Bobby Xinyue
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bobbyxinyue.bsky.social
Bobby Xinyue
@bobbyxinyue.bsky.social
500 followers 100 following 28 posts
Latinist, Londoner, Luddite. Repulsively fast eater, unrepentantly slow writer. Author of ‘Politics and Divinization in Augustan Poetry’ (OUP, 2022). Lecturer in Roman Culture at KCL.
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bobbyxinyue.bsky.social
Bobby Xinyue @bobbyxinyue.bsky.social · Aug 15
My latest contribution to the ever-growing field (or patch, more like) of Moretum Studies.

www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
WHO MAKES THE PESTO? LABOUR, SOCIAL STATUS AND AUTHORSHIP IN THE MORETVM | The Classical Quarterly | Cambridge Core
WHO MAKES THE PESTO? LABOUR, SOCIAL STATUS AND AUTHORSHIP IN THE MORETVM
www.cambridge.org
bobbyxinyue.bsky.social
This is very inspirational. I should model my lectures on this

www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...
‘I try to make them feel as ignorant as possible’: German museum’s ‘grumpy guide’ is surprise hit
Performance artist’s aggressive art historian shouts at visitors and insults curators – and his tours are sold out
www.theguardian.com
November 2, 2025 at 6:58 PM
bobbyxinyue.bsky.social
So immersive that everyone dies

pompeii-experience.com/london/
https://pompeii-experience.com/london/
Visit Pompeii in London! Discover the history, culture, and art of the ancient Roman city through well-preserved relics and artefacts.
pompeii-experience.com
October 3, 2025 at 4:31 PM
bobbyxinyue.bsky.social
Here's the programme for the upcoming 'Fixed Handout 3.0' workshop on Luxorius. Get in touch if you'd like to come along. Cheers.

#AncientBlueSky #ClassicsBlueSky #BlueSkyClassics
August 28, 2025 at 12:20 PM
bobbyxinyue.bsky.social
Waking up to the news of Man Utd losing to Grimsby is rather joyous. They come up with such exciting and varied ways to lose. They’ve basically mastered self-humiliation as an art form.
August 28, 2025 at 6:52 AM
bobbyxinyue.bsky.social
My latest contribution to the ever-growing field (or patch, more like) of Moretum Studies.

www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
WHO MAKES THE PESTO? LABOUR, SOCIAL STATUS AND AUTHORSHIP IN THE MORETVM | The Classical Quarterly | Cambridge Core
WHO MAKES THE PESTO? LABOUR, SOCIAL STATUS AND AUTHORSHIP IN THE MORETVM
www.cambridge.org
August 15, 2025 at 11:36 AM
bobbyxinyue.bsky.social
As if the Battle of Actium wasn’t anticlimactic enough already, now imagine Roman soldiers wearing this poxy thing prancing about in Alexandria…

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Bolton Museum displays rare Roman sun hat following restoration
The 2,000-year-old hat, which kept soldiers cool in Ancient Egypt, is one of only three in the world.
www.bbc.co.uk
August 12, 2025 at 8:21 PM
bobbyxinyue.bsky.social
This is gonna be a good one.
candidamoss.bsky.social Candida Moss @candidamoss.bsky.social · Jul 23
Excited to announce that after a lot of editorial work our volume "Writing, Enslavement, and Power in the Roman Mediterranean, 100 BCE - 300 CE" is out now. @jeremiahcoogan.bsky.social @illdottore.bsky.social

academic.oup.com/book/60683
Book cover. The background in sepia tones Showa man dictating to scribes. A cream box in the center has light brown writing that contains the title (Writing, Enslavement, and Power in the Roman Mediterranean) and the words "Edited by Jeremiah Coogan, Candid R. Moss, and Jospeh A. Howley.
July 23, 2025 at 9:12 PM
Reposted by Bobby Xinyue
candidamoss.bsky.social
Excited to announce that after a lot of editorial work our volume "Writing, Enslavement, and Power in the Roman Mediterranean, 100 BCE - 300 CE" is out now. @jeremiahcoogan.bsky.social @illdottore.bsky.social

academic.oup.com/book/60683
Book cover. The background in sepia tones Showa man dictating to scribes. A cream box in the center has light brown writing that contains the title (Writing, Enslavement, and Power in the Roman Mediterranean) and the words "Edited by Jeremiah Coogan, Candid R. Moss, and Jospeh A. Howley.
July 23, 2025 at 8:56 PM
bobbyxinyue.bsky.social
Here’s a list of hobbies you can pursue this weekend instead of posting on the Classics List:

