BullCityCoordinators

Sidequest 35 – Gladiators in the Greek World

Our next Sidequest takes us to Greece during the Roman era as we discuss gladiators with Alexandra Sills. Ms. Sills just released a book on the topic, “Gladiators in the Greek World: How a Roman Bloodsport Took Ancient Greece by Storm”, which I highly recommend to all. During this episode, we discuss a number of topics including why gladiators became so popular in Greece, how gladiators were used by Roman political leaders and some problems associated with some historians who discussed gladiators without understanding sports. Before we get into gladiators, we discussed the British education and Alexandra’s podcast, Ancient History 101.

Your reading assignment is Lauren Jenkinsson-Brown’s “You Are Odysseus“.

You can find Ms. Sills by going to her website and on Bluesky.

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 34 – Ben and Victor Don’t Like Gladiator

We are finally getting around to reviewing the movie that started a string of copycat Roman history movies by reviewing the blockbuster that is Gladiator. For reasons that me and Victor don’t understand, people like this movie. We, if you couldn’t tell from the episode’s title, don’t particularly care for it. The film is full of dumb plot points, bad dialogue, slow motion and several things that make no sense (like the fact that Maximus became a gladiator because … Reasons!). If we’re being honest, this entire movie is avoided by Marcus Aurelius writing a will.

If you rewatch Gladiator, take time to watch The Fall of the Roman Empire which is the inspiration for Gladiator. That will also help you unlock the secret of this movie which we stumble on as we discuss it. Turns out that there’s a connection between Maximus and Obi-Wan Kenobi which we think Ridley Scott clearly intended to convey in Gladiator. I also go on a rant about Boomers. This shouldn’t surprise you given one of the books I reviewed here.

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

Sidequest 33 – Violence to Memory: How Wars of Choice Destroy Culture with Dr. Katherine Blouin

As you may know, the US-Israeli Axis launched a preemptive, and unnecessary, war on Iran. This war of choice has destablized the region, caused economic disruptions at home and created a humanitarian crisis throughout the Middle East. One somewhat overlooked part of this war includes the destruction of UNESCO recognized cultural heritage sites. Dr. Katherine Blouin stopped by the podcast to discuss this erasure of both history and culture. In addition to talking about the Iran War and its effects on history, archaeology and culture, we discuss the Israeli government’s genocide of the Palestinian people and Israel’s deliberate attempt to wipe Palestinian culture off the map to justify its own existence.

For additional reading on these topics, check out the following:

Save Sebastia

Archaeologists Against Apartheid

Everyday Orientalism

Follow the Pots Project

Nelly Abboud

While this may not be the most cheerful conversation we’ve ever had on the podcast, it is a necessary one. And it gave us the chance to remind everyone of the best episode of Drunk History ever – Tiffany Haddish discussing Rose Valland. You will need to watch it at some point to get your mind off of current events.

Your reading assignments include Sally Rooney’s Intermezzo and Caroline Dodd Pennock’s On Savage Shores: How Indigenous Americans Discovered Europe.

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

Sidequest 32 – The First Millennium with Dr. Rhiannon Garth Jones

Friend of the podcast Dr. Rhiannon Garth Jones returns to discuss the time period that some scholars refer to as “The First Millennium”. This period covers … And now I’m using a word to define itself, so instead of that, let me just say that it’s the period from 1 CE to 1000 CE. During the episode, we discuss what the time period is, what historians who study it look at and the common threads that exist between societies that we think of as separate and distinct.

The episode touches on a lot of topics including English Premier League football, the narrow focus of Antiquity on Greece and Rome at the exclusion of the rest of the Mediterranean, Late Antiquity, Islamic kingdoms and empires and their connections to both Antiquity and to Late Antiquity. As you should know by now from listening to the podcast, there are a lot more similarities between “different” peoples and civilizations than we might think. We explore those similarities in this episode including how many societies expressed power by channelling the Roman state.

Your reading assignments include the graphic novel Squire, Ancient Mediterranean Incarceration and The White Pedestal.

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

Sidequest 31 – Palestine and The Levant with Dr. Chance Bonar

Back in February, Dr. Chance Bonar was kind enough to stop by the podcast to talk about a completely non-controversial topic that doesn’t generate strong opinions from anyone – Palestine and the Levant. We recorded this before Iran and Israel launched an unnecessary war in the United States, so we don’t get into any issues surrounding that. We do, however, cover the history of the term “Palestine”, the Levant functioning as a crossroads throughout history, political agendas which complicate the historian’s job of telling people what happened and a whole lot more.

For those of you who don’t know a lot about the history of that region, this is a good place to start. If you want to learn more about the history of the region, Dr. Bonar’s suggested reading includes Palestine: A Four Thousand Year History, Who Were the Early Israelites and Where Did They Come From?, and Judea Under Greek and Roman Rule. You can also check out Everyday Orientalism.

Your reading assignment is Freedom is a Constant Struggle.

