lives of the Philosophers, with a leavening of Plutarch’s Lives.  But on pp.64-66 are three anecdotes from a work listed as Anonymi Oeconomica.  These are all about money. So […]
• Why miracles are less important than reason – an 11th century Nestorian comments
  Abu al-Faraj ibn al-Tayyib was an Iraqi Nestorian, philosopher, physician, monk and priest in the first half of the 11th century. He was a voluminous writer, who left behind him massive biblical commentaries on the Psalms and Gospels. In his collection of Arabic Christian treatises, Paul Sbath prints a short work on miracles and philosophy, which seems well worth […]
• Five 10th century Arabic Christian treatises now online
  Five 10th century Arabic Christian treatises originally published by Paul Sbath in “Vingt traités philosophiques et theologiques” (Cairo, 1929) are now online here: http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/index.htm#Twenty_theological_and_philosophical_treatises These new English translations are followed by a transcription of the Arabic. All are public domain; use them as you like. 15. Yahya ibn Adi – On the Truth of the […]
• A bunch of online Oriental books – Bibliothek Goussen
  An email from Jesus de Prado draws my attention to a new bunch of online books, which we all need to take a look at: Contents: http://s2w.hbz-nrw.de/ulbbn/nav/classification/16431 Misc books: http://s2w.hbz-nrw.de/ulbbn/nav/classification/135030 Arabic Christian: http://s2w.hbz-nrw.de/ulbbn/nav/classification/16475 Armenian: http://s2w.hbz-nrw.de/ulbbn/nav/classification/17269 Coptic: http://s2w.hbz-nrw.de/ulbbn/nav/classification/17261 Ethiopic: http://s2w.hbz-nrw.de/ulbbn/nav/classification/17268 Georgian: http://s2w.hbz-nrw.de/ulbbn/nav/classification/17270 Syriac: http://s2w.hbz-nrw.de/ulbbn/nav/classification/17267 Full coloured-image, quite high resolution reproductions with full bibliographical details.   Thank you!  […]
• Samuel al-Suryani
  While I was looking at the medieval Coptic history attributed to Abu Salih and in reality by Abu’l Makarim, I came across the publication of this work, complete, in four volumes by an Egyptian monk, Samuel al-Suryani.  I haven’t ever managed to set eyes on a copy.  Fr. Samuel went on to become a bishop, […]
• Chrysostom project dead
  Two-thirds of Chrysostom’s Oratio 2 against the Jews have never been translated into English.  The text was lost, and only recovered a decade ago.  I commissioned someone to translate it, but the sample was unsatisfactory.  I’ve had to cancel him, therefore.  I won’t proceed with this translation project now, as I am feeling rather over-committed […]
• More project news
  Origen’s 10th homily on Ezekiel (out of 14) is pretty much done, a bit of discussion aside. Better yet, I have received the Arabic transcription and English translation of three treatises from Sbath’s collection of Arabic Christian theological material.  These are #17, #18 and #19.  All look very good, and one at least will bear […]
• Cortez would have agreed
  The difficulty with attempting to sound sublime is the risk of sounding ridiculous: I believe that spending time living in another culture teaches you things that you can never learn in a classroom. Such as “what are they afraid of” and “where do they hide their gold”…
• State of the al-Makin project
  Back 1971 Shlomo Pines published a strange version of the so-called Testimonium Flavianum of Josephus, where Josephus mentions Christ.   This came from the 10th century Arabic Christian writer Agapius, whose history I have translated and placed online.  But in fact the sole manuscript of part 2 of Agapius, which refers to Josephus, does NOT contain […]
• So who is Theo of Smyrna? (or even Theon of Smyrna)
  Following on from my previous post on Mithras in Zenobius, who is this Theo of Smyrna who also mentions a list of the eight elements, probably from Persian sources?  All I have is an edition, ‘Hiller’ and “p. 104, 20”. There are times when Wikipedia is a useful summary of whatever there is online.  Theon of […]
• Zenobius on Mithras
  While working over the Wikipedia Mithras article, I found mention of syncretism with the Orphic deity Phanes.  It seems that we learn of this from inscriptions; but also that there is literary evidence of the syncretism of cialis Mithras and Phanes, in the proverbs of Zenobius.  The reference is: ”Proverbia” 5.78 (in  Corpus paroemiographorum Graecorum […]
• Burning the Arian books after Nicaea
  A very nice image has appeared on Wikipedia here, albeit with a daft title. “Drawing on vellum. From MS CLXV, Biblioteca Capitolare, Vercelli, a compendium of canon law produced in Northern Italy ca. 825.” Click on the image to get the full size image. Of course the people doing the burning at the bottom are […]
• Revising the Wikipedia Mithras article
  Last night I sat down and spent several hours working on the Mithras article on Wikipedia.  The effort is probably futile, but the article has been one of the worst on Wikipedia, and a constant source of misinformation online. My principle was to ensure that there was either a reference to a primary source, or […]
• Notes on progress
  Sorry about the lack of blogging:  I try to take one day at a time, but lately several days have ganged up and ambushed me. — Anon The sample of the translation of the lost portion of Chrysostom’s sermon 2 against the Jews has been reviewed.  It isn’t wildly satisfactory, and I need to consider […]
• Lots of progress
  It never rains but it pours.  Today, in my inbox I find: The first draft of the translation of Origen’s 10th Homily on Ezekiel. The sample chunk of the translation of the lost 60% of John Chrysostom’s Oratio 2 adversus Judaeos. Portion 15 of the translation of Sbath’s collection of Arabic theological and philosophical texts. […]
• History is not the property of any elite
  I happened to see these words by Jona Lendering, and although there is something in this, I feel that I need to disagree profoundly.  It seems that some people in the US consider that Obama is the anti-Christ, rather than merely yet another dodgy politician mouthing lies while emptying our pockets.  Biblioblogger Jim West posts […]
• Hunain ibn Ishaq – update
  I’ve had another delivery of the English translation of the short treatise by the 10th century Arabic Christian writer Hunain ibn Ishaq.  Hunain translated most of Galen and was a key figure in the passage of Greek literature into Arabic.  His treatise on true and false proofs of religion is now entirely translated into English, […]
• UK law to change on internet — in a small but beneficial direction?
  This article in the Register says: Defamation law currently states that someone has the right to sue every time defamatory material is published. This means that publishers could be liable many times over for the online publication of an article if a court agrees that the mere delivery of a web page to a reader […]
• Philosophers did not philosophize for free
  A young man was introduced to Aristippus, to become his pupil. “I shall expect ten pounds,” said the philosopher. “Ten pounds,” said the father; “why, I could buy a slave for that!” “Then buy one,” said Aristippus, “and you will have two slaves in your household.”  (Diogenes Laertius. ii. 8, 72.)
• Greek wit
  Few will be aware that a compilation of witty sayings from ancient Greek literature exists.  The volume, compiled by Frederick Paley, and entitled simply Greek Wit: a collection of smart sayings and anecdotes, went through at least two editions.  The second edition (1888) is here.
• The orator Scopelian and his trademark gestures
  The first century philosopher and rhetor Scopelian belonged to the Second Sophistic.  His life is recorded in the Lives of the Sophists by Philostratus (online to US readers here). His style when speaking was to gesture violently, strike his thigh, sway to and fro.  A pupil of his rival Polemo sneered that he acted as […]
• Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on John, vol. 2 now on Archive.org
  A customer for my CDROM of the Fathers wrote to ask if I had a PDF of vol. 2 of Cyril’s Commentary on John, since I had scanned it for my site.  Luckily for him I had the chance to look, and found the images first shot. I’ve now uploaded a searchable PDF of this volume […]
• Fragments of Eusebius in the Mingana collection
  PDF’s are such a blessing.  I’ve been looking at the PDF of volume 1 of the Mingana collection of Syriac manuscripts in Birmingham.  How quickly we take these for granted!  Once, just to consult such a volume, would have meant a day off work, a 60 mile journey, and being robbed blind for copies — […]
• Eusebius “Quaestiones” Syriac fragments all now translated
  Very pleased indeed to get the last fragment of Eusebius’ Tough questions on the gospels in English.  It has been incredibly hard to find people who (a) know enough Syriac to translate this and (b) will actually do it.  This translator is my fourth attempt!  I had to pay a premium price, and it does […]
• Isidore of Pelusium did not pirate Eusebius
  Somewhere I read that book 2, letter 212 of Isidore of Pelusium was an unacknowledged copy of part of Eusebius Ad Marinum.  This would make it valuable as a witness to the text of the latter.  But I sent the text to the translator today. He has just informed me that in fact it takes rather a […]
• Isidore of Pelusium on Romans 1:28-29
  1245 (IV.59) TO POLYCHRONIOS Since you ask me in your letter: For what reason was it that “God gave them over to an intelligence without judgement” [Rom. 1:28-29] ? I will answer: If you read the next bit, you will understand and you will have no more uncertainty. In fact it reads: “Filled with every […]
• Jona Lendering is holding a dagger under his myrtle-branch
  Or so I learn from this amusing post by him, announcing the availability of Plutarch On the control of anger on Bill Thayer’s site.  It’s great to see so much Plutarch becoming available, of course.  And giving a classical dress to our frustrations is what an Athenian would do. Here in the UK, the corrupt […]
• Symmachus, letter to Ausonius, now online
  Some of the really late pagans are quite interesting people.  There’s Libanius, being an orator in the days of Julian the Apostate and lingering on for years afterwards.  Then there is Symmachus in Rome, vainly trying to keep official paganism alive while editing the works of Livy. The Ausonius blog run by Gavin Kelly now […]
• Birmingham Special Collections goes over to the Dark Side (a bit)
  Drat.  The Mingana library in Birmingham have had a mental breakdown of some kind.  They used to sell colour digital images of sub-publication standard for 1GBP (about $1.50) a go.  These were really very good for research purposes, although of course a journal publication would need better quality. I asked them about copies of the Combefis […]
• The Combefis publication containing a Eusebius fragment
  I got quite cross on my Oxford visit during August, because although I located a volume of excerpts, with a fragment of Eusebius, I was unable to obtain a reproduction thanks to the greed of Bodleian staff.  A price of 29p for a black-and-white photo is not bad; but a price of £3.87 per greyscale (just a […]
• Andrew of Caesarea, Commentary on Revelation online
  The tendency of PhD theses to appear online is something we must welcome.  One consequence is that we can sometimes find treasures.  One of these is a thesis by Eugenia Constantinou, containing a detailed study of the Commentary on Revelation by the 6th century author Andrew of Caesarea (in Cappadocia).  Studies, of course, are two […]
• Patristic witnesses to speaking in tongues
  I’ve had an email from Charles Sullivan, another patristic enthusiast, who has dedicated the last 20 years to going through Migne and locating every possible reference in the fathers to speaking in tongues.  He’s been translating them, and intends to publish A history of the gift of tongues, once he’s worked over all the texts. It […]
• A missing manuscript
  Another interesting post at Antiochepedia is worth repeating entirely: The pool of original sources on Antioch is shallow to say the least. By a very roundabout hunt (for something else) I stumbled upon an 1866 article in a French journal (Bibliothèque de l’École des chartes) in which Leopold Delisle discusses a collection of manuscripts that […]
• Antiochepedia
  I have several times referred to the excellent Antiochepedia blog, which post by post is exploring all that we know of that ancient city, which rivalled Alexandria and in which Christianity was established by the apostles.  To my astonishment it seems that I have never added a link to the sidebar, for there is none. […]
• Typesetting and other evils
  Sooner or later I’m going to receive the final versions of the translations that I have commissioned of Eusebius Quaestiones and Origen’s Homilies on Ezekiel.  I want to sell some copies of these to libraries.  Firstly, that will get them into the hands of the academic constituency, who still turn their noses up at online […]
• British Library FoI: how much do they make from reproduction of mss images?
  I’m still trying to find out just how much money the British Library make from charging for the reproduction of manuscript items online. I raised an FoI request here, and got an answer for all items (not manuscripts alone).  Click the tag “British Library” to see all the posts on this. I note that the […]
• C.H.Turner on Origen’s Commentary on 1 Corinthians
  Editions of the fragments of Origen’s commentaries on Ephesians and 1 Corinthians were published from the catenas in early issues of the Journal of Theological Studies.  Unfortunately the editors chose not to include translations, thereby guaranteeing oblivion to their work. In JTS 10 C. H. Turner commented on some of the newly published texts: Certain […]
• Origen on 1 Corinthians
  My attention has been drawn to the remains of Origen’s Homilies on 1 Corinthians.  These are not in Migne, but appear in a number of volumes in the Journal of Theological Studies.  Manuel Crespo has kindly pointed out to me that there are a total of five articles published by Jenkins in the JTS, plus […]
• John Damascene: “On the Orthodox Faith”
  Juvenaly has written to tell me that he is producing a revised and improved version of John Damascene’s work “On the orthodox faith.”  About half of the work has been revised so far.  It can be found here.  In the past he has been working on revising the dreadful English version of Cyril of Alexandria’s […]
• Is this the title page of Abu’l Makarem?
  Sometimes it is a pain not knowing Arabic, and this is one of those times.  Below is a page from a PDF which has reached me, containing a file named “abu.makarim_tarikh.i.pdf”.  The book is entirely in Arabic, in a directory labelled “Christian Arabic”, and has a picture of a Coptic bishop at the front.  It […]
• Coptic pilgrimage in BBC2 “The Frankincense Trail” programme
  Quite by accident I see that a visit to a Coptic monastery at pilgrimage time features in a BBC programme, “The Frankincense trail.”  Presented by Kate Humble, episode 3 includes scenes of wild enthusiasm to the point of blows being exchanged as thousands of Coptics attend the ceremony.  It’s very cheering stuff to watch.  The rest […]
• The authority of the early Christian writers today
  A note in the Patristics Carnival 27 pointed me to an article online written by David Cloud, discussing whether the Fathers are a door to Rome.   Looking at the article, we quickly see that it is written in response to a particular situation, where US Christian writers have suggested that: “The early Fathers can bring us […]
• Another homily of Origen on Ezekiel
  The draft of the 9th homily on Ezekiel by Origen has arrived from the translator, and is excellent, with little to do on it.  This homily also could probably be preached today, just as it is. The homilies give us a picture of Origen the preacher, a humble, learned man, eager to help explain the difficult […]
• More people translating the Fathers
  Maureen has left a note to tell me of another site where bits of the fathers are being translated.  It’s here.  The author is John Litteral, who appears to be translating extracts from ancient biblical commentaries.  If so, this is very welcome!  I’ve not managed to find my way around the site yet to be […]
• More from Eutychius
  Heraclius has conquered the Persians, and they have killed their king Qavad and are also suffering an outbreak of cholera.  Now read on.  Dates in [] are the era of Diocletian. [276] After him many kings reigned – men and women – until the reign of Yezdegerd, the son of Kesra (A)Brawez, who began to […]
• Patristics Carnival 27 is here
  Get it from here.
• Finding books at Archive.org
  I’ve just discovered a way to find a lot of interesting things at Archive.org.  In the search try things like this: creator:”photius” — which gives this. creator:”theodoret”  — which gives this. creator:”Eusebius, of Caesarea, Bishop of Caesarea, ca. 260-ca. 340″ — which gives this. Loads of copies of works, albeit not always clearly identified, often […]
• Some entries from the annals of Euthyius of Alexandria
  [ 273 ] In the 11th year of the reign of Heraclius died the Prophet (Mohammad), so-called, on Monday, when two nights of the month of Rabi` I. had passed, in the eleventh year of the Higra. He was buried in the house where he had died. This was the house of `Aisha. His illness […]
• Origen updates, and more
  Just to let you know that Homily on Ezechiel 7 has been done and paid for. I’ve also seen the draft of homily 8, which will be done soon I think.  The “Tammuz” fragment has been revised and is paid for also.  So some very good progress. The chap who agreed to translate the recently […]
• New NIV to be released in 2011
  The New International Version of the bible is pretty much the standard translation used by more Christians than any other, although probably still less than 50%.  The standing of the translation was badly damaged by an attempt to produce a version revised in accordance with political correctness.  Known as the TNIV, this version caused immense offence.  […]
• Fragments of Eusebius in a Coptic catena
  I’ve mentioned before that the Coptic catena on the gospels in the Bohairic dialect published by Delagarde contains fragments attributed to Eusebius. Six months ago I commissioned a translation of these into English.  The lady who agreed to do it refused payment, indicating that they would be done as part of a small group teaching exercise.  Unfortunately […]
• How big is my Migne?
  If I’m going to get the Selecta in Ezechielem of Origen translated from the Migne edition (PG13), I need to work out a price.  I’ve already agreed a price per page of the Sources Chrétiennes text; how does this relate to a column of Migne? It turns out that a full column of Migne is […]
• Origen’s “Selecta” and Tammuz
  The Origen project translator has kindly translated the bit from the Selecta in Ezechielem about Tammuz: On Ezek. 8.14 Mourning for Tammuz. It is said that the one called Adonis among the Greeks is named Tammuz among the Hebrews and Syrians. So then, in terms of the literal reading, the women were seen sitting “on […]
• More on the “Selecta” of Origen in the Migne edition
  I’ve been looking around for more information on these mysterious chunks of Greek, found in PG 12 and PG13.  Migne is really very vague about the origins of this material, and it isn’t even mentioned in Quasten.  However at the start of PG 12, where the biblical materials of Origen begin, there is a praefatio […]
• Origen, Selecta in Ezechielem
  The translation of Origen’s Homilies on Ezekiel is proceeding well.  But the Migne edition (PG 13) also contains Greek fragments, labelled Selecta in Ezechielem.  The question has arisen as to what to do about these; to translate, or not? A google search revealed that this is mentioned in E. A. de Boer, John Calvin on […]
• Origen on Ezekiel homily 7
  I’m just reading through the draft translation of this homily that I’ve been sent.  It is full of good stuff.  Indeed it could probably be preached today with advantage.  The sermons of Origen are highly accessible; indeed it is extraordinary that they have not been translated before now. It looks to me as if sermon […]
• I would like to go to bed tonight…
  … but clearly everyone is busy, and just as I think I’ve done another email arrives!  I’ve just had delivery of the first draft of the English translation of Origen’s Homily 7 on Ezechiel.  Great news, actually, and I am really looking forward to letting everyone loose on that.  And that arrived just as I […]
• Nabateans in Saudi Arabia
  This post (via here) reminds us of the existence of Nabatean ruins very much like Petra in the remote north of Saudi Arabia, at Meda`in Saleh.  Once no tourists were allowed; but these days you can take an organised tour (only) to Saudi.  At least in theory; I’ve just spent 10 minutes trying to find […]
• Another Classical Armenian history goes online
  Robert Bedrosian writes to let us know that another history in classical Armenian has now gone online in English: This is to let you know that a 10th century History of Armenia written by  Yovhannes [John] Drasxanakert’c’i, Catholicos of the Armenian Church  (898-929) is now online in English translation. http://rbedrosian.com/YD/yd.html The translation and study was […]
• Update on Chrysostom Project
  I’ve readvertised that I want to hire someone who will translate the recently rediscovered 60% of Chrysostom’s Oratio II adversus Judaeos into English.  This time I tried CLASSICS-L and got quite a bit of interest. Three people responded, one of whom can’t be available for 3 months, and I was forwarded to someone else who […]
• More on Eutychius
  I’ve now worked out why the Italian translation is so much longer than the critical edition and translation.  It seems that Louis Cheikho published the text in 1906, and the Italian translation was made from that.  At any rate, it doesn’t mention the 1985 CSCO 471-2 edition.  The editor of this new text, Michael Breydy, […]
• Deviations in my copies of the Annals of Eutychius (ca. 900)
  I’ve started to look at the second big Arabic Christian history, the Annals of Eutychius, or Sa`id ibn Bitriq as he was known to taxi-drivers.  I have the CSCO edition and translation here, and also an Italian translation.  The thing is, the Italian translation is a lot bigger than the German one.  For the section […]
• No Eustathius at the BN in Naples
  I’ve today had an email from the Biblioteca Nazionale in Naples.  As far as they can tell, they do not have any manuscripts of Eustathius of Antioch.  The last ever copy of Eusebius Gospel Questions and Solutions was attached to the back of a Sicilian manuscript in the 16th century, and I wondered if it […]
• Sbath project – sample of Hunain gets the raspberry
  An unexpected problem; the sample of a translation of Hunain ibn Ishaq has got the raspberry from the person I sent it to for checking.  “Make sure the person you use has a solid training in classical Arabic”, I am admonished.  Actually I think the translator has.  Have sent the comments to the translator, and […]
• Hunain ibn Ishaq translation now underway
  I’ve found a translator and commissioned a translation of the work of Hunain ibn Ishaq, the 10th century Christian translator of scientific works who worked for the Abbassid caliphs, plus a commentary on it by a Coptic author.  The two make up 20 pages in Paul Sbath’s Vingt traites, although for the Hunain work there […]
• If a scribe has two copies of a text in different bookhands, which will he copy?
  At the renaissance there was an explosion of copies of manuscripts.  These thick neat manuscripts will be familiar to all who have handled manuscripts at all, and are found everywhere.  Fifteenth century copies are commonplace. I’ve just been reading Emil Kroymann’s study of the transmission of the text of Tertullian in Italy, and the role played […]
• Another untranslated bit of Greek – Philip of Side
  I’m still turning photocopies into PDF’s, and in the process finding projects I’d forgotten about.  I’ve found a couple of articles on the fragments of the 4th century Ecclesiastical History of Philip of Side, preserved in the Bodleian manuscript Barrocianus 142 (itself a mish-mash of historical excerpts).  No-one has ever translated the fragments into English. I wish […]
• Chrysostom is better in Syriac than in Greek! And what about the Arabs?
  If you look at the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers collection, you will see a large number of sermons on books of the bible by John Chrysostom.  The NPNF series was a pirate edition; it reprints the Oxford Movement translations, minus their notes, edited by Charles Marriot in the 1840’s and 50’s.  You have to be […]
• If you employed a translator, what conditions would you impose?
  One of the possible translators I’ve been swapping emails with has balked a bit at some of my terms and conditions.  No, not the ones specifying the transfer of his immortal soul and 10cc of blood; most academic contracts contain such terms these days, or so I gather.  No, it’s the ones about how the […]
• PDF files of New LXX translation online
  Rather to my surprise, the new English translation of the LXX is online here: http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/nets/edition/
• How I met the archbishop
  On check-in to the Oxford Patristics Conference in 2007 all attendees were given distinctive plastic bags to carry all the literature in.  As a result, here and there in the streets of Oxford delegates were visible at some distance by the bag.  This led to awkward situations, where you would suddenly realise that the person […]
• New archaeology at Caistor St Edmund
  After yesterday’s photograph, I happened to see today on the TV that new archaeological digging is to begin at Caistor St Edmund.  The Norfolk Archaeological Trust own the site and have a website with some (not very useful) information on it. After WW1, when former war pilots were at a loose-end, many of them turned to other […]
• Undoubtedly the funniest reason to refuse work I ever saw
  Well the project to translate the untranslated passage of Chrysostom’s Adversus Judaeos has collapsed; and for such a curious reason!  The translator who offered himself turns out to be politically correct.  My experiences with Lebanese translators who expect to be paid for writing gibberish “translations” has led me, invariably, to ask to see a sample […]
• Caistor St Edmund (Venta Icenorum) from the A140
  To Norwich, to saunter in the sunshine and the humidity.  One pleasure of approaching the city from the south, up the A140, is the sudden view across the valley to the right.  There to the east in the distance is a rectangular field bordered by what look very like ramparts.  (Click on the image above […]
• Untranslated portion of Chrysostom vs Jews – translator found
  Further to this post, a Chrysostom scholar has written to me and expressed interest in having a go at translating this “lost” portion of Oratio 2 against the Jews by John Chrysostom.  I’ve offered my usual terms, and he’s going to look at the Pradels text and (German) translation and see what he thinks. My […]
• If you could take 6 months off, what would you do?
  We’re all getting older, and earning a living is what we tend to do.  Every week much the same as the rest, often doing things we don’t especially like or dislike, month after month, year after year… and suddenly we’re old, tired, ready to retire, and wondering why “life” was something that happened to someone […]
• From my diary
  To Cambridge, to obtain a photocopy of Sbath’s Vingt traites.  The copiers double as scanners, and I tried to scan rather than photocopy but they defeated me.  Various puzzled-looking people were trying to work out how to charge their cards for the photocopier.  So I now have a pile of photocopies, and a PDF of […]
• The lost part of John Chrysostom’s second sermon against the Jews
  Another forgotten paper has emerged from my pile during scanning of articles, and reminds me that I need a translator; someone who can handle Chrysostom. John Chrysostom preached eight sermons against the Jews during his time at Antioch.  The second of these is markedly shorter than the others; about 30% of the size.  This led […]
• Thinking about Sbath’s “twenty philosophical and theological treatises”
  A few weeks ago I had a gentleman write to me offering his services to translate some Arabic stuff, for money.  His CV on the face of it seemed good, and I was wondering  what I could offer him to do. So I enquired in the North American Society for Arabic Christian Studies group whether anyone […]
• Eusebius, Eclogae Propheticae – Gaisford edition now online
  I’m still going through piles of photocopies, turning them into PDF’s and throwing the paper copies out.  Occasionally I’m finding treasures.  I had forgotten that I paid the rare books room at Cambridge University Library 16.51 GBP — about $25 — to make a copy of the latest (1842!) edition of Eusebius of Caesarea’s Eclogae […]
• An old sick man defends himself and gets five years – an interview with Tony Martin
  It has been ten years since an old man named Tony Martin awoke in his remote Norfolk farmhouse and realised that a gang of professional thieves were breaking into his farmhouse.  Old, sick, alone but valiant, Martin reached for his only weapon, an old shotgun, and discharged it at the thieves.  By pure luck he injured […]
• A couple more letters by Isidore of Pelusium
  Explanations of biblical passages form quite a portion of the letters. 1243 (IV.48) TO AMMONIUS For fear of presumption,  a terrible ill from which one can escape with difficulty, lest we remain on earth and be deprived of the heavenly rewards, the Lord said:  “Now let us leave this place!” [John 14:31]  Indeed, having engaged His […]
• A bit more on the Zosimus affair
  Isidore of Pelusium writes to his friend Harpocras about the gang of corrupt clergy in Pelusium: 1285 (V.48) TO HARPOCRAS THE SOPHIST. Undoubtedly it is to better endure insults in silence, like a philosopher, but your attitude is not without elegance either.  Indeed, as a victim of individuals known for their perversity, I mean Zosimus, Maron, Eustathios and Martinianos, you […]
• Another letter to Zosimus from Isidore of Pelusium
  Yesterday I gave translations of two letters from Isidore to the corrupt priest Zosimus.  Here is another, although the context is unclear.  But it seems that once again Isidore is attempting to reason away the excuses offered by a man who just doesn’t give a damn.  It would be nice to know just why Isidore […]
• French National Library to work with Google books
  This story here.  Apparently the BNF have realised the futility of trying to build a rival system, and good for them.  This can only be good news for access to French language books, which the BNF has already had a good go at digitising. Mind you, what it will mean is that lots of people […]
• Ancient authors who give explicit dates of composition in their works
  Someone asked me, naively, why ancient authors didn’t indicate when they were writing.  Of course modern authors don’t tend to embed their names and date of completion in their works either, but this led me to wonder just how many ancient works DO indicate when they were written, in an explicit manner?  Comments welcome!
• A gay clergyman in Pelusium
  Some problems are always with us. It is always hard to believe that someone is a deliberate villain, even when all the evidence points that way. Isidore of Pelusium was neither the first nor the last to encounter one; nor the last spiritual counsellor to discover that he was dealing with a rogue. 1228 (V.12) TO […]
• Look again at Google Books; you will find more than you did last time
  On this hot summer’s day, I was idly searching in Google books for “library of the fathers” review “cyril of alexandria”, as I have done before in the hope of finding the review which caused Phillip Pusey to abandon work on the translation of the Commentary on John after only publishing one volume. To my […]
• Knowledge of the fathers before the ANF series began
  In the US version of Google books, I have come across a review of one of the volumes of the Ante-Nicene Fathers, in its original form of the Ante-Nicene Christian Library here.  Claiming or allowing others to believe that one has learning one does not seems to be something of a vice among scholars.  So […]
• Review of James Hannam’s “God’s philosophers”
  I’ve now written a review of James Hannam’s book God’s philosophers: how the medieval world laid the foundations of modern science, and it’s available here.  The book is very useful and should help to correct many misunderstandings.  I suspect it would film well, and wouldn’t be surprised if some form of TV programme comes out […]
• Update on Eusebius
  Two more fragments of Eusebius’ work on the gospels have come into today, which is great news!  These two are translated from the Coptic.
• British Library don’t know what “manuscript” means?
  From the BL, a request for clarification of my FoI query, “how many images of manuscripts did you license for online use last year?” How did I define ‘manuscript’, they asked?  I responded as courteously as possible by referring them to their own catalogue of manuscripts.  I suspect that I am dealing with a department that doesn’t […]
• Russian site with loads of original language Greek patristic texts
  I’ve just discovered this link: http://patrologia.narod.ru/ It includes masses of Greek, including Adamantius; plus the Syriac New Testament, and much else. Thanks to Evangelical Textual Criticism for this one.
• Adamantius, De recta in deum fide
  One stray ante-Nicene work that never appeared in the Ante-Nicene Fathers collection is a dialogue On the true faith in God attributed in the manuscripts to an otherwise unknown Adamantius.  Of course Origen was known as Adamantius also, but the author of this work holds anti-Origenist views.  The work consists of a dialogue in two […]
• Placing stuff online – how much the British Library make from charging people for this
  My Freedom of Information request to the British Library got a reply a couple of days ago.  I asked: I note that the BL charges a fee to websites that use digital images of pages from manuscripts from the BL collection. Please would you let me know, for each of the past 5 years (either […]
• Medieval library catalogues
  One of the most interesting books to delve into, if you have a little Latin, is Gustav Becker’s Catalogi bibliothecarum antiqui.  This was published in 1885 and consists of reprints of all the catalogues of medieval abbeys.  Books were treasures in medieval abbeys, which could be pawned for cash, and inventories were therefore taken of […]
• Cicero and Caesar in Macrobius
  Servilia was Caesar’s mistress, but he was also thought to be seeing her daughter Tertia (lit. “third”). At the sales of property confiscated during the proscriptions, Servilia bought a lot of property very cheaply. Cicero said, “You’ll understand better the good price that Servilia got, if you know that Caesar was knocking off a third”. […]
• From my diary
  I have now finished reading James Hannam’s God’s Philosophers and written the first draft review.  I think that I will let it simmer for a while.   I remember writing a review of Stephen Carlson’s book on “Secret Mark” and inadvertantly expressing myself in a way that sounded much more negative than I intended.  Let’s avoid […]
• Cyril of Alexandria – commentaries on Paul’s letters
  Ben Blackwell is thinking about translating the commentaries of Cyril of Alexander on Romans and the other letters, as part of a post-doctoral project.  Doing so could only benefit everyone.  He discusses how he is going about it, and (excitingly) how the online TLG now has parsing information (if you can access it!)  Computer-based resources must […]
• The dissolution of Evesham abbey
  “The sufferings of history, for example, are dulled by repetition and time, but personal accounts bring such events to life. The Dissolution of the Monasteries has become to many yet another ‘statistic’ to be absorbed in a study of a larger-than-life Henry VIII, yet it was an agonising period for the men who devoted their […]
• From my diary
  Still reading God’s philosophers.  The work is written from the point of view of the history of science, not the history of culture or literature; and the renaissance, which is such a milestone in the latter, is barely visible.  In this book, the continuity is much more important than the differences.  That’s a rather different […]
• Notes from the 39th century on the perils of partial evidence
  Some may know that I occasionally receive scholarly papers from the 39th century.  Unfortunately it is impossible for me to reply, and consequently I see some curious errors made about 20th century America because of the limited survival of evidence to that period. Scholars at that period write in a stylised and archaic form of English, […]
• First impressions of Hannam’s “God’s philosophers”
  A dull grey day, and the postman brings an envelope containing a review copy of James Hannam’s God’s philosophers: how the medieval world laid the foundations of modern science.  Drat my luck.  I open the envelope and a big lump of paper, over 400 pages, almost nine inches tall and an inch thick hits the […]
• The signs of ruin in the Theodosian Code and Novels
  For why has the spring renounced its accustomed charm? Why has the summer, barren of its harvest, deprived the laboring farmer of his hope of a grain harvest? Why has the intemperate ferocity of winter with its piercing cold doomed the fertility of the lands with the disaster of sterility? — Theodosian Novels, title 3, […]
• Severus Sebokht and “Arabic” numbers
  A bunch of Syriac works on scientific subjects are preserved in a single manuscript in the BNF in Paris.  Most are by Severus Sebokht, the 6th century monk and bishop at the monastery of Kinnesrin, where Greek studies thrived. I have a microfilm of this manuscript, and it contains a number of letters by Severus.  […]
• The destruction of the apocryphal Acts of John
  Burning books with which one disagrees is such fun!  At least, we might infer this, from the universality of the practice in all ages, including our own.   A discussion on this subject elsewhere raised the question of the apocryphal Acts of John, and caused me to read the relevant sections in volume 2 of Schneemelcher’s […]
• Indexes of ROC now online
  The volume of indexes of the Revue de l’Orient Chrétien has now appeared online here.  Thanks to Albocicade for the tip.
