Isabel Köster
@iotasubscript.bsky.social
PhD; associate professor of Roman history and literature; particularly enthusiastic about Roman religion and insults; author of Stealing from the Gods: Temple Robbery in the Roman Imagination (Michigan, 1/2026); never speak for my employer
Pinned
In our latest blog post, Isabel K. Köster shares how her book "Stealing from the Gods: Temple Robbery in the Roman Imagination" deals with some of the ancient equivalents of the 2025 Louvre theft! Read more at press.umich.edu/Blog/2026/01...
How to Write About a Robbery
Publishes award-winning books that advance humanities and social science fields, as well as English language teaching and regional resources.
press.umich.edu
So I wrote a thing! (And a book to go with it, but we’ve covered that)
In light of the wild AI Chatbot Generates a Romance Novel in Minutes article in the Times (www.nytimes.com/2026/02/08/b... , gift link), is there even an audience in all of this? The goal is checking off "generated a book/movie..." rather than "and people consumed it."
"soon, anyone will be able to generate a movie/book/video game/podcast in seconds!" keeps running firmly aground on "even if there was an audience for this uhhhhh content, which there isn't, why would they buy your thing instead of just generating their own?" and it's funny EVERY time
February 8, 2026 at 7:52 PM
In light of the wild AI Chatbot Generates a Romance Novel in Minutes article in the Times (www.nytimes.com/2026/02/08/b... , gift link), is there even an audience in all of this? The goal is checking off "generated a book/movie..." rather than "and people consumed it."
I'm currently kicking around something for the Romans on how divine intervention (or lack thereof) works in the judicial system that is in desperate need of a lot of comparative evidence. It's made for really uncomfortable reading.
February 8, 2026 at 7:10 PM
I'm currently kicking around something for the Romans on how divine intervention (or lack thereof) works in the judicial system that is in desperate need of a lot of comparative evidence. It's made for really uncomfortable reading.
Second! (Seriously, these Early Modern witch trials were way too recently)
Been reading a lot about 16thC Europe recently and man it's making me feel better about 21stC Europe
February 8, 2026 at 7:06 PM
Second! (Seriously, these Early Modern witch trials were way too recently)
This is a fun variation on the Superb Owls.
This Super Bowl Sunday, I’d like to introduce you all to the magical curse bowls used in Upper Mesopotamia and Syria in late antiquity. Written in Mandaic (as here) or Syriac Aramaic, they trap demons who trespass on a household by sucking them in with spiraling spells to the center of the bowl.
February 8, 2026 at 3:28 PM
This is a fun variation on the Superb Owls.
Reposted by Isabel Köster
If you haven’t already got
It do check out my colleague @khuemoeller.bsky.social’s book. It’s fantastic work: yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300...
It do check out my colleague @khuemoeller.bsky.social’s book. It’s fantastic work: yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300...
The Child Follows the Womb
A new and incisive exploration of female slavery and reproduction in ancient Rome One of ancient Rome’s most significant legacies is a legal framework for...
yalebooks.yale.edu
February 8, 2026 at 3:08 PM
If you haven’t already got
It do check out my colleague @khuemoeller.bsky.social’s book. It’s fantastic work: yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300...
It do check out my colleague @khuemoeller.bsky.social’s book. It’s fantastic work: yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300...
Yeah, I would be fine with it if it were either fancy software or can’t annotate/copy/… Having both seems a bit excessive and makes me think you’re a press from whom I should only be buying paper books (most of what I buy is paper, but I occasionally like a great ebook deal)
February 8, 2026 at 1:14 AM
Yeah, I would be fine with it if it were either fancy software or can’t annotate/copy/… Having both seems a bit excessive and makes me think you’re a press from whom I should only be buying paper books (most of what I buy is paper, but I occasionally like a great ebook deal)
That's good to know! I've always been paper-based with PUP, but have occasionally considered an ebook.
February 6, 2026 at 8:09 PM
That's good to know! I've always been paper-based with PUP, but have occasionally considered an ebook.
Looks like it's University of Chicago Press super-sale time again. Might I recommend not getting ebooks from them no matter how good the deal? I got 4 from the last sale, and they're so locked down that they need extra software + can't be annotated. So they miss the point of academic books.
February 6, 2026 at 7:01 PM
Looks like it's University of Chicago Press super-sale time again. Might I recommend not getting ebooks from them no matter how good the deal? I got 4 from the last sale, and they're so locked down that they need extra software + can't be annotated. So they miss the point of academic books.
Oh man :-( All good vibes.
February 6, 2026 at 5:59 AM
Oh man :-( All good vibes.
Reposted by Isabel Köster
Katherine McDonald’s truly marvelous “Four footprints, two languages, one tile”deserves your time: “Two slaves, working in conditions that were no doubt very difficult, taking a little time to mess about as friends and enjoy each other’s company.” katherinemcdonald.net/2016/01/14/f...
Four footprints, two languages, one tile
hn. sattiieis. detfri segnatted. plavtad herennis. amica signauit. qando. a- ponebamus. tegila(m) Detfri of Hn. Sattis signed with a footprint. Amica of Herens signed when we were laying out…
katherinemcdonald.net
February 5, 2026 at 2:52 AM
Katherine McDonald’s truly marvelous “Four footprints, two languages, one tile”deserves your time: “Two slaves, working in conditions that were no doubt very difficult, taking a little time to mess about as friends and enjoy each other’s company.” katherinemcdonald.net/2016/01/14/f...
And while we're at it, also some confetti for the Italy Before Rome sourcebook (www.routledge.com/Italy-Before... ), which i use in various ways in a lot of classes.
