Historical Archaeology in the Ancient Mediterranean

Ancient Military History Panel

Over the past three weeks I, with the help of Jeff Herrick, have put together a panel for the Society for Military History.  Their 76th annual meeting will be held at Middle Tennessee State University on April 2-5, 2009.  I will present my Issus research.  Our list of presenters, moderator, and commentator are listed below.

Moderator: Amanda Iacobelli

Presenter 1:  Brandon R. Olson "New Thoughts on the Location of the Issus Battlefield: A Historical Assessment and Archaeological Proposal"

Presenter 2:  Jeff Rop "The Significance of Greek Mercenaries at the Battle of Issus"

Presenter 3:  Thaddeus J. Olson "Archaeology and Ancient Propaganda: Cicero's Cilician Campaign of 51 BC" 

Presenter 4:  Jeffrey Herrick "The Historical Sources for the Severan Battle of Issus and their Limitations"

Commentator:  Dr. William Caraher

Mopsos Survey Project 2009

The dates for the Mopsos Survey have been finalized (May 28-June 25th).  I have been asked to help with recruitment for next year.  For anyone who may be interested please visit either the Penn State study abroad website for Turkey at: http://www.outreach.psu.edu/summerabroad/study-turkey/ or the project's blog at: www.realtimearchaeology.blogspot.com  The project offers several courses including landscape archaeology, advanced landscape archaeology, GIS for archaeologists, and there are opportunities for independent studies.  Course and project fees will be finalized soon and posted on the study abroad website.  I recommend the project for anyone interested in archaeology (beginner or graduate student), GIS, or traveling.  Please email me at bro118@psu.edu for any and all questions.

Gearing Up for Candidacies

In about six weeks I will take my candidacy exams.  In preparation for the exam I have to write a candidacy essay.  In the essay I will discuss how my research fields relate to my dissertation topic and proposed academic path, write a historiography of my dissertation topic, and describe my original contribution to the topic.  I have completed the historiography and original contribution sections.  When I complete the essay I will send it to all my committee members.  At the meeting the committee will decide whether the topic and proposed PhD path is sufficient enough for me to continue the program.  Then, provided that I pass the candidacies, come comp exams in July. 

Homer and Hesiod Written Assignment

For the first written assignment in Classical Mythology students are required to write a 2-3 page paper on either the two depictions of Prometheus in Hesiod's Works and Days and Theogony or the role of the Gods in the Trojan War based on Book IV of the Iliad.  It is always interesting to read an undergraduate's perspective on these works.  I was particularly pleased by two things.  First, several students related the the actions of the Gods to contemporary pop culture.  It is great to see students thinking about the material in this way.  Second, some students went beyond the basic "description essay" and asked why the Gods acted the way they did or why Hesiod's two Prometheus accounts differ.  I realize that at times dealing with ancient sources can be difficult so it is nice seeing a budding interest in the classics in this course. 

PKAP in the NEA

The most recent issue of the Near Eastern Archaeologist is devoted to archaeology on Cyprus.  The issue includes articles on Idalion, the Kyrenia shipwreck, underwater archaeology, Byzantine Cyprus, and many more.  I highly suggest reading "Surveying Late Antique Cyprus: by William Caraher, R. Scott Moore, and David Pettegrew.  The article features a historiographic section chronicling archaeological survey in Cyprus, a section describing the Pyla-Koutsopetria Archaeological Project's survey methodology, and a discussion of the late Roman ceramic finds.  It's definitely worth a look.      

Epigraphy Seminar Paper

Over the last week I have searched the Corpus Inscriptionem Latinarum for inscribed sling-bullets from Perusia.  Having found several examples, I then asked myself what am I going to do with them.  They will certainly serve as primary evidence in my dissertation but I need to come up with an argument suitable for a 25-30 page seminar paper.  Rather than write a mini-dissertation using the bullets as evidence for literacy in the Roman military, I have decided to examine the use of language to promote violence as evidenced on inscribed leaden sling-bullets.  I will compare the glandes Perusinae with Greek examples to examine how each tradition used language to promote violence.  For example, several Greek bullets survive with sayings such as: "Take this," "Ouch," and "Blood."  The examples from Perusia promote violence in a totally different way.  The insults are sexually oriented.  The use of sexual references to promote violence and anger can be found in other literary works contemporary with the bullets such as Catullus.  If indeed this pseudo-thesis pans out, I will provide specific examples in subsequent posts.  We will see how it goes...

Planned Conference #2

This year the Pyla-Koutsopetria Archaeological Project (PKAP) will present a poster at the 110th annual meeting of the Archaeological Institute of America.  Last year's poster received a lot of good feedback (here is a link to the poster).  I have agreed to help Dr. Scott Moore present the poster this year.  Aside from more than four hours of standing by your poster, it is a worth while experience.

Yet Another Sling-Bullet Paper

As with all graduate seminars, my Latin epigraphy course requires a sizable research paper.  The one requirement for the paper is that it must deal with inscriptions in Latin.  I have tossed ideas back and forth and decided to examine lead sling-bullets inscribed in Latin.  I will use the Latin evidence with the Greek examples to do a comparative piece on the two traditions.  Apparently the besiegers of Asculum and Perugia during the Republican period both employed inscribed lead sling-bullets during their sieges.  Now I have to mine the CIL and secondary sources to find specific inscribed bullets to compare to the Greek forms from Cyprus, Olynthus, and Stymphalos.  I have decided to examine Latin inscribed sling-bullets because they will be one of my datasets for my dissertation on literacy in the Greek and Roman armies.   

Poster Session at ASOR's Annual Meeting

This year Ben Bradshaw, Amanda Iacobelli, and I will be presenting a poster at ASOR's annual meeting in Boston on November 19-22.  Our poster entitled "The Mopsos Survey: Archaeology in the Cilician Plain" will feature GIS maps of site distribution and density through time and our individual projects.  I will present my Issus research while Ben will cover the GIS maps and Amanda will likely work with the use of historic archaeological documents (ie travelers accounts of the archaeology and early surveys) in the Mopsos Survey.  In the next few days I will discuss other conference plans.

A Little Plato Anyone?

After the first two weeks of classes I have finally dusted off my ancient Greek skills.  I was surprised how rusty I was after nearly a year away from Greek .  I find that when beginning any ancient language class, whether Greek or Latin, it takes time to get acquainted with the material and get a handle on a new author.  I can not say that I am fully acquainted with Plato's writing style, who can really, but I believe I have moved from the "shaking off the rust" stage to the learning new material stage.  For those who are a fan of Plato's Symposium we have moved from the banter between Apollodorus and his companion to Apollodorus beginning to tell Aristodemus' version of the banquet.  Needless to say I am now quite familiar with indirect discourse!