• Nominate Mingana manuscripts for digitisation
  Peter Robinson of the Virtual Manuscripts Room at Birmingham has responded here to a post of mine, bewailing the emphasis on Islamic manuscripts so far, with a very interesting response: We are aware that the only way to satisfy everyone is, simply, to digitize everything. The project was by way of an experiment, to learn about […]
• From my diary – Cambridge
  Sunshine this morning, so I clambered into my car and drove up the A14 to Cambridge.  Only one broken down lorry at Sproughton to delay traffic – police coned off one lane, causing tailbacks.  More noticeable is the atrocious state of the roads, worn threadbare and rutted with lack of maintenance.  I drive on past […]
• Digest of Roman Law online in English; and Hadrian on castrating your slaves
  I’d like to highlight that an out-of-copyright translation of the Pandects, otherwise known as the Digest of Roman Law by Justinian, is actually online here as part of the Corpus Juris Civilis, under the  misleading title of “The Civil Law”.  Few people seem to know about this. I thought that I would look at the […]
• Roman attitudes to magic
  There were three sets of Roman legislation relating to magic.[1]  There was an edict in the Twelve Tables (ca. 451 BC); the laws of Sulla (81 BC); and the legislation of Constantine and other Christian emperors (after 312 AD). Table VIII.9 made it a crime to move crops from someone else’s field to one’s own […]
• Norwich and the Roman world
  I went to Norwich today, since the weather was so fine.  The city itself is well worth a visit, with the remains of the medieval walls, a bustling market and the massive Norman keep on the hill overlooking the city.  And my goodness weren’t there a lot of pretty girls out in the streets! Just […]
• Translating from Arabic into Latin in Medieval Spain
  A really important blog post at Quodlibeta on a very neglected subject: how did Arabic scientific knowledge get into circulation in Latin in the Middle Ages?  Read it for yourself.  I have asked for a bibliography, as I certainly want to know more! Readers of this blog will recall my posts on Galen and Hunain […]
• The anathemas against Origen at the 2nd Council of Constantinople
  I’m going through my filing cabinet, turning photocopies into PDF’s and throwing away the paper.  While doing so, I’m coming across all sorts of things that I haven’t seen for years.  One of these is some pages of Norman Tanner’s edition of the Decrees of the ecumenical councils (1990).  This is the sort of thing […]
• More books in and about Syriac online at BYU
  Kristian Heal has announced 35 additions to the Syriac books online here.  Nothing wildly exciting, but all very useful, solid stuff!
• Some answers on the confusing History of Abu al-Makarim / Abu Salih
  I’ve now read the article by Ugo Zanetti, “Abu-l Makarim et Abu Salih”, Bulletin de la societe d’archeologie copte 34 (1995), pp.85-138, which seems pretty thorough on all the confusing information around.  Rather than leave my questions hanging, I thought I would answer it myself for the benefit of those reading and not as obsessed […]
• From my diary – my trip to Oxford
  Up before 7:00 and on the road at 7:15.  Very hot and humid here, and I was glad of the air-conditioning in the car.  A good trip down to London in the rush hour.  When I am on the way to Oxford, and get onto the M40 out of London, it always feels as if […]
• Naked greed at the Bodleian: the August 2009 Bloodsucker award
  I’m in Oxford, and have just been to Duke Humphrey’s library at the Bodleian to examine the 1648 volume of Combefis containing a fragment of Eusebius’ Quaestiones.  The reference I have is good, the book is a folio printed text, and I need copies of half a dozen pages. But I’ve come away without any.  […]
• Bodleian catalogue of Greek manuscripts now online
  At Google Books, here.  This is the Coxe catalogue.  Might make interesting reading!
• Housekeeping journal articles; from my diary 2
  It’s hot and humid here; so much so, that I can’t think straight.  So I’ve been looking at the piles of photocopied articles and running them through my scanner and throwing away the photocopy.  That’s a mindless activity I can do. Not sure I’m quite there yet, tho.  The PDF’s are OK, but they aren’t […]
• Eusebius “Quaestiones” in Isidore of Pelusium
  The Differences in the Gospels and their Solutions by Eusebius of Caesarea is quoted all over the place.  One stray quotation appears in the letters of Isidore of Pelusium.  In the Migne edition this is book 2, letter 212, (PG 78, col. 651).  This letter consists entirely of a quotation from the Quaestiones Ad Marinum; […]
• A better collection of all the fragments of Papias now online in English
  Tom Schmidt has had a real go at getting all the pieces of Papias together, including all the Greek, Latin, Armenian and Arabic pieces, and getting people to make translations.  The whole lot is here.  His notes  by each fragment are also very useful, particularly in the case of the more obscure fragments.  I think […]
• A dull post on a catena published by Combefis
  One of the problems for the Eusebius project is the quantity of materials of this work preserved in catenas.  Claudio Zamagni, in his excellent thesis, listed quite a few.  I’ve tried to track these down, but one has defeated me.  It was edited by F. Combefis, and on p.200 of Z’s thesis is listed so: […]
• Dionysius Bar Salibi’s “Commentary on the Gospels”, Papias and Eusebius
  The massive commentary on the Gospels of the 13th century Syriac writer Dionysius Bar Salibi has never been translated into English.  But at one point it looked as if it might be.  An Irish scholar named Dudley Loftus made use of a manuscript in Trinity College, Dublin, and made a Latin translation of the whole […]
• More on remacle.org
  The excellent Marc Szwajcer of remacle.org has left a note on this blog here, to which I have responded by email.  I have already highlighted this massive French site of classical, patristric and Syriac texts in translation.  It seems that Marc is also translating material himself, and uploading it, which is wonderful.
• From my diary
  I’m off to Oxford on Thursday.  I shall make a day trip of it, and if the sun shines it will be very pleasant.  Getting to Oxford is not as easy as it might be.  It is unlikely to cost less than 40 GBP in petrol. The Oxford City Council will meanly charge me another 20 GBP to park […]
• Update on Origen Project
  I have today received the draft of an English translation of the 6th homily of Origen on Ezechiel.  The first 5 are now complete.  There are 14 in all, so we’re making very good progress.
• Copts in literature from ancient times to the present
  Christianity came early to Egypt. The distance from Jerusalem is not great, and the substantial Jewish community in Alexandria must have provided fertile ground for early missionaries. But for the first couple of centuries there is relatively little literary material, even though the discoveries of papyri at Oxyrhynchus indicate the presence of Christians. Clement of […]
• Selling patristics books
  It’s easy to buy books; never easier, in fact.  But selling them?  That’s hard work.  There’s a bookshop in Oxford that specialises in patristics, St. Philips Books.  Quite willing to go over there and offer them the 40-odd books that I have and want off the floor.  Trouble is, you email them and get a […]
• English translation of the Coptic history of Al-Makarim?
  The medieval coptic history attributed to Abu Salih by the first editor, B.T.A. Evetts, was published in a complete form by Bishop Samuel al-Suriani in Egypt, in five parts and two volumes.  I learn today that he may also have completed an English translation, available from the St. Shenouda Center in the USA.  Their bookstore […]
• Ve hav vays of making you NOT talk
  The German government presses ahead with internet censorship.   The pretext originally was to stop child pornography; now the controls are in place, the mask is dropped and large-scale censorship is envisaged.  This report from SlashDot.org: “It’s only been a few weeks since the law dubbed Zugangserschwerungsgesetz (access impediment law) was passed in the German Parliament […]
• How the Moslems handled the defeated Franks
  Dioscorus Boles has translated from Arabic into English a hitherto unpublished passage in ‘Abu Salih’ (actually the Coptic writer, Abu’l Makarem) which deals with the plight of the defeated ordinary crusaders in Egypt after the failure of the Second Crusade.  It’s here, in the comments on a post on Michael the Syrian which turned into a […]
• More on Greek translator
  One advantage of translating that fragment from Euthymius Zigabenus a couple of days ago is that it made me look again at my Greek->English translator.  It doesn’t give you a good “translation”; but it did give the tools for any Latinist to get the idea.  So I’m resuming work on it for a bit.  Let’s […]
• Euthymius Zigabenus and the Pericope Adulterae
  A comment on this blog led me to wonder who Euthymius Zigabenus was, and then to write a Wikipedia article on him.   He was a 12th century Byzantine monk and commentator on scripture. In the process I came across this article by Daniel B. Wallace, My favorite passage that’s not in the bible.  Wallace’s argument for removing […]
• A Coptic fragment of Eusebius
  Wanted: people who know Coptic and would like 10c a word to translate it!  There are quite a few fragments of Eusebius in the coptic catena of De Lagarde, and I’d like to get them all translated into English.  A friend has just completed the second one — which was 134 words long.  But there’s […]
• Manuel Paleologus, Dialogue with a Learned Persian, uploaded
  For some months I’ve been translating the work that got Pope Benedict into so much trouble a year or two back; Dialogue 7 of the Dialogues with a Learned Moslem by Manuel II Paleologus.  It’s been hard going, because I have found the arguments really tedious.  I’ve now accepted that I will never manage to […]
• Papias on Judas Iscariot, as reported by Apollinaris of Laodicea
  Few will be aware that there is a passage in Cramer’s catena ascribed to Apollinaris of Laodicea which quotes from the fourth book of Papias on the fate of Judas.  Indeed there are two passages; one from the catena on Matthew (on ch. 27), and another from the catena on Acts (on ch. 1), although […]
• Michael the Syrian, vol. 3 of the French translation now online
  It’s here: http://www.archive.org/details/MichelLeSyrien3 The PDF is searchable, and I’ve stuck the raw OCR output in .doc and .htm format there as well. The other two parts of the French translation are also online (search for Michael the Syrian). UPDATE: it turns out that pp.44 and 46 are upside down.  I’m reloading a corrected PDF.
• Michael the Syrian part 3 – progress report
  I’ve now scanned in images of all the pages (around 600) of this monstrously heavy volume — my forearms will never be the same — using Abbyy Finereader 8 to control the scanner.  I scanned in black-and-white at 400 dpi, which is the best for OCR. I’ve gone through the batch, turning alternate pages the right […]
• Chrysostom on marriage
  An intelligent, discreet, and pious young woman is worth more than all the money in the world. Tell her that you love her more than your own life, because this present life is nothing, and that your only hope is that the two of you pass through this life in such a way that, in […]
• Letter of Latino Latini completed
  I’ve now had the letter of Latino Latini to Andreas Masius translated. This is the one that mentions the lost manuscript of Eusebius Diaphonia.  It’s actually a very interesting, gossipy letter.  The translator has offered to do the whole set of letters sometime, which is nice but not something I will pay for at this […]
• Discussion on Armenian version of Michael the Syrian
  I note that the comments on this post of mine have wandered into the very interesting area of Armenian versions of Michael the Syrian, Armenians in Egypt, and related issues, and are well worth a read.
• Still scanning Michael the Syrian part 3
  And boy is it hard work!  Just lifting and turning the heavy volume itself is tiring.  Just scanned p. 165.  I find that I have to play games with myself, to avoid giving up.  So at the moment I’m saying, “only a couple more to 170; you can pause there.”  When I get to 170, […]
• Jerome, Letter to Hedibia, complete online
  James Snapp Jr. has kindly run the old French translation of Jerome’s Letter to Hedibia (ep. 130) through Google translate, smartened it up a bit, and made it freely available in the public domain.  It’s here.  Many thanks, James! As machine translators improve, there will be real public benefit in efforts like this.  Yes, we […]
• Abu al-Fida, Historia ante-Islamica online
  Emily Cottrell has written to tell me about a discovery in Google Books: I am happy to have found this amazing chronicle online (very little studied because rarely available in libraries: http://books.google.com/books?id=1jpbAAAAQAAJ&dq=abulfeda+fleischer&hl=en&source=gbs_navlinks_s (Abu al-Fida, an Ayyubid prince of the 14th c. check out for his interesting genealogies of Greeks and Romans… I am trying to […]
• Michael the Syrian, book 12, chapter 1 — have a quick translation!
  Today is pretty much done, but since I read the first chapter of book 12 of Michael the Syrian, perhaps I could give a quick translation of it here. Book 12. With the aid of the divine power that perfected the twelve holy apostles, we shall commence the twelfth book of the chronicle, which begins […]
• An anecdote of Bishop Warburton
  BISHOP WILLIAM WARBURTON (1698-1779) [James Quin, Garrick’s chief rival and a noted wit, retired from the stage at the close of the 1752 season. Warburton, whose marriage to the favourite niece of Ralph Allen (the original of Fielding’s Squire Allworthy) had accelerated his rise in the Church, and who managed to combine arrogance, self-approval, and […]
• Flushed with success – how to acquire a knowledge of the Latin poets
  I knew a gentleman who was so good a manager of his time that he would not even lose that small portion of it which the calls of nature obliged him to pass in the necessary-house; but gradually went through all the Latin poets in those moments. He bought, for example, a common edition of […]
• Michael the Syrian vol. 3 has arrived
  I scanned volume 1 and volume 2 of the French translation of the Chronicle of Michael the Syrian, the big 12th century Syriac Chronicle and placed them on Archive.org.  I learned today that after a very long wait, volume 3 has appeared at the local library via ILL.  I shall go and get it tomorrow, […]
• Syriac origins for the Gospel of Thomas? Not convinced, I think
  Paleobabble is a useful blog on some of the factual mistakes that go around.  He’s suspicious — as I am — of the idea that the Gospel of Thomas is “obviously” earlier than the canonical gospels; the way in which this idea is asserted and disseminated has that characteristic smell of a bit of paleobabble. […]
• Literature searching for a lost manuscript
  I’m still looking through the literature, trying to find leads to the last, lost manuscript of Eusebius of Caesarea’s Gospel contradictions.  I’ve been reading my photocopy of Zoepfl’s book about the Commentary on the Hexameron of ps. Eustathius of Antioch, which — according to Latino Latini — probably was the first text in this now […]
• Cambridge University Library manuscripts department are idiots
  Apparently Cambridge University Library has appointed someone new to be in charge of the manuscripts room.  That man is a jerk.  He wants to make his mark, so has “increased security.”  Yes, I know; we all wince when librarians do this. This I found out today when I tried to look at the catalogue of […]
• More on ps.Eustathius’ Hexameron
  A small family emergency has brought me up to Cambridge again today, and given me the opportunity to examine Zoepfl’s monograph on the Hexameron of Ps.Eustathius of Antioch.  This is a lightweight 50 page thing, which does NOT contain the text.  Indeed it contains very little more than a list of manuscripts possibly available, not […]
• Finding collections of Greek manuscripts is less easy than it should be
  I need to find out where in Southern Italy and Sicily there are collections of Greek manuscripts.  I have been trying to think of a Google search that will give this information.  I don’t expect it to give me every collection; just the obvious ones. Well, I can’t think of a search that will do […]
• The Hexameron of Eustathius of Antioch
  The commentary on the six days of creation by Eustathius of Antioch, to which Latino Latini refers in my previous post, is spurious.  Indeed only one work by Eustathius (deposed 330 AD by an Arian synod) survives.  The text was composed in the late 4th-early 5th century, and makes use of Basil the Great’s work on […]
• A lead on the lost manuscript of the full text of Eusebius’ “Diaphonia”
  Result!  I’ve now got an idea of where to look for the lost full text of Eusebius’ Quaestiones ad Stephanum/Marinum! When Angelo Mai published the sad remains of this work in 1823, he added a note that Latino Latini (in the 16th century) said that Cardinal Sirleto had told him that he had seen a […]
• An Arabic Orthodox blog
  I’ve just discovered a blog dedicated to Arabic Christianity, and patristics in general, Notes on Arab Orthodoxy.  Great news! I’ve been in Cambridge today, and struck gold in the Eusebius project, but I’ll blog about this later.
• Patristics Carnival XXV
  Phil Snyder has posted the digest of patristics posts for the last month here.
• Eusebius, Cardinal Sirleto, and the letters of Latino Latini
  The last known manuscript of Eusebius “Gospel questions” is mentioned by Latino Latini in a letter to Andreas Masius.  The information about it begins “Sirleto wants you to know…”  The quotation was printed by Angelo Mai when he first printed the remains of that work of Eusebius, reprinted by Migne, and so on.  I’ve been trying to […]
• Latinus Latinius (1513-1593) – a long life in Patristics
  The classics and the fathers were rediscovered at the renaissance.  Enthusiasts scampered up and down Europe searching for books, banging on the doors of abbeys in search of lost texts.  They often met with hostility; the ignorant curators saw the interest only as a chance to charge for access, something not unknown to us in […]
• How much does the BL make by charging websites to display images of mss?
  If I buy an image of a page of a manuscript from the BL, I can’t put it here without paying the BL some huge fee a year.  So of course I don’t.  So I don’t commission the photograph either. Imagine if it cost nothing.  Wouldn’t we all tend to use these images?  Wouldn’t we […]
• UK Freedom of Information requests
  I have just discovered a website that allows UK citizens to make Freedom of Information requests.  Apparently it’s being used to query why the National Portrait Gallery is picking a fight with Wikipedia.  Useful to know, however.  I wonder if there are interesting questions that might be asked of the British Library and its high-price […]
• IE8 feature – larger/smaller text
  My current PC has quite a large screen, and a lot of text in IE8 displays as small, even with the View|Text Size set to large.  However I find I can zoom in and out, using Ctrl-Shift-+ and Ctrl-Shift-Minus.  Just a tip, for those whose eyes are not quite as good as they were!
• Theophanes in English, on Mohammed
  Ninth century Byzantine chronicler Theophanes is the earliest Greek source to give a biography of Mohammed, or so I have been told.  I referenced yesterday the relevant pages in the Bonn edition.  But an English translation does exist, made by minor sci-fi author Harry Turtledove, although this only starts in 602 AD.  This was published […]
• External references to Islam
  I knew that a collection of sources did exist online somewhere.  It seems that Peter Kirby, back in 2003, produced one and it is here.  It is excerpted from Robert G. Hoyland, Seeing Islam as Others Saw It: A Survey and Evaluation of Christian, Jewish and Zoroastrian Writings on Early Islam. (1997)  Nearly all of […]
• Theophanes and Mohammed
  The De Boor edition of Theophanes is online at Google Books, although as it comes from a UK library, UK people are not allowed to view it (!).  But I’ve been looking at the Bonn edition, which comes with Latin translation and so easier to thumb through.  P. 503 is the first mention of Mohammed, […]
• English translations of the earliest life of Mohammed
  Philip K. Hitti writes (p.112): The first record of [Mohammed’s] life was undertaken by ibn-Ishaq, who died in Baghdad about A.H. 150 (767), and whose biography of the Prophet has been preserved only in the later recension of ibn-Hisham, who died in Egypt about A.H. 218 (833).  Other than Arabic sources for the life of […]
• Summer reading
  I’m trying to read Philip Hitti’s monster History of the Arabs.  I’ve just reached the life of Mohammed, and his discussion of the materials for it — scanty.  He also has interesting comments on the text of the Koran; that the divergences in early Korans reflect the defective Kufic script used.  By chance I find […]
• UK National Gallery threatens Wikipedia, tries copyfraud tactics
  A story with some important implications has broken in the last few days.  It concerns items in the UK, which are out of copyright and unique and owned by the public.  UK state bodies claim copyright of any photographs under English law and use their position as custodians to prevent access to them in this […]
• Sources for the Antonine Wall
  A day trip to Edinburgh by air yesterday, and the sun shone on me which makes all the difference.  While in a bookshop, my eye fell on a book with the title “Roman Scotland.”  Of course we don’t think of Scotland as having a Roman past, but it does, at least as far as the Antonine […]
• Tom Lehrer still singing the Vatican rag
  Enough serious stuff.  Courtesy of Small Dead Animals, I have just discovered that Tom Lehrer’s rag-time classic, The Vatican Rag, is online here.
• The grotto of the Cumaean sybil
  I’ve been reading a guide-book to Naples and the Amalfi coast today, and I was struck by a photograph of the grotto of the Cumaean sybil, probably the most famous pagan prophetess of Roman Italy.  This, it seems, was only discovered in the 1920’s.  I can’t find anything as evocative of Captain Kirk as the […]
• Locking up those who say Wrong Things – it begins
  I hesitated on whether to post on this, but in the end felt that I had to, as a truly horrible step too far.  Last Friday two men in the UK were given stiff jail sentences.  Their crime?  Running a website posting material which the UK government considered was “offensive”.  The BBC report is here. […]
• Pyramids of the black pharaohs
  This gorgeous image by Vit Hassan is of Meroe: This via Egyptology News.
• Still driving on Manuel
  I’m labouring away on translating the 7th Dialogue with a Persian of Manuel II Paleologus, the work that was the pretext for all those Moslem attacks on the Pope.  I’m beginning to get an idea of the context of the quotation; “what did Mohammed bring into the world that was not evil.” The whole dialogue is […]
• Latino Latini, Sirleto, and the last, lost manuscript of Eusebius’ “Gospel Questions”
  One problem with a project that runs on is that you forget stuff.  And I realise, with irritation, that I have done just this.  For my own benefit, here is the matter again. Eusebius’ work on problems in the gospels, and their solutions, is lost.  But for a moment in the 16th century, it looked […]
• Causing outrage in Ireland now illegal; who’s first to be jailed?
  A new law has been passed in Ireland.  It’s being called a blasphemy law, because this is a Catholic country and voters will suppose that it is intended to protect the Church.  But the real effect is to allow the establishment to silence any criticism of whichever powerful and noisy groups it pleases.  Who these groups […]
• Massive French site of translations from Latin, Greek, Syriac, Arabic, Georgian…
  I’ve just come across this French site, http://remacle.org/.  It contains a simply enormous amount of French translations, often with parallel original text.  Partly the site is a portal; but much is actually at the site itself.  It seems to be the work of a collective, although lots of stuff is by  Marc Szwajcer, and on […]
• Online version of the Codex Sinaiticus; more manuscripts to follow
  We’ve all seen the PR for this online manuscript, which has even caused the servers to crash, although it is back now.  The PR has been very well managed, and it can only be a good thing that more interest is being generated in online manuscripts.  The announcement of more manuscripts at the Virtual Manuscript Room […]
• Struggling a bit with Manuel Paleologus
  In all the textbooks on textual criticism, you will find little mention of a factor that must decide whether texts live or die.  This is the B-word; BOREDOM.  Who can bring themselves to copy a text, if they keep calling asleep or going off to pluck their eyebrows, or sort the rubbish, of whatever? I’m […]
• Mingana manuscripts ignored, Korans placed online instead
  I saw today an announcement of the Virtual Manuscripts Room at the Mingana collection in Birmingham.  This is now available here.  They’ve scanned 71 mss.  But… disaster; political correctness has struck.  They’ve ignored nearly all the collection, in favour of the stray Islamic items that Mingana picked up.  Only about a dozen Syriac and a handful […]
• Agapius now online in English
  I’m done, at last.  The Universal History of the 10th century Arabic Christian writer Agapius is now online in English here.  I hope it is useful!
• CSCO Agapius NOT the most recent edition!
  Now here’s a surprise!  The Cheikho CSCO edition came out in 1912.  The PO edition came out starting in 1910 (PO5) 1911 (PO7) 1912 (PO8) and 1915 (PO11).  Even on the face of it, that means that the first fascicle — which covers the time of Jesus — was only just before the CSCO text. […]
• Searching for books; Origen, Agapius, and the Didache in Shenouda.
  My trip to the University Library at Cambridge was successful, and they did let me in. I was able to get photocopies of the Baehrens GCS edition of Origen’s Homilies on Ezechiel.  Mind you, it cost 15c per page, which made it costly and prevented me from copying the whole volume.  I wish someone with […]
• Using Google translate on Manuel Paleologus, and contributing as you do
  I’m trying to finish up various little tasks that I started ages ago.  One of these was a translation of book 7 of the Dialogue with a Persian by Manuel Paleologus, which got Pope Benedict into such hot water with the Moslems awhile back.  I’ve been looking at the French version of this. Here’s a […]
• Agapius almost ready
  I’ve finished turning the French translation of the 10th century Arabic Christian historian Agapius into English, formatting it and so forth.  Only a couple of issues remain, but these are important. People get interested in Agapius for two reasons only, in my experience.  The lesser reason is that he preserves a fragment of Papias not […]
• Cambridge University Library – daft admissions policies
  I want to go up to Cambridge tomorrow and use the library.  I have a reader’s card; although, as a mere taxpayer, I’m only given one that expires every six months, and must pay £10 for the privilege.  Since I work — in order to support CUL with my taxes — I can only go […]
• How to use Diogenes with the TLG disk (not that any of us have one, oh no)
  A friend has sent me this set of instructions on how to use the Diogenes software with the TLG.  Apparently this has a really nice look-and-feel interface. 1: Go to Edit, Preferences, and under “Location of TLG database” I put the location as this “c:\tlg/” or wherever I had stored the TLG in my computer. Click […]
• Vatican ms orders received
  On May 19th I ordered reproductions of two manuscripts of the unpublished Arabic Christian historian al-Makin from the Vatican.  I didn’t receive any acknowledgement, so wasn’t expecting much.  Anyhow a UPS man arrived a few minutes ago, bearing a parcel.  So it took just under 7 weeks to get, from posting the order to now.  That’s […]
• Syriac Eusebius “Quaestiones” fragments almost complete
  Excellent news on the translation of Eusebius’ “Gospel problems and solutions” (Quaestiones ad Stephanum/Marinum).  Two more of the Syriac fragments — those printed by Mai — appeared in my inbox over the weekend.  Only one more to do! I also obtained some splendid colour digital images of unpublished Syriac fragments of the same work from […]
• Hippolytus’ Chronicle
  I had an email this week from Tom Schmidt, who is about 670 lines of the way through the 1,000 lines of this work.  He says he intends to put his translation of the text online, which is very good news indeed! He’s also been wondering whether a PhD in Patristics would be an opening […]
• Humouring the end of the world
  I came in just now, out of the burning heat, and there was a leaflet on my doorstep.  It was from the Jehovah’s Witnesses, and titled “How will you deal with the end of the world?” or something like that. Sad person that I am, the only thought that entered my heat-addled brain was “get better […]
• Computer analysis of inscriptions gives authorship
  An interesting technology advance is reported in New Scientist, and follows.  What the researchers have done is quite clever, and probably sound. They take an inscription by a known artisan of a known date, and store each letter in it.  This gives them multiple letter ‘A’, for instance.  They then create an ‘average’ image of […]
• The limitations of PDF textbooks
  We all know that textbooks are often best in searchable PDF form.  But yesterday I came across a case where they were not.  I wanted a French grammar, so that I can brush up on stuff for Agapius.  I found a bootleg PDF, thereby saving myself $25.  But… I found that what I wanted to […]
• EThOS – still impressed
  An email from the British Library EThOS service popped into my inbox a couple of days ago.  It told me that a PDF of a PhD thesis was now available online for free download.  I’d “placed an order” (free) for this some time back, and here it was. The thesis was The indica of ctesias of […]
• Printing the original text of Origen on Ezekiel
  I’m now looking at including the original text in any printed version of Origen on Ezekiel.  We’re using the edition by W. Baehrens, published in the GCS 30 (1921) , as reprinted in the Sources Chretiennes edition. According to Wikipedia, Baehrens died in 1929, which is more than 70 years ago and so makes his […]
• New book on Early Christian books in Egypt
  Papyrologist Roger Bagnall has a book out in September, in which he looks again at the physical books and papyri discovered in Egypt and generally has the drains up on the dates of them.   I only hope it isn’t a bit of revisionism; but I don’t get that sense from the little that I know. […]
• Origen update – the ride’s back on
  After sleeping on the problem, I’ve decided to continue with the translation of Origen’s Homilies on Ezechiel.  After all, just translating and uploading three would look a little sad, I think.  If my translator is willing to continue, then it will go ahead.  The only difference is that it will be much more difficult for […]
• Patristic Greek translation tips
  On ScribD there is a downloadable PDF by Charles A. Sullivan full of very useful information about working with Patristic Greek, websites, tips, etc.  It’s here. Thanks to Robert Bedrosian for pointing out that a search for “patristics” and “syriac” will produce results of considerable interest.  The same is true for “coptic”. You have to […]
• A rival translation of Origen’s Homilies on Ezekiel
  Quite by accident I today learn of another projected translation of Origen’s Homilies on Ezekiel.  It’s due to appear in January 2010 as part of the Ancient Christian Writers series, and translated by Thomas Scheck, who has translated several other volumes of Origen’s homilies.  The Amazon advert is here. Frankly this is a nuisance and […]
• Origen, Homily 2 on Ezekiel
  This homily now is translated and paid for, so we’re really making excellent progress.  12 more homilies to go!
• Coptic monastic revival – Matta al-Maskeen
  I’d very much like to know more about the astonishing revival of monasticism that has taken place among the Copts in modern Egypt.  A central figure is the mysterious Fr. Matta al-Maskeen (various spellings seem to be around). Quite by chance I’ve stumbled across a digest of translated newspaper articles on him here.  Sadly you […]
• Agapius once more
  Well that was a good day’s work; starting late morning, continuing this afternoon with a couple of breaks, and finishing now — I’ve translated the remainder of Agapius, some 38 pages.   The first draft of the whole work is done!  Frankly I am delighted. Thankfully I had scanned the page images before I began, presumably […]
• Agapius again
  I have resumed work on turning the French translation of Agapius, published by A. Vasiliev in the Patrologia Orientalis, into English.  In fact I never totally halted on this, except when I was working at full speed on the Greek translator.  My work has no scholarly value, but there must be 2bn people who can […]
• Abu’l Barakat’s catalogue of Arabic Christian literature
  Abu’l Barakat was a medieval Arabic Christian.  In one of his works, he devoted a chapter to listing Arabic Christian literature.  Of course this catalogue of what exists or existed is an invaluable guide to someone who is starting to explore patristic material surviving in that language.  Riedel published it long ago, with a German […]
• Thank you for buying my CDROM
  Most readers will be aware that I sell a CDROM of the collection of the Fathers that I have online.  Quite a few copies have been sold lately.  So I’d like to thank all those readers who have recently bought one.  These sales are helping directly to pay for the translation of Origen’s Homilies on […]
• Divus and Deus in Varro and Servius
  Hans Dampf has made a series of very interesting and learned comments on a post of mine about an inscription calling Julius Caesar god.  If you haven’t seen these, you probably want to. In particular he has tracked down and translated two statements by Servius, the 5th century commentator on Vergil, which illuminate the way […]
• Magnetic images at Caistor St. Edmunds
  Nottingham University have done a geophysical survey of the Roman town of Caistor St. Edmunds.  The images are splendid, and confirm the town plan. The town lies outside modern Norwich, in a large field grazed by sheep.  The Roman walls rise around it, battered but still impressive.  A church stands in one corner.  The site […]
• Origen; Homily 2 on Ezekiel received
  The first draft of the translation of the second homily on Ezekiel has arrived! At this rate, I’m going to have to find out about printers and the like rather more quickly than I had thought!