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

Book Review- Julian Against the Apostates

I recently finished M. David Litwa’s Julian Against the Apostates: A Translation and Reconstruction of Julian’s Against the Galileans. I picked this up on Audible before pausing (and soon to be canceling) my subscription there. If you can find this on another audiobook platform or get a physical copy, it’s worth the time spent reading / listening. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and can’t recommend it enough.

Before I get into the merits of the book, I will note that the version I had was narrated by AI. I didn’t like that at all. From a policy perspective, there’s no reason not to have actual voice actors do the narration. AI narration is just a way for a company to avoid having to pay people to work. Before buying audiobooks in the future, I’ll check to make sure the book is narrated by a live person. If it isn’t, I’ll purchase something else. Now, back to my thoughts on the book.

As you know from other episodes of the podcast, religious history and religious philosophy isn’t my favorite topic. I usually find it a little esoteric and boring. This book, however, was captivating from the start. You get a sense from it that Julian missed his calling as a philosopher and religious theorist. Litwa’s book provides a great insight into Julian’s mind, his thought process and his overall intellectual force as a philosopher. After reading (listening) to this book, I came away with a much better understanding as to why Julian has remained an important figure despite a relatively short reign as emperor. You get the sense that Julian’s writings lingered long after his death in pagan and non-Christian circles. Hence why so many texts have been written about Julian and why Christian theorists and philosophers continue to grapple with Julian’s arguments. One wonders what would have happened had Julian not become an emperor and instead became a purely religious leader.

One of the more interesting parts of the book, to me, involved Julian referring Christians as Double Apostates as they were apostates to traditional religions and to the Jewish faith from which Christianity developed. That Julian viewed the people who call him an apostate as apostates themselves was a nice historical nugget to come across.

Litwa’s book is written in a very accessible manner. You don’t need to have an in-depth knowledge to read and understand it. Rather, people with varying levels of knowledge and expertise could pick it up and walk away with a fuller and more complete understanding of Julian, his critics and the time period in which Julian lived. The book includes commentary and responses to Julian’s arguments which is sort of like reading the transcript from a debate. Again, get a copy and read it. You’ll enjoy it.

Those are my thoughts on the book. Let me know what you think about what I 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 30 – Pompeii is an Explosion of Slop

In this episode, me and Victor test my wife’s theory that a volcano exploding makes a movie better by reviewing 2014’s Pompeii. TLDL – this movie was pretty awful. However, the volcano exploding did improve what was otherwise a flaming pile of garbage. In our review, we bring back McNulty Subplot, spend a lot of time discussing how could this movie be made better, nickname Kit Harrington’s character “Roman Snow” and complain about this movie wasting an excellent cast.

If you have seen the movie and have any thoughts on how it could’ve been better, please reach out and let us know. I’ll read your ideas on the next movie review episode. If we get enough submissions, I’ll do a special episode.

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

Book Review – Philip and Alexander: Kings and Conquerors

For my third book review, I’m returning to Antiquity with a review of Adrian Goldsworthy’s book about two Macedonian kings, Philip and Alexander: Kings and Conquerors. This is the first audiobook that I’ve reviewed on the site, so this may be a little different from other reviews I have done and will continue to do. Why do I say that? Well, I just started listening to audiobooks in earnest within the last few months and I find it a little challenging to retain as much of the information, or take notes on the information, compared to when I read a physical book. This is because I listen to audiobooks and podcasts when I run, when I drive or when I’m running errands. So, if I make mistakes here or am otherwise not as detailed as I am in other reviews, my bad. I’ll try to do better the next time around.

Regarding the book itself, I thoroughly enjoyed this one and recommend it to all. Goldsworthy does a masterful job setting the scene of Ancient Greece and Macedonia at the time that Philip came to power. This gives the reader a good sense of the world in which Philip and Alexander found themselves, starting with Macedon and the major Greek power-brokers. Goldsworthy’s decision to take the time to set the historical table, if you will, seemed like a sidequest at first, but doing so allowed the reader, or listener in my case, to understand what Philip had to do to build his kingdom. Spoilers – it wasn’t easy. While I try to not idolize historical figures, it’s hard not to be impressed by what Philip was able to accomplish. He took a part of Greece that was looked down upon by its neighbors and turned it into a major player with a professional and disciplined fighting force.

Goldsworthy doesn’t stop setting the scene in Greece; you get an excellent idea of the challenges that Alexander faced as he tried to place his seal on the Persian Empire he conquered. There is a lot of time devoted to the cultural differences between the Greeks and the Persians that I came across in passing while listening to podcasts. I didn’t fully appreciate those differences until I listened to this book (and probably would’ve appreciated better had I read a physical copy of it). Goldsworthy also does an excellent job analyzing the historical record regarding this time period and pointing out reliability issues with primary and secondary sources. That discussion made me realize that there’s a good argument that we should consider Alexander’s famous last words as a narrative invention, albeit a very good one.

