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2 Classical Studies Newsletter, Summer 2004 - Volume XI
chair’s
letter
Ciao Amici!
Ciao Amici!
Ricardus amicis studiorum to hear Bruce Frier lecture on Piranesi!) and on Classics
antiquitatis S.D. in Nineteenth-Century Britain. We thank Meilee Bridges for
Fear not: I shall not continue in her wonderful work for CFC. There were workshops on
Latin, much though I would love to. translation and the annual Translation Contest. This time,
Winter 2004 saw major changes in following an inquiry from an architect, I put up a case of
the staffing of the Department. For wine for a Latin epigram; the winning entry, submitted
23 years, the front office has been anonymously by Ruth Scodel, will be engraved around a
guided by the calmness and sagacity stone fountain in the middle of the new maze in Matthaei
of Patricia Berwald, who will be Botanical Gardens:
known to nearly all of you. Pat’s formam fine carentem, animo totam capiendam
retirement left a large gap, errans ut spectes, mente veni placida
Professor of Classical
augmented by the departure of Anne
Studies and Chair In March it was our turn to host the Mid-Western
Richard Janko Shore. However, we were fortunate
Consortium on Ancient Religions. Dirk Obbink took the
to be able to appoint Gregory Yantz
occasion to present a new elegiac poem by Archilochus (c.
to succeed Pat. Greg assumed his new mantle with rapidity 650 B.C.E.) that he has found; it narrates the story of
and poise and helped us find other staff, notably Sean Telephus. Traianos Gagos presented a Michigan papyrus
Norton, who is now serving the Program in Modern Greek. that has on it a prayer from the Roman Imperial cult. The
For their help during the transition I thank Marybeth Davis,
work several of us do on the Herculaneum papyri appeared
Nancy Bates and Carollyn Dickerson.
in the PBS documentary Out of the Ashes; filmed before I
On the faculty side, we regretted the passing of Louise became Chair, it gave me a unique opportunity to observe
Youtie, long the guardian of our papyri. We were delighted how much hair I have lost since then. The Pack Lecturer
that Derek Collins and Arthur Verhoogt were promoted to was Dorothy Thompson; she revealed what census returns
Associate Professor. This consolidates the Department’s from Roman Egypt (once mistaken for lists of sheep!) tell
high standing internationally in ancient religion, early Greek us about ancient demography.
poetry and papyrology. The $8M gift for a new wing to the
In May the University hosted the Association of Ancient
Kelsey Museum of Classical Archaeology expands our Historians’ Annual Meeting. I thank Sara Forsdyke in
range in another direction. My assessment of our standing particular for her energy in organizing this meeting, and to
seems to be supported by our success in attracting the Else Fund for supporting it.
graduate student applicants. A number of students won
outside funding to study in the Mediterranean in the This fall we welcome Assistant Professor Farouk
summer or for next academic year. Our outgoing Ph.D. Grewing from the University of Cologne, who brings
students have continued success in finding posts in the strength in Latin literature of the Imperial period, and Alex
field. One of last years’ IPCAA Ph.D.s, Jeremy Hartnett, Pappas, who replaces Sharon Herbert while she is on
won the Rackham Distinguished Dissertation Award for leave. We are offering several new courses, notably in the
his dissertation Streets, Street Architecture, and Social history of the Greek and Latin languages. We look forward
Presentation in Roman Italy. to the Platsis Symposium on Crete, ancient and modern
bridge between cultures; to a conference on Roman dining,
In April Jackie Williams was proud to count a record organized by Sue Alcock, to honor the late John D’Arms; to
133 undergraduate majors and minors in our Programs, up the Jerome Lectures by John Pinto; to the Else Lecture by
from 113 last year, and from a mere 42 in 1999. Our junior Margalit Finkelberg; to the conference ‘Empire and
Rob Stephan has made a splash with his discoveries about
Narrative: The Western Tradition, 2,500 B.C.E. – 2004
the house and archive of the Roman soldier Tiberianus at
C.E.’ in December; and, further ahead, to the extended visit
Karanis in Egypt. The Knudsvig Symposium put on a
of André Laks.
summer event for Latin high-school teachers. We are
offering intensive courses in classical Greek as well as If you are nearby, please do come to any or all of these
Latin over the summer, and plan to continue this in future. events. In closing, I must thank those of you who give
financial support to the Department. Your response helps
The semester had a plethora of events. Dan
us to help our students, graduate and undergraduate, with
Georgakas of Queens College, City University of New York
their needs for travel, study and research.
gave the Pallas Lecture on “The Now and Future Greek
America: Strategies for Survival”. There were lectures by To end in Roman epistolary style, S.V.B.E.E.V.
