A conversation with Jonathan Hall (University of Chicago) about how the archaeological past of the city of Argos was reclaimed in the long nineteenth century. What institutions and political debates took shape around the heritage of the past? What role did the ancient travel writer Pausanias play in defining what the past was? What was the interplay between local, national, international, and imperial interests? The conversation is based on Jonathan's book Reclaiming the Past: Argos and its Archaeological Heritage in the Modern Era (Cornell University Press 2021).