Sign in

Dr Thomas R.P. Coward

@tomcoward.bsky.social
407 followers 337 following 184 posts

Teaching Associate at the University of Nottingham. Writing a commentary on the Hesiodic Catalogue. Also works on the intellectual history of ancient Rhodes, and the Herculaneum papyri.

PostsRepliesMedia
Dr Thomas R.P. Coward @tomcoward.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Obituary for my late father in the 'Munk's Roll' @rcphysicians.bsky.social. The renal unit named after him provides dialysis and support for patients and families. He is sorely missed; yet his contributions to medicine and patient care will be long lasting. history.rcp.ac.uk/inspiring-ph...
Exterior of a single floor building 'Bod Coward Renal Centre Blackpool'. Two cars parked in front. Blue sky with some clouds. A photograph
030
Dr Thomas R.P. Coward @tomcoward.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
An interesting experiment which may help in unwrapping further Herculaneum scrolls. (Also it's nice to be quoted!)
081
Dr Thomas R.P. Coward @tomcoward.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
Happy to have contributed a small part to this news piece. #papyri #Herculaneum #ClassicsBluesky #AncientBluesky
0134
Dr Thomas R.P. Coward @tomcoward.bsky.social · 22/06/2026
On my way back to Naples. Five days on Herculaneum and its papyri. New finds to be announced. Programme and link below. #Herculaneumpapyri #ClassicsBluesky #AncientBluesky cispe.org/la-biblioteca-eterna-convegno-internazionale-napoli-22-26-giugno-2026/
Vesuvius Challenge
NAPOLI 
22-26 Giugno 2026
La Biblioteca Eterna I Papiri di ErcolanoLunedi 22 giugno 2026
Dipartimento di Studi Umanistici deil Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico Il
Via Porta di Massa. 1 - Aula Plovani (Scala C - 3" livello)
Presiede Giovanni Indelli | Centro internazionale per lo Studio dei Papiri Ercolanesi Marcello Gigante'
15:00
Saluti istituzionali: Matteo Lorito / Rettore dell'Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico Il
Andrea Mazzucchi | Direttore del Dipartimento di Studi Umanistici
Chiara Renda i Responsabie della Sezione di Scienze dell'Antichita
15:30
Introduzione Federica Nicolardi | Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico il
Presiede Francesca G. Masi | Università Cal Foscari Venezia
15:45
Marwan Rashed | Centre Leon Robin, CNRS 1 Sorbonne Université
Le statut de l'infinité du Tout chez Epicure
16:15
Federico G. Corsi I Università degli Studi di Torino
Elementi per una riconsiderazione sull'identità di Apollofane in PHerc. 19/698 col. 18a-b
16:45
Pausa catté
Presiede Stefan Schorn I KU Leuven
17:15
Kilian Fleischer | Eberhard-Karts-Universitat Tübingen
The New Edition of the History of the Stoa according to Philodemus (Index Stoicorum - PHerc. 1018)
17:45
Jeffrey Fish i Bayior University
On Trumphing over a Fallen Enemy: Cicero, Piso and Philodemus' On the Good King According to
Homer
Martedi 23 giugno 2026
versità degli Studi di Napoli Federico II

Dipartimento di Studi Umanistici dell'Uni

Presiede Dino De Sanctis | Università degli Studi della Tuscia
10:00
Michael McOsker | University College London
Prose Rhythm in Philodemus' On Poems
10:30
Thomas Coward I University of Bristol
The Catalogue of Hermes' and Hephaestus' "lovers" (PHerc. 243 fr. 2)
11:00
Pausa caffè
Presiede Giuliana Leone | Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico Il
11:30
Tiziano Dorandi | Centre Leon Robin, CNRS
Genesi e composizione del lepi Kaki di Filodemo
12:00
David Blank 1 University of Califomia, Los Angeles Philodemus' On Flattery
12:30
Daniel Delattre | IRHT, CNAS
Réexamen critique des reconstructions bibliologiques publiées du …Presiede Lidia Palumbo / Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico IL
15:00
Jürgen Hammerstaedt 1 Universitat zu Köin
Emidio Spinelli | Sapienza Università di Roma
Francesco Verde I Sapienza Università di Roma
Un nuovo volume di studi sul De signis di Filodemo
16:00
Pausa catte
Presiede Tiziano Dorandi 1 Centre Léon Robin, CNAS
Pierre-Marie Morel Université Paris 1 - Panthéon-Sorbonne
L'ambiguità della politica epicurea. Alcune osservazioni su Filodemo
17:00
Christian Vassallo | Università degli Studi di Torino
Rotoli stoici a Ercolano
Mercoledi 24 giugno 2026

Dipartimento di Studi Umanistici dell'Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II
Via Porta di Massa, 1 - Aula Piovani (Scala C - 3" livello)

