Doctor Faustus

I enjoyed going to the theatre last week to see Faustus. The production was (as far as I could work out) a bit of blend of Goethe's version (which I studied at uni) with Marlowe's version (with which I was completely unfamiliar), and a few other things thrown in for good measure.

Anyway, not knowing the Marlowe version I was pleasantly surprised when it started thusly:

Not marching in the fields of Thrasymene,
Where Mars did mate the warlike Carthagens;
Nor sporting in the dalliance of love,
In courts of kings where state is overturn'd;
Nor in the pomp of proud audacious deeds,
Intends our Muse to vaunt her heavenly verse:
Only this, gentles,--we must now perform
The form of Faustus' fortunes, good or bad:

Thrasymene refers to the Battle of Trasimene where Hannibal and the Carthaginians (Carthagens) destroyed the Roman army in one of the opening encounters of the Second Punic War.

mea columba

Jemima is three months old today (here are some recent pictures), so I thought I'd briefly blog about her name. It's a Hebrew name, and is commonly said to mean 'dove' (eg here and here and here). It's found only once (I think) in the Old Testament, at the end of the book of Job.

Birthplaces of Roman Authors

Strangely, most of the Latin authors we read today were not actually born in the city of Rome, but moved there from the provinces. This is true of Virgil, Cicero, Livy, Catullus, Ovid, Horace and many more.

This map shows the birthplaces of some of the most famous Roman writers:



View Birthplaces of Roman Authors in a larger map

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