"Online Rent-a-Sage" Bret Devereaux
@bretdevereaux.bsky.social
Ancient & military historian specializing in the Roman economy and military. PhD from UNC History. More impressive credential is that I have beaten both Dark Souls and Elden Ring.
Blogs at acoup.blog
Blogs at acoup.blog
As random as can be, but today I learned that Lin Beifong from Legend of Korra is voiced by Frau Farbissina from Austin Powers (Mindy Lee Sterling) and...huh.
The things you find on wiki walks.
The things you find on wiki walks.
November 25, 2025 at 2:47 AM
As random as can be, but today I learned that Lin Beifong from Legend of Korra is voiced by Frau Farbissina from Austin Powers (Mindy Lee Sterling) and...huh.
The things you find on wiki walks.
The things you find on wiki walks.
You know, I would just not pick a fight with Isaac Chotiner. Chotiner and @dieworkwear.bsky.social
If either of them decides to toss of a single-post roast of me, I'm just going to walk right on by. Maybe wave. Cause what I ain't gonna do is win.
If either of them decides to toss of a single-post roast of me, I'm just going to walk right on by. Maybe wave. Cause what I ain't gonna do is win.
A new kind of rapid Chotining. Please appreciate the alt-text.
November 25, 2025 at 1:48 AM
You know, I would just not pick a fight with Isaac Chotiner. Chotiner and @dieworkwear.bsky.social
If either of them decides to toss of a single-post roast of me, I'm just going to walk right on by. Maybe wave. Cause what I ain't gonna do is win.
If either of them decides to toss of a single-post roast of me, I'm just going to walk right on by. Maybe wave. Cause what I ain't gonna do is win.
I'm hardly the only one, but I've been warning against the 'warrior' language and symbolism for years (foreignpolicy.com/2021/04/19/u...)
November 24, 2025 at 8:05 PM
I'm hardly the only one, but I've been warning against the 'warrior' language and symbolism for years (foreignpolicy.com/2021/04/19/u...)
Reposted by "Online Rent-a-Sage" Bret Devereaux
thank you for watching me talk about PBS Kids so I can donate money to PBS Kids and we can support the team. It's like a circular loop that leads to 0.03% of a Donkey Hodie episode being produced.
November 24, 2025 at 7:35 PM
thank you for watching me talk about PBS Kids so I can donate money to PBS Kids and we can support the team. It's like a circular loop that leads to 0.03% of a Donkey Hodie episode being produced.
There is something kind of sad when a kid or pet (it was vet day today for Percy-the-Cat) is anxious or having Feels because of a thing that you had to do, but you are also their source of comfort and reassurance.
So Percy is nuzzling me to get over the stress of being taken to the vet...by me.
So Percy is nuzzling me to get over the stress of being taken to the vet...by me.
November 24, 2025 at 7:29 PM
There is something kind of sad when a kid or pet (it was vet day today for Percy-the-Cat) is anxious or having Feels because of a thing that you had to do, but you are also their source of comfort and reassurance.
So Percy is nuzzling me to get over the stress of being taken to the vet...by me.
So Percy is nuzzling me to get over the stress of being taken to the vet...by me.
Reposted by "Online Rent-a-Sage" Bret Devereaux
If you are in Australia, you can watch the brilliant new documentary, Army of Lovers (on the Theban Sacred Band) on demand. For everyone else, it will hopefully come to YouTube soon (I am told or maybe use a VPN?), www.sbs.com.au/ondemand/tv-... and trailer www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUTe....
Army of Lovers Trailer
YouTube video by imagenationMTL
www.youtube.com
November 24, 2025 at 12:25 PM
If you are in Australia, you can watch the brilliant new documentary, Army of Lovers (on the Theban Sacred Band) on demand. For everyone else, it will hopefully come to YouTube soon (I am told or maybe use a VPN?), www.sbs.com.au/ondemand/tv-... and trailer www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUTe....
Reposted by "Online Rent-a-Sage" Bret Devereaux
Though triggered by an Andrew Tate post, good thread on why, in this complex world, a global military can benefit from some understanding of gender roles and relations and how they vary
My infantry Bn had a really hard time parsing the gender and sexuality issues of Southern Helmand.
When people say, "you wouldn't want a 'purple haired gender studies major' in the Marines" I reply "YES we desperately needed them!" We had teams of anthropologists who published studies for us.
When people say, "you wouldn't want a 'purple haired gender studies major' in the Marines" I reply "YES we desperately needed them!" We had teams of anthropologists who published studies for us.
