Tom Gavin 🧈
@tomgavin.bsky.social
Studying DPhil in Ancient History at Uni of Oxford | Roman Asia, Numismatics, Post-Classical Polis | Butter lover (he/him)
I learnt a lot from this, including which early modern nation was associated with butter consumption. It's none of the ones you think.
Wonderful surprise to see that Shakespeare Survey 78 is now out in the world, including a piece by yours truly on inter-English conflict in The Merry Wives of Windsor that I am actually quite proud of!
www.cambridge.org/core/books/a...
www.cambridge.org/core/books/a...
‘Here’s Company’: Fractured Englishness and Conflicted Communities in The Merry Wives of Windsor and Henry V - Shakespeare Survey 78
Shakespeare Survey 78 - October 2025
www.cambridge.org
October 14, 2025 at 5:02 PM
I learnt a lot from this, including which early modern nation was associated with butter consumption. It's none of the ones you think.
Reposted by Tom Gavin 🧈
Wonderful surprise to see that Shakespeare Survey 78 is now out in the world, including a piece by yours truly on inter-English conflict in The Merry Wives of Windsor that I am actually quite proud of!
www.cambridge.org/core/books/a...
www.cambridge.org/core/books/a...
‘Here’s Company’: Fractured Englishness and Conflicted Communities in The Merry Wives of Windsor and Henry V - Shakespeare Survey 78
Shakespeare Survey 78 - October 2025
www.cambridge.org
October 14, 2025 at 1:34 PM
Wonderful surprise to see that Shakespeare Survey 78 is now out in the world, including a piece by yours truly on inter-English conflict in The Merry Wives of Windsor that I am actually quite proud of!
www.cambridge.org/core/books/a...
www.cambridge.org/core/books/a...
Always strive to have the confidence of Apollonius of Tyana in writing to Vespasian after he had the temerity to demand Greece pay taxes.
August 19, 2025 at 1:17 PM
Always strive to have the confidence of Apollonius of Tyana in writing to Vespasian after he had the temerity to demand Greece pay taxes.
Reposted by Tom Gavin 🧈
Many thanks to Dr Francesca Beretta for organising last night's Classics School Lockdown Translations Unlocked event. We heard creative translations of Plautus, Ovid, Lucan, Rabelais, Huysmans, Pavese, Borges, Suskind, Ritsos, and Goldman. We were joined by VIP guests Michael Hall and Emily Hayes.
June 17, 2025 at 11:17 AM
Many thanks to Dr Francesca Beretta for organising last night's Classics School Lockdown Translations Unlocked event. We heard creative translations of Plautus, Ovid, Lucan, Rabelais, Huysmans, Pavese, Borges, Suskind, Ritsos, and Goldman. We were joined by VIP guests Michael Hall and Emily Hayes.
I've been studying Roman history for almost a decade, and it's only now that I've come across the claim that Roman general and dictator L. Cornelius Sulla had only one testicle (Dig. 49.16.4).
June 2, 2025 at 3:12 PM
I've been studying Roman history for almost a decade, and it's only now that I've come across the claim that Roman general and dictator L. Cornelius Sulla had only one testicle (Dig. 49.16.4).
Reposted by Tom Gavin 🧈
*Such* an enjoyable weekend after so much preparation, hosting New Voices on the Polis here in Oxford
So grateful to our excellent speakers, to the inimitable @nakhthor.bsky.social, and to my fellow organisers for making this all possible
And now: an early night and a lie-in, I think
So grateful to our excellent speakers, to the inimitable @nakhthor.bsky.social, and to my fellow organisers for making this all possible
And now: an early night and a lie-in, I think
May 18, 2025 at 7:24 PM
*Such* an enjoyable weekend after so much preparation, hosting New Voices on the Polis here in Oxford
So grateful to our excellent speakers, to the inimitable @nakhthor.bsky.social, and to my fellow organisers for making this all possible
And now: an early night and a lie-in, I think
So grateful to our excellent speakers, to the inimitable @nakhthor.bsky.social, and to my fellow organisers for making this all possible
And now: an early night and a lie-in, I think
Reposted by Tom Gavin 🧈
Tonight was the termly BNC-STA Classics Research Symposium. Many thanks to Scott Arcenas and Tom Gavin for very exciting papers on Stasis and Economic Growth in Classical Greece and on Koina and Cooperation between the Greek Poleis of Asia Minor.
March 3, 2025 at 8:18 PM
Tonight was the termly BNC-STA Classics Research Symposium. Many thanks to Scott Arcenas and Tom Gavin for very exciting papers on Stasis and Economic Growth in Classical Greece and on Koina and Cooperation between the Greek Poleis of Asia Minor.
