Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Dr Carolyn La Rocco 🏺🍃 @carrielarocco.bsky.social · 26d

Was happy to give a talk on late Roman and Visigothic women in cinema + other art at St John’s College @stjohnsox.bsky.social, this weekend, as part of a panel on the Ancient World in Digital Media for Oxford Open Doors 2025. I talked about, e.g., Galla Placidia in Revenge of the Barbarians (1960).

Photo of an auditorium with a large projector screen on the stage, and a slide on the screen showing the poster of the 1960 film La Vendetta dei Barbari and the title ‘Late Roman and Visigothic women in visual media’ which depicts Galla Placidia, Honorius, and various other figures.

3

Reposted by Dr Carolyn La Rocco 🏺🍃

Oliver Darkshire @deathbybadger.bsky.social · Aug 12

a university is not for generating profit, it provides cultural enrichment via weird little gremlin people who love visigoths or haikus, and very occasionally a scientist who figures out faster than light travel

16 360 1.6K

Reposted by Dr Carolyn La Rocco 🏺🍃

Dr Carolyn La Rocco 🏺🍃 @carrielarocco.bsky.social · Aug 6

A (very short) look at some of what I’m working on during my fellowship at St John’s: www.sjc.ox.ac.uk/discover/res...

Dr Carolyn La Rocco: Female patronage in the late Roman and post-Roman west

In this article, Dr Carolyn La Rocco (CDRF in Classics and Ancient History) discusses her research on female patronage in Late Antiquity (c. 250-750 CE).

www.sjc.ox.ac.uk

7 25

Dr Carolyn La Rocco 🏺🍃 @carrielarocco.bsky.social · Aug 6

A (very short) look at some of what I’m working on during my fellowship at St John’s: www.sjc.ox.ac.uk/discover/res...

Dr Carolyn La Rocco: Female patronage in the late Roman and post-Roman west

In this article, Dr Carolyn La Rocco (CDRF in Classics and Ancient History) discusses her research on female patronage in Late Antiquity (c. 250-750 CE).

www.sjc.ox.ac.uk

7 25

Reposted by Dr Carolyn La Rocco 🏺🍃

Charlotte Lydia Riley @lottelydia.bsky.social · Aug 5

ACADEMIC READING ALREADY COMES WITH A SUMMARY IT IS CALLED THE ABSTRACT

John Warner @biblioracle.bsky.social · Aug 5

The Appendix on an AI policy is actually quite bad. Having an AI deliver a summary before reading has major implications in terms of the experience of student learning. What we want students to do and how they do it is the question. The experience of reading is not the same as reading a summary.

6 180 750

Reposted by Dr Carolyn La Rocco 🏺🍃

Matthew J Kuiper @matthewjkuiper.bsky.social · Aug 6

We in academia are being inundated with a new fallacy: The all-tech-is-the-same fallacy.

As educators, part of our job is to evaluate different technologies, using some & rejecting others based on their actual utility (or potential harm) in meeting properly *educational* goals.

Aparna Nair @disabilitystor1.bsky.social · Aug 6

Ironically the AI pushers keep telling us resistance is futile in academia, and that this is how mathematics teachers reacted to the introduction of the calculator, to which I would say, AT LEAST THE CALCULATOR DOESNT MAKE SHIT UP

2 13 61

Reposted by Dr Carolyn La Rocco 🏺🍃

Peter Stewart @petercnstewart.bsky.social · Jul 19

Spotted this extraordinary comparandum on the Twitter account of @persiaantigua.bsky.social

2 7

Dr Carolyn La Rocco 🏺🍃 @carrielarocco.bsky.social · Jul 18

I’ve been reading through Latin curse tablets (defixiones) and thought this one from Roman-period Britain was neat: someone seemingly cursing the person who stole their beehive ‘vas apium’)! 🐝 (Brit. 48.10 10; text and images: romaninscriptionsofbritain.org/inscriptions...; images by R.S.O. Tomlin)

Drawing of the outside of the tablet by RSO Tomlin - only a couple of lines of Roman cursive are visible

Drawing by RSO Tomlin of the inside of the tablet - many more lines of cursive are visible

3 22 110

Dr Carolyn La Rocco 🏺🍃 @carrielarocco.bsky.social · Jul 18

Tomorrow!! 🏺🏛️

Ashmolean Museum, Oxford @ashmoleanmuseum.bsky.social · Jul 17

Step into the world of ancient Rome with our Festival of Archaeology.

