Sign in

Jennifer Barry

@jennisifire.bsky.social
1.4K followers 929 following 353 posts

Scholar, late antiquity nerd, professor, and author of Gender Violence in Late Antiquity www.ucpress.edu/books/gender-violen… and Bishops in Flight www.ucpress.edu/books/bishops-in-fl…

PostsRepliesMedia
Reposted by Jennifer Barry
Dr Victoria Austen @vickyausten.bsky.social · 10h
Thrilled to share an interview with my amazing graduate student Amelia, who worked tirelessly on the Gardens of the Roman Empire project over the summer to help publish over 100 gardens on our project website: classics.illinois.edu/news/2026-10... YAY for collaborative digital humanities projects!
classics.illinois.edu
Working with the Gardens of the Roman Empire Project | Department of Classics | Illinois
Over the summer, third-year graduate student Amelia Lamis completed a research internship with the Gardens of the Roman Empire Project, a digital humanities initiative that aims to bring knowledge of ...
2428
Jennifer Barry @jennisifire.bsky.social · 14h
The unwavering confidence of art historians and the hedging of material culture scholars is so jarring...wandering into these fields is quite the experience
030
Reposted by Jennifer Barry
The Great Pumpkin Papers 🎃🎃🎃 @professormusgrave.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
As a professor, most of what I do is log in to things
471432196
Reposted by Jennifer Barry
Mark Hamill @markhamillofficial.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
It's inconceivable to me how someone who lost in a free & fair election can incite an angry mob to attack his own government, (the very definition of treason) & be allowed to run for any office ever again.
872298718732
Jennifer Barry @jennisifire.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
This is one of my all time favorite images of Mary. The disdain on her face is *chef’s kiss*
010
Jennifer Barry @jennisifire.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
New Yorkers only. bummer.
021
Reposted by Jennifer Barry
Jesse Locker @jessemlocker.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
A carved "pillar-biter" from the church of St. Bavo in Haarlem, from 1509-1517. With roots in Medieval iconography, pillar-biters represented hypocrisy and false piety. More here: www.leidenmedievalistsblog.nl/articles/dev...
A polychrome wooden carving of a man in pilgrim's garb with a priminent rosary grotesquely gnawing on a church column
35957222
Reposted by Jennifer Barry
Penn Religious Studies @upennrels.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Congratulations to Prof. Reyhan Durmaz, who has won the Elizabeth DePalma Digeser Article Prize! The winning article has been made available free to read for a limited time. You can read the official announcement from the University of California Press here: www.ucpress.edu/blog-posts/s...
ucpress.edu
"Studies in Late Antiquity" Announces Winner of the Elizabeth DePalma Digeser Article Prize
The winning article successfully brings the richness of late antique scholarship on religious communities into early medieval middle eastern conversations.
0145
Jennifer Barry @jennisifire.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
I have found that I have spelled grisly as grizzly more than once in a chapter. I know how this got mixed up in my head, given all the bear talk, but it still makes me giggle. I need to start collecting all of my malapropisms across my scholarship. I do this a lot. At least it amuses my partner.
180
Reposted by Jennifer Barry
Anthony Majanlahti @anthonymajanlahti.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
We are starting the week on the Oppian for #MosaicMonday. These late C1 CE wall #mosaics from beneath the #BathsofTrajan show Roman maritime villas. But they look like ghosts, because Trajan's engineers despoiled the glass tesseræ of the water. #AncientBluesky 🏺
MOSAIC OF A MARITIME VILLA, 64-98 CE. MUSEO DELLE TERME DI TRAIANO 

