Krešimir Vuković

I'm so excited to say that the most controversial festival of ancient Rome, the LUPERCALIA, will finally have a BOOK-length study! After very positive peer reviews I did some minor revisions and just submitted the final version of the manuscript. degruyter.com/document/isbn/…

@romanhistory1 Often repeated but evidence 80 years late. See Hijmans’ recent book and a shorter piece here: open.substack.com/pub/mythandmys…

Today 274AD Roman Emperor Aurelian dedicates a temple to Sol Invictus on the supposed day of the winter solstice and day of rebirth of the Sun. During his reign, he defeated the Alamanni, Goths, Vandals, Juthungi, Sarmatians, and Carpi. He restored the Empire's eastern provinces, and his successes were instrumental in ending the Roman Empire's Crisis of the Third Century.

Latin is NOT only the language of empires but also of medicine, law, poetry etc. (sic!) including human rights, such as Karl Heinrich Ulrichs, the first ever gay activist in the modern world.

@PawlowskiMario Nice dream! The main problem: there are no real leaders atm in the EU, mainly apparatchiks and career politicians. Not to mention the poor state of most national armies (Poland and France only exceptions)

My Take on What’s About to Unfold in Europe and the World. So, let’s break this shit down step by step. If Europe says “fuck it” and takes control of the war, while the U.S. under Trump sits on its ass, here’s what happens: 1. Europe Calls Putin’s Bluff •Macron and Scholz, backed by Poland, the Baltics, and Finland, make a historic decision: “Withdraw from Ukraine or we’re moving in.” •European forces begin massing in Poland, Finland, the Baltics, and Romania—fully armed, fully mobilized. •Putin shits his pants. But, of course, he threatens nukes, because that’s the only card he has left. •Europe responds: “Our nukes are locked and loaded, motherfucker.” 🇫🇷 🇬🇧 France and the UK together have around 500+ modern nuclear warheads, and their delivery systems outmatch Russia’s aging Soviet-era bullshit. •Reality check: Russia’s nukes? Aging, unstable, and probably not even fully functional. Meanwhile, Europe’s nukes are modern, precise, and READY. •Before Russia could even launch a full-scale attack, Moscow, St. Petersburg, and every major Russian military hub could be vaporized. 2. Putin Realizes He’s Cornered •Unlike dealing with the U.S., Putin suddenly faces an enemy that doesn’t give a fuck about “red lines.” •He tries to call China. China says: “Nah, we’re good.” •He turns to his generals. Some of them start looking for an escape plan. 3. What Happens in the U.S.? A. MAGA Still Thinks It’s a ‘Liberal Hoax’ •MAGA will believe whatever Trump tells them, and Trump will say: “Europe is acting reckless. We need to stay out of this. Russia’s not our problem.” •Fox News and right-wing media will blame Europe and call it a “deep state” NATO conspiracy. •Some MAGA morons will actually cheer for Putin. B. The Military and Security Establishment Lose Their Shit •The Pentagon, CIA, and U.S. Generals will PANIC. •Because if Europe goes in and wins, it proves that they never needed the U.S. in the first place. •If Europe goes in and nukes start flying? The U.S. gets dragged into WWIII no matter what Trump says. C. Wall Street and the Economy Freak the Fuck Out •Markets CRASH. •Oil prices SKYROCKET. •The dollar tanks because nobody trusts the U.S. anymore. •Europe starts looking at China for financial stability. D. The American Public Finally Wakes Up •Millions of Americans will realize that their country has become a joke on the global stage. •Anti-Trump protests erupt. •Independents and moderates start turning against him, realizing they’ve been gaslit by his “America First” bullshit. 4. The Most Likely Endgame A few things could happen: Scenario A: Putin Backs Down (Most Likely) •Faced with a united, nuclear-armed Europe, Putin realizes he’s fucked. •He announces a ‘strategic withdrawal’ and tries to spin it as a victory. •His own people and oligarchs start looking for a way to remove him. •The war ends (or at least Russia is forced into a ceasefire). Scenario B: Putin Goes Full Psycho (Less Likely, But Possible) •If Putin is truly insane, he might order a nuclear strike. •But Europe would strike first. •Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Russian military command get wiped out. •Russia as a state ceases to exist, and China quietly takes over Siberia. Scenario C: The U.S. Intervenes Last-Minute •Harris (or whoever comes after Trump) gets elected in 2028 and tries to repair relations. •Europe, now fully independent, tells the U.S. to fuck off. •The U.S. goes into a massive global decline while Europe and China become the dominant powers. Final Thoughts •If Europe moves in, this could be the moment that finally buries Russia as a global power. •The U.S. under Trump would lose its credibility FOREVER. •The balance of power in the world would shift permanently. •And MAGA? They’d be left screaming at their TVs while the rest of the world moves on without them. Your move, Europe.🇪🇺

