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Sarah E. Bond

@sarahebond.bsky.social

20K followers 2.2K following 230 posts

Roman historian, digital humanist & contributor at Hyperallergic Book 📕 Strike: Labor, Unions & Resistance in the Roman Empire (Feb. 2025) : https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300273144/strike/ Pasts Imperfect: https://pasts-imperfect.ghost.io/

yalebooks.yale.edu

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Sarah E. Bond @sarahebond.bsky.social · 13d

The latest Pasts Imperfect has @drsurekhadavies.bsky.social taking on ancient & medieval monsters 🐉. Then, a new book on art from ancient India & the Greco-Roman world, Barnard profs defend free speech, ancient world journals by @yaleclassicslib.bsky.social & Joy Connolly eulogizes Michael Putnam.

Pasts Imperfect (9.25.25)

This week, historian of science, art, information, and monsters Surekha Davies discusses monster-making in the past and the present.

pasts-imperfect.ghost.io

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Sarah E. Bond @sarahebond.bsky.social · 1h

Having spoken to a lot of plague scholars about this (4 yesterday and many more over the course of the last 10 years), I can’t agree. They privilege the literary over the scientific and that’s a dangerous argument. Have a nice day!

Sarah E. Bond @sarahebond.bsky.social · 1h

The issue is they ignored the work of others to say it was less severe based on literary grounds. Decreasing the severity of the pandemic is not only ahistorical, it detracts from a huge event that saw millions die. So forgive me if I see parallels. Have a good day.

Sarah E. Bond @sarahebond.bsky.social · 1h

I think regardless that denying science and what many geneticists have stated is a dangerous path.

Sarah E. Bond @sarahebond.bsky.social · 1h

“The Commodus Passage, the name given to the corridor through which Roman emperors gained unseen access to the Imperial box in the Colosseum, has been opened to the public for the first time after a major restoration of its glistening marble walls.” ilglobo.com/en/news/comm...

Commodus Passage opens to public for first time

The Commodus Passage, the name given to the corridor through which Roman emperors gained unseen access to the Imperial box in the Colosseum, has been opened to the public for the first time after a ma...

ilglobo.com

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Sarah E. Bond @sarahebond.bsky.social · 1h

Please read Sarris’ response, paragraph 2. academic.oup.com/past/article...

Viewpoint New Approaches to the ‘Plague of Justinian’*

Abstract. This viewpoint is meant as a contribution to debate over the nature and significance of the ‘Justinianic Plague’, which struck Western Eurasia be

academic.oup.com

Reposted by Sarah E. Bond

ArtButMakeItSports @artbutmakeitsports.bsky.social · Sep 7

Cupid & Psyche, by Benjamin West, 1808, 📸 via @V0LofTheWild

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Reposted by Sarah E. Bond

NEH Union - AFGE L3403 @nehafge3403.bsky.social · 1d

The cuts at the National Endowment for the Humanities go far deeper than any of these agencies - almost 70% of 179 people were terminated, despite no change to the agency's budget.

There were no savings here - only idealogical destruction. #NEH

Conrad Hackett @conradhackett.bsky.social · 1d

How much smaller the federal workforce is now vs. a year ago
Ed Dept 42%
OPM 33%
HUD 31%
Treasury 29%
Defense (civilian jobs) 22%
Small Biz Admin 21%
Energy 20%
Interior 15%
HHS 14%
SSA 11%
EPA 10%
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

How Much Smaller Is the Federal Work Force? Shutdown Plans Offer a Clue.

The number of federal employees has been trimmed by thousands since President Trump took office, according to contingency plans drawn up by federal agencies.

www.nytimes.com

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Sarah E. Bond @sarahebond.bsky.social · 12h

lol. You have a nice day. That article absolutely uses genetics and phylogenetics specifically to refute the prior claim made in 2019.

Sarah E. Bond @sarahebond.bsky.social · 13h

Good lord. Read the responses. academic.oup.com/past/article...

Viewpoint New Approaches to the ‘Plague of Justinian’*

Abstract. This viewpoint is meant as a contribution to debate over the nature and significance of the ‘Justinianic Plague’, which struck Western Eurasia be

academic.oup.com

Sarah E. Bond @sarahebond.bsky.social · 13h

I guess we can wait and see. Regardless, all I can say is lessening the impact of the Plague of Justinian after all the work by Sarris and Green is absolutely out of line. I don’t like the idea that its severity is all rhetoric of the 20th century and can see how this will be weaponized already.

Sarah E. Bond @sarahebond.bsky.social · 13h

I think it is a very dangerous thing to try and break apart “myths” about pandemics and at the same time to decrease historical severity. So yes, they may say something different in publication but prior work indicates they don’t think the plague of Justinian was as impactful as we know it was.

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Sarah E. Bond @sarahebond.bsky.social · 13h

I can’t say what will be said about COVID. I just know previous scholarship and the article above says the plague of Justinian killed 20% and that is incredibly low. Lessening the severity of a pandemic is not scientific and can be used to lessen the severity of COVID, imo.

Sarah E. Bond @sarahebond.bsky.social · 13h

Yes, as it says in the NEH article: they think it killed 20% and we know it killed closer to 40-45% of people. Thats what I mean by lessening severity.

Sarah E. Bond @sarahebond.bsky.social · 13h

I don’t think they are denying Covid completely. I think what they will do is say that comparisons between Justinian’s plague and COVID are not justified—and thus decrease alleged severity of both pandemics.

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Sarah E. Bond @sarahebond.bsky.social · 14h

Yeah, 50/50 chance of surviving! But just the flu!

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Sarah E. Bond @sarahebond.bsky.social · 15h

I suppose I am being way too naive!

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Sarah E. Bond @sarahebond.bsky.social · 16h

What a kind human. He will be missed.

Sarah E. Bond @sarahebond.bsky.social · 16h

Ah, so glad all my colleagues had their NEHs revoked to fund this.

Sarah E. Bond @sarahebond.bsky.social · 16h

That did strike me immediately. Diminishing science! Let’s fund that one!

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Sarah E. Bond @sarahebond.bsky.social · 16h

www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/... 😡

PNAS

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), a peer reviewed journal of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) - an authoritative source of high-impact, original research that broadly spans...

www.pnas.org

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Sarah E. Bond @sarahebond.bsky.social · 16h

When you want to fund someone who believes that pandemics like the Justinianic plague were *checks notes after millions died in the 6th century* “inconsequential” so you give him $250000 of NEH money. news.okstate.edu/articles/art...

History’s Eisenberg receives NEH grant for collaborative research on the First Plague Pandemic - Oklahoma State University

Oklahoma State University Department of History assistant professor Dr. Merle Eisenberg recently received a National Endowment for the Humanities Collaboration grant for nearly $250,000 to conduct res...

news.okstate.edu

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Sarah E. Bond @sarahebond.bsky.social · 18h

Can it be both hypocritical and commercial ideology?

Sarah E. Bond @sarahebond.bsky.social · 18h

Livia even…

Sarah E. Bond @sarahebond.bsky.social · 18h

Don’t say her name into a mirror.

Sarah E. Bond @sarahebond.bsky.social · 18h

I mean why do they have cameras and internet at all? We have a huge Mennonite presence in Iowa and that’s truly a trad life if that’s what you’re looking for. Me recording myself in a bonnet while cooking and caring for kids is pretty performance-based.