February 6, 2026 at 2:58 AM
And while we're at it, also some confetti for the Italy Before Rome sourcebook (www.routledge.com/Italy-Before... ), which i use in various ways in a lot of classes.
(And no, as far as I can recall, I've never had "you named your cat WHAT?!" in my "how is humanity still here?" files)
February 5, 2026 at 7:06 PM
(And no, as far as I can recall, I've never had "you named your cat WHAT?!" in my "how is humanity still here?" files)
Want more? Orna Darr, _Marks of An Absolute Witch_ (Routledge, 2011), p. 112
February 5, 2026 at 7:05 PM
Want more? Orna Darr, _Marks of An Absolute Witch_ (Routledge, 2011), p. 112
I'm currently in a scholarly rabbit hole with evidentiary standards in witch trials, so please pour one out for Agnes Waterhouse, who was put on trial for witchcraft in England in 1566 basically for having a very scratchy cat named "Sathan."
February 5, 2026 at 7:04 PM
I'm currently in a scholarly rabbit hole with evidentiary standards in witch trials, so please pour one out for Agnes Waterhouse, who was put on trial for witchcraft in England in 1566 basically for having a very scratchy cat named "Sathan."
In better news, I’ll never not be delighted to come across Æthelred the Unready in a text.
February 4, 2026 at 10:42 PM
In better news, I’ll never not be delighted to come across Æthelred the Unready in a text.
I’ve had so much book club spam. Apparently other people have had, too, because this just same from the press marketing department as a general fyi to authors. Lovely.
The New “Book Club” Scam Targeting Authors and How to Spot It
A Public Service Post for Writers
medium.com
February 4, 2026 at 9:57 PM
I’ve had so much book club spam. Apparently other people have had, too, because this just same from the press marketing department as a general fyi to authors. Lovely.
Reposted by Isabel Köster
The Healthcare and Disability in the Ancient World unit is welcoming papers in the following categories for this year's #SBL Annual Meeting: tinyurl.com/29ene8n6
February 4, 2026 at 5:20 PM
The Healthcare and Disability in the Ancient World unit is welcoming papers in the following categories for this year's #SBL Annual Meeting: tinyurl.com/29ene8n6
Frequent CU thought... I miss Innisfree! (The coffee shop that was basically the humanities faculty living room until the pandemic took it out at one of its first acts... here from the Lego model of campus, which also isn't a thing anymore)
February 4, 2026 at 4:07 AM
Frequent CU thought... I miss Innisfree! (The coffee shop that was basically the humanities faculty living room until the pandemic took it out at one of its first acts... here from the Lego model of campus, which also isn't a thing anymore)
I also like "Creative Belonging: The Limits of Ownership in Roman Law and Society."
February 3, 2026 at 11:49 PM
I also like "Creative Belonging: The Limits of Ownership in Roman Law and Society."
Look at Mr. Murder Mittens hanging out in great company!
From literary studies in ancient Rome to the creative cultures of China's ethnic minorities, we have something for everyone. Check out our January publications below and grab your copy here: press.umich.edu
February 3, 2026 at 11:29 PM
Look at Mr. Murder Mittens hanging out in great company!
Reposted by Isabel Köster
I know there is much out there right now to be much angrier at. But GoogleBooks losing search functionality is super duper bad news bears for researchers in book fields. Like, it’s hard to even express how very very bad. www.reddit.com/r/google/s/O...
From the google community on Reddit
Explore this post and more from the google community
www.reddit.com
February 3, 2026 at 9:47 PM
I know there is much out there right now to be much angrier at. But GoogleBooks losing search functionality is super duper bad news bears for researchers in book fields. Like, it’s hard to even express how very very bad. www.reddit.com/r/google/s/O...
This “it’s raining, but it can’t get down to you because the air is too dry” weather phenomenon is on my list of weirdest nature things ever.
Virga-ing over Denver...too dry at the surface for rain to reach the ground. Better chance tonight.
#COwx
#COwx
February 3, 2026 at 7:34 PM
This “it’s raining, but it can’t get down to you because the air is too dry” weather phenomenon is on my list of weirdest nature things ever.
Reposted by Isabel Köster
I still continue to have a critical view of AI. This does not make me a technophobe nor a caveman.
February 3, 2026 at 7:12 PM
I still continue to have a critical view of AI. This does not make me a technophobe nor a caveman.
Reposted by Isabel Köster
Visiting AP in Classics and Religious Studies at Hamilton College: Religions of Late Antiquity with the ability to teach Greek and/or Latin and New Testament (in translation).
Review of applications begins February 23, 2026.
Review of applications begins February 23, 2026.
Apply - Interfolio
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apply.interfolio.com
February 3, 2026 at 6:08 PM
Visiting AP in Classics and Religious Studies at Hamilton College: Religions of Late Antiquity with the ability to teach Greek and/or Latin and New Testament (in translation).
Review of applications begins February 23, 2026.
Review of applications begins February 23, 2026.
Reposted by Isabel Köster
CFP for the Digital Classics Association panel at SCS2027 in Boston next January now up on the SCS site—
"Experimental Contexts for Digital Classics"
Submit your abstracts by February 20
classicalstudies.org/annual-meeti...
#digiclass
"Experimental Contexts for Digital Classics"
Submit your abstracts by February 20
classicalstudies.org/annual-meeti...
#digiclass
classicalstudies.org
February 2, 2026 at 8:58 PM
CFP for the Digital Classics Association panel at SCS2027 in Boston next January now up on the SCS site—
"Experimental Contexts for Digital Classics"
Submit your abstracts by February 20
classicalstudies.org/annual-meeti...
#digiclass
"Experimental Contexts for Digital Classics"
Submit your abstracts by February 20
classicalstudies.org/annual-meeti...
#digiclass