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10/30 McClanahan Lecture: Discovering Ancient Dalmatia – Archaeological Research on the Croatian island of Brač

Brian Gordon — Thu, 25 Sep 2025 20:20:13 +0000

10/30 McClanahan Lecture: Discovering Ancient Dalmatia – Archaeological Research on the Croatian island of Brač Brian Gordon Thu, 09/25/2025 - 14:20

Presented by Associate Professor Sarah James

October 30, 2025 | 7PM | Eaton Humanities 250

Download the poster

The Brač Island Project explored a 3,000 year old hillfort site overlooking the Adriatic Sea in southern Croatia. Excavations revealed archaeological evidence for many firsts. First contacts with early Italic peoples, first relations with Greek colonies, and finally first impacts on the region of its conquest by Rome and its incorporation into the Empire. This lecture will examine the final results of this project which offer incredible new insights into this seemingly marginal part of the Classical world.

Sponsored by Mary E.V. McClanahan and the Department of Classics

October 30, 2025 | 7PM | Eaton Humanities 250

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New book by CU Classics faculty

Brian Gordon — Tue, 16 Sep 2025 22:12:13 +0000

New book by CU Classics faculty Brian Gordon Tue, 09/16/2025 - 16:12

The God and the Bureaucrat: Roman Law, Imperial Sovereignty, and Other Stories

Why is Roman law so boring? In this book, Zachary Herz argues that the bureaucratic, positivistic world of Roman law is not a distraction from the violent autocracy of the Roman empire, but an imagined escape. Lawyers, bureaucrats, and even emperors used legal writing to think about worlds that were safer or fairer than the one in which they lived. This archive of political imagination slowly became a law-code, and now guides readers through a legal system about which its authors could only dream. From Augustus to Justinian, this book shows how law symbolized order in chaotic times, and how that symbol eventually took on a life of its own. From the enlightened judgements of Hadrian to the great jurists and child rulers of Severan Rome, Herz reveals what Romans were really talking about when they talked about law.

For more information about the book, visit this link on the publisher's website

Professor Zach Herz has just published his first book--The God and the Bureaucrat: Roman Law, Imperial Sovereignty, and Other Stories--with Cambridge University Press

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9/3: “Roman Law vs. the Nazis.”

Brian Gordon — Tue, 02 Sep 2025 18:11:12 +0000

9/3: “Roman Law vs. the Nazis.” Brian Gordon Tue, 09/02/2025 - 12:11

On Wednesday, Sept. 3 at 11:00 am in Ketchum 371, CU Classics’ own Zach Herz will present on “Roman Law vs. the Nazis.” This is the first installment in the Rocky Mountain Philosophy, Politics, & Economics Workshop fall symposium series. Lunch will be served for Prof. Herz’s talk. To register, go here.

Wednesday, Sept. 3 at 11:00 am in Ketchum 371, CU Classics’ own Zach Herz will present on “Roman Law vs. the Nazis.”

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A&S Magazine: Prof. Reina Callier fighting to keep Latin classes alive through video storytelling

Brian Gordon — Sun, 11 May 2025 16:38:15 +0000

A&S Magazine: Prof. Reina Callier fighting to keep Latin classes alive through video storytelling Brian Gordon Sun, 05/11/2025 - 10:38

For Reina Callier, learning Latin ‘is like lifting weights for your brain’

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Lecture: 'The Invention of Chaos in Hesiod & Ovid'

Brian Gordon — Sat, 05 Apr 2025 05:07:36 +0000

Lecture: 'The Invention of Chaos in Hesiod & Ovid' Brian Gordon Fri, 04/04/2025 - 23:07

Presented by Glenn Most
Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa
University of Chicago, Committee on Social Thought

Monday, April 28th at 5:00 P.M. | Humanities 250

WHAT IS THE ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF OUR CONCEPT OF CHAOS?

The term 'chaos' appears for the first time in world literature in a remarkable passage in Hesiod's Theogony, but almost certainly it does not have the meaning there that it has in modern languages; and this modern meaning cannot be found attested in any ancient Greek or Latin text before it appears in Ovid's Metamorphoses.

The lecture examines the figure of Chaos at the beginning of the cosmogony in the Theogony and considers the meaning that Hesiod may have plausibly been thought likely to have assigned to it there, and the various interpretations, explicit and implicit, found in the ancient and medieval exegetical traditions to this passage and in other comparable Greek cosmogonies. It then examines the passage in the Metamorphoses that may plausibly be claimed to be the source of the modern understanding of the concept and asks how Ovid might have come up with this usage.

Sponsored by the Center for Humanities & the Arts and the Department of Classics

Download the poster

Monday, April 28th at 5PM | Eaton Humanities 250

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“Lost Greek Tragedies, Papyrus Fragments, and Excavations in an Egyptian Necropolis.”