This is part of the lower register of the Great Mosaic, one of a row depicting maritime villas, seemingly floating on a rough, blank mortar background. The structure features long colonnaded porticoes extending into the sea on two moles, terminating in tower like pavilions known as diaetae. This architectural pincer enclosed a private harbour, creating a protected mooring that displays the extreme luxury of the C1 rich. The villa appears to float in empty white space because the original background was destroyed. The ocean and sky were likely made of expensive glass paste tesseræ. These were picked out for recycling by Trajan's demolition crews, a state-sanctioned salvage operation also evident in the Polyphemus mosaic of the Domus Aurea. Only the less valuable stone and terracotta pieces forming the architecture were left behind before the hall was walled up to serve as foundations for the Baths of Trajan.
26915
Reposted by Jennifer Barry
Arthur Urbano 🌍📷🏛️🛫🇮🇹🤌😷 @arturoviaggia.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
View of the south wall of the sanctuary in San Vitale, #Ravenna. The mosaic program brings together figures/themes linking Hebrew Bible and New Testament. An example of visual theology (read on). 📷🇮🇹 flic.kr/p/2qoLyqA #photography #LateAntiquity #Italy #iconography #travel #art
flic.kr
Visual theology (San Vitale, Ravenna)
View of the south wall of the sanctuary in San Vitale, Ravenna. The mosaic program brings together a collection of figures and theme linking Old Testament and New Testament. The main image in the lune...
196
Reposted by Jennifer Barry
Adam Bremer-McCollum @acbm.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Some details and sources on the Syriac texts here:
gedsh.bethmardutho.org
Alexander Cycle
1115
Reposted by Jennifer Barry
Carausius @carausius286.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
This fresco depicts Cerberus, guardian of the underworld with Hercules left, who subdued him, and Mercury right. It was buried in a tomb for 2,000 years and only uncovered in 2023, which makes its vibrancy even more remarkable. 🕰️C1stBC-2ndAD 🏛️Tomb of Cerberus, Giugliano #FrescoFriday
7439118
Reposted by Jennifer Barry
Candida Moss @candidamoss.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
My latest for National Geographic is on the Pilate Ring and Cate Bonesho's article arguing that it belonged to a low-status posisbly enslaved worker. Featuring work by @tonyk.bsky.social and a quote from @jeremiahcoogan.bsky.social www.nationalgeographic.com/history/arti...
nationalgeographic.com
Did This Ring Belong to the Man Who Sentenced Jesus to Die?
Scholars have been divided for years over whether a ring inscribed with the word “Pilato” belonged to Pontius Pilate. A new theory may put the debate to rest.
1118
Reposted by Jennifer Barry
Candida Moss @candidamoss.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
It lives. I was honored to deliver the Hans Lietzmann lecture in Berlin and Jena a few years ago. And I am excited to see the results in print!
07412
Reposted by Jennifer Barry
Dr Victoria Leonard @tigerlilyrocks.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
New #BMCR review of Susanna Elm's The Importance of Being Gorgeous: Gender and Christian Imperial Rule in Late Antiquity, by Ellen Muehlberger @emuehlbe.bsky.social bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2026/2026.09...
bmcr.brynmawr.edu
The importance of being gorgeous: gender and Christian imperial rule in late antiquity – Bryn Mawr Classical Review
195
Reposted by Jennifer Barry
Sarah E. Bond @sarahebond.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Hello, old friend 📕. Let’s teach Spartacus today—yet again! Also, if you don’t have the physical book, here is the free version (with all primary sources translated) on @archive.org: archive.org/details/Spar...
Spartacus  and 
the  Slave  Wars 

