I'm really loving these Receptions essays - so much fun to see my colleagues and friends thinking in such interesting ways about the ancient world today!

Rhea Classical Reviews@rheaclassical.bsky.social · 7d ago

New Rhea Receptions essay for a hot Thursday morning! Dr. Jeremy Swist (@metalclassicist.bsky.social) explores modern Greek identity, ancient Greece, and Homer in heavy metal, with a focus on the band Triumpher.

This truly was one of the best reviews of Nolan's film that I've read (and I've read a bunch of them). Enjoy the read, friends 👇

Rhea Classical Reviews@rheaclassical.bsky.social · 2w ago

Rhea Receptions essay up, reviewing Nolan's "The Odyssey"! This thoughtful and insightful review considers the film as a product of our current times and places it within the historical lineup of other adaptations of the Odyssey over the past century.

Rhea Receptions essay up, reviewing Nolan's "The Odyssey"! This thoughtful and insightful review considers the film as a product of our current times and places it within the historical lineup of other adaptations of the Odyssey over the past century.

Voyages in Time: The Odyssey (dir. Christopher Nolan, 2006)

Colin Whiting, Dumbarton Oaks, whitingc01@doaks.org Note: Spoilers ahead Let’s get the flotsam and jetsam of a film review out of the way first. Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey is, as one…

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New Rhea Receptions essay to brighten your Thursday! @amyvandervelde.bsky.social, Dalton Greene, and Alexander Maltby reflect upon @rickriordan.bsky.social's gift to all Classicists - Percy Jackson and "The Lightning Thief"! Check it out 👇

Percy Jackson stole our hearts, not Zeus’ master bolt: A discussion of Percy Jackson’s first adventure in “The Lightning Thief”

Rick Riordan, Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief (Disney Hyperion, 2005). 978-0-7868-3865-3. Chris Columbus, dir. Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief. 2010; Fox…

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I am SO SO proud to be part of the Rhea team. Rhea Receptions was dreamed up in a board meeting a little over a year ago, and now here we are with our inaugural essay! Receptions explores and/or reviews the ancient world more broadly, intersects with popular culture, and aims at a wider audience.

Rhea Classical Reviews@rheaclassical.bsky.social · 4w ago

Exciting things happening here!!! Our inaugural essay for Rhea Receptions is up, discussing how to engage students with ancient myth via 'book club' by Dr. Stephanie Kimmey! Receptions is a limited summer run of essays exploring the ancient world today and written for a general audience. Read on👇

We will be back in your mailboxes for the inaugural installment of Rhea Receptions in a month, but in the meantime check out this article thinking through paying (article) reviewers as academic labor! It's the entire model of which Rhea runs 😎

Will Paying Reviewers Ease the Peer Review Crisis?

The few journals that have experimented with offering reviewers money—one as little as $100 per piece—are reporting faster publishing times and greater quality of work.

insidehighered.com

Are we mostly at summer break yet? Relax into the fun books you've been meaning to read all year but never quite had time for. Start with this one 👇 Martha Shillaker reviews "J.R.R. Tolkien’s Utopianism and the Classics" by Hamish Williams (@bloomsburyacademic.bsky.social 2023)

J.R.R. Tolkien’s Utopianism and the Classics

Hamish Williams, J.R.R. Tolkien’s Utopianism and the Classics, Classical Receptions in Twentieth-Century Writing (London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2023). ISBN 9781350241459. Reviewer by Martha Shillake…

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Take a break from the grading frenzy and read our newest review! @thedancinggrad.bsky.social reviews "Rival Praises: Ovid and the Metamorphosis of the Hymnic Tradition" by Cecilia Campbell (@uwiscpress.bsky.social 2024).

Rival Praises: Ovid and the Metamorphosis of the Hymnic Tradition

Celia M. Campbell, Rival Praises: Ovid and the Metamorphosis of the Hymnic Tradition (Madison, WI: The University of Wisconsin Press, 2024). 9780299348748. Reviewed by Daniel Libatique, Fairfield U…

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New review for this springtime Thursday! Christine Downton reviews "Athenian Power in the Fifth Century BC" by Leah Lazar (@oxfordunipress.bsky.social 2024).

Athenian Power in the Fifth Century BC

Leah Lazar, Athenian Power in the Fifth Century BC (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2024). 9780198896265. Reviewed by Christine Downton, University of Leicester, cad38@leicester.ac.uk. The overall…

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New review for your Thursday reading pleasure! Ulla Rajala reviews "Adoption, Adaption, and Innovation in Pre-Roman Italy: Paradigms for Cultural Change" Jeremy Armstrong and Aaron Rhodes-Schroder, eds. (Brepols 2023).