Extreme Pickle Tasting
Toilet Paper Origami
Pizza Slice Geometry Analysis
Competitive Sock Matching
Snail Racing Commentary
Ceiling Stain Interpretation
Emergency Exit Sign Appreciation
July 5, 2025 at 2:01 PM
bobbyxinyue.bsky.social
Good morning from an empty and *air-conditioned* BL reading room.
June 30, 2025 at 9:05 AM
bobbyxinyue.bsky.social
This is what injustice looks like: we don’t have anything from books 7-10 of Tacitus’ Annals, yet we have four books — FOUR long tedious books — of Ovid’s Ex Ponto.
May 16, 2025 at 2:13 PM
Reposted by Bobby Xinyue
lswisnom.bsky.social
Excited to announce that my book 'The Library of Ancient Wisdom' will be released 27th Feb in the UK and 12th March in the US. Pre-orders available from wherever you get your books. Details here:
www.penguin.co.uk/books/443027...
The Library of Ancient Wisdom
When a team of Victorian archaeologists dug into a grassy hill in Iraq, they chanced upon one of the oldest and greatest stores of knowledge ever seen: the library of the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal, s...
www.penguin.co.uk
February 25, 2025 at 3:52 PM
bobbyxinyue.bsky.social
It’s always a bit worrying (sorry I meant ‘delightful’) when you’re learning new things from an undergrad dissertation. I genuinely had no idea that Lucian wrote an essay about the thirst snake. I even had to google what a thirst snake was. 😳
February 21, 2025 at 12:18 PM
bobbyxinyue.bsky.social
We’re now officially past the statutes of limitation on saying happy new year (cf. L. David 2020). Thank god.

youtu.be/U4rkzyGFFo0?...
Curb Your Enthusiasm, Happy New Years
YouTube video by Patty B.
youtu.be
January 7, 2025 at 3:56 PM
bobbyxinyue.bsky.social
Signing off 2024 with this picture of a bookshop I wandered into in Testaccio. The view that greeted me (the one you’re seeing now) was so calming and joyful, it was quite a shock to the system. I hope 2025 will bring you as much tranquility as this bookshop did for me. Happy new year.
December 31, 2024 at 8:40 AM
bobbyxinyue.bsky.social
Treating myself to an early Christmas present: an empty library.
December 19, 2024 at 9:49 AM
bobbyxinyue.bsky.social
Pasta company: How easily do you think we can get people to buy our pasta by putting a very low-res image of Vesuvius on our packaging?

Me: Take my money
November 18, 2024 at 5:45 PM
bobbyxinyue.bsky.social
A short video I took of the House of Augustus from my recent trip to Rome. Enjoy all its glory.

#AncientBluesky #ClassicsBluesky
November 17, 2024 at 6:56 PM
bobbyxinyue.bsky.social
Superb cover. (Always judge a book by its cover — that’s how the saying goes, right?)
November 11, 2024 at 10:19 PM
bobbyxinyue.bsky.social
👋 to my new followers. In case you’re wondering what kind of content you’re gonna get from me: 60% football (soccer), 30% on how much I loathe Ovid, 10% on my actual research — recondite Latin texts that have, alas, sadly survived.
November 10, 2024 at 9:46 PM
bobbyxinyue.bsky.social
Proper research.
November 23, 2023 at 11:13 AM
bobbyxinyue.bsky.social
Good lord that cover!
seanhannan.bsky.social Sean Hannan @seanhannan.bsky.social · Nov 17
Check out the upcoming book _Elegiac Love and Death in Vergil's Aeneid_ by Sarah McCallum (who happens to be my cousin)! Pre-order here: global.oup.com/academic/pro...
November 18, 2023 at 9:11 AM
bobbyxinyue.bsky.social
‘Virgil is a barrel of laughs.’ Tough sell? Well, come and find out in Cuma next summer. CfP in link below. Cheers.

classicalstudies.org/scs-news/cfp...

AncientBluesky
ClassicsBluesky
Roman fresco depicting parody of Aeneas’ escape from Troy
November 3, 2023 at 2:37 PM
bobbyxinyue.bsky.social
Back in the summer, I somewhat hastily chose Tacitus Annals 4 as a set text for a module called ‘Power, Beauty, and Cruelty in Imperial Rome’. The day has come for me to teach it. I don’t regret my choice at all. Sejanus is box office.
October 9, 2023 at 8:07 AM