Category Archives: Capitoline Museum

Callimachus on the Walls

At the Capitoline Museum in Rome, there are a series of rooms dedicated to finds from the various garden areas uncovered in the area of the Esquiline hill in the late nineteenth century. Tucked away in a corner of one … Continue reading

Posted in Archaeological context, Capitoline Museum, Graffiti, Palaeography | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments

Tiny Inscriptions: The Capitoline Tabula Iliaca

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about miniaturization in the ancient Roman world, especially as it applies to books. For instance, according to Pliny the Elder, “Cicero records that a parchment copy of Homer’s poem The Iliad was enclosed in a nutshell” … Continue reading

Posted in Capitoline Museum, Cologne Mani Codex, Inscriptions | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Capitoline Sappho

In the wake of the controversy over the “Newest Sappho” papyrus in the last few years , I’ve read more about the Greek poetess Sappho than I ever thought I would. In doing so, I realized that I have a … Continue reading

Posted in Capitoline Museum, Fakes and Forgeries, Inscriptions, P.Sapph. Obbink, Sculpture | 4 Comments

A Marble Relief of a Priest of Cybele

It’s always a pleasant surprise to visit a familiar museum and find a “new” piece. It happened to me the other day at the Capitoline Museum. Earlier this year, there was an exhibition on Johann Joachim Winckelmann (actually, it was mainly … Continue reading

Posted in Capitoline Museum, Find Stories, Sculpture | 4 Comments