Ancient World Magazine Podcast

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Latest Episodes:

Chariots Jan 21, 2022

Another year, another episode of the Ancient World Magazine podcast! In this episode, Josho Brouwers is joined by contributing editor Joshua Hall, regular contributor Arianna Sacco, and special guest Silvannen Gerrard to talk about chariots. A chariot is a fast and light vehicle with two spoked wheels, drawn by a team of at least two horses. In this sense, it should not be confused with the heavier two-wheeled carts or with waggons, which have four wheels.

We start with a brief survey of the origins of the chariot, including the Sumerian battle-carts of the third millennium BC. We then turn our attention to the introduction of the chariot proper, its use in the armies of the Bronze Age kingdoms, and how they eventually made way, in the Early Iron Age, to what we refer to as "true" cavalry.

Still, even after the introduction of cavalry, chariots did not immediately fall out of the use. They continued to be used in the armies of the Neo-Assyrian Empire, and we also encounter them in a military context on ancient Greek vases. As usual, there are problems of interpretation, but chariots did continue in use on the battlefield for some time. The best late examples are probably the scythed chariots of the Hellenistic era.

Early Rome Nov 27, 2021

It’s been a while, but here’s finally a new episode of the Ancient World Magazine podcast. In this episode, Dr Joshua Hall talks with Dr Ulla Rajala (Stockholm University) about Early Rome, with special reference to a number of books that have recently been published on this topic.

The first of these books is Nicola Terrenato’s The Early Roman Expansion into Italy: Elite Negotiation and Family Agendas (2019). The second is Gabriele Cifani’s The Origins of the Roman Economy: From the Iron Age to the Early Republic in a Mediterranean Perspective (2021). Both books have been published by Cambridge University Press.

The discussion also includes a reference to The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity (2021) by David Graeber and David Wengrow, and in particular to Christopher Smith’s review of the book, which you can read for yourself on his website.

Archaeological museums Sep 08, 2020

Special guest Dr Helena Meskanen joins the regular team of Matthew Lloyd, Joshua Hall, and Josho Brouwers to talk about museums, including some that are not strictly archaeological. We talk about our favourite museums, relate personal experiences when visiting them, and discuss what the role of archaeological museums should be. We also touch upon open air or “living history” museums.

Sculpture in the ancient Greek world, part 2 Jun 07, 2020

This episode picks up from where we left off last time by focusing on ancient Greek sculpture of the Classical and Hellenistic periods. Among other things, we devote quite a bit of time to talking about male and female nudity, and what this says about Classical and Hellenistic perceptions of the role of men and women in the ancient Greek world. We also talk about the sculpture of Etruria and Central Italy, and touch upon statuary from Magna Graecia.

Sculpture in the ancient Greek world, part 1 May 29, 2020

The team talk about sculpture in the ancient Greek world. There was a lot of ground to cover so we decided to spread it out across two episodes. In part 1, our focus is on the Bronze Age, Early Iron Age, and Archaic period, so down to ca. 500 BC. Part 2 will be uploaded in the next few days. That episode picks up where we leave off here by examining sculpture of the Classical age and beyond.

Sanctuaries in ancient Greece May 04, 2020

Joshua Hall, Matthew Lloyd, and Josho Brouwers talk about sanctuaries in ancient Greece. We define what a "sanctuary" is and what kind of sacred places there in the ancient Greek world. Sanctuaries are the focal point for religion, so we naturally also talk about priests and priestesses, festivals, and sacrifices. Greek plays and athletic competitions were usually organized in honour of the gods. We also talk about the main elements of the typical sanctuary and pay particular attention to the altar, which was also a place of refuge for those fearing for their lives.

Mercenaries in the ancient world Sep 02, 2019

In this episode, Joshua Hall and Josho Brouwers are joined by experts Stephanie Craven and Hannah Ringheim to discuss mercenaries in the ancient world. This podcast is dedicated to the memory of Matthew Trundle. His scholarship had a significant impact on our discussion of mercenaries. The introduction and closing are handled by contributing editor Matthew Lloyd.

Networks in the ancient Mediterranean Jan 07, 2019

Joshua Hall, Matthew Lloyd, and Josho Brouwers are joined by special guest Dr Lieve Donnellan of Aarhus University to talk about networks and interconnectivity in the ancient Mediterranean. The discussion is prompted by our reading of Cyprian Broodbank’s monumental work, The Making of the Middle Sea: A History of the Mediterranean from the Beginning to the Emergence of the Classical World, published in 2013 by Thames & Hudson.

