Mark Humphries | Lightnews

Mark Humphries @profmarkhumphries.bsky.social · 3d

Pedagogical highlight of the week: (1) discussing Ammianus Marcellinus' account
of the death of Valentinian I, in which the emperor, in his fatal seizure, attempts to communicate by flailing his arms like a boxer; and (2) having one of the students voluntarily acting out what this looked like.

Mark Humphries @profmarkhumphries.bsky.social · 6d

And now for something completely different: more proofs! This time featuring: how I became a historian of the ancient world thanks to the combined effects of a trip to Egypt and growing up in Belfast and Dublin.

Mark Humphries @profmarkhumphries.bsky.social · Oct 10

This is a terrific novel. The cadences of the language brought me back to a Belfast I left more than forty years ago.

Mark Humphries @profmarkhumphries.bsky.social · Oct 3

Shostakovich: a programme marking 50 years since his death. There is, for understandable reasons, a small group with Ukrainian flags outside the hall.

Mark Humphries @profmarkhumphries.bsky.social · Oct 3

All set for an orchestral concert for the first time in goodness knows how long. I used to go quite frequently to such events. I couldn't pass up a chance to listen to the mighty Seventh: it must be twenty years since last I heard it performed live.

Mark Humphries @profmarkhumphries.bsky.social · Sep 26

#readingcharitably Orbital, by Samantha Harvey, from the Swansea Oxfam Bookshop. A lyrical exploration of the meanings of humanity and existence. The looming presences of the Earth and the space station impressiveness not as much as the astronauts carrying all humankind's dreams and anxieties.

Mark Humphries @profmarkhumphries.bsky.social · Sep 24

Episode 4, which I think will air this Friday -- we watched all episodes on streaming.

Mark Humphries @profmarkhumphries.bsky.social · Sep 24

Always a satisfying feeling. Incidentally, the new Mitchell and Webb series on Channel 4, though very, very hit and miss, contains one gem of a sketch in which E. M. Forster discusses writing Howards End with members of a writers' workshop, who attempt to offer him advice on how to make it better.

Mark Humphries @profmarkhumphries.bsky.social · Sep 24

In my lunch today, I found a happy chickpea with a very unconvincing comb over.

Mark Humphries @profmarkhumphries.bsky.social · Sep 24

More proofs. This time for a review of a gem of a book.

Mark Humphries @profmarkhumphries.bsky.social · Sep 17

Exciting new series from @livunipress.bsky.social , Translated Texts from Antiquity (TTA to join TTH and TTB) , launches with two excellent volumes on #pomponiusmela and #suetonius I'm very honoured to be involved in this new venture.

Mark Humphries @profmarkhumphries.bsky.social · Sep 17

#readingcharitably I just finished Bernardine Evaristo's _Girl, Woman, Other_. (Purchased for a quid in the Swansea British Heart Foundation shop.) What a revelation of a book: a life affirming, celebration of a Britain enriched by multiculturalism and intersectionalities.

Mark Humphries @profmarkhumphries.bsky.social · Sep 17

Summer reading 2025, eclectic as ever. (Not shown: articles, typescripts, student drafts.)

Mark Humphries @profmarkhumphries.bsky.social · Sep 11

Hunting the (bitter and belligerent) legacy of antiquity in Place Vendôme, Paris.

Mark Humphries @profmarkhumphries.bsky.social · Sep 10

Yes, indeed: with that horror McGregor somehow being presented as an acceptable choice for the presidency. (Telling that *he* got to see the Orange Mussolini on actual St Patrick's day, but the government reps were shunted to another day.)

Mark Humphries @profmarkhumphries.bsky.social · Sep 10

It is shocking how retrograde opinions have become mainstream in recent years. This country has changed so much in the 18 years since I moved here. The poisonous debates that began with the Brexit referendum have just grown worse.