Presiede Margherita Erbi I Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna
9:30
Roger Macfarlane | Brigham Young University
New-Light Readings of PHerc. 21 and the Purported Discovery of Ennius Annales at Herculaneum
10:00
Valeria Piano / Università degli Studi di Firenze
PHerc. 817: Bibliological and Textual Insights
10:30
Presiede Paola D'Alconzo / Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico Il
11:00
Antonio De Simone / Università degli Studi Suor Orsola Benincasa
La Villa dei Papiri: bilanci e prospettive

11:30 Maria Paola Guidobaldi I Istituto Centrale per la Valorizzazione Economica e la Promozione det
Articolazione architettonica e decorativa di una residenza di lusso affacciata sul mare: la Villa dei Papiri di Ercolano
12:00
Carol Mattusch | George Mason University
Herculaneum before the Papyri
12:30
Kenneth Lapatin J. Paul Getty Museum
The Appiades of Stephanos in Herculaneum and Rome: a New Identification of the Bronze "Dancers"
from the Villa dei Papiri
13:00
Pranzo
Presiede Mariacristina Fimiani 1 Centro Internazionale per lo Studio dei Papiri Ercolanesi "Marcello Gigante'

14:30 Holger Essler / Universitat Heidelberg
Layout Analysis of Papyri Unrolled with Piaggio's macchina
15:00
Lorenzo Angiolini | Bundesanstalt für Matoriallorschung und -prüfung

Jürgen Hamme…Giovedi 25 giugno 2026
Biblioteca Nazionale di Napoli "Vittorio Emanuele Il"
9:30 Conferenza stampa
11:30
Pausa caffe
12:15
Presiede Brent Seales / University of Kentucky
Sean Johnson I Vesuvius Challenge Youssef Nader I Vesuvius Challenge:
Resurrecting Ancient Scrolls: Advances in ink Detection and Virtual Unwrapping
Discute Gianluca Del Mastro I Università degli Studi della Campania Luigi Vanviteli
14:15
Marzia D'Angelo | Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico Il
Alessia Lavorante I Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico Il
Rossella Villa / Università degli Studi di Salemo
Presentation of New Results from Virtual Unwrapping, Part |
Discute Jürgen Hammerstaedt | Universitat zu Köin.
15:00
Maria Chiara Robustelli | Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico Il
Claudio Vergara | Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico Il Presentation of New Results from Virtual Unwrapping, PartI!:
Venerdi 26 giugno 2026
Reggia di Portici, Via Università, 100 - Sala cinese
Presiede Christy Chapman | University of Kentucky
10:00
Seth Parker i University of Kentucky
Next-generation Digital Representations of the Opened Herculaneum Papyri
10:30 Brent Seales I University of Kentucky
Virtually Unwrapping the Herculaneum Collection: The Path Forward
11:00
Pausa caffè
Tavola Rotonda Silvia Scipioni / Biblioteca Nazionale di Napoli Vittorio Emanuele Ii" Francesco Sirano | Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli (MANN)
Alison Cooley 1 University of Warwick, The Herculaneum Society
Roger Macfarlane I Brigham Young University
Giovanni Indelli i Centro Internazionale per lo Studio del Papiri Ercolanesi "Marcello Gigante'
12:30
Saluti finali
Mauro Tulli | Università di Pisa
3101
Dr Thomas R.P. Coward @tomcoward.bsky.social · 15/06/2026
Next week I am speaking at ‘The Eternal Library. The Herculaneum Papyri Through the Centuries and in the Digital Future’ conference in Naples. More importantly there will be a press conference announcing further results of Virtual Unwrapping. Programme + streaming links below. 1/2 #ClassicsBluesky
120
Dr Thomas R.P. Coward @tomcoward.bsky.social · 06/04/2026
Heading to Salt Lake City to speak at ‘The Buried Library: Herculaneum Papyri and AI’ conference. Programme in the QR code below. #ClassicsBluesky #AncientBluesky
Poster showing a volcano erupting with digital modelling for part of the slopes. Text reads:

APRIL 7-10
UNLOCKING ANCIENT
TEXTS WITH AI

THE BURIED LIBRARY
HERCULANEUM PAPYRI AND AI CONFERENCE

QR code on image contains link to programme and here https://www.uvu.edu/philhum/herculaneum/

engage.uvu. edu/scrolls
051
Dr Thomas R.P. Coward @tomcoward.bsky.social · 27/03/2026
A pleasure and an honour to give a paper on the Hesiodic Catalogue at the University of Bologna @unibo.it where i was an Erasmus exchange student many years ago and where I was first trained to handle papyri. #ClassicsBluesky #AncientBluesky
Seminar poster. 

