Coffee and Circuses

Katherine joins David to discuss her work on the pioneering 18th century art historian and archaeologist Johann Joachim Winckelmann: his life, unfortunate early death, Katherine’s project on Winckelmann’s love letters and his status as a major figure in queer history, and giving his name to archaeology’s premier football tournament, the Winckelmann cup.

Katherine also discusses her own journey, growing up in the Roman town of Colchester, starting as a classics undergrad, but then moving onto modern history and then German philosophy for her PhD, and the benefits of being exposed to a range of ideas and approaches.

Following on from that, they also chat about some of the questions that need to be addressed regarding the relationship between classics and other subjects, as well as the reception of Rome in later cultures, and whether there is a disconnect between early career researchers and more established academics, especially when it comes to social media.

You can find Katherine on Twitter here and you can find her book Winckelmann and the Invention of Antiquity here.

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Owen joins David to discuss his PhD on craft-tools from Roman London, including what they tell us about life in the city at the time, the misconceptions we can have about craftsman, particularly concerning how varied their experiences were, and how a tool for calming horses got misidentified as ritual castration implement.

Owen also chats about his recent post-doctoral work on the Roman leather in the Museum of London collection, his experiences working on the famous Bloomberg excavations, and why he wasn't a fan of the Romans growing up. Additionally, he discusses the importance of finding a balance between work and your other interests, and not expecting too much of yourself, because your mental health should always take precedence over those extra hours you could work.

Owen is a finds specialist at Museum of London Archaeology. You can find him on Twitter here. You can read a blog-post on shoes from Roman London written by Owen here. 

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Laura joins David to talk about Greek Myth Comix, which started when she made an pact with one of her Classical Civilisation students to get back into drawing. She discusses her favourite graphic novel authors and writers, the difficulties in adapting the ancient world for modern audiences (and why she wasn't a fan of the BBC show Atlantis), and when Greek Myth Comix got onto the front page of Reddit. Laura also chats about her work on the Amarantus and his Neighbourhood project from Cambridge School Latin, which aims to teach kids about life among the lower-classes of Pompeii.

You can find out more about Greek Myth Comix here, and the Amarantus Project here. You can find Laura on Twitter and Instagram. 

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Emma joins David to talk about her work as Public Engagement Fellow at the ICS, including some of the projects she's been involved in, the growing realisation among university departments that outreach is a vital, and how its important to engage with people with a wide variety of skills in developing such projects. Emma also discusses her work on Xerxes and his reception in the Roman World (and in 300), her current research on military wives in ancient Greece and their modern counterparts, how meeting a classics teacher at sixth-form open evening sent her on the path to studying the ancient world, and how it would be interesting to see Phoebe Waller-Bridge try her hand at adapting ancient myth.

Emma Bridges is Public Engagement Fellow at the Institute of Classical Studies.
You can find her on Twitter @emmabridges.

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Lee joins David to discuss his PhD thesis on fishing in Roman Britain, spending the summer in excavating in Pompeii, and how for both them studying for their MAs was a big turning-point. There's also plenty on Lee's other major area of research: experimental archaeology. He chats about how he got interested in this avenue of research, bringing people together for a TRAC workshop on the subject, how it's a great tool for public engagement, but also how it doesn't necessarily get the recognition it deserves in academia. 

Lee Grana is a PhD student at the University of Reading and previously worked for for Oxford Archaeology. You can find him on Twitter @leegrana.

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Luke joins David to discuss his forthcoming book on public space in Late Antiquity, reading Gibbon's Decline and Fall at the age of 12, how a birthday trip to Hadrian's Wall had to be postponed so he could have an emergency operation, why Constantine I is one his favourite emperors but he doesn't have much time for Justinian anymore, studying in Germany, France, Belgium, Turkey and Italy, his thoughts on the current state of late antique studies, and why Scythopolis in the AD500 was a much better place to live than Athens or Pompeii...

Luke Lavan is a Lecturer in Archaeology at the University of Kent.
You can find out more about the Late Antique Archaeology Series here.

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Pete joins David to discuss the recently published Hadrian's Wall: A Journey Through Time, which features many of his photographs. He talks about how he came to archaeology via volunteering at sites such as Vindolanda, how  posting his photos of Roman archaeology to Twitter has generated a significant following across the globe, and advice he'd give to anyone wanting to get out and photograph heritage sites. He also reflects on how the media don't always present a story about heritage in the way they perhaps should, as Pete found when some of his own photographs showing damage to the Wall went viral.

You can find Pete on Twitter @pete _ savin and purchase Hadrian's Wall: A Journey Through Time here. 

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Helen joins David to discuss the Minimus Latin course, for which she is the illustrator, that has been going for twenty years! Helen chats about creating Minimus with Barbara Bell, how it has spread across the