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
Pinned
In our latest blog post, Isabel K. Köster shares how her book "Stealing from the Gods: Temple Robbery in the Roman Imagination" deals with some of the ancient equivalents of the 2025 Louvre theft! Read more at press.umich.edu/Blog/2026/01...
How to Write About a Robbery
Publishes award-winning books that advance humanities and social science fields, as well as English language teaching and regional resources.
press.umich.edu
So I wrote a thing! (And a book to go with it, but we’ve covered that)
My goodness, is Ann Leckie’s The Raven Tower a ride for an ancient religion scholar. And I’m only halfway through! I want an excuse to teach this thing!
The Raven Tower - Ann Leckie
Gods meddle in the fates of men, men play with the fates of gods, and a pretender must be cast down from the throne in this breathtaking first fantasy novel from Ann Leckie, New York Times bestselling...
annleckie.com
January 13, 2026 at 3:09 AM
My goodness, is Ann Leckie’s The Raven Tower a ride for an ancient religion scholar. And I’m only halfway through! I want an excuse to teach this thing!
Yup, when Delta engaged in some iterative excellence to do Paris-New York-Denver (does Seattle make geographical sense in that itinerary? No? Too bad), I at least felt comparatively well-vouchered.
January 12, 2026 at 4:53 AM
Yup, when Delta engaged in some iterative excellence to do Paris-New York-Denver (does Seattle make geographical sense in that itinerary? No? Too bad), I at least felt comparatively well-vouchered.
You can splurge on a protein bar!
January 12, 2026 at 4:52 AM
You can splurge on a protein bar!
Colorado gives you small doses of frontier tech bro culture, and I don't think I could take SF's level as permanent background noise.
January 11, 2026 at 7:02 PM
Colorado gives you small doses of frontier tech bro culture, and I don't think I could take SF's level as permanent background noise.
The amount of "welcome to the home of AI! Have you embraced AI into your life?" propaganda at SFO is unreal. Denver is really behind there.
January 11, 2026 at 6:44 PM
The amount of "welcome to the home of AI! Have you embraced AI into your life?" propaganda at SFO is unreal. Denver is really behind there.
Lol, for me that's Newark, but ORD is perpetually on my "almost the worst" list.
January 11, 2026 at 6:43 PM
Lol, for me that's Newark, but ORD is perpetually on my "almost the worst" list.
That website is so good. I can be on the Enterprise or in a Japanese garden or get yelled at by tropical birds…
January 11, 2026 at 3:24 PM
That website is so good. I can be on the Enterprise or in a Japanese garden or get yelled at by tropical birds…
This sort of stuff is why I’m learning Coptic. Ok, not exclusively, but a good chunk of the reason.
Coptic spell to Acquire a Beautiful Voice, 6th–7th century CE, Egypt, ink on papyrus, 37.3 x 25.4 cm (Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University, New Haven)
archives.yale.edu/repositories...
archives.yale.edu/repositories...
January 11, 2026 at 2:19 AM
This sort of stuff is why I’m learning Coptic. Ok, not exclusively, but a good chunk of the reason.
Seeing my book in the book room = very cool. Doing a conference with a monstrous caffeine-resistant jet lag that had me wide awake at 4 am and a pumpkin by 7 pm every day = very uncool. Great to see so many of you, though! Let’s do this on the East Coast next time.
January 11, 2026 at 1:30 AM
Seeing my book in the book room = very cool. Doing a conference with a monstrous caffeine-resistant jet lag that had me wide awake at 4 am and a pumpkin by 7 pm every day = very uncool. Great to see so many of you, though! Let’s do this on the East Coast next time.
Reposted by Isabel Köster
Pasts Imperfect is back from break! This week, we focus on AI ethics and labor with @illdottore.bsky.social, Christine Johnston & Leigh Anne Lieberman. Then, ancient bees in jawbones, Roman camels in Basel, a book on temple robbery, new ancient world journals @yaleclassicslib.bsky.social & much more
Pasts Imperfect (1.8.26)
This week, we are back from holiday break with a deep dive into the ethics, big business, and myth-peddling of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in higher education. Then, bees in ancient jawbones within t...
pasts-imperfect.ghost.io
January 8, 2026 at 1:32 PM
Pasts Imperfect is back from break! This week, we focus on AI ethics and labor with @illdottore.bsky.social, Christine Johnston & Leigh Anne Lieberman. Then, ancient bees in jawbones, Roman camels in Basel, a book on temple robbery, new ancient world journals @yaleclassicslib.bsky.social & much more
Getting my paws on the physical copy yesterday was one of the most surreal experiences I’ve had.
January 8, 2026 at 2:48 AM
Getting my paws on the physical copy yesterday was one of the most surreal experiences I’ve had.
Happy birthday, book!
"Stealing from the Gods" is now available! Isabel K. Köster charts the narratives surrounding temple robbery in ancient Rome in this new OA volume. Start reading: doi.org/10.3998/mpub...
January 8, 2026 at 2:42 AM
Happy birthday, book!
On what’s hardly the SCS party bus (there may be one more classicist on this flight) enjoying @egarcmol.bsky.social ‘s Ancient Office Hours episode. I’m really mad that “Valete vos viatores” (you get to play a Roman stonemason) isn’t available for Mac.