History of Carthage, part 1 Nov 12, 2018

This is the first instalment of a series that deals with the history of Carthage. Joshua Hall talks with Josho Brouwers about Phoenicia, the Phoenicians (whoever they might be), and colonization in the Mediterranean during the Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age. We also touch upon the differences between territorial states and city-states in the Levant, and how the Phoenician cities interacted with their neighbours.

A key question to ask is who the Phoenicians were. We talk about the problems involved in ascribing a Phoenician "ethnicity", referring to among others Jospehine Quinn's recent book on the Phoenicians, and on the perception of the Phoenicians in Greek and Roman sources.

Virgil's Aeneid Jun 11, 2018

We've been writing a lot about the Trojan War on Ancient World Magazine and also devoted an earlier episode of the podcast to chat about the 2004-movie Troy. Virgil's Aeneid is a useful topic of discussion, since it connects the world of Greek mythology with that of Roman legend, and also connects myth to history.

Virgil (70–19 BC) consciously modelled the Aeneid after the two Homeric epics, Iliad and Odyssey. The first half of the poem (books 1 through 6) focus on Aeneas' wanderings and are analogous to the Odyssey. The second half (books 7 through 12) focus on Aeneas struggles in Latium and the war against the Rutulians and their allies, with clear allusions to the Iliad.

Virgil's poem is an intricate work of literature, incorporating Greek and Italic myths, legends, and folklore. A key theme of the poem is the tension between pietas (piety) on the one hand, and furor (violence, rage) on the other. More specifically, Virgil asks us whether the end justifies the means. Is human suffering in the short term worth the establishment of peace and order in the long term?

Modern approaches to ancient Egypt Mar 19, 2018

Ancient Egypt is often seen as a monolithic entity, something that sprang into being around 3000 BC and then remained virtually unchanged for several millennia. In the popular imagination, Egypt is the land of gold masks and pyramids. And surely, we know all that there is to know about ancient Egypt, don't we?

In this fourth episode of the podcast, we try to show that ancient Egypt was every bit as dynamic as any other region of the world (ancient or modern), with plenty of change over time and a large amount of regional variation. Furthermore, modern research looks beyond the eye-catching treasures and massive monuments to better understand what made ancient Egyptian society tick. Host Josho Brouwers is joined by two Italian researchers who are both writing their PhD theses at Leiden University, Renata Schiavo and Arianna Sacco.

In the episode, Renata references an article by J. Moreno García, "The cursed discipline? The peculiarities of Egyptology at the turn of the twenty-first century", in: W. Carruthers (ed.), Histories of Egyptology: Interdisciplinary Measures (2014), pp. 50-63. The article is available for download on the author's Academia profile.

The movie Troy (2004) Feb 05, 2018

In this third episode, we discuss the Brad Pitt vehicle Troy, a 2004-movie directed by Wolfgang Petersen. The movie doesn't focus exclusively on the Homeric epics, but draws from the entire Epic Cycle, covering the whole of the Trojan War, from its immediate cause (the abduction of the Spartan queen Helen) to the sack of the city.

The team for this episode consists of archaeologists Matthew Lloyd and Josho Brouwers, and ancient historian Roel Konijnendijk. They talk at length about the film: the choices made in fitting the story within a fairly limited running length (a little over three hours for the Director's Cut); the curious mix of Bronze Age and Archaic/Classical elements in set design, props, and costumes for a movie ostensibly set around 1200 BC; the performances, ranging from amazingly hammy to not so great; why more Sean Bean is the best reason to watch the Director's Cut, and more.

The ancient Greek hoplite Dec 11, 2017

For this second episode, we decided to remain close to home. Since we've all been involved in research concerning ancient Greek warfare, it was natural to get together and talk about that most popular of ancient warriors: the ancient Greek hoplite.

Josho Brouwers, Joshua R. Hall, and Roel Konijnendijk are joined by archaeologist Matthew Lloyd and ancient historian Owen Rees. They focus mostly on issues of definition, as well as socio-economic and cultural aspects of the hoplite, rather than tactics, although they do briefly discuss the phalanx.

Why do we study the ancient world? Nov 27, 2017

In this first episode of the Ancient World Magazine podcast, we talk about why one would study the ancient world. We also discuss the merits of studying ancient history, archaeology, or classics. For this first instalment, archaeologist Josho Brouwers is joined by ancient historians Joshua R. Hall and Roel Konijnendijk.

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