New review for March madness, spring break, and everything in between! Evan Schultheis reviews "Roman Imperial Artillery: Outranging the Enemies of the Empire" by Alan Wilkins (3rd ed, Archaeopress 2024)

Alan Wilkins, Roman Imperial Artillery: Outranging the Enemies of the Empire, 3rd ed. (Oxford: Archaeopress, 2024). 9781803277837.

Reviewed by Evan Schultheis, independent scholar, flavivsaetivs@gmail.com. Alan Wilkins’s Roman Imperial Artillery is written as a standard reference text for specialists and non-specialists alike,…

rheaclassicalreviews.com

Last review of February and with a bonus author dialogue!! Leslie Ivings reviews "Christ the Emperor: Christian Theology and the Roman Emperor in the Fourth Century AC" by Nathan Smolin (@oxfordunipress.bsky.social 2024)

Christ the Emperor: Christian Theology and the Roman Emperor in the Fourth Century AD

Nathan Israel Smolin, Christ the Emperor: Christian Theology and the Roman Emperor in the Fourth Century AD, Oxford Studies in Late Antiquity (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2024). 9780197689547.…

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Guys, please read the CFP and come and write for Rhea Receptions this summer! This is an experimental series we're launching that considers the ancient world in pop culture, whether that's video games, museum exhibits, movies, podcasts, and more! Come explore the ancient world today with Receptions!

Rhea Classical Reviews@rheaclassical.bsky.social · 6mo ago

Last call for Rhea Receptions this summer! Receptions is a new thematic series of reviews, essays, and engagements that bring the ancient world to a broader audience by examining public-facing, non-specialist depictions of the ancient Mediterranean in modern media. Come write and explore with Rhea!

New review before Valentine's Day! A. Everett Beek shows some love for "Il Mundus Muliebris a Pompei: Specchi e oggetti da toletta in contesti domestici" by Ria Berg (L’Erma di Bretschneider 2023)

Il Mundus Muliebris a Pompei

Ria Berg, Il Mundus Muliebris a Pompei: Specchi e oggetti da toletta in contesti domestici (Rome: L’Erma di Bretschneider, 2023). 9788891327406. Reviewed by A. Everett Beek, Case Western Reserve Un…

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If you believe in Rhea's mission to bring equity to the book review model, please consider donating to support our new policy of compensating our reviewers. Last two days to have your gift matched by an anonymous donor, so you can double your impact if you give now! Thank you to all who support us!

Donate

Rhea Classical Reviews is excited to share that – as of December 2025 – we have officially been designated as a 501c3 organization! Obtaining this tax-free, non-profit status opens the …

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New review for a chilly Thursday! Khadija Saigol reviews "Egypt, Ethiopia, and the Greek Novel" by Robert Cioffi ( @oxfordunipress.bsky.social 2024)

Egypt, Ethiopia, and the Gre

Robert Cioffi, Egypt, Ethiopia, and the Greek Novel (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2024).  9780192870537. Reviewed by Khadija Saigol, University of Victoria, ksaigol@uvic.ca. Cioffi’s monog…

rheaclassicalreviews.com

I can't be in San Francisco this year, but come find our Rhea reps, talk to them about writing for Rhea, or just grab these AWESOME NEW STICKERS!!!!! Have a great time, everyone!

Rhea Classical Reviews@rheaclassical.bsky.social · 7mo ago

For all those at AIA/SCS, come find us! We will be at the AIA resource fair 12-2 PM! Come and talk to us about writing a review or participating in Rhea Receptions this summer (rheaclassicalreviews.com/rhea-recepti...), make a donation, or just grab free stickers.

Y'all, I am beyond excited about this non-profit status, which opens so many doors for us! Our immediate goal is to pay our reviewers because writing book reviews is academic labor, but we dream bigger. Please consider donating to support our mission (you'll get a sweet "Children of Rhea" sticker)!

Donate

Rhea Classical Reviews is excited to share that – as of December 2025 – we have officially been designated as a 501c3 organization! Obtaining this tax-free, non-profit status opens the …

rheaclassicalreviews.com

Rhea Classical Reviews@rheaclassical.bsky.social · 7mo ago

New year, new Rhea! Rhea Classical Reviews is excited to share that we have officially been designated as a 501c3 organization! Obtaining this tax-free, non-profit status opens the door for us to expand, as well as apply for grants and secure funding to support our internal and external operations.

We are taking our holiday break and will be back in your feed come mid-January. May all of you find some well-deserved rest and relaxation, and we hope to see those who will be at the @archaeological.org @scsclassics.bsky.social annual meeting (come find us - we'll have stickers)!