• Faulhaber on Roman mss of the catenas of the prophets
  The translator for the Origen homilies is really doing an excellent job.  He ‘s been looking into the issue of why the excerpts from catenas printed by Baehrens in the GCS are shorter than those printed by Migne (reprinting the Delarue edition). Translating some of the latter reveals that they contain material evidently not by […]
• Dishonest academic journals and the Elsevier scandal
  Nick Nicholas’ blog also drew my attention to a scandal; a major academic publisher, Elsevier, running “fake” academic journals, which were in fact funded by a pharmaceutical company.  How bad this may be, well, I can’t tell. Librarians — who pay for journal access, remember — are reacting strongly to this threat to the integrity of […]
• An new hero takes on the ancient astronomical works
  I’ve just discovered http://www.wilbourhall.org/index.html.  This site deals with Mathematics, and Mathematical Astronomy in the works of ancient writers.  It does so by getting hold of whatever texts exist and fixing the errors in the Google scans and so forth.  If you want the complete works of Hero of Alexandria, they’re here.  Archimedes, Ptolemy… likewise.  Arabic […]
• A pause in correspondance
  Sorry to anyone waiting for an email reply from me — I’ve got a bug, and I’m not well enough to do much.  I’ll catch up on everything in a day or two.
• Origen translation: the catena issue
  All of the Latin of homily 1 on Ezechiel is now translated into English, and pretty much finalised.  But an issue has arisen.  Extracts of Origen’s original Greek exist in the medieval Greek commentaries, comprised as they are of chains (catenas) of extracts from the fathers.  These are printed where relevant at the bottom of […]
• A famous passage of Gregory of Nyssa… but where from?
  Everyone has read this: Everywhere, in the public squares, at crossroads, on the streets and lanes, people would stop you and discourse at random about the Trinity. If you asked something of a moneychanger, he would begin discussing the question of the Begotten and the Unbegotten. If you questioned a baker about the price of […]
• UK Govt attack on Catholic adoption agency continues
  Cranmer has the following piece on one of the Catholic adoption agencies which went to court to defend their right not to place children with gay couples, in accordance with Catholic teaching.  They lost, and got a £75,000 bill for their pains. Passing laws to allow bigots to drag Christians into court on one pretext […]
• Irving Woodworth Raymond and Orosius
  The first English translation of Orosius was made by I.W.Raymond and published in 1936.  It’s probably still in copyright in the USA, unfortunately, which keeps it off the web.  A later translation exists in the Fathers of the Church series. Someone wrote to me about Orosius today.  Apparently he is the first writer to mention […]
• Perseus hopper – 157 downloads
  The source code for the Perseus site is available for download at Sourceforge, and contains all the data too.  I was mildly surprised to discover that it has been downloaded, according to Sourceforge… 157 times. That sounds very low indeed.  Only 157 downloads since it went open source? Admittedly it’s very hard going to make […]
• British Library still doesn’t get it
  The BBC has a belated but fawning story today, Just click for a century of news: The British Library has put two million digitised pages from 19th century newspapers online, taking research out of its dusty reading rooms into people’s homes. The pay-as-you-go service brings a century of history alive from Jack the Ripper to WC […]
• Origen, Homily 1 on Ezekiel now translated
  The first sermon in Origen’s Homilies on Ezekiel is pretty long.  But the whole thing has now been translated, at least in draft.  This is very good news, and means that we’re making real progress.  Most of the other sermons are much shorter.
• Fresh Cyril of Alexandria
  Ben at Dunhelm Road has the following very interesting note: There’s a new translation of Cyril of Alexandria’s Festal Letters 1-12, by Philip R. Amidon, S.J., in The Fathers of the Church series (Vol. 118). See here.  This look at his pastoral side will be interesting. This piggy-backs on works on his commentaries on the […]
• Origen, Homilies on Ezekiel – more progress
  Another slab of this arrived this morning.  We’ve now got an English translation of homily 1, chapters 1-12 (of 16); chapters 1-5 are finished and paid for.
• British Library to mass-digitize its manuscripts?
  Tiny snippets, these, but here I found a report on a conference in February, which included the chance remark: Will this community thrive? Ronald Milne of the British Library told me he was amazed at how web-active the papyrologist community is. Incidentally, Juan Garcés presented this work excitingly within the context of a recent decision […]
• Reference to Mithras in the Commentary of Servius?
  A strange Jewish anti-Christian site here has the following claim: Plutarch (Pompey, 24, 7) and Servilius (Georgics, 4, 127) say Pompey imported Mithraism into Rome after defeating the Cilician pirates around 70 BCEE. This is starting to circulate around the web, and caught my eye.  We all know the Plutarch reference, and it says only […]
• Stats
  I’ve no idea whether we’re doing well or not.  But the WordPress stats tell me that this blog received 6,400 views during May, the highest ever.  
• Time for something less strenuous
  A lot of what I do demands a fair bit of concentration.  When I get home at the weekend, I don’t always find myself able to concentrate that much.  This is one reason why my additions to the Early Fathers collection developed; scanning and proofing texts does not require a lot of concentration, and can […]
• Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies (GRBS) goes open access
  The Editors of Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies (GRBS) [ISSN 0017-3916] have issued the following announcement: Volume 49 (2009) will be the last volume of GRBS printed on paper. Beginning with volume 50, issues will be published quarterly on-line on the GRBS website, on terms of free access. We undertake this transformation in the hope […]
• Unicode Greek font and vowel length
  I didn’t realise that doing Ancient Greek on computers was still a problem, but I found out otherwise today.  We all remember a myriad of incompatible fonts, and partial support for obscure characters; and like most people I imagined that Unicode had taken our problems away.  Hah! Unicode character 0304 is the “combining macron”.  What that […]
• Patristics Carnival 24
  Phil Snider’s digest of patristic posts in the last month is now online here.  Many thanks, Phil, for alerting us all to what’s going on.
• More progress on translating Origen’s Homilies on Ezekiel
  The first 5 chapters of homily 1 are now translated and in my hands, together with catena fragments, and the first 2 chapters are pretty much finished.  I’ve paid the translator for the latter, which is nice as well; it feels like we’re underway.
• Still thinking of Lebanon
  I’d like to go to Baalbek, and see the temple of the sun.  Indeed I’d like to visit Syria.  But these days I tend to insist on 5* hotels! Some weeks ago I saw Voyages Jules Verne’s Restoration Story tour.  Seven days, including three in Beirut, including a trip to Palmyra and Baalbek.  It sounds […]
• Israelis visiting Petra
  This article cheered me up today.  It relates how Jordan and Israel are working together to facilitate tourism to Petra.  Israeli tour guides take parties to the border, and hand them over to Jordanian guides who take them to Petra for the day. It’s pleasant to see animosity giving way to a chance to make money […]
• Islamic Manuscripts conference, Cambridge
  This via BYZANS-L: …registration is now open for The Fifth Islamic Manuscript Conference, Cambridge 24-26 July 2009. http://www.islamicmanuscript.org/Conferences.html The Islamic Manuscript Association is pleased to announce that the Fifth Islamic Manuscript Conference will be held at Christ’s College, University of Cambridge, UK from 24-26 July 2009. It will be hosted by the Thesaurus Islamicus Foundation […]
• UK: police threaten preacher with arrest for saying homosexuality is a sin (even though he didn’t mention it)
  This, with video, from the Cranmer politics blog: From The Christian Institute, it transpires that police officers told an open-air preacher in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, that it is a criminal offence to identify homosexuality as a sin. They said this to Andy Robertson, even though he had not mentioned anything to do with homosexuality in his preaching. […]
• Origen on Ezekiel – thinking about bible versions
  Four chapters of the immense sixteen-chapter first sermon on Ezekiel by Origen have now been translated, with copious footnotes; and I have the first draft here.  The translator has also discovered that Migne prints fragments of the original Greek preserved in the catenas, and is using these as a control.  It’s going to be very […]
• Pricing John the Lydian, De Mensibus
  I got hold of the 1898 text of John the Lydian and did some calculations.  There seem to be about 7 words per line, about 26 lines per page, and 177 pages of text.  That comes out at 32,214 words, which is probably a fair-ish estimate of how long the text is. If I were to […]
• Origen on Ezekiel update
  I’ve just had an email from the translator that a rough draft of all of homily 1 has been completed.  This is a long homily, so is excellent news. I’ve not seen it yet, tho. I have seen the draft of the first two chapters, and have commented on it. It’s an excellent translation, fairly literal […]
• Cambridge University Library — no, the incunables are NOT going online
  We all know what we want — we want library holdings on the web, where we can all see them.  So I was rather delighted to see a news article yesterday that Cambridge University Library were going to put their collection of pre-1500 printed books on the web.  This would be quite a first — […]
• Why do we write accents on our ancient Greek?
  The most obvious omission to strike the eye [in his book] is the disappearance of accents.  We are indebted to D. F. Hudson’s Teach Yourself New Testament Greek for pioneering this revolution.  The accentual tradition is so deeply rooted in the minds of classical scholars and of reputable publishers that the sight of a naked […]
• Anti-Christian posting and an inscription about Julius Caesar
  The quantity of anti-Christian scribbling in online fora is extraordinary.  Much of it presents “evidence” which is supposed to undermine Christianity.  It can be an interesting task to take this material, and verify it — something that the posters never do, curiously — and see what, if anything it is based on. I came across […]
• A day in the life
  No sleep for two days now.  It’s been 27C in my hotel room the last two nights; no air-con, no ventilation.  No refunds either. In Hellsdump House, the office in which I attempt to work while awaiting the chop at the end of the month, the only portion that is air-conditioned is the director’s offices.  […]
• Syriac Eusebius restarts
  Deep joy!  Someone who translates from Syriac has written to me and asked if I want any work done.  I’ve pointed him at Syriac fragment 10 of the Quaestiones evangelicae of Eusebius.  I was rather despairing of ever getting this completed.  There’s only 12 fragments, and 1-6 and 12 are all done.  But… more people […]
• Diogenes limitations
  I’ve been looking at Peter Heslin’s Diogenes tool, which is really quite extraordinary.  It does things that I do not need, but frankly it’s  a marvel, particularly when you realise that he worked out so much of the content himself. One limitation seems to be that the parsing information for a word does not indicate […]
• Origen: Homilies on Ezekiel translation underway
  The project to translate the homilies of Origen and put them online is underway.  A scholar wrote to me over the weekend about this, and I have commissioned him to translate all of the Homilies on Ezekiel, which have never received an English translation at all.  The Homilies on Numbers have never been translated into English either, […]
• Old hoaxes; Notovitch, Jacolliot, Jesus and India
  The internet has given new life to some old hoaxes.  The idea that Jesus visited India and left otherwise unknown gospels there was advanced by a certain Notovitch in the 19th century.  I have just seen it appear again, all innocent and oblivious of criticism, in a crank discussion forum here.  Long ago I scanned […]
• Damascius in Photius
  Volume 6 of Rene Henry’s edition of the Bibliotheca of Photius arrived this morning.  The first codex in it is a review and summary of Damascius, Life of Isidore.  This now lost work was written by the 6th century Neo-Platonist philosopher, about his predecessor as head of the school at Athens.  I obtained it, as […]
• Other items in the Sothebys sale
  Four leaves from mss here; including a leaf from a 12th century Vergil. A bunch of illuminated initials, courtesy of someone with scissors. More interesting are fragments of 10 leaves of a large Coptic ms of sermons in the Sahidic dialect, here. [Upper Egypt (most probably the White Monastery, in the province of Akhmim), ninth century AD.] […]
• Codex Climaci Rescriptus to be sold at Sothebys
  Here is the lengthy catalogue entry, with images of the text; what follows is a small subset of this truly excellent catalogue: SOLD FOR THE BENEFIT OF WESTMINSTER COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE THE CODEX CLIMACI RESCRIPTUS, PALIMPSEST MANUSCRIPT ON VELLUM, IN CHRISTIAN PALESTINIAN ARAMAIC, GREEK AND SYRIAC.  [Judea (probably Jerusalem), sixth century AD. and Egypt (probably St. Catherine’s, Sinai), […]
• Greek NT manuscript for sale
  To be sold at Sothebys in London, here, on the 7th July 2009.  There are zoomable pictures of four of the illuminated pages, but none of the text.  The nearest we get is a picture of one of the Eusebian canon tables. These are in Adobe Flashplayer so that they can’t be downloaded (shame).  Here’s most of […]
• More on morphology, and on life
  Still fighting with the morphology data, trying to find a way to work on it and add back in the part-of-speech data.  Amazing how difficult it is to even load a lot of this stuff into a database so I can run some SQL queries on it. In my hands I have volume 4 of […]
• Loeb loving on the road to Bilbilis
  A couple of weeks ago I was feeling a little unwell, and I looked around my shelves for something undemanding which would take my attention off things.  My eye fell on the old (1920-ish) Loeb Martial, and I pulled down a volume.  There is something very soothing about these old volumes, the genteel English, and […]
• Germans attack Google books
  From The Register today: Google’s ongoing effort to create a vast digital library is set to come under fire at the EU from countries who fear it will violate copyright and stymie competition. German diplomats plan to raise the issues in Brussels today, EUobserver reports, with support from France, Austria and the Netherlands. Google controversially […]
• Writing Greek translation software – searching for meaning
  One of the problems with using free online sources  — aside from bumptious Germans claiming ownership of the Word of God — is that the data is never quite in the format you would like.  I’m still working on my software to help translate ancient Greek into English. I’ve just found a set of morphologies […]
• May 2009 Bloodsucker Award – the German Bible Society
  I am pleased to announce a winner for the Bloodsucker Award this month — the German Bible Society!  Their successful entry was their emails demanding that various open-source projects which use the 10-year old morphologised Greek New Testament be abandoned, on the grounds that they “own” the text of the Greek New Testament. When I […]
• More on “copyright” of the Greek New Testament
  Still quite angry about the actions of the German Bible Society in claiming copyright of the work of the apostles.  I’ve been looking around the web for comment.  The best comment I have seen is that the text can only be copyright if the scholars who produced it did their work badly.  Their intention was […]
• Flame the German Bible Society
  These greedy bastards are claiming that they own the text of Greek New Testament, and anyone who wants to use it must pay them. In the meantime they’re forcing MorphGNT and zhubert.com offline. So why not tell them politely but firmly what you think of their evil scheme? Make sure that they know that they […]
• MorphGNT busted by “copyright”
  This is something that makes me rather cross.  It seems that the MorphGNT project, run for years and years by Jim Tauber, has fallen foul of a sudden claim of copyright by the German Bible Society.  This in turn has torpedoed the ReGreek site, which used MorphGNT.  For those who don’t know, MorphGNT is a […]
• More on John the Lydian
  It seems that at least some of the Tuebner editions of the works of John the Lydian are also on Google books. Daniel Abosso has written to tell me so, and to point out that the Bonn series text is defective, and the Latin translation sometimes quite wrong.  Here is the link (from a search for […]
• Another Eusebius update
  The translation of the Quaestiones ad Stephanum/Marinum has now been revised all through the epitome, and as far as the end of the first fragment.  There will now be a delay, tho, for summer.
• More on the Homilies of Origen
  Comments on my post asking how to get an English translation of the Homilies of Origen were enthusiastic.  So I think we will conduct a little experiment with this one, and see if we can get somewhere.  Today I have written to an academic/publishing person I know, and asked if they can find us a translator.  […]
• What to do about offline Origen?
  The homilies of Origen are all offline.  This is because the 19th century translators of the Ante-Nicene Christian Library (repackaged as the Ante-Nicene Fathers later) were selling their translations by subscription, and couldn’t get enough subscribers to translate these works.  Of 574 homilies, only 186 have survived, mostly in Latin translations by either Rufinus or […]
• LXX text marked up with part of speech, etc
  I was hunting around the web for a morphologised Septuagint text — one with the word, the part of speech (noun, verb, etc) and other details, plus the headword or lemma.  I remember doing this search a few years ago, so I know it exists.  This time I was less lucky.  In general there seemed […]
• Works of Origen extant in Greek
  In the introduction to the CUA translation of Origen’s Homilies on Jeremiah, it states that only the following works  of Origen have survived in Greek: several sections of the Commentary on John; several sections of the Commentary on Matthew; Contra Celsum; On Prayer; Exhortation to Martyrdom; Dialogue with Heracleides; 20 homilies on Jeremiah; the homily […]
• A thought after reading Martial
  In English Publius tells me that the Roman empire did not collapse. Why not pass me a glass of Falernian before you say more?
• More notes on QuickGreek
  I’m continuing work on a piece of software to help me translate from ancient Greek to English.  One problem has been the time taken before it finishes starting.  When it takes 10-20 seconds on startup, just to load the various dictionaries, you quickly weary of it.  If you want to look up two words, you […]
• New Hypatia movie
  There’s going to be is a movie made about Hypatia, the late fourth-century Neo-Platonist and friend of Synesius who was lynched after venturing into Alexandrian politics. Let’s welcome it.  It should stir up interest in late antiquity, particularly if they can make the Byzantine world glow with light and colour.  It doesn’t really matter if […]
• Eusebius, Quaestiones ad Stephanum/Marinum under way again
  It seems like ages since I last reported on this project to produce a professional-standard English translation of the Gospel questions and solutions of Eusebius of Caesarea.  The translation of the Greek was completed early this year, but needed revision.  The translator of the Greek has now begun the process of revision of the translation.  […]
• Nau’s version of the Syriac life of Shenouda now online
  I’ve hastily uploaded my translation of the short Syriac life of Shenouda, published by Nau, here.  I really need to add a short preface, but I just don’t have the time at this moment.
• More on Shenouda and the “Two Ways”
  The Arabic life of Shenouda is briefly discussed in van de Sandt and Flusser’s The Didache: Its Jewish Sources and its Place in Early Judaism and Christianity(Fortress, 2002), chapter 2, pp. 66-67.  Their note is so useful that I think we had better see it, as we start to look at this text: THE ARABIC […]
• The “Two Ways” in the Arabic Life of Shenouda
  We’re all familiar with the material common to the Didache and the Epistle of Barnabas, known as the Two Ways.  However it seems from a note at CCEL that this material also appears in the Arabic version of a hagiographical text called the “Life of Shenouda the Archimandrite”.  This text exists in multiple Coptic and […]
• Notes on John the Lydian, De Mensibus
  Looking at the downloadable PDF, I find book 4 of De Mensibus (on the months) starts on p. 127 (p.50 of the printed text).  It is devoted to discussing events in the Roman calendar, month by month, so starts with January.  February starts on p. 138;  March on p.143; April on p.153; May on p.163; June […]
• Changing settings on WordPress
  This copy of WordPress has got very slow, so I’m trying to find out why.  I’ve switched appearance back to classic, and things may appear and disappear while I work out what is slowing stuff down.
• Using X-Rays on the Herculaneum scrolls
  When Vesuvius went pop in 79 AD, the lava flows buried the city of Herculaneum.  One of the houses buried contained a library of papyrus rolls, mostly containing otherwise lost works by the epicurean philosopher Philodemus.  When rediscovered, they were in the state of charred logs, unreadable and very difficult to unroll. Now Brent Seales […]
• Latin translation of John Lydus
  I was looking at the edition of John the Lydian, here.  I had not realised that the Bonn Scriptores Historiae Byzantinae editions came with Latin translations at the bottom of the page.  This makes things much easier for those of us whose Latin is much better than our Greek. 
• All the hot chicks love Indiana Jones
  Occasionally I wonder whether scholars have all been shot through the brains before receiving tenure.  But then I read an article which cheers the heart.  This from Dan Shoup at Archaeology hits the nail on the head. On that note, I offer you two propositions about the discipline. 1) In the popular imagination, archaeology is […]
• John Lamoreaux’s Adventures in Christian Arabic
  Let’s give a warm welcome to a new blogger, John Lamoreaux, who has just created his own site at johnlamoreaux.org, and started a blog (although I think he ought to use WordPress for the blog bit, so that he gets all the links etc). John works in the neglected field of Christian literature in the […]
• Attis – a useful dissertation
  There is online a 1900 dissertation on Cybele and Attis by Grant Showerman, The great mother of the gods, Bulletin of the University of Wisconsin, vol. 1 (1898-1901). p. 219, online here, starting on p. 219, which is very good on ancient literary sources for its statements.  Thanks to Christopher Ecclestone for the link!  Some […]
• Ordering from the Vatican library
  I’ve never ordered anything from the Vatican library, so this note is for those who have thought about it but never got around to it. Today I’ve downloaded the PDF order form from here and posted it off, with an order for PDF’s of microfilms (! — all I can afford) of two Vatican mss. […]
• Writing a Greek-English translation tool
  I want to translate bits of ancient Greek from time to time.  Since I don’t do it a lot, I have trouble remembering vocabulary and which part of speech or inflection it is.  There are tools out there which help.  There is the Perseus look-up tool, although it is too slow to be useful.  There […]
• Augustine on Attis and the Galli
  Augustine, City of God, book 6, chapter 7: There are sacred rites of the mother of the gods, in which the beautiful youth Atys, loved by her, and castrated by her through a woman’s jealousy, is deplored by men who have suffered the like calamity, whom they call Galli. … What good is to be […]
• “At least I’ve still got my bus-pass”
  Does anyone have an image of a sculpture of Attis, slumped down just after castrating himself?  I was searching for images of Attis “reclining”, but found little.  There is one in Vermaseren’s Cybele and Attis, but I don’t have it here. That one pictured Attis as looking a little depressed. And no wonder.  What was […]
• Attis Menotyrannus – Lord of the Moon, or Lord of the Months?
  Using the Clauss-Slaby database, and searching for ‘attid’ (i.e. attidi or the like), an interesting set of results appear in which Attis is given the title “Menotyrannus”. All the results are on material found in Rome, and nowhere else.  What does this title mean? The title seems to be Greek, and might refer (I am […]
• Herodotus on Attis?
  In Herodotus, book 1, 34-45, there is a rambling story about Atys, son of Croesus, accidentally killed by a spear while hunting.  In his Cybele and Attis, M. J. Vermaseren considers whether this is part of the myth of Attis.  This link asserts that it is. But on looking at the text, the account is very […]
• Catullus on Attis
  One of our earlier sources for Attis is Catullus, poem 63. It’s here in Latin and English (done rather nicely). Edition and translation are not specified, but I think may be an old Loeb edition. Here’s the English: Borne in his swift bark over deep seas, Attis, when eagerly with speedy foot he reached the […]
• Sallustius on Attis
  The late antique philosopher Sallustius in De diis et mundo also wrote about Attis. The text is online here. I suspect this is the A.D.Nock 1926 translation, but there is an old one somewhere by Thomas Taylor. To take another myth, they say that the Mother of the Gods seeing Attis lying by the river […]
• The gallos-priests of Attis
  The full text of Lucian De Dea Syria is online here. cc. 50-51 discuss the galli. 50. On certain days a multitude flocks into the temple, and the Galli in great numbers, sacred as they are, perform the ceremonies of the men and gash their arms and turn their backs to be lashed. Many bystanders […]
• Julian on Attis
  Libanius tells us that, as Julian the Apostate marched to his Persian campaign, he spent one night at Pessinus, the home of the cult of Cybele and Attis, and wrote an essay defending the cult and interpreting its myth in philosophical style. His oration on the Magna Mater, Oratio 5, is online here. It’s mostly […]
• Let’s demonize all the Catholics
  In the last ten years or so, the issue of abuse of children by adults has become very high profile.  Nor is this wrong; such evil men deserve severe punishment.  But I am disturbed by evidence that this accusation is being itself abused, as a tool to gratify religious hatred.  Three news reports, all from the BBC, […]
• Manuscript digitization in the Wall Street Journal
  From the WSJ, some excerpts of a fascinating article by Alexandra Alter.  Note the reference to the manuscript of Michael the Syrian coming online! One of the most ambitious digital preservation projects is being led, fittingly, by a Benedictine monk. Father Columba Stewart, executive director of the Hill Museum and Manuscript Library at St. John’s […]
• Was Firmicus Maternus a Christian?
  In every age there are those who adopt their religion and their values from the society in which they live, often without considering that this is what in effect they do.  Indeed most people today do this, for instance; and often would say that they “think for themselves”.  But in truth their way of life, […]
• Tell me where to go
  … on holiday.  It looks as if I shall get some time off in July and August; where should I go? I’d like to go somewhere warm — I like heat anyway; somewhere with ancient ruins to see, perhaps with a museum or two.  I don’t want to catch any diseases, or be held hostage.  […]
• More on the Fujitsu Scansnap S300 scanner
  This portable scanner is a funny old thing. But it is rather good, as a way to scan documents (it won’t do books), and photocopies. It’s very small, and very fast. You really do have to make yourself play with it awhile before trying to use it seriously.  It has quite a few quirks. It […]
• How I hate Vista
  The last hour of my life I spent downloading a book in very many zip files.  I copied the files to a directory, and began extracting the contents.  I click on one zip, drag the contents to the same folder.  Then, apparently having the zip highlighted, I press delete — and the whole parent folder, […]
• Articles in Modern Greek of general interest
  Ioannis Kokkinidis has sent me a number of links to online articles in modern Greek on subjects which many readers may find interesting.  Remember, Google now has a Greek->English translator. http://news.kathimerini.gr/4dcgi/_w_articles_columns_2_04/05/2008_268634 Opening of the library of the Patriarchate of Alexandria, sponsored by the National Bank of Greece. http://news.kathimerini.gr/4dcgi/_w_articles_civ_2_10/02/2007_215501 Greek Libraries on the Internet http://news.kathimerini.gr/4dcgi/_w_articles_civ_2_14/01/2007_211765 Rare treasures […]
• 2,000 year old papyrus roll found in Israel
  The Israeli Antiquities Authority have put out a press release here that they have seized a 2,000 year old papyrus roll, containing a text written in ancient Hebrew, in “an operation.” A document thought to be an ancient text written on papyrus was seized yesterday (Tuesday) in an operation led by the Intelligence Office of the Zion […]
• The Antiquary’s shoebox
  Bill Thayer has transcribed a bunch of out-of-copyright scholarly articles and created a subsite called the Antiquary’s Shoebox to hold them.  This sort of stuff is normally only on JSTOR, so very valuable to we helots whose duty in life is to pay for the latter, without getting access to it. Excellent stuff.  Bill summarises the content […]
• Photos of Baalbek
  Some nice photos of decoration on the monuments at Baalbek in Lebanon here. I so want to go to Baalbek.  Unfortunately it’s located in the Bekaa valley, which is where the Hezbollah are currently hunkered down and doing their gun-running from Iran.  I can imagine three doors at the site entrance: “Men”, “Women”, “Hostages.” I […]
• The 1941 discovery of works by Origen and Didymus at Toura in Egypt
  At the beginning of August 1941, a group of Egyptian labourers employed by British forces in Egypt were labouring to clear some of the ancient quarries of Tura, some 10km from Cairo, so that they could be used to store munitions.  The quarries are pierced with galleries constructed by the ancient Egyptians in order to […]
• Another snippet from Agapius
  Agapius continues to make interesting statements.  There’s this one: Starting from this period, among the Greeks, Josephus (Yousifous), i.e. Aesop (Yousfâs) the fabulist began to be illustrious. Well, no wonder names get mangled!  Who would have thought Aesop = Josephus? Just before that, I’ve seen a discussion of why rulers speak in the plural; “We order that…” […]
• The anti-pagan legislation of Constantius II
  In 356, Constantius issued the following edict from Milan, one of a series issued in the west and prohibiting pagan sacrifices: Idem a. et Iulianus caes. Poena capitis subiugari praecipimus eos, quos operam sacrificiis dare vel colere simulacra constiterit. Dat. XI kal. mart. Mediolano Constantio a. VIII et Iuliano caes. conss. (356 febr. 19). “If any persons […]
• Coptic Museum Library — restoration of mss in progress
  This lengthy article in Al-Ahram records that a team of conservators are working over the manuscripts in the Coptic Museum in Cairo.  This collection contains not merely Coptic texts but also Arabic Christian manuscripts.  Thanks to Andie Byrnes at Egyptology News for this one. The interest in the collection is welcome.  But… how can we […]
• Carry your library in your pocket
  Let’s face it, we all have too many scholarly books.  We can’t work without them, and we end up with piles of books, often read only once, and piles of photocopies.  When we’re on the road, we can’t access them.  And who has not realised, with a sinking feeling, that some most interesting observation is […]
• Sale at Les Belles Lettres
  There’s a sale on — 30% off — at Les Belles Lettres, the French publishers of a great number of classical texts in parallel Latin-French editions. Catalogue in PDF form (which is rather silly – come on, chaps, HTML isn’t that hard) Greek texts Latin texts That takes a volume of Photius down from 30 […]
• Isidore of Seville’s Chronicle in two versions
  A discussion of the two recensions of the Chronicle of Isidore of Seville, with English translations of them both, is online here.  Thanks to the LT-ANTIQ list for the tip!
• A Byzantine exegesis of Paul in the “depth of the sea”
  The following interesting passage can be found in a work by the Venerable Bede 1: The same apostle (Paul) said, “a night and a day I was in the depth of the sea’ (2 Cor. 11:25).  I have heard certain men assert that Theodore of blessed memory, a very learned man and once archbishop of […]
• Genre markers in Genesis
  An old post in Hypotyposeis “Origen on Creation” reported post by a Chris Heard, “Absurdities” as genre markers (Nov. 28, 2008), in which he contends that Genesis ought to be read non-literally because the original audience would have heard it so: I submit to you that “absurd” chronologies and geographies serve in biblical narratives as genre […]
• More fun with a thesis
  I’ve already blogged on how Boston College library demand that I get permission from a religious order before they will supply me with a copy for research purposes of a 1937 thesis written by a nun.  The nun belonged to the Sisters of Mercy, and the library have sent me a link to their website.  […]
• Agapius progresses
  I’ve translated three-quarters of Agapius.  Today I completed the first fifty pages of the remaining portion.  Each portion is around 150 pages, so still some way to go here.  I will prepare the next chunk of 50 pages at the weekend and carry on. Mind you, I got to the end of this chunk with […]
• Manuscript news at Evangelical Textual Criticism
  The CSNTM team have discovered twenty-three (23!) previously unknown New Testament manuscripts in their trip to Athens. There’s a post on how obtaining a reader’s pass for the Vatican library can allow you back-door access to the Vatican in general. There is also a post on what search terms bring readers to the blog; which turns […]
• Literary references to the taurobolium
  There are only four literary texts that mention the Taurobolium.  I’ve already posted translations of the relevant passage from the Peristephanon of Prudentius, and the anonymous carmen adversus paganos.  The other mentions are in Firmicus Maternus and the the Augustan History, under Heliogabalus.  A look in Clauss-Slaby’s database of inscriptions reveals a lot of people […]
• Another text about the taurobolium
  There seem to be a lot of little poems, all very late, often of great interest for sidelights on ancient paganism.  Here’s an extract from another. The anonymous Carmen adversus paganos (394 AD), vv.57-62. Quis tibi taurobolus vestem mutare suasit, Inflatus dives, subito mendicus ut esses? Obsitus et pannis, modica stipe factus epacta Sub terram […]
• Waiting for Menander in the Vatican: 400 verses of Greek comedy discovered in a Syriac palimpsest manuscript
  Here is a translation of Prof. Harlfinger’s article in German, since very many people cannot read that language: The Greek comedy writer Menander (342 – 292 BC) is rightly seen as a classic of the world literature. Recently 400 verses of the poet were discovered in the library of the Vatican in a Syriac palimpsest […]
• A palimpsest of Menander in the Vatican
  Menander did not reach us.  The New Comedy dramatists works were not part of the Byzantine school curriculum, and, at some time in the Dark Ages, the last manuscript was reused for other purposes. A post in the CLASSICS-L list tells me that a manuscript was found in the Vatican in 2003, manufactured from reused […]
• Jesus is Horus, yes really
  Most of us will recall the vivid scenes in the gospels where Jesus’ father is killed by his brother, chopped up, and Mary has to reassemble the body.  We’ve all cried over the scene where she couldn’t find his willy, so had to fabricate an artificial substitute, in order to conceive Jesus by means of […]
• Fun with PhD thesis access
  Seventy-two years ago a nun submitted a PhD thesis to Boston College in the USA which contains an English translation of the Peristephanon of Prudentius.  The work was never published and is rare.  So I wrote to the college and asked for a copy. My request was declined.  Apparently it might be in copyright.  Shock! […]
• Documentary papyri and inscriptions online
  Did you know that images of the papyrus of the Gospel of Peter are online?  Well, they are, here.  Monochrome, of course (O ye uncircumcised!), but far better than nothing.  A photographic archive of other documentary papyri in the Cairo museum are here (courtesy of the Andrew Mellon foundation which is funding all sorts of […]
• Poem to a senator who has converted from Christianity to the servitude of idols
  There are quite a lot of scattered late Latin poems around, often attached to the works of Cyprian or Tertullian in manuscripts or early editions.  Some are interesting. This article discusses them, and I have a bunch on my Tertullian site under “spurious”.  One of these is a poem of 85 lines here, which talks […]
• The Taurobolium
  The high priest who is to be consecrated is brought down under ground in a pit dug deep, marvellously adorned with a fillet, binding his festive temples with chaplets, his hair combed back under a golden crown, and wearing a silken toga caught up with Gabine girding. Over this they make a wooden floor with […]
• Abby Finereader 9 is really excellent
  I’ve been scanning some stuff that I can’t really discuss in the evenings this week, but have been very, very impressed with the character recognition quality of Abby Finereader 9.  It is very nearly perfect, and such an improvement on previous OCR software. The only thing that I wish it could handle is English translation […]
• Did sacred prostitution exist in the classical world, or ancient near-east?
