Anthropological research using ChatGPT: Charity in the ancient world (Warning: Long Post) by Mary Harrsch Silenus with the baby Dionysus - Roman marble copy from Greek original at the Vatican Museum. One of the readers of my article, “Ancient Eugenics: Much more than selective infanticide”, asked me if there was a major difference between Jews and Christians on the one hand and the Greco-Roman (pagan) world on the other in their views on infanticide. That same day news of a new version (4.0) of ChatGPT was released. So, I decided to give the new research tool a try by asking ..read more

Part 2 of the 5th 30 minute segment of the Virtual Pompeii Walk recorded by ProWalk Tours. In this segment we see the entrance, at least, to the House of Obellius Firmus, a domus almost as large as the House of the Faun, WWII bomb damage, the remains of a street altar, another relief of Priapus (viewer discretion advised), marine mosaics of the Domus of M Caesi Blandi, and explore the House of the Wounded Bear, another domus featuring a mosaic fountain, beautiful mosaic floors, and hunt-themed murals. All of these images are screen captures from the Pompeii Walking Tour 2020 video courtesy of ..read more

In this segment you will see the spectacular House of the Golden Cupids that is thought to have been owned by a relative of Nero's wife Poppaea. I especially enjoyed seeing rooms painted in the Third Style with larger panel murals. I found the water towers designed to reduce the water pressure from the aqueduct really interesting too. Then you get an opportunity to explore the Central Baths that were part of a renovation project and were not yet completed at the time of the eruption. All of these images are screen captures from the Pompeii Walking Tour 2020 video courtesy of the POMPEII ARCHA ..read more

This segment of the Pompeii Virtual Walk video includes the House of the Faun, House of the Vetti (note - explicit frescoes - viewer discretion advised), the House of the Prince of Naples, the Castellum Aquae, and Samnite fortification wall and tower near the necropolis of the Vesuvio Gate. I was particularly thrilled to explore the House of the Vetti as it was closed when I was in Pompeii and it is one of those dwellings where the owners went rather "over the top" in adorning almost every inch of wall space with frescoes even though many scholars think the Vettii were freedman and not aristoc ..read more

This segment of the Pompeii Virtual Walk video includes the House of the Dioscuri, the House of Adonis Wounded, the House of Meleager, the House of Apollo, one of the fortification towers, the House of the Small Fountain, the House of the Large Fountain, the House of the Anchor, and the Arch of Caligula. As stated before, I have used Topaz Sharpen AI to remove the slight motion blur in screen captures as well as Adobe Camera Raw to adjust clarity, texture, highlights, shadows, and occasionally haze and white balance. I increase dynamic contrast and add a subtle vignette with On1 Photo Raw Effe ..read more

The 3rd 30 minutes of the 5 hour walking tour of Pompeii includes the Forum Baths (men's section - the women's section is still being restored), thermopolia, and bakeries supplying the majority of inhabitants with their daily sustenance since usually only the wealthier homes included kitchens. You will also see the Herculaneum Gate, the Herculaneum Gate necropolis, the Villa of Diomede, and the House of Sallust. The House of Sallust, originally built during the Samnite period in the 4th century BCE, was eventually expanded and converted to a hotel in the 2nd century BCE. It was originally cal ..read more

The second 30 minutes of the Pompeii Virtual Walk. This segment contains a visit to the Lupanar, the only purpose built of the 30 brothels in Pompeii. (The others were ancillary to taverns and inns.) Its frescoes contain mature content so viewer discretion is advised. You will also see storage areas in the Forum Granary where the vast majority of archaeological finds are kept. If you are planning a physical visit to Pompeii, I just wanted to advise you that the video was shot with a zoom lens through the bars of the gates securing these chambers. You will not be able to get as close to the obj ..read more

 The first 30 minutes of a 5 hour Pompeii walk video that I enjoyed immensely. Although I wasn't controlling the video camera, I was able to grab some screen shots that with a little editing with Topaz Sharpen AI, On1 Effects, and Photoshop's sky replacement feature (In summer Naples skies are usually empty and that makes for boring images!) I felt like I was revisiting the site and didn't even have to suffer any jet lag! Enhanced screen captures: House of the Mariner Tablinum screen capture from Pompeii Walk video courtesy of POMPEII ARCHAEOLOGICAL PARK Mosaic fragment ..read more

I was reading Classical Wisdom's newsletter in preparation for this weekend's virtual symposium and found their article "Hephaestus:The Humane God" particularly interesting. Although most of us think of Hephaestus as the divine metalworker that forged magical armor and weapons like the shield of Achilles, Sean Kelly pointed out that he was also the only god in the Greek pantheon (and Roman under the name Vulcan) who suffered from a physical impairment.  Hephaestus attempted to intervene in a quarrel between  Zeus and Hera, and an enraged Zeus  cast him from Mount Olympus, injuri ..read more

Every time I read something about the Getae, I envision the skull wearing savage warriors depicted in the opening battle scenes of the Starz series "Spartacus." But according to Herodotus, the Getae were "the noblest as well as the most just of all the Thracian tribes."  When Lysimachus tried to subdue the Getae he was defeated by them. The Getae king, Dromichaetes, took him prisoner but he treated him well and convinced Lysimachus there is more to gain as an ally than as an enemy of the Getae and released him. According to Diodorus, Dromichaetes entertained Lysimachus at his palace at He ..read more