Category: Greek History

Sidequest 27 – Magic and Early Christianity with Dr. Shaily Patel

In response to a suggestion from Dr. Rhiannon Garth Jones, I reached out to Dr. Shaily Patel at Virginia Tech (GO HOKIES!) to see if she would come on the podcast. Turns out she was willing to do so and this led to a discussion about the complex relationship between early Christianity and magic. This includes how early Christians employed heresy to attack and marginalize non-Christian practitioners of magic (looking at you, Augustine). Dr. Patel has covered this topic thoroughly and written a book about it that is very, very good. Please check out the book. You will enjoy it.

In addition to covering the complex role that early Christianity and Christians had with magic, we discuss the state of higher education, how we should discuss history and the complexities involved in putting together historical narratives, the D.C. Comics character John Constantine, the brilliant TV show Grimm and The Dresden Files. Don’t judge us.

Your reading assignments include the Scholomance series and Things Unseen.

The theme music is from Brent Arehart. Please call the pod (540-632-0160), leave a message and you’ll get in an episode. Let me know what you think about what we think in the comments, on Bluesky, on Mastodon, on Reddit, or on Instagram.

And never forget that The Classical Antiquity Sidequest is a podcast without end.

Sidequest 26 – Drinking in Ancient Greece with Dr. Amy Pistone

Our friend Amy Pistone returns to the podcast to educate us on drinking habits in Ancient Greece. During this episode, we’ll hear about the current climate in higher education and discuss the uncertainty professors have. We will also cover what would go down at a symposium and how people in Antiquity knew how to play drinking games. And, if that weren’t enough, we answer a question that has stumped scholars for centuries – was Odysseus a woo girl, or did he just keep it real? Listen and find out.

Your reading assignments include Glorious Exploits and Sarah Bond’s Strike. Given the number of times that Strike has been suggested as a book to read, isn’t it time for Dr. Bond to come on the podcast? I think so.

The theme music is from Brent Arehart. Please call the pod (540-632-0160), leave a message and you’ll get in an episode. Let me know what you think about what we think in the comments, on Bluesky, on Mastodon, on Reddit, or on Instagram.

And never forget that The Classical Antiquity Sidequest is a podcast without end.

Sidequest 25 – Ben and Victor Review Troy: The Director’s Cut

Victor returns to the podcast to discuss 2004’s Troy. But not just Troy. No, we skip the theatrical release version and go straight into the 196 minute (not a typo) director’s cut. Why did we do this? Good question.

Anyway, we take some time to figure out what went wrong with this movie, what good parts it had and, of course, we talk about Deep Blue Sea (there’s a connection here, trust me). We also point out that the ending sequence for the Trojans in this movie was really, really idiotic. Most important, we raise a significant issue that should be studied by film historians – does throwing in an exploding volcano make a movie better? Listen and find out.

The theme music is from Brent Arehart. Please call the pod (540-632-0160), leave a message and you’ll get in an episode. Let me know what you think about what we think in the comments.

And never forget that The Classical Antiquity Sidequest is a podcast without end.

Sidequest 24 – Antiquity on Screen Part II: Those About to Die and The Odyssey with Monica Cyrino

Our friend Monica Cyrino returned to the podcast to discuss Those About to Die and the upcoming Christopher Nolan film, The Odyssey. Those About to Die is a Peacock series which is set in the Flavian dynasty. It’s an ambitious project that has some good parts and some not so good parts. If we were to give it one of our movie review ratings, I’d give it a Probus. It is worth watching as there are some good moments that are historically accurate. There are some other moments that are … not.

We also get into the futures game and play a version of conference realignment talk by discussing what shape The Odyssey may take. It’s an ambitious project and, to be honest, I’m not sure I see a movie in the source material absent extensive editing and rewrites. And, if that happens, I’m certain the notoriously happy OnlineClassics folks will react with calm, quiet reflection. Narrator: They won’t.

We conclude the podcast by talking about a few projects that Dr. Cyrino is working on which I highly recommend.

Your reading assignment is Judy Dench’s Shakespeare: The Man Who Pays the Rent.

The theme music is from Brent Arehart. Please call the pod (540-632-0160), leave a message and you’ll get in an episode. Let me know what you think about what we think in the comments.

And never forget that The Classical Antiquity Sidequest is a podcast without end.

Sidequest 23 – All Roads Lead to Rome with Dr. Rhiannon Garth Jones

As we all know, people spend a lot of time thinking about Rome. If you’ve ever wondered why that is, Dr. Rhiannon Garth Jones just published All Roads Lead to Rome, a book that attempts to answer and explain just why it is that so many of us think about Rome and why we’ve done it for so long. In addition to that, we cover a lot of topics including writing styles, an ongoing issue with historical cognitive dissonance when it comes to our understanding of Rome and some troubling and problematic invocations of Rome. We also cover a very interesting want to know more section of her book and how it incorporates new and emerging forms of scholarship.

Your reading assignments include Strike by Dr. Sarah E. Bond (who I would love to have on the pod one day) and Dr. Kaldellis’ The New Roman Empire.

And while you’re reading stuff, why don’t you pick up a copy of Dr. Garth Jones’ book? It’s pretty darned good.

The theme music is from Brent Arehart. Please call the pod (540-632-0160), leave a message and you’ll get in an episode. Let me know what you think about what we think in the comments.

And never forget that The Classical Antiquity Sidequest is a podcast without end.