New review to get you through the end of the semester, and check out that insightful dialogue at the end! @bacchicxsapphic.bsky.social reviews "The Body of the Combatant in the Ancient Mediterranean" ed. Hannah-Marie Chidwick (@bloomsburyacad.bsky.social)

The Body of the Combatant in the Ancient Mediterranean

Hannah-Marie Chidwick, ed. The Body of the Combatant in the Ancient Mediterranean. London: Bloomsbury, 2024. 9781350240872. Reviewed by Allyson Blanck, Institute for the Study of the Ancient World,…

rheaclassicalreviews.com

New month, new post! Goran Đurđević reviews "Global Classics" by Jacques Bromberg (Routledge 2021)

Global Classics

Jacques A. Bromberg, Global Classics (New York: Routledge, 2021). ISBN 9780367549268. Reviewed by Goran Đurđević, University of Zadar, Croatia. goran.djurdjevich@gmail.com. In Global Classics, Jacq…

rheaclassicalreviews.com

What are the most used book review platforms for Egypt and the ANE? Designing sophomore class that walks them through how to do research and wanted to be sure I'm guiding them true. Thanks!

First and Last review of November (we're off for Thanksgiving in two weeks), but it's a great one with a fantastic dialogue! Stephanie Murphy reviews "Making and Unmaking Ancient Memory" ed. Martine de Marre and Rajiv K. Bhola (Routledge 2022).

Making and Unmaking Ancient Memory

De Marre, Martine and Rajiv K. Bhola, eds., Making and Unmaking Ancient Memory, (New York: Routledge, 2022). 9780367371449. Reviewed by Stephanie Murphy, University of North Texas, Stephaniemurphy3…

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Last review of October (shouldn't be too spooky for you)! @medicamentislibris.bsky.social review's "Pliny the Elder and the Matter of Memory. An Encyclopaedic Workshop" by Anna Anguissola (Routledge 2023)

Pliny the Elder and the Matter of Memory. An Encyclopaedic Workshop

Anna Anguissola, Pliny the Elder and the Matter of Memory. An Encyclopaedic Workshop. London and New York: Routledge, 2023. ISBN 9781032056227. Reviewed by Jazz Demetrioff, University at Buffalo (S…

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Ordered. And excited to read this critical book in these troubling times.

Curtis Dozier@curtisdozier.bsky.social · 10mo ago

My book "The White Pedestal: How White Nationalists Use Ancient Greece and Rome to Justify Hate" is now available for pre-order. Use promo code WIN26 to get 30% off. Coming January 6th 2026! yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300...

Wake up and smell that new book review, peeps! @ullamr.bsky.social reviews "Production, Trade, and Connectivity in Pre-Roman Italy" ed. Jeremy Armstrong and Sheira Cohen ( Routledge 2022)

Production, Trade, and Connectivity in Pre-Roman Italy

Jeremy Armstrong and Sheira Cohen, eds., Production, Trade, and Connectivity in Pre-Roman Italy (London and New York: Routledge, 2022). 9780367631727.  Reviewed by Ulla Rajala, Stockholm Unive…

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Our latest book review! Adrien Mangili reviews Donato Verardi (ed.), "Aristotelianism and Magic in Early Modern Europe: Philosophers, Experimenters, and Wonderworker" (@bloomsburyacad.bsky.social, 2023).

Aristotelianism and Magic in Early Modern Europe: Philosophers, Experimenters, and Wonderworker

Donato Verardi, ed., Aristotelianism and Magic in Early Modern Europe: Philosophers, Experimenters, and Wonderworkers (London, New York, and Dublin: Bloomsbury, 2023). 9781350121092. Reviewed by Ad…

rheaclassicalreviews.com

New book review on Rhea! Caroline Arbuckle MacLeod reviews Andrew Fox, "Trees in Ancient Rome. Growing an Empire in the Late Republic and Early Principate" ( @bloomsburyacad.bsky.social 2023). 🌳🌲🌴 Don't miss the author-reviewer dialogue following the review!

Trees in Ancient Rome. Growing an Empire in the Late Republic and Early Principate.

Andrew Fox, Trees in Ancient Rome. Growing an Empire in the Late Republic and Early Principate (London, New York: Bloomsbury Academic, 2023). 9781350237803. Reviewed by Caroline Arbuckle MacLeod, S…

rheaclassicalreviews.com

Guys, I am SO EXCITED about Rhea's new venture Rhea Receptions!!! Want to write about Percy Jackson? Newspaper articles about discoveries at Pompeii? A cool new museum exhibit or video game? Get in contact with us and let's chat - reviews, essays, creativity encouraged!

Rhea Classical Reviews@rheaclassical.bsky.social · 12mo ago

Announcing our new forum, RHEA RECEPTIONS! “We live in an Odyssey time.” —Charlotte Higgins, The Guardian, 12 April 2025 Rhea Classical Reviews could not agree more with Ms. Higgins.