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carlosfnorena.bsky.social
Humanist | 🇪🇦 | Ancient Historian | 🎛 🎹🎚| He/Him https://history.berkeley.edu/carlos-f-norena
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Sad to learn of the death of Mario Vargas Llosa. *The War of the End of the World* and (especially) *The Feast of the Goat* are two of the most searing and haunting novels I have ever read. RIP

submitted 2 hours ago • 0 comments

Why not take a minute to tell us about someone who makes Classics a nicer place. Maybe there's someone who said just the right thing to you at just the right time. That person deserves a bit of recognition, neh? docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

submitted 6 hours ago • 0 comments

The NEH hammer has come down on the group project led by Cliff Ando to produce a new edition of Roman Statutes. Most of the team is composed of established scholars in secure jobs, but the funding was also supporting a full-time postdoctoral fellow whose work is *essential* for the project. 1/2

submitted 13 hours ago • 7 comments

A final burst of Roman escapism before returning to the cataclysm of real life in the US: a leisurely morning stroll on the Via Appia Antica in *perfect* conditions—70 degrees with a light breeze; birds chirping and flowers blooming; lots of trees and lots of ancient ruins. Dazzling.

submitted 2 days ago • 1 comment

bella cittĂ 

submitted 3 days ago • 1 comment

A strong statement by the system-wide Academic Senate of the University of California, articulating and defending the mission of the *public* research university—for California, for the US, and for the world. FIAT LUX

submitted 3 days ago • 0 comments

I am not an expert on university endowments... but ...I *do* know enough about them to be pretty sure that while they can't really be used willy-nilly as de facto "slush funds," they surely *could* be leveraged to mitigate potential financial emergencies. Ahem.

submitted 4 days ago • 3 comments

Can we now declare that the 80-year passage from 1945 to 2025 is (or, rather, was) a distinctive and meaningful period of world history? It's tempting to answer "yes," but perhaps a note of caution is in order here—for historical periodization is a slippery matter. A few thoughts. 1/5

submitted 4 days ago • 2 comments

Why aren't YOU shutting down Rome's entire monumental center to visit the Temple of Venus and Roma for 2 minutes?

submitted 5 days ago • 3 comments

My week as Scholar in Residence at the Centro has concluded. I am *so* grateful for this opportunity and have come away very impressed by this remarkable program—the faculty, the staff, and, above all, the students, who have given me something precious: hope. ❤️

submitted 9 days ago • 4 comments

Bernini's elliptical colonnade of gigantic Tuscan columns around St. Peter's Square. A breathtaking architecture of elegance and awe.

submitted 10 days ago • 0 comments

Does Trump understand that when big wealthy country A buys stuff it wants from small impoverished country B and sells nothing in return because small impoverished country B is too poor, the result is that big wealthy country A will have a "trade deficit" with small impoverished country B?

submitted 10 days ago • 3 comments

An atmospheric late afternoon at Ostia. The site was damp and chilly, near empty, *silent*, and bathed in a soft, raking sunlight passing between storm clouds. Dreamy.

submitted 12 days ago • 6 comments

It has been *so* great to be back in Rome after too many years (and to get away from, well, you know). Tomorrow, the real fun starts: I begin my week as the Booth Scholar in Residence at the ICCS (Centro). I'll be giving a lecture and a few lessons and mostly just tagging along. Can't wait!

submitted 14 days ago • 5 comments

Big win for the Giants. 162-0 still very much on the table.

submitted 17 days ago • 0 comments

⚾️ OPENING DAY 2025 ⚾️ It's Opening Day. There's a hint of optimism in San Francisco (lol). I'm going to take a moment to be happy about this. Go Giants!

submitted 17 days ago • 0 comments

Hegseth/Signal is "legible" to the mainstream media as a "scandal"—classified info! military affairs! cover up!—but of course the Trump regime has already done many things, from *day one*, that are worse. FAR worse.

submitted 18 days ago • 1 comment

Stanley and Snyder from Yale to Toronto seems to be "trending." My only comment is this. I do not judge. Genuinely. But this will not be my move. I plan to stay and do my part, however small, to fight for a better version of the modern university. Here. With my colleagues. And we will prevail.

submitted 19 days ago • 3 comments