Excited to see in print Warfare in Ancient Egypt, edited by Anthony Spalinger, out today from Brill, including a chapter by me, on warfare in the Ptolemaic period

The University of North Carolina is hiring a historian of Science and Technology, with time, place, and theme otherwise open. Military historians with that expertise should feel encouraged to apply. careers.historians.org/jobs/2260958...

It's just like in my Tom Clancy novels!

Faytuks Network@faytuksnetwork.bsky.social · 2w ago

A French military source told Le Monde that France is already carrying out undisclosed conventional military responses to Russian hybrid attacks. Asked whether Paris could retaliate militarily without making it public, the source replied: “That is already happening.”

Nick Saban looks like he's got a sarisa out there as his poker for Gameday. Hold it with two hands, bud!

Read theory

Hell yes! The study of Euclidean geometry as a through line: "the value is in reasoning through why it is that the lines remain parallel within the system constructed by Euclid...learning that if one thing is true, and another thing is true, then a third thing must by necessity also be true."

James@gravitysra1nbow.bsky.social · last mo.

I feel like I needed to take a brave stance and articulate my opposition to the accelerating encroachment of LLMs into educational and professional life. I realize I may be persecuted for these takes. othermeans.substack.com/p/against-th...

@drmichaeljtaylor.bsky.social 's excellent take on the Odyssey. TLDR: tension between the fantasy treatment and the dogged LBA collapse setting (the latter would be better served by Eggers style obessive realism) classicalstudies.org/scs-blog/mik...

Like Loebs? Every fall semester, I like to remind people that while Perseus has many free Loebs sectioned up into book and chapter, if you want to download and read the public domain Loebs (277 of them) as PDFs or txt files, Duke U's very own Ryan Baumann created _Loebolus 📗📕_. ryanfb.xyz/loebolus/

Fun with the Dowding System

Looking forward to CENTCOM's "is it a hack?" series about Tomahawks

I used to do some work on the ethical use of satellite and drone imagery for aid and disaster response, and it is genuinely hard to express in words what a dangerous, stupid thing Google is doing by making it easy to use GenAI to create faked satellite imagery:

How to plant a nuclear plant in Iran

The question is: what on earth is Google doing?

digitaldigging.org

Already most military institutions restrict tenure to those at rank of full professor*, it is subject to an additional review after getting rank at full, and is not real tenure anyway. *In regular academia tenure comes at associate rank.

Jim LaPorta@jimlaporta.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Late night scoop - Pentagon weighs eliminating civilian tenure at military academies and reviewing all curriculum, draft memo says www.cbsnews.com/news/dod-pen...

Really enjoyed the Odyssey. Lots of fantasy armor but wondered if Menelaus' was intentionally evoking Sea Peoples armor from Egyptian sources. What ancient tale would you like to see in a film adaptation next? For me, it's Leucippe and Clitophon, by Achilles Tatius.

BREAKING: Volodymyr Zelenskyy has chosen Mykhailo Drapatyi to be commander-in-chief of Ukraine’s armed forces and dismissed controversial general and close ally Oleksandr Syrsky in the biggest shake-up of the country’s military leadership since 2024. @financialtimes.com

At this rate France may wish they were signing the Treaty of Bretigny again over this match.

Oil markets and Middle East producers appear to be aligning around a new reality: The Strait of Hormuz is no longer expected to return to a prewar norm.

Russians in Crimea are now paying 450 rubles per liter ($22 per gallon) to buy gasoline.

BREAKING: BIDDEFORD, Maine (AP) - Homeland Security secretary said man killed by ICE in Maine was not the target of warrant, Maine Sen. Angus King says.

ἵνα παρρησιάσωμαι ὡς δεῖ με λαλῆσαι Contemplating obligations of frank speech

Battle of Stamford Bridge: key to the match is the play of the star from the Norse side, freshly returned from what some called a "mercenary" turn as star for Istanbul's "Varangians" club. #keepchopping

Happy 100th birthday to Cpl Melvin Kaminsky aka Mel Brooks - the Mensch of Mensches When speaking of his service with the 78th Infantry Division in WWII, he reportedly said, “I was a combat engineer. Isn’t that ridiculous? The two things I hate most in the world are combat and engineering.”

Okay, it's not lost Hieronymus of Cardia or a missing book of Polybius, but columns of late 3rd-early 2nd century BC Stoicism is a surprising find... AND, its (AI-located) critiques of technological learning and of learning that departs from our personal nature, are striking. Dear Prudence!

OTD, June 22nd 168 BC, the Battle of Pydna ended the Third Macedonian War, and the Macedonian monarchy. Re-upping, w @profpaulj.bsky.social our reconstruction of this decisive battle, open source at GRBS. grbs.library.duke.edu/index.php/gr...

Nifty Macedonian power move was the 7-arc phalangite pelte, which, contrary to 6-arc or 8-arc designs, required an impressive little piece of geometry to measure out.

“Theon to his father Theon, greeting (χαίρειν). It was a fine thing of you not to take me with you to the city! If you won't take me with you to Alexandria I won't write you a letter or speak to you or say bye to you” — a Romano-Egyptian son in Oxyrhynchos (P.Oxy. 1 119). papyri.info/ddbdp/p.oxy;...

Happy Father's Day 🖤

U.S. Vice President to Fox News: We have prevailed whether Iran changes its approach or chooses not to adhere to the agreement.

A toast to our fallen Airmen, a group of highly skilled aviators that advanced aviation every time they left the ground. Prayers for the families who are missing their loved ones tonight. 🍺

"Carthaginian pikemen" is why you need ancient languages and specialization. [Real conversation when an officer asked me about the Roman Helmet Guy debates]