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)
Reposted by Isabel Köster
Calling all the PhDs I know to make monumental annoyances of themselves (and honestly, who better)
January 21, 2026 at 9:16 PM
Calling all the PhDs I know to make monumental annoyances of themselves (and honestly, who better)
This is one of those "someone explain library acquisitions to me"... why does something called "Life Pacific University" have seemingly every German book on Greek religion I'm ILLing this morning? Like we're talking self-published dissertations etc.
January 20, 2026 at 6:30 PM
This is one of those "someone explain library acquisitions to me"... why does something called "Life Pacific University" have seemingly every German book on Greek religion I'm ILLing this morning? Like we're talking self-published dissertations etc.
“The cafeteria is on level 6. Make sure to visit because sometimes hanger is the greatest enemy of all.” Let's see whether I make it through more than one episode of Star Trek College.
January 17, 2026 at 1:48 AM
“The cafeteria is on level 6. Make sure to visit because sometimes hanger is the greatest enemy of all.” Let's see whether I make it through more than one episode of Star Trek College.
I once wanted to take a look at some Roman baths near Trier. I was informed by the tourist office that had them on their poster that no, absolutely not, "they're very unhygienic." I hadn't been planning on a swim, but ok. Looks like they were on to something (dirty Pompeian baths; in German only).
January 16, 2026 at 5:13 AM
I once wanted to take a look at some Roman baths near Trier. I was informed by the tourist office that had them on their poster that no, absolutely not, "they're very unhygienic." I hadn't been planning on a swim, but ok. Looks like they were on to something (dirty Pompeian baths; in German only).
Man, I miss it!
January 16, 2026 at 1:29 AM
Man, I miss it!
I ❤️ historic Playmobil!
The Norfolk Carnyx: a Playmobil story in 4 parts. 🧵
#DiggingForBritain
#DrawingDiggingForBritain
#PlaymobilInfestation
@profaliceroberts.bsky.social
@pcaarchaeology.bsky.social
1: Life
#DiggingForBritain
#DrawingDiggingForBritain
#PlaymobilInfestation
@profaliceroberts.bsky.social
@pcaarchaeology.bsky.social
1: Life
January 14, 2026 at 11:14 PM
I ❤️ historic Playmobil!
Reposted by Isabel Köster
ICYMI: Katharine Huemoeller's _The Child Follows the Womb_ comes out today!
This book is a game-changer for our understanding of enslaved women's reproductive labor in the Roman world
yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300...
This book is a game-changer for our understanding of enslaved women's reproductive labor in the Roman world
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
January 13, 2026 at 11:27 PM
ICYMI: Katharine Huemoeller's _The Child Follows the Womb_ comes out today!
This book is a game-changer for our understanding of enslaved women's reproductive labor in the Roman world
yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300...
This book is a game-changer for our understanding of enslaved women's reproductive labor in the Roman world
yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300...
My goodness, is Ann Leckie’s The Raven Tower a ride for an ancient religion scholar. And I’m only halfway through! I want an excuse to teach this thing!
The Raven Tower - Ann Leckie
Gods meddle in the fates of men, men play with the fates of gods, and a pretender must be cast down from the throne in this breathtaking first fantasy novel from Ann Leckie, New York Times bestselling...
annleckie.com
January 13, 2026 at 3:09 AM
My goodness, is Ann Leckie’s The Raven Tower a ride for an ancient religion scholar. And I’m only halfway through! I want an excuse to teach this thing!
This sort of stuff is why I’m learning Coptic. Ok, not exclusively, but a good chunk of the reason.
Coptic spell to Acquire a Beautiful Voice, 6th–7th century CE, Egypt, ink on papyrus, 37.3 x 25.4 cm (Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University, New Haven)
archives.yale.edu/repositories...
archives.yale.edu/repositories...
January 11, 2026 at 2:19 AM
This sort of stuff is why I’m learning Coptic. Ok, not exclusively, but a good chunk of the reason.