  I’ve no real idea, I have to say.  I’d always vaguely assumed so, and apparently scholars have always thought so.  But today I saw a BMCR review here by someone who thinks not, reviewing a book by an ally.  I’m a little wary of the ideology on display; the review makes it look a  bit […]
• Not that far up the Nile
  Reading of Jim West’s trip to Egypt reminded me that I was looking for somewhere to go just before Christmas, to fight off the winter blues.  I was thinking about flying out to Khartoum.  After all, the location is right for sunshine in December, and spending a week in a good hotel relaxing wouldn’t be […]
• Back to Agapius
  I know that various people are interested in the translation of Agapius, so they may be pleased to learn that I am still working on this.  In fact I did some more this afternoon.  What a pleasant change it was, after fighting with Firmicus Maternus.  There must be something wrong with the text of the latter, […]
• Blogging on the Nile
  Blogger Jim West is off to Egypt, it seems.  I hope we get to travel with him, vicariously.  Cairo should be nice at this time of year.  He’s also going on a Nile cruise, from Aswan to Luxor.  I’ve never been to Aswan myself — although I would like to.  I feel faintly envious. In […]
• Throw the photocopies away
  I’m surrounded by photocopies; parts of books, articles, etc.  Filing cabinets, boxes of photocopier paper.  But really, they aren’t convenient.  I can’t carry them around with me.  I don’t look at them often. Today I ordered a Fujitsu Scansnap S300 document reader.  It’s designed to take bunches of photocopies and turn them into PDF’s.  It’s […]
• ACW translation of Firmicus Maternus on Google books
  Only a preview, but quite an extensive one, here.
• The machine that can print off a book for you in minutes
  The Daily Mail has the story of a bookshop chain that are installing these machines here: It promises to bring the world of literature to the ordinary book-buyer at the touch of a button. In the time it takes to brew a cappuccino, this machine can print off any book that is not in stock […]
• The discovery of Firmicus Maternus
  It is always good to have a clear idea of how a book comes into our hands. In 1562 Mattias Flacius, who was writing a church history in the Lutheran interest, happened upon a handwritten medieval book at Minden in Germany, which contained an ancient text previously unknown.  The work was De errore profanum religionem (On […]
• Attis 3 – Firmicus Maternus
  In chapter 3 of his De errore profanum, Firmicus Maternus apparently discusses Attis, although without naming him.  Supposedly it says:  In the first half of the fourth century CE, Firmicus Maternus reports that “he whom they had buried a little while earlier [Attis] had come to life again.” (from here) There seems to be no […]
• CSNTM photographing manuscripts in Greece
  Get the daily reports from Eric Sowell.  Day 11 is here.
• Mithras and the Taurobolium
  The Taurobolium was a pagan Roman ritual in which the worshipper stood in a pit and was drenched in bull’s blood.  It was supposed to confer immortality, or something of the kind, although I’ve not researched it.  Sometimes people assert that this was part of the cult of Mithras, which seems to be untrue; the […]
• Attis, the sources: part 2
  Arnobius the Elder, Against the Pagans, book 5, 5-7 (here) has a long discussion of the cult of Cybele, the Great Mother, of which Attis is a part, and her castrated and infamous priests, the Galli: 5. In Timotheus, who was no mean mythologist, and also in others equally well informed, the birth of the […]
• Attis and Jesus
  Crude anti-Christian polemics often try to rubbish Christianity by alleging that loads of pagan deities had a myth about a god who was born of a virgin on 25 December, crucified, reborn after 3 days, and so on.  Factually this is rubbish, but it relies on general ignorance. I happened to see this post by […]
• Archimedes fire-mirror gets an early bath
  Jona Lendering points out that the common story that Archimedes used mirrors to set fire to Roman galleys rests on, erm, no historical source earlier than half a millennium later.  He lists the data and concludes the whole story is a legend.  Very interesting indeed, and highlights the need to tabulate the data before evaluating […]
• Mesmerised by “Hip gnosis” – or maybe not
  The internet gives us the power to encounter people that we could never have otherwise met, and then disagree with them.  I found an article by a certain Michael Kaler in a Canadian paper, the Globe, entitled “Hip Gnostics”.  (The title is nice, since it highlights the hippy interest in gnosticism).  It began with the following […]
• How to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before
  Ever wanted to learn about Syriac literature?  Or Persian?  Or Chinese? Or whatever?  It can be a daunting prospect, can’t it?  Why would we want to, anyway? Well, the need to do so comes about like this; during an interesting discussion, on an interesting subject, someone refers to some geezer from some other language group […]
• How not to translate the bible
  I found a blog pushing the TNIV, and added a comment to a post or two before I realised that the blog title “Better bibles” was really just Newspeak for “Use the TNIV.”  The TNIV is the version of the New International Version which was revised in accordance with the principles of political correctness.  If […]
• Coptic Paul found!
  The ps.gospel of Judas was sold together with three other manuscripts.  I have never been able to find what happened to one of them, which contained a Coptic version of three letters of Paul.  From Christian Askeland at Evangelical Textual Criticism I learn these excellent tidings: Along with Codex Tchacos (= the Gospel of Judas Codex), […]
• The Apocalypse of Samuel of Kalamoun – now online
  This very moving 10th century Coptic text records the collapse of Coptic culture and the abandonment of the Coptic language.  I’ve translated it into English from the French of the Maronite priest J. Ziadeh, and corrected it using other partial translations.  The introduction is here, together with some notes by me, and the translation itself […]
• UK copyright law ‘abject failure’ for information access
  What we can see online tends to depend on copyright laws.  These do vary.  How much they vary has been highlighted by a new report, which evaluated them for fitness for purpose.  The UK law was a surprise failure, because of some of its unique ‘features’, because it has been allowed to become out of […]
• Corpus Scriptorum Historiae Byzantinae
  This collection of 50 volumes contains the Byzantine historical writers. Thanks to Google books these are online, and thanks to Les Cigales éloquentes we can access them. The editions are not always reliable; but they are sometimes all we have. This list is copied from there: Authors Links Agathias One volume only Dexippus, Eunapius, Petrus […]
• Scribe, take down an apocalypse
  Intrigued by some notes in the edition of the apocalypse of Samuel of Kalamoun.  It says that bits seem copied from older apocalypses, such as those of Pisentius or Ps.Methodius, although not verbatim. Are we dealing with a genre here? — A way to describe the failings of events up to your own time, ascribe them […]
• Christianity in Iraq VI
  CENTRE OF EASTERN AND ORTHODOX CHRISTIANITY; DEPT for the STUDY of RELIGIONS; SCHOOL of ORIENTAL and AFRICAN STUDIES; in conjunction with The British Institute for the Study of Iraq & The Anglican and Eastern Churches Association presents CHRISTIANITY IN IRAQ VI: A seminar day on Christian Education in Iraq Speakers include Prof. Adam Becker (New […]
• Don’t bother with the Cambridge Patristics conference in September
  … unless you live close enough to walk.  Apparently the organisers have decided not to provide any car parking.  Or maybe the university authorities think that nobody who matters will need it; and the proles can just use what passes for public transport and good luck to them.  Either way, there is none. I had forgotten […]
• Finding Samuel of Kalamoun on my hard disk
  Erm, yes, well <cough>.  I’ve just found the Arabic text and French translation of the Apocalypse of Samuel of Kalamoun on my own hard disk.  A friend slipped me a collection of PDF’s of articles a while back.  Probably this will be more useful if I, erm, look at them. This is going to be […]
• Agapius – three quarters done
  I have now translated 75% of the 10th century Arabic Christian historian Agapius, from the French of A. A. Vasiliev.  Of course the translation has no scholarly value — more in the way of research notes.  But there are a considerable number of people who do not read French easily, if at all, and so […]
• End procrastination, but not yet
  Isn’t it remarkable how much you can get done, doing it in odd moments?  And how little gets done, when you sit down to it with a full day ahead of you? Here I am, on Bank Holiday Monday.  I have the whole day off.  It’s grey outside, so no real reason to go anywhere.  […]
• Jesus Christ is risen – alleluia
  I do not use my PC on Sundays — I’d go mad if I sat on it seven days a week! — so I thought that I would post this in advance!
• Going Dutch for Mithras
  Does anyone have access to M. J. VERMASEREN, Mithras de geheimzinnige god, (Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1959)? If so, can they locate the passage for me which appears on pp.103-4 of the English translation (not made by Vermaseren), and reads: Justin records that on the occasion of the meal the participants used certain formulae comparable with the […]
• Coptic text of 2 Enoch recovered
  2 Enoch only exists in an Old Slavonic version.  But a Coptic version has been rediscovered in fragments from Nubia, from the now drowned site at Qasr Ibrim.  The fragments were discovered in the Egypt Exploration Society rescue expedition in 1963, as the waters rose behind the Aswan High Dam.  Joost Hagen has been entrusted […]
• Good Friday
  It is good Friday, I’m at home, and the sun is shining.  Some days it all just comes to you!  I wish you all a happy Easter.
• Cyril project cancelled
  In June 2008 I commissioned a translation of Cyril of Alexandria’s Apologeticus ad imperatorem.  It’s about 15 pages in the ACO edition, and a competent person should be able to translate it in 3-4 days.  Unfortunately the translator has been very hard to deal with, and hasn’t produced anything but excuses since before Christmas.  It’s […]
• Manuscripts online now at the VMR
  Lots of Syriac, Arabic, Coptic and Persian mss are starting to appear at the VMR, here.  Contents contain all sorts of things; service books, bits of the bible, homilies, and so on. When I first looked, I was using IE6 and couldn’t see any images.  But with Firefox it’s fine, even from behind a corporate firewall.  […]
• Give it away and sell more
  An interesting post by Charles Jones at AWOL.  Apparently the Chicago Oriental Institute have found that, now that they give away online electronic copies of their obscure, specialist-only, publications, they are selling more of their print backlist.  Sales are up by 7%. Not everyone would have predicted this, including me.  Some market research is needed […]
• History and rare events
  How probable is it that Jesus of Nazareth rose from the dead? James McGrath has been posting on this here and here, and quotes Bart Ehrman to the effect that it is utterly unlikely, and suggests that we cannot know by historical investigation whether such a thing happened. Each is articulating a religious opinion, of […]
• Apocalypse of Samuel of Kalamoun
  I mentioned earlier this Coptic text which records the abandonment of Coptic for Arabic.  A query to the Hugoye list produced a lot of info: A text and translation can apparently be found here: J. Ziadeh (ed./tr.), “L’apocalypse de Samuel, superieur de Deir el-Qalamoun”, in: ROC 20 (1915-17), pp. 376-92/392-404.  I’m not sure if this […]
• Bibliotheque National Francais – more bloodsucking
  Very angry this morning with the BNF.   They’ve just demanded $30 per page for a copy of two manuscripts.  People will recall that I ordered reproductions of these two mss from them.  They charged me $400 — a huge, bloodsucking sum, enough to win them the March 2009 Bloodsucker award.  What arrived was some incredibly cheap […]
• New Hugoye is out
  The new issue of the Syriac studies academic journal Hugoye (vol. 12, no. 1) is out and available online here.
• Gospel of Judas, Coptic Paul, Greek Exodus
  Sometime before 1983, peasants in Egypt found four manuscript books somewhere. They were smuggled out of the country, and first seen by scholars in 1983, in boxes. They were hawked around the art market for more than 20 years. One of these contained the ps.gospel of Judas; the others were a Greek mathematical treatise, a […]
• Coptic Apocalypse of Daniel – now online
  I’ve translated Macler’s version and placed it here.  This translation has no scholarly value, of course, but is more like research notes.  I place it in the public domain, so do as you will with it.  If you’d like to support the site, please buy a copy of the CD of the Fathers. The text […]
• Mass manuscripts online? – The Virtual Manuscripts Room project
  Possibly a very important announcement here.  The project proposal is very badly worded, so I’m not quite sure of this, but it sounds as if the Mingana library is going to make all of its manuscripts available online.  A German NT group is also involved.  I’ve buzzed an email to the Mingana to see what […]
• More on the Coptic Apocalypse of Daniel
  Frederic Macler’s articles in the RHR 33 (1896) * discuss the various Apocalypses of Daniel.  He knows of nine such texts; six in Greek, one in Coptic, one in Armenian and one in Persian, and lists the publications (p.33f).  Clearly it was a popular vehicle to express your sentiments on your own times! The Coptic […]
• The Coptic apocalypse of Daniel
  Ian Tompkins pointed me to an interesting article on this little known Coptic text, in RHR 33 (1896), 163-176.  Since I don’t know anything about this text, and M. Macler is willing to tell me (in French), here is a running translation of excerpts of his article. It’s name, The fourteenth vision of Daniel, is […]
• A couple of interesting Coptic texts
  An email asks me whether I have come across a couple of texts, previously unknown to me; the Coptic apocalypse of Daniel, and the Apocalypse of Samuel of Kalamoun. It continues: The Apocalypse of Daniel was used during the Crusades to predict the downfall of Muslim rule. The Apocalypse of Samuel contains the strongest denunciation of language […]
• Trouble at Tearfund
  Long ago charities like Oxfam and Christian Aid were infiltrated and hijacked by the political left.  They then started pushing left-wing ideology as if it was morally righteous and attempting to overthrow regimes unpopular with that constituency.  Meanwhile they kept demanding money from the public.  This went so far that War on Want were rebuked by the […]
• Agapius can be tedious
  I hope no-one ever tries to translate Agapius from Arabic by starting at the beginning.  I started my translation from French at the time of Jesus, mid-way.  That’s not too bad, and the material to the end is moderately interesting. But the first quarter of it… yuk! I expected it to be largely based on embellished […]
• German state archives donate pictures to Wikipedia
  Get the story here; we’re talking hundreds of thousands of images.  Someone in Germany clearly gets the internet.  Well done!  Now what about images of manuscripts?
• Errors in Cramer’s catena publication
  I’ve made use of the medieval commentary published by J. A. Cramer for fragments of Eusebius, but some of the attributions have seemed a bit odd.  Quite by accident today I was skimming through volume 6 of the Journal of Theological Studies, when I came across an article by Claude Jenkins on p.113-116 about the […]
• Choose your career wisely
  We all hate going to work on Mondays, but in a way most of us are fortunate.  For example, on the way in to work today, I passed a van labelled “Sparkles mobile dog wash.”  Just imagine what that job must involve.  It’s a job which means driving all over the place to wash dirty dogs.  Imagine […]
• Academic books are doomed
  Ever wanted to consult a text or translation of an ancient author in volume of the Sources Chrétiennes and then realised that the library is closed, or doesn’t have it?  Or to look up an author in the Clavis Patrum Graecorum?  It’s a pain, isn’t it?  I have here a volume of Isidore of Pelusium’s letters, and […]
• Kiss the sword, infidel
  From FiveFeetOfFury I learn of this report.  It seems that a UN “human rights council” has passed a resolution “urging passage of laws around the world to protect religion from criticism.”  Of course they have one particular religion in mind here: yes, they want to ensure that if Osama bin Laden blows up your home in the […]
• New manuscripts blog
  In French, here.  Not wildly exciting, tho.
• Manuscripts of the history of al-Makin
  The 13th century Arabic Christian chronicle of George Al-Makin or Ibn Amid has never been published in full, or translated into any other language.  However it contains a version of the so-called Testimonium Flavianum, based on that in Agapius.  Some access to this text is desirable, therefore.  It’s a big text, in two halves.  The […]
• Scum in the church: Isidore comments
  The scumbag ecclesiastic is a perennial figure, his hands ever grasping the property of others, ever active in promoting evil, mouth ever open against any who dare to suggest that his life and actions are condemned by Christ.  Bishop Eusebius of Pelusium has ordained one of his sidekicks, a man named Zosimus, conspicuous for his evil […]
• Jerome, Chronicle; Oxford facsimile now online
  PDF is here.  It’s plainly a google book, but not sure where from.
• 18th century scholars in the 21st century
  While I was kept offline and looking for something to read, I found on my hard disk some volumes of the Bibliotheca Graeca of J. Fabricius.  This is a catalogue of all Greek writers from the beginning up to the renaissance, complete with extensive chunks of their works.  It’s in Latin, of course, but anyone […]
• Some 1843 translations of ancient letters, including Isidore of Pelusium
  In 1843 William Roberts translated a selection of the letters of Isidore of Pelusium into English, as part of his book A History of Letter Writing from the earliest period to the fifth century.  I stumbled across a copy of the PDF which I must have downloaded ages ago, while looking around my hard disk for […]
• MIT to make all faculty publications open access
  This story from slashdot is good news: “If there were any doubt that open access publishing was setting off a bit of a power struggle, a decision made last week by the MIT faculty should put it to rest. Although most commercial academic publishers require that the authors of the works they publish sign all […]
• In copyright books for free, more on Ethos
  Ohio State University Press have started making full texts of some of their books available online as PDF’s.  They’ve realised that they’re not making money on these, and decided to get on with the business of disseminating knowledge instead.  My heroes!  The list is here.  Thanks to Christopher Ecclestone for the tip!  Titles include Gregory, […]
• Gifts at Christmas, “strenae” on 1st January
  The Catholic Encyclopedia tells us that the Romans gave gifts on 1st January (the Kalends of January), called strenae.  Pagan customs centering round the January calends gravitated to Christmas. Tiele (Yule and Christmas, London, 1899) has collected many interesting examples. The strenae (étrennes) of the Roman 1 January (bitterly condemned by Tertullian, de Idol., xiv […]
• Further letters of Isidore of Pelusium
  In his cell outside the Egyptian city of Pelusium, ca. 430 AD, Isidore of Pelusium is still writing spiritual advice to us all.  Some are doing well.  But it can be risky to be proud of success in overcoming temptation: 1225 (V.10) TO SYMMACHUS In the civil wars, even if the conquerors are more unfortunate than the […]
• UK museums get the web: it’s snowball time!
  Eight UK museums have got together to set up a website to put their collections online and get members of the public to contribute their own photos and information, and use the data to compile their own albums of data.  It’s called Creative Spaces. At the moment it’s in beta. Andie at Egyptology News tells us […]
• A little too much jargon, Yared
  A conference notice tells us that this paper will be given: Deacon Andualem Dagmawi, University of St. Michael’s College: The Reception of St. Ephrem’s Apophaticism in the Hymnography of St. Yared the Ethiopian  Erm, you what?  Who? I know who Ephrem the Syrian is — 4th century very important Syriac writer, big on hymns and […]
• News snippet: Wiley overcharging for theology journals?
  There are angry faces at a lot of small theological libraries across the world today.  American publisher Wiley bought a load of academic theological journals recently, and have jacked up the prices by as much as 100% or more.  Worse yet, they bundled the increase with a compulsory electronic subscription which — in stupid countries — […]
• Patristics and inerrancy
  For some time I have been wondering how the early Christians discuss issues like inerrancy.  The obvious thing to do is to collect statements from the first 3-4 centuries of Christian writing, and see what sort of attitude to scripture these have.  Indeed it is so obvious that surely someone has already done this?  Suggestions would […]
• What about “Google manuscript”?
  Wouldn’t it be nice if we could just download manuscripts as PDF’s, rather than go through the gruesome and expensive process of obtaining whatever rubbish the libraries feel like selling us?  Last week I wrote to Google suggesting that they do a project to make medieval manuscripts accessible.  We all know how difficult archives make […]
• Syriac words in the Koran
  To what extent does the Koran contain Syriac words?  I’ve been reading a review of Christoph Luxenberg’s book about the Koran  by Martin F. J. Baasten in Aramaic Studies 2.2 (2004), pp. 268-272 (here), and finding it rather excellent.  It has been claimed — he cautiously states — that 80% of all loan-words in the […]
• Christian literature in Middle Persian
  Now here’s a thought: The century again witnessed several periods of open warfare between the two empires, but by this time the Sasanian authorities no longer felt any serious need to doubt the loyalty of their Christian subjects. It is significant that the synod of 576 instructed that prayers for Khosroes I always be included […]
• Two snippets
  The $400 PDF-microfilm of the unpublished 13th century Arabic Christian historian al-Makin was rubbish and unreadable.  I complained and was ignored.  I complained again two days ago, and threatened to involve VISA.  Today I got a note asking me to return the CD for checking, which makes no mention of the first note.  Clearly persistence […]
• Two maps of ancient Antioch
  Whenever I read a fantasy novel, I love to see a map.  Likewise I love to see maps of ancient cities.  In a way, the latter are like the former, except that they once actually existed.  Imagine entering the city, and walking along the main street! Chris Ecclestone has posted two maps of ancient Antioch here.  Somehow […]
• A little-known find of Coptic books in 1910
  While perusing the Book-Think blog, I came across mention of a find of Coptic books at the Monastery of St. Michael in 1910.  This was interesting, since although I am interested in Egyptian manuscript discoveries, I had never heard of it. I find an article in the Catholic Encyclopedia which deals with the find. The […]
• Donate to get more NT mss online
  I’ve just discovered the link for donations to the Centre for the Study of New Testament Manuscripts.  They’re going around photographing manuscripts, and accustoming their holders to the idea of digital photography, and of putting manuscripts online.  This makes them trail-blazers for us all, even if — like me — NT manuscripts are peripheral to […]
• Koln archive wins the Darwin award, puts selves in hole
  I’ve been blogging on the disaster at Koln, where the municipal archive fell into in a large hole in the ground when the building collapsed.  I speculated that the archive probably saw requests for photographs as a chance to make money, rather than an opportunity to record and preserve.  The local university has put out an appeal […]
• List of CSEL volumes with links to Google books
  A Spanish Romanian language blog has a list and set of links here.  Most useful!
• Michael the Syrian vol. 2 now at Archive.org
  I’ve finished scanning the 540-odd pages of vol. 2 of Michael the Syrian and uploaded a PDF of it to Archive.org here.  Archive.org are still using Abbyy Finereader 8 to OCR the text, and Finereader 9 is quite a bit better.  So I have also uploaded the output from that; a Word document, a .txt […]
• Patristics Carnival 21
  …is here.  Thanks to Phil for compiling this list of patristic posts on blogs in the last month, and for including mine.  I liked his wry comment on an atheist’s critical review of a Bart Ehrman book.
• More on the Biblioteca Ambrosiana
  Well, after my last post, I got a quick reply — and in English! — from Valerio Brambilla at the Biblioteca Ambrosiana.  He was very helpful, which was a nice change. Firstly, I learned that the BA is in fact a private collection!  It is not state-funded.  I didn’t know this; I wonder how many […]
• Digging in the hole which was once an archive
  The Koln archive is currently sitting at the bottom of a large hole filled with rubble etc.  This link gives information on an appeal for volunteers to help dig out the archive material.  Some entirely unofficial (as he notes) remarks posted to Mediev-L by Alexander Regh: Short news update: Approximately 40% of the documents in […]
• Why didn’t Buffy the Vampire-slayer study Patristics?
  Probably because it isn’t a sexy subject.  So… should we be taking steps to ensure that potential students of Patristics DO associate the two?  And, if so, what steps? Anyone who suggests bribing them with a free copy of John Climacus The Ladder gets thrown out straight away.
• More Michael the Syrian
  A crisp sunny morning, a free afternoon at home, and an email arrives telling me that volume 2 of Michael the Syrian is available for collection at my local library.  Sometimes it all just comes together.  I wonder how much of it I can scan today? UPDATE: (Early Afternoon) I’d forgotten how HEAVY the volumes […]
• Isidore the pastor
  Isidore of Pelusium is still writing to those seeking his advice.  The first is an erudite bishop, who would like to be seen as a philosopher. 1219 (=IV.174) TO MARINOS, BISHOP I find that the definition that the illustrious Job gives of wisdom and knowledge is a happy one: “To worship God is wisdom; to […]
• UK government seeks to kill net neutrality in EU
  Another state attack on information access here.  Amusingly the unnamed bureacrat trying to close off free access used a definition swiped from Wikipedia in the proposal.  Thanks to slash.dot for info.
• The EU doesn’t get the internet, it seems
  The US Google Books and Archive.org are free.  The EU equivalent charges readers money.  That tells us everything we need to know about the EU. How many of us were aware that there *was* an EU official alternative?  few, I imagine.  But today I learned about it: Books2EBooks.  It’s a glossy site, paid for by levies […]
• Arabic texts online in Arabic
  A notice from BYZANS-L: On 09/03/2009, Alexander Hourany wrote: Here are some websites that contain free online versions of old Arabic  sources like the history of al-Tabari and many others. Although some of them contain typing errors, they are very usefull in textual search.   al-Meshkat library site:  http://www.almeshkat.net/books/index.php   Yasoob al-Din library: http://www.yasoob.com/   al-Mostafa library: […]
• Arabic manuscripts in the British Library on micro-fiche
  I learned today that all the Arabic manuscripts in the British Library were filmed and placed on micro-fiche.  Apparently an Arab princeling paid for it, but great news.  Less good news is that the set is available from IDC, offline, at the usual inflated prices (ca. $180,000).  Remarkable really, considering that their investment is nil.  […]
• Printing banned by Islam?
  Was there a ban on printing in Islam? I saw the following claim online here: Printing was banned by Islamic authorities because they believed the Koran would be dishonoured by appearing out of a machine. As a result, Arabs did not acquire printing presses until the 18th century. UPDATE: Geoff Carter in the comments has […]
• A few more letters of Isidore of Pelusium
  Isidore seems to be an unrecognised spiritual classic.  The more of his letters I read, the more clear this seems to me, and the more obvious the need for a good plain English translation, with enough footnotes to make it possible to follow the intertwined threads.  Today I got the first volume of the Sources […]
• Bergstrasser’s edition and German translation of Hunain ibn Ishaq, on translations of Galen
  Greek science was translated into Arabic in the 10th century, mostly by Nestorian Christians such as Hunain ibn Ishaq.  The Moslem Caliphs of that period were the Abbassids, who came from Persia, and so knew the Nestorians as their “home” Christians.  With their access to the Greek medical tradition, including the works of the 2nd […]
• The March 2009 Bloodsucker award winner — the Bibliothèque Nationale Français
  In early January I ordered images from the Bibliothèque Nationale Français of a manuscript of the unpublished 13th century Arabic Christian historian, al-Makin.  Today I received a CDROM containing two PDF’s.   The PDF’s were simply scans of a low-grade black-and-white microfilm, of about the same quality as a Google books scan.  One was 40Mb, the other 10Mb.  […]
• Google to digitize every book in the world
  A story this morning in the New York Times: that Google is placing adverts in print media all around the world, large and small, trying to find the owners of copyrights, as part of its agreement with publishers to handle in-copyright material. As part of the class-action settlement, Google will pay $125 million to create […]
• More NT manuscripts from CSNTM
  A couple of blog posts on recent activity from Dan Wallace and his team.  This will be a busy year: In January 2009, we sent a team to Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Australia; and Auckland, New Zealand. We are right now gearing up for the rest of 2009. On the docket are Athens, Andros, Kozani, and […]
• Science and Christianity and myths about the two
  The well-known quotation from St. Augustine on science and unwise Christians appears at Quodlibeta.
• Koln archive building falls into large hole in ground
  According to the report on the English pages of Der Spiegel, the 1971 building collapsed.  Work on the tube line running under the front wall may be responsible.  Loads of documents may be lost, some dating back to 922 AD.  It’s unclear whether any medieval manuscripts will have gone west.  More here (in German), which […]
• The future of online research
  An important article here in Digital Humanities from Greg Crane of Perseus, looking at where we are and where we go with collections like Archive.org and Perseus.  It includes discussion of experiments with OCR’ing Ancient Greek, and an image of the Venetus A manuscript of Homer.
• Holy desktop, Batman!
  From the ever excellent Way of the Fathers I learn of a company selling a set of Windows/Mac OSX icons, depicting the Fathers.  It’s only $5, so might be a fun item. What happened to the Ephraim icon?  Is that a beard completely covering his face? Some of the lettering on the Ephraim icon ought […]
• Bar Hebraeus, Chronicon Ecclesiasticum vol. 1 now online
  Thanks to Stephen C. Carlson, I learned a few days ago that volume 1 of Bar Hebraeus Chronicon Ecclesiasticum was online in PDF form at Google Books here.  Unfortunately this 1872 book is  kept behind their “US-only” firewall, although it is out of copyright everywhere in the world.  I’ve placed an ILL for volume 2, […]
• Internet Archive blog
  There is a blog for the Internet Archive (archive.org).  It’s here, and I’ve added it as a link.
• Three Israeli bible mss available for download
  At Paleojudaica I learned of this message from Elhanan Adler: The National Library of Israel, David and Fela Shapell Family Digitization Project, is pleased to announce the digitization of three of the Library’s most important Bible manuscripts… The manuscripts are presented in the DjVu format which provides high quality, magnifiable images compressed into relatively small […]
• Hippolytus, Apostolic tradition now online
  Tom Schmidt writes that he has completed digitizing the English translation of this obscure work, which he has made public domain!  Excellent news all round.  I sympathise with his experiences of doing it, tho, really I do!