November 24, 2025 at 12:50 PM
Though triggered by an Andrew Tate post, good thread on why, in this complex world, a global military can benefit from some understanding of gender roles and relations and how they vary
Reposted by "Online Rent-a-Sage" Bret Devereaux
We're used to seeing ancient Greek funerary stelae with gorgeous carved reliefs. However, during the Hellenistic era - particularly in Cyprus - steles were painted with the images of the deceased instead of carved. This pedimented stele shows a painted image of a youth holding a bird. 🏺 1/
📸 me
📸 me
November 24, 2025 at 3:49 AM
We're used to seeing ancient Greek funerary stelae with gorgeous carved reliefs. However, during the Hellenistic era - particularly in Cyprus - steles were painted with the images of the deceased instead of carved. This pedimented stele shows a painted image of a youth holding a bird. 🏺 1/
📸 me
📸 me
Reposted by "Online Rent-a-Sage" Bret Devereaux
Rix Road, the season finale of Andor Season 1, was released three years ago today.
F the Empire. All of them.
F the Empire. All of them.
Andor | Maarva Andor’s Monologue | Disney+
YouTube video by Star Wars
www.youtube.com
November 23, 2025 at 1:36 PM
Rix Road, the season finale of Andor Season 1, was released three years ago today.
F the Empire. All of them.
F the Empire. All of them.
Reposted by "Online Rent-a-Sage" Bret Devereaux
Really important to stress that the Crown Jewels of the US higher education system were never the Ivies or elite SLACs (other countries have equivalents of these) but the well-funded, large, cheap, and excellently staffed public state university systems bringing high quality education to the masses.
One of the bragging rights that the US ed system had in the 20th century is that we didn't have education tracks. Essentially, any kid could go to a CC or state school & major in whatever they wanted to (obviously an oversimplification). I fear this aspect of the American dream is dying.
November 23, 2025 at 5:18 PM
Really important to stress that the Crown Jewels of the US higher education system were never the Ivies or elite SLACs (other countries have equivalents of these) but the well-funded, large, cheap, and excellently staffed public state university systems bringing high quality education to the masses.
Reposted by "Online Rent-a-Sage" Bret Devereaux
West Point is committing "a crime of serious proportion" then.
November 23, 2025 at 4:56 PM
West Point is committing "a crime of serious proportion" then.
I suspect this is true - the humanities will go back to being a status marker. Rich kids and the elect get to study Homer, but the middle class must settle for adjunct-taught mega-lectures before STEM classes.
A grim destination, but right now that is the road the voters keep choosing.
A grim destination, but right now that is the road the voters keep choosing.
My hot take is that over the next 10 years, we're going to see more emphasis on and investment in the humanities at Ivy League and other fancy schools just as state schools and small privates continue to decimate and even eliminate the humanities.
"While other universities report that the humanities are shrinking, at Berkeley, the opposite is true. The music major is the fastest-growing major on campus. We are finding bigger classrooms because film is exploding. English is back to the numbers we saw 15 years ago. We are hiring" bit.ly/4ohKuOe
November 23, 2025 at 4:15 PM
I suspect this is true - the humanities will go back to being a status marker. Rich kids and the elect get to study Homer, but the middle class must settle for adjunct-taught mega-lectures before STEM classes.
A grim destination, but right now that is the road the voters keep choosing.
A grim destination, but right now that is the road the voters keep choosing.
Reposted by "Online Rent-a-Sage" Bret Devereaux
Every 2-4 years, a bunch of left-wing populists have the brilliant thought “Hey, what if people’s resentment of social minorities is actually just sublimated resentment for capitalist elites?” and then we get to spend 2-4 years once again learning that no, it’s very much the reverse
November 22, 2025 at 9:26 PM
Every 2-4 years, a bunch of left-wing populists have the brilliant thought “Hey, what if people’s resentment of social minorities is actually just sublimated resentment for capitalist elites?” and then we get to spend 2-4 years once again learning that no, it’s very much the reverse
As an aside on this thread on adjuncts, ever notice how a non-trivial fraction - not all, but a noticeable chunk - of the tenured colleagues On Here happy to talk shop about Homer or AI in the classroom suddenly get really scarce when you are talking about academic precarity?
Because I sure do.
Because I sure do.
Admittedly, some of that is department faculty (inc. department head) forced into situations where they can't provide an ethical environment, but also c. 75% of tenured faculty quite frankly do not care to a soul-rottingly shameful degree.
