Isabel Köster
@iotasubscript
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
Publishing a book in 2026 means endless AI spam in the form of weird remixes of the press website. Apparently they also come in impersonation mode.
Oh, look, the proofs fairy has brought another gift. (Appearing in _Exemplary Representation(s) of the Past: New Readings of Valerius Maximus’ Facta et Dicta Memorabilia_ with Brill and out in January)
Clipped from one of the other sites: Nietzsche in a letter: “Dear friend! What a summer! I picture you sitting in your room, more omelet than human.” I’m definitely feeling more omelet than human today.
After a lull in May/June, the AI book spam is once again on. And they’ve all been this… an org that doesn’t exist (I’m on Goodreads and was librarian until earlier this year) and "valuable insights into one of history's most influential civilizations,” which is just “robot, go home” territory.
It may not be North America’s most competent airport, but the social media game is A+. (For folks outside the U.S.: this is a Colorado-sized version of the infamous Trojan Horse popcorn bucket some theaters sold until they ran out 5 minutes later)
I’ll play #ReliefWednesday for once… here’s a Sucullus (a Gallo-Roman god of agriculture and/or death, depending on what you read) found in the Lapidarium in Avignon.
In the meanwhile, over on the green owl app, some real Dutch problems.
In our occasional series on making fun of academic technology, look at the lovely unique file names EBSCO's "academic search ultimate" gives you. SMH.
Turn right at the cheese and get to day 2 of a stimulating workshop on religious toleration in classical antiquity. PDF of program here: medievalstudies.nl/wp-content/u...
I loved this detail from the BBC coverage. “It could happen that some curse or misfortune may befall the thief… that’s not a threat, it is a reality—such things do happen.”
I know we’re over the green owl app, but where else would I learn such useful phrases?
If you're ever in Loveland, you can find the sculpture near the rollerskating banana.
Today's bizarre bit classical reception of sorts, Victor Issa's "Power of Thought" (2022) as seen in the Benson Sculpture Garden in Loveland, CO. Please note colosseum... more details (and more ancient Mediterranean world) here: www.bronzepowerofthought.com , which also has an image description.
I took the espresso cups when the house got sold and wish I'd taken more.
How I’m spending most of this high summer in March day in Boulder: the Met Live broadcast of “Tristan und Isolde” in an over-air conditioned cinema. Big opera (5 1/2 hours) for a big heat wave.
I had a bit of an "ugh, not another journal" come on when I saw that Hermes had revised its language policy, but, no, this one isn't "we're going English-only," but "You can now send us stuff in Spanish in addition to the usual German, English, French, Italian, and Latin."
That said, CAMWS’s expedition to Mobile provided occasion to speculate on how much it cost the University of Southern Alabama in consulting fees to develop its “USA” branding…
Forever my favorite Ides take: “Julius Caesar, popular Roman leader and author, dies at the age of 55 surrounded by friends.”
I finally took a look at the Einstein AI Homework Agent that has all of us despairing today. It's so, so much worse than it looks. Like people write sci fi stories about this worse. I'm sorry Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that.
Apparently when it's 1966 and you're E. R. Dodds, you can publish a piece on how no-one got your exam question right. It's actually an interesting piece (as you'd expect from Dodds), but the framing is wild. (Dodds, E. R. “On Misunderstanding the ‘Oedipus Rex.’” Greece & Rome 13 (1966): 37–49)
Frequent CU thought... I miss Innisfree! (The coffee shop that was basically the humanities faculty living room until the pandemic took it out at one of its first acts... here from the Lego model of campus, which also isn't a thing anymore)