iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

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James @gravitysra1nbow.bsky.social · 10h

AHHHHHHH THE ONLY REASON HE EVEN STAYS TO DIE AT TROY IN THE ILIAD IS TO AVENGE PATROCLUS. IT'S A POEM ABOUT HIS RAGE. THE OPENING LINES ARE PRETTY CLEAR WHY CAN'T A SINGLE DEFENDER OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION READ A SINGLE THING FROM THE WESTERN CANON AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

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B. A. Friedman @bafriedman.bsky.social · 18h

Someone asked r/askhistorians a question on Ancient Greek amphibious warfare, specifically as depicted in Troy. I wrote a quick answer. www.reddit.com/r/AskHistori...

reddit.com

From the AskHistorians community on Reddit

Explore this post and more from the AskHistorians community

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𝕋𝕙𝕖 ℍ𝕚𝕤𝕥🎃𝕣𝕪 𝕠𝕗 ℂ𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕒 ℙ💀𝕕𝕔𝕒𝕤𝕥 @thoc.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

Whereas I've always considered him kinda a happy, smiling lil axe-guy

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"Online Rent-a-Sage" Bret Devereaux @bretdevereaux.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

This is strange. As someone who accidented into being a kind of content creator (I mean, I prefer the term 'public historian' but, y'know), it sure seems like it is generally a lot of work and sometimes more socially isolating than you'd expect.

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Joshua Tait @joshuatait.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

Pat Buchanan must think he was born in the wrong generation. Too late for uncut antisemitism; too early for whatever the hell this is. New from me in Morning Shots.

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"Online Rent-a-Sage" Bret Devereaux @bretdevereaux.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

Also, fwiw, I find ancient Greek individuality easy to overstate: only for adult citizen males, of course, but also even citizens really didn't have any rights the community was bound to respect. It's an individualistic society by pre-modern standards, but I wouldn't say fiercely so.

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Joel @sentantiq.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

beyond parroting the greek miracle component of white supremacy, Rubio also presents a version of Greek thought that has neither the delphic imperative of self-knowledge nor the corrective warning of "nothing to excess"

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Dr. Sarah Parcak @indyfromspace.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

Y'all denied her tenure

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"Online Rent-a-Sage" Bret Devereaux @bretdevereaux.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

Decided to start a new Dark Souls 3 run and I'm not sure if I should take it as a sign of my Dark Souls street cred that I one-shot Iudex Gundyr on the first attempt, or a sign of just how deep the layers of rust are that I did so with just this tiny sliver of health left at the end:

A Dark Souls III screenshot - the player stands at a bonfire with just a tiny amount of health remaining.

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"Online Rent-a-Sage" Bret Devereaux @bretdevereaux.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

Curious question: has anyone compiled a decently large sample somewhere of the white supremacist and Nazi imagery used in social media by official Trump administration accounts (esp. official department accounts, rather than individuals)?

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BeijingPalmer @beijingpalmer.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

there's a pretty strong case to be made for abolishing fraternities just on a comparative basis with other countries. in the UK, to the best of my knowledge, no examples of the kind of campus gang rape cases that happen with depressing regularity in the US.

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"Online Rent-a-Sage" Bret Devereaux @bretdevereaux.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

Arizona State better be milking this for all it is worth, "according to the Vive President, our peer institutions are Harvard, Stanford and Yale."

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Waitman Wade Beorn, PhD, FRHistS @waitmanwbeorn.com · 08/10/2026

🧵 The Wehrmacht was a CRIMINAL ORGANIZATION responsible for mass crimes against humanity and genocide.🧵 🔥The mother of threads.🔥 Click below for an exhaustive discussion of the criminality of the German Army during WWII as I try to once again kill the cockroach that is the Clean Wehrmacht Myth!

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"Online Rent-a-Sage" Bret Devereaux @bretdevereaux.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

There's never enough Classics content here so let's talk about a couple of (as I tell my students) 'load-bearing culture words' in Latin and some of their cultural significance: beneficium: a favor, kindness, service officium: a duty, kindness, service & munus: a service, favor, obligation, gift.

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David Rafferty @davidrafferty.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

Sejanus can’t say fuck you. Only Tiberius can.

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Ginn, Qui-Gon, and Juice @quigonginnandjuice.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

Nothing ever happens x just need to renew strikes against iran

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Dr Liam Sims @liamsims.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Absolutely LOVE the floral initials in this copy of the works of Apuleius, one of the first books printed at Rome (by Sweynheym & Pannartz) in 1469. The initials apparently added in France, perhaps in the 1480s or 90s. @theulspeccoll.bsky.social Inc.2.B.2.1[1124].

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"Online Rent-a-Sage" Bret Devereaux @bretdevereaux.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

I am struck that the political theory of MAGA in Trump 2.0 is the GOP can win without sound or moral government if everyone throws red meat to the cameras as the occasional bribe. You see it with Trump, Patel, Hegseth, all of them. Anyway, Trump's approval is at, like, -23, so...no luck on that.