A  Brief  History  with  Documents 


Translated,  Edited,  and  with  an  Introduction  by 

Brent  D.  Shaw 

University  of  Pennsylvania 


BEDFORD/ST.  MARTIN'S  Boston  ♦  New  York
1367
Reposted by Jennifer Barry
The Warburg Institute @warburginstitute.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Ostriches recur in art and design from antiquity to the Renaissance. In a new blog, #warburg Visiting Fellow Dr Kaara L Peterson explores a recent exhibition of Tudor art focused on Elizabeth I's attire & the role of ostriches in art & design of the time. Read now ➡️ warburg.sas.ac.uk/news-events/...
Image: Queen Elizabeth I (1533-1603),  attr. English School c. 1590s. Credit: Philip Mould & Co. / Private Collection.Image: detail of Queen Elizabeth I (1533-1603), attr. English School c. 1590s. Credit:  Philip Mould & Co. / Private Collection.
082
Reposted by Jennifer Barry
Mary Jaharis Center for Byzantine Art and Culture @mjcbac.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
TODAY, September 13, is the final day to submit an abstract for Studying East of Byzantium XIII: Centers and Hubs, a 3-part workshop for doctoral students and recent PhDs with Muriel Debié and Nicholas Matheou. Apply: eastofbyzantium.org/upcoming-eve...
053
Reposted by Jennifer Barry
Katie Turner @katieturnerphd.com · 10/09/2026
Publication day is one of my favourite days! Even better when its shared with a friend (@josephscales.bsky.social) Hot off the presses: "Did the Romans Think Jews Wore Trousers?" brill.com/view/journal...
Abstract
It is well established that Jews in the ancient Mediterranean were indistinguishable from their neighbours in terms of their dress behaviours. As Greco-Roman clothing (of the Second Temple era) did not include trousers, one should not expect to see representations of Jewish bodies in artwork of the period where they are depicted as wearing trousers. Yet, there are three such representations of Jewish trouser-wearers claimed in scholarship. The first is found on the enigmatic Bacchius Iudaeus issue, the second on a Titus capta issue, while the third is found on a Flavian period cuirass. This article will examine whether any of these images can credibly be claimed to be depictions of captured or submissive Jews, which would imply that Roman and particularly Flavian authorities intended to use the image of the trousers to associate the Jews with “barbarians,” most particularly in their defeat.