• The Monte Carlo approach to borrowing books
  Everyone knows that libraries lend books.  Some people know that you can borrow books not in the local library via an inter-library loan.  A few people know that you can borrow books from the national library this way, or get photocopies of journal articles. https://www.snyderchildcare.com/xanax-alprazolam/ Sometimes it’s worth pushing the envelope a bit.  Today I’ve […]
• Uploading to Archive.org
  Like most people, I have become used to searching Google books and Archive.org for out-of-copyright scholarly texts.  These are an enormous blessing to us all, where books normally hidden in University rare books rooms can be downloaded as a PDF.  I’ve become aware that it is possible to upload books to Archive.org, and have uploaded […]
• The pain of being Galen; plagiarism in the ancient world
  I’ve been looking at P. N. Singer’s Galen: Selected Works, which contains English translations of several of his works.  Now most of us are not interested in ancient medicine, but two of the works are interesting to students of the transmission of texts.  I refer, of course, to On my own books and The order […]
• Early Islamic description of Antioch
  I mentioned earlier that an early Islamic description of ancient Antioch was published by I. Guidi, ‘una descrizione araba di Antiocheia’, Rendiconti della R. Accademia dei Lincei, Cl. di scienze morali, storiche e filolgiche, ser. 5, vol 6, pp. 137-161 (1897).  It’s only 24 pages, half of which at least is an Italian translation.  I […]
• An open letter to the Ambrosian Library in Milan
  I have today written to the Biblioteca Ambrosiana in Milan, as follows. Dear Sir, I believe that Notre Dame University in the USA have a set of microfilms of the manuscript collection of the Biblioteca Ambrosiana: https://hatleylawfirm.com/ambien-zolpidem-online/ http://medieval.library.nd.edu/resources/ambrosiana_mss.shtml But they say that “Notre Dame is no longer able to supply microfilms or photographs from the […]
• Michael the Syrian: preface to his history
  The largest medieval Syriac Chronicle is that of Michael the Syrian, published with a French translation early in the 20th century by J. B. Chabot.  A single volume of this is online here. https://morrisburgdental.ca/lasix-online/ The preface  survives only in an Armenian translation, also with French translation.  My memory is probably playing tricks on me, but I  […]
• Why all journal articles should be composed in Latin
  In the 19th century it was unremarkable for a scholar to publish his thesis or book in Latin.  Many did so.  After all, to obtain admittance to a university every student had to demonstrate competence in Latin.  So every scholar should be able to read and write in Latin as easily as his native language.  Let us compare […]
• E. W. Brooks and the Chronicle of James of Edessa
  Chronica Minora III (CSCO 6, AD 1906) contains Latin translations of a number of Syriac historical texts, each with an introduction.  I thought that I would give the introduction to the Chronicle of James of Edessa here in English, since this text is an important one for the early history of ambien Islam.  Notes by […]
• Microfilms of the Ambrosian library in the USA
  Christopher Ecclestone has sent me this link which shows that a US university has microfilm copies of all the manuscripts in the Ambrosian library in Milan.  Good to know these exist; now what about getting them online where we can see them? The holdings of the Biblioteca Ambrosiana (named after Ambrose of Milan, of course) […]
• New fragments of the Turin King-list
  Our knowledge of the dynasties of the Pharaoh’s derives in the first place from Manetho, a Greek working for the Ptolemies. Actually that well-worn statement is misleading; Manetho is lost, and our knowledge of the contents of his work derives from quotations by Eusebius, mostly in the Chronicle. In the 19th century Drovetti discovered a […]
• A curious problem with discussing Islam online
  The number of threats to freedom of speech online seems to increase daily; far more than I can reasonably blog about here, on a blog dedicated to patristics and manuscript studies.  So I try to discuss only really important stuff.  By chance I came across this post, which contained the following statement: My video IS […]
• 95% of UK ISP’s implementing censorship machinery
  From slashdot.org: “The UK government stated in 2006 that they wished to see 100% of UK consumer broadband ISPs’ connections covered by blocking, which includes” — but is not limited to — “images of child abuse. 95% of ISPs have complied, but children’s charities are calling for firmer action by the government as the last 5% […]
• Agapius on a boat
  I’m still translating the world history of the 10th century Arabic Christian writer Agapius.  I’ve just come across this: This sea contains also on the coast of Persia a gulf which is called the Persian Gulf;  its length is 1,400 miles, its width at the beginning is 500 miles and its end is 150 miles.  […]
• New Department of Syriac at Mardin University
  I learn from George Kiraz on the Hugoye list of a newspaper announcement that Mardin University in Eastern Turkey is to create a department of Syriac studies.  Apparently Oxford University is the only other university in the world with such a department.   The university is based in the middle of the remaining Syriac-speaking population, which […]
• Persepolis tablets and US law courts
  There is a curious story here, and elsewhere on the web.  Currently some cuneiform tablets from Persepolis were loaned by the Iranians to a US museum.   Some people in the US, related to people killed in Iranian-organised bombings in Israel in 1997, and of the US marine barracks in Beirut in 1983, have filed a lawsuit demanding […]
• Biblia Patristica now online
  Want to know where a verse of scripture is referenced in the Fathers?  The answer has always been the Biblia Patristica volumes.  These are now embedded in BIBLIndex, and so accessible to us all.  Well done, chaps!  (Thanks to Ben Blackwell for publicizing this).
• More letters of Isidore of Pelusium
  27. (1.27) TO THE PALACE EUNUCH PHARISMANIUS. I understand that it is said that you are interested in the divine books and that you make an appropriate use of their testimonies in every circumstance, but that you are a covetous man, furiously grabbing for yourself from the lives of others.  I am extremely astonished that this assiduous reading has not blessed you with the divine […]
• Another letter of Isidore of Pelusium
  323 (1.323). TO CYRIL, ARCHBISHOP OF ALEXANDRIA. Many scriptural testimonies, many patristic speculations set forth with certainty the true doctrines of the Incarnation of the Lord, even if this mystery exceeds what we can think or say about it. The true God, who reigns over all things, was really made man without undergoing change in […]
• Interesting letters of Isidore of Pelusium
  I’ve been reading the account of Isidore’s letters given by Quasten in volume 3 of his Patrology, pp.180-185.  Quasten is a treasure.  He tried very hard to give an interesting picture of each author, and also to find all the English translations for them all.  I have spent many happy hours reading and re-reading his […]
• Asterix, manuscripts, and the Bibliothèque Nationale Français
  In Asterix and the Normans, the Gauls encounter the Normans, who know no fear but would like to.  They are invited to listen to the village bard, the aptly named Cacafonix.  After his first number, the Normans look pained.  “By Thor!” says one; “By Odin!” another; “Bite on the bullet!” says a third.  A few […]
• Recreational use of a nymphaeum in ancient times
  A few weeks ago the Antiochepedia site mentioned that an unspecified Arabic source 1 suggested that skin diseases could be cured by bathing in the town water supply.  This rather horrible idea seemed unusual; but I wonder. When I was in Leptis Magna, I saw the nymphaeum there.  The temple was essentially a facade onto a massive […]
• Help with some French
  I’m trying to understand a passage of Agapius.  Here is the French translation: can anyone tell me what it means? Il faut que nous sachions d’abord que la terre est ronde comme une boule; son centre cul­tivé et habité représente une élévation; ses côtés touchent les quatre parties qui sont situées en bas; à cause […]
• Revue de l’Orient Chretien on Google books
  A bunch of these are available here.
• Cramer’s Catena online at Archive.org
  You can download all the volumes of Cramer’s catena from here.  Thanks to this blog for the tip!
• Abu Al-Majdalus, “Commentary on the Nicene Creed” – now online
  Some months ago I obtained images of two manuscripts from the Oriental Library at St. Joseph University in Beirut, containing a 15th century and 18th century text of the Commentary on the Nicene Creed of the 10th century Arabic Christian writer, al-Majdalus.  I then commissioned Samuel Noble to transcribe and translate this work into English. The […]
• Translations that ought to exist
  What untranslated ancient texts deserve to be translated?  Here is a list of texts that I have thought about translating, which I feel ought to exist in English.  Of course there are many others that probably deserve attention too — these are merely ones where I have given some serious thought to it.  It’s a […]
• Courting the mystery – a new patristics blog
  Courtesy of the Patristics Carnival, I have just discovered Kevin and his blog, here, although he has been blogging since 2007 at least.  It’s good to meet someone who has the same interest in G.W.H.Lampe’s lexicon of patristic Greek as I do.  There doesn’t seem to be any way to contact the author, tho.
• Patristics Carnival 20
  Phil Snider has uploaded a digest of the best patristics blog entries in the last month here.  Thank you for the kind mentions, Phil!
• Playing with the Google Greek->English translator
  Ekaterini Tsalampouni linked to this blog from her Greek language website.  I wanted to know what she said, so I copied it and pasted it into Google language tools.  The result was really very good: Κατάλογος ψηφιοποιημένων χειρογράφων. Από το ιστολόγιο του Roger Pearse πληροφορούμαστε για την ύπαρξη στο διαδίκτυο καταλόγου ψηφιοποιημένων χειρογράφων του Μεσαίωνα (μεταξύ των […]
• The lost libraries of Timbuktu
  One evening last week I happened to see part of a BBC4 TV programme, The lost libraries of Timbuktu: Aminatta Forna tells the story of legendary Timbuktu and its long hidden legacy of hundreds of thousands of ancient manuscripts. With its university founded around the same time as Oxford, Timbuktu is proof that the reading […]
• More lust for the CPG – works of Eusebius in Armenian and Georgian
  I’ve been unable to stop thinking about the object of my obsession.  Yes, this is another “why the Clavis Patrum Graecorum is like Paris Hilton” post.  Both might make you go blind, for instance, although probably for different reasons.  How many people realise just how wonderful this object is? What brought this on, I hear you […]
• The Clavis Patrum Graecorum – what about the workers?!
  I lust after the Clavis Patrum Graecorum, Geerard’s multi-volume list in Latin of the Greek and Oriental fathers and their works.  I feel about it like some people must feel about Paris Hilton; something incredibly expensive which one could never afford to run. You know, this is an essential reference tool, for anyone working with the Fathers.  But […]
• No free speech online in Australia? – blame the Christians!
  In Slash.dot today there is an article which tells me that “Christian groups” in Australia are campaigning to get the government to filter all internet traffic there.  This puts in place the tools to censor the web in Australia.  Looking around, I find the Australian Christian Lobby seems to be the group in question.  They […]
• Manuscripts online from Corpus Christi College, Cambridge
  One of the Cambridge colleges has put its manuscripts online; or rather, has allowed an American university to do it for them.  Thanks to the catalogue in the last item, I find that the Parker library at CCC is online here. The website is a bit useless.  What you want is a list of manuscripts […]
• Catalogue of digitised medieval manuscripts online
  A new catalogue of medieval mss online has appeared.  It’s here. The man responsible, Matthew Fisher, in this article in Science Daily makes exactly the right points. A member of a new generation of scholars who cut their teeth in the San Francisco Bay Area during the dot-com era, the Los Angeles native is motivated by […]
• Recipient names in Isidore of Pelusium
  The recipient names in the letters of Isidore of Pelusium have a different textual history to the body of the text.  These names appear at the top of each letter, sometimes followed by a one-line summary. I learn from Pierre Evieux’s excellent study that in the manuscripts, these items were not copied at the same time as […]
• The EThOS of the electronic age
  An interesting statistic from Owen Stephens, who is project director for the EthOS project to make British PhD theses available online (and who picked up and commented on my post about the project – clearly a man on top of his game).  Making theses available online has quite an impact: To give some indication of the […]
• Problems with the CSCO edition of Jacob of Edessa’s Chronicle
  The Chronicle of Eusebius may not be his best known work, but it is still fairly widely known.  The second half of this consisted of tables of dates, rulers, and events, in a form which has now been imitated and continued for some fifteen centuries (Jerome’s version here). Among the continuators was the 7th century […]
• Free speech in Canada: a commission of enquiry
  This blog is mainly about patristics and ancient history.  But any blogger must take an interest in whether he might be dragged before the courts by someone who decides to be “offended” and belongs to a legally privileged group.  It is for this reason that I link to Ezra Levant, the Canadian blogger who was attacked […]
• EthOS – the first useful service from the British Library
  I have often commented on the British Library, on its greed, obscurantism and general uselessness as a public service.  Nor have I any reason to suppose this worthless institution has reformed. But for a change, thanks to Ben Blackwell, I have discovered a new service that may conceivably be useful to us all.  Evidently not everyone at the […]
• Isidore of Pelusium: some more letters
  Here are two more letters of this 5th century monastic: 311. TO THE EMPEROR THEODOSIUS How to provide assurance to the synod If you could personally take the time to join them in deliberating at Ephesus, I am sure that there will be no censure of you on their part. If you leave the voting to the […]
• Bringing projects to an end
  The recession is biting, and I need to reduce my outgoings.  Luckily the Eusebius is all but done, the al-Majdalus is done, and I have a promise of the Cyril text for a week hence.  I’ve cancelled the translation of letters by Isidore, and decided not to commission a translation of the medieval biographies of […]
• Cicero at Oxyrhynchus
  I wonder how many people know that 10 papyrus fragments of Cicero exist from Oxyrhynchus, etc, the earliest dating from the start of the 1st century AD and the latest from the 6th? I certainly didn’t! I owe this knowledge to CEDOPAL, the online database of 7,000 papyri.  A look at the drop-down list of […]
• Egypt has it all blog
  A commercial blog on places of interest in Egypt, with lots of nice pictures!  This includes Coptic sites.
• Managing my e-mail
  Some weeks I am away from home.  I keep up with my email via a rather dumb SquirrelMail web interface (provided by my ISP), and delete the spam.  But I wish I could organise it!  When I go home, I connect to the net, and my mail client downloads the email.  Then I have to […]
• UK copyrights everything ever made?
  Susan Rhoads of Elfinspell drew my attention to this discussion on Wikimedia, where images of out of copyright material were deleted in response to a claim that in the UK any photograph is copyright, even a scan of out-of-copyright material.  The claim is being made by a certain John van Whye, from http://darwin-online.org.uk/, as a […]
• The Suetonius we do not know
  I doubt that many people reading this blog are unfamiliar with the master work of Q. Suetonius Tranquillus, Lives of the 12 Caesars (and if you are, go and buy the Penguin translation by Robert Graves NOW).  But how many of us have read the other surviving works: the Lives of the Grammarians, Poets, Rhetoricians?  I […]
• More Zenobius
  A query in CLASSICS-L has brought some more info on this obscure 2nd century AD compiler of proverbs. Andrew Chugg writes: It’s a bit questionable whether Zenobius is an author or merely a compiler, since according to the Suda (s.v. Zenobios) his Proverbia consists of the proverbs of Arius Didymus of Alexandria and Tarrhaeus (Lucillus […]
• Eusebius project progress
  Regular readers will know that a year ago I commissioned David Miller to translate all that now exists of Eusebius of Caesarea’s Quaestiones Evangelicae ad Stephanum et Marinum.  This consists of an epitome of the work, plus a large number of fragments from catenae and the like.  The subject of the work is differences between […]
• The curse of too much reading
  JPS points us to a post by Kevin Edgcomb: I curse my studies. Sometimes, anyway. What good is it to be following a Bible reading plan for the faithful when half of what is going on during my reading is (Lord, have mercy!) a critique of the translation, a mental retroversion to the Hebrew and/or […]
• No Zenobius in English?
  I never cease to be astonished at the quantity of ancient Greek literature that does not exist in English.  A few days ago I was looking into the testimonia for the tomb of Alexander.  Andrew Chugg has the following on his site: “Ptolemy Philopator built [in 215 BC] in the middle of the city of […]
• Project to translate all of Galen into English
  I learn from this job advert in CLASSICS-L that things are afoot in the world of Galen studies.  The Wellcome Trust – after the big pharmaceutical company, Glaxo-Wellcome (now GSK) has funded some posts to edit and translate Galen.  The idea is to translate all of Galen into English! The project is under Philip van der […]
• Hunain ibn Ishaq, on the works of Galen
  I was musing a little while ago about a small work by Hunain ibn Ishaq, the most important of the translators of the classics into Arabic in the 10th century.  The work was published by G. Bergstrasser with a German translation.  It lists the works of the ancient Medical writer Galen known to him, together with […]
• Tebtunis temple library
  This blog reports a publication (offline – these papyrologists really don’t get it, do they?) of some narrative texts from the temple in ancient Tebtunis in Egypt.  Look at the contents! The book presents ten narrative texts written in the demotic script and preserved in papyri from the Tebtunis temple library (1st/2nd century AD). Eight […]
• How to do history
  Campus Mawrtius highlights this concise but clear passage from Thomas Corsten’s BMCR review of the Choix d’écrits of Louis Robert (2007): In sum, this book–like each individual publication by Robert–shows clearly the method every epigraphist or, rather, every historian should follow, i.e., to start from the evidence (not from theories), that is from all available sorts of […]
• The tomb of Alexander the Great
  You know how it is.  You’re slumped in front of the TV, and you turn it on and there’s something about Egypt.  In my case it was Secrets of Egypt: Alexander’s Tomb.  Like everyone else, I knew that Alexander’s tomb was in Alexandria, and that it disappears in the confusion in the 3rd-4th centuries AD.  […]
• Second UK Patristics Conference
  Alan Brent has sent out invites for a UK-based patristics conference in Cambridge in the summer.  Details here. Those not based in Cambridge may want to avoid it, tho.
• New issue of Shroro online
  Shroro: the Syriac Orthodox Christian digest is an online magazine which I had not come across before, and looks very nice.  Among recent articles is one on Hunain ibn Ishaq.
• Britain to criminalise internet use?
  A report in the Financial Times indicates that British politicians are having a real go at asserting control over the internet, at least as far as hapless UK citizens are concerned.. Internet piracy regulations planned for UK. By Ben Fenton and Tim Bradshaw Ministers intend to pass regulations on internet piracy requiring service providers to tell customers […]
• A Syriac summary of the Iliad
  An interesting discussion in the BYZANS-L list on attitudes to Homer in Byzantium has produced the following fascinating comment from J. J. van Ginkel: A very interesting reference to Homer can be found in a `pseudo-byzantine’ source. In a Syrian Orthodox Chronicle (written in a ecclesiastic context, in the Syriac language) there is a summary […]
• British Library – taking, not giving
  A story at Slash.dot tells us that the British Library chief, Lynne Brindley, is worried about how websites vanish.   In an article in the left-wing bible, the Guardian, she says that she wants to keep copies of all websites in the .uk domain, so that they don’t disappear forever. There are several aspects to this […]
• Hunain ibn Ishaq, on text criticism
  Hunain ibn Ishaq was a Nestorian Christian who was responsible for much of the translation of Greek works into Arabic, usually via a Syriac intermediate translation.   I find that a long letter of his, on the subject of the works of Galen and how he went about his task, exists.  It was published by G. […]
• Online journals for non-subscribers
  Here’s a German site with some free-access older articles, especially from Hermes. http://www.digizeitschriften.de/no_cache/en/home/open-access/nach-zeitschriftentiteln/ It seems to be mainly intended as a rival for JSTOR, but does have some free content.  A similar French site is here, supposedly but I couldn’t get it to display: http://www.persee.fr/web/guest/home/
• UK readers: please sign petition to keep our lightbulbs
  You can’t buy 100w lightbulbs here in the UK any more.  Apparently some backstairs deal has been done to prevent us buying them and force us to use fluorescents. But for those of us who are getting older, the resulting light means we just can’t read the books!  I’m having real difficulty in the evenings […]
• Ignoring the credit crunch and why I can’t
  The credit crunch has just affected one of my projects seriously.  Usually I try to pay for translations that I commission as we go along, at 10 cents a word.  That way I get a chunk of translation every week or two, and a small bill which I pay immediately, by cheque or Paypal.  At […]
• Agapius and the Syriac Old Testament
  I’m still translating Agapius.  In part 1.1, while discussing the length of the lives of the Patriarchs, he performs a calculation based on the Septuagint.  He then gives the values from the Jewish Torah, commenting on how the Jews changed the text after Christianity came long.  He then says: The Syriac Torah depends on the […]
• More fake relics for sale on eBay!
  Antonio Lombatti has discovered that you can buy a bit of the “Column of the flagellation” online.  I wonder if it’s the same shysters as last time? 
• Galen and his works
  Who cares to read the works of an doctor of the 2nd century AD?  Well, it doesn’t matter anyway; you can’t!  Not unless you are fluent in Greek at least, anyway.  Do we care? Those of us who have the “Indiana Jones” approach to lost texts and manuscripts cannot fail to find Galen interesting.  He’s […]
• Isidore of Pelusium – how to number the letters
  A cross-reference table of the letter numbers in the manuscripts (used in the Sources Chretiennes edition of the second half) and the letter numbers as found in Migne is now online here.
• Evidence for Allectus
  The ever-interesting Adrian Murdoch draws attention to the PLRE life of the Usurper Emperor-of-Britain Allectus, which he gives as follows: Allectus: Augustus (in Britain) 293-296. Rationalis summae rei of Carausius 293: qui (Allectus) cum eius (Carausii) permissu summae rei praeesset Aur. Vict. Caes. 39.41. After Carausius had ruled for seven years Allectus murdered him and […]
• More manuscripts at Deir al-Suryani in the Nitrian desert
  This is an old news story (2006), but I must have missed it.  Apparently there are still some 40 manuscripts at the monastery of the Syrians in the Nitrian desert in Egypt.  They are, of course, in poor condition.  Texts mentioned include Jacob of Serug and the Book of Holy Hierotheos by Stephen bar Sudaili.
• Agapius 1.1 online at Archive.org
  Archive.org has several volumes of the Patrologia Orientalis, but not PO5 which contains the first part (of 4) of Agapius.  Today I uploaded the relevant fascicle of PO5 – the only bit I possess – to Archive.org.  It’s here. I hadn’t realised that we could contribute scanned books.  I think that I will start doing so.
• Isidore of Pelusium: some newly translated letters
  Here are the draft translations that I commissioned of four letters.  I don’t know whether any have been translated into English before.  Now that I have paid for them, I can share them with you! After reading the Turner article, it is clear that the letters are numbered 1-2000 in the manuscripts, and the Migne […]
• Have’s and have-not’s – online dissertations
  Today I went looking for a dissertation, Beth Dunlop’s PhD thesis on 4th century sermons on the Nativity.  It does exist online.  If you are a ‘have’, it’s free to download.  If you are a ‘have-not’, it will cost you $40.  I am an ordinary professional man, earning a living in an office, and paying […]
• Byzantium and modern politics
  A post by Douglas Carswell raised the issue of parallels between modern politicians and Byzantine emperors.   In some ways, we have much to learn from the way in which the Eastern Roman empire changed and evolved down the centuries, from Arcadius to Constantine XIV.  It became a cruel power – the practice of blinding possible […]
• Numbering the letters of Isidore of Pelusium
  Following my last post on the letters of the 5th century writer Isidore of Pelusium, I have found that much of Pierre Evieux’s book Isidore de Peluse is online at Google books, and p.6 onwards discusses the text as we have it.  The letters are mostly extracts, and very brief.  In Migne’s edition, we find […]
• Thorns from Jesus’ crown available on eBay!
  Via this link.  Relics available include: OF THE SWADDLING CLOTHES OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST OF A THORN OF THE CROWN OF THORNS OF JESUS CHRIST OF THE BELT OF OUR LADY, THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY OF THE VEIL OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY OF THE MANTLE OF OUR LADY OF THE COAT OF ST. […]
• Isidore of Pelusium
  Fifth century ecclesiastical history can be a depressing business, if you’re a Christian.  All these bigots and dimwits and political chieftains… in our darker moments, we may find ourselves asking how any of this can be of God? In these moments, it’s worth remembering that the history of mankind is not written exclusively in books, […]
• New Libanius URL
  Pierre-Louis Malosse writes that there is a new URL for the ‘Centre Libanios’ (Works of Libanius, bibliography, news… in French) : http://recherche.univ-montp3.fr/libanios/
• Rescuing a bit of Eusebius from oblivion
  One of the things which I hoped for, in translating Eusebius “Gospel Questions”, was to find unknown material in the fragments that aren’t in Migne.  Yesterday that hope was justified.   In an obscure publication in Moscow in the 18th century of a catena, an extract from Ad Marinum 2 produced results: At the line marked by […]
• New UK copyright consultation
  This article reports that the UK authorities are looking for input from ordinary people on how copyright affects them (by the 6th February).; how they can’t (legally) copy their own CD’s, how you can’t access out of print books because some fool has a 100 years of copyright on it, how libraries abuse copyright to […]
• Patristic carnival XIX
  The 19th carnival of blog posts on patristics is now online here.  Thanks to Phil Snider for compiling it!
• Greek scriptures unearthed in Smyrna?
  A curious article about an archaeological dig in Smyrna is highlighted by Mike Aquilina at Way of the Fathers.
• Eusebius, Agapius project news
  Long term readers of this blog will know that I commissioned a translation into English of Eusebius of Caesarea’s book about differences between the gospels and their solutions (Quaestiones ad Stephanum/Marinum). The Greek remains of this text are now almost entirely translated.  The last few fragments from catenas remain; but almost all of the mass […]
• BBC4 programme on science and islam
  Quite by accident last night I found myself watching a BBC4 programme on Science and Islam.  Jim Khalili presented it, and did so extremely well and very clearly.  This was episode 2,  entitled “Empire of Reason”, and in it he discussed the interest in scientific and technical works in the Abbasid caliphate, and various innovations made […]
• People willing to type up some ancient Greek wanted
  Do you have too much money?  If not, you may be interested in this post by Eric at Archaic Christianity.  He’s prepared to pay people to type in some unicode ancient Greek for him.  Might be a quick way to earn a few bucks, if you’re short of cash and have a bit of spare […]
• Manuscript digitisation gathers pace
  Jim Davila’s excellent PaleoJudaica blog highlights a number of interesting non-Jewish items this week.  I don’t seem to be able to link to his individual posts, so here are some excerpts. PHOTOGRAPHS of the Cologne Mani Codex are available online here. The Cologne Manichaean codex is a tiny parchment codex from middle Egypt, containing an […]
• It’s raining books!
  A tap on the door, as I try to deal with the week’s post, and a neighbour bearing a parcel from Brepols.  Yes, it’s the remaining two fascicles of the Patrologia Orientalis of Agapius.  I wrote to them over the Christmas period, asking for them, and never heard back.  Prompt service indeed! This brings to […]
• Greek mercenaries in Egypt used mosquito-nets
  When I was in Egypt before Christmas, I got bitten to pieces by mosquitos.  On mentioning this, David Miller tells me that “canopy” is derived from the Greek word for mosquito-net. The word is “k0n0peion”.   The derivation is via late Lat. ‘canopeum’ — perhaps with a supposed connection to ‘Canopus’ . k0n0ps  (??”cone-face”??) = mosquito. Imagine all those hard-bitten Greek mercenaries working […]
• Gnomon bibliographic database available for download
  It’s here.  It comes with a little application, and runs up to 2005.  Apparently it contains a lot of stuff not in l’Annee Philologique.  Well done, the Gnomon team!
• Who decided to force us all to say CE rather than AD?
  I happened to see this post at N.T.Wrong, decrying the introduction of CE etc, with which I entirely agree.  Conspiracies against the public are an evil thing; using them to evict Christianity from our society is pretty hateful. No-one in the UK outside of these state-funded circles seems to use CE.
• Cyprian Project launched
  Rod Letchford has created a new website dedicated to Cyprian.  It’s http://cyprianproject.info/. At the moment it’s a collection of links, but no doubt will grow! 
• Eusebius, “Gospel questions”, published in French
  The excellent Claudio Zamagni has now published his edition and translation of the epitome of Eusebius, Quaestiones ad Stephanum et Marinum in the Sources Chrétiennes series as “Questions évangéliques”.  It’s available from Amazon.fr.
• Al-Majdalus translation completed
  Some may remember that I commissioned a translation of the Commentary on the Nicene Creed by al-Majdalus, an Arabic Christian writer of uncertain date and affiliation, but probably a 10th century Melkite.  The text has never been published, but I obtained a microfilm of a manuscript from Sainte-Joseph University in Beirut. I wanted to make […]
• How much is a sestertius?
  Someone recently asserted in my hearing that books were expensive in antiquity.  This led me to wonder how much they sold for.  A look in book 1 of Martial produced a price of 6-10 sesterces (ep. 66), and that 10 sesterces was the dole that a rich man might give his client (ep. 11).  That […]
• Eusebius and Islam
  There are some things which are obvious, once they have been invented.  It took the genius of Eusebius of Caesarea to digest down into a tabular form of dates and events all the information about dates and events for Greece and Assyria and Persia and Rome — and the Hebrews — contained in the literature […]
• Anti-Islamic sites targeted by DoS attack
  It isn’t just bureaucrats trying to silence free speech online.  I learn today that the Jihad-watch and Islam-watch sites were subjected to a Denial-of-Service attack, to load them down with bogus traffic so that no-one could access them.  As yet the editors haven’t yet worked out precisely which post or comment the Moslem attackers were objecting to. We […]
• Getting hold of manuscripts of the Arabic historian Al-Makin
  We all know that Shlomo Pines published an exotic version of the Testimonium Flavianum of Josephus, telling of the events of the life of Christ.  This he tells us he got from the 10th century Arabic Christian historian, Agapius.  But on closer reading, he says that he reconstructed the text of Agapius at this point […]
• Any glitches?
  I’ve just upgraded WordPress, the software that this blog uses.  Do let me know if anything is now broken. I can’t say that the process was seamless.  First I did an export, and deactivated the plugins. I ended up downloading the tar.gz. Then I renamed the old version directory, expanded the .gz  to the new […]
• More notes from Agapius
  I’m still working on an English translation of Agapius.  I’ve now reached the overthrow of the Umayyad Caliphate, and the early Abbassid period. In the year 14 of `Abdallah, the Magi revolted in Khorasan and shook the authority of `Abdallah-al-Mansour for this reason: In a city of Khorasan which is called Far`is (?), there was […]
• Coptic monastic revival
  While I was in Egypt, I was interested to learn that the Coptic church has been undergoing a quiet revival over the last few decades.  This has centred on their monasteries, from which the Coptic Patriarch is always chosen.  By 1960, one of the most important monasteries, that of St. Macarius in the Wadi al-Natrun […]
• Legends about what the Chronicon Pascale says
  After Eusebius invented the idea of the “Chronicle of World History”, subsequent writers produced considerable numbers of these.  As a rule these start with Adam, using the Bible and Eusebius to cover stuff up to Constantine, and then whatever continuations and paraphrases were available. The Chronicon Pascale is an example of this genre.  It’s a […]
• Legal attack on UK blogger
  From time to time I comment on free speech online issues.  This is not because I want to, but because of the threats to all bloggers which of course includes me.  The best way to resist this is to highlight it. I frequently read Guido Fawkes UK political blog for its alternative and somewhat subversive […]
• Computer troubles
  Merry Christmas to you all! It’s clearly not my day, tho.  I came home to find my central heating had broken down.  That’s fixed – amazing to get an engineer on Christmas day! – but my Windows Vista laptop has decided to refuse to boot.  It gets stuck running CHKDSK. After some effort and running […]
• Biblical quotations in the Fathers database (BIBLINDEX)
  An interesting announcement on the LT-ANTIQ list (I have reworked the announcement to make it clearer): An index of approximately 400,000 biblical quotations and allusions from Greek and Latin patristic texts of the first five centuries is now available online. To search for references in Biblindex, you can open a user account on the site […]
• Back from Luxor
  Well, I’m back!  I got bitten to pieces, staying at the Maritim Jolie Ville, as everyone seemed to.  I have bites the size of boils!  The notorious “gyppy tummy” struck as well, affecting the last three days of my trip despite being paranoid about what I ate and drank.  I really must try to find […]
• Holiday reading while visiting Luxor
  As the days count down to my holiday to Luxor, I start looking at the thermometer.  It’s 5C here; in Luxor today it’s 25C.   Of course one joy of going on holiday is time off the internet, and time to read books.  Probably we should avoid scholarly reading.  Last year I took a volume of […]
• GCS volumes online at Archive.org
  List available here.
• Treasures of the Kaabah in Mecca?
  I’m still reading Agapius, and he relates how Yezdegerd, the last Sassanid ruler, was murdered at Merv by a miller while hiding from the Arabs.  The Arab commander, Sa`id, sent his head and crown to the Caliph Othman, who displayed his head on a pillar, and placed the crown in the Kaabah “where it is […]
• Should we spit when we say “Abdullah”?
