The Artemidorus Papyrus Conference

St. John's College, Oxford University, June 13th, 2008.

The one-day conference at St John's College, Oxford, aims to bring specialists on all aspects of the papyrus together. We are especially glad that colleagues from Germany, Italy, Switzerland, the UK and the USA have agreed to participate: While Prof Dr Luciano Canfora (Bari/Italy) has had to cancel due to other commitments, we shall hear Prof Dr Margarethe Billerbeck (Fribourg/CH), Prof Dr Bärbel Kramer (Trier/Germany), Dr Dirk Obbink (Oxford/UK), Prof Dr Peter Parsons (Oxford/UK), Nicholas Purcell FBA (Oxford UK), Prof Dr Richard Talbert (UNC Chapel Hill/USA) and Prof Dr Nigel Wilson (Oxford/UK).

The aim of the conference is to study the artefact, and its text, map, and images, as "gobbets" first (in a well-established Oxford tradition), thus contributing to a deeper understanding of what the papyrus presents, before discussing probabilities and authenticities.

Official website: www.artemidorus.de

The Colossal Statue of the Emperor Hadrian Discovered

The statute of the father of Roman fortifications (ref.: Hadrian's Wall in northern Britain ([rom.] Valul lui Adrian)), emperor Hadrian (ref.: he ruled between A.D. 117-138), has been discovered last month in southern Turkey, at the site of the ancient town of Sagalassos. The colossal statue would have stood 4-5 meters in height, as estimated by the site archaeologists.

More information can be found on the website posted by the archaeological field team: http://www.sagalassos.be/