FICLIT - CONVEGNI E SEMINARI
UNIVERSITÀ DI BOLOGNA
FLCCB 2025/2026
Cido di conforenzo a sominuri
VENERDÌ 27 MARZO ORE 11, AULA TRAINA (VIA ZAMBONI 32) E SU MICROSOFT TEAMS

THOMAS COWARD
(UNIVERSITY OF BRISTOL)
The ending of the Hesiodic Catalogue of WomenVia Zamboni 32 building sign. 
ALMA MATER STUDIORUM UNIVERSITA DI BOLOGNA
DIPARTIMENTO DI FILOLOGIA CLASSICA E ITALIANISTICA
32Front of the incomplete Basilico di San Petronio. Because a pope would not allow a basilica to be bigger than St Peter’sThe Two Towers of Bologna. One leaning more perilously than the other.
130
Dr Thomas R.P. Coward @tomcoward.bsky.social · 24/03/2026
Visiting the Istituto Papirologico "G.Vitelli" in Florence for the first time. Several Hesiodic papyri to examine and some dubia. Topics include the funeral games of Oedipus, the story of Peleus, and the daughters of Leucon take care of the infant Dionysus. #ClassicsBluesky #AncientBluesky
A lion statue in an upright position with its paw on the crest of the city of Florence. Taken outside the Palazzo Vecchio.Metal door plate inscribed with ‘Istituto Papirologico "G.Vitelli"’A table with several papyri of different shapes and sizes in glass plates. Books, pencils, rulers and magnifiers as well.A table with a binocular microscope with a papyrus in a glass plate underneath. A laptop to the left and other tools to the right.
050
Reposted by Dr Thomas R.P. Coward
ClassiCult @classicult.it · 19/01/2026
Durante gli scavi legati alla riqualificazione di piazza Andrea Costa, è stata identificata con la basilica romana descritta da Vitruvio, con pianta rettangolare e colonnato perimetrale. #archeologia #Fano #Marche Leggi su ClassiCult: www.classicult.it/basilica-des...
classicult.it
Basilica descritta da Vitruvio nel 'De Architectura' emerge dagli scavi a Fano
La Basilica descritta da Vitruvio nel 'De Architectura' emerge dagli scavi a Fano, unico edificio attribuibile con certezza all’architetto
021
Dr Thomas R.P. Coward @tomcoward.bsky.social · 14/01/2026
Further progress with P.Herc. 172 (Phld. On Vices 1 or 4?). A roll held in Oxford. 7 metres of the lower portions of columns of text 'unwrapped'. #ClassicsBluesky #AncientBluesky scrollprize.substack.com/p/70-of-pher...
scrollprize.substack.com
~70% of PHerc. 172 is now digitally unwrapped
Automatic unwrapping is starting to kick in
161
Dr Thomas R.P. Coward @tomcoward.bsky.social · 15/12/2025
A very enjoyable day and a half spent at the 'Other Pindars: a Conference on the Fragments' in Cambridge. A follow up to the one held in Naples a year ago. (Also it was not held at the Faculty but at Trinity College which is a plus!) #ClassicsBluesky #AncientBluesky
Conference Programme

Other Pindars: a Conference on the Fragments

The Winstanley Lecture Theatre, Trinity College, Cambridge

Thursday December 11

Chair: Giambattista D’Alessio
9:00 – 10:00 Theodora Hadjimichael: ‘Thrēnoi and mourning: an anatomy of a genre’
10:00 – 11:00 Peter Wilson: ‘Spending time in the agora with Pindar and Korinna: Pindar fr. 94d SM = Korinna 688 PMG’
11:00 – 12:00 Peter Agócs: ‘Pindar’s Aeginetan fragments’
12:00 – 1:00 Ian Rutherford: ‘Pindar and the source of the Nile (fr. 282 SM)’

Chair: Lucia Prauscello
2:45 – 3:45 Barbara Kowalzig: ‘Pindar and wine’
3:45 – 4:45 Federico Della Rossa: ‘Poetry and mediation: the case of Paean 2’
4:45 – 5:45 Timothy Power: ‘Pindaric songlines: sound, space, and time in Paean 5 and other fragments.’
5:45 – 6:45 Enrico Prodi: ‘Pindar and the cult of heroes: the Prosodia’

Friday December 12
Chair: Richard Hunter
9:30 – 10:30 Leslie Kurke: ‘Pindar fr. 123 SM: Melting like wax and the beloved as agalma’
10:30 – 11:30 Giambattista D’Alessio: ‘On the Second Athenian Dithyramb’

11:45 – 1:00 Round Table Discussion of pre-circulated Papers from Naples workshop
(D’Alessio, Presutti, Prodi, Recchia, Spelman, Wilson)Wooden panelled lecture room with white ceiling. Seating in the foreground, screen, lectern and stage in the background. Conference delegates chatting amongst themselves and mingling. View across the Great Court at Trinity College Cambridge. Foreground in shadow, background bathed in warm sunlight with blue sky and wispy white clouds. The Chapel Fountain is just off centre in front of the Great Gate with the King's Gate and Chapel to the left. View through a doorway of an entrance hall with fireplace and lit fire in the background. To the right of the fireplace is a tall and decorated Christmas tree and in front of the tree is a round table and underneath it is a bronze statue of a bulldog with a Santa hat on its head. The floor is a patterned blue carpet.
050
Reposted by Dr Thomas R.P. Coward
ClassiCult @classicult.it · 05/12/2025
Un nuovo e straordinario rinvenimento archeologico all’interno della città etrusca di Vulci è stato presentato oggi a Roma. Si tratta della testa in marmo greco di una fanciulla (Kore) rinvenuta nel sito laziale. #archeologia #Etruschi #Lazio Leggi su ClassiCult: www.classicult.it/vulci-citysc...
classicult.it
Vulci Cityscape: presentato al MiC il ritrovamento di una testa di Kore
Vulci Cityscape: il nuovo ritrovamento archeologico all’interno della città etrusca di Vulci della testa in marmo di una fanciulla (Kore)
121
Dr Thomas R.P. Coward @tomcoward.bsky.social · 04/12/2025
Very happy to celebrate the book launch for my dear friend and former co-editor, Rosa Andújar, last night at KCL. Her book, 'Playing the Chorus in Greek Tragedy', now sits pride of place next to the one we co-edited years ago. Congratulations Rosa! Link to Rosa's book: doi.org/10.1017/9781...
Front cover of the book Andújar, Rosa (2025), Playing the Chorus in Greek Tragedy (Cambridge).
https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009653626