  My translation of Agapius has now reached the portions describing the Arab takeover of the Near East, and so is full of Arabic names.  This raises the question of how we should write them, in an English translation.  Do we write “Ali”, or “`Ali”, indicating the hawking sound with the funny-looking apostrophe?  Do we write […]
• Some snippets from Agapius
  I’ve been continuing to translate the world history of the Arabic Christian writer Agapius, and have come across some interesting bits in it. The first of these records that the emperor Heraclius, after finally defeating the Sassanid Persians, took up residence in Edessa for a year.  While there, he discovered that bishop Qourrah (Cyrus) of […]
• Collectio Avellana online
  The ever readable Adrian Murdoch has discovered that this collection of papal and imperial letters from late Antiquity is now online at Google books.  The Fourth Century site gives some links and a list of contents here.  Quite by chance I was scanning a text the other night which made reference to it, and wishing it […]
• Patristics Carnival 18 now online
  Here.
• A picture of the Lupercal
  Bad Archaeology has a nice picture of the newly rediscovered Lupercal, the cave where Romulus and Remus were supposedly born.  The cave is actually a domed and frescoed chamber under the Palatine — and what frescos! The post also claims that the Lupercalia was abolished by Pope Gelasius.  Looking around the web, this seems to […]
• Another patristics site
  I’d like to recommend Fourth Century, an academic blog.  One excellent thing that they have done is to indicate the authors contained in the Clavis Patrum Latinorum and Clavis Patrum Graecorum.  There are various lists of authors and works, all very useful.  Translations are clearly indicated with authors.  The intention is to raise the quality […]
• Who died and made the “IWF” Pope?
  Bfore I discuss this issue, I should declare that I am a committed Christian, and I detest the exploitation of ordinary men involved in the pornography industry. Indeed I feel that criminal prosecutions should be much more common than they are. But today something truly sinister happened.  UK users were blocked from accessing a page […]
• Epiphanius: A new edition of “Panarion” in English; and an old one of “De Gemmis”
  There is one really important patristic text that isn’t online.  I refer to the massive compendium of heresies, the Panarion of Epiphanius of Salamis.  An English translation was made by Frank Williams, and published by Brill.  Massively expensive, I cracked and bought a copy some years ago.  It is the main source for the Ebionites […]
• The last complete copy of Diodorus Siculus, part 2
  Yesterday I mentioned N. G. Wilson’s statement that a complete copy of Diodorus Siculus existed in 1453.  This led me to look again at his two books on how ancient Greek literature came to the west.  These excellent volumes are Scholars of Byzantium, which discusses the fate of that literature in the Eastern Roman Empire from […]
• The last person to see a complete Diodorus Siculus
  The splendid efforts by Bill Thayer to scan the still-massive  remains of the Universal History by Diodorus Siculus have reminded me that the complete text still existed in 1453.  N. G. Wilson in Scribes and Scholars p.72 tells us of a well-established fact, stated by Constantine Lascaris who says that he saw a complete copy of the work in […]
• Rheinisches Museum 93-147 (1950-2004) now online and free
  It’s available in PDF form from here, courtesy of the German Research Foundation.  This journal contains quite a bit of patristic-related material.  This is because the editor, Bernd Manuwald, applied to that foundation for a grant to do it.  Well done Dr Manuwald! I understand that he is also applying for money to digitise the remaining […]
• Visiting Luxor in December
  This morning it was -0.5 C, and I had to scrape the weather off my car before going to work.  But I shall be off to Luxor in Egypt in a week or two, where the temperature today is 24 C in the shade.   Luxor (from al-Uqsa, “the palaces”) is an Egyptian village with a lot of hotels […]
• Downloadable dictionaries
  It would be very helpful to be able to lookup words in French within our little translation applications.  But where to find the data? I was able to find some simple downloadable files, made by Tyler Jones at http://www.june29.com/IDP/IDPfiles.html Unfortunately these are quite small.  The French consists only of 3,000 words, the German of 8,000 […]
• Making your own translation tools
  I am a profoundly lazy man, in some respects anyway.  I hate pointless labour.  And what can be more pointless than the way many of us translate? Imagine getting a French text in front of you.  The process goes something like this: You read the first sentence.  You type an English version into Word.  Then […]
• Back to Agapius
  Am I the only person who is terribly easily led?  Someone writes to me about a project that I had put to one side, and the next thing I know I’m dusting it off and working on it again. I’ve started doing a little more on the translation of Agapius.  Specifically I’ve scanned in the […]
• I am objective, you are biased, he is a fundamentalist bigot; blogs and the SBL
  Bill Mounce runs a Christian blog, Koinonia, and happened to mention that: ETS is now over and many of the people have move on to Boston to attend IBR (Institute of Biblical Research) and SBL (Society of Biblical Literature), which is the largest of the three organizations.  SBL is the least friendly of the organizations […]
• Antioch, Mithras, and Libanius
  Christopher Ecclestone writes a very informative post on al-Masudi referencing a possible shrine of Mithras in Antioch next to the Grand Mosque; and follows it up by discussing ancient “universities.”  There is a charming quotation from Libanius, who was unable to get many (paying) pupils until he took over a shop near the marketplace and […]
• Agapius translation – great minds think alike
  The Arabic history of Agapius was published with a  very simple French translation in the Patrologia Orientalis.  Since there is no English translation of this interesting work, I’ve been working on making one from the French.  The PO version was made by a Russian, so is not complex French and machine translators can make quite […]
• Greek words in the first millennium
  This post at Vitruvian Design is very timely to a man trying to write some Greek->English translation software.  I can’t comment on it from behind this firewall, so will comment here. I am delighted to see someone else interested in getting a master list of Greek words and morphologies for the first thousand years.  I […]
• Better OCR with Finereader 9
  Last night I ran Finereader 9 over a 400-page English translation from 1936 that I had scanned some time ago at 400 dpi.  I then settled down for the onerous task of correcting scanner errors; only to find very few indeed.  There were perhaps a dozen in the whole book!  Probably if I had just […]
• Fixed width Greek unicode fonts
  I’ve been trying to work with the latest version of Jim Tauber’s MorphGNT text file.  For those who don’t know it, it contains all the words in the Greek New Testament, one per line, each identified as noun/verb/plural/whatever, with the word itself as found in the text, plus the dictionary form of the word.  No […]
• In whom is our salvation…
  Some excellent posts for Christians at Spirit-filled Puritan about the current crises.  The ones that struck me all had to do with placing our trust in God, not in a particular outcome of the economy.  I have been unable to find blogs online where God is at the centre, rather than religion – even if […]
• Harnack talks gospel catena manuscripts – in German
  I’ve now discovered that Harnack listed manuscripts of the gospel catenas in Geschichte der altchristlichen Literatur, Teil 1, Halfte 2., pp. 838-40.  Here’s what he says (although all those abbreviations make it very hard for any non-specialist not already familiar with the literature!): VI.       Catenen zum NT. hat J. A. Cramer veröffentlicht (8 Bde. Oxon. […]
• Greek gospel catenas 4: catenas on John
  There are six types of catena on John.  The bulk of all of them comes from the same sources: John Chrysostom’s Sermons on John Cyril of Alexandria’s Commentary on John Ammonius Origen’s Commentary on John; possibly also from the Excerpta in quasdam partes Iohannis which is attributed to him by Jerome (Letter 33, 4). Type […]
• Greek gospel catenas 3: catenas on Luke
  There are five types of catena on Luke, according to J. Reuss. Type A: This is the earliest catena-type.  It is attributed to Titus of Bostra.  Reuss divides it into three groups, composed between the 6th and 8th centuries: The basic catena An extended form A very extended form Most of the contents are from […]
• Greek gospel catenas 2: catenas on Mark
  Continuing our series, we reach catenas on Mark. Victor of Antioch composed Commentaries on Mark.  Two versions are known.  The fragments come mainly from: Chrysostom, Sermons on Matthew Origen, Commentary on Matthew Origen, Commentary on John Cyril of Alexandria, Sermons on Luke Titus of Bostra, Commentaries on Luke There are also some extracts from: Basil […]
• Greek gospel catenas 1: catenas on Matthew
  There are four types of catena on Matthew. Type A:  there are four versions of this. This contains mainly extracts from Chrysostom’s sermons.  Other authors are Isidore of Pelusium, Cyril of Alexandria; the monk Theodore. This is an expanded version of A.1.  In addition to the material in #1, it contains fragments of Photius, Basil […]
• Greek gospel catenas 0: introduction
  I’m going to write a little series, on the various medieval Greek catenas on the Gospels.  This is because I detect in myself (and others) a deep ignorance about what classes of catena exist, and I need to mine these things for quotations from Eusebius.  These contain extracts from many now vanished works by the […]
• Bibliographies of classical Armenian
  There comes a time in the life of every man interested in patristics when he needs to know about classical Armenian literature.  Hoc est hora.  There must be fragments of Eusebius in Armenian catenas, I reason.  But where to look? The indefatigable Robert W. Thomson gave us a Bibliography of classical Armenian literature to 1500, […]
• Libya invites archaeology teams to excavate sites
  There is interesting news in a Reuters report, Long-isolated Libya plans archaeology drive.  Libya plans to invite the world’s top archaeologists to unearth its ancient past as it tries to lure more tourists after decades in isolation, the head of the government’s archaeology department said. … We will open our arms to the best scientists […]
• Theoi texts offline
  The Theoi Classical Texts Library seems to be offline.  This contained English translations of quite a few texts.  I do hope that it is only a temporary glitch.  But the texts themselves are still online here.
• 7,300+ visitors to Tertullian.org last month
  I was interested to discover from this site that apparently more than 7,300 unique individuals used my site last month.  For a site dedicated to a subject as abtruse as the Fathers, that’s not bad going.  Perhaps we underestimate interest in early Christian history?
• Eusebius in Armenian
  We all know that many interesting works are preserved in Classical Armenian translation.  Eusebius’ Church History exists in an Armenian version; book 1 of his Chronicle is only preserved in Armenian.  But what else exists? I’ve often mentioned that I have translators at work on Eusebius’ Gospel differences and their solutions (Quaestiones ad Stephanum, ad […]
• G.W.H.Lampe’s “Patristic Lexicon” – could we get it electronically?
  As we get XML versions of Liddell and Scott, etc, we inevitably start to wonder about other standard reference tools, such as Lampe.  A PDF of the raw page images doesn’t really do it, although that is better than carrying a book around. Of course those as rich and privileged as myself have no problem […]
• Linking electronic Greek words to their English meanings
  Ancient Greek is tough for computers, and computer programmers, to work with.  Firstly it’s a dead language, secondly it’s a non-Roman script, and thirdly no-one knows Greek anyway (although a lot of people pretend). What we need are tools on our computers.  These are appearing, but very slowly.  The problem is the non-availability of data. […]
• Digitization of the Plutei collection in Florence
  I’ve had an email from the Biblioteca Mediceo-Laurenziana in Florence telling me that they are actively exploring digitising the Plutei collection. This includes massive numbers of the oldest manuscripts of any number of the classics, including both Tacitus manuscripts. They think it will take around 30 months, and they intend to put the results online. […]
• Portion of John’s gospel ca. 200 AD for sale
  From the PAPY-L list I learn that P.Oxy 1780 and 1924 are being offered for sale by Crozer Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania at Sothebys, and expected to reach ca. £300k. http://www.sothebys.com/app/live/lot/LotDetail.jsp?lot_id=159503126 The Sotheby’s site gives details of the Ms.
• Robert Bedrosian does Eusebius’ Chronicle into English
  I’ve just had a note from the excellent Robert Bedrosian.  It seems that he has translated Eusebius of Caesarea’s Chronicle book 1 directly from the Armenian into English!  It’s here.  Andrew Smith of Attalus.org translated it from Petermann’s Latin into English, but this is the first translation from the original langauge.  And… he’s made it […]
• Erich von Daniken rides again!
  Jim Davila of Paleojudaica tells us that the old man is back on the road and still asking, “Was God an astronaut?”  The answer was always ‘no’, of course; but he made quite a bit of money asking it.  Compared to all those dreary “God is dead but I’m going to stay a bishop anyway” books […]
• If you want to get ahead, get a hat.
  The linen which he spreads on the crown of your head denotes the freedom to which you have been called. You were before standing bareheaded, as this is the habit of the exiles and the slaves, but after you have been signed he throws on your head linen, which is the emblem of the freedom […]
• A difficult piece of Greek in Eusebius
  Can someone tell me what the following piece of Unicode Greek means? The problem is the plural ‘angels’, in one section: Alternatively, perhaps, there is one angel in Matthew, **while the ones who encounter the women are different from that one**, and both the place and the time of the sighting of the angel are […]
• Does the manuscript of Tacitus say ‘Christian’ or ‘Chrestian’?
  Yesterday I wrote a post criticising the Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana in Florence in some pretty direct terms.  I’ve deleted it; because it seems that I got hold of the wrong end of the stick. We all know the reference to the Christians in Tacitus, Annals, book 15, chapter 44.  A discussion arose in an online […]
• Google groups becomes useless
  So, farewell Google groups.  Over the last few days, they changed the search engine and rendered it useless. Until recently, if you searched for something, and sorted by date order, you got all the most recent postings in usenet which mentioned that word.  Now you don’t.  You get some random selection of stuff, much of […]
• Cyril of Alexandria, Contra Iulianum
  We all know Origen’s Contra Celsum, which preserves the lost anti-Christian pamphlet of Celsus, with Origen’s common-sense replies. Not so many people are aware of Cyril of Alexandria’s Contra Iulianum, which fulfils the same role for Julian the Apostate’s similar work.  This is because it has never received a critical edition, and still less a […]
• Archimedes Palimpsest data set
  The following press release reached me on the CLASSICS-L list: Ten years ago today, a private American collector purchased the Archimedes Palimpsest. Since that time he has guided and funded the project to conserve, image, and study the manuscript. After ten years of work, involving the expertise and goodwill of an extraordinary number of people […]
• Some nice pictures of Theodoret’s Cyrrhus
  I happened across this article on the Iconoclasm blog, where there are some nice pictures of the ruins of the Acropolis and theatre, and a couple of quotes from Theodoret on the errors of paganism.  Curiously the author puts ‘errors’ in quotes; without realising that amounts to endorsement of the prostitution and paganism that Theodoret is attacking!  But still […]
• Digitising the manuscripts of St. Gall
  The Benedictine abbey of St. Gall in Switzerland is one of the places where manuscripts travelled down the centuries.  Founded in the Dark Ages, it’s collection crops up in many a discussion of ancient texts.  Quintillian was found here by Poggio, for instance.  There is still a very substantial collection there in the possession of […]
• Why we care about Nubia
  This picture of some Nubian pyramids, from Talking Pyramids may help us understand.
• Sudan: the Merowe High Dam project and archaeology
  We all remember how the building of the Aswan High Dam drowned the archaeology of much of lower Nubia.  I learned today from Egyptology News that in 2007 Sudan started a project to build its own High Dam at the fourth cataract.  This is known as the Merowe High Dam project.  Nine archaeological missions are at […]
• Graf’s Geschichte not to be available in English
  One of the great problems with Arabic Christian literature is the lack of any guide to it in English.  The standard text is Graf’s Geschichte der christlichen arabischen Literatur, published 50 years ago. I worked out what a commercial translation of a volume would cost, and enquired through a friend whether the Vatican would permit […]
• Reprinting out-of-print books
  I’ve created a little site on lulu called Books on Antiquity, where you can buy reprints of old out-of-copyright texts that I have scanned and uploaded.  So far I’ve only reprinted one book, Delagarde’s Coptic gospel catena, as an experiment.  But I expect to do more.
• The silencing of Michel van Rijn
  There are people out there who love secrecy.  The manuscript of the gospel of Judas and three other texts were traded around the art world for 20 years, suffering considerable damage in the process.  Dutch art-dealer Michel van Rijn exposed much of this, and indeed many other evil deeds in the art world.  Unsurprisingly those […]
• Jon Lendering in Damascus
  Livius.org editor Jona Lendering is apparently in Damascus.  Even so, US reaction has been perhaps a little over-the-top. But seriously, this is good news.  Let’s hope he brings back a haul of useful photographs.  Indeed a daily journal which includes his travel arrangements would be of considerable use.  Similar things to similarly obscure regions from […]
• More Possidius
  After scanning the English translation of Possidius Life of St. Augustine (announced here), I was asked to scan Weiskotten’s introduction also.  It’s here.
• Translating Hippolytus – a new blog
  Tom Schmidt has written to say that he has started a blog, Chronicon, to publicise his work in translating previously untranslated works by Hippolytus.  At the moment he’s working on the Chronicle by Hippolytus, which is very good news indeed!
• More on Libanius; and translating from French
  Adrian Murdoch commented on my last post (and gave the origin of the translation of Oratio XI).  But he drew my attention to the existence of French Budé translations of his works: vols. 1, 2 and 4 of Orations (i.e. Oration 1; Orations 2-10; and Oration 59); a selection to public men of his day.  There […]
• Antioch online and Libanius
  I’ve just discovered a blog about ancient Antioch.  The current article is about a panegyric on Antioch by Libanius. Libanius was a voluminous writer.  His letters and orations fill volumes.  Yet few have ever been translated into any modern language.  A few that were have made their way onto my collection of the Fathers.  A […]
• Walk like an Egyptian; or, two ways to do the sand-dance
  Exploring Egypt isn’t for the faint of heart, says Thom Wise of the Denver Post. “Foreigners are not used to, and don’t enjoy, being literally shouted at on the street,” says Monkaba. “I sit on the corniche in Luxor and watch these tourists walk along, followed by someone asking over and over again if they […]
• GrkAcca font?
  People suppose that once something is on the web it will never vanish.  But of course this is not true; material disappears all the time.  Pages on older technology are very likely to vanish. Someone has sent me a Word document with the Greek in a font which I have never heard of: “GrkAcca”.  A Google […]
• How dare the Christians defend themselves!?!
  The excellent Tony Chartrand-Burke of Apocryphicity, is doing some very useful work on obscure apocrypha in Old Slavonic.  Indeed I look in from time to time, in the hope that he’s posted more! I learn that he has written an article Heresy hunting in the New Millennium, attacking Christians who criticise the gnostics and their modern propagandists.  I’m […]
• Timothy I, Dialogue with the Caliph al-Mahdi
  In 781 AD the East Syriac Catholicos, Timothy I, was invited by the Abbassid Caliph al-Mahdi to answer a series of questions about Christianity over two days.  The discussion took place at Baghdad, while the Caliph’s son, Harun al-Raschid, was conducting a campaign against the Byzantines.  The questions and his replies are extant in Syriac.  […]
• Nicaea II and missing books
  This post raises some interesting questions about the destruction of Iconoclast literature after the second council of Nicaea in 787 AD.  (Also commented on here at Labarum). The thrust of the post is that the council ordered the destruction of iconoclast books, aside from those held in a private collection by the patriarch of Constantinople.  The […]
• Ever wanted to own a medieval manuscript?
  A sale at Christies recently would have given you the chance.  This 13th century Latin bible, with Jerome’s prologues, sold for $39,000.  There were papyri, Syriac mss, fragments of all sorts of things; many of which went for a few thousand dollars.  I’m glad I didn’t know about the sale or I might have been […]
• Courage beyond imagination: scanning Gregory’s Moralia In Job
  I’ve scanned a text or two in my time.  There are some volumes, however, that inspire fear. First among these are the volumes of the Oxford Movement “Library of the Fathers”.  The format of the volumes, with 600+ pages, copious marginalia and two columns of footnotes, means that any text from this series is an utter […]
• Possidius, Life of St. Augustine now online
  For those who may find it useful, I’ve scanned and placed online Weiskotten’s English translation (1919) of Possidius’ Life of St. Augustine.  It’s here: http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/possidius_life_of_augustine_02_text.htm Possidius was a friend of Augustine’s, and his biography remains the principal source for the life of the saint. Other English translations of the Fathers can be found in the […]
• The martyrs of Orissa
  The media has been very quiet about the systematic violence against Christians in India.  The BBC, bless them, even ran articles about “Hindu-Christian violence”; although they couldn’t discover any Christian violence.  The violence is defended by some on the basis that “missionaries are causing it.”  The same appalling excuse was trotted out when the same […]
• Lagarde’s Coptic Gospel Catena
  I obtained a copy of the printed text of this catena for the Eusebius project.  It appears to be out of print, so I’m going to make it available to buy on Lulu.com in printed form again.   I might try and get it distributed as well — it would be interesting to see how that […]
• Old posts mirrored here
  Many of my projects commenced while I was still blogging at Thoughts on Antiquity.  I’ve therefore mirrored these posts here, so that they are all in one place. Thanks for Chris Weimer for the export.
• Feeling the crunch
  I have a number of projects on the go to create English translations of material never previously translated or — in some cases — not even edited.  The economic news here is now becoming so bad that it is starting to affect ordinary individuals.  As a freelance, my income is a little uncertain anyway; 2009 […]
• Do the RC’s and Greek Orthodox own the fathers?
  A lot of people seem to think so.  Quite a few seem to imagine anyone interested in the Fathers must be One Of Them, or else on the road there by imperceptible degress.  “On Being Protestant” at Dunelm Road leads us to “Why I am not a Catholic or East Orthodox“, by Scot McKnight.  He’s bang on, […]
• Brepols Patrologia Orientalis reprints
  I’m still working on Agapius, but wasn’t able to find a second-hand copy of part 2.2.  Somewhat nervously, I ordered a copy from the Brepols website.  I was nervous because reprints can be of very poor quality, as we all know. Fortunately all was well.  The reprint arrived promptly, and the Arabic and the French […]
• Al-Makin II
  Satan’s Servants — the British Library — have sent me the microfilm of Ms. Or. 7564 on CD that I ordered, and indeed fairly quickly (which sort of suggests that they had it on disk already, and all they had to do was take my money). The images are about what you’d expect.  How usable […]
• CSNTM in Cambridge
  Last Friday I met with Jeff Hargis of the Centre for the Study of New Testament Manuscripts.  The team were staying at Tyndale House in Cambridge.  Sadly I didn’t get the chance to meet Daniel B. Wallace, the director. Jeff showed me the photographing setup that they were using.  The camera was a very expensive digital SLR, a […]
• New sermons of Augustine
  Back in March at Thoughts on Antiquity I reported on a discovery of 6 sermons of Augustine previously thought lost. Mike Aquilina at Way of the Fathers draws my attention to an update on this, which indicates that the sermons are authentic. …in 1974, in France, Johannes Divjak found 29 unpublished letters; in 1990, in Mainz, […]
• Perseus on a PC?
  I’ve just discovered that Tyndale House have a technical blog.  Among the many items of interest is the detail that you can download the Perseus code and data and run it on your own PC.  This is the Perseus Hopper project, apparently.  Naturally this would be far faster than using the main site.  But… apparently […]
• Raiding the shelves
  It looks as if I may get an unscheduled day in Cambridge tomorrow, courtesy of the Centre for the Study of New Testament Manuscripts team who are there photographing.  With luck I’ll get to see what they’re doing and how they do it.  As someone who has photographed a few manuscripts in my time, I […]
• Al-Makin in Wikipedia
  I’ve been gathering information on Al-Makin, and updating the Wikipedia article, for lack of anywhere better to stuff the information.  A scholar has written to me about Al-Makin, who looks as if he would like to do a critical edition.  But with 80 mss, it’s fairly intimidating!
• Montfaucon and the manuscripts
  I’ve started to read the English translation of Montfaucon, and some of his remarks seem curiously relevant even now. What a singular favour, and token of your extraordinary generosity was it, that you should cause that catalogue of manuscripts [of the Laurentian library] composed by men excellently learned with great care and industry, whereof there […]
• “Diarium Italicum” online, or why I love Google Books
  Some years ago I photographed some early editions of Tertullian in Norwich Cathedral Library.  The library was a shed on the roof of the cloister; in fact a ruinous medieval room, which had been reroofed.  In it stood a perfect 18th century library, shelves and books, and leaded-glass windows. It was the sort of place […]
• Fr. Columba Stewart saves the world (or at least its literature)
  PaleoJudaica led me to a rather nice article here on the tireless efforts of the director of the Hill Monastic Manuscript Library, Columba Stewart, to photograph manuscripts in dangerous places.  Those of us who have been worrying about Ethiopic mss can take comfort that Fr. Columba is on the case.  Good for him! 
• Extant ancient writers who get omitted from the handbooks
  I was musing last night about Stephen of Alexandria, the philosopher and alchemist at the court of Heraclius.  He was known to contemporaries as the “Universal Philosopher”.  But you will read through the Patrologies in vain to hear about him.  Indeed in what handbook of late antique literature would we find him? We’re accustomed to […]
• Mss to go online at Manchester
  A rather useless story at the BBC News Site.  Apparently the John Rylands Library — winner of this month’s Bloodsucker Award — are going to digitise some mss and place them online.  Obviously any digitisation is welcome.  But only two cheers, unless they do the lot.  I will investigate as more news emerges. Later: A […]
• Elmacin (Al-Makin) 1
  I’m not sure where this will take me, but I’ve taken a first step to doing some work on the World Chronicle (al-Majmu` al-Mubarak) of George Elmacin (Jirgis Al-Makin, Ibn Amid); I’ve ordered a copy of the text.  In fact I’ve ordered a reproduction from the British Library of their manuscript, Ms. Or. 7564 (218 folios).  […]
• Don’t buy that textbook, download it for free
  An interesting article in the NY Times on the problems caused by very high textbook prices, and a revolt against traditional academic publishing: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/15/technology/15link.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=slogin I suspect the very low quality of many textbooks — compared to commercial products operating in a free market — is also a factor.
• “αιρετικον ανθρωπον” (Titus 3:10)
  How should we translate “αιρετικον ανθρωπον”, in Titus 3:10?  Looking at the Bible Gateway site, I find an interesting range.  Greek; KJV: “A man that is an heretick after the first and second admonition reject” NIV: “Warn a divisive person once, and then warn him a second time. After that, have nothing to do with […]
• First English translation of Hippolytus “On the Song of Songs”
  Yancy Smith writes as a comment on this post:  I have recently completed a rough draft of a Ph.D. dissertation that includes an English translation of the Georgian text and Greek epitome (as well as other fragments and florilegia extracts) of Hippolytus “On the Song of Songs.” I am looking for a potential publisher once […]
• Taking my machine translator to Agapius
  The Kitab al-Unwan (World History) of the 10th century Arabic Christian writer Agapius runs from creation down to his own times, divided into two halves by the birth of Christ.  It was published a century ago in the Patrologia Orientalis, in 4 chunks, and three of those are online at Archive.org.  They were published by […]
• The September 2008 Bloodsucker Award: the John Rylands Library
  The digital camera is a blessing!  Suddenly it has become possible to take cheap good quality colour digital images. But you wouldn’t know it, judging from the response of some libraries.  Bear in mind that a microfilm of an entire manuscript used to cost about £30 ($60). At the moment I’m wandering around looking for […]
• Cyril, Apologeticus – first snippet received
  My translator has produced the first couple of sentences of Cyril of Alexandria’s Apologeticus ad imperatorem.  The prose is unbelievably florid!  More when more arrives.
• Link to Ezra Levant
  This is not a political blog and will not become one.  But I have chosen to link this weblog to what is definitely a political blog, that of Ezra Levant, in order to indicate my support for him and his campaign.  For those who have not heard of him, he is being persecuted by the Canadian […]
• Eusebius, Quaestiones 1: Summer recess update
  Earlier this year I commissioned two translators to produce an English translation of a previously untranslated work.  The work is the Quaestiones of Eusebius of Caesarea.  It’s an FAQ on differences between the gospels.  The work itself is lost, but a long epitome of 16 questions was discovered by Angelo Mai in a Vatican manuscript.  […]
• Pinakes – Database of Greek Manuscripts online
  The IRHT have placed their database of manuscripts of Greek texts online.  Named ‘Pinakes’, it can be accessed at: http://pinakes.irht.cnrs.fr/ The interface is a bit unusual.  You go to ‘Recherche’, where you are invited to enter the name of the author.  You do this in upper case, Latin-type names, with ‘u’ as ‘V’.  So EVSEBIVS, […]
• Manuscript catalogues online at Archive.org
  Do a search in Archive.org for “manuscrits” and you will find very quickly catalogues of all the French public libraries, in very many volumes.  Repeat the search as “manuscripts” and you will find catalogues of holdings at Cambridge colleges, the Bodleian, Cambridge University Library, and many western and oriental collections.  Truly this is a precious […]
• Off-topic: Telling it like it is…
  I’m sitting here this morning in an empty office because all the permanent staff have been taken up to the fourth floor — the management floor — for a ‘briefing’.  It seems that the company has been taken over.  Everyone is terrified for their jobs, and rightly so.  I understand that the management have decided […]
• 1,000 Arabic Christian Manuscripts destroyed in WW2? Nonsense!
  In the preface to volume 2 of the catalogue of the Mingana manuscripts in Birmingham, Alphonse Mingana states (p. v) that the main collections of Arabic Christian manuscripts in the East are the library of Mt. Sinai; the library of the Catholic University of Saint-Joseph in Beirut; the Coptic Patriarchal museum and library in Cairo; […]
• Unreliable English translation of “History of the Patriarchs of the Coptic Church”?
  The massive Arabic Christian history begun by Severus ibn Mukaffa in the 9th century and running down to our own times is a gem.  But I was looking at Google books today, and found a statement here in vol. 1 p. 211 of the Cambridge History of Egypt that the English translation published in Cairo […]
• Cyril of Alexandria, Apologeticus ad imperatorem; about to roll?
  After the Council of Ephesus in 433, Cyril of Alexandria had to politick fairly hard for his side of the arguments over whether it was OK to call Mary “mother of God” or not.  One of the texts that he wrote at this time was a vindication of himself and his actions, directed to the […]
• Fragments of earlier authors in John Damascene
  There is an interesting article by Andrew Criddle on Hypotyposeis here.  He addresses the question of whether the ‘fragments’ of Clement of Alexandria found in the Sacra Parallela of John Damascene are authentic.  This is a patristic anthology, written ca. 700 AD, of which no English translation exists, sadly. John also quotes portions of the […]
• Google news archive and old patristic translations
  Today I learned about the Google news archive, a searchable collection of journals and newspapers.  Sadly much of this is payment only, but older material can be free, and can be located with a little effort. I located a puff-piece for the Ante-Nicene Fathers series here, in the New York Times for Sept. 2, 1886 […]
• Patristics Carnival XV
  … is here, with a very nice note on this blog (even if my name is misspelt; I see Mike Aquilina suffers as well) The collection of links to patristic-themed posts is impressive.
• Head of Marcus Aurelius found
  Mike Aquilina at Way of the Fathers highlights a recent find of a colossal head of Marcus Aurelius, and discusses what our attitude should be to this emperor, considering that he was in fact a persecutor of the church.
• Extant literary texts from AD 30 to AD 100
  I sometimes hear people of limited education argue that because no “secular first century historians” (sic) mention Jesus, this proves he never existed (!).  I usually respond by asking who specifically these historians are, whereupon I get only silence. But, religious issues aside, wouldn’t it be really interesting to have a list of all the extant […]
• Possidius, Life of St. Augustine
  I was excited yesterday to discover an out-of-copyright English translation of the Life of St. Augustine by his friend Possidius.  The translation was done in 1919 along with a Latin text, originally as a dissertation (which is online here at Archive.org), then published in the same year.  The text escaped me because it was published under […]
• Evolution Publishing – the Christian Roman Empire series
  While surfing Google books I came across a reference to myself.  It turned out to be in the preface to one of these reprint series, appearing in limited preview; but one that I had never heard of.  The press was Evolution Publishing, and they have half a dozen rare and uncommon texts in print in […]
• List of all extant first century writers?
  Is there anywhere that one could find a list of all extant literary texts from the 1st century AD?  Such a list could not fail to be interesting, after all.
• Tertullian.org home page down
  A glitch uploading last weekend seems to have left me with a blank index.htm at tertullian.org.  So if you go to the site you get a blank page.  The other pages are all there — just not that one!  I can’t fix this from here, so it will stay blank until Friday. PS: Back now.