Seeing my book in the book room = very cool. Doing a conference with a monstrous caffeine-resistant jet lag that had me wide awake at 4 am and a pumpkin by 7 pm every day = very uncool. Great to see so many of you, though! Let’s do this on the East Coast next time.
January 11, 2026 at 1:30 AM
Seeing my book in the book room = very cool. Doing a conference with a monstrous caffeine-resistant jet lag that had me wide awake at 4 am and a pumpkin by 7 pm every day = very uncool. Great to see so many of you, though! Let’s do this on the East Coast next time.
Reposted by Isabel Köster
Pasts Imperfect is back from break! This week, we focus on AI ethics and labor with @illdottore.bsky.social, Christine Johnston & Leigh Anne Lieberman. Then, ancient bees in jawbones, Roman camels in Basel, a book on temple robbery, new ancient world journals @yaleclassicslib.bsky.social & much more
Pasts Imperfect (1.8.26)
This week, we are back from holiday break with a deep dive into the ethics, big business, and myth-peddling of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in higher education. Then, bees in ancient jawbones within t...
pasts-imperfect.ghost.io
January 8, 2026 at 1:32 PM
Pasts Imperfect is back from break! This week, we focus on AI ethics and labor with @illdottore.bsky.social, Christine Johnston & Leigh Anne Lieberman. Then, ancient bees in jawbones, Roman camels in Basel, a book on temple robbery, new ancient world journals @yaleclassicslib.bsky.social & much more
Happy birthday, book!
"Stealing from the Gods" is now available! Isabel K. Köster charts the narratives surrounding temple robbery in ancient Rome in this new OA volume. Start reading: doi.org/10.3998/mpub...
January 8, 2026 at 2:42 AM
Happy birthday, book!
On what’s hardly the SCS party bus (there may be one more classicist on this flight) enjoying @egarcmol.bsky.social ‘s Ancient Office Hours episode. I’m really mad that “Valete vos viatores” (you get to play a Roman stonemason) isn’t available for Mac.
Episode 131 - Dr. Eduardo García-Molina
Podcast Episode · Ancient Office Hours · 01/07/2026 · 1h 10m
podcasts.apple.com
January 7, 2026 at 4:36 PM
On what’s hardly the SCS party bus (there may be one more classicist on this flight) enjoying @egarcmol.bsky.social ‘s Ancient Office Hours episode. I’m really mad that “Valete vos viatores” (you get to play a Roman stonemason) isn’t available for Mac.
So I wrote a thing! (And a book to go with it, but we’ve covered that)
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
January 6, 2026 at 3:37 AM
So I wrote a thing! (And a book to go with it, but we’ve covered that)
Reposted by Isabel Köster
Nicole J. Giannella's "The Mind of the Slave" is now available! The first volume of our Empire and After series investigates slave ownership and the limits of ownership in ancient Rome. Read more: press.umich.edu/Books/T/The-...
January 5, 2026 at 11:39 PM
Nicole J. Giannella's "The Mind of the Slave" is now available! The first volume of our Empire and After series investigates slave ownership and the limits of ownership in ancient Rome. Read more: press.umich.edu/Books/T/The-...
People going to the AIA/SCS and planning to use the app instead of a program may wish to know that papers in the app appear out of program order (at least on the SCS side). And yes, I know, I complain about the app every year (and maybe one year I'll remember that I just need to pay for a program)
January 4, 2026 at 5:33 PM
People going to the AIA/SCS and planning to use the app instead of a program may wish to know that papers in the app appear out of program order (at least on the SCS side). And yes, I know, I complain about the app every year (and maybe one year I'll remember that I just need to pay for a program)
Currently at the Archäologische Staatssammlung in Munich: lots and lots of gladiators, from spectacular helmets from Pompeii to life-sized fight reconstructions. On view until May 3rd and very much worth it.
