iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Michael Freeman @michaelfreemanphd.bsky.social · 17/04/2026

Instead of formal respondents or panel chairs, we would have the all-important contributors who sit on a counter nearby and sip a glass of wine while they chat with us.

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Michael Freeman @michaelfreemanphd.bsky.social · 07/04/2026

Please consider supporting fellow Classicist @ericabridgesphd.bsky.social who has designed a beautiful and compelling Classics-inspired TTRPG: www.kickstarter.com/projects/hon... We need more creativity and art in times like these.

kickstarter.com

Nostos

a tabletop roleplaying game about sailing home and saying goodbye.

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Michael Freeman @michaelfreemanphd.bsky.social · 20/12/2025

I enjoyed having the chance to read the volume this summer! A number of the essays inspired me to rework sections of my own in-progress book.

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Michael Freeman @michaelfreemanphd.bsky.social · 11/12/2025

The ink is officially dry and I am thrilled to announce that my book “Hands That Write: The Training and Lived Experiences of Ancient Mediterranean Scribes” is under contract with OUP! @oxfordunipress.bsky.social Sincere thanks to the editors, readers and mentors who have supported this project.

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Michael Freeman @michaelfreemanphd.bsky.social · 11/12/2025

The ancient Egyptians maintained 12 months of exactly 30 days each by observing five intercalary days at the end of the year. These days existed outside of the standard reckoning of time and were essentially back-to-back feasts, and I feel this just perfectly captures the vibe of Dec. 26th-31st.

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Michael Freeman @michaelfreemanphd.bsky.social · 26/11/2025

That I’m not sure of! It’s not my field and I don’t know if anyone has made a comprehensive study of that question.

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Michael Freeman @michaelfreemanphd.bsky.social · 01/10/2025

It was an honor to have met this remarkable woman and to have hosted her as our annual orator years ago. May Dr. Jane Goodall rest peacefully in the Earth she fought so tirelessly to protect.

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Michael Freeman @michaelfreemanphd.bsky.social · 17/08/2025

Bare minimum for holding a conversation: Harry Truman, Doris Day, Red China, Johnnie Ray, South Pacific, Walter Winchell, Joe DiMaggio, Joe McCarthy, Richard Nixon, Studebaker, Television, North Korea, South Korea, Marilyn Monroe.

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Reposted by Michael Freeman

Lauren Donovan Ginsberg @laurenginsberg.bsky.social · 14/08/2025

“This week, Mellon Leadership Fellow and Nero scholar Lauren Donovan Ginsberg busts the myth of the useless humanist; a falsehood often used to justify cuts to humanities departments and programs today.”

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Reposted by Michael Freeman

Joseph Howley @illdottore.bsky.social · 30/07/2025

“I asked ChatGPT” yeah well I asked the beautifully coiffed snake god Glykon by submitting my query in writing to his prophet Alexander at the temple in Abonoteichos that has a back room nobody’s allowed to go into

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Michael Freeman @michaelfreemanphd.bsky.social · 22/07/2025

A number of credit unions, grant programs (etc.) offer Zero-Down programs for buyers with decent credit scores. The buyer just has to be willing to accept a hike in rates, which could price them out of some houses. All bets are off in one is in California or a posh suburb, of course.

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Michael Freeman @michaelfreemanphd.bsky.social · 05/05/2025

I’m really proud of my article, “The Body of the Scribe,” which will be appearing in CJ 120.4—give the issue a read!

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Michael Freeman @michaelfreemanphd.bsky.social · 06/04/2025

I once ventured on to a former campus for a meeting while using the scooter and it was appalling how challenging it was to get from A to B. One had to use such a roundabout route, far more planning and exertion, and often there was no truly accessible way to get to most major buildings.

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Michael Freeman @michaelfreemanphd.bsky.social · 06/04/2025

Is a knee scooter an option? For around the house stuff especially I found that vastly preferable to a crutch.

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Michael Freeman @michaelfreemanphd.bsky.social · 30/03/2025

I came to say the say thing! To me it also looks like “De profundis…” I can make out part of the illuminated D followed by an enlarged E and then p..f…is.

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Michael Freeman @michaelfreemanphd.bsky.social · 23/03/2025

Someone 4,000 years in the future: “Based on unopened letters addressed this early 21st century CE man, it seems he was part of an ancient ritual cult dedicated to “extending your home’s warranty.”

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Michael Freeman @michaelfreemanphd.bsky.social · 19/03/2025

🚨Classics Job Opportunity Alert🚨 If anyone in my network is interested in teaching Latin in a K-12 setting and is open to relocation (to the American Southwest), I have eyes on a great opportunity for you. DM me for details!

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Reposted by Michael Freeman

Bethany Wasik @bethanywasik.bsky.social · 05/03/2025

FYI #AncientBlueSky: An excellent BMCR review of Raffaella Cribiore's "Listening to the Philosophers" is here, describing it as "fearless, insightful, lucid, & thought-provoking." bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2025/2025.03... And, more at @cornellupress.bsky.social: www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501...

A book cover with an image of a statue in a thinking posture, with the title at top reading "Listening to the Philosophers: Notes on Notes" and author name "Raffaella Cribiore" underneath.

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Michael Freeman @michaelfreemanphd.bsky.social · 19/02/2025

Update 2.0: Tomlin (2011, p.147-8) muses on alternatives to the reed pen, including metal pens and quills, but notes that no evidence for quills has been found at Vindolanda.