Cover image: Attic red-figure astragalos attributed to the Sotades Painter, ca. 470–450 BCE. London, The British Museum, 1860, 1201.2.
https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/G_1860-1201-2
Copy of Rosa's book (Playing the Chorus in Greek Tragedy) next to its prequel which she co-edited (Paths of Song, https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110575910) on a bookshelfPhotograph of Rosa Andújar and Thomas Coward (both smiling!) at the book launch at KCL.
020
Reposted by Dr Thomas R.P. Coward
Bristol IGRCT @igrct.bsky.social · 04/12/2025
We are very excited to announce that Professor Shelley Hales, IGRCT board member has just published "Mirrors and Masks in the Roman Empire: Encounter, Performance, and Metamorphosis" with Bloomsbury. www.bloomsbury.com/uk/mirrors-a...
The cover of the book, featuring a bronze mask.
122
Dr Thomas R.P. Coward @tomcoward.bsky.social · 23/11/2025
A week spent in a chilly Oxford with the papyri. #ClassicsBluesky #AncientBluesky
View from Magdalen bridge. Frost on the bridge. Below various punts stationed in rows on the river. Bare trees line the banks with the morning sun peering through the trees on the left bank. Blue sky A papyrus in a glass plate underneath a microscope on a table. To the right two books open.View of the Radcliffe Camera on a winter morning. Azure blue sky without clouds. Two cyclists going by on the cobbles.A Greek epigram from July 1964 memorialising Paul Maas. Found in the scrapbook of Maurice Platnauer.
070
Dr Thomas R.P. Coward @tomcoward.bsky.social · 07/11/2025
Very happy to see this documentary, for which I was one of consultants, will be broadcast tomorrow.
Transmission Card: 'Bettany Hughes' Treasures of the World Series 4. RHODES: ISLAND OF LIGHT. 

7pm, Saturday 8 November on Channel 4

Bettany Hughes, TV presenter and writer, stands on a staircase leading up the garden at the Archaeological Museum on Rhodes. Stone steps with plants and trees in the background, pots and lemon tree in the foreground. Bettany Hughes standing centre with blue coat and turquoise shawl.
060
Dr Thomas R.P. Coward @tomcoward.bsky.social · 01/10/2025
Back to Naples to speak at a conference on Herculaneum Papyri and Epicurean Theology with a visit to the MANN and a day at the Officina 1/2 #ClassicsBluesky #AncientBluesky
View from one side of the bay of Naples looking towards Mt Vesuvius over the water with a cloud passing over the peak. Blue sky otherwise with some haze.

Foreground is a pier with a rock shingle with some boats. On the pier a man has emerged from swimming and is playing with his four dogs which his partner has walked down to the pier. Two women sitting on the edge of the pier look towards the scene as the dogs prance and jump and scamper.Updated shrine in the Toledo commemorating Napoli FC winning Serie A for a fourth time. Funerary notice for Milan football teams, a plastic bag full of rubbish to represent Juventus. A picture of Maradona with Vesuvius in the background. Cardboard cut outs of the two winning players for the third and four league wins. Football memorabilia with Italian flag crests with numbers 3 and 4 on them. Cast bronze of a satyr riding a wine sack as a horse. Conference programme 

