Isabel Köster
@iotasubscript.bsky.social
PhD; associate professor of Roman history and literature; particularly enthusiastic about Roman religion and insults; author of Stealing from the Gods: Temple Robbery in the Roman Imagination (Michigan, 1/2026); never speak for my employer
Reposted by Isabel Köster
My short Elements book "Literate Workers and the Production of Early Christian Literature" is now available on Cambridge Core. It was a lot of fun to learn from the exciting scholarship that's been happening and I hope that it's a useful resource for people. www.cambridge.org/core/element...
Literate Workers and the Production of Early Christian Literature
Cambridge Core - History of Religion - Literate Workers and the Production of Early Christian Literature
www.cambridge.org
November 25, 2025 at 1:20 AM
My short Elements book "Literate Workers and the Production of Early Christian Literature" is now available on Cambridge Core. It was a lot of fun to learn from the exciting scholarship that's been happening and I hope that it's a useful resource for people. www.cambridge.org/core/element...
This may be old news for other people, but is a real "today I learned..." for me... Paulys Realencyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft is freely available as scans (some of the articles have been transcribed as well, but for everything I need it's scans). de.wikisource.org/wiki/Paulys_...
Paulys Realencyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft – Wikisource
de.wikisource.org
November 25, 2025 at 12:29 PM
This may be old news for other people, but is a real "today I learned..." for me... Paulys Realencyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft is freely available as scans (some of the articles have been transcribed as well, but for everything I need it's scans). de.wikisource.org/wiki/Paulys_...
Reposted by Isabel Köster
Appel à contribution – Ovid’s Metamorphoses through Time: Paratexts, Translations and Iconography
rmblf.be/2025/11/22/a...
rmblf.be/2025/11/22/a...
Appel à contribution – Ovid’s Metamorphoses through Time: Paratexts, Translations and Iconography
We are delighted to open a call for papers for the closing conference of the research project “The Transformation of Ovid’s Metamorphoses in Modern Printing: text, image and new readership” (MedOvi…
rmblf.be
November 22, 2025 at 7:29 AM
Appel à contribution – Ovid’s Metamorphoses through Time: Paratexts, Translations and Iconography
rmblf.be/2025/11/22/a...
rmblf.be/2025/11/22/a...
This sounds like something I needs to get my paws on…
Pleased that my book will be out by early 2026, thanks to #Schwabeverlag as vol. 65 of the Schweizerische Beiträge zur Altertumswissenschaft series and to funding by #SNSF. The Open Access DOI will follow. If you're at #AARSBL25, I'd love to chat about it. @theclassicslibrary.bsky.social
November 22, 2025 at 10:20 AM
This sounds like something I needs to get my paws on…
Chilly Friday priorities…
November 21, 2025 at 11:16 AM
Chilly Friday priorities…
Alas, this also kills spell check and other useful features that were just fine without the robot until last week.
If you use GMail, AI (Gemini) was turned on yesterday by default and now scans all of your content for machine learning. To turn off, go to Settings>General and scroll down. Uncheck the box for "Smart features."
There's other "Smart" add-ons as well, but that's the one that reads your content.
There's other "Smart" add-ons as well, but that's the one that reads your content.
November 20, 2025 at 10:20 PM
Alas, this also kills spell check and other useful features that were just fine without the robot until last week.
I feel like all of Italy just patted itself on the back when the library cafe ran out of milk and informed people there would be no more 4 pm cappuccinos at this German library today (cappuccinos at all hours are an important part of local culture, so there’s widespread distress)
November 20, 2025 at 3:26 PM
I feel like all of Italy just patted itself on the back when the library cafe ran out of milk and informed people there would be no more 4 pm cappuccinos at this German library today (cappuccinos at all hours are an important part of local culture, so there’s widespread distress)
Reposted by Isabel Köster
Check it out! A blurb about a Classics/Asia symposium I hosted earlier this month. @bauerle.bsky.social @youngrichardkim.bsky.social @toriflee.bsky.social @dominicmachado.bsky.social @aaacc.bsky.social
The latest Pasts Imperfect is out! This week, Kristen Leer discusses Egyptomania in Europe. Then, mapping tarot cards and Platonic philosophy, opium in Ancient Egypt, @profarumpark.bsky.social discusses Classics and Asia, new ancient world journals from @yaleclassicslib.bsky.social, and much more.
