In 2017, well-known classicist at Cambridge University Mary Beard was abused on Twitter over her assertion that there was at least some ethnic diversity in Britain under Roman rule. The historian had been defending a BBC schools video that featured a high-ranking black Roman soldier as the father of a family. Similarly, Sarah Bond, Professor of History at the University of Iowa, came under fire over the subject of polychromy — the use of color — in ancient sculpture.

In this episode of the “Polemical History Podcast”, Tim & Anthony discuss the origins and history of race as a concept, particularly in the context of these two debates. Why do we think of classical statuary in terms of gleaming white marble when they were actually painted? If we know these statues were polychromatic, why do they remain white in our popular imagination? What does it say today when museums display gleaming white statues? And why do some people start from the position that painted statues and Romans of color cannot be right?