Charles Martindale and John Miles Foley. Contexts for
Classics ran conferences on African-American Classicists,
on the ‘Romantic Classical’ (what an unexpected delight
Classical Studies Newsletter, Summer 2004 - Volume XI 3
Houses and Streets in Roman Italy
treets
Str Roman Italy
By Prof. Jeremy Hartnett
Oberlin College
Inside a Roman house, one’s place in the social that physical border, or architectural interface: the
hierarchy should have been clear. As has been ably house facade. Previously, in our approach to the
demonstrated, an orchestration of decoration, Roman city and its spaces, this boundary has been
architecture, and social ritual spotlighted the house’s rigid and conceptually impermeable: we’ve seen
chief resident. For visitors, the nature and degree of things as very clearly ‘in’ or ‘out,’ as either
access they enjoyed to this person signaled their pertaining to the interior world of the house or the
standing. Just allowed to meet in the atrium for the public world outside. Were things really this clear-
salutatio? This was business. An invitation to dinner in cut? Surely, the contrast between the inside and
the triclinium? You’re getting somewhere. A private outside was significant to Romans: a cocoon of
discussion in a cubiculum? Priceless. Flippancy aside, ritual observances, after all, was wrapped around
my point is that Roman domestic space was the crossing of this important threshold. But our
controllable: it allowed choreographed distinctions dichotomy between ‘the in’ and ‘the out’ misses
between social ranks. something crucial, I believe,
When we move outside for it doesn’t take into
the house and into the account the interaction
street, we enter a space between these two realms.
where an entirely different That’s why house facades
atmosphere reigned. Noisy, are interesting to study, for
smelly, crowded, and they are the ever-visible
generally chaotic – entrée of owner-centric
Juvenal’s third satire might domestic space into the
come to mind – streets socially-contested space
facilitated spontaneous, outside, in the street. In this
face-to-face contact across paper, using facade
the full spectrum of Roman architecture as a lens of
society. For the Romans, inquiry, I intend to investigate
notorious for their obsession the house-street relationship
Figure 1. The Casa dei Diadumeni at Pompeii rises above
with status and markers of it, the street on a temple-like platform. and to see how houses,
this interaction was not through this boundary, do
passive; they assessed each other in the street and have an impact on, and respond to, the
tried to put their own best face forward. The street, as streetscape, its competitions, performances, and
opposed to the house, threatened social boundaries: it dynamics.
did not exclude any segments of society or categorize Cicero, in his De Domo Sua, describes the
them. In theory, all could appear as they wished. Thus, destruction of his house at the hands of his political
self-presentation: essentially, the performance of status enemy Clodius. Swelling to a final emotional
– through actions, dress, exterior house decorations – crescendo, Cicero pleads that, without his house,
was critical. he is deprived of his ornamenta dignitatis, his
Yet the two starkly different realms of house and external trappings of standing. The orator’s appeal
street were immediately adjacent. Only a wall of underlines the fundamental (and well-known)
masonry stood between them. My paper focuses on
(continued on p.4)
4 Classical Studies Newsletter, Summer 2004 - Volume XI
(continued from p.3)
Roman assumption that a man’s house and his social rebuilt its southern half after the earthquake of 62 AD,
standing were intimately linked. It is further telling he or she constructed a new and elegant entrance,
that, throughout the De Domo, Cicero repeatedly framed by engaged columns and lifted atop a high
refers to his house’s visibility: it can be seen from the sidewalk. The interesting part of this entrance, though,
most famous and busiest districts of the city. For him, is its placement at the focal point of what was – if the
this is a double-edged sword. While intact, his house depths of its wheel-ruts provide any clue – one of
had broadcast his status to the city; once destroyed, it Pompeii’s most-traveled streets. All moving along this
showed his diminished standing. It is clear that thoroughfare stared directly at this facade, in essence
houses were viewed as extensions of their owner, a extending the impact of the house and, by connection,
physical representation, on some level, of that its owner over the street’s length. That this
individual’s characteristics. phenomenon is repeated roughly a dozen times at the
visible portions of Pompeii is a testament to its power.
When we move to the space of the street, we
have to take account of this close connection Such obvious attempts to appropriate streetspace
between an owner, a house, and its visibility. A were paralleled by a subtler, yet more eloquent, use
Roman streetgoer would not consider facades merely of the architectonic language of facades. The Casa
to be containing the street’s space, but would see del Fauno at Pompeii (figs. 3-5) provides a strong
them as reflections of house owners’ status and case study for facade forms, what they intended to
attributes, akin to other performances in the street’s communicate, and how they set about doing it.
hustle-bustle. That house facades sought to exercise Although truly extraordinary for its size and luxury,
symbolic control over the street’s chaotic and socially this house provides appropriate fodder for this
up-for-grabs environment, should come, then, as no qualitative discussion since its architectural features
surprise. The Casa dei Diadoumeni at Pompeii (fig. and goals are repeated at many other houses in
1), for example, towered over the street on a high Pompeii and Herculaneum.
podium (not unlike a temple’s), raising itself above the The Casa del Fauno (fig. 3) occupies one whole
level of its neighboring houses. This unique house insula of the urban fabric and therefore had four
drew attention by its imposing presence, and sought exposed walls. The south wall (fig. 4), facing the
symbolic dominance over the social interaction in the most traveled of the four streets, receives the lion’s
street below. share of the exterior decoration. Constructed of
Another Pompeian house pushes this a step further ashlar blocks of Nocerian tufa, the facade as it survives
(fig. 2). When the owner of this anonymous house to us consists of a series of towering piers about seven
Figure 2. (left) The
entrance to a
nameless house at
Pompeii stands at
the end of a well-
traveled street,
commanding the
attention of all who
move toward it.