Pasts Imperfect (11.20.25)
This week, media psychology and classical reception specialist Kristen Leer discusses Ancient Egypt in horror movies and the problems surrounding "Egyptomania." Then, mapping the thousands of miles of...
pasts-imperfect.ghost.io
November 20, 2025 at 12:17 PM
Check it out! A blurb about a Classics/Asia symposium I hosted earlier this month. @bauerle.bsky.social @youngrichardkim.bsky.social @toriflee.bsky.social @dominicmachado.bsky.social @aaacc.bsky.social
Oops, this made me break the "no laughing out loud in the library" rule.
*laughs in historian* “… ranks among the 10 minds in history, rivalling polymaths like da Vinci or Newton…”
November 20, 2025 at 12:09 PM
Oops, this made me break the "no laughing out loud in the library" rule.
All this SBL/AAR chatter is making me feel left out (I was going to go, but things got in the way), so I'm going to ask the "travel wizard" to get going on "wizard processing" my flight to the SCS/AIA in January (yup, the university travel tool is all about the wizards now).
November 19, 2025 at 5:24 PM
All this SBL/AAR chatter is making me feel left out (I was going to go, but things got in the way), so I'm going to ask the "travel wizard" to get going on "wizard processing" my flight to the SCS/AIA in January (yup, the university travel tool is all about the wizards now).
Reposted by Isabel Köster
If you're teaching the Julio-Claudians in schools, you might find this video on how to use coin evidence to teach Agrippina the Younger useful. :-)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=52AF...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=52AF...
Coins and Agrippina the Younger in the Classroom
YouTube video by Australian Centre for Ancient Numismatic Studies
www.youtube.com
November 19, 2025 at 9:37 AM
If you're teaching the Julio-Claudians in schools, you might find this video on how to use coin evidence to teach Agrippina the Younger useful. :-)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=52AF...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=52AF...
Yes, I will be blaming this very slow day on the Cloudflare outage even though it’s only affected about 30% of things that needed doing.
November 18, 2025 at 3:14 PM
Yes, I will be blaming this very slow day on the Cloudflare outage even though it’s only affected about 30% of things that needed doing.
Over the weekend, Agniezka Holland's "Franz K" made its case for dethroning the 2024 (but made it to cinemas in 2025) "Master and Margarita" as the best film I've seen in 2025. It demands a lot of its audience (esp. quite a bit of familiarity with Kafka and his work), but really rewards your effort.
“Nothing Is Final With Kafka”: Agnieszka Holland on 'Franz' and Rehumanising a Legend - The Film Verdict
Polish director Agnieszka Holland discusses 'Franz', her “punky” Toronto-bowing take on the novelist Kafka.
thefilmverdict.com
November 17, 2025 at 3:38 PM
Over the weekend, Agniezka Holland's "Franz K" made its case for dethroning the 2024 (but made it to cinemas in 2025) "Master and Margarita" as the best film I've seen in 2025. It demands a lot of its audience (esp. quite a bit of familiarity with Kafka and his work), but really rewards your effort.
Reposted by Isabel Köster
Buried the lede: "(Premium users can also converse with Satan.)"
The app Text With Jesus uses artificial intelligence and chatbots to offer spiritual guidance to users who are looking to connect with a higher power: on.nbc10.com/7XM8xrf
People can text with Jesus on a controversial new app. How does it work?
Artificial intelligence app Text With Jesus lets users chat with biblical figures and it is raising debate over faith and technology.
on.nbc10.com
November 15, 2025 at 1:50 PM
Buried the lede: "(Premium users can also converse with Satan.)"
Auburn University expresses what every university is feeling, it seems...
Auburn University Accidentally Sent Every Emergency Alert Imaginable All at Once
Auburn University’s alert system went bonkers. Students and faculty were hit with three separate emergency messages in rapid succession.
www.vice.com
November 13, 2025 at 3:50 PM
Auburn University expresses what every university is feeling, it seems...
