Malta Classics Association

FINAL FANTASY XIV is an Online multiplayer RPG with multiple expansions in which you play as a character named and designed by you. The game is set on Hydaelyn, a fictional world of diverse environments across multiple continents, focused on the region of Eorzea.

One of the main antagonistic forces in Final Fantasy XIV is the Garlean Empire; which draws heavy inspiration from ancient Rome. The ranks within the Garlean military are not only modelled after those of the Roman Empire, but Garlean citizens possess names such as "Gaius", "Nero", "Livia", and "Menenius" to name a few.

Later on in the game you also meet the Ancients, a civilisation based off of Ancient Greece, so it's hard to deny that the game takes inspiration from the classics.

https://eu.finalfantasyxiv.com

If you've ever marvelled at just how much we can learn about ancient Roman society throught their epigraphic inscriptions, this game will be of interest to you! 'Valete Vos Viatores' is a game developed by Valencia University and La Sapianenza University together with TLR Games and TRAHELIUM. In this game, you play as a craftsment within the workshop of a scriptor titulorum (a sculptor specialising in inscriptions). You will receive orders from various people of different social class backgrounds and depending on their requests and budgets you will need to to design a commemorative inscription for their deceased loved-ones. This game will introduce you to every single stage of the process, from choosing the stone, to inscription, to decoration and is therefore as much an in-depth educations experience as it is a fun game.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2075540/Valete_vos_viatores/
https://en.unav.edu/web/valete-vos-viatores
https://www.timemachine.eu/ltm-projects/valete-vos-viatores-travelling-through-latin-inscriptions-across-the-roman-empire/

Happening soon!

Next week's Lecture: https://fb.me/e/4nd4rooyJ

Zenobia is recognised as one of the most prominent female figures of late antiquity. As queen of Palmyra in the third century, she aspired to become empress of Rome, which her kingdom then belonged to. Although her political career was brief, the circumstances of her rise to power, her confrontation with Rome, and the ambiguity surrounding her fate after defeat quickly transformed her historical narrative into legend. Greek, Latin, Byzantine, and Arabic traditions, along with other textual traditions, appropriated her story, adapting it to serve their respective political, ideological, and theological agendas. However, in this paper, we will demonstrate that the legend of Zenobia began to take shape in the 3rd century, during her lifetime, particularly in the East, where it originated within the Palmyrene court before spreading to the Eastern and Western parts of the Empire.

This paper will examine the motif of Zenobia’s alleged descent from Cleopatra, from its initial construction within Zenobia’s court — notably in the fragmentary inscription preserving Callinicos’ speech, as part of a broader strategy of self-representation — to its later literary reworking in the Historia Augusta, highlighting the connections between these sources that have so far gone largely unnoticed.
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Dr Wifek Aouinet is a Senior Lecturer in French and Cultural Studies at the Institute of Tourism Studies (Malta). She holds a PhD in Classical Studies. Her research examines the reception of historical figures across Mediterranean traditions, focusing on cross-cultural transmission and the role of political and ideological contexts in shaping narratives.