NUOVI TESTI PER VECCHI PROBLEMI.
UN DIALOGO TRA PAPIROLOGIA E STORIA DELLA FILOSOFIA SULLA TEOLOGIA EPICUREA
29 settembre 2025
Dipartimento di Studi Umanistici, Università degli Studi Federico II
Via Porta di Massa, 1 - Aula DSU 5 (Scala C - 2° piano - 4° livello)
online: meet.google.com/ywt-adgs-kuy
SALUTI E INTRODUZIONE AI LAVORI
9:30 - 10:00 | Andrea Mazzucchi (Direttore del DSU); Chiara Renda (Responsabile della Sezione di Scienze dell'Antichità del DSU)
Giuliana Leone (Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II); Marzia D'Angelo (Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II); Enrico Piergiacomi (Technion - Israel Institute of Technology)
PRIMA SESSIONE. Novità dai papiri ercolanesi teologici
Presiede: Giuliana Leone (Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II)
10:00 - 10:45 | Marzia D'Angelo (Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II)
Il primo libro Sugli dei di Filodemo nel progetto LACUNA 10:45 - 11:30 | Holger Essler (Universität Würzburg)
Aus der Arbeit an der Neuausgabe von PHerc. 152/157
11:30 - 12:00 | Pausa caffè
12:00 - 12:45 | Claudio Vergara (Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II)
Anus fatidica Pronoea: la nuova edizione de La provvidenza di Filodemo 12:45 - 13:30 | Thomas Coward (University of Bristol)
An unpublished column in Philodemus On Piety: On the Nature of the Gods in Socrates and Plato?
13:30 - 14:45 | Pausa pranzo
SECONDA SESSIONE. Aspetti della teologia epicurea: ricostruzione, analisi, ricezione
Presiede: Lidia Palumbo (Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II)
14:45 - 15:30 | Francesco Verde (Sapienza Università di Roma)
Epicuro e la "teologia" del Timeo 15:30 - 16:15 | Giulia Scalas (CNRS - Centre Léon Robin)
Il piacere continuo: virtù e beatitudine nella teologia epicurea 16:15 - 17:00 | Enrico Piergiacomi (Technion - Israel Institute of Technology)
Emanazioni migliori. Epicuro, Attico e i viventi irrazionali
160
Dr Thomas R.P. Coward @tomcoward.bsky.social · 26/09/2025
A recent trip to London and Oxford for even more papyri (with Tosca hosting in the latter) 1/2
A library with brown varnished wooden bookcases, green and gold wallpaper and carpet with leather chairs and small wooden tables. View of Senate House Library in Bloomsbury, London. White art deco skyscraper.View of Braesnose College quad with Radcliffe Camera in the background. Foreground has large green grass. Weather cloudy but bright.Tosca a black and white cat sitting in a wooden chair with bed basket and red blanket. Cat is looking through a bay window down towards a garden with trees and bushes. Sky blue with some clouds.
130
Dr Thomas R.P. Coward @tomcoward.bsky.social · 30/07/2025
Another week spent in the Papyrology rooms @bodartlib.bsky.social and other nearby places. #ClassicsBluesky #AncientBluesky
A table. On it a piece of papyrus in a glass plate held together by bull clips under a binocular microscope with LED ring light. Digital infra red microscope is on top of the plate attached to a computer. To the right several books including an increasingly annotated copy of Merkelbach-West.Tosca the black and white cat with half white moustache and her purple brush sitting upright on a table.  View of the lake at Worcester College Oxford. Large lake in foreground with lily pads and surrounded by trees with a blue sky with patchy white clouds An oval box made of silver containing cheese crackers. Dedication by William Force Stead, an American priest, diplomat and poet who was friends with Elliot and Yeats. The now cracker box commemorates the Anglo-American victory in WW2.
171
Dr Thomas R.P. Coward @tomcoward.bsky.social · 16/06/2025
A week in the P.Oxy. collection ahead. But said hullo to the On Vices roll beforehand.
Papyri in glass plates on a table. One under a LED ring microscope. Computer and critical edition next to the plates. Collations being taken and checked.Carbonised Herculaneum papyrus roll in a 3D printed case. On display in the Weston Library in Oxford. Recent identified as a book of Philodemus’ On Vices.

The label reads:

102
Preserved by fire
The eruption of Vesuvius near Naples in the year 79 killed the citizens of the Roman holiday town of Herculaneum but preserved their belongings - carbonized. What looks like a charred lump is in fact a burnt scroll, from a rich private library in the city. Unread for more than 2000 years, its content is now opening to modern imaging technology: the mute treasure l l l reveals its secret: a lost work of the Hellenistic philosopher Philodemus.
MS. Gr. class. f. 25 (P). Philodemus, On vices (Herculaneum (?). before 79).View of Radcliffe camera from Braesnose College.Evening sunset from the Bisney area of Oxford on the way back from The Perch. River view reflecting the dusk light with tree in outline and shadow on the left.
060
Reposted by Dr Thomas R.P. Coward
Dr Ellie Mackin Roberts @elliemackinroberts.net · 11/06/2025
Hey look! My new article on the #Parthenon Frieze has been published! (Also; it’s open access!) #ClassicsBluesky
cambridge.org
(RE)APPRAISING THE PARTHENON FRIEZE: ‘DIVINESPACE’ AND ‘MORTALSPACE’ | The Classical Quarterly | Cambridge Core
(RE)APPRAISING THE PARTHENON FRIEZE: ‘DIVINESPACE’ AND ‘MORTALSPACE’
14213
Dr Thomas R.P. Coward @tomcoward.bsky.social · 07/05/2025
Hortus Botanicus Leiden
Tree in centre with large canopy casting a partial shadow over a large bed of mainly white flowers. Green trees and bushes in the backgroundA reconstruction of an apiary from 1595. A collection of six round beehives made of wicker on wooden shelves. Three on each shelf. View towards the Chinese garden with thin bamboo sticks framing the photo. Down the middle are a series of Chinese pots with dragon decorations and small tree planted in them. A criss cross pathway with landscaped bedding plants and trees.View of a Mediterranean garden with green plants and olive tree. The garden is placed along a river bank lined with trees and gardens and university buildings. Boats are moored up along the river. A couple of clouds in the sky.
020
Dr Thomas R.P. Coward @tomcoward.bsky.social · 07/05/2025
On the first research trip from @clahbristol.bsky.social to @unileiden.bsky.social. I am examining P.Turner 1, a papyrus preserving over 100 lines of the Hesiodic Catalogue. I’ll also be giving a lecture and running a workshop on Herculaneum papyri. #ClassicsBluesky #AncientBluesky
View of Leiden overlooking a canal. Wooden windmill to the left, a brick building in the middle ground and green and leafy banks on either side with boats moored up.Four pieces of papyrus with Greek writing in a glass plate on a table. To its left a set of callipers and a magnifier. Verdant green riverbanks with a large windmill on the right painted with the flag of the Netherlands. On the near right bank some birds with younglings. In the middle a motor boat moves down the river.
040
Dr Thomas R.P. Coward @tomcoward.bsky.social · 10/04/2025
Spent the last three days in the Officina to go over several papyri with the new infrareds and virtual models, and see how things are progressing with the next phase of imaging.
View of Vesuvius with a Fiat Panda Van in the foregroundHerculaneum papyrus under LED ring microscope. On a table with laptop and callipers to the right.Herculaneum papyrus roll being prepared for imaging in a box.3D printed copy of a carbonised papyrus roll in the hand of the photographer
021
Dr Thomas R.P. Coward @tomcoward.bsky.social · 06/04/2025
Cagliari archaeological museum: some Nuragic highlights. 1/6 #ClassicsBluesky #AncientBluesky
Nuragic giant stone statue: archer.Nuragic giant stone statue: boxer.Nora stone. Punic inscription which mentions SardiniaNuragic bronze statuette
171
Dr Thomas R.P. Coward @tomcoward.bsky.social · 05/04/2025
Nora 1/3
View of Nora looking south View of Nora. Processional way southwards Nora on the west side. Remains of bath house wall with red poppies growing in the foreground. The sea is in the distance View of Nora towards the west. Mountains in the background with sea in the middle. Foreground remains of elite housing with tetrastyle atrium.
110
Dr Thomas R.P. Coward @tomcoward.bsky.social · 05/04/2025
Cagliari 1/2
View from the harbour of Cagliari towards the mountains. Small boats to the left and right. Open sea in the middle ground. Mountains with clouds above in the distance.A street in Cagliari heading up to the castello Front of the church of San Michele.Book shelf holding copies of a very big and heavy book on cheeses of Sardinia.
1110
Dr Thomas R.P. Coward @tomcoward.bsky.social · 04/02/2025
Not exactly “Breaking News”, but as of this month, I am now a Marie-Curie Research Fellow @clahbristol.bsky.social.
0110
Dr Thomas R.P. Coward @tomcoward.bsky.social · 17/01/2025
Farewell Rome 1/4
View down Via dei Fori Imperiali towards the Colosseum. View from the Tullianum in a gap between two arches looking towards the Forum Romanum an Alban Hills. The arch of Titus is in the middle ground.Two black cats sprawled on the ruins of a Roman temple. One cat looks up towards the other who is on a higher placed stone.Fragments of a fresco quoting Callimachus’ epigrams from the Horti Maecenatiani, on the outer wall of the Auditorium (1874).
160
Dr Thomas R.P. Coward @tomcoward.bsky.social · 11/01/2025
#caturday
Close up photograph of striped cat standing on the ledge of some steps and looking directly at camera. Circular mid republican temple with several restored columns on one side. Black cat walking across in front of the temple. White cat with patches of stripes sitting to the right of a large white column base. A calico cat standing upright with tail over front paws. Behind is a metal grating and to the cat’s right are some brick steps.
050
Dr Thomas R.P. Coward @tomcoward.bsky.social · 29/12/2024
RHS Bridgewater
Ellesmere Lake at RHS Bridgewater. Lake with squadrons of ducks and coots going across. Line of trees in the background with slithers of yellow sun peaking through the clouds.Chinese garden at RHS Bridgewater. A round Robin in full songView across the herbal garden in winter
050
Dr Thomas R.P. Coward @tomcoward.bsky.social · 26/12/2024
Winter moments.
Black cat with white socks walking in front of St Wilfrid's Church in Ribchester, which is built on top of the praetorium of a Roman fort.A crisp winter morning. View of green countryside with the morning sun partially obscured by thinning clouds. Background of black spindly trees and bushes in the background. Morning dew and frost across the grass. Yellow sun and patches of blue sky. Low lying mist covers the ground with a path on the right and trees on the left. A dog in the middle presents the chosen festive stick to their humans walking down the country path.View of a bank of the river Ribble taken from the opposite bank. The bank is steep with a flat field higher up with hills and pylons behind the field. Several sheep populate the field and some have ventured down the river bank
040
Dr Thomas R.P. Coward @tomcoward.bsky.social · 18/12/2024
A day trip to Milan to examine two Hesiodic papyri. Very nice to be shown around the collection including seeing the Milan Posidippus. #ClassicsBluesky #AncientBluesky
View into the main courtyard of Milan’s Statale UniversityTable with laptop, microscope, digital UV camera, book, and two papyri in glass plates.
000
Dr Thomas R.P. Coward @tomcoward.bsky.social · 16/12/2024
In the Officina for the last time this year: one more check of circumferences and stratigraphy.
View of Mt Vesuvius from in front of the Biblioteca Nazionale di Napoli Vittorio Emanuele III. Clear blue sky in the early morning sunlight adds vibrant colours to the sea and land. Tennis court by a marina with yachts in the foreground: bay of Naples in the middle and Vesuvius against a clear blue sky in the background frame by two trees in the foregroundOfficina sign in desk with small Christmas tree and Befana hanging from a picture frame View inside officina reading room. A rectangular room with red metal bookcases and shelving poles with tables in front of them. In the foreground Cornice on a table with callipers and microscope. Computer open with digital maquette on display.
030
Dr Thomas R.P. Coward @tomcoward.bsky.social · 09/12/2024
Thank you @financialtimes.com for including some old favourites in this list of Venetian eateries and bars. Sharing link below. on.ft.com/41o2kXW
on.ft.com
FT readers: your favourite off-the-beaten-track eateries and bars in Venice
Top tips on authentic places to dine and drink in La Serenissima
030
Dr Thomas R.P. Coward @tomcoward.bsky.social · 08/12/2024
Galleria Borghese 1/5
Large decorated hall at Galleria Borghese. Ceiling, large and colourful, depicts the apotheosis of Romulus.