Episode 131 - Dr. Eduardo García-Molina
Podcast Episode · Ancient Office Hours · 01/07/2026 · 1h 10m
podcasts.apple.com
January 7, 2026 at 4:36 PM
On what’s hardly the SCS party bus (there may be one more classicist on this flight) enjoying @egarcmol.bsky.social ‘s Ancient Office Hours episode. I’m really mad that “Valete vos viatores” (you get to play a Roman stonemason) isn’t available for Mac.
Also, BlueSky likes flagging things as “rude.” I’ve heard rumors of this thing and wouldn’t have made it past the first question. It sounds like hazing.
January 7, 2026 at 4:45 AM
Also, BlueSky likes flagging things as “rude.” I’ve heard rumors of this thing and wouldn’t have made it past the first question. It sounds like hazing.
I started getting serious about it last semester and love it. The advice to resist the urge to add all the community plug-ins is solid, though, because that quickly overcomplicates things.
January 6, 2026 at 8:20 PM
I started getting serious about it last semester and love it. The advice to resist the urge to add all the community plug-ins is solid, though, because that quickly overcomplicates things.
So I wrote a thing! (And a book to go with it, but we’ve covered that)
In our latest blog post, Isabel K. Köster shares how her book "Stealing from the Gods: Temple Robbery in the Roman Imagination" deals with some of the ancient equivalents of the 2025 Louvre theft! Read more at press.umich.edu/Blog/2026/01...
How to Write About a Robbery
Publishes award-winning books that advance humanities and social science fields, as well as English language teaching and regional resources.
press.umich.edu
January 6, 2026 at 3:37 AM
So I wrote a thing! (And a book to go with it, but we’ve covered that)
Reposted by Isabel Köster
Nicole J. Giannella's "The Mind of the Slave" is now available! The first volume of our Empire and After series investigates slave ownership and the limits of ownership in ancient Rome. Read more: press.umich.edu/Books/T/The-...
January 5, 2026 at 11:39 PM
Nicole J. Giannella's "The Mind of the Slave" is now available! The first volume of our Empire and After series investigates slave ownership and the limits of ownership in ancient Rome. Read more: press.umich.edu/Books/T/The-...
It seems like the AIA figured it out... (as did some SCS panels, but most of them are not in the right order)
January 4, 2026 at 6:00 PM
It seems like the AIA figured it out... (as did some SCS panels, but most of them are not in the right order)
The papers are numbered, so the error is obvious, but still, hrmpf.
January 4, 2026 at 5:59 PM
The papers are numbered, so the error is obvious, but still, hrmpf.
People going to the AIA/SCS and planning to use the app instead of a program may wish to know that papers in the app appear out of program order (at least on the SCS side). And yes, I know, I complain about the app every year (and maybe one year I'll remember that I just need to pay for a program)
January 4, 2026 at 5:33 PM
People going to the AIA/SCS and planning to use the app instead of a program may wish to know that papers in the app appear out of program order (at least on the SCS side). And yes, I know, I complain about the app every year (and maybe one year I'll remember that I just need to pay for a program)
Currently at the Archäologische Staatssammlung in Munich: lots and lots of gladiators, from spectacular helmets from Pompeii to life-sized fight reconstructions. On view until May 3rd and very much worth it.
January 4, 2026 at 3:34 PM
Currently at the Archäologische Staatssammlung in Munich: lots and lots of gladiators, from spectacular helmets from Pompeii to life-sized fight reconstructions. On view until May 3rd and very much worth it.
I’ve got questions…
Cicero wearing a crown, flanked by Cato and Caesar, triumphing over the Catilinarian conspirators
Bodleian Library MS. Barlow 40; Cicero, De inventione rhetorica; 12th century, 2nd quarter; Italy, North? or French, South?; f.1r @bodleian.ox.ac.uk
Bodleian Library MS. Barlow 40; Cicero, De inventione rhetorica; 12th century, 2nd quarter; Italy, North? or French, South?; f.1r @bodleian.ox.ac.uk
January 3, 2026 at 7:35 PM
I’ve got questions…
Next time add Bleigießen and the witchy celebrations are perfect :-) Prosit Neujahr!
January 1, 2026 at 7:44 PM
Next time add Bleigießen and the witchy celebrations are perfect :-) Prosit Neujahr!
I think it’s a lovely addition to a book on curses (“may you tear apart/entirely obliterate…”) to have you DIY separate pages, but I doubt it was intentional. Still, it’s the most work I’ve done on a book from a U.S. publisher probably ever.
January 1, 2026 at 2:02 PM
I think it’s a lovely addition to a book on curses (“may you tear apart/entirely obliterate…”) to have you DIY separate pages, but I doubt it was intentional. Still, it’s the most work I’ve done on a book from a U.S. publisher probably ever.
The first academic book of the year, Lamont’s excellent “In Blood and Ashes,” comes with a fun interactive element for the classicist working on curses: some apparent production problems mean you have to rip or cut several of the pages with the endnotes since they are still attached to each other.
January 1, 2026 at 2:00 PM
The first academic book of the year, Lamont’s excellent “In Blood and Ashes,” comes with a fun interactive element for the classicist working on curses: some apparent production problems mean you have to rip or cut several of the pages with the endnotes since they are still attached to each other.