Dr Mike Beer
@mikebeer.bsky.social
Classicist:likes Elagabalus,cultural hybridisation,Caravaggio & Brutalism.Assoc. Lecturer,OU;Hon Research Fellow,Exeter.Trainer & coordinator, Classics for All.
They keep doing it.
October 23, 2025 at 8:19 AM
They keep doing it.
Great afternoon of talks by lecturers from the Department of Classics and Ancient History at the University of Exeter for Classics for All.Talks on Roman coins, Latin etymology and Pompeiian graffiti to students from local schools from Exeter and Crediton showed how broad a subject Classics can be.
October 22, 2025 at 4:19 PM
Great afternoon of talks by lecturers from the Department of Classics and Ancient History at the University of Exeter for Classics for All.Talks on Roman coins, Latin etymology and Pompeiian graffiti to students from local schools from Exeter and Crediton showed how broad a subject Classics can be.
Exciting half term reading just arrived in the post. Virgil: great. Cicero: not so much (or indeed at all).
October 22, 2025 at 9:39 AM
Exciting half term reading just arrived in the post. Virgil: great. Cicero: not so much (or indeed at all).
Out soon! You can find out my thoughts on what connects the Futurists, Roman emperors Domitian and Elagabalus and molecular gastronomy.
October 11, 2025 at 4:47 PM
Out soon! You can find out my thoughts on what connects the Futurists, Roman emperors Domitian and Elagabalus and molecular gastronomy.
Final copy of the book arrived in electronic form. Hard copy to follow with publication in December. And have just embarked on something which should come to pass in the next two years and may just be the most difficult thing I’ve ever attempted.
October 1, 2025 at 6:21 PM
Final copy of the book arrived in electronic form. Hard copy to follow with publication in December. And have just embarked on something which should come to pass in the next two years and may just be the most difficult thing I’ve ever attempted.
Today I’ve been reading up about a bronze chicken dating from the Roman period found as part of grave goods in a child’s grave in Cirencester.Speculation it was buried as a pyschopomp to take child’s soul to underworld.I need more of this sort of thing in my life and less Cicero.
September 22, 2025 at 6:11 PM
Today I’ve been reading up about a bronze chicken dating from the Roman period found as part of grave goods in a child’s grave in Cirencester.Speculation it was buried as a pyschopomp to take child’s soul to underworld.I need more of this sort of thing in my life and less Cicero.
For the next two days I’ll be doing nearly four hours of teaching on one artefact: the Prima Porta Augustus, one of my favourite ancient statues. They’ll be horrified by polychromy, hopefully intrigued by dating issues and ready to debate the iconography (and challenge my views).
September 17, 2025 at 6:55 PM
For the next two days I’ll be doing nearly four hours of teaching on one artefact: the Prima Porta Augustus, one of my favourite ancient statues. They’ll be horrified by polychromy, hopefully intrigued by dating issues and ready to debate the iconography (and challenge my views).
Once again, my research has led me to Roman sacred chickens.
August 25, 2025 at 10:06 AM
Once again, my research has led me to Roman sacred chickens.
Translating sections of Lysias’ On the Murder of Erastosthenes for the next round of GCSE Greek texts. Soundtrack is Spotify, which has made me both a Folk Horror mix (rather too much prog rock) and an Italian Giallo mix (odd electronica).
August 20, 2025 at 9:53 AM
Translating sections of Lysias’ On the Murder of Erastosthenes for the next round of GCSE Greek texts. Soundtrack is Spotify, which has made me both a Folk Horror mix (rather too much prog rock) and an Italian Giallo mix (odd electronica).
I want to stay in this hotel.
August 19, 2025 at 5:56 AM
I want to stay in this hotel.
The slide into decrepitude continues as I gradual transform into Gandalf.
August 11, 2025 at 10:31 AM
The slide into decrepitude continues as I gradual transform into Gandalf.
Alas, Cypriot heatwave has involved difficult sartorial decisions and the necessary abandonment of usual forms of attire.
July 28, 2025 at 6:27 PM
Alas, Cypriot heatwave has involved difficult sartorial decisions and the necessary abandonment of usual forms of attire.
Off duty Classicist considering whether to visit an archaeological site or not.
July 28, 2025 at 7:03 AM
Off duty Classicist considering whether to visit an archaeological site or not.
Sorting out holiday reading. Alas, no Dan Brown.
July 22, 2025 at 8:49 AM
Sorting out holiday reading. Alas, no Dan Brown.
It’s almost time to introduce the A level students to this once again.
June 20, 2025 at 4:56 AM
It’s almost time to introduce the A level students to this once again.