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Michael Freeman @michaelfreemanphd.bsky.social · 19/02/2025

Update: While doing research for another project, I was reminded of an article by Tomlin where it is suggested that there might be some material evidence of quills at Vindolanda—I will take a look at this as soon as I can get ahold of it and get back with you.

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Michael Freeman @michaelfreemanphd.bsky.social · 11/02/2025

Washington is Constantinople (artificially selected new capital named after recent ruler; becomes synonymous with decadence, wealth and power) Philadelphia is Rome (original imperial capital; seen better days but has an abundance of character; modern seat of important religious figure (Gritty))

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Michael Freeman @michaelfreemanphd.bsky.social · 11/02/2025

Boston is Syracuse (important, central city for early group of colonists) New York is Alexandria (regional capital, for a time, and maritime center of trade and culture) Los Angeles is Antioch (key regional city elevated to global prominence during expansion of borders and trade)

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Michael Freeman @michaelfreemanphd.bsky.social · 10/02/2025

Colleagues deeper in the weeds with paleographic research might have some more granular suggestions.

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Michael Freeman @michaelfreemanphd.bsky.social · 10/02/2025

The first thing I would do is look at the hand for sudden transitions between broad and hairline-thin strokes, typical of a “calligraphic” majuscule book-hand, but executed on a smaller-than-typical scale, e.g. with character size and/or stroke width a fraction of the average dimensions.

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Michael Freeman @michaelfreemanphd.bsky.social · 09/02/2025

Hope this is helpful! I’d always be interested in hearing any evidence to the contrary of anyone on here has it!

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Michael Freeman @michaelfreemanphd.bsky.social · 09/02/2025

None of this necessarily means that it did not ever happen (I’m sure some Roman at some point wrote something with the tip of a dagger, the edge of a broken pot, a scrap of marble, etc.) but the absence of any such evidence seems enough to conclude it was not common scribal practice.

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Michael Freeman @michaelfreemanphd.bsky.social · 09/02/2025

Perhaps the biggest tell: no papyri from this earlier period have the features of being inscribed with a quill.

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Michael Freeman @michaelfreemanphd.bsky.social · 09/02/2025

We’ve not found evidence of quills among writing equipment, even in contexts where materials not typically preserved (wood, leather) do survive. We don’t see them in extant images of Roman scribal kits, in reliefs or author portraits, and as far as I know we don’t hear them mentioned in any text.

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Reposted by Michael Freeman

Rwany Sibaja @rwanysibaja.bsky.social · 26/10/2023

Reminder: we're hiring in the Dept. of History at Appalachian State University. TT line at Asst. Professor level. Must be able to teach courses in history (area of specialization open), as well as in history/social studies education. #skystorians #academicsky careers.historians.org/jobs/rss/191...

careers.historians.org

Assistant Professor, History/Social Studies Education in Boone, NC for Appalachian State University

Exciting opportunity in Boone, NC for Appalachian State University as a Assistant Professor, History/Social Studies Education

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Michael Freeman @michaelfreemanphd.bsky.social · 26/10/2023

Duke Classical Studies has a funded Bridge Program and I would encourage them to apply if they feel it is a good fit for them. There is the Classical Studies Postbacc at Penn, though it will be very languages focused.

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Reposted by Michael Freeman

Aparna Nair @disabilitystor1.bsky.social · 13/10/2023

Many of us seem to have opinions about this particular historical moment and I really don’t know if the majority of those opinions need to be in the public sphere. I certainly have nothing useful to say, except that I can’t sleep thinking of the innocents who died and will die. And that’s it, really

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Michael Freeman @michaelfreemanphd.bsky.social · 01/10/2023

There are no possessions or copyrights here in Cloud Cuckoo Land—what’s mine is yours.

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Michael Freeman @michaelfreemanphd.bsky.social · 30/09/2023

Lookout kid, it’s somethin’ Fleur did…

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Michael Freeman @michaelfreemanphd.bsky.social · 30/09/2023

You could make a Roman edition of “Subterranean Homesick Blues” just by reading from Wheelock: “Poets in the forum are standing on the pediment.” “Girls in the patria praise the Roman government.” “The man and the sailor see old books there.” “The wisdom of the farmer cannot help the magister.”

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Michael Freeman @michaelfreemanphd.bsky.social · 30/09/2023

I think we’ve missed a real opportunity by not branding “ClassicsBlueSky” as “CloudCuckooLand”

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Michael Freeman @michaelfreemanphd.bsky.social · 25/09/2023

“The <Stonehenge monuments> are artifacts of Western civilization, and their inheritors include me and you, the Greeks and the Brits, and others besides… There’s no good reason why any of these various origins should take moral priority.” There’s a spot in Athens that would display & keep them well

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Michael Freeman @michaelfreemanphd.bsky.social · 18/09/2023

Typhon’s side hustle: making souvenir rocks for tourists in Sicily.

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Michael Freeman @michaelfreemanphd.bsky.social · 15/09/2023

I think the less nuanced answer is “Both acted awfully;” the more nuanced answer is “Both acted according to Greek ideas of “strength”: wholly in self-interest with no regard for how their pride, posturing, and power-games might affect those they deemed lesser—just like the ‘shithead’ gods do.”

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Michael Freeman @michaelfreemanphd.bsky.social · 13/09/2023

Spider(o)man: A sad version of Spiderman where Pliny the Elder gets superpowers from a spider bite and so catalogues every known spider to figure out which one bit him.

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