“On the Ides, the altars of rustic Faunus smoke here where the island breaks the divided waters.” open.substack.com/pub/mythandmys…

What is this "English is a hybrid derived from hybrids" supposed to mean? English is *by no means* a hybrid language in the actual sense of the word (a fusion between two languages). But let's take a look: The default case (yes, many exceptions, see below) is: 1/

@OlaWikander You're absolutely right. Sadly, it's nothing new to me. Many classicists have denied and denigrated IE connections of Greek and Latin (not to mention comparative religion) for decades. It's hard to express the hostility my thesis (and later my book) faced from many classicists.

An actual academic with an apparently wide audience is currently more or less denying the validity of historical linguistics on here, and it is all so very exhausting. No, of course he's not a linguist, and he clearly does not understand the methodology....

@davidwengrow IE studies can and should be decolonized, as I also argued in this talk to the London Classicists of Colour: youtu.be/weujI0fLf6o?si… That doesn’t mean we can just trash the whole of Indo-European studies, as they pertain to a historical reality which is undeniable.

@davidwengrow And yes, homeland is a problematic term as is Indo-European itself, a word coined in the forges of British imperialism and colonialism. But has anyone proposed a better one? I write about this in my book, intro and Chapter 4 degruyter.com/document/doi/1…

White supremacists - as the replies to my tweet show - have imagined it precisely to be a “homeland” belonging to a single people, language, and culture. Note the conclusions of Bruce Lincoln, who devoted much of his life to Indo-European studies:

@davidwengrow Citing Bruce Lincoln on this is like citing Chomsky to talk about contemporary linguistics. When Lincoln gave a talk at Oxford I asked him why he renounced so much of his early work on Indo-European myth. He explicitly said it was “not in accordance with his Marxist beliefs.”

It's curious how anarchist utopia goes for cutting-edge research these days but Indo-European origins, a linguistic fact, is said to be "imaginary" and "alt-right."

@davidwengrow @karlfrankjr How does this dispute Indo-European origins? All languages are hybrid

@karlfrankjr No. It’s a hybrid, derived from other hybrids.

Another day, another Harvard genetics paper on the whereabouts of an (I really must stress this) purely *imaginary “Indo-European homeland” - published in Nature, to the applause of alt-right and white supremacists the world over, but of course, all in the name of “good science”.

So pleased and honoured to read Julia Kindt's fascinating essay on my book and Huaiyu Chen's In the Land of Tigers and Snakes! Towards a Comparative Political Theology: Ancient Greek, Roman, and Medieval Chinese Perspectives politicaltheology.com/towards-a-comp…

I’ve just finished reading @JonHaidt’s bestselling new book THE ANXIOUS GENERATION. I think it may be the most important nonfiction book of the decade, and today I want to tell you why. 🧵

Please consider signing this petition to save Celtic Studies at Utrecht from closure ! chng.it/D5dZKcmHPD via @ChangeGER

the way AI makes the Dioscuri screams twincest!

📝 Sign to oppose the law that censors scientifically accurate information on gender identity and sexual orientation in Italian schools. Let's protect freedom and LGBT+ rights in Italian schools! a.allout.org/s/WK1ED/

On this day in history the priests of Antinous would gather to celebrate the Beautiful Youth Becoming a God open.substack.com/pub/mythandmys…

Thank you all, dear friends!

Latin, Charles University in Prague. I am privileged to be working with the kindest colleagues and in such a beautiful city, teaching a truly diverse cohort of students from all over the world and leading my own research team of five brilliant graduates.

After so many years, countless job applications, working at six institutions and in five different countries I am so happy to say that my precariat status is coming to an end. I've just started a new tenure-track post as Assistant Professor at the Department of Greek and...

@emlynkd @instclasstudies @UoLondon Congrats! Wonderful news with a beautiful sight

Promoted to Senior Lecturer/Associate Professor @instclasstudies @UoLondon 🥺🙏 news timed perfectly to be back in one of my favourite spots! V grateful for all the support received in current and past posts, and excited for what’s next!