Figure 3. (right)
The Casa del Fauno
at Pompeii proudly
boasts that it occu-
pies one entire city
block. NB: Numbers
indicate the point of
view for figures 4, 6,
7, and 8.
(continued on p.5)
Classical Studies Newsletter, Summer 2004 - Volume XI 5
(continued from p.4)
Figure 5. This reconstruction of the original facade of the Casa del
Fauno shows how the entire city block was linked together in an
ordered ensemble.
Figure 4. The main southern face of the Casa del Fauno presents
an organized front to the street.
meters high, which border six apertures onto the street. On every pier, there was a pilaster with a small capital.
Originally, the pilasters were placed at the outside corners on the end piers, on the inside corners of the aperture to
the main doorway, and at the center of all other piers (fig. 5). Together, these elements unite the facade (in fact,
the whole width of the insula) through their identical appearance and rhythmic arrangement: the outer pilasters
frame the composition, the inner ones repeat at regular intervals except around the door.
In the first place, this coherence marks out the house from the rest of the streetscape. It reminds us of the
difference between the goals of domestic architecture inside and out. If the interior is primarily concerned with
differentiating public and private spaces within the house and signaling where visitors may go, the exterior
seeks to rival other houses on the street and in the city. We should also consider the unified nature of the
facade, I think, in juxtaposition to the chaos that could engulf the street. The harmony of this order offers a
counterpoint to the cacophony it faces, as though owners sought to show that all of their affairs were in order.
When we move to the sides of the Casa del Fauno (fig. 6),
we see one notable architectural feature. Aside from the
extreme SW corner, no doorways pierce the sides – quite a
rare occurrence – but we instead see ledges starting at the
top of the lowest course of ashlars on the front and running
the entire length of the house’s sides. They showed to the
passerby that this house was indeed substantial: it occupied
the length, in addition to the width, of the insula. Clearly, the
owner of this house wanted to emphasize that he wielded the
power and wealth to achieve these truly unique extents.
Returning to the house’s facade, it is clear that not all
the Casa del Fauno’s apertures onto the street were equal.
Rather, the main doorway leading to the fauces and the
atrium receives special attention (fig. 7). It is visually
distinguished by an architrave, elaborate pilaster capitals, a
special tessellated greeting in the sidewalk, and a finely-
paved recessed vestibulum. Though the techniques of doing
Figure 6. The western side of the Casa del Fauno shows the
so vary, there is a broad concern across houses to draw house’s depth through its lack of doorways and continuous
attention to the main door, often by physically making it higher ledge.
than the rest. At the quite different facade of Herculaneum’s
Casa del Tramezzo di Legno, for example, the main door, framed by a ridge of plaster and crowned by an
architrave, soars to a greater height than the shopfront incorporated into the house’s face.
(continued on p.6)
6 Classical Studies Newsletter, Summer 2004 - Volume XI
(continued from p.5)
This widespread practice of highlighting the main blank wall may not carry special meaning, Roman
door served, I believe, as an architectural shorthand for eyes, trained by experience, would probably make the
the presence of an atrium complex intuitive connection. However, the lone architectural
inside the house. The fauces- feature along the sides – a plaster
atrium-tablinum matrix, as an pilaster that curiously corresponded
architectural feature socially to the peristyle’s southern extreme
connected with the reception of – held no structural significance.
clientes, enjoyed important Was it meant to show a passer-by
associations with status. Thus, if a where the peristyle began?
house’s doors were closed, street- A final remark on facade
facing architecture would alert architecture. Roman houses have
streetgoers to the presence of these often been considered inward-
interior rooms, and thus carry a looking, and to some extent with
message about the house’s good reason. Keeping a house
resident. When a house’s doors physically closed-off from the street
were open, it would have been even and the city had the practical
clearer to a passerby that this motive of protecting the house from
important room configuration was the street’s very real dangers. And
present. Indeed, exterior decoration this closing off also served as a
likely aided in alerting streetgoers means of symbolically protecting
to, and aligning them with, the the virtue of the family and
house’s main visual axis. Thus even household inside, shielding them
someone not entering would soak in from pollution and violation, moral or
a view through the house and be corporal. Facade architecture,
able to discern not just these then, had the advantage of not
elements, but likely others as well. Figure 7. The main entryway to the Casa del
Fauno is visually distinguished from other potentially compromising the purity
At some later point in the Casa openings onto the street by its architecture, of the household, while
del Fauno’s history, a second decoration, and fine materials. simultaneously making interior
atrium was added to the house. As markers of social standing a part of
I mentioned before, there had been center pilasters on the street’s contestations and negotiations of status.