• Shlomo Pines, Agapius and Elmacin (Al-Makin)
  Shlomo Pines published a curious version of the Testimonium Flavianum of Josephus, taken from the Arabic Christian writer Agapius.  But rereading his article, and comparing this text with the Patrologia Orientalis version of Agapius, we quickly find that there is a problem. Pines’ text is not that given by the Florence manuscript, which alone preserves […]
• Visit Leptis Magna in Libya using Google Maps
  The magnificent Roman city of Leptis Magna is one that few have visited. Fewer still have walked across the silted-up harbour basin to the eastern wharves, or visited the lighthouse at the tip of the western mole, because the site is so large. So I was delighted to find that we can all go now, […]
• Wit and wisdom in the ancient world
  Last night I read a truly splendid article by R. Van Den Broek, Four Coptic Fragments of a Greek Theosophy, Vigiliae Christianae, 32 (1978), 118-42.  It’s on JSTOR here.  If you have JSTOR access, don’t try to read it on-screen, because it will make your eyes hurt; print it on paper and read it that […]
• Looking for ancient texts in Arabic
  It’s a bit of a treasure hunt, nosing around in some of the minor language groups of the ancient world. You’re always looking for some text that will tell you a bit more about antiquity, give a bit more primary data than you get from the standard texts. And what does every treasure-hunter need?  A […]
• Why don’t the Institutum Augustinianum update Quasten
  I asked on Hyperekperissou why Quasten’s Patrology wasn’t being updated.  After asking, I got an interesting email.  More later when I have permission.
• Fame at last
  I’m not quite sure how to promote a blog.  But I was delighted to see that The Way of the Fathers has noticed this one!
• Cyril of Alexandria and the Acta Conciliorum Oecumenicorum
  Looking through Quasten’s Patrology, at the works of Cyril of Alexandria, it’s obvious that most of the works relating to the Council of Ephesus in 433 have never been translated into any modern language. These aren’t just any old texts.  These are the ones that defined the shape of christology from then on.  He wrote […]
• A. Cleveland Coxe
  Many of us have seen this name at the bottom of the title pages of the Ante Nicene Fathers volumes.  I’ve compiled from Google Books a rather extensive Wikipedia article on the chap.  He was second episcopalian bishop of New York.  His poems sold well in his own time. Yet on reading his life, I […]
• Errors in the transmission of the Koran
  The following article from Almasry Alyoum sheds an interesting light on claims that manuscripts of the Koran are without error. Koran Copies Full of Mistakes on the Markets By  Ahmed el-Beheiri    12/8/2008  Several flawed copies of the Koran are put on sale from time to time and several of these copies have recently appeared on […]
• How useful are the scanned books at Archive.org?
  I’ve downloaded the Patrologia Orientalis volume 7 from Archive.org, and started to translate the French text of Agapius into English.  This is very easy French, as it was written by a Russian, so not his first language. A real scholar would probably throw up his hands in horror.  The very idea of making a translation […]
• Another new blog
  This is the only blog that I have ever contributed to. But some of my interests are outside the scope of Thoughts on Antiquity.  So I thought that I might try starting my own blog, and see if anyone is interested in what I have to say.  I shall continue to blog here from time […]
• Pages from my journal
  Welcome to this new blog.  This is intended as a continuation of my posts at Thoughts on Antiquity, where I will still continue to blog.  However I feel that there is a need for somewhere that I can use to post announcements of what I am doing or material that I have uploaded, which perhaps would […]
• A passage from Evagrius Scholasticus
  From book 3, chapter 32, slightly modernised:  “THERE were other things which caused secret vexation to [the emperor] Anastasius. For when Ariadne wanted to invest him with the purple, Euphemius, who held the archiepiscopal see, withheld his approval. He agreed only when Anastasius presented to him an agreement, written in his own hand, and secured with fearful oaths.  This promised that he would maintain […]
• Using Lulu.com to get copies of books
  Once I got interested in Arabic Christian Literature, I quickly found that the only book of use was Georg Graf’s 5 volume Geschichte der arabischen christlichen Literatur, published 50 years ago by the Vatican library.  I was able to buy volumes 2-5 online, but not volume 1.  The first two volumes deal with literature up […]
• Ho ho ho, it’s summer
  I had an email yesterday from someone at a German periodical, Antike Welt.  Nothing wrong with that; indeed somewhat flattering.  Apparently they’re doing a Christmas article.  As we all know, the only reference to a pagan festival on 25 December is in the Philocalian calendar, part 6 of the Chronography of 354, which I have […]
• The Times and the Codex Sinaiticus
  I was interested to see that Codex Sinaiticus of the bible is to be digitised.  Articles in the Times here, and an opinion piece by Ruth Gledhill here are very welcome. The article has a facility for comments on it, which I used to express support for the digitisation and to query when the remaining 50,000-odd […]
• Agapius and Archive.org scanned book quality
  I was interested to find many volumes of the Patrologia Orientalis online at Archive.org.  Three of the four volumes that contain Agapius are among these.  So I downloaded PO7, which contains the section of Agapius from the birth of Christ (part 3 of 4), and printed a few pages.  Now I’ve been doing some business […]
• Should we call for biblical studies to be reformed?
  Rather a lot of people mistrust biblical scholars.  Other scholars look at them sideways.  Christians treat them with suspicion, because they so often appear on TV in the UK bashing the Christians.  Since few outside of Christianity are much interested in biblical studies, the curious effect is that the discipline in general is brought under […]
• Unsavoury authorities: the corruption of the church started when?
  I have been reading Cathleen Medwick’s biography of Teresa of Avila.  This describes how St. Teresa founded a series of Carmelite convents in the Spain of Philip II.  Each was a return to the primitive Carmelite rule, rather than the rather more comfortable ‘relaxed’ rule then in vogue, and motivated by sincere desire to do what […]
• Ancient sayings literature
  I collect joke books.  Most evenings I get home, tired, and I’m not really in the mood to read something heavy.  Instead I pick up a joke book, open it anywhere, read a few lines and always find something to make me smile. Anyone who has bought joke books will be familiar with the way […]
• Cyril of Alexandria and I: Waiting for Nestorius?
  Aren’t links wonderful?  Someone on TheoGreek has noticed my work with Cyril of Alexandria, and asks questions about it, and why I’m writing about him.  I’m flattered!  But rather than write a long comment there, I thought I’d blog about it here. I suppose that I have been looking at Cyril’s works a lot lately.  […]
• J.H.Newman and the Library of the Fathers
  I mentioned earlier the possibility of a lost English translation of Chrysostom’s letters.  Today I got hold of Dessain’s edition of the Letters and Diaries of John Henry Newman, vol. 5.  Sure enough on p.380 it indicated that John Jebb was translating De sacerdotio, not the letters; which seems to dispose finally of the legend. […]
• Cyril of Alexandria after Ephesus
  At the Council of Ephesus in 433, Cyril obtained the condemnation of his rival Archbishop Nestorius of Constantinople for heresy.  The vote was taken before the eastern bishops who supported Nestorius could arrive.  When they did arrive they excommunicated Cyril.  Both sides then appealed to the imperial government, then run by the eunuch Chrysaphius, who […]
• Euripides lost and found
  We tend to forget that our collection of plays by Euripides is very incomplete.  The Byzantine school syllabus had various set texts and standard collections of classical works.  Any text not in that subset stood a very good chance of being lost in one of the dislocations of culture that have occurred down the centuries.  The […]
• Learning Greek in later life
  Do children learn Greek at school any more?  If not, where do undergraduates for classics degrees come from? This question must have exercised the minds of academics at Oxford and Cambridge for some time.  State schools certainly don’t do such an ‘elitist’ subject, which leaves only the private schools.  Unless classics is to become the […]
• Lynne Brindley’s British Library — time for abolition?
  I was scanning an English translation of an obscure Syriac chronicle today, of which the British Library had sold me a photocopy.  I was struck by the poor quality, considering the huge price they had charged. They had also kindly stamped their name on every page, and placed a copyright notice on the front, itself probably quite spurious.  […]
• How much would it cost to translate all of Migne’s Patrologia Graeca?
  I was imagining myself a billionaire again last night.  Sadly I awoke to poverty as usual.  But then I saw this post on Archaic Christianity about Migne.  It started me thinking about what I would do with all my billions. I think that I would probably fund a complete translation of the PG volumes, just as […]
• A lost English translation of Chrysostom’s Letters?
  My interest was sparked by a sentence in Richard W. Pfaff, The Library of the Fathers: The Tractarians as Patristic Translators, Studies in Philology 70 (1973), p.329f.  This paper discusses the history of the Oxford Movement series of English translations.  On p.335-6 he says: Two of the envisaged volumes of Chrysostom never appeared: a selection of […]
• Corpus Parisinum of the Greek Gnomologia finally published
  Collections of sayings by philosophers and other bums are known as gnomologia – the idea being that they contain gnomic wisdom.  These things exercised quite a bit of influence in antiquity. One of the most famous collections of these is the Corpus Parisinum, so called because it is preserved in a massive manuscript (Ms. Paris […]
• Another collection of classical texts in English translation
  Delighted to find this site, Theoi, contains a lot of translations of obscure classical authors. The site is New Zealand based, and most of the translations are from the Loeb library. Lots of these are actually out of copyright in the USA because the copyright was not renewed as the law required. I’m not sure […]
• Cramer’s “Catenae in Evangelia S. Matthaei et S. Marci” online
  I have accidentally found this volume online at Google books from a search on “cramer catena”.  It is here.  I could wish that I had known this before seeking out physical copies and paying for photocopies.  The authors used in the catena are listed at the back, with page references.  It contains a number of […]
• Eusebius “Quaestiones” progress 13
  I’ve been gathering more materials.   The medieval Greek commentaries on the bible (catenae) are made up solely of chunks of quotations from earlier authors.  The catena published by John Cramer is particularly good for material by Eusebius, and has a nice index at the back of which pages to look at,  unlike another catena by Possinius that […]
• Eusebius Chronicon book 1 now online in English
  The excellent and industrious Andrew Smith has completed a translation into English of the Latin translation of the Chronicon of Eusebius of Caesarea!  He has also made this available as a public domain text, which is how it should be, of course.  It’s here. Note that information on the manuscripts should be checked against a […]
• Eusebius “Quaestiones” progress 12
  The revision of the ‘ecloge’ (the collection of selected extracts) of the work is in progress, and it sounds as if it’s thoroughly worthwhile.  I’ve also compared the fragments of the full text found in catenae which Angelo Mai published in his first edition to that which he printed in the second.  The main difference is […]
• Latin inscriptions database
  I’ve today discovered the following database site which has the text of almost all Latin inscriptions in it:  http://www.manfredclauss.de/gb/index.html A search for ‘invicto’ brought up quite a few!
• Microsoft live books to close?
  I’ve been reading some reports that Microsoft is to dump this initiative, to stop scanning and just merge the results into its general (useless) search engine.  The site was blocked from access outside the US until a few weeks ago, but is now accessible — while it lasts. It’s quite a triumph for the British […]
• Eusebius “Quaestiones” progress 11
  Regular readers will know that I have commissioned a gentleman whom I refer to as Mr. A to translate all the remains of Eusebius of Caesarea’s Quaestiones ad Stephanum et Marinum.  This work contains a series of ‘problems’ — differences between the gospels — and Eusebius’ ‘solutions’ to them.  The problems ‘for Stephanus’ all come from […]
• The shape of the material heaven
  From Augustine, ‘De genesi ad litteram’ (The literal meaning of Genesis), book 2, chapter 9 (tr. J.H.Taylor, 1982): “It is frequently asked what our belief must be about the form and shape of heaven according to Sacred Scripture. Many scholars engaged in lengthy discussions on these matter, but the sacred writers with their deeper wisdom […]
• Sir Thomas Phillips of Middle Hill, Cheltenham
  In the Guardian online today is a piece on this eccentric English book-collector of the last century, whose collection of manuscripts was a wonder and which is still being sold off even today.  References to manuscripts once in his collection are common in editions.  Most of them are now in Berlin.
• Eusebius “Quaestiones” progress 10
  Mr. A, who is translating this work of Eusebius on the differences between the gospels and their solutions, writes to tell me that the 16th and final question to Stephanus is now done.  This is gratifying news; the first complete translation into English is progressing nicely.  We’re now trying to decide whether to press on into […]
• Ancient obscenity and the world-wide web
  The epigrams of Martial provide a vivid immersion into life in Rome in the reign of Domitian, the smells and sights and sounds of a man living in that environment.  As such they are of the highest value as a source, not least for what they tell us about the Roman publishing industry. One feature of […]
• Eusebius “Quaestiones” progress 9
  Over the last couple of weeks translations of the Greek text of Q12 and Q13 have arrived from Mr. A.  In the process he points out that the first edition by Mai of Q13 contains rather less text than the second edition, and queries whether we need a proper text.  Of course we do. I’ve […]
• Cyril of Alexandria, “Commentary on Luke”, completed and online
  With great thankfulness I have now completed scanning the English translation of the “Commentary on Luke” by Cyril of Alexandria, comprising 156 sermons.  The files can be found here. http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/index.htm#Cyril_on_Luke The files and their contents, including my preface, are all in the public domain — please use them in any way you please. The text […]
• Scanning books, and the way forward
  Times change, and, as always, we must change with them.  I no longer recall certainly when I first took down from the shelves the two volumes of Payne Smith’s translation of the Commentary on Luke by Cyril of Alexandria.  Perhaps it was in 2005.  The volumes stood on the open shelves at Cambridge university library.  […]
• More snippets from Cyril of Alexandria
  “How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God! And I say unto you, that it is easier for a camel to enter in through the eye of a needle, than a rich man into the kingdom of God.” Now by a camel He means not the animal of that name, […]
• Political expenses, then and now
  I was browsing the Fathers of the Church translation of Cyril of Alexandria’s Letters.  None of these are personal; rather the whole collection is concerned with the events before and after the Council of Ephesus in 433, and the dispute with Nestorius about the theotokos.  Possibly the collection is a dossier of evidence, assembled for […]
• Some words from Cyril of Alexandria
  But those who love a voluptuous course of life, imagine probably that they are gaining their soul by living in pleasure and effeminacy: whereas certainly they lose it. “For he that sows, it says, to the flesh, shall of the flesh reap corruption.”  (Commentary on Luke, Sermon 118)
• New work on the “Apocriticus” of Macarius Magnes, Porphyry “Contra Christianos”
  The “Apocriticus” of Macarius Magnes is a 4th century dialogue with a pagan, in five books.  The work nearly did not survive; a manuscript known in Venice in the 16th century which contained book 5 was never printed; a damaged manuscript located in Greece in the late 19th century vanished from the Greek National Library, […]
• Nestorius, 2nd and 3rd letters to Pope Celestine — now online in English
  Mark DelCogliano translated into English the second and third letters that Nestorius wrote to Pope Celestine (published in the original in Loofs, “Nestoriana”) a couple of years ago.  As far as I know no other translation in English exists. He has very kindly sent them to me, for upload onto the web, and has also […]
• New sermons of St. Augustine found in Erfurt
  James O’Donnell announced this in CLASSICS-L, and I’ve run up a quick translation of the announcement (in German) on the website at the bottom. The Vienna scholars are cataloguing all the manuscripts of St. Augustine — a huge task — and are making discoveries. It’s interesting that these sermons seem to have an origin in […]
• The rich and the middle classes, in 5th century Alexandria
  Cyril of Alexandria writes: Purchase the grace that comes from God; buy for your friend the Lord of heaven and earth: for indeed we often purchase men’s friendship with large sums of gold, and if those of high rank are reconciled to us, we feel great joy in offering them presents even beyond what we can […]
• Eusebius Quaestiones translation: progress 8
  The 9th, 10th and 11th gospel ‘difficulties’ have now arrived from Mr. A, which is most encouraging.
• Eusebius Quaestiones translation: progress 7
  The 8th question and answer to Stephanus (of 14) has now arrived from Mr. A, which is encouraging. Someone else has enquired about doing some of the Syriac. Still nothing from Mr. C. Postscript. 13th March Mr. A. has now sent me the 9th question and answer also. I’ve today prompted Mr. C. as to […]
• British Library copyright consultation
  The British Library is seeking the opinions of those who use it or borrow books in the UK from libraries on new proposals about copyright. If you live in the UK, stick it to them here. We can be sure that publishers will be greedily lobbying. Make sure you do too!
• Eusebius Chronicle book 1
  The other thing that I have done this week is to return to my online collaborative translation of book 1 of Eusebius’ Chronicle. I pretty much had to stop pushing this last year as pressures at work reached fever pitch. It’s very demanding running one of these efforts; you have to log in each day, […]
• Eusebius Quaestiones translation: progress 6
  There isn’t any progress this week.  Mr. A hasn’t sent anything of the Greek, and Mr. C, who apparently had fragment 2 of the Syriac ready to go on his PC, hasn’t sent it over.  It is easy to be frustrated at the slow progress of the work, despite my attempts to impose some kind of schedule. […]
• Eusebius Quaestiones translation: progress 5
  Today Mr. A. has sent me a translation of the quaestio ad Stephanum 7, and a nice long chunk it is!   I’ve not read it yet, but apparently it contains a somewhat baffling allegorical section.  We’ll have to see if we can make any sense of it.  It may be that the epitomator has managed to confuse the […]
• Severus of al-Ashmunein, Zoroaster and the “Book of the Councils” 2
  In a Cairo manuscript there is a 4 page passage not present in the published text of the “Book of the Councils” by Severus of al-Ashmunein. A translator has been working on this for me, for 10 cents a word. The first two pages have now arrived. Unfortunately they do not seem to be in […]
• Sir Walter Scott, on ancient obscenity
  Yesterday I was reading the collected letters of C.S.Lewis, and saw a description of Boswell as the best biography ever written.  As it is a favourite of mine, I concur.  But Lewis also gave second place to Lockhart’s “Life of Sir Walter Scott”.  I’m not a great fan of much of Scott’s writing, but of […]
• The epigrams of Martial
  If I look around the web for English translations of ancient texts, I am quickly struck by the degree to which patristic texts are commonplace, while classical ones are rare.  The difficult-to-use Perseus site continues its well-funded progress, it is true.  But amateur collections seem few. These ruminations were provoked by the need to consult the […]
• Severus al-Ashmunein, Zoroaster and the “Book of the Councils”
  For some time I have been tracking down references in Arabic Christian texts to the idea that Zoroaster said something like “He who doesn’t eat my body and drink my blood will not know salvation”.  (The actual idea is fairly clearly bogus). One of the possible witnesses is a passage in Severus ibn Mukaffa’, Book of the […]
• Eusebius translation: progress 4
  No more bits have arrived. I spent last week discussing issues with Mr. A, the translator of the Greek. He is a bit prone to switch the order of the clauses in a sentence without obvious need, and this needed to be addressed. One interesting thing: in order that we could discuss chunk 6, he […]
• New Syriac mss finds in the Nitrian desert
  An article in the Evangelical Textual Criticism blog points up a find of another stray page from British Library Additional 12150, which dates from 411 AD. The manuscript was bought from the Monastery of the Syrians (Deir al-Suryani) (St. Mary Deipara) in the Nitrian desert by Archdeacon Henry Tattam in the 1840’s, but his agent […]
• Eusebius translation: progress 3
  We’re now at Question 6 ad Stephanum, but an interesting question has arisen. What do we do about scripture quotations? Where these are verbatim, we ought to use some recognised version. But which one? Worse, I have heard rumours that some copyright holders demand money to allow their version to be used; the RSV was […]
• Eusebius translation: progress 2
  The review by Dr. B of the first chunk of the translation of the Greek has arrived.  Generally it presses for greater literalness.  My own ‘soundings’ into the text and translation did rather suggest a need for this, so I agree. Unfortunately Dr. B has found the job too time-consuming and withdrawn.  So I shall […]
• Al-Majdalus, “Commentary on the Nicene Creed”; the Bibliotheque orientale in Beirut, etc
  I’ve mentioned before my investigation into Arabic witnesses to the idea that Zoroaster said “Whoever does not eat my body and drink my blood…”.  One of these may be the 9th century Melkite “Commentary on the Nicene creed” by the otherwise unknown Al-Majdalus.  A little while ago, I experimented with getting a commercial translator in Beirut […]
• Progress on the Eusebius translation
  I’ve been thinking about blogging on the progress of this work (I think I need a new category for the translation of Eusebius ‘Quaestiones’, actually). But I don’t want to use real names for the people involved, so I will identify them The Greek translation is well under way, and the first four questions ‘To […]
• Greed that laughed not, nor with mouth smiled
  The Gospel problems and solutions of Eusebius Pamphili is extant only in fragments.  Not all of these have been edited.  A century ago Harnack noted a list of manuscripts which contained excerpts, but nothing has been done to collect these.  Since we are producing a translation, and perhaps an edition, I thought that I would […]
• Eusebius – the feeding frenzy
  You never know who is planning to translate something.  Scholars don’t talk as much as they might, either, which leads to silly situations, such as three English translations of Eusebius Onomasticon being released in a period of a couple of years (including the long forgotten Wolf translation which appears online). I enquired a couple of […]
• Microsoft live books now blocked to UK readers
  I found today that I could not access books.live.com, despite having language=EN-US.  I presume this means that Microsoft have ramped up their decision to restrict content to US readers only.  This is most annoying, since a lot of their content is supplied by UK libraries such as the Bodleian.  Indeed I was searching to see […]
• Being my own publisher: translating a work by Eusebius of Caesarea into English
  Eusebius composed a work in three books on problems or contradictions in the gospels, and solutions for them.  The first two books were addressed to a certain Stephanus and addressed 16 ‘problems’ with the genealogies given at the start of Matthew and Luke.  The other book was addressed to one Marinus, and discussed problems at […]
• Some online Latin mss from Denmark (Haunienses)
  By chance I stumbled on some online images from medieval Latin mss, often of classical or patristic authors: http://www.kb.dk/en/nb/materialer/haandskrifter/HA/e-mss/clh_intro.html – Intro  http://www.kb.dk/en/nb/materialer/haandskrifter/HA/e-mss/clh.html – the Mss; Cicero, Isidore, Justin, Livy, Lucan, Lucretius, Macrobius, Ovid, Plutarch, Priscian, Publilius Syrus, Sallust, Seneca, Solinus, Terence, Virgil. http://www.kb.dk/en/nb/materialer/haandskrifter/HA/e-mss/flh_intro.html – Intro to fragments http://www.kb.dk/en/nb/materialer/haandskrifter/HA/e-mss/flh.html – Fragments; Ambrose, Augustine, Bede, (Ps.)Hegesippus, Isidore, Jerome, Livy, Quintus Curtius, […]
• Tertullian.org offline and all my email blocked
  My new webhosts, www.site5.com, have seen fit to take down all my websites without notice after receiving a complaint of spam, supposedly from ‘Feedback’ at my domain.  Needless to say it was nothing to do with me.  I apologise if this causes a problem to anyone, and I hope that they will reinstate my service quickly.  […]
• Syriac books at lulu.com
  I was fascinated to discover today that a reasonable number of reprints of Syriac texts are for sale at reasonable prices online at Lulu.com. These can be rather cheaper than reprints from Gorgias press, for instance. Quality is unknown, tho. Quite a number of Alphone Mingana’s works are there. Search for ‘Assyrian’ or ‘Syriac’. Postscript […]
• Patristic blog
  I had something nice happen to me today.  I was writing some notes on John bar Zo’bi here and found, to my delight, that someone had picked up on an extract from his works which I had scanned and uploaded ages ago.  It seems that we have another patristic blogger! http://patristicpage.blogspot.com/ I remember having to […]
• Colour photos of Mingana collection manuscripts
  People may recall that I’m working on a Garshuni text preserved in Mingana Syr. 142, and that I got a PDF of some microfiche printouts a while back, which I sent to a translator. This was a bit hard to read, but I found that the Mingana (well, Birmingham university special collections) would allow me to go […]
• Tertullian.org and QuickLatin.com offline
  I’m moving web hosts (to www.site5.com) and so these sites are offline while the various DNS servers around the web update each other.  Email to me probably won’t work either, unless you send it to roger_pearse@yahoo.co.uk!  But www.tertullian.net is already available, however.
• Back from Luxor
  A week in Luxor leading up to Christmas — pure delight!  I stayed at the Maritim Jollie Ville (formerly the Movenpick), which consists of chalets in gardens of palm-trees, and ate a fillet steak every lunchtime on the terrace overlooking the Nile.  The steak, indeed, was only 6 GBP.   The hotel is on an island […]
• New papyrus codex found in Belgium
  In the PAPY-L list today there was an announcement of a papyrus codex, found among the finds of a Belgian museum.  It’s been carbon dated to the 11th century, and is thought to be local, and probably containing a Latin text.  A number of other papyrus codices are known from the medieval period in that region, […]
• New English translations of untranslated ancient texts
  As an experiment I have used my own heavily-taxed salary and commissioned a translation from Arabic of the Commentary on the Nicene Creed by the 9th century Melchite priest, al-Majdalus, using a commercial translator.  This is expensive, but I have read that this is how the Ante-Nicene Fathers translations were made.  It will be interesting to […]
• Visiting Luxor
  I first went to Luxor in March 1986 with a friend from college, and staying in the Hotel Philippe, where the air-con didn’t really work.  It was very scruffy, and we had to negotiate our own way to the Valley of the Kings.  But it was very special. I seem to remember going again at […]
• Ge’ez using SMS
  Nokia have developed a mobile phone handset which can send and receive text messages in the Ge’ez script.  It is being trialed in Ethiopia, where the unicode script is still being used for Amharic.
• British Library Readers Forum
  If you have any interest in books in the UK, if you ever borrow books by inter-library loan via the British Library document supply service, please join the BL readers forum and add your comments!
• Syriac mss in Jerusalem in the Greek Patriarchate
  Fr. Dale A. Johnson has made freely available online a Catalogue of the Syriac manuscripts of the library of the Greek Patriarchate of Jerusalem.  It also describes his experiences in trying to gain access!
• Web hosting?
  My current  hosts for the Tertullian project have been fine, but they only allow me 1.5Gb of disk space.  I’m beginning to find this tight.  Does anyone have a suggestion of a reliable, reasonably-priced professional US hosting service?
• Reader photography of manuscripts at the Mingana collection (Birmingham Special Collections)
  Glasnost is spreading through UK manuscripts collections!  First the National Archives; now the Mingana!  I wrote over the weekend to the Mingana collection of Syriac and Arabic manuscripts at Birmingham university.  Without much hope, I asked if I could bring my own digital camera; if not, what would they charge me for some images? Today […]
• Copyright issues blog
  By chance I came across an interesting blog, Collectanea, devoted to discussion of the absurdities of the over-extensive copyright law in the digital age.  There any many interesting snippets in this.  Most interesting is the rise in sales of books indexed by Google books, leading to the probable consequence of a settlement of lawsuits against Google by […]
• Mss from the Bibliothèque Orientale, Université Saint-Joseph, Beirut
  A couple of weeks ago I decided that I needed to get reproductions of a few pages from some manuscripts which Georg Graf in Geschichte der christlichen arabischen Literatur mentions.  These were in Beirut; i.e. at the Université Saint-Joseph, in the Bibliothèque Orientale.  So I emailed them on bo@usj.edu.lb in English, apologised for my inability to write French and […]
• Greek texts online complete
  A couple of interesting pages which I stumbled across while looking for material about the engineer Philo of Byzantium (ca. 250 BC).  The first points to a lot of Greek texts online: http://www.mikrosapoplous.gr/en/linksen.html The second is a French site with a vast collection of PDF’s of medical writers, such as Galen: http://www.bium.univ-paris5.fr/histmed/medica.htm
• Libya visit problems
  The BBC reports on a sudden change in policy: Libya changes tourist entry rules Hundreds of European tourists have been refused entry to Libya after an unannounced change to passport rules. From the evening of 11 November, visitors without an Arabic translation of their passports have been denied entry, even if they have valid visas. […]
• Coptic Gospel of Judas – critical edition released
  Well, I’ve just learned that the critical edition of the Coptic ‘Gospel of Judas’ has finally appeared.  It came out very quietly over the summer, and it seems that hardly anyone noticed. If you want a copy, it’s very cheap indeed. It’s on Amazon here. The volume also contains the other texts from Codex Tchacos. […]
• Getting reproductions of Mss — the fight goes on
  I feel like a challenge.  So I’ve just emailed the Biblioteca Apostolica (or Vatican Library to you and me) and asked how I can get a print-off of some pages from one of their Arabic mss — Vat. ar. 158 (1357 AD), ff. 148r-157v. — containing the unpublished Explanation of the Nicene Creed by Abu […]
• Origins of the ANCL and US piracy of it
  The well-known Ante-Nicene Fathers series began life as a series of translations of the Fathers undertaken by presbyterian Edinburgh publishers T. & T. Clark, and published on subscription as the Ante-Nicene Christian Library.  “The T. & T. Clark Story” by John A. H. Dempster (1992) gives some fascinating details.  A print run of 4 volumes […]
• Plustek Opticbook 3600 impresses
  I’m becoming increasingly impressed by Plustek’s specialised book-scanner, the OpticBook 3600.  I bought one ages ago, and was unimpressed to discover that the built-in TWAIN driver only supported 300 dpi, since scanning and converting to text is best done at 400 dpi.  Later I found that, when using Abbyy Finereader 8 OCR software, the Abbyy […]
• Manuscript photographing and discoveries
  These posts from CSNTM about a team photographing manuscripts at Patmos are models of how things should be done. Well done chaps! http://www.reclaimingthemind.org/blog/2007/10/16/manuscript-discoveries-from-summer-2007-expeditions http://www.csntm.org/Patmos2007.aspx
• Public domain and lawyers
  I came across this link accidentally: http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20071022-european-copyright-law-used-to-threaten-canadian-public-domain-site.html Apparently a Canadian public domain site received threatening letters from an Austrian publisher in regard of some music scores which were out of copyright in Canada but in copyright in the EU. The web site owner, who was providing a public service, not selling anything, decided that they […]
• Graf’s Geschichte der christlichen arabischen Litteratur — where to get it
  Georg Graf, Geschichte der christlichen arabischen Litteratur is the main handbook of Arabic Christian literature.  Rather to my surprise I found it offered for sale by an Italian bookdealer, deastore.com.  The first volume, which deals with all the translations into Arabic, is only available on CDROM; the other four in book form at around 20 euros […]
• Chrysostom slapping the Jews
  I realised today that I must be one of the most disadvantaged people on the internet, when it comes to John Chrysostom’s 8 sermons against the Jews.  The politically correct or Jewish know that we must condemn these, since it Isn’t Allowed to say anything that looks anti-Jewish (although the PC seem to think that trying […]
• Catalogues of Syriac manuscripts online
  In Syriac studies, even a beginner will find himself consulting lists of manuscripts, as so much has never been published.  William Wright’s Catalogue of Syriac Manuscripts in the British Museum (1870) remains a fundamental reference.  From the Yahoo Hugoye-list I find that this is now online at archive.org: vol. 1; vol. 2; vol. 3.  The […]
• Archko forgery ‘fingerprint’
  Stephen C. Carlson’s book on “Secret Mark” is a splendid achievement, not least for the way in which it builds up a convincing picture of how a literary faker works and thinks.  I was reminded of it when I received an email from James Irsay, who takes an interest in the Archko volume.  This is one of those […]
• Tertullian.org offline
  Tertullian.org will be inaccessible for the remainder of the month. This is because on 30th August and 1st September my site was hit by massive overusage of the Additional Fathers url — apparently all the index page — with the result that my ISP intends to charge me $40 overusage fees unless the average drops. […]
• Bodmer mss 14/15 (P75) sold to private collectors, bought by Vatican
  There have been some posts in the PAPY-L list alluding to the fact that back in November the Bodmer Foundation in Geneva sold two of its priceless papyrus codexes in order to raise funds.  The two were mss. 14 and 15, which together are numbered p75 date from the early 3rd century, and contain the […]
• Pre-1800 Church library sold for almost nothing
  The Times reports that Truro Cathedral have sold off all their pre-1800 books.  Charmingly they accepted a bid of only $72,000.  The dealer who bought them sold them on for more than $1m, and is now retiring from business.  Details of the historic library and the dispersal are here.