Mark Humphries @profmarkhumphries.bsky.social · Sep 9

*Notre 🤦

Mark Humphries @profmarkhumphries.bsky.social · Sep 9

Not only have I made the TTH book cover drawings into t-shirts, but today I wore one (Conference of Carthage 411) to visit its inspiration, Van Loos' Augustine disputing with the Donatists, Note Dame des Victoires, Paris @livunipress.bsky.social

Mark Humphries @profmarkhumphries.bsky.social · Aug 27

Congratulations to Dr Croman @croeuan.bsky.social

Mark Humphries @profmarkhumphries.bsky.social · Aug 6

Further adventures in wearable book covers: tie-dye Hormizd II #TTH @livunipress.bsky.social

Mark Humphries @profmarkhumphries.bsky.social · Aug 5

This dropped into my inbox from the Climate History network and might be of wider interest. www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

The Future of (Environmental) History: A Roundtable Discussion | Transactions of the Royal Historical Society | Cambridge Core

The Future of (Environmental) History: A Roundtable Discussion

www.cambridge.org

Mark Humphries @profmarkhumphries.bsky.social · Aug 5

#readingcharitably A surprise purchase (from Oxfam Books in Swansea, naturally). I think Mario Vargas Llosa was the first "grown up" author I read for fun, with his "Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter". This one gripped me from beginning to end.

Clare Rowan @ancient-tokens.bsky.social · Jul 15

I know it's only part time, since this is cover for Alison Cooley being made head of Warwick Institute of Advanced Studies (take it up with the powers who decide these buy outs), but there is a 3 year teaching gig at in Roman history at Warwick.
www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DNX770/a...

Assistant Professor (Teaching Focussed) in Roman History (110578-0625) at University of Warwick

Apply now for the Assistant Professor (Teaching Focussed) in Roman History (110578-0625) role on jobs.ac.uk - the leading job board for higher education jobs. View details.

www.jobs.ac.uk

Mark Humphries @profmarkhumphries.bsky.social · Jul 9

Celebrating 40 years of Translated Texts for Historians with @livunipress.bsky.social

Nora White @ndefaoite.bsky.social · Jul 8

Happy International Day of Ogham! Although the OG(H)AM project has sadly now finished, work on ogham continues. Here is a sneak preview of our digital corpus, still under development, but due to be launched in September! #InternationalDayOfOgham
#OG_H_AM

screenshot showing a map of ogham locations (more to add) with search filters and an index of ogham inscriptions below

Mark Humphries @profmarkhumphries.bsky.social · Jul 7

With the team from @livunipress.bsky.social at the @imc-leeds.bsky.social

Julia Hillner @writinghelena.bsky.social · Jul 7

Coming to a bookshop or more likely a library near you later this year, in 2 volumes

brill.com/display/titl...

A Companion to Rome (c. 400–1050)

"A Companion to Rome (c. 400–1050)" published on 27 Nov 2025 by Brill.

brill.com

Mark Humphries @profmarkhumphries.bsky.social · Jul 4

Research fellowships in Early Christianity at ACU in Melbourne: an opportunity to work with a fantastic team!
candidate.aurion.cloud/acu/producti...

Research Fellow/Senior Research Fellow (Early Christianity) - Vacancy Details

Job No: APTAV119903#005

candidate.aurion.cloud

Julia Hillner @writinghelena.bsky.social · Jun 6

Open access version of Harry Mawdsley‘s & my study on the changing reasons for & conditions of the banishment of women from antiquity to the early Middle Ages. Based on our dataset of 84 cases from 260-641 and 45 early imperial cases collected by Frank Stini.

www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi...

The Exiling of Women from Antiquity to the Early Middle Ages: Data, Patterns, and Research Avenues

The Exiling of Women from Antiquity to the Early Middle Ages: Data, Patterns, and Research Avenues was published in Norms of Dependency in Late Antique and Early Medieval Societies on page 181.

www.degruyterbrill.com

Orkney Library & Archive @orkneylibrary.bsky.social · Jun 5

In the midnight hour
she cried
Moore, More, Moore

With a rebel yell
she cried
Moore, More, Moore

A shelf of 3 books about Roger Moore, Thomas More, and Henry Moore

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