According to Merriam-Webster:

schol·ar, pronunciation: \’skä-l?r\ is:

1: a person who attends a school or studies under a teacher: pupil.
2 a: a person who has done advanced study in a special field
b: a learned person.
3: a holder of a scholarship.

By this definition, the list of scholars throughout recorded history is extensive. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the oldest continuously operating degree granting institution in the world is the University of Al-Qarawiyyin (Arabic: ????? ?????????) founded in AD 859 at Fes, Morocco.

From that time on, there has been a distinction between institution affiliated scholars and independent scholars. In some fields, the distinction is subtle and the degree of cooperation between institutional scholars and independent scholars is such that one could hardly distinguish the two. That was indeed the case during the formative years of the discipline we call archaeology. As institutional archaeology grew, the resource did not. Consequently, intense competition developed within and between these institutions for the access necessary to legitimize and sustain departments and the associated hierarchy of administrators, teachers and students.

Over time, cooperation with non-affiliated scholars became problematic as it spread the limited resource even further. Out of this, came a pervasive attitude of protectionism that to the rest of the world was perceived as academic elitism. During the latter half of the 20th Century, while cooperation between institutional scholars and independent scholars flourished in most other disciplines, a gulf emerged between these two groups of scholars in the area of cultural property. The codification of institutional views in the UNESCO convention of 1970 marked a turning point in the study of ancient cultures. (more…)

What eventually became the Roman Empire began as settlements around the Palatine Hill along the river Tiber in Central Italy. The river was navigable up to that place. The site also had a ford where the Tiber could be crossed. The Palatine Hill and hills surrounding it presented easily defensible positions in the wide fertile plain surrounding them. All these features contributed to the success of the city.

The traditional account of Roman history, which has come down to us through Livy, Plutarch, Dionysius of Halicarnassus and others, is that in Rome’s first centuries, it was ruled by a succession of seven kings. Archaeological evidence does, however, support that a settlement was founded in Rome around the middle of the 8th century BC.

According to legend, the foundation of Rome took place 438 years after the capture of Troy (1182 BC), according to Velleius Paterculus (VIII, 5). It took place shortly before an eclipse of the sun; some have identified this eclipse as one observed at Rome on June 25, 745 BC.

The traditional date for the founding of Rome, based on a mythological account, is April 21, 753 BC, and the city and surrounding region of Latium has continued to be inhabited with little interruption since around that time. (more…)

By KAREN W. ARENSON for the NY Times

When Stanley J. Seeger gave Princeton $2 million for Hellenic studies nearly three decades ago, the gift’s income paid for two courses in modern Greek and trips to Greece for five.

But the Seeger money, which must be spent only on matters Greek, is now worth $33 million, multiplying through aggressive investing like the rest of Princeton’s endowment. So the university offers Greek, Greek and more Greek — 13 courses this semester, including “The Image of Greece in European Cinema” and “Problems in Greek History: Greek Democracy,” as well as trips to Greece and nearby areas for more than 90 students and faculty members last year. The history department recently hired its second Byzantine specialist. And the fund paid half the cost of a collection of 800 rare coins from medieval Greece.

“Institutions do get shaped by the interests of donors,” said Robert K. Durkee, vice president and secretary of Princeton.

Read Full NY Times Article

MA-SHOPS (ma-shops.com) recently expanded their range of offerings. Last week the well-known specialist in the the fields of ancient, medieval and British numismatics, the “Classical Numismatic Group, Inc.” (CNG) joined the shop platform.

In the new “CNG MA-SHOP” coin collectors of antique coins and medals get their money worth. In the selection of about 650 different offerings, lots of true treasures are waiting for the friends of numismatics. Among the top offers which you can now find at MA-SHOPS is for example an extremely rare Greek AR Stater from the ancient Boeotia dated around 440 to 425 BC. Another very rare and outstanding piece is the Roman Imperial Solidus (AD 455-456) of the Western Roman Emperor Avitus. Besides the ancient Greek and Roman rarities CNG offers many interesting items from the early Middle Ages and the Migration Period. Particularly remarkeble is a very valuable follis showing the countenance of Ostrogoths King Theodahad (about 534 to 536 AD). This extremely rare coin is one of only four known (the second is in Berlin, and the third and fourth are in St. Petersburg), and the only one currently in private hands.

In addition to CNG the Swedish Coin-Dealer Wallin Mynt, Philippe Saive from France, the Darmstaedter Münzhandlung e.K. and the dealer Dirk Loebbers also joined MA-SHOPS. (more…)

A “PRICELESS” coin collection and other precious artifacts in the trust of Sefton Council are feared to have been stolen from the public.

Council bosses admit they have no idea what has become of the Dethick-Brown collection of rare Roman coins, which was housed at the Botanic Gardens Museum, and have reported the loss to the police. A host of other items including rare Victorian and early American coins, Egyptian antiquities, oil paintings and birds’ eggs are said to be missing or damaged.

Tory candidate for Meols ward in the May elections, Mike Swift, has accused public officials of being “asleep at the wheel”. At the Southport Area Committee last Wednesday he asked for reassurance that efforts would be made to find the missing items.

Mr Swift was told about the missing artifacts by coin expert Alan Dawson, secretary of Ormskirk and West Lancs Numismatic Society, who reported the apparent loss of the Dethick-Brown collection to the council in November.

His reply from head of leisure services, John Taylor, said: “Despite a thorough search of the museum and the art gallery, the strong rooms at Bootle and Southport Town Halls and enquires made at other museums likely to have been interested in borrowing it at the time, the collection has not been found. Read full Champion Newspapers Article