the piers of the facade’s eastern half. When a fauces The house, then, through its architectural forms or
was added in the second aperture from the east, these position within the streetscape, could have an impact
pilasters were carved away. Newly-cut stone narrowed on the street. But we should be careful before we
the doorway and formed the pilasters framing the assume that communication only emanated from
entrance. While the motivation for adding a second buildings into the street. At a fullery in Pompeii (fig. 9),
atrium is not altogether clear to us, it is noteworthy that the owner sought to tap into powerful national symbols.
the same architectonic vocabulary was employed for Painted figures of Aeneas and Romulus flanked the
this new atrium. The owner clearly wanted to make it doorway. One
visible on the exterior too, but without undercutting the visitor to this
visual supremacy of the original doorway or the unity building,
that governed the entire facade. apparently
The exterior articulation of interior architecture was inspired by the
not limited to what have been called the public areas of sight of the two
the house, but it also encompassed the architecture of heroes, entered
private entertainment – an alternative, and increasingly and left a
important, strategy for the presentation of the master to response on a
the public during the early empire. Returning to the wall inside.
sides of the Casa del Fauno (fig. 8), in addition to the Adapting the
long ledges, there was also a tall, blank, windowless national epic for
wall running for some length, most of which is local
preserved. Such a large stretch of wall, devoid of circumstances,
Figure 8. Near the rear of the eastern side
windows, would signal to passers-by the presence of the graffito read: “I of the Casa del Fauno, a tall, windowless wall
an interior light source. In a house like this one, that sing of fullers and
would likely mean – and in the case of the Casa del
Fauno did in fact reflect – a peristyle. Although to us, a (continued on p.7)
Classical Studies Newsletter, Summer 2004 - Volume XI 7
in the
Spotlight
Spotlight
TROY By Prof. Ruth Scodel
Nothing is easier than to bash films set in the ancient world for their changes and mistakes, but it is
worth thinking about how and why Wolfgang Petersen’s Troy distorts the Iliad. The film is an uneasy
mixture of summer blockbuster and serious movie, but its thoughtful side is reminiscent of late Euripides in
its realistic view of Homeric splendor. The premise of the film is that Agamemnon has achieved effective
supremacy over most of the Greek world by military force and intimidation. Now he wants Troy. Helen is an
excuse. In Homer, the Trojans have a genuine hope of ending the war by returning Helen; Homer’s
Agamemnon fantasizes how, if Menelaus is killed, the Greeks will return home humiliated. In David
Benioff’s screenplay, it is very clear that only if Troy submits to becoming part of Agamemnon’s empire will
Agamemnon accept terms.
The film presents a relentlessly unheroic world. The characters talk about the gods, but no gods
intervene, for this film takes place in a world where only power finally counts. The film gives Hector’s
mistakes to other characters, so that he can unambiguously represent patriotic and familial virtue.
This is not to say that this is a great or profound movie. The dialogue is, at best, banal. Some parts are
too long, others perfunctory. An Achilles who is not supremely articulate is hard to sell. To make him more
sympathetic the movie sentimentalizes his attachment to Briseis, and Brad Pitt uses his own movie-star
glamour to convey his longing for glory—Peter O’Toole similarly evokes his heroic roles.
Some critics have complained that people will think this is Homer. Maybe, and that would be too bad.
But the film is a profound tribute to Homer, not as a specific, difficult, and complex text, but as the canonical
beginning of Western literature. At least the heroic tradition is still worth deconstructing.
(continued from p.6)
screech owls, not of arms and the man.” Thus the outside
makes its way inside.
This final example underscores how two of the most
basic domains of the Roman city, the interior and
exterior, were not as separate as we have made them in
our thinking and our scholarship. Instead, the tension
inherent in this boundary invites us to reconsider the
experience of walking through Roman urban space. To
a Roman, a wall isn’t just a wall, but was connected to,
and could tell you something about, a person or a group
of people. In some cases, such as electoral graffiti, a
wall quite literally carried messages. But the
architecture itself made statements as well, seeking to
exercise symbolic control over streetgoers or, by giving Figure 9. At this fullery in Pompeii, exterior paintings of Aeneas and
decorative hints and thus granting viewers a type of Romulus were satirized by a graffito scratched in the plaster of the
architectural x-ray vision, to turn the building inside-out... entryway.
for those who might also be peering outside in.
About the author: Jeremy Hartnett received his Ph.D. from the Interdepartmental Program in Classical Art and
Archaeology in 2003 for a dissertation supervised by Susan Alcock and entitled “Streets, Street Architecture, and Social
Presentation in Roman Italy.” For this work, he was named one of eight winners of the Distinguished Dissertation
Award by the Rackham School of Graduate Studies. During the 2003-4 academic year, he held the position of
Michigan-Oberlin Partnership Postdoctoral Fellow and Visiting Assistant Professor of Classics at Oberlin College.
Next year, he will start a tenure-track job in the Classics Department at Wabash College.