Brian Gordon — Wed, 02 Apr 2025 17:16:21 +0000

“Lost Greek Tragedies, Papyrus Fragments, and Excavations in an Egyptian Necropolis.” Brian Gordon Wed, 04/02/2025 - 11:16

A talk by CU Classics Professors Yvona Trinka-Amrhein and John Gibert, presented by the ��ƷSM��ӰƬ Retired Faculty Association

Wednesday, April 16, 3:30 - 5:00 pm | UMC 415/417 and virtually (register for link)

This remarkable story started with the excavation by the Egyptian archaeologist Basem Gehad of a grave in the ancient Egyptian city Philadelphia resulting in the discovery of one of the most significant pieces of lost Greek literature in the last 60 years. Basem Gehad found three papyri fragments and asked CU professor Yvona Trnka-Amrhein if she could translate them. Upon deciphering the fragments, she realized that they contained portions of lost plays by Euripides and turned to her colleague John Gibert, for help in the interpretation of the texts. One of the plays involves Minos, the King of Crete, and his lost son, Glaucus, who had drowned in a vat of honey.

Come and learn more!

Wednesday, April 16, 3:30 - 5:00 pm | UMC 415/417 & virtually

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AIA Lecture: 'The Past in the Past, The Power of Monuments in Ruin'

Brian Gordon — Fri, 07 Mar 2025 18:02:48 +0000

AIA Lecture: 'The Past in the Past, The Power of Monuments in Ruin' Brian Gordon Fri, 03/07/2025 - 11:02

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Mary E.V. McClanahan 2025 Essay Prize

Brian Gordon — Tue, 07 Jan 2025 21:46:03 +0000

Mary E.V. McClanahan 2025 Essay Prize Brian Gordon Tue, 01/07/2025 - 14:46

Sine Spoliis: The Commemoration of the Third Macedonian War through the Porticus Octavia
presented by Julius Arnold

Friday, January 17th, 2025 at 4:30 P.M.
Eaton Humanities 250

Abstract: The lost Porticus Octavia, constructed after the Third Macedonian War, remains an enigmatic monument of the Middle Roman Republic. Built to commemorate Gnaeus Octavius’ capturing of the last Macedonian king Perseus, the building has received scant attention in surviving ancient literature and modern scholarship. In this talk, I argue that the monument likely served as a display space for spoils of war taken by Lucius Aemilius Paullus, who had defeated Perseus in battle. I shed light on how Lucius Aemilius Paullus and Gnaeus Octavius collaborated to control the public memory of their military successes, situating the Porticus Octavia within the broader context of the commemoration of victories over Hellenistic kingdoms and the display of war spoils in the city of Rome.

Download the event poster

Ancient map of Rome showing the Porticus Octaviae, confused with the Porticus Octavia by some ancient authors. The Stanford Digital Forma Urbis Romae: fr. 3 lu.

Congratulations to Julius Arnold! Winner of the 2025 Mary E.V. McClanahan Essay Prize

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“The Triumph of Aemilius Paulus” (1789) by Carle Vernet. The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

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Swords, Sorcery, and Silliness: A Defense of the Mythical and Fantastic - Lecture

Anonymous — Thu, 23 Feb 2023 21:03:31 +0000

Swords, Sorcery, and Silliness: A Defense of the Mythical and Fantastic - Lecture Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 02/23/2023 - 14:03

Speaker: Jacqueline Fellows

6:00 pm Thursday, March 9
Eaton Humanities, HUMN135
Free and open to the public!

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Joy K. King, 1926-2022

Anonymous — Tue, 31 May 2022 14:20:07 +0000

Joy K. King, 1926-2022 Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 05/31/2022 - 08:20

It is with great sadness that the Department announces the passing of Professor Emerita Joy K. King, an extremely distinguished Classicist, an inspirational teacher, a visionary leader, and a critical contributor to the department and the University.

Professor King - Joy - received her degrees from Knox College (BA 1947), the University of Wisconsin-Madison (MA 1952), and the ��ƷSM��ӰƬ (PhD 1969). She taught at the ��ƷSM��ӰƬ from 1968 to 1994, serving as Chair of the Classics Department from 1982 to 1986. She published widely on Roman poetry, focusing especially on Propertius, Catullus, and Lucretius. At CU she coordinated the beginning and intermediate Latin programs and supervised graduate instructors, taught Latin Teaching Methods, and helped prepare Classics majors who were planning to dedicate themselves to secondary Latin teaching. Beyond CU, she was the preeminent voice of Colorado Latin, devoting herself to supporting all Colorado Latin teachers with advice, training, and a frequent newsletter. She served as co-chair of the Women’s Classical Caucus (1983-1984) and president of the Classical Association of the Middle West and South (1991-1992).

A volume in her honor, Woman’s Power, Man’s Game: Essays on Classical Antiquity, edited by Mary DeForest, was published in 1993 by Bolchazy Carducci Publishers. The title captures a salient feature of her career, for she navigated the academy and the field of Classics in a period when it was largely closed to female faculty, and she did so in a way that commanded respect and authority even while pushing the rules of the game in the direction of civility and warmth. Joy remained an active presence in Classics and at CU deep into her retirement. On her birthday in 2012, the department held a symposium to recognize and pay tribute to her many contributions. The Department established an award to commemorate the work of Joy alongside her longtime friend and fellow department member Barbara Hill. The Joy King-Barbara Hill fellowship in the Teaching of Latin, first awarded in 2015, continues to play a role in fostering the love of Latin among emerging generations at CU that Joy herself kindled and fostered for 26 years. Her many contributions to the field were recognized by the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award in 2019.

The family would prefer memorial contributions in support of the Joy King & Barbara Hill Graduate Support Fund in lieu of flowers.

You can watch Professor King talk about her life and career to Marquis Who's Who and CUTV news in 2019.

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