That sounds like fun!
Publication day! Kindle version out now,physical copy next month from Bloomsbury. My chapter entitled ‘Sensory Deception and Manipulation in Ancient Aristocratic Banquets’ and looks at what connects emperors Domitian and Elagabalus, the Italian Futurists and molecular gastronomy.
November 13, 2025 at 7:47 AM
That sounds like fun!
Reposted by Isabel Köster
🤯😡 Seriously, we're getting emojis in file names before computers can reliably handle umlauts?
No no no begs every archivist. You are never going to be able to find anything. Please don’t start using emojis in file names. Who asked for this? What fresh hell is next?
November 12, 2025 at 1:37 PM
🤯😡 Seriously, we're getting emojis in file names before computers can reliably handle umlauts?
Reposted by Isabel Köster
#CFP online seminar series: Strong Women of the Ancient Mediterranean World and their Reception - September-December 2026 - Organisers: Anastasia Bakogianni (Massey), Martina Treu (Milan) sponsored by EuGeStA Network, AWAWS, The Imagines Project - Due by Jan 6
November 12, 2025 at 8:56 AM
#CFP online seminar series: Strong Women of the Ancient Mediterranean World and their Reception - September-December 2026 - Organisers: Anastasia Bakogianni (Massey), Martina Treu (Milan) sponsored by EuGeStA Network, AWAWS, The Imagines Project - Due by Jan 6
Today I learned that the grand staircase of the Bavarian State Library in Munich originally had supposedly Pompeii-inspired frescoes decorating it. You can get a sense of it below (they were Pompeian red + white). The paint job wasn’t reproduced when they rebuilt the library post WW II.
Das Gewölbe des Treppenhauses war reich verziert. - Google Arts & Culture
Reidelbach, Hans: König Ludwig I. von Bayern und seine Kunstschöpfungen. Zu
allerhöchstdessen hundertjähriger Geburtstagsfeier München 1888
https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/das-gewölbe-des-treppenhauses-war-reich-verziert/igEWmC5jSeSfQg
November 11, 2025 at 6:11 PM
Today I learned that the grand staircase of the Bavarian State Library in Munich originally had supposedly Pompeii-inspired frescoes decorating it. You can get a sense of it below (they were Pompeian red + white). The paint job wasn’t reproduced when they rebuilt the library post WW II.
Look… a special issue on divine intervention!
New issue of the Classical Journal Vol. 121, No. 1 (2025) muse.jhu.edu/issue/55854 @projectmuse.bsky.social @hopkinspress.bsky.social
@ingerkuin.bsky.social
@ingerkuin.bsky.social
November 10, 2025 at 4:18 PM
Look… a special issue on divine intervention!
No, Apple Mail, I do not need a summary of a 4-line email, thanks!
November 10, 2025 at 3:52 PM
No, Apple Mail, I do not need a summary of a 4-line email, thanks!
Reposted by Isabel Köster
MA/ New England ancient historians: an international boarding school in Braintree is seeking a long term substitute teacher for high school world history, starting ASAP until mid March. Emphasis on ancient and medieval history. DM me if interested!
(Sharing this on behalf of a friend)
(Sharing this on behalf of a friend)
November 9, 2025 at 3:39 PM
MA/ New England ancient historians: an international boarding school in Braintree is seeking a long term substitute teacher for high school world history, starting ASAP until mid March. Emphasis on ancient and medieval history. DM me if interested!
(Sharing this on behalf of a friend)
(Sharing this on behalf of a friend)
Still haven’t seen the movie, but this does indeed raise many questions.
November 9, 2025 at 2:32 PM
Still haven’t seen the movie, but this does indeed raise many questions.
I got to play with a simulation of a Korean divination technique that is based on the first animal sound you hear (in the new year, technically). The dog bark got me “Many thieves for the year,” so I’d like to remind everyone that the temple robbers are happy to go on tour for a book talk.
November 8, 2025 at 8:56 PM
I got to play with a simulation of a Korean divination technique that is based on the first animal sound you hear (in the new year, technically). The dog bark got me “Many thieves for the year,” so I’d like to remind everyone that the temple robbers are happy to go on tour for a book talk.