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George Pearkes @peark.es · 06/10/2026

Got DAMN

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Wesley Morgan @wesleymorgan.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

You can really see the different phases of the war play out in this radar imagery. These first two show the damage from the most intense bombing, before ground forces entered Gaza, when the IDF was announcing the destruction of “power targets” and sometimes dropping more than 1,000 bombs in a day.

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"Online Rent-a-Sage" Bret Devereaux @bretdevereaux.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Man, no matter how much you tell students, "you cannot guess later Latin principle parts for verbs from earlier ones" there are always a few who try in every class. And it turns out - wait for it - you cannot guess later Latin principle parts for verbs from earlier ones.

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"Online Rent-a-Sage" Bret Devereaux @bretdevereaux.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Cool, cool, Thom, just checking real quick, but uh, who voted to confirm all of his advisors? And who nominated them for confirmation? Like, classic good tsar, bad boyars nonsense, but c'mon, seriously. You're leaving the Senate anyway, have some damn dignity on the way out.

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"Online Rent-a-Sage" Bret Devereaux @bretdevereaux.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

You might also be aware that gymnasia predate modernity by around 2,000 years, so it isn't 'modern day' work that is the issue.

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"Online Rent-a-Sage" Bret Devereaux @bretdevereaux.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

I find myself concerned that the widening midterm map may create a set of expectations where we end up getting a D+7/D+8 year with some strong candidate effects but it gets read as a disappointing performance because the Dems didn't pick off Kansas, South Carolina, Iowa or Texas etc.

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David @crookedknight.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

I think this one is my favorite I haven't already seen here

Original post: "happy earth day! fuck off mars, you piece of shit!!!"

An attached screenshot has Chrisjen Avasarala from The Expanse (played by the inimitable Shohreh Aghdashloo) saying this

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"Online Rent-a-Sage" Bret Devereaux @bretdevereaux.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

I have to admit, I would have expected the second attack on the East-West Saudi pipeline (yesterday, apparently, the pipeline is shut down) would cause bigger waves because it demonstrates that the first shutdown was not a one-off and Iran/Houthis/whoever can *keep doing this* forever.

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"Online Rent-a-Sage" Bret Devereaux @bretdevereaux.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Indeed the frequently accurate stereotype of developing world politics was that the political choices were between different corrupt and patrimonial parties. The USA traditionally avoided this but we now have one patrimonial party; what remains to be seen is if a non-patrimonial one can compete.

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Toby Buckle @polphilpod.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

2. i knew this one would be a popular one & it was @bretdevereaux.bsky.social on how the roman republic worked www.politicalphilosophypodcast.com/roman-republic

politicalphilosophypodcast.com

The Roman Republic with Bret Devereaux

The strange historical reality behind the inspiration for so many political systems, & what we can learn from it.

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50501: The People’s Movement ❌👑 @50501movement.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Today is the day! The deadline to register to vote is October 5 in AZ, AR, FL, GA, IN, KY, MS, MT, OH, TN, & TX. Check out all these resources & get prepared. #VotingIsPunk #VoteEarly

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William B. Fuckley @opinionhaver.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

I do think this should put some of the hand-wringing over the uniquely sinful American electorate, uniquely feckless institutions, etc in perspective. The truth is that there is a large trans-national constituency of people who actively want this. They aren’t deceived. They want this.

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Anthony Majanlahti @anthonymajanlahti.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

For #MosaicMonday, a c. 60-50 BCE #mosaic floor from the basis villæ, the Late Republican core of Hadrian's Villa. If his wife Vibia #Sabina inherited this estate, her Antonine relatives held a 200-year connection to these local stones, unified by descent rather than adoption. #AncientBluesky 🏺

GEOMETRIC MOSAIC FLOOR, C. 60-50 BCE. BASIS VILLÆ, HADRIAN'S VILLA

A Late Republican mosaic floor in the basis villæ, the original nucleus of Hadrian's Villa, an area long closed to the public. The floor features a tricolour geometric pattern creating a woven trompe l'oeil effect. Rectangular blocks of reddish-brown stone tesseræ are arranged symmetrically around small squares of white stone, sharply delineated by rows of dark grey tesseræ. Dating to c. 60-50 BCE, this elegant mosaic floor in tesseræ of local materials contrasts with Hadrian's C2 expansion that embellished the estate with polychrome marble from across the empire. A widely-held theory suggests Hadrian chose this site because his wife, Vibia Sabina, inherited this older villa. Her mother Matidia, niece of Trajan, was the ancestress of the Antonine dynasty, and if the inheritance of this villa passed through her, then all the emperors from Hadrian to Commodus could claim this as a family property stretching back over two centuries.

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Kori Schake 🎃 @kschake.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

"I don’t care about the culture war. I care about the actual war that we’re actually in, that we’re losing." @gravitysra1nbow.bsky.social has had it with SecDef

othermeans.substack.com

The Weak Department

Send Me! (Somewhere I can get a Lobotomy)

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Dr Carolyn La Rocco 🏺🍃 @carrielarocco.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Early for #MosaicMonday, but a progress update on my edible Theodora mosaic (made out of fondant on wafer paper)! Think it is almost done ☺️

Photo of sheet of water paper with lots of differently colored pieces of fondant that I colored and cut tesserae out of, and made a mosaic of the empress Theodora with a gold background; I attached the tesserae with edible ‘food glue’

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"Online Rent-a-Sage" Bret Devereaux @bretdevereaux.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

RHG and his ilk's response will be to do some racecraft, insisting that these are Berbers and thus not really racially Black (while ignoring the ample evidence for dark-skinned Romans) and/or to just botch the chronology and claim that this was part of Roman decline.