Keywords: Judaea Capta; Bacchius Iudaeus; clothing; dress; propaganda; Flavians; iconography
1309
Reposted by Jennifer Barry
Fiona Chartres @chartresfi.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
This striking figure at St John the Baptist, Oxenton is possibly a depiction of St Helena, mother of Emperor Constantine and allegedly the person who discovered the true cross whilst on pilgrimage. The disembodied eyes from later images top right are rather disconcerting! #WednesdayWallPaintings
314918
Reposted by Jennifer Barry
Sarah E. Bond @sarahebond.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Restored first century CE frescos and mosaics? Yes, please. Rome’s restoration and enhancement project for the large exedra and underground gallery of the Baths of Trajan at Colle Oppio is finally finished! www.finestresullarte.info/en/archaeolo...
“ An additional section of mosaic decoration depicting a port city—composed of a series of buildings likely facing the sea—has been unearthed. The motif appears to be associated with the so-called “maritime villas.” Beneath the decoration, remains of a cladding made of large marble slabs were also uncovered. In the center of the wall, a niche—also clad in marble—approximately 2.20 meters high was identified.”
36015
Reposted by Jennifer Barry
Arthur Urbano 🌍📷🏛️🛫🇮🇹🤌😷 @arturoviaggia.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Today is the feast of the birthday of the Virgin Mary and the patronal feast of the Madonna of Tindari whose shrine is in Sicily. It's also the onomastico (name day) of people named Tindaro and Tindara--of which there are many in that part of Sicily, I can attest!
051
Jennifer Barry @jennisifire.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
I have messy drafts. It is such a pleasure to have messiness again. It does make the clean up phase hard but I do love this part #amwriting
030
Reposted by Jennifer Barry
Dr Jo Ball @drjeball.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Three #Roman leather shoes, for (l-r) a man, woman, & child. Found in an ancient well at Bar Hill fort on the Antonine Wall (Scotland), they're beautifully crafted pieces of footwear, & show that the military communities had access to a bit of luxury even on the frontiers... #AncientBlueSky
1540782
Reposted by Jennifer Barry
Arthur Urbano 🌍📷🏛️🛫🇮🇹🤌😷 @arturoviaggia.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
Join us on 9/16 to learn more about these amazing projects supported by the @catacombsociety.bsky.social Shohet Grant, and how you can apply for one, too! #archaeology #grants #events #humanities #Pompeii #Malta
076
Reposted by Jennifer Barry
Jacob T. Levy @jacobtlevy.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
I don't think the news has made it here: bluesky political scientist Julia Azari @juliaazari.bsky.social 's _Backlash Presidents: From Transformative to Reactionary Leaders in American History_ (Princeton) was recognized with the Richard Neustadt award for best book published on the presidency!
15872160
Reposted by Jennifer Barry
And-Boo 👻 Jacobs (he/him) @drewjakeprof.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
"The Humanities explain how things have been different, could have been different, could be different now, and may be different in the future. They are about possible worlds." shout it from the rooftops, @profgabriele.com & @vox-magica.bsky.social! www.liberalcurrents.com/religion-hum...
liberalcurrents.com
Religion, Humanities, and the Public Good
The right wing's assault on Religion and Humanities programs is an assault on our ability to understand the world, from Hindutva abroad to Christian Nationalism at home.
16326
Reposted by Jennifer Barry
Elle Cordova @ellecordova.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Rough Draft vs Final Draft
254116853320
Reposted by Jennifer Barry
Ancient Jew Review @ancientjewreview.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
New pod! Robin Whelan talks to Mike about Serving the Christian State in Late Antiquity podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/r... open.spotify.com/episode/5iiS...
0127
Reposted by Jennifer Barry
Arthur Urbano 🌍📷🏛️🛫🇮🇹🤌😷 @arturoviaggia.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
Opus sectile floor from a fourth-century house (domus) in #Ostia, the port city of #Rome. Opus sectile is a type of inlay where marble, stone and other hard decorative materials are cut into thin pieces and fit together to create patterns and images. 📷🇮🇹 flic.kr/p/2swxMLV #photography #archaeology
flic.kr
Opus sectile floor (Ostia Antica, Italy)
Opus sectile is a type of inlay where marble, stone and other hard decorative materials are cut into thin pieces and fit together to create patterns and images. This opus sectile floor is from a fou...
184
Reposted by Jennifer Barry
James F. McGrath (ReligionProf) @religionprof.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
Things Unseen Forum www.ancientjewreview.com/read/2026/8/...
ancientjewreview.com
Things Unseen Forum — ANCIENT JEW REVIEW
Known Knowns and Known Unknowns: Ellen Muehlberger’s Things Unseen: Essays on Evidence, Knowledge, and the Late Ancient World by Bradley K. Storin Ellen Muehlberger’s latest monograph, Things…
011
Reposted by Jennifer Barry
Arthur Urbano 🌍📷🏛️🛫🇮🇹🤌😷 @arturoviaggia.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
I'm looking forward to presenting work in progress at the joint meeting of the Boston Area Patristics Group and Providence Patristics Group in February! Also looking forward to the other great presentations by @rsfalcasantos.bsky.social, @jennisifire.bsky.social, and @ptochotrophos.bsky.social!
Boston Area Patristics Group 2026-2027 schedule
Fall Semester 2026
September 17, 2026
7:30-9:00 pm
Rebecca Stephens Falcasantos 
(Amherst College)
“A Marginal Rehabilitation: Reading Socrates on John 
Chrysostom in BML Plut. 70.7”
October 15, 2026
7:30-9:00 pm
Gabrielle Thomas 
(Berkeley Divinity School at Yale)
“Becoming like the devil in Gregory of Nyssa’s Homilies 
On the Lord’s Prayer and On the Beatitudes”
November 12, 2026
7:30-9:00 pm
Dieter Roth (Boston College)
“The Staurogram: Writing a Picture of the Crucified 
Christ”
December 10, 2026
7:30-9:00pm
Susan Holman (Valparaiso University)
“Walking on Water in Church: Environmental Health in 
6th century Petra