This FREE event explores being Really Roman and features tours, talks, demonstrations, and activities for all the family.

📍 Ashmolean Museum, Oxford
📆 Sat 19 July, 11am – 4pm
🔍 Full details: www.ashmolean.org/event/festiv...

A woman and two young child looking at a museum display. Text overlaid reads 'Don't miss our free Festival of Archaeology, Sat 19 July, 11am – 4pm'

A photograph of a child playing with example mosaic pieces. Text overlaid reads 'Activities include an animated Etruscan tomb, a gladiator inspired game, and the chance to design your own mosaic!'

A performer and a young person dressed in togas presenting to a group of people. Text overlaid reads 'Drop in for a wide range of arts and crafts, demonstrations and storytelling for all the family inspired by the Roman world.'

A photograph of the Ashmolean Museum on a sunny day. Text overlaid reads 'Free activities for all the family, Festival of Archaeology, Sat 19 July, 11am–4pm'.

5

Dr Carolyn La Rocco 🏺🍃 @carrielarocco.bsky.social · Jun 30

Thank you! :)

1

Dr Carolyn La Rocco 🏺🍃 @carrielarocco.bsky.social · Jun 28

events.st-andrews.ac.uk/events/shari... for the program

Sharing Perspectives on Late Antiquity: Granada-St Andrews International Meeting

Hybrid event. **Programme** 10.00-10.25 Antonio López García: Transforming Belief: Religion and Urban Change in Late Antique Trans Tiberim

events.st-andrews.ac.uk

1 5

Dr Carolyn La Rocco 🏺🍃 @carrielarocco.bsky.social · Jun 28

I was happy to speak at the Granada-St Andrews International Meeting ‘Sharing Perspectives on Late Antiquity’ at the University of St Andrews yesterday (@staclassics.bsky.social); I spoke about some aspects of the relationship between monasteries and crisis in late Roman and Visigothic Iberia

Group photo of nine people in front of a projector screen with the graphic / title of the workshop projected onto it

2 1 7

Dr Carolyn La Rocco 🏺🍃 @carrielarocco.bsky.social · Jun 5

(Accession number: AN1941.808)

1

Dr Carolyn La Rocco 🏺🍃 @carrielarocco.bsky.social · Jun 5

Went to see the newly-reopened Roman gallery of the Ashmolean @ashmoleanmuseum.bsky.social; liked this marble portrait of Livia (wife of Augustus). Left to the museum by Sir Arthur Evans.

Maybe portrait, she has an elaborate ‘updo’ hairstyle and you can see hints of color in the portrait’s eyes

1 7

Reposted by Dr Carolyn La Rocco 🏺🍃

Dr Carolyn La Rocco 🏺🍃 @carrielarocco.bsky.social · Nov 25

For #MosaicMonday: a throwback to this unimpressed Medusa from late 2nd-early 3rd century Tarraco (Tarragona). MNAT 2921. 🏺

Mosaic with portrait of Medusa in the center; she looks unimpressed. There is a white circular background behind her, with a wavy border around the edge, and that rounded is set within a square with another border

8 69

Reposted by Dr Carolyn La Rocco 🏺🍃

Mateusz Fafinski @calthalas.bsky.social · May 25

"The Dark Ages" violates the rule that historical periods are discretionary but not arbitrary. Periods can be redefined but not contrary to the evidence. Calling the period after the transformations of the Roman Empire "DA" is a value judgment inconsistent with the evidence. 13/

kermit the frog is sitting on a bench and smiling .

ALT: kermit the frog is sitting on a bench and smiling .

media.tenor.com

2 6 75

Reposted by Dr Carolyn La Rocco 🏺🍃

David J. DeVore @devoretext.bsky.social · May 27

Late Roman historian here. Please stop perpetuating the narrative of a fall of Rome triggering Dark Ages. That’s not what happened at all.

Julie Zebrak @juliezebrak.bsky.social · May 27

The Trump administration is now undertaking a deliberate destruction of education, science, and history, conducted with a fanaticism that recalls the Dark Ages that followed Rome’s fall. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...

