Welcome to Litsy!

"in 1843, Karl Marx wrote that religion was the opium of the masses. He couldn't possibly have foreseen that after a century and a half religion would, instead, be the cocaine of the few."

"I have been obsessed with the ancient world since I was eleven years old, when I began learning about Roman Life at school."
- Introduction

"It's tempting to believe that we no longer need to think about politics." ?
- Chapter 1: Old World Order
#FirstLineFridays @ShyBookOwl

#BookmarkMatching featuring the good old XX Valeria Victrix Legion of the Roman Army, and a souvenir Greek Hoplite helmet from a long-ago holiday to Corfu.

Series 11 of "Natalie Haynes Stands Up for the Classics" is up on BBC Radio 4, and the theme seems to be places, starting with Alexandria last week, The Library of Alexandria this week, and The Museum of Alexandria next week. The two episodes released so far are both as funny and informative as usual, the library episode really pushing those Litsy buttons!
I've two of her books tbr, and I'm inspired to read the tagged next ?

After 1177 BC, by Eric Cline (2024)
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Premise: An exploration of the latest evidence on the recovery of the Aegean, Eastern Mediterranean, and Mespotamian worlds in the aftermath of the Late Bronze Age Collapse.

Review: I am a big fan of Cline‘s book 1177 BC, which documented the disappearance within a single generation of a centuries-old network of civilizations. ⬇️

This graphic novel adaptation to Eric Cline‘s book on the collapse of eastern Mediterranean civilizations in the late Bronze Age was quite well done. Traditionally, blame is cast on the Sea Peoples referenced in Egyptian monuments, but archaeological and textual evidence points to a complex picture as to the who, when, why and the scope of the impacts on a local and international scale. The art and storytelling bring history alive in a fun way.

This was my book club‘s May pick (though we did discuss it 6/1!). Over the years, not too many #nonfiction books have won the vote, but this delve into Mithradates‘ life was certainly an interesting one! After seeing the physical copy, I wish I had read it instead— while an interesting listen, the audio version doesn‘t include the images or the extensive endnotes. Also, the author‘s obvious admiration for her subject was a bit eye-roll inducing!

Definitely enjoyed this book. The author did a good job with examining the history, politics, and culture of ancient Athens. The book also examines Sparta to a lesser degree, as well as the relation between Athens and other city-states. Overall, it can serve as a good starting point for anyone interested in learning about Athens.

Apparently reading for four hours in total on Thursday wasn't enough for me, despite being 4x as much as I usually manage, so I read for another hour before bed to finish this. I liked it a lot, though as ever I'd have liked it more with numbered citations and I wish the nature of evidence for his assertions had been discussed, e.g. *why* does he assert that "Chickpea" and Cleopatra IV were a love match? On what evidence?!

"Another innovation of Cleisthenes was ostracism. The ecclesia voted once a year, if there was demand, on the exile for ten years of a leading politician. Citizens could propose anyone they wished. There was no question of punishment for criminality, rather a desire, in Plutarch's phrase, to 'humble and cut back oppressive prestige and power.'"
-Anthony Everitt, "The Rise of Athens"

This was very interesting. I‘ve read much about the Roman Empire and watched a lot of documentaries about the emperors themselves, but never did I come across a study of the life of „normal“ Roman people. This book shows the ordinary life with the help of 24 different persons. Especially the the person last chapter „The parasite returns from dinner“ was new to me. I never knew that there have been spongers who attended dinners to entertain. 🧽🧽🧽