Ordinarily I despise people who write in library books - I will make an exception here.
February 24, 2025 at 12:01 PM
Ordinarily I despise people who write in library books - I will make an exception here.
Short but (in my opinion) fun note on plague, kissing, and Aelius Aristides by me in here - enjoyable merely for the question of ancient 'social distancing' if nothing else!
New issue of Phoenix Vol. 78, Nos. 1-2 (2024) muse.jhu.edu/issue/54238 @projectmuse.bsky.social @cacscec.bsky.social @phoenixjournal.bsky.social @tomgavin.bsky.social
February 10, 2025 at 3:36 PM
Short but (in my opinion) fun note on plague, kissing, and Aelius Aristides by me in here - enjoyable merely for the question of ancient 'social distancing' if nothing else!
Reposted by Tom Gavin 🧈
come along for some excellent seminars this term, all either online or in hybrid format! especially excited for this week's paper given by @brendankanect.bsky.social!
The programme for this term's Celtic Seminar with @yganolfangeltaidd.bsky.social is now out. Join us for our first session next Thursday with an online talk by @brendankanect.bsky.social on Irish bardic poetry.
January 20, 2025 at 11:21 AM
come along for some excellent seminars this term, all either online or in hybrid format! especially excited for this week's paper given by @brendankanect.bsky.social!
Reposted by Tom Gavin 🧈
Applications are now OPEN for 2025 UNIQ+ postgraduate research internships at Oxford University. Find out more about UNIQ+ open to UK undergraduates from under-represented and disadvantaged backgrounds (and spot the Greek vases opportunity!) – apply by 19/02/2025: www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/g...
What is a UNIQ+ Research Internship? | University of Oxford
What is UNIQ+?UNIQ+ Research Internships are designed to provide students from under-represented and disadvantaged backgrounds who are ordinarily resident in the UK with the opportunity to experience
www.ox.ac.uk
January 15, 2025 at 10:39 AM
Applications are now OPEN for 2025 UNIQ+ postgraduate research internships at Oxford University. Find out more about UNIQ+ open to UK undergraduates from under-represented and disadvantaged backgrounds (and spot the Greek vases opportunity!) – apply by 19/02/2025: www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/g...
The Google Maps page for the Royal Shakespeare Theatre giving some real wisdom.
January 17, 2025 at 7:39 PM
The Google Maps page for the Royal Shakespeare Theatre giving some real wisdom.
Some really solid work in one of the Oxford Classics Faculty basement rooms.
December 13, 2024 at 2:24 PM
Some really solid work in one of the Oxford Classics Faculty basement rooms.
Day 12: 4 Fruits. The name is a lie. This was one fruit. This was just strawberry. A good strawberry but we have to demand more. Inklings of other flavours but not substantial at all. 6/10.
Day 11: Mango, Raspberry, Lime. Just all raspberry, no lime at all, very little mango. Even eating a chunk of mango gave no mango taste. Not bad tasting but ill conceived. 5/10.
Day 10: Caramel with Madagascan Vanilla. The bourgeois decadence of eating caramel for breakfast was going to get this one far, but this was just absolutely delightful; the vanilla flavour is natural and comes in strong. Very much canelé vibes. 10/10.
December 12, 2024 at 8:50 AM
Day 12: 4 Fruits. The name is a lie. This was one fruit. This was just strawberry. A good strawberry but we have to demand more. Inklings of other flavours but not substantial at all. 6/10.
Day 11: Mango, Raspberry, Lime. Just all raspberry, no lime at all, very little mango. Even eating a chunk of mango gave no mango taste. Not bad tasting but ill conceived. 5/10.
Day 10: Caramel with Madagascan Vanilla. The bourgeois decadence of eating caramel for breakfast was going to get this one far, but this was just absolutely delightful; the vanilla flavour is natural and comes in strong. Very much canelé vibes. 10/10.
Day 9: Blueberry and Maple Syrup. Really surprising here, nicely acidic and fresh. Maple flavour actually comes through, big blueberry pancake vibes. Actual chunks of blueberry really put this over the top. There's a little room for improvement but we love to see a creative risk. 8/10.
December 12, 2024 at 8:48 AM
Day 11: Mango, Raspberry, Lime. Just all raspberry, no lime at all, very little mango. Even eating a chunk of mango gave no mango taste. Not bad tasting but ill conceived. 5/10.
Day 10: Caramel with Madagascan Vanilla. The bourgeois decadence of eating caramel for breakfast was going to get this one far, but this was just absolutely delightful; the vanilla flavour is natural and comes in strong. Very much canelé vibes. 10/10.