8 Classical Studies Newsletter, Summer 2004 - Volume XI
“A survey of SAT
results revealed
that students who
took Latin scored,
By Prof. David Potter on average, 150
Even without Mel Gibson’s Passion (whose Latin is points above the
not of the Classical period anyway), Latin is enjoying a national verbal
resurgence these days, largely because people have
discovered very real benefits that have a direct impact
score...”
on their lives. One of the most obvious of these is as a
discipline that greatly enhances skill in handling the Romance languages (i.e. languages descended from
English language: Latin has a demonstrable impact on Latin); roughly 80% of the vocabulary in French and
students’ abilities in many other academic areas, and Spanish, and 60% of the vocabulary of the English
on SAT scores. According to the most recent survey language (including 90% of words of two or more
(1997) students who studied Latin improved significantly syllables) it is easy to see how the study of Latin can
in terms of their ability to solve math problems, have a positive impact in these areas. Furthermore,
vocabulary skills, and reading ability. A survey of sixth since Latin is not a spoken language, and the stress of
grade students in Indianapolis showed that those who instruction is on the close study of grammatical
studied Latin for 30 minutes every day for five months structures and problems, it is also easy to see how Latin
advanced nine months in math problem-solving and can have a very positive impact on math-problem solving
showed significant improvement in six other areas (eight and other analytical processes.
months in world knowledge, one year in reading, thirteen
In recent years there has been a significant increase
months in language, four months in spelling, five months
in the proportion of Middle School students taking Latin,
in science and seven months in social studies). A survey
and a dramatic increase in participation by High School
of fourth through sixth graders in Philadelphia who had
students in activities such as the National Latin Exam
received 15-20 minutes of daily Latin instruction showed
(roughly 20 percent between 1994 and 1997).
that their performance was one year higher on the
vocabulary subtest on the Iowa Tests. A study of students The immediate benefits that accrue from the study of
in Washington D.C. who had previously been excluded Latin are supplemented by long range benefits of even
from foreign language classes because of sub-standard greater value. Readers of Latin are able to encounter
reading skills showed that after they had studied Latin, fundamental works in the Western tradition in the original
their reading skills were five months ahead of those who and come to a greater understanding of the timeless ideas
had not studied a foreign language and four months about love, death, loyalty, pleasure, pain, duty and
ahead of those who studied French and Spanish. A defiance. Also, as the resurgence of classical themes in
survey of SAT results from 1988-1995 revealed that the popular media suggest, there is an ever greater
students who took Latin scored, on average, 150 points fascination with a period in the history of the ancient
above the national verbal score, 30 points ahead of world—with movies on Troy, Alexander the Great and
those who studied French or German, 70 points ahead Hannibal all in the works, we are invited, once again, to
of those who studied Spanish and 25 points ahead of think about people and times that offer a unique perspective
those who studied Hebrew. This differential is likely to on our times.
become even more pronounced as the PSAT’s and
SAT’s are going to a new format in which about one
third of the score comes from a section called “writing,” During the academic year of Fall 2003 -
with a heavy focus on basic grammar. Winter 2004, the Department of Classical
The impact of Latin on overall student performance Studies enrolled an amazing 495 students in
is significant, and in a school with a high percentage of its elementary Latin classes, an increase from
students for whom English is a second language at 386 students only five years ago.
home, it can have an especially strong impact. Students
who are drilled in Latin grammar and vocabulary gain a
vastly enhanced sense of the structures of English
grammar, and of English vocabulary. As there are some CLASSICSonline
750 million people in the world today who speak www.umich.edu/~classics/
Classical Studies Newsletter, Summer 2004 - Volume XI 9
The Kelsey Museum of Archaeology, directly across State
Street from the Department’s home in Angell Hall, has long been a
place where students of Classics have been given hands-on
experience with the Graeco-Roman artifacts brought back from
Michigan’s excavations around the Mediterranean and Middle East.
The Museum’s connection with the Department of Classical Studies
goes back to its very beginning when Francis W. Kelsey, then
Chairman of the Department, began the collections that form the
heart of the Kelsey’s holdings to this day. The Kelsey Museum
houses over 100,000 artifacts, including Egyptian, Near Eastern,
Greek, Roman, Coptic and Islamic materials ranging in date from
3000 BCE to 1400 CE. The majority of these come from Kelsey
excavations in Egypt and Iraq before WWII. Our materials from the
excavation of Karanis, a small Egyptian farming village of Graeco-
Roman date, are unmatched by any collection outside of Egypt
itself. The Museum continues to mount programs of excavation,
survey, collection research, and exhibits in which Department
faculty and students, as well as many from History of Art, Near
Eastern Studies, Anthropology and History, take an active part.
Over the past 30 years the programs of the Kelsey Museum
have grown dramatically. This has taken place in tandem with the
growth of the Graduate Program in Classical Art and Archaeology,
jointly sponsored by the Departments of History of Art and Classical
Studies, which is housed in the Kelsey. With the University’s support a first-class staff of faculty curators has
been gathered to work on, teach from and display the priceless artifacts in our collections. With this staff, these
collections and a burgeoning group of students eager to work with the Museum’s materials we have unparalleled
opportunities to mount exhibits that bring together in dynamic ways the research of the curators and the
enthusiasm of the students.
