I was surprised Saturday to learn via the web that Agora was showing in a small art-house cinema near my home. I was surprised because it has had such an underpublicized release as to go completely unnoticed in the USA unless you are looking for it. That aside let me assure you that if you have an interest in Roman history, philosophy, or the struggles of religious factions in early Christianity you will almost certainly enjoy this film. That is, if you can approach it without a tendentious viewpoint. It has received significant criticism for perceived defamation of Christianity (more specifically of the Catholic Church), and the Religious Anti-Defamation Observatory denounced the film; but the distribution company had insisted before its release on screening it at the Vatican, which offered no objections and actually assisted with some of the depictions. There is one scene in which the Bishop of Alexandria, Cyril, reads from the Bible about the proper place of women, and if you are ...
Amphorae were pottery vessels created to hold and transport goods in the Greek and Roman world; some were even highly decorative and given as prizes, or used to hold the ashes of the dead. Join me as I delve into the vessels of history...