Day 9: Blueberry and Maple Syrup. Really surprising here, nicely acidic and fresh. Maple flavour actually comes through, big blueberry pancake vibes. Actual chunks of blueberry really put this over the top. There's a little room for improvement but we love to see a creative risk. 8/10.
Day 8: Cherry and Honey. Horrible, no good, very bad. Honey overpowers here to the jam's detriment, some chunkage but the flavour is actually just a unpleasant. Cherries deserve better. 2/10.
December 12, 2024 at 8:47 AM
Day 10: Caramel with Madagascan Vanilla. The bourgeois decadence of eating caramel for breakfast was going to get this one far, but this was just absolutely delightful; the vanilla flavour is natural and comes in strong. Very much canelé vibes. 10/10.
Day 9: Blueberry and Maple Syrup. Really surprising here, nicely acidic and fresh. Maple flavour actually comes through, big blueberry pancake vibes. Actual chunks of blueberry really put this over the top. There's a little room for improvement but we love to see a creative risk. 8/10.
Day 8: Cherry and Honey. Horrible, no good, very bad. Honey overpowers here to the jam's detriment, some chunkage but the flavour is actually just a unpleasant. Cherries deserve better. 2/10.
Day 7: Rhubarb and Spices. Pleasant but I feel the pleasure of rhubarb (tartness) is lost, very mild; perhaps thinking a really good rhubarb jam is possible is potentially hubristic. 6.5/10.
December 12, 2024 at 8:44 AM
Day 9: Blueberry and Maple Syrup. Really surprising here, nicely acidic and fresh. Maple flavour actually comes through, big blueberry pancake vibes. Actual chunks of blueberry really put this over the top. There's a little room for improvement but we love to see a creative risk. 8/10.
Day 8: Cherry and Honey. Horrible, no good, very bad. Honey overpowers here to the jam's detriment, some chunkage but the flavour is actually just a unpleasant. Cherries deserve better. 2/10.
Day 7: Rhubarb and Spices. Pleasant but I feel the pleasure of rhubarb (tartness) is lost, very mild; perhaps thinking a really good rhubarb jam is possible is potentially hubristic. 6.5/10.
Day 6: Orange, Yuzu, and Grapefruit Marmalade. Grapefruit still comes through at the end, despite it being up against two strong flavours in the melange; yuzu is a wonderful addition, not too sweet and intensely citrusy. 9/10.
December 12, 2024 at 8:43 AM
Day 8: Cherry and Honey. Horrible, no good, very bad. Honey overpowers here to the jam's detriment, some chunkage but the flavour is actually just a unpleasant. Cherries deserve better. 2/10.
Day 7: Rhubarb and Spices. Pleasant but I feel the pleasure of rhubarb (tartness) is lost, very mild; perhaps thinking a really good rhubarb jam is possible is potentially hubristic. 6.5/10.
Day 6: Orange, Yuzu, and Grapefruit Marmalade. Grapefruit still comes through at the end, despite it being up against two strong flavours in the melange; yuzu is a wonderful addition, not too sweet and intensely citrusy. 9/10.
Day 5: Pineapple and Passion Fruit. I was afraid this wouldn't be good, considering pineapple flavoured food often tastes overly sweet and synthetic. But this was delightful: bold and tropical, a good pineapple chunk, flavours compliment without battling for dominance. 7/10.
December 12, 2024 at 8:42 AM
Day 7: Rhubarb and Spices. Pleasant but I feel the pleasure of rhubarb (tartness) is lost, very mild; perhaps thinking a really good rhubarb jam is possible is potentially hubristic. 6.5/10.
Day 6: Orange, Yuzu, and Grapefruit Marmalade. Grapefruit still comes through at the end, despite it being up against two strong flavours in the melange; yuzu is a wonderful addition, not too sweet and intensely citrusy. 9/10.
Day 5: Pineapple and Passion Fruit. I was afraid this wouldn't be good, considering pineapple flavoured food often tastes overly sweet and synthetic. But this was delightful: bold and tropical, a good pineapple chunk, flavours compliment without battling for dominance. 7/10.
Day 4: Strawberry and Wild Strawberry. Fresh, light, vibrant, and not too sweet - more floral and complex than a classic strawberry. A real showcase in how classic flavours can still be executed well. 8/10.
December 12, 2024 at 8:40 AM
Day 6: Orange, Yuzu, and Grapefruit Marmalade. Grapefruit still comes through at the end, despite it being up against two strong flavours in the melange; yuzu is a wonderful addition, not too sweet and intensely citrusy. 9/10.