• Libya and Leptis Magna
  I’m off to Libya for a long weekend in a couple of weeks.  Actually I went 18 months ago, but didn’t see as much of Leptis Magna as I would have liked.  This time I hope to walk down to the quayside, and walk across the sandy beach that runs between the breakwaters of the […]
• Vatican Library Syriac manuscripts — quoting and transcribing
  Syriacologist Steven Ring tells me that he has asked the Vatican Library whether he needs their permission to quote from their manuscripts, or produce an edition of a text contained in one.  They responded: We are pleased to inform you that you don’t need permission from the Vatican Library to quote a BAV siriac ms. […]
• More copyright and the web
  I have a page on my website the finds of manuscripts at Kellis in the Dakhla Oasis in Egypt, with some photographs of pages of the books, which I found online. Today I had a kind email from Dr Colin Hope of Monash University in Australia. He asked me to remove them, as they were […]
• Kudos to the Academia Belgica in Rome
  I am mildly stunned and impressed! The Academia Belgica in Rome hold the papers of Franz Cumont. I wrote to them asking whether they had copies of an unpublished Italian translation of part of Ms. Mingana 142, and I got a very nice email back from Dr Pamela Anastasio, the librarian, confirming that they did, […]
• Egyptian copyright law
  I have online the first 800 years of the History of the Coptic Patriarchs of Alexandria.  But more exists in various publications, and I keep getting emails from Copts about it.  However one version that I know of is of uncertain status, not least because I cannot find out what Egyptian copyright law actually is!  […]
• Zeitschrift fur Papyrologie und Epigraphik (ZPE) old issues online
  From the PAPY-L list I learn of these, at http://www.uni-koeln.de/phil-fak/ifa/zpe/downloads A number of the articles are in English. Papyrology resources are at http://www.ulb.ac.be/assoc/aip/liens.htm
• Migne online
  I have just discovered the Documenta Catholica Omnia site.  This seems to contain a very large chunk of materials, including a lot of the Patrologia Latina.  Worth a look, anyhow.
• Death of the CCEL?
  I have today received what is possibly one of the most depressing emails that I have seen in many years.  It’s a threatening email from someone I’ve never heard of. He says that he is the moderator of the CCEL site.  He wants to know why I’m “selling their work” (i.e. including an old public domain version […]
• Why there are no useful German internet sites and no German gallica or google books.
  I heard an incredible story from a German scholar while I was at the patristics conference, which may explain why so little German material appears online, compared with the vast collections of English and French scholarship at Gallica.fr or Google books.  Apparently German publishers have taken on teams of lawyers to scan the internet.  Any […]
• Problems with the Mingana manuscripts at Birmingham
  While at the garden party at the Patristics conference in Oxford, I got talking with someone and the subject of the Mingana manuscripts at Birmingham came up.  This collection of Syriac, Arabic and other oriental manuscripts was the property of Alphone Mingana, who left it to the university. My friend was complaining about difficulty getting […]
• XV International conference on patristics studies at Oxford (6-11 Aug. 2007)
  Oxford was lovely in the summer sunshine as I drove across Folly Bridge and down to Merton, my old college, where I stayed in preference to the rather expensive accomodation at other colleges laid on by the organisers.  After getting my room, I went across to the Examination Schools, a magnificent gothic building where the […]
• 15′ statue of Hadrian found in SE Turkey
  BBC News reports that Belgian archaeologists have discovered the parts of a statue of Hadrian at Sagalassos, in Pisidia in S.E. Turkey.  The report has a link to 5 pictures of the fragments.  Portions of another huge statue may be that of Sabina, his wife.  The two statues were about 12-15 foot high, and stood in […]
• Quasten’s “Patrology” — new volume available!
  Everyone knows that Quasten’s 4 volume handbook of the fathers of the church ends ca. 451.  Few know that the Italian edition has two further volumes.  I discovered on Monday that the first of these has been translated into English; I bought one on Tuesday while at the Oxford Patristics Conference, on seeing the publisher […]
• Disturbing the sacred dead
  The BBC reports that an Italian professor of anthropology has violated the tombs of Pico della Mirandola and Angelo Politian, for some frivolous reason or other.  Both were leading figures in the recovery of ancient literature in the 15th century.   I remember one day finding a letter from Politian bound into a manuscript that I […]
• Arabic words in the “History of the Coptic Patriarchs of Alexandria”
  I’m currently looking at an English translation of a later part of this long work in Arabic, which has transliterations of Arabic words in the middle of it.  Some Greek words also appear. Some are interesting: “al kurban” is the offering of the mass, i.e. holy communion. Another is “al-Ka‘k” – cakes! I wish I […]
• Harvard Houghton Library Syriac manuscripts
  The excellent Syriacologist Steven Ring has discovered that a good catalogue of all the Syriac manuscripts at Harvard is online here.  Better yet, he’s going out there to take a look at them. Among them I notice as Ms. 95 a copy of Nestorius, The Bazaar of Heracleides, on which I have written before.  Colophons […]
• Jacob of Edessa’s continuation of Eusebius’ Chronicle
  One of the great questions about the Chronicle of Eusebius is whether the format of the tables as given in the Latin translation by Jerome (numbers of years at the margins, text down the middle of the page) is Eusebian, or whether the format in the Armenian translation (numbers in the middle, text in the […]
• UK National Archives – how to harness people power
  I am deeply impressed with the National Archives.  I first came to hear of them when I learned that they allow their readers to bring in digital cameras, under reasonable conditions, and I was impressed.  After all, the only certain way to ensure the destruction of a document is to ensure no copies are made. […]
• Journal Asiatique now online
  It seems that all the volumes of the Journal Asiatique are now online at the Bibliotheque Nationale Gallica site, at this link here.  The journal contains many publications of interest to Syriac people, both text and translations. I also have found a list of all the volumes of the Patrologia Orientalis available for download at […]
• CSCO and Peeters of Leuven
  The massive series of Oriental authors, the Corpus Scriptorum Christianorum Orientalium is kept in print by the publishers, Peeters of Leuven.  This is a great blessing, and reflects great credit on them.  A couple of weeks ago I decided that I really did need a copy of Jacob of Edessa’s continuation of the Chronicle of […]
• Chunk 2 of Eusebius’ Chronicle now up and ready for translation!
  I referred in a previous post to the idea of translating collaboratively book 1 of the Chronicle of Eusebius into English, and setting it up so that anyone could just contribute stuff — no approvals, passwords, etc. I’ve now put online the entries for the second chunk, starting with more material from Alexander Polyhistor using Berossus. […]
• Syriac books online
  Syriacologist Steven Ring tells me that Brigham Young University and the Catholic University of America have scanned a bunch of Syriac publications and placed them online: http://www.lib.byu.edu/dlib/cua/ These are in google books-like form, although I haven’t worked out yet how to download any. They include the Syriac of Eusebius Theophania, the Bibliotheca Orientalis of Assemani, […]
• The Testimonium Flavianum in Michael the Syrian, Jacob of Edessa and Eusebius’ Chronicle
  The Chronicle of Eusebius ended with the Vicennalia of Constantine; that is clear from Jerome’s translation/expansion of it in Latin. From Michael the Syrian we learn that Jacob of Edessa commenced his Syriac continuation at the same point. Looking at Michael’s text, it is clear that the Testimonium Flavianum quoted in it comes from the […]
• More on Michael the Syrian and Phlegon
  Today I was able to see the complete edition of Michael the Syrian by J.B.Chabot at Cambridge University Library.  It consists of 4 volumes.  There is an introductory volume, containing an introduction about Michael and his works, and the index for the whole Chronicle.  This is labelled volume 1; confusingly so is the next volume, […]
• Microsoft books.live.com – how to access
  Stephen C. Carlson kindly drew my attention to this blog post  at the Amsterdam NT Blog which explains why none of us can see anything on the much vaunted Microsoft rival to Google books.  Apparently only people whose browser language is set to ‘eng-us’ can see anything.   I customised my copy of Firefox to do […]
• Phlegon in Michael the Syrian
  In the 10th century world Chronicle of Michael the Syrian, there is a quotation from Phlegon (see Ben C. Smith’s page).  This is quoted in French by Shlomo Pines from J.B.Chabot’s edition and translation.   I thought that it might be interesting to obtain the Syriac and transcribe and translate it directly myself.  I was advised that […]
• Armenian discussions in Dutch about Aucher and Eusebius
  By a curious coincidence I came across these.  Meanwhile I am creating a PDF of Aucher’s Armenian text and Latin translation (and the Greek of Syncellus) of Eusebius.
• Eusebius online: problems with numbers
  While working on the first chunk of Eusebius, I saw a list of kings in Babylon.  There was quite a different between the lengths of the reigns in the German edition (Karst, 1911) and the Latin one (Petermann, 1870-ish).  The former was based on a photographic copy of E, the main manuscript; the latter on two hand-written […]
• Translating Eusebius’s Chronicle 1 online: why not have a go at a sentence?
  The chronicle of Eusebius has never been translated into English.  But we have a simple Latin version, and also a German one.  Much of it is in short sentences or phrases, so even a novice at Latin would probably find something they could do.   Would people be interested in having a go at this, as a […]
• The last Roman in London
  Mike Aquilina at Way of the Fathers reports a BBC news item.  It seems that a burial has been found in London (Londinium), of a grave from the early 5th century. The burial was at St. Martin-in-the-Fields church, near Trafalgar Square. The man was buried in a Roman sarcophagus with a bit of Saxon pottery.  Test show that he died […]
• Oxford Patristics Conference
  The quadrennial 15th International Conference on Patristic Studies will take place in Oxford this year from Monday 6 August to Saturday 11 August 2007.   A list of papers has been sent out but is not on the website, for some reason, although abstracts are. I hope to attend at least some of it since I […]
• Oriental Institute publications free online
  While reading awilum.com, I discovered that the Oriental Institute in Chicago has decided that it “is committed to digitizing all of its publications and making them available online, without charge.”  This electronic publication programme makes material available in PDF.  A full list is available at the above link.  This is marvellous news — well done the OI! 
• Mirror of the old v2 CCEL 38-vol. collection of the fathers
  I suspect that I am not the only person who has found the old version 2 layout of the 38-volume Ante-Nicene, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers collection at CCEL rather easier to use than the new, improved, but very much more awkward version 3? I today found that the v2 version has vanished from CCEL.  Fortunately […]
• How the Chronicle of Eusebius was rediscovered
  Since 1998 Dr. Armenuhi Drost-Abgarjan has been working on a new edition of the Armenian text of Eusebius Chronicle, with German translation *. She kindly sent me an off-print of an article about this. It looks as if the prefaces of both the Latin edition of Petermann (1875-6) and the German one of Karst (1911) […]
• Preparing for the Eusebius Chronicle translation
  I have now entered both Petermann’s Latin and Karst’s German translation into a database, split into sentences and lined up the two in parallel columns.  It looks as if a copy of Aucher will be with me in a week or so, but I see no way to make much use of it. I need to […]
• Forthcoming English translation of Poggio Bracciolini’s letters
  We all owe a great debt to Poggio Bracciolini, who in the early 15th century hunted down and recovered so many classical texts. His letters have never been published in English, aside from an unsatisfactory collection to his friend Niccolo Niccoli, whose massive collection of Greek and Latin manuscripts forms the kernel of the Biblioteca […]
• “De duobus montibus Sina et Sion” translated
  Stephen C. Carlson has translated this text by ps.Cyprian and placed it online at Google Docs here.
• Marutha of Maiperqat, On the Council of Nicaea
  I recently located an unpublished translation, made probably in the 1850’s, of this work.  This is now online here. The translation is public domain so copy freely and put online elsewhere, etc.  I hope to get the Syriac online if I ever get 5 minutes to spare! I have some doubts that this is really […]
• Cato the heavyweight
  In Petermann’s Latin translation of the Armenian version of Eusebius’ Chronicle one finds reference to “Cato Porkius”.  Somehow I had always thought of him as a well-built man… Porkius is just Porcius — we would say Marcus Porcius Cato–, and it indicates the hard-sound that ‘c’ had in antiquity.  In medieval times the ‘c’ sound […]
• British Library Readers Group
  I’ve always felt that the BL readers needed a voice in its running, and didn’t get one.  So I was delighted today to discover that a British Library Readers Group was set up in January.  This followed the announcement that the government was considering chopping 7% off the £100m budget. The British Library Readers Group […]
• UK MLA – a white knight for the library user?
  Today I discovered that there is a body in the UK called the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council.  The point of it is somewhat unclear, but it looks as if it might have some input to government policy on how the UK library service is run. Two things have bothered me for some time about […]
• Reading pre-WW1 handwriting
  Don’t you hate it when the postman brings a whole pile of things that you’ve been waiting to work on, all on the same day?  Well that happened to me this morning, just as I was about to go off and get an Armenian grammar. The first item is a printout of a microfilm of […]
• GCS Eusebius at Google Books
  I have this evening discovered two volumes of the Berlin Griechischen Christlichen Schriftsteller series containing critical texts of works by Eusebius at Google books.  A search for “eusebius werke” brought up vol. 2.2 (HE VI-X, Martyrs of Palestine, Rufinus HE X-XI); vol 3 (Onomasticon).  I’m not sure what the proper URL’s are, since I’m using a backdoor […]
• 1/72 Ancient wargaming figures
  As a lad, I used to wargame ancients using the Wargames Research Group rules; indeed a metal 1/72 scale Seleucid army still resides in the loft of my house somewhere.  This week I came across an old-fashioned hobby shop, which is a rare thing indeed these days.  On the shelves were wargaming figures, in plastic, 1/72 […]
• Obtaining a copy of the Armenian text of Eusebius’ Chronicle
  Aucher’s 1818 editio princeps is in two volumes, corresponding to the two books of the Chronicle. Cambridge University Library have got back to me with some prices. For a photocopy of the 400 pages of vol. 1 they want ca. $160; for both vols ca. $300. “Bi-tonal scans as PDF files” are $420 and $790 […]
• More thoughts on the Armenian of Eusebius
  There is supposed to be a new edition of the Armenian text of Eusebius’ Chronicle, to appear in the Berlin GCS series. Richard Burgess communicated this information to the LT-ANTIQ list a year or two back. If so, this would alter matters again, as a printed Classical Armenian (=’Grabar’) text could be scanned. I am […]
• Working with the Armenian text of Eusebius – or not
  I am beginning to wonder whether I have been too ambitious in attempting to work with the Armenian text of Eusebius Chronicle. It seems remarkably difficult just to obtain the raw materials. The English Grammar by R.M.Thomson is out of print and unobtainable second hand for less than $100; my attempts to borrow it from […]
• Anagnostis – OCR for ancient Greek
  I had an email from Dominique Gonnet at the Sources Chretiennes, asking if I had a copy of the OCR program Anagnostis.  I’d never heard of it, but this turns out to be an OCR utility for Greek which can handle Ancient Greek!  Of course I want one!  But I was quickly put off, by the […]
• Herodian now online in English
  The 3rd century historian Herodian of Antioch wrote a history in eight books of the emperors from the death of Marcus Aurelius to the accession of Gordian III. The 1961 English translation is now online here. This is out of copyright in the USA, so copy freely if you are based there.
• Gladiator cemetary uncovered at Ephesus
  The BBC report that a cementary of Gladiators has been found at Ephesus. Skeletons bear healed injuries, as well as the marks of trident injuries, and also death from a hammer blow.
• More Old Nubian
  I have found and ordered a copy of F. L. Griffith The Nubian Texts of the Christian Period (1913), which apparently has some 130 pages and contains all texts known at that time. It includes the Miracle of Saint Menas, one of the longest available texts in this language. This text was contained in a […]
• Collaborative translation
  As I’ve mentioned, I intend to run an online collaborative translation project to do Book 1 of Eusebius of Caesarea’s Chronicle. I’ve been attempting to find people in the Armenian-speaking world to help, and indeed these links give some ideas. I’m also writing some software to run on my website to allow us to view […]
• Syriac texts to place online
  Fr. Mathew Koshy, a gentleman in India, has just sent me a transcription of the Syriac text of the Chronicle of Joshua the Stylite, for which we agreed terms last year. This was after I scanned the English translation. This should appear online soon, as a freely available public domain text. He’s willing to do […]
• Any Amount of Books (but smelly ones)
  I mentioned in a previous post how the copy of Porphyry’s Letter to Marcella that I obtained proved to be mouldy.  Naturally I returned it, and today got the following rather offensive email from the bookseller, Any Amount of Books. “We will certainly refund your money. But as nobody can detect any smell from this […]
• Texts in Old Nubian
  The interest in ethnic studies in our days is not without advantages for those interested in retrieving material extant in minor languages. It’s possible to get funding from politically correct officials for things that in a saner world would be difficult to access. At one point I was attempting to obtain some money to get […]
• More Classical Armenian
  While following up Rick Brannan’s comment on my last post, and searching for Bedrossian’s dictionary, I came across a marvellous site: the Leiden Armenian Lexical Database. This contains an electronic version of Bedrossian, as well as several other dictionaries, plus some Armenian texts which have been fully morphologised. The whole site is maintained by Jos […]
• Working with Classical Armenian
  Book 1 of the Chronicle of Eusebius of Caesarea is only extant in an ancient Armenian translation, published by P. Aucher in Venice at the press of the Mechitarist monks in 1818. I have been looking into tools that would allow me to look at this, if only to a limited extent. The basic grammar […]
• Alice Zimmern’s Porphyry: Letter to Marcella
  £20 (i.e. $40) got me a copy of the uncommon second edition of Alice Zimmern’s translation of Porphyry’s Letter to Marcella.  It came as an early paperback, rather foxed (‘slight foxing’ in the optimistic words of the seller).  I started to scan the pages of this, using Abbyy Finereader 8.0 and an OpticBook 3600, and got very good […]
• How much can one charge for a photocopy?
  We need to be grateful to Google Books for making material available gratis. Today I learned again just how much a library can charge for a photopy. When I was still looking for a copy of Hart’s 1749 translation of Herodian, I contacted several libraries who had one (located using Copac) and asked. The British […]
• More notes from a book hunter
  I was searching for a copy of Hart’s 1749 translation of Herodian to buy, rather than pay $200+ for a photocopy, when I stumbled across a modern translation by Edward Echols, published in 1961.  Something made me look at the copyright, and lo! it is out of copyright and in the public domain in the USA.  I promptly […]
• What I did on my Easter holidays IX
  It’s the Easter Monday bank holiday here, and this somewhat self-indulgent series comes to an end. Tomorrow real life is put on hold, and I must go back to work. I picked up the Sources Chrétiennes edition and translation of Cyril of Alexandria Against Julian the Apostate, although only books 1 and 2 were done.  […]
• What I did on my Easter holidays VIII
  Well I woke up aching from working so hard yesterday, but I did get away from the screen for the morning.  This afternoon was spent on Ammianus.  It’s done, and it’s here: http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/index.htm#Ammianus_Marcellinus The text etc is all public domain everywhere in the world, so go ahead, take copies, use it as you see fit […]
• What I did on my Easter holidays VII
  Books 24-31 of Ammianus Marcellinus went through the scanner by lunchtime, and in the afternoon I went through proofing the result.  As I have found before, reprints of the Bohn translations tended to get fainter over time, as the plates grew worn.  Towards the end this began to be a problem, although fortunately I was […]
• What I did on my Easter holidays VI
  This morning is Good Friday, the sun is shining and a beautiful day is in prospect.  It is the anniversary of when an ordinary middle-class man was done to death horribly by one part of the establishment, the other part (which could have saved him) being unwilling to use up political capital over a “trivial” matter.  […]
• What I did on my Easter holidays V
  After a morning outdoors, I’m working away on the Syriac program, and finding how slow software development is!  But I’ve also been thinking a bit about translating Eusebius Chronicon book 1.  There are materials in Syriac; Jacob of Edessa continued Eusebius’ text, and fragments of that survive.  They’re published in the Corpus Scriptorum Christianorum Orientalium […]
• What I did on my Easter holidays IV
  I’d love to get on with Eusebius (see below) but I can now work on that in weekends. But for the last two days I have been working on my Syriac-English program, which has needed some uninterrupted time spent on it.  The idea is to allow you to paste or type a bunch of vocalised […]
• What I did on my Easter holidays III
  A bright sunny day, and I thought that I would have a day away from the computer. So I went to Cambridge.  I had some vague thoughts of supplementing my photocopies from Karst’s translation of the Chronicle of Eusebius, but the relevant volume was out.  So I thought that I would try to locate Aucher’s […]
• What I did on my Easter holidays II
  Book 1 of the Chronicle of Eusebius of Caesarea doesn’t exist in English.  But like most of his works, it contains long verbatim extracts from lost works.  The text survives in two Classical Armenian manuscripts, and was published with a Latin translation by P. Aucher at Venice in 1818.  A fresh Latin translation was made by H. […]
• What I did on my Easter holidays I
  I’ve got a whole week off this week.  I’ve started by typing up a couple of stray early 19th century translations of monodies by Libanius which I found on google books and printed off.   Copious use of the long-S prevents any real use of OCR, so it’s manual typing. It’s curious but the only out […]
• Philip of Side
  Last weekend I located a copy of Henry Dodwell’s Dissertationes in Irenaeum (1689) which apparently contains the only publication of some bits of Philip of Side’s lost 5th century Ecclesiastical History, with a Latin translation and commentary. This reproduces a bit of Codex Bodl. Barrocianus 142 (14-15th century), which the Bodleian catalogue reveals to contain […]
• Finding the Patrologia Graeca at Google Books
  To locate the volumes of the Patrologia Graeca on Google books, use the search “cursus completus series” (without the quotes). To get volumes of the Patrologia Latina as well, leave out the term ‘series’. NB: It is important to specify “full view”, otherwise nothing much comes back. I’ve today seen what seem like dozens of […]
• Titus of Bostra, “Contra Manichaeos”
  Titus of Bostra wrote a long work in 4 books against the Manichaeans.  Large parts of the Greek exist, but a complete Syriac version was found in British Library Ms. 12150, brought from Deir al-Suryani (St. Mary Deipara) in the Nitrian desert in Egypt by Archdeacon Henry Tattam in 1842.  This manuscript was written in 411 AD, […]
• Some Syriac books for download in PDF
  Available here:  http://www.archive.org/search.php?query=syriac%20AND%20mediatype%3Atexts%20AND%20collection%3Atoronto
• Copyright and barriers to learning
  On the ABTAPL list I receive a list of copyright events from Graham Cornish’ Copyright Circle. Most of the items indicate the endless encroachment of lawyers on access to learning.  But in the current list there are two entries which indicate a contrary trend.   V&A to scrap academic reproduction fees.   By Martin Bailey In a […]
• Learning Syriac — first session
  As I mentioned earlier, I am trying to learn Syriac.  A week ago I went down to London, and 5 of us had a day of intensive tuition.  It was interesting that several had bought the grammars, but had been quite unable to get into them.  We were taught how to form and transliterate the […]
• Monumenta Germanica Historica online
  I have just discovered that someone has scanned a lot of the volumes of the MGH and placed them online.  You can find them here.  Sadly they have not made whole volumes downloadable (why not?).  Among other things, the Chronography of 354 is there.
• Useful books or peddling hate?
  I learned from the bar of advertisements at the top of this page that a certain R.J.Hoffmann has published a translation of the fragments of Julian the Apostate Against the Galileans (i.e. Christians), through Prometheus Press. Hoffmann published first a translation of Celsus’ work against the Christians, as reconstructed from the quotations in Origen’s Contra […]
• Learning Syriac
  I’m going to have a go at learning Syriac.  It’s rather a lot of years since I left full-time education, so I face the prospect with trepidation.  An academic here in the UK is going to run 4 intensive Saturdays for us, starting in December.  The bad news is 5 weeks of homework between the […]
• Dionysius Exiguus and AD/BC
  Isn’t the web wonderful?  I’ve long wondered why there was no English translation of the work in which Dionysius Exiguus first stated the date using AD and BC.  Indeed it should have been translated, surely, as part of the millennium celebrations, I thought.  But quite by chance I find that a certain Michael Deckers has […]
• CSCO volumes available in print over the internet
  The Corpus Scriptorum Christianorum Orientalium  is perhaps the main series of modern editions of oriental writers in Syriac, Ethiopic, etc. Few will be aware that all of the volumes seem to be in print.  It seems that they can be ordered from Peeters of Leuven.  A list of all volumes is here.  However the listings are very brief, and it would […]
• Nestorius, The Bazaar of Heracleides — now online
  I hope that I may be forgiven for a small announcement.  Nestorius wrote in exile in his own defence.  Since his books were ordered to  be burned, and his name used in much the same way as moderns use accusations of ‘racist’ — to shut down discussion — he was obliged to circulate it under the name […]
• Medieval manuscripts for sale – part 2: “no, we won’t photograph our collection”
  Well!  It looks as if the Karlsruhe state library may really have to hand over 2,500 manuscripts (including some papyri) to the Counts of Baden.  There is much scaremongering going on online (e.g. in the PAPY-L list) about what happens, how many books are involved, books being sold, “broken up”, etc.  None of the mss seem to […]
• Thefts from the British Library
  An article in the Times today tells us that a reader who used a razor-blade to remove 98  rare maps from books in the British Library and other libraries has been jailed for three years and fined one million pounds (around $2m).  The maps, we are told, were then sold to dealers and collectors.  He was found […]
• Medieval manuscripts for sale
  The Baden state library (Badische Landesbibliothek) in Karlsruhe has a problem.  Some of its manuscripts actually belong to the House of Baden, not the state.  The family is now short of cash — all those redistributive taxes beloved of the political Left, no doubt — and is proposing to sell them off at auction.  An article […]
• Editing old translations
  A little while ago, I scanned the 1882 English translation made by William Wright of the Chronicle of Joshua the Stylite.  The text is of great interest, recording the war between the Romans and the Sassanid Persians in the reign of Anastasius I ca 507 AD, and written from the perspective of a resident of […]
• Syriac text of Eusebius “On the star” now online
  There are few Syriac texts online in electronic form, so I thought that I would highlight that Fr. Mathew Koshy Modisseril has kindly typed in the text of Eusebius of Caesarea “On the star” from the text printed in the “Journal of Sacred Literature”.  It’s available here, and the English text from here.  Users of Windows XP […]
• Programming Right-to-Left Syriac Unicode text on Windows
  For some time I have been trying to write a program on Windows XP which would help me work with Syriac text.  It has been quite a dreadful experience, and I am barely started!  The problem is finding out how to get one text box in my application to handle text as Right-to-Left Syriac, both […]
• No copyright on library-made photos of manuscripts
  I was looking at Wikipedia and found there considerable numbers of colour photographs of pages from manuscripts, most apparently professionally produced and so probably done by in-house departments at major libraries.   Among these was one from the British Library, whom I know to be bitterly hostile to anyone seeing or using their holdings: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:British.Library.MS.Add.33241.jpg This […]
• A.G. still being used in 1900 in Iraq
  I wonder how many people know that the Seleucid era (Anno Graecorum=Year of the Greeks) was still being used in 1900? I’m reading through the English translation of Nestorius, “The Bazaar of Heracleides“, at the moment, and came across this footnote on p.192:  2 The Syriac copyist has here added a note to the following […]
• Alqosh monastery bombed?
  This link, written in 2004, describes damage to the Christian churches at Kurdish hands in Iraq.  It mentions “Rabban Hormizd, the ancient stone monastery outside Alqosh on the Nineveh plain which was bombed so severely that many of its magnificent epigraphic memorials, dating from a hundred centuries ago, have been shattered. These memorials were some of […]
• More on the lost library of Seert
  I have referred before to the library at the Chaldean archbishop’s residence at Séert.  Even copies of the catalogue of manuscripts made by Addai Scher in 1905 seem scarce.  Here in the UK a copy is listed in the British Library, but this is useless to most people.  Yesterday I looked at the copy in Cambridge University […]
• Will JSTOR kill the web?
  I don’t belong to any academic institution, so like most people I have no access to the electronic resources now becoming available unless they happen to be accessible from somewhere that I can visit. But today I had the chance to use JSTOR. It contained complete runs of mostly anglophone-centred journals. Frankly, after seeing it, […]
• Getting a copy of a Syriac scientific manuscript
  I have found that the French National Library want $130 for a duplicate of a monochrome microfilm and putting it onto CDROM.  Am I the only one rather astonished at the prices that are being charged these days for low quality stuff?
• New issue of Hugoye: Journal of Syriac Studies has appeared
  The new issue of the online peer-reviewed journal of Syriac studies Hugoye has appeared.  It contains a review of Aphrem Barsoum’s “Scattered Pearls”, on which I wrote a few posts back; a travelogue of a journey of 15 scholars last year into the regions in Eastern Turkey around Tur Abdin, Edessa and Nisibis, where there […]
• Arabic Christian manuscripts at the BNF
  I have been reading through the catalogue of Arabic Christian manuscripts from the French National Library, to get an idea of the contents. Curiously this was published without an index of authors, which makes it hard to gain such an overview. This is what I found. The majority of the collection contains saints’ lives and […]
• BNF catalogues of manuscripts all online
  I find that the Bibliotheque Nationale Francaise (French National Library) in Paris have scanned most of their catalogues in PDF form and made them available for free download.  The intention, clearly, is to do the lot.  Thus Zotenberg’s catalogue of Syriac and Mandean mss is online, as is the more recent supplement.  The catalogues can […]
• Nestorius again
  I have been following up the story of the manuscript of the “Dialogue with Heracleides” by Nestorius.  The consensus seems to be that the single manuscript was damaged in the 19the century during Turkish-led massacres of Christians.  It was discovered late in that century, and several hand-written copies made, including one for the library of […]
• When does antiquity end?
  This week I have been reading Ignatius Aphram Barsoum, “The scattered pearls”, which is a monster history of Syriac literature (mostly ignoring the Nestorian half) at the monster price of $100. Barsoum wrote in the 1920’s, from notes of visits that he had made to libraries around the world and in the east, and so […]
• Translations of Jerome’s biblical prefaces
  I’d like to highlight that Kevin Edgecomb has been quietly working away translating into English the prefaces to books of the bible from the Vulgate written by St. Jerome. These are all interesting, and offer insight into the way in which Jerome worked. Those done so far are here. We should all be grateful to […]
• Lost Syriac manuscripts found?
  I wrote on Saturday to the author of this site http://sanate.free.fr/.  I got back a most interesting note about the books burned at Seert in 1915 (see preceding post).  It seems that five years ago a case of books was found in the Bibliothèque Nationale Française in Paris.  It contained some twenty of the most precious […]
• Unpublished translation of the “Bazaar of Heracleides”, and copyrights
  It’s late here, but my mind is still ticking over, and I’ve remembered something that I had half forgotten, and started investigating.  I read somewhere that Norman McLean, then lecturer in Aramaic at Cambridge University, made a translation of the apology of Nestorius, which was discovered in a Syriac manuscript about 800 years old in the early […]
• Porphyry Against the Christians
  I’ve been reading Robert M. Berchman’s translation of the fragments of Porphyry’s attack on the Christians.  It’s good to have this book, because those fragments were not really accessible to English-speaking readers.   Half of it is full of introductory stuff, with lots of philosophical jargon.  This isn’t nearly as useful as T.D.Barnes article in the JTS from […]
• Syriac Studies
  At the moment I’m doing things with Syriac. Since this is obscure, perhaps a few words of introduction would be appropriate. The Syriac language is a late dialect of Aramaic originating in the city of Edessa. It became the common tongue throughout the ancient near-east and literature exists written in Syriac from the 2nd to […]