Spring Semester 2027
January 21, 2027
7:30-9:00 pm
Jennifer Barry (Harvard Divinity School)
“Visual Vocabulary of Sacred Embodiment: Mary’s 
Shoes at the Catacomb of Commodilla”
February 18, 2027 (Joint meeting with the 
Providence Patristics Group)
7:30-9:00 pm
NOTE: ALL ZOOM meeting
Arthur Urbano (Providence College) 
"The Threads of an Early Christian Sartorial 
Imagination"
March 18, 2027
7:30-9:00pm
TBD
April 15, 2027
7:30-9:00pm
TBD

All meetings (except February’s all-Zoom session) take place in the Conference Room of the Center for the Study 
of World Religions at Harvard Divinity School, 42 Francis Ave., Cambridge. If you wish to join the colloquium 
online, please pre-register using the Zoom link on each session’s announcement email.
Please feel free to share this schedule with folks you might think are interested. If you wish to be removed from (or 
added to) the list, just let me know. For further information or to receive copies of the papers, you may contact me 
at: srholman@post.harvard.edu
2133
Reposted by Jennifer Barry
Claire E. Aubin @ceaubin.com · 27/08/2026
TODAY ON TGS: The incredible @sarannmcd.bsky.social joins me for a This Gal Rocked episode. In it, she tells me the story of Jehanne, a medieval survivor of sexual assault whose quest for justice challenges nearly every modern assumption about medieval women's lives. I'm really proud of this one.
24510
Reposted by Jennifer Barry
Ancient Jew Review @ancientjewreview.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
"The 'impossible woman' as the chapter gestures then is not a failure of representation; she is its most efficient form. She is a paper doll of late antiquity and infinitely reproducible."
011
Reposted by Jennifer Barry
Ancient Jew Review @ancientjewreview.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
Our panel on Ellen Muehlberger's Things Unseen Essays on Evidence, Knowledge, and the Late Ancient World continues with an essay from Jennifer Barry @emuehlbe.bsky.social @jennisifire.bsky.social @ucpress.bsky.social www.ancientjewreview.com/read/2026/7/...
ancientjewreview.com
Paper Dolls of Late Antiquity — ANCIENT JEW REVIEW
This essay was part of a 2026 NAPS Conference Book Review Panel devoted to Things Unseen Essays on Evidence, Knowledge, and the Late Ancient World by Ellen Muehlberger. Read the full forum …
197
Reposted by Jennifer Barry
Sarah E. Bond @sarahebond.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
August 18 is the feast day of Saint Helena, former stabularia (often an enslaved stablekeeper) & mother of Constantine. She is the patron saint of archaeologists for sending a brigade to excavate the True Cross but as @writinghelena.bsky.social shows: she was much more global.oup.com/academic/pro...
A fresco from Trier, Germany, possibly depicting Helena, c. 310
Marco Prins
CC0 via wikimedia
27220
Reposted by Jennifer Barry
Chris Geidner @chrisgeidner.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
Update: The Supreme Court, as expected, denied Trump's second go at asking the justices to take up his appeal in E. Jean Carroll's case this morning. (This was the rehearing request that Trump's lawyers had unsuccessfully been arguing should justify courts holding off giving Carroll her money.)
REHEARINGS DENIED