Day 5: Pineapple and Passion Fruit. I was afraid this wouldn't be good, considering pineapple flavoured food often tastes overly sweet and synthetic. But this was delightful: bold and tropical, a good pineapple chunk, flavours compliment without battling for dominance. 7/10.
Day 4: Strawberry and Wild Strawberry. Fresh, light, vibrant, and not too sweet - more floral and complex than a classic strawberry. A real showcase in how classic flavours can still be executed well. 8/10.
Day 3: Pears and Cocoa Nibs. The cocoa nibs floated to the top, which would have been a significant problem if the jar were bigger. The nibs are not particularly noticeable in taste or texture. The pear is subtle and would perhaps benefit from a complimentary flavour. 6/10.
December 6, 2024 at 8:52 AM
Day 5: Pineapple and Passion Fruit. I was afraid this wouldn't be good, considering pineapple flavoured food often tastes overly sweet and synthetic. But this was delightful: bold and tropical, a good pineapple chunk, flavours compliment without battling for dominance. 7/10.
Day 4: Strawberry and Wild Strawberry. Fresh, light, vibrant, and not too sweet - more floral and complex than a classic strawberry. A real showcase in how classic flavours can still be executed well. 8/10.
Day 3: Pears and Cocoa Nibs. The cocoa nibs floated to the top, which would have been a significant problem if the jar were bigger. The nibs are not particularly noticeable in taste or texture. The pear is subtle and would perhaps benefit from a complimentary flavour. 6/10.
Day 2: Hazelnut Chocolate Spread. Smooth, rich, and nutty - comparisons to Nutella are inevitable here but this stands up well. It could have slightly stood apart from the competition, either in terms of additional flavour or texture, perhaps spice or chunks of hazelnut? 7/10.
December 5, 2024 at 6:31 PM
Day 4: Strawberry and Wild Strawberry. Fresh, light, vibrant, and not too sweet - more floral and complex than a classic strawberry. A real showcase in how classic flavours can still be executed well. 8/10.
Day 3: Pears and Cocoa Nibs. The cocoa nibs floated to the top, which would have been a significant problem if the jar were bigger. The nibs are not particularly noticeable in taste or texture. The pear is subtle and would perhaps benefit from a complimentary flavour. 6/10.
Day 2: Hazelnut Chocolate Spread. Smooth, rich, and nutty - comparisons to Nutella are inevitable here but this stands up well. It could have slightly stood apart from the competition, either in terms of additional flavour or texture, perhaps spice or chunks of hazelnut? 7/10.
Day 1: Apricot and Orange Flower. A slight fear it would taste of soap, but actually an excellent combo; smooth (little chunkage). The flavours don't fight but build pleasantly on each other, orange flower is subtle but insistent. 8/10.
December 5, 2024 at 6:30 PM
Day 3: Pears and Cocoa Nibs. The cocoa nibs floated to the top, which would have been a significant problem if the jar were bigger. The nibs are not particularly noticeable in taste or texture. The pear is subtle and would perhaps benefit from a complimentary flavour. 6/10.
Day 2: Hazelnut Chocolate Spread. Smooth, rich, and nutty - comparisons to Nutella are inevitable here but this stands up well. It could have slightly stood apart from the competition, either in terms of additional flavour or texture, perhaps spice or chunks of hazelnut? 7/10.
Day 1: Apricot and Orange Flower. A slight fear it would taste of soap, but actually an excellent combo; smooth (little chunkage). The flavours don't fight but build pleasantly on each other, orange flower is subtle but insistent. 8/10.
In previous years on Twitter I did a day by day account of the Bonne Maman jam advent calendar - although a few days late, let's begin #jammas2024
December 5, 2024 at 6:14 PM
Day 2: Hazelnut Chocolate Spread. Smooth, rich, and nutty - comparisons to Nutella are inevitable here but this stands up well. It could have slightly stood apart from the competition, either in terms of additional flavour or texture, perhaps spice or chunks of hazelnut? 7/10.
Day 1: Apricot and Orange Flower. A slight fear it would taste of soap, but actually an excellent combo; smooth (little chunkage). The flavours don't fight but build pleasantly on each other, orange flower is subtle but insistent. 8/10.
In previous years on Twitter I did a day by day account of the Bonne Maman jam advent calendar - although a few days late, let's begin #jammas2024
December 5, 2024 at 6:11 PM
Day 1: Apricot and Orange Flower. A slight fear it would taste of soap, but actually an excellent combo; smooth (little chunkage). The flavours don't fight but build pleasantly on each other, orange flower is subtle but insistent. 8/10.