This paper seeks to summarise and critique aspects of our understanding of the famous monumental building inscriptions from the Antonine Wall, traditionally known as the distance slabs. It addresses the following themes: uniqueness; positioning; audience and message; disposal; units of measurement; records of distance; allocation of labour; order of construction; advance preparation; and location of the eastern terminus. It draws attention to some misconceptions and misinterpretations, and offers some new insights.

The Ketton Mosaic depicts the duel between Achilles and Hector, the dragging of Hector’s body and its ransom. Despite initial associations with the Iliad in the press, this article demonstrates that the Ketton mosaic does not illustrate scenes from Homer but an alternative variant of the narrative which originated with Aeschylus and remained popular in Late Antiquity. The composition also reveals its debt to a pattern repertoire shared by artists working in media such as painted pottery, coin dies and silverware, which had been circulating in the ancient Mediterranean for many centuries. Through its textual and visual allusions, the Ketton mosaic makes a strong case for the engagement of fourth-century Roman Britain with the cultural currency of the wider empire.

Teaching introductory courses on the ancient world is a study in reviewing a vast field of material without compromising on nuance. It is a tightrope walk, especially when beginning a teaching career. Comedy and economics are topics often parsed in more advanced courses to engage the primary source materials and modern debates with appropriate depth of analysis. However, their place in the introductory classroom is an essential aspect of understanding the ancient Greek world fully. Especially as students often struggle to find ancient comedy amusing upon first interaction, teaching these topics is a process of trial and error for the professor, who is often constrained by their own exposure to these topics. This article shares a classroom activity on comedy and economic institutions designed for the introductory class, engaging students by activating prior knowledge and practicing close reading of a selection from an ancient text.

This article argues that the Greek perception of doves underwent a significant evolution from Homeric times, when they were not yet considered sacred birds. The comparison of Homeric goddesses to doves does not necessarily imply that these birds held a sacred status. Only from the fifth century b.c.e. onwards do Greek authors explicitly associate doves with three deities: Aphrodite, Apollo and Zeus. The article offers a critical analysis and interpretation of the systematic frameworks addressed only briefly in previous scholarship and argues that there was a shift in perspective from Homeric times down to the Roman era.

Despite the absence in the Aristotelian corpus of an established technical vocabulary as part of an explicit doctrine of cases, the use there of πτῶσις suggests that Aristotle was aware of the declension of nouns. This much is suggested by his discussion of the distinction between names (ὀνόματα) and cases of names (πτώσεις ὀνομάτων) at On Interpretation 16a32–b1, where the nominative is not a case but a name from which cases (that is, the ‘oblique’ cases) fall. However, at Prior Analytics 48b35–49a5, Aristotle lists the nominative form of a noun as an example of a word taken according to its case. This inconsistency raises a question about whether Aristotle has an internally consistent view of names and the nominative across the corpus. In particular, it is unclear whether the nominative form of a noun ultimately counts as a case for Aristotle. This article examines occurrences of πτῶσις in other Aristotelian texts, such as the Poetics, the Categories and the Topics, to argue that Aristotle uses this term in both a broad and a narrow sense. In its broad sense, any morphological change of any word, including a noun in the nominative, counts as a πτῶσις. In its narrow sense, only the oblique cases count as πτώσεις and not the nominative. The distinction comes down to a difference in the sphere of explanation. This reading renders Aristotle’s view of grammatical case consistent and makes sense of the claims about cases attributed to him by the later ancient commentators.

Two barrel cylinders bearing a royal inscription belonging to King Nebuchadnezzar II (604-562 BC) were found by chance on the surface of Tell Al-Uhaimir, which includes the remains of the ziggurat of the ancient city of Kish. Both cylinders bear the same text, which relates to the restoration work of the ziggurat é.u6.nir.ki.tuš.maḫ, whose name means “House, temple-tower, exalted abode” and is dedicated to the god Zababa and the goddess Ishtar. This is the first foundation text documenting the construction works of King Nebuchadnezzar II to restore the ziggurat of the god Zababa in Kish.