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Continue reading →: The Celtic Lunar Horse
Remarkably little is known about the Celts of Ancient Britain. This is largely due to the fact that they had an oral tradition for passing on information regarding their lifestyle and beliefs, rather than the written word. Due to this absence of a written tradition much of our understanding comes…
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Continue reading →: Those Amazing Celts and their Crazy Coins! Part 2: Tails
Last time we discussed that ‘The Celts’ were not a homogeneous people but rather a collection of different tribes and rulers and that they had an oral tradition rather than a written one. We also discussed that many of these Celtic tribes produced their own coins and that they followed…
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Continue reading →: Those Amazing Celts and their Crazy Coins! Part 1: Heads
Who were ‘The Celts’? In Britain, many would guess that they were a British and/or Irish collection of Iron Age people with a rather primitive lifestyle and a strange pagan religion. However, ‘The Celts’ were actually a diverse collection of tribes who originated in central Europe around 1200 BCE and…
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Continue reading →: A Very Modern Medusa
The ancient Greek myth of Medusa is one which has very successfully persisted into modern popular culture: most people are aware of the version of the myth where Medusa is a hideous monster with a head full of snakes, who can turn men into stone. More recently, Medusa has become…
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Continue reading →: Make Haste Slowly
In this post, I will discuss a common Roman expression which was a particular favourite of the emperor Augustus (63 BCE- 14 CE), and how this is relevant in the modern world. The Latin phrase is ‘festina lente’ which can be translated as ‘make haste slowly’. Like many Roman ideals,…
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Continue reading →: Arethusa: a history in ten coins
In this post I will be discussing the beautiful Arethusa coins of Syracuse in Sicily. This will cover a period of around two hundred years, from their inception, through their zenith and finally their fall from favour. These coins were not just currency, but powerful tools of propaganda in promoting…
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Continue reading →: Dolphins of the Ancient World
Introduction Dolphins are beautiful and intelligent creatures much admired in the modern world. They were also revered by ancient societies, with the gods Poseidon, Apollo and Aphrodite in particular having connections with them. This has resulted in these wonderful creatures being associated with a rich body of mythology, which is…
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Continue reading →: BSA Greek Numismatics Course 2025
In March 2025, I had the privilege of studying at the 2 week Greek Numismatics course at the British School at Athens. Here’s some general information about the course, as well as some personal reflections. The course runs in March every 2 years- the next scheduled course will therefore be…
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Continue reading →: The Madness of Hercules
The Coin The figure depicted on the reverse of this ancient coin from Thasos shows a naked muscular figure with a lionskin slung over his left shoulder and carrying a studded club in his right hand. This would have been instantly recognisable to anyone in the ancient world as Hercules…
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Continue reading →: Dionysus: the gender fluid god
Introduction The beautiful ancient coin in Figure 1 is from the Greek island of Thasos. You would be forgiven if you wondered whether the figure depicted, with an elaborate headdress and flowing locks, was a male or a female. This is the Greek god Dionysus (or Dionysos). The Roman equivalent…
Hello,
I’m Catherine
Welcome to my Classics blog.
I graduated with an MSc in Classics and Ancient History from The University of Glasgow in 2023. Since then I have been publishing posts on the ancient world.
My main interests include myth, reception studies and numismatics. I also have a medical degree which brings a different perspective to topics around the ancient world.
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