25-432 PUCKETT, CARL E., ET UX. V. AIN JEEM, INC., ET AL.
25-567 VERIZON COMMUNICATIONS INC. V. FCC, ET AL.
25-573 TRUMP, DONALD J. V. CARROLL, E. JEAN
25-1102 SAYLOR, JAMES V. JEFFREYS, DIR., NE DOC
25-1173 HALL, JOHN E. V. EXPERIAN INFORMATION, ET AL.
827038
Jennifer Barry @jennisifire.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
I have come up with a plan to visit as many libraries as possible at Harvard while I'm there for the year. I'm ridiculously excited by this plan. Will all the libraries be relevant to my research? Absolutely not. But will I giddily wander about each one? Why yes, yes I will.
4120
Jennifer Barry @jennisifire.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
Proofs stress me out. It should be an exciting part of the publication process, but the formatting, the strange press rules on how to respond to a question, or add a correction just the right way, throws me off. Anyone else feel this way? I will take formatting footnotes over this phase any day.
291
Reposted by Jennifer Barry
Alex Burness @burness.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
I thought @chrisgeidner.bsky.social had a good piece on the National Guard in DC. He’s right about everything here. www.lawdork.com/p/one-year-i...
lawdork.com
One year in, Trump's troop deployment in D.C. is ongoing, unending, pointless — and very bad
The "America 250" flags are a particularly empty emblem on the uniforms of troops deployed on the streets of the nation's capital. And for paid subscribers: Closing my tabs.
27018
Reposted by Jennifer Barry
Eddie Meehan @eddiemeehan99.eurosky.social · 11/08/2026
Postdoc job alert! Early medieval charters, monastic economics and XML-TEI, starting January 2027. Come join a lovely department @livunihss.bsky.social, brilliant project team with @unituebingen.bsky.social and awesome city! #medievalsky #digitalhumanities www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DSO571/p...
jobs.ac.uk
Postdoctoral Research Associate at University of Liverpool
An opportunity for an academic position as a Postdoctoral Research Associate is available, as advertised on jobs.ac.uk. Apply now and explore other academic job openings.
03963
Reposted by Jennifer Barry
Ms. Magazine @msmagazine.com · 11/08/2026
If lawsuits attempting to restrict mifepristone succeed—or the FDA reinstates medically unnecessary restrictions on medication abortion—telehealth provider At Home Abortion has several options to continue ensuring patients in every U.S. state and territory have access to the care they need.
msmagazine.com
Built to Withstand Trump-Era Attacks on Mifepristone: New Telehealth Provider Serves All 50 States for Sliding-Scale Fee
Telehealth provider At Home Abortion just opened Aug. 11, but the six doctors and nurses running the service have over 100 years combined experience providing abortion and other reproductive…
02517
Jennifer Barry @jennisifire.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
She whispers to herself: “Am I the bad Guy?”
010
Reposted by Jennifer Barry
noam @noamchompers.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
many professors are calling it 'the least surprising result of all time'
231598332
Reposted by Jennifer Barry
Sarah E. Bond @sarahebond.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
Prof. Youssri Ezzat Hussein Abdelwahed has a new book out that looks extremely important: _Household Violence in Greco-Roman Egypt: Social, spatial, temporal, and material perspectives_ www.barpublishing.com/book/househo...
barpublishing.com
Household Violence in Greco-Roman Egypt - BAR Publishing
Drawing on papyrological evidence (especially legal petitions), this volume illuminates the social, spatial, temporal, and material realities of household violence in Greco-Roman Egypt from the fourth...
1399
Reposted by Jennifer Barry
And-Boo 👻 Jacobs (he/him) @drewjakeprof.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
coming in January from NAPS VP Beth Digeser! www.ucpress.edu/books/consta...
ucpress.edu
Constantine, the Once and Future King by Elizabeth Digeser - Hardcover
Scholarship is a powerful tool for changing how people think, plan, and govern. By giving voice to bright minds and bold ideas, we seek to foster understanding and drive progressive change.
1124
Reposted by Jennifer Barry
Alt National Park Service @altnps.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
Let’s see if Susan Collins stands by her “concerns”, or if she folds like she always does.
5633199582
Reposted by Jennifer Barry
Arrête Mark Carney ⚜️ @lalegault.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
Men who think the Epstein files are a “women’s issue,” aren’t smart enough to engage with.
18508110