Greek and Roman Galleries rank no.3

Number 3 in Newsday.com list of artistic events of 2007 was:
3. NEW GREEK AND ROMAN GALLERIES AT THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM. With the opening of the gleaming new galleries for ancient Greek and Roman art, the Met has definitively established itself as a wonder of the modern world. This is the contemporary museum at its best: [...]

Romances set in ancient Greece or Rome

Someone on the Barnes and Noble forum on 'Romantic Reads' asked yesterday:
Any one have any good recommendations for some good stories that take place in Ancient Rome or Greece? I love historical romance and I have read almost every medieval book out there. I'd appreciate any responses. Thanks.
What would you advise this correspondent (tina1201)?
If she [...]

Wall Street Journal on the Aeneid

The Wall Street Journal has an enthusiastic article on the enduring importance of the Aeneid.
MASTERPIECE
An Epic Undertaking
The influence and resonance of Virgil's 'Aeneid' still echo
By WILLARD SPIEGELMAN
December 29, 2007; Page W12
Alan Bennett said that a classic is “a book everyone is assumed to have read and often thinks they have.” Better still: It's the [...]

Chris Haynes of Ermine Street Guard gets MBE

Congratulations to Chris Haynes on his MBE in the Birthday Honours.
The Gloucestershire Echo makes the announcement:

Chris Haines has been granted the royal seal of approval for his commitment to researching the Roman era.The 63-year-old from Bentham has been made an MBE for his services to Roman history.
He has been at the helm of historical [...]

More about the International Festival of Latin and Greek

I've added more details about this fun-looking festival to the post of 21st December.
A link to their main website gives access to costs (which seem very reasonable) and booking proceedure.

Book reviews

Links to recent popular books on the Classics can be found here.

50 minute video on letters from Vindolanda

Here you can see the video.
I haven't watched it all through, but it looks worth investigation. What I've seen is a mix of battle scenes, and video of excavation going on. Anthony Birley speaks.
It looks as though you can download it, too.
You can choose to watch on Google Video of Guba. Guba is better quality.

A very Merry Christmas to all my readers

That's it, really. Perhaps I'll just say it a little bigger:
A Very Merry Christmas

Financial Times reviews Ad Infinitum

A few years ago the study of Latin appeared to be in terminal decline, owing perhaps to its negative association with rod-backed private education. But there are signs that it is reviving, and as Nicholas Ostler remarks in the preface to Ad Infinitum, “now is the time for a book about Latin”. Indeed, his is [...]

More on the villas in Rome

ROME — Buried for many centuries, two patrician villas unearthed here recently have been brought to life through an on-site multimedia reconstruction that plunges the spectator into the heart of ancient Roman life.
A video tour of patrician villas unearthed by archaeologists in Rome.
Alessandra Tarantino/Associated Press
A glass catwalk over a thermal bath.
Experiencing the archaeological site, which [...]