The New Dark Age

The Trump administration has launched an attack on knowledge itself.

www.theatlantic.com

5 25 79

Reposted by Dr Carolyn La Rocco 🏺🍃

Cambridge University Press - Archaeology @cambup-archaeology.cambridge.org · May 19

Published in #Cambridge's #ClassicalStudies and #Archaeology journals, articles in this free-access collection bring together recent scholarly research on the #history, archaeology and cultural dynamics of #RomanBritain: ✅➡️ cup.org/3YMP1hO

Promotional image titled 'Roman Britain from Cambridge' featuring two people walking along the remnants of Hadrian's Wall in a lush, green landscape.

1 10 18

Reposted by Dr Carolyn La Rocco 🏺🍃

tagishsimon.bsky.social @tagishsimon.bsky.social · May 18

So I think I need to do a sober thread on just how disasterously bad the new trove.scot website is, in comparison to the sites - especially Canmore - that it's replacing.

tl:dr - the new site is not fit for purpose; switching off the old sites on 24 June 2025 is way way way premature.

6 31 63

Reposted by Dr Carolyn La Rocco 🏺🍃

Dr Carolyn La Rocco 🏺🍃 @carrielarocco.bsky.social · Feb 4

A great resource :)
“Epistolæ: Medieval Women's Letters… a collection of medieval Latin letters to and from women. The letters collected here date from the 4th to the 13th centuries, and they are presented in their original Latin as well as in English translation...” (epistolae.ctl.columbia.edu)

Epistolae

Epistolae is a collection of letters to and from women in the Middle Ages, from the 4th to the 13th century. The letters, written in Latin, are linked to the names of the women involved, with English ...

epistolae.ctl.columbia.edu

39 75

Reposted by Dr Carolyn La Rocco 🏺🍃

Amal El-Mohtar @amalelmohtar.com · May 5

God exactly. The purpose of writing papers is FOR YOU TO THINK SOMETHING THROUGH, not because a prof has a deficit in their life that needs to be filled by reading 5-7 pages of mediocre bullshit. The bulk of things I recall from undergrad are things I wrote papers about.

Linda Holmes @lindaholmes.bsky.social · May 5

I’m sorry to put it this way, but high school and college term papers, 99 percent of the time, have little value as completed work. They will never be remembered or read again. Generating them, in and of itself, is worth essentially nothing, particularly when they recapitulate existing work.

15 220 1.1K

Reposted by Dr Carolyn La Rocco 🏺🍃

Dr Sophie Hay @pompei79.bsky.social · May 1

Honouring the ancient plumbers, mosaicists, builders, and painters in an insula in #Pompeii (Region IX) who were tragically interrupted in their work.
#LabourDay #MayDay

Mosaic floor of the impluvium having been slightly uprooted to install a lead pipe and fountain spout.

Fissures in a white mosaic floor in the process of being repaired

A stack of roof tiles lean against a pile of unused bricks waiting to be used to make repair. A mortar nestles in amongst them.

An unfinished fresco. The yellow border stops abruptly and the black drip splodges show that the white area was awaiting decoration.

4 87 300

Dr Carolyn La Rocco 🏺🍃 @carrielarocco.bsky.social · May 1

nms.scran.ac.uk/database/rec... for the Nereid bowl :)

National Museums of Scotland - Silver bowl

This silver bowl was found at Traprain Law in East Lothian. It was part of a hoard containing over 150 silver objects, mainly tableware, buried between 410 and 425 AD. The hoard included over 50 bowls of various shapes and styles.

nms.scran.ac.uk

Reposted by Dr Carolyn La Rocco 🏺🍃

Dr Carolyn La Rocco 🏺🍃 @carrielarocco.bsky.social · May 1

Two of my favorites from the late Roman silver found at Traprain Law (East Lothian, Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿), supposed to have been buried sometime in the 5th century. One is a dish depicting a nereid in an aquatic scene. The other is a small image of a woman from a piece of cut-up silver (hacksilver).

Silver dish showing a Nereid, shells, fish / dolphins, and a (panther?)

Small portrait roundel of a woman which seems to be in gold in a band across a larger piece of silver. Leaves and other patterns are around the portrait

2 5 21

Dr Carolyn La Rocco 🏺🍃 @carrielarocco.bsky.social · May 1

blog.nms.ac.uk/2022/09/28/t... and nms.scran.ac.uk/database/res...
for more about the Traprain Law Treasure in the National Museum of Scotland (Edinburgh)

The many lives of the Traprain Treasure’s Roman silver

One of the greatest treasures of our museum is the late Roman silver hoard from Traprain Law in East Lothian, which fills three display cases in the Early People gallery. Found in excavations in 1919,...

blog.nms.ac.uk

1 5