Sidequest 20 – Madeleine Duperouzel on Empress Theodora

In an effort to help bridge the gap between “Byzantine” and Roman history, I reached out to Madeleine Duperouzel to see if she’d be interested in talking about Empress Theodora. Madeleine was more than happy to, so the result is an outstanding episode regarding a legendary figure in Roman history. After briefly covering finicky weather patterns, we discuss Theodora’s life, her historical significance and how she has been treated by her contemporaries and by later historians. This naturally involves a discussion about the historical inkblot that is The Secret History (I explain the inkblot reference in the episode, but if you search for “Bork 9th Amendment inkblot”, you’ll find what I’m talking about). We also cover the general hostility that a specific group of men felt towards Theodora and the unique control over her life that she possessed.

To get more updates on history from Madeleine, please check subscribe to her Substack, The Empress of Byzantium. It’s really good!

Your reading assignments include The Alexiad, Doppelgänger and The Name of the Rose.

The theme music is from Brent Arehart. Please call the pod (540-632-0160), leave a message and you’ll get in an episode. Let me know what you think about what we think in the comments.

And never forget that The Classical Antiquity Sidequest is a podcast without end.

Sidequest 18 – Dr. Liz Gloyn Discusses Seneca and his Stoic Philosophy

As I mentioned on an earlier episode, I’ve been wanting to put together a series of episodes about what we collectively consider to be significant works from Antiquity. One such work is Seneca’s Letters. Fortunately, I was able to find Dr. Liz Gloyn who is an expert on Seneca. She stopped by to talk about Seneca’s letters, his Stoic origin story and how he ended up in the proximity of the imperial court. Dr. Gloyn also covers some of Seneca’s other writings which we should all take a look at and we discuss her upcoming project. (Don’t forget to check out her book which I linked to above!)

Your reading assignments include Love At First Spite and Spoiler Alert.

The theme music is from Brent Arehart. Please call the pod (540-632-0160), leave a message and you’ll get in an episode. Let me know what you think about what we think in the comments.

And never forget that The Classical Antiquity Sidequest is a podcast without end.

Sidequest 17 – Collecting Ancient Coins with Dean and Josh

As a companion to our recent episode with Dr. Le Blanc, I thought it would be interesting to do an episode about collecting ancient coins. I reached out to Kinzer Coins and the result is this episode with Dean and Josh. After discussing their origin stories, Dean and Josh tell us what collectors should know when they start collecting, where to buy coins, how to store coins and grail pieces. I hope you all learn something from this and are more informed if you decide to start a coin collection.

Please check out their podcast to learn more information about their work and this interesting, and potentially not too expensive, hobby. You can also check out their respective sites to see if they have any coins you may want to buy.

Your reading assignments include Archaic and Classical Greek Coins and The History and Coinage of the Roman Imperators (49-27 BC).

The theme music is from Brent Arehart. Please call the pod (540-632-0160), leave a message and you’ll get in an episode. Let me know what you think about what we think in the comments.

And never forget that The Classical Antiquity Sidequest is a podcast without end.

Sidequest 14 – Dr. Roshan Abraham on Apollonius of Tyana

The latest Sidequest takes us to the First Century CE to study the interesting historical figure that is Apollonius of Tyana. Apollonius is typically associated with Jesus and serves as a sort of “Pagan Jesus”, whatever that term may mean. It turns out there’s more to Apollonius than just that. Studying Apollonius provides with greater insight to the time in which Jesus lived and the historical narrative surrounding holy men and cult figures from that time period.

Our guide for this Sidequest is Dr. Roshan Abraham, a professor at American University. Dr. Abraham wrote an outstanding article about Apollonius which I recommend that you all read. In addition to discussing Apollonius and the historical discussion surrounding him, we also discuss how the Classics have been misused and appropriated throughout history including by white supremacists. Towards the end of the episode, we get into the intersection between mythology and D.C. Comics which Dr. Abraham knows a thing or two about.

Your reading assignments are Opus and Home Fire.

On the opening theme music, for now it’s from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):
https://uppbeat.io/t/kevin-macleod/folk-round
License code: SHTJJRTVTRXQAID1

Please call the pod (540-632-0160), leave a message and you’ll get in an episode. Let me know what you think about what we think in the comments or on Twitter.

And never forget that The Classical Antiquity Sidequest is a podcast without end.

Sidequest 12 – Anthony Kaldellis on the “Byzantine Empire” and Roman Identity

In the latest episode of the Sidequest, Anthony Kaldellis, author of many books including The New Roman Empire, stops by to discuss his podcast Byzantium & Friends, how the academic community is starting to embrace podcasts as a medium to communicate with a wider audience, the narratives surrounding Antiquity, including when it “ended”, in the Western and Eastern imperial provinces and the importance of the “Byzantines” to Antiquity and the Classics. We also discuss the naming convention behind use of the term “Byzantine” and the important role the Crimean War played in that. Dr. Kaldellis wrote an article about that which I highly recommend and link to here.

One of the more interesting parts of this interview involved me learning about how widespread the Greek language was throughout the Empire. It turns out that the city of Rome had a large population that spoke Greek including one Julius Caesar. We also have a discussion about “Late Antiquity” and whether we should consider that as a transitional period which I discuss more in the intro to the podcast. I think my views on it come from the way I view things as a trial lawyer which may not entirely overlap with the way that historians approach their work. I could be way off about this. It’s just a thought I had as I edited the podcast.

Your reading assignment from this episode is “Black Earth: The Holocaust as History and Warning“.

On the opening theme music, for now it’s from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):
https://uppbeat.io/t/kevin-macleod/folk-round
License code: SHTJJRTVTRXQAID1

Please call the pod (540-632-0160), leave a message and you’ll get in an episode. Let me know what you think about what we think in the comments or on Twitter.

And never forget that The Classical Antiquity Sidequest is a podcast without end.