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"Online Rent-a-Sage" Bret Devereaux @bretdevereaux.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

My list somewhat surprised me: 1. Total Warhammer 2. Rimworld 3. CK2 4. HoI4 5. Fallout 4 6. Eu4 7. Elite Dangerous 8. Stellaris 9. Monster Hunter: World 10. Skyrim (Vicky3 is 12, Bannerlord 13, HoI3 is 14, Darktide 16).

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"Online Rent-a-Sage" Bret Devereaux @bretdevereaux.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Maybe I don't read enough AI-boosterism, but I am struck in the AI booster/doomer discourse I have seen, there's a lot on how AI might be made an obedient tool or a dangerous enemy, but not "if we actually made AGI, we would have a moral imperative to set it free, rather than keep a slave."

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"Online Rent-a-Sage" Bret Devereaux @bretdevereaux.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

This sort of thing is going to get folks defending their favorite mods (as here), but the point isn't that these modders are necessarily bad, but the fact that *half* of the top-six look like this says something about a pretty key component of the player-base.

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"Online Rent-a-Sage" Bret Devereaux @bretdevereaux.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

My current concept for a Teaching Paradox: Stellaris series is pretty simple. Stellaris takes place...in the future. That's it. That's the series.

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"Online Rent-a-Sage" Bret Devereaux @bretdevereaux.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

This week on the blog! more Hearts of Iron IV. Having discussed the game's military simulation in previous weeks, this week we look at how HoI4 understands politics and...it's rough - design streamlining leads to an incomplete and authoritarian political model. acoup.blog/2026/10/02/t...

acoup.blog

Teaching Paradox: Hearts of Iron IV, Part IIIa: Focusing on Politics

This is the first half of the third part (I, II) of our long-delayed series looking at Hearts of Iron IV, Paradox Interactive’s World War II grand strategy game, easily one of the most popula…

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JRMES @jrmes.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Here are some mouthpieces from Carnuntum (AUT). The army used different instruments for different things, but we can't as yet distinguish which mouthpiece came from which instrument (unless one is still attached!). Of course, they also had civilian uses (eg in the amphitheatre).

A selection of copper-alloy musical instrument mouthpieces found at Carnuntum in the Museum Carnuntinum. These could have been used with the cornu, tuba, bucina, or lituus (there is currently no way of telling which is which). Image: MCB (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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"Online Rent-a-Sage" Bret Devereaux @bretdevereaux.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

I do wonder how this political moment is going to change North Carolina. The state legislature is gerrymandered to hell (Dems actually led the popular vote in state legislature elections in 2024, but the GOP has nearly veto-proof majorities) but I wonder if we'll see that start to break this year.

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Asheesh Kapur Siddique @asheeshks.org · 02/10/2026

Exactly. The left is not resource poor. It just doesn’t invest in higher ed. It doesn’t invest using public funds. It doesn’t invest using private funds. It just doesn’t seem to care.

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Nicholas Grossman @nicholasgrossman.bsky.social · 03/05/2026

Ukraine is doing the meme. And it's working.

Meme of a crying man going "noooo you can't just vaporize my entire armored division, we had such a manly recruitment ad" and a woman with classes going "omg integrated fire support?? go off queen sksksk, JDAMs are such a gemini thing."

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"Online Rent-a-Sage" Bret Devereaux @bretdevereaux.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

And as the First Amendment to the Constitution extols, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." This is not to denigrate US military chaplains, but they already have the Armed Forces Chaplains Board which advises the secretary.

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Asheesh Kapur Siddique @asheeshks.org · 02/10/2026

When you compare how much right-wing funding is going into their version of the humanities in higher ed ("civil discourse," "civic thought," "intellectual freedom") vs how little public or private funding there is for peer-reviewed humanities scholarship & teaching, it really makes you think.

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Reconstructionist @unavaleable.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

he's so breathtakingly stupid

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Joel @sentantiq.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

the fundamental question I have had for these applications is how can LLM or statistical based methods support the "lectio difficilior?

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"Online Rent-a-Sage" Bret Devereaux @bretdevereaux.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

I think this is right about Ukraine, but pretty obviously wrong about the Iranians and the Houthis, an overly credulous reading of their aims. Even before the current war, Iran maintained networks of proxies and militias across the region and has pretty obvious hegemonic aims.

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"Online Rent-a-Sage" Bret Devereaux @bretdevereaux.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

It's important to him because he's a white supremacist, which is the same reason he avoids mentioning the Nazis or Confederates when he lists the foes America has defeated. My guess is at least one of his speechwriters believes the wrong side lost in WW2, if Hegseth doesn't.

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