January 4, 2026 at 3:34 PM
Currently at the Archäologische Staatssammlung in Munich: lots and lots of gladiators, from spectacular helmets from Pompeii to life-sized fight reconstructions. On view until May 3rd and very much worth it.
I’ve got questions…
Cicero wearing a crown, flanked by Cato and Caesar, triumphing over the Catilinarian conspirators
Bodleian Library MS. Barlow 40; Cicero, De inventione rhetorica; 12th century, 2nd quarter; Italy, North? or French, South?; f.1r @bodleian.ox.ac.uk
Bodleian Library MS. Barlow 40; Cicero, De inventione rhetorica; 12th century, 2nd quarter; Italy, North? or French, South?; f.1r @bodleian.ox.ac.uk
January 3, 2026 at 7:35 PM
I’ve got questions…
The first academic book of the year, Lamont’s excellent “In Blood and Ashes,” comes with a fun interactive element for the classicist working on curses: some apparent production problems mean you have to rip or cut several of the pages with the endnotes since they are still attached to each other.
January 1, 2026 at 2:00 PM
The first academic book of the year, Lamont’s excellent “In Blood and Ashes,” comes with a fun interactive element for the classicist working on curses: some apparent production problems mean you have to rip or cut several of the pages with the endnotes since they are still attached to each other.
This is a letter accessories appreciation account!
REMEMBER
Feliz Año Nuevo = Happy New Year
Feliz Ano Nuevo = Happy New Butthole
Feliz Año Nuevo = Happy New Year
Feliz Ano Nuevo = Happy New Butthole
December 31, 2025 at 6:11 PM
This is a letter accessories appreciation account!
One word for burglar in Ancient Greek is τοιχωρύχος, “wall-digger,” because ancient burglars got into buildings by tunneling through walls. So here’s your reception moment of the week…
Thieves drill into German bank vault and make off with millions | CNN
Thieves used the quiet Christmas period to drill their way into the vault of a German retail bank and make off with at least 10 million euros’ worth of money and valuables from customers’ deposit boxe...
edition.cnn.com
December 31, 2025 at 10:43 AM
One word for burglar in Ancient Greek is τοιχωρύχος, “wall-digger,” because ancient burglars got into buildings by tunneling through walls. So here’s your reception moment of the week…
One of the books on my reading list for 2026…
Divine tech? Tatiana Bur is marrying science and religion in ancient Greece - ANU Reporter reporter.anu.edu.au/all-stories/...
Divine tech? Tatiana Bur is marrying science and religion in ancient Greece
Dr Tatiana Bur wants us to view technology the way the ancient Greeks did: as a marvel, not just a tool.
reporter.anu.edu.au
December 31, 2025 at 6:54 AM
One of the books on my reading list for 2026…
Since I know a lot of people have a lot of feelings about 2025… (my 2025 included several big personal highlights, but I’m not sad it’s basically over. And, yes, Bitmöji is still in the Santa outfit because it’s sort of Christmas until Epiphany)
December 30, 2025 at 11:12 PM
Since I know a lot of people have a lot of feelings about 2025… (my 2025 included several big personal highlights, but I’m not sad it’s basically over. And, yes, Bitmöji is still in the Santa outfit because it’s sort of Christmas until Epiphany)
Apprentice magician with the London police. At least I already know Latin.
Well, now I'm an English professor...
December 29, 2025 at 11:29 PM
Apprentice magician with the London police. At least I already know Latin.
Reposted by Isabel Köster
The new Colosseo Metro C station is a true feat of public archaeology. I’ve never seen so many people clamoring to see archaeological remains, and everything is so engagingly and beautifully presented. I spent over an hour just exploring the station, and the whole place was buzzing!
December 29, 2025 at 9:50 PM
The new Colosseo Metro C station is a true feat of public archaeology. I’ve never seen so many people clamoring to see archaeological remains, and everything is so engagingly and beautifully presented. I spent over an hour just exploring the station, and the whole place was buzzing!