What has been holding back this talented group of people is lack of space, both for display and study. The
Kelsey currently has only 1,900 sq. ft of exhibit space, and less than one percent of the Museum’s collections are
on display. The building was originally designed in 1889 as
an assembly place for the Student Christian Association
and, although a charming example of the Richardsonian
Romanesque architecture, is sadly inadequate as a
museum, both in terms of space and climate control. The
space problems effect much more than the actual
displays. Eight academic curators, 12 fulltime museum
professionals and staff, 20+ graduate students, the
archives of 10 Museum sponsored excavations and
100,000+ artifacts are crammed into every nook and
cranny that can be made usable, from basement to
unheated attic.
(continued on p.13)
10 Classical Studies Newsletter, Summer 2004 - Volume XI
By Robert Stephan, Classical Studies Undergraduate
Remember in Raiders of the Lost Ark, when Indy help of Professor Sue Alcock and the Kelsey Museum
was running from the boulder after grabbing (for his registrars Robin Meador-Woodruff and Sebastian
museum, of course) the golden idol? Or, have you ever Encina, I began researching what was found alongside
seen one of the “In Search Of” programs on the History the texts. To everyone’s surprise, the original
Channel; perhaps the one about the archaeologist who excavation records revealed that not only were over one
unearthed what is thought to be Homer’s once-mythical hundred artifacts found with the archive, but that there
city of Troy? Well, after witnessing enough of these were actually sixteen papyri that were never translated!
scenarios in movies, on television, and in books, I Later that week, Professor Verhoogt and I delved into
decided that learning about history would not be the Papyrology Collection and found that the University
enough; I wanted to be on the front lines discovering of Michigan still had the ancient texts. As words came
things myself. to life for the first time in almost 2000 years, I knew I
For an intimidated freshman in a university with had discovered what could only be described as the
over 30,000 students, tracking down lost cities or the Holy Grail…of papyrus.
Ark of the Covenant seemed a little daunting, maybe As if this was not enough, there was still one
even bordering on unrealistic. surprise left: that I would get the
Thus, I resigned myself to the chance to share this find with the
classroom and learning about entire country. The publicity
the past (history classes), how began with a simple article in The
to read the past (classical Michigan Daily, yet quickly
languages), and even how to escalated from there. Next I was
discover the past (archaeology given the opportunity to share this
classes). Little did I know that with my hometown in The
less than three years into my Cincinnati Enquirer. Apparently,
studies, the University of someone in Washington, D.C.
Michigan’s unparalleled was reading the Enquirer that day,
resources and unbelievable and about a week later I received
faculty would pave the way for a Figure 1. Sample of artifacts discovered alongside a call to do an interview for
discovery that would make my the papyri National Public Radio. In the
dreams come true. midst of being overwhelmingly
In the fall of my junior year, I began researching an nervous and unbearably excited, I was allowed to tell
archive of papyri (a set of papyri coming from a single the story of this discovery from coast to coast.
context) under the guidance of Professor Arthur After tuning in to hear myself talk (which was really
Verhoogt. This group of texts, which was translated quite odd), I knew that some combination of luck, hard
and published by Michigan professors in the early work, and most of all the help of dedicated faculty and
1950s, was one of the most important sources on what staff from the Department of Classical Studies, the
life was like for Roman soldiers stationed in Egypt. Papyrology Collection, and the Kelsey Museum of
While the archive has already been extensively studied, Archaeology, had finally given me the chance to play
I was taking a new perspective on it by incorporating the lead role in a real life archaeological adventure.
associated artifacts into its interpretation. With the
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Classical Studies Newsletter, Summer 2004 - Volume XI 11
WHERE ARE YOU NOW?
Alumni news is on our website and we would like to hear from you! Please let us know
what you have been doing since you left the University as an undergraduate or graduate
student in our Department. Complete and return this form in the mail or visit our website and
complete the convenient online form! http://www.umich.edu/~classics/
STAY IN TOUCH!
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12 Classical Studies Newsletter, Summer 2004 - Volume XI
Return Address:
Place
__________________________________ Stamp
__________________________________ Here
__________________________________
MAIL TO:
THE DEPARTMENT OF CLASSICAL STUDIES
THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
2160 ANGELL HALL
435 S. STATE ST.
ANN ARBOR, MI 48109-1003
Classical Studies Newsletter, Summer 2004 - Volume XI 13
(continued from p.9)
It has been recognized for a long time that the current building does
not serve well as a museum. In 1930, while still unpacking the collections
in the newly assigned space, then Director J. G. Winter wrote University
President Alexander Ruthven with the plea “ We need permanent quarters
urgently and soon. I do hope something can be done soon to give us a
home”. As usual finances were the main problem. Winter wrote a second
letter to the president on the same day stating, “I have been turning over
in my mind every possible way in which we could possibly raise the
money for a new building”. And thus things stood for 75 years. Truly
Herculean efforts were made by all subsequent directors to provide better
space for the collections and the Museum building underwent a number of
renovations and improvements, but the lack of space remained an
intractable fact of life for the Kelsey staff and collections.