Room is ornately decorated with paintings, frescoes, ancient and early modern statues, ancient funerary monuments, and mosaics.Large ceiling at Galleria Borghese. Large and colourful, depicts the apotheosis of Romulus.Painting on oval piece of lapis lazuli depicting the rescue of Andromeda by Perseus.Close up a painting. Women in red dress eating oysters at a table. Underneath the table is a simian eating a pear with a dog knowing a bone to its left and a black and white cat to its right looking at the ape and across at one another.
140
Dr Thomas R.P. Coward @tomcoward.bsky.social · 01/12/2024
Palazzo Venezia 1/3 #domenicalmuseo
Inner courtyard of the Palazzetto Venezia. Ground floor with orange trees to the right and cloister to the left. Foreground has what looks like a chessboard with coloured stone inlay upon the remains of a column.Inner courtyard of the Palazzetto Venezia. Choir of Angels by Paolo Veneziano (ca. 1333-62). Tempura on wood.Wooden figurines of moustachioed guardsmen celebrating with raised goblets and musical instrument. Gold uniforms,
130
Dr Thomas R.P. Coward @tomcoward.bsky.social · 30/11/2024
#caturday
Grey and white cat loafing on Roman ruins and looking at the photographer with a judging look. Black cat relaxing in a curved shape on an intersection of Roman walls behind a round temple and looking over its shoulder up towards the photographer.Black cat with white socks jumping down from a temple wall to a paved floor with large stone blocks.Tabby cat with curved tail of curiosity ascending a staircase by some Roman temples to vet and approve the photographer. White cat with black patches is sitting upright further down the staircase looking up.
0120
Dr Thomas R.P. Coward @tomcoward.bsky.social · 25/11/2024
A two day conference on Pindar fragments: good to revisit familiar territory but one not visited for a while with some old friends. #ClassicsBluesky #AncientBluesky
Pindaric Paths / Sentieri Pindarici
 
A Workshop on Pindar’s Fragments in Memory of Franco Ferrari
25-26/11/2024
organized by G.B. D’Alessio and P. Wilson
 
Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, DSU
Aula degli Ex Cataloghi Lignei, Via Porta di Massa 1
 
Monday 25 November
 
Morning Session
10.30   Introduction
 
10.45 G.B. D’Alessio (Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II) 
“Gli studi pindarici di Franco Ferrari”
 
11.15 E.E. Prodi (Università degli Studi di Cagliari)
“A closer look at two Paeans of Pindar: on pae. II and pae. VIIb”
 
12.15 T. Presutti (Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II)
“I figli di Pindaro: alcune riflessioni su Parth. fr. 94c S. M.”
 
13.15 Lunch Break
 
Afternoon Session
15.30 H. Spelman (University of Cambridge)
“Connecting Epinicians with Fragments: on Isthmian 1 and Paean 4; Pythian 2 and fr. 105 and 106 S. M.”
 
