Once I was a clever boy learning the arts of Oxford... is a quotation from the verses written by Bishop Richard Fleming (c.1385-1431) for his tomb in Lincoln Cathedral. Fleming, the founder of Lincoln College in Oxford, is the subject of my research for a D. Phil., and, like me, a son of the West Riding. I have remarked in the past that I have a deeply meaningful on-going relationship with a dead fifteenth century bishop... it was Fleming who, in effect, enabled me to come to Oxford and to learn its arts, and for that I am immensely grateful.


Wednesday, 13 January 2021

Uncovering Caligula’s Horti Lamiani


The New York Times has an interesting online report about the excavation of part of the complex of the Horti Lamiani in Rome. This was a complex of gardens and a retreat created by the Emperor Caligula during his reign from 37 to 41. This exotic pleasure ground with lavish accommodation and including what today we would call a zoo has been examined before in the nineteenth century but a recent development of the site has enabled a much more extensive programme of excavation and conservation to take place. 



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