Jeremy Simmons
@caeliambulator
Ancient historian @UChicago. Author of Sea of Treasures: A Cultural History of Ancient Indian Ocean Trade (2026). More than occasionally talks about the doggo. Opinions my own.
One week away from release! “Sea of Treasures: A Cultural History of Ancient Indian Ocean Trade” available for preorder @princetonupress.bsky.social with this discount code for 30% off at checkout: P329 press.princeton.edu/books/hardco...
After my talk today, I drove up to Katsuren-jo, one of many Ryukyu castles on Okinawa, dating to the 15th century. This one has the added bonus of turning up a small hoard of fourth-century Roman coins, which was in the news a while back. A cool mystery!
Got to see some Kofun tumuli near Todoroki today—at least from the outside. Very helpful archaeological drawings of the burial chambers and funerary deposits!
Fighting the jet lag and the stormy weather on my first night in Tokyo with some ramen and a jazz kissa
Got word from the team @princetonupress.bsky.social that advanced copies of my book are arriving at the press (they sent me this photo of it in the wild)! So excited to be able to hold it in my hands!
People keep writing me that the cover for my book (out later this year) is on the @princetonupress.bsky.social booth's banner at the AIA/SCS, so I thought I'd share it here! Just overjoyed and so grateful to the PUP team for bringing it to life
Managed to stop by the Met’s “Divine Egypt” exhibit. Some of my favorites were on the later side!
Oplontis, by contrast, was deserted, which always shocks me given the richness of the site and its proximity to Pompeii. Simply stunning paintings and plasters—and the space to appreciate them fully
We certainly did *not* have Pompeii to ourselves—hot, crowded, and too much touching (had to tell off someone reaching for plastered human remains in the antiquarium!). But we managed to see some old and new favorites, as well as a friend who is excavating there
And, finally, the imperial amphitheater at Capua. Something for everyone: romps in cryptoportici and substructure; adjacent Samnite tombs; wonderful sculpture. There was even an exhibit for those who come just for the gladiators
Then the archaeological museum in Capua, with its weird and wonderful finds, especially from before the Punic Wars. Such a mix of materials and influences: pottery with inset bronze, wild fibulae, imitative bucchero nero, and lots of terracotta
We (amazingly) had a lot of ancient stuff all to ourselves today. First, a series of *spectacular* hypogea, tombs in (re)use from the fourth c. BCE on. Such amazing details preserved on the walls and funerary couches. I got a kick out of the modern lamp bases next to the ancient painted candelabra
Had a bit of a time getting here (a wild flight delay), but started strong with some treats in Naples and on Ischia
Love this backdrop for the new production of Aida at the Met Opera
For those still around at #AIASCS tomorrow: the joint session “The Feel of Luxury: The Sense-scape of Roman Convivia” starts at 8am in Salon D. Really looking forward to some stimulating papers and discussion. I’ll be talking about how Indian Ocean commodities spiced things up!
I feel like Pliny the Elder would have a lot to say about this year’s offerings to Testudo
It's that time of year again when I show students in my survey course parallels to ancient religious practices found across UMD campus (e.g., ex voto offerings for Testudo) and the difference between hybridity (Kermit-Testudo) and syncretism (...Kermiterp?)
Beautiful morning in Riverside Park (gotta love off-leash hours)
I know we now have the recent reconstruction of the Colossus of Constantine, but I'll never stop using the "gatti di Roma" calendar photo to demonstrate scale for students