Now, thanks to an $8,000,000 gift from longtime friends Ed and Mary
Meader of Kalamazoo we are at long last able to expand the Museum.
Although we are just now at the beginning of our programming study, we
are confident that this gift will enable us to build an 8,000-10,000 sq. ft.
addition. We envision at least half of the footage will be used for
exhibits—effectively tripling our current public display space.
This gift puts us well on the way toward realizing our dream of state of the art display space for the unique
collections of the Kelsey Museum. It does not, however, provide funds for the increased staff that will be
needed to design and maintain the greatly enlarged exhibit functions and properly conserve the larger number
of objects to be put on display. We have just received a challenge grant from the National Endowment for the
Humanities that will match 4:1 funds we are able to raise to endow new conservation and exhibit design
positions. We are now embarking on a campaign to raise $2,000,000 over the next four years for these
positions.
University-based archaeological museums such as the Kelsey are much more than storehouses and display
cases of antiquity. If properly supported they can be vibrant centers of on-going research and teaching as well
as sites for dissemination of the results of scholarly research to the general public. The Kelsey Museum has a
proud history as just such a center in the 75 years since its founding. With these new developments it will be
able to do even more for future generations of students of the classical world.
Visit the Kelsey online at: http://www.lsa.umich.edu/kelsey/
2003-2004 Donations to the Department of Classical Studies
Susan Alcock Sharon Guyton Mr. and Mrs. George Platsis
Netta Berlin Martha L. Hammel David Potter
Patricia A. Berwald Meredith C. Hoppin Jacqueline DeCroo and
Sylvia G. Brown Cynthia and William King Robert Rabel
Beau Case Ludwig and Margret Koenen Donald L. Riddering
Catherine Caudell Mr. and Mrs. Aldis Lapins Betty W. Robinett
Rebecca E. Crown Gloria and Howard Lazar Milton and Ann Ross
William Dickerman Donald Mackay Ruth Scodel
Naomi Norman and T. Keith Dix Susan Dunbar Martin Margaret L. Thompson
George L. Farmakis David and Meredith Martinez Mr. and Mrs. Brooks Wheeler
Kaywin Feldman Mr. and Mrs. Ronald McCreight Gus Wilhelmy
William Finch Alvin B. Michaels Barbara Buckman Williams
The Foundation for Modern James and Alda Muyskens Daniel D. Wilson
Greek Studies Rick and Evangeline Newton Katherine McCreight Young
Bruce Frier Steven Ostrow and Ann Koloski-Ostrow John D. Ziegelman
Craighton E. Goeppele Maryline Parca
Marilyn Scott and Robert Grosse Martha J. Payne Thank you for
Anne H. Groton Gary Pence your support!
14 Classical Studies Newsletter, Summer 2004 - Volume XI
Faculty
Greek and Latin Literature *Lauren Talalay
Aegean prehistory, Gender, Neolithic figurines
Chair, Richard Janko
Homer, Oral poetry, Ancient literary criticism, Comedy, Greek religion, Greek and Roman History and Historiography
Linear B
Benjamin Acosta-Hughes *Beate D. Dignas
Hellenistic literature, Archaic Greek lyric, Augustan poetry, Greco- Greek religion and epigraphy, Hellenistic and Roman Asia Minor,
Egyptian Sanctuaries
*D. R. Shackleton Bailey Sara L. Forsdyke
Textual criticism, History and prosopography of the late Roman Social history and law, Greek political thought and ideology
Republic Bruce W. Frier
H.D. Cameron Roman law, Roman social and economic history, Architecture,
Greek drama, Linguistics, Greek orators, Plautus Numismatics
Anne Carson *Rachana Kamtekar
Ancient Greek literature, Poetry, Critical theory, Translation Ancient philosophy, History of ethics, Political philosophy
Beau David Case David S. Potter
Field Librarian, Bibliography and research methodology, Library Greek and Roman Asia Minor, Epigraphy, Roman public
science entertainment
Derek B. Collins *Raymond Van Dam
Archaic Greek poetry, History of the classical tradition, Religion, Magic Later Roman empire, Religion and society, the Greek East under
Benjamin W. Fortson IV Roman rule
Early Greek and Latin, Indo-European linguistics, Metrics, Roman
comedy Papyrology
K.A. Garbrah
Greek and Latin language, Comparative philology, Epigraphy, Early Traianos Gagos
Latin tragedy Papyrology, Cultural history of Graeco-Roman and late antique
Farouk Grewing Egypt
Roman poetry, Epigram, Ancient grammatical theory, Literary criticism, Dirk Obbink
Neo-Latin Literary papyrology, Lost books, Hellenistic philosophy, Poetae docti,
*David Halperin Literacy
Plato, Hellenistic poetry, theory of genres, history and theory of Arthur Verhoogt
sexuality Cultural history of Greek and Roman Egypt, Fayum villages,
Donka Markus Onomastics
Oral performance of literature in Rome, Latin pedagogy, Reading
theory
Modern Greek
James I. Porter
