Elizabeth Djinis

Elizabeth Djinis

Elizabeth Djinis is a writer and journalist based in Rome, Italy. Her work has been published in the New York Times, National Geographic, Glamour and Teen Vogue, among others.

Stories from this author

Users of the Sortes Astrampsychi chose a specific question from a list of 92. Then, they randomly picked a number between one and ten, which, when added to the number of the chosen question, directed them to one of 1,030 possible answers.

To Divine the Future, the Ancients Relied on These Chance-Based Fortune-Telling Tools

Texts like the “Sortes Astrampsychi” promised insights on clients’ love lives, career prospects, financial woes and families

Aphra Behn's The Amorous Prince, or, The Curious Husband was staged this month for the first time in 350 years.

Aphra Behn, the First Englishwoman to Earn a Living With Her Writing, Is Finally Getting Her Due

A year-long event series aims to champion the pioneering 17th-century writer’s legacy

The watch is engraved with the words, "THEODORE ROOSEVELT FROM D.R. & C.R.R."

Theodore Roosevelt’s Long-Lost Pocket Watch Surfaces at a Florida Auction House

Thieves stole the timepiece, a gift from the president’s sister, from an unlocked display case in 1987

Pasquino is the most famous of Rome's six talking statues.

Rome’s Talking Statues Have Served as Sites of Dissent for Centuries

Beginning in the Renaissance, locals affixed verses protesting various societal ills to six sculptures scattered across the Italian city

In 18th-century Venice, Carnival masks created a temporary feeling of equality between the ruling class and the lower classes.

A Brief History of How Carnival Is Celebrated Around the World

Here’s how Venice, Rio de Janeiro, Trinidad and Tobago, New Orleans, and Quebec City mark the pre-Lenten season

Instead of transitioning between Latin and English, spoken Latin keeps the cognition all in one language.

Spoken Latin Is Making a Comeback

Proponents of the teaching method argue that it encourages engagement with the language and the ancient past

Christmas market in Goslar, Germany, at dusk

A Brief History of Christmas Markets

Now a global phenomenon, the holiday tradition traces its roots to medieval Europe

Dora Maar or Lee Miller, Dora Maar sur fond végétal, circa 1936

The Strange Surrealist Magic of Dora Maar

More than simply Picasso’s muse, the French artist won renown for her striking paintings and photographs

The van Gogh painting is one of the Courtauld Gallery’s best-known works.

Climate Activists Glue Themselves to Van Gogh Painting in London

The protesters hope to combat political inaction in the face of the climate crisis

Archaeologists continue to dig around the Roman temple complex in the Netherlands.

In the Netherlands, Volunteer Archaeologists Find Roman Temple Complex

The site was likely used by soldiers near the Roman Empire’s northern border

Discovered beneath the Baths of Caracalla, the two-story home dates to between 134 and 138 C.E.

An Ancient Home Found Beneath the Baths of Caracalla Is Now on Display

The second-century structure has frescoed ceilings and depictions of both Roman and Egyptian deities

First discovered in 1900, the Antikythera shipwreck has yielded some of the greatest archaeological finds of the 20th century.

Divers Pull Marble Head of Hercules From a 2,000-Year-Old Shipwreck in Greece

The Antikythera shipwreck, discovered in 1900, continues to yield new artifacts

This painting by Richard Caton Woodville Jr. depicts the Battle of Omdurman.

Sudanese Museums Call for Return of Stolen Artifacts

Colonizers took the items after a deadly battle in the late 19th century

Anna Weyant’s Josephine, which sold more than $500,000 at a Sotheby’s Hong Kong auction

After Finding Fame on Instagram, Anna Weyant’s Art Now Sells for Millions

At 27, she is one of the art world’s youngest rising stars

Rome’s new Museum of Rescued Art opens with some 100 objects on display.

At Museum for Rescued Art, Italy Displays Stolen Artifacts It Has Recovered

The museum will showcase items before returning them to their original locations

Piet Mondrian’s The Red Cloud is one of a number of the artist's pieces in the Switzerland exhibition.

Who Was Piet Mondrian Before He Painted His Iconic Abstract Grids?

A new exhibition explores the evolution of the Dutch artist’s style, 150 years after his birth

The Canton Synagogue, founded in 1531

Inside the Effort to Restore Synagogues in Venice’s 500-Year-Old Jewish Ghetto

A new project focuses on three 16th-century synagogues in the Italian city, where the Jewish population has dropped to 450

This Renaissance painting was found in a 90-year-old woman's bedroom. It recently fetched around $320,000 at a London auction.

Renaissance Masterpiece Found Hanging in a 90-Year-Old Woman’s London Bedroom

“The Depiction of the Madonna and Child,” by a follower of Filippino Lippi, sold for around $320,000

The U.S.S.R. sent legions of “liquidators” to clean up in the aftermath of the meltdown. 

Footage Shows How Daily Life Didn’t Change After Chernobyl—and the Cover-Up’s Toxic Aftermath

A new documentary shows how the disaster transformed—and endangered—those who lived near the nuclear plant

The marble tablet celebrates the achievement of about 30 Greek youths. 

2,000-Year-Old ‘Yearbook’-Like Tablet Celebrates a Group of Ancient Greek Grads

Attikos and his friends were ready to become full Athenian citizens

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