16.30 M. Recchia (Università degli Studi di Chieti Gabriele d’Annunzio)
“Pind. fr. 140b S. M.: spigolature sul linguaggio orchestico-musicale, tra Pindaro e Laso”
 
17.30 J. Lightfoot (University of Birmingham)
“Pindar and the Goats of Mendes: on fr. 201 S. M.”
 
Tuesday 26 November
 
10.30 G.B. D’Alessio (Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II)
“New Readings and Old Problems: Reconsidering Pindar’s II Dithyramb”
 
11.30 P. Wilson (University of Sydney/ University of Cambridge)
“Gli anni difficili? Su Pindaro negli anni ’70,  il Ditirambo ateniese frr. 76-77 S. M., e ‘im Altertum das meist gekannte Wort Pindars’ (Wilamowitz)”
 
12.30 Round Table/ Discussion with E. Cingano (Università di Venezia, Ca’ Foscari), G.B. D’Alessio, J. Lightfoot, T. Presutti, E.E. Prodi, M. Recchia, H. Spelman, P. Wilson. 
Chair: M. Cannatà Fera (Università degli Studi di Messina)
030
Dr Thomas R.P. Coward @tomcoward.bsky.social · 24/11/2024
Caravaggio’s portrait of Monsignor Matteo Barberini, the future Pope Urban VIII (reg. 1623-1644 is on public display for the first time at Palazzo Barberini in Rome. Portrait likely done ca.1599-1604.
Caravaggio’s portrait (ca.1599-1604) of Monsignor Matteo Barberini, the future Pope Urban VIII (reg. 1623-1644). Photo taken from the front.Close up of the face of Monsignor Matteo Barberini (ca. 1599-1604), the future Pope Urban VIII (reg. 1623-1644).Caravaggio’s portrait (ca.1599-1604) of Monsignor Matteo Barberini, the future Pope Urban VIII (reg. 1623-1644). Wide angle photo showing the decoration of the room and people standing in front of the portrait. Caravaggio’s portrait (ca.1599-1604) of Monsignor Matteo Barberini, the future Pope Urban VIII (reg. 1623-1644). Photo taken from the left side of the frame.
030
Dr Thomas R.P. Coward @tomcoward.bsky.social · 22/11/2024
Back to a rainy Naples today to examine the stratigraphy of this small scorza (the now visible main layer is unpublished). Also a pleasant surprise to be shown some of the unopened rolls being evaluated for imaging.
Scorza of a Herculaneum papyrus under a microscope with a calliper on its left and a computer on its right. Unopened Herculaneum papyrus rolls in different states of preservation in a box.
0131
Dr Thomas R.P. Coward @tomcoward.bsky.social · 20/11/2024
Nice to see the scaffolding coming down on Palazzo Farnese, and other Roman views
The front of Palazzo Farnese in Rome with most of its scaffolding removed to reveal its restored Renaissance architecture. View of western Rome with trees in the foreground. Cat snoozing on the remains of one of the temples at Largo di Torre Argentina Street art poster of early modern Rome featuring Trajan’s column with a background of the night sky, a red moon and two humpback whales jumping from and diving into the buildings in the foreground.
030
Dr Thomas R.P. Coward @tomcoward.bsky.social · 14/11/2024
Livy (and Vergil?) gets the musical treatment.
Advertisement above entrance of a theatre for the musical ‘The Seven Kings of Rome’.Stage photos for the musical ‘The Seven Kings of Rome’. Photographs depicting several scenes from the early history of Rome.  Stage photos for the musical ‘The Seven Kings of Rome’. Photographs depicting several scenes from the early history of Rome.  Stage photos for the musical ‘The Seven Kings of Rome’. Photographs depicting several scenes from the early history of Rome.
020
Dr Thomas R.P. Coward @tomcoward.bsky.social · 11/11/2024
Enthroned cat.
A striped tabby cat sitting on a tree stump at Largo di Torre Argentina and following the photographer with their eyes.A striped tabby cat sitting on a tree stump at Largo di Torre Argentina and following the photographer with their eyes.A striped tabby cat sitting on a tree stump at Largo di Torre Argentina and following the photographer with their eyes.A striped tabby cat sitting on a tree stump at Largo di Torre Argentina and following the photographer with their eyes.
030
Dr Thomas R.P. Coward @tomcoward.bsky.social · 31/10/2024
Next Wednesday at UCD Classics, I'll be speaking once again about Philodemus' On Piety. This time about the remains of an unpublished column on the nature of the gods (perhaps in Socrates and Plato?). There'll be some provisional new column numbers too! Registration details below.
000
Dr Thomas R.P. Coward @tomcoward.bsky.social · 27/10/2024
Cats of Largo di Torre Argentina
010
Dr Thomas R.P. Coward @tomcoward.bsky.social · 25/10/2024
Extreme measures needed. Upgraded from 15cm callipers to 30cm callipers.
010
Dr Thomas R.P. Coward @tomcoward.bsky.social · 21/10/2024
Forum of Trajan
010
Dr Thomas R.P. Coward @tomcoward.bsky.social · 09/10/2024
Back to the SNSP library at Castelnuovo to read Piaggio’s Memoirs. Written 1769-71, they provide information on the discovery and unravelling of the Herculaneum papyri. There is no full transcription or translation of the work.
120
Dr Thomas R.P. Coward @tomcoward.bsky.social · 04/10/2024
Ovid would be proud.
000