Philosophy, Literary criticism and aesthetics, History of the classical
Vassilios Lambropoulos
disciplines
The ancients and the moderns, Ethics and politics, Literature,
*Johanna H. Prins
Cultural studies
Nineteenth-century poetry, History and theory of lyric, Translation of
*Artemis Leontis
classics
Comparative and Modern Greek literature, Diaspora studies
Sara L. Rappe
Classical and Hellenistic philosophy, Neo-Platonism
Joseph D. Reed Associated Faculty
Augustan poetry, Hellenistic poetry, Adonis cult
Deborah Pennell Ross Elaine K. Gazda
Latin pedagogy, Latin linguistics, Latin literature Professor of Classical Art and Archaeology, Department of History
Ruth Scodel of Art
Homer, tragedy, Greek literary criticism, Ancient narrative Janet E. Richards
Gina Soter Assistant Professor of Egyptology, Department of Near Eastern
Greek and Roman theater, Religion, Women and gender, Pedagogy Studies
*J. B. White Margaret Cool Root
Greek literature, Law and rhetoric Professor of Classical and Near Eastern Art and Archaeology
Arlene W. Saxonhouse
Archaeology and Material Culture Professor of Political Science and Women’s Studies
Thelma K. Thomas
Associate Professor of History of Art
Susan E. Alcock
Terry G. Wilfong
Hellenistic and Roman East, Landscape and survey archaeology,
Associate Professor of Egyptology
Imperialism
John F. Cherry
*Adjunct Faculty
Aegean and Mediterranean prehistory, Field survey, Island
archaeology, Theory
Sharon C. Herbert
Greek archaeology, Vase painting, Hellenistic Near East
Lisa Nevett
CLASSICSonline
Archaeology and iconography of domestic space in the ancient Greek www.umich.edu/~classics/
world
Classical Studies Newsletter, Summer 2004 - Volume XI 15
The Context for Classics translation contest, first place The Department of
winner in the undergraduate category Classical Studies
CHAIR
Horace: Ode 4.7
ace Ode 4. Richard Janko
translation by Erin Morris ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF
Greg Yantz
Key Administrator
Earth goes like a pinwheel Michelle Biggs
snow flies off Elementary Latin Administrator
and green jumps onto the Sean Norton
fields and trees, Program Assistant for Modern
fat and thrashing rivers Greek and Classical Studies
suck in and ride low Susan Sanders
in their grooves, Graduate Program Administrator
undying bodies of grace Joanna Semanske
and nymphs now bend Great Books Program
themselves to dancing Administrator
sweating Debra Walls
Secretary to the Chair
pocking the warm ground
with their gold heels. Jacqueline Williams
Undergraduate Program
Administrator
What immortality?
From the sea hot winds NEWSLETTER EDITOR
take the teeth right out of winter’s Jacqueline Williams
mouth
summer grinds spring petals CONTACT INFORMATION
to reeking smears, Department of Classical Studies
Fall spills her green apples everywhere 2160 Angell Hall
with a shock and winter 435 S. State St.
comes over her like wolves. Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1003
Phone: (734) 764-0360
Fax: (734) 763-4959
The moon can lose and repair itself,
EMAIL: classics@umich.edu
but I fall hard into the ground
by heroes’ bones, WEBSITE
I am dust and shadow. http://www.umich.edu/~classics/
Who cares if God sits there with
strings for humans, Regents of the University
David A. Brandon, Ann Arbor
braiding and cutting some in inches, Laurence B. Deitch, Bingham Farms
in miles – Olivia P. Maynard, Goodrich
me and my precious things disintegrate, Rebecca McGowan, Ann Arbor
Andrea Fischer Newman, Ann Arbor
heirs are left to their own bare hands. Andrew C. Richner, Detroit
S. Martin Taylor, Grosse Pointe Farms
Katherine E. White, Ann Arbor
Torquatus, you think your race, your Mary Sue Coleman, President, ex officio
tongue, your godliness will be suture
for your heap at Minos’s feet?
The belly of earth is ink black
and tight as a fist.
God does not bring back
his sheep or heroes.
The University of Michigan
NON-PROFIT
THE DEPARTMENT of ORGANIZATION
CLASSICAL STUDIES US POSTAGE
2160 Angell Hall PAID
435 S. State St. ANN ARBOR, MI
Ann Arbor, MI PERMIT #144
48109-1003
Address Service Requested
Upcoming Lectures and Events Sunday, October 3, 2004
3rd Annual Platsis Symposium
Friday, September 17, 2004 On the Greek Legacy , including musical concert
John H. D’Arms Symposium 3:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m., Michigan League
Making a Meal out of a Victory?
The Culinary Delights of a Roman Triumph October 20-29, 2004
4:00 p.m., Rackham Building Jerome Lectures
John Pinto
Thursday, September 30, 2004 Architects and Antiquity in Eighteenth-Century Rome
Else Lecture
Margalit Finkelberg For more information CLASSICS online
Aristotle and Episodic Tragedy on these and other
lectures, visit us at:
www.umich.edu/~classics/
4:00 p.m., Michigan League
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