One thing that I particularly enjoyed about the book is that it is about both Philip and Alexander as opposed to just Alexander. When I did my research for the first episode of the podcast, which is about Alexander the Great, I found myself being drawn to stories about Philip more so than Alexander. Without judging or idolizing either historical figure, I always find myself more interested in Philip because he built the system that Alexander was able to use so masterfully. While I’m not saying that Philip is more historically significant than Alexander, I am saying that I personally enjoy learning more about Philip. I always find stories about builders and creators to be compelling and Philip really built his kingdom into something that was different from other Greek cities around him. Again, I’m not saying that one is more worthy of study than the other, but I am saying that, in many respects, you can’t understand Alexander if you don’t understand Philip. So, pairing these two together was a good choice by Goldsworthy.

Another thing that I found interesting was the discussion about how Alexander’s troops not crossing the Hyphasis probably wasn’t that big of a deal at the time and that it only became significant because of Alexander’s death not too long after that. You also get the sense that Alexander wasn’t as unstable as he is portrayed in movies or television (think Oliver Stone’s Alexander) towards the end of his life. Rather, you get a sense that this was a man who had been through a lot, may have had some measure of a traumatic brain injury (if not several) and was understandably stressed from running a large empire and conducting campaign after campaign. Stressed out? Certainly. Mentally unstable and bordering on insane? Probably not.

Goldsworthy also doesn’t just focus on the two kings’ military history. Rather, he spends a lot of time detailing Philip’s diplomatic successes as well as Alexander’s attempt to integrate the Greeks and the Persians. So, while there is a lot of military history to get through, that’s not all that the book is about. All things considered, this is a pretty comprehensive history.

As I wrap up this review, I want to mention one other reason that this book is worth reading. When I read a bad history book, that book can turn me off from the subject matter. But, if I like the book, it can cause me to read other books about the same time period. And this book, fortunately, has done the latter. Goldsworthy’s book has me wanting to read more about that period of history, so I’ve added a few primary and older secondary sources to the to-read list.

Those are my thoughts on the book. Let me know what you think about what I 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.

You Have Friends Everywhere

Posting this because it seems like a good time to do so. If you haven’t watched Andor yet, which is where this is from, you should.

There will be times when the struggle seems impossible. I know this already. Alone, unsure, dwarfed by the scale of the enemy. Remember this. Freedom is a pure idea. It occurs spontaneously and without instruction. Random acts of insurrection are occurring constantly throughout the galaxy. There are whole armies, battalions that have no idea that they’ve already enlisted in the cause. Remember that the frontier of the Rebellion is everywhere. And even the smallest act of insurrection pushes our lines forward. And then remember this. The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that. And know this, the day will come when all these skirmishes and battles, these moments of defiance will have flooded the banks of the Empire’s authority and then there will be one too many. One single thing will break the siege. Remember this. Try.

Sidequest 29 – The White Pedestal: How White Nationalists Use the Classics

I’ve been a fan of Dr. Curtis Dozier for a while. I stumbled on his podcast, The Mirror of Antiquity, and thoroughly enjoyed it. I then came across his website, Pharos, where he chronicles (mostly horrible and some who are only somewhat horrible but still horrible) people invoking the Classics to justify their horrible beliefs. When I reached out to Dr. Dozier to see if he would come on the podcast, not only did he say yes, but he told me about his current book which is now available for purchase – The White Pedestal: How White Nationalists Use Ancient Greece and Rome to Justify Hate. Naturally, this book which is now available for purchase, is the topic of the episode.

In Dr. Dozier’s book, which I read and highly recommend, he outlines the goals of white nationalists and where in the Classics white nationalists look to find support for their horrible beliefs. It turns out that they aren’t necessarily misrepresenting history to support their hate-filled, racist and reprehensible beliefs. Rather, such hatred, bigotry and racist beliefs are common and permeate our entire historical and philosophical narrative. And that is the key part of Dr. Dozier’s book – he isn’t just exposing the logical fallacies of white nationalists, he’s exposing the problems inherent with our historical narratives upon which white nationalists rely.

And it’s understanding that issue which makes the discussion we need to have about history so important. Put simply, if we’re going to have a discussion about white nationalists co-opting the Classics, we need to have a discussion about what the Classics are, what they aren’t and our obligations as students and teachers to telling an accurate and complete narrative about the past and how that reflects on the present. We have to stop idolizing the subject matter and be honest about it. Look, folks, if there’s one theme of this podcast, it’s that history is messy. And this episode returns to that theme again and again and again. There’s nothing perfect about the past. The folks who preceded us weren’t saints. They were people, and people are imperfect. So, let’s stop putting the past on a pedestal and get to work making our present and our future a better place.

While I often kick around politics and current events, this is one of the few episodes that covers both in detail. I hope you enjoy listening to this episode as much as I enjoyed participating in the discussion.

Your reading assignment is Empire of Ruin.

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