"Herculaneum Uncovered"

Be sure to check out "Herculaneum Uncovered" on PBS's Secrets of the Dead. You can watch it this Tuesday night or online here.

Baucis and Philemon's "Epulae"

Students in Latin III honors were treated to a "feast" (Lat. epulae) today, corresponding with the meal that Baucis and Philemon prepare for the gods Jupiter and Mercury in Ovid's Metamorphoses VIII: 664-678.

Epulae (Feast):
bicolor sincerae baca Minervae (two-colored olive of pure Minerva)
corna autumnalia (wild autumn cherries)
intiba (endive)
lactis massa coacti (lump of cheese)
nux (nuts)
mixta est rugosis carica palmis (figs mixed with wrinkled dates)
pruna (plums)
redolentia mala (fragrant apples)
candidus favus (shining honeycomb)

Leaning Tower of Pisa... leaning a little less!

After a two-year restoration both cleaned and stabilized this 12th century monument, visitors are once again able to tour the building and go up into the tower. The two photos show the slightly-improved angle of tilt! Read the article here: http://photoblog.msnbc.msn.com/

New Picasso paintings found

A retired French electrician recently unveiled his collection of 271 previously-unknown works by Pablo Picasso. The Frenchman, who installed burglar alarms for the painter, claims that Picasso gave him the paintings as a gift, and he has been storing them in his garage. Read the full article and see some of the paintings here.

Italy's monuments falling down from neglect

Many of the ancient Roman sites, even some as rich in history and mythology as the Palatine Hill, are suffering from neglect and crumbling under the weight of the Italian bureaucracy. Read the appalling article here: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40093071/ns/travel-destination_travel/

Languages are Indispensable

Here's an interesting article in the Chronicle of Higher Education. We're fighting the good fight!

Bigger than the eruption of Mount Vesuvius?

The Phlegraean Fields, or "burning fields" of southern Italy near Naples are, according to mythology, the home of Hephaestus and the site of the entrance to the Underworld. But this area is also the site of a huge subterranean caldera which is considered one of the world's most dangerous volcanic sites. And it's been pretty active lately, with the surrounding terrain rising and falling as much as 11 feet over the past ten years. Scientists fear that an eruption of this "supervolcano" could affect the entire planet, causing millions of deaths, enormous climate changes, and perhaps even a mini-ice age. Giuseppe De Natale, head of research at the National Observatory for Geophysics and Volcanology, wants to probe the underground caldera to determine how imminent is the risk of eruption. But other scientists fear that such a probe could actually trigger such an eruption. The mayor of Naples has blocked the research temporarily, and a meeting in Rome will discuss whether to move ahead with the probe or not. Read more here: http://www.newsweek.com/2010/10/20/should-scientists-probe-the-massive-volcano-under-naples.html