Having adjuncts means they get to be superior to someone.
Having adjuncts means they get to be superior to someone.
November 23, 2025 at 2:28 PM
As an aside on this thread on adjuncts, ever notice how a non-trivial fraction - not all, but a noticeable chunk - of the tenured colleagues On Here happy to talk shop about Homer or AI in the classroom suddenly get really scarce when you are talking about academic precarity?
Because I sure do.
Because I sure do.
Reposted by "Online Rent-a-Sage" Bret Devereaux
if i was making this video today i would spend more time convincing the students what a scam it is that Unis are charging you $2000 for a course they care so little about they havnt hired the teacher yet or seen the syllabus until two days before the class starts
This (youtu.be/2AvfOhtmCZY?...) is an older @acollierastro.bsky.social video I must have missed, but it is brilliant in explaining the intensity of the bullshit of the adjunct system, for students and instructors.
the adjunct problem
YouTube video by Angela Collier
youtu.be
November 23, 2025 at 12:43 PM
if i was making this video today i would spend more time convincing the students what a scam it is that Unis are charging you $2000 for a course they care so little about they havnt hired the teacher yet or seen the syllabus until two days before the class starts
Yeah, my 'hours' as an adjunct have always been carefully calculated so that I didn't get health benefits and the one time the department slipped up and put me over the line they 1) didn't notice until I told them and 2) have been cutting back my teaching bit by bit ever since.
I'm only halfway through the video, but...YEAH.
My favorite* part of adjuncting was how they deliberately, contractually classified us as not working more than 29 hours a week so that not only were we not eligible for any benefits...
but we can't count that time towards PSLF bc it's not full-time.
My favorite* part of adjuncting was how they deliberately, contractually classified us as not working more than 29 hours a week so that not only were we not eligible for any benefits...
but we can't count that time towards PSLF bc it's not full-time.
This (youtu.be/2AvfOhtmCZY?...) is an older @acollierastro.bsky.social video I must have missed, but it is brilliant in explaining the intensity of the bullshit of the adjunct system, for students and instructors.
November 23, 2025 at 3:38 AM
Yeah, my 'hours' as an adjunct have always been carefully calculated so that I didn't get health benefits and the one time the department slipped up and put me over the line they 1) didn't notice until I told them and 2) have been cutting back my teaching bit by bit ever since.
This (youtu.be/2AvfOhtmCZY?...) is an older @acollierastro.bsky.social video I must have missed, but it is brilliant in explaining the intensity of the bullshit of the adjunct system, for students and instructors.
the adjunct problem
YouTube video by Angela Collier
youtu.be
November 23, 2025 at 2:09 AM
This (youtu.be/2AvfOhtmCZY?...) is an older @acollierastro.bsky.social video I must have missed, but it is brilliant in explaining the intensity of the bullshit of the adjunct system, for students and instructors.
Reposted by "Online Rent-a-Sage" Bret Devereaux
This week on the blog: hoplites! In particular, hoplite equipment! We talk shields, helmets, armor, weight and mobility.
Was the hoplite an over-encumbered battlefield turtle incapable of fighting outside of the phalanx? (No)
Was he actually a good skirmisher? (Also no)
acoup.blog/2025/11/21/c...
Was the hoplite an over-encumbered battlefield turtle incapable of fighting outside of the phalanx? (No)
Was he actually a good skirmisher? (Also no)
acoup.blog/2025/11/21/c...
Collections: Hoplite Wars, Part II: Hoplite Equipment, Hoplight or Hopheavy?
This is the second part of what looks like it’ll be end up as a four part series discussing the debates surrounding ancient Greek hoplites, the heavy infantry of the Archaic (800-480) and Cla…
acoup.blog
November 22, 2025 at 3:15 PM
This week on the blog: hoplites! In particular, hoplite equipment! We talk shields, helmets, armor, weight and mobility.
Was the hoplite an over-encumbered battlefield turtle incapable of fighting outside of the phalanx? (No)
Was he actually a good skirmisher? (Also no)
acoup.blog/2025/11/21/c...
Was the hoplite an over-encumbered battlefield turtle incapable of fighting outside of the phalanx? (No)
Was he actually a good skirmisher? (Also no)
acoup.blog/2025/11/21/c...
Reposted by "Online Rent-a-Sage" Bret Devereaux
We do know who killed JFK. The Warren Commission was an incredibly thorough and good-faith effort to prove and document what had happened, which they did. The conspiracy theories arose in spite of best efforts to avoid them, but there really isn't anything they could have reasonably done better.
My first political memory - exactly 62 years ago right now, a 4-year-old boy trying to understand his mom's tears - is still the biggest event in my lifetime. We still (IMO) don't *really* know who killed JFK, but we know the public's trust was shattered. It's a straight line to today's mess
November 22, 2025 at 10:36 PM
We do know who killed JFK. The Warren Commission was an incredibly thorough and good-faith effort to prove and document what had happened, which they did. The conspiracy theories arose in spite of best efforts to avoid them, but there really isn't anything they could have reasonably done better.
Looking at the Anno 117 soundtrack and there's a track named 'For the Peregrini" and you can tell I am too deep in Latin Teaching Land because my immediate thought was, "that should be just 'Peregrinis' (dat. pl.).
November 22, 2025 at 5:30 PM
Looking at the Anno 117 soundtrack and there's a track named 'For the Peregrini" and you can tell I am too deep in Latin Teaching Land because my immediate thought was, "that should be just 'Peregrinis' (dat. pl.).
Eu5 thought: strange that there's no achievement for forming Germany as the Netherlands.
Feels like the achievement name suggests itself: "Dutch-land, Dutch-land uber alles."
Feels like the achievement name suggests itself: "Dutch-land, Dutch-land uber alles."
November 22, 2025 at 5:23 PM
Eu5 thought: strange that there's no achievement for forming Germany as the Netherlands.
Feels like the achievement name suggests itself: "Dutch-land, Dutch-land uber alles."
Feels like the achievement name suggests itself: "Dutch-land, Dutch-land uber alles."
This week on the blog: hoplites! In particular, hoplite equipment! We talk shields, helmets, armor, weight and mobility.
Was the hoplite an over-encumbered battlefield turtle incapable of fighting outside of the phalanx? (No)
Was he actually a good skirmisher? (Also no)
acoup.blog/2025/11/21/c...
Was the hoplite an over-encumbered battlefield turtle incapable of fighting outside of the phalanx? (No)
Was he actually a good skirmisher? (Also no)
acoup.blog/2025/11/21/c...
Collections: Hoplite Wars, Part II: Hoplite Equipment, Hoplight or Hopheavy?
This is the second part of what looks like it’ll be end up as a four part series discussing the debates surrounding ancient Greek hoplites, the heavy infantry of the Archaic (800-480) and Cla…
acoup.blog
November 22, 2025 at 3:15 PM
This week on the blog: hoplites! In particular, hoplite equipment! We talk shields, helmets, armor, weight and mobility.
Was the hoplite an over-encumbered battlefield turtle incapable of fighting outside of the phalanx? (No)
Was he actually a good skirmisher? (Also no)
acoup.blog/2025/11/21/c...
Was the hoplite an over-encumbered battlefield turtle incapable of fighting outside of the phalanx? (No)
Was he actually a good skirmisher? (Also no)
acoup.blog/2025/11/21/c...
Reposted by "Online Rent-a-Sage" Bret Devereaux
fuck all these people being awful to starfish
(and also, this is an opportunity to block a whole bunch of this website’s most brain-dead tankies)
(and also, this is an opportunity to block a whole bunch of this website’s most brain-dead tankies)
Fine. You all win. I’m logging off for the day because I‘m a big smelly man who’s also a Nazi and a bigot because I liked it better when Groypers didn’t have 1,770 nuclear weapons on hair-trigger alert. Feel free to brag in your discords about how my jimmies have been rustled and I was owned.
November 21, 2025 at 6:06 AM
fuck all these people being awful to starfish
(and also, this is an opportunity to block a whole bunch of this website’s most brain-dead tankies)
(and also, this is an opportunity to block a whole bunch of this website’s most brain-dead tankies)
Watching videos of hoplite reenactors, I am struck by how many of them use the 'a-hoo' grunt from 300 or a 'huh huh huh' marching cadence, but none of them do the *actually attested* things of the "alale!" (ἀλαλή) battle-cry or singing a song (a παιᾶν).
Gotta do cool fake movie stuff, I guess.
Gotta do cool fake movie stuff, I guess.
November 21, 2025 at 8:35 PM
Watching videos of hoplite reenactors, I am struck by how many of them use the 'a-hoo' grunt from 300 or a 'huh huh huh' marching cadence, but none of them do the *actually attested* things of the "alale!" (ἀλαλή) battle-cry or singing a song (a παιᾶν).
Gotta do cool fake movie stuff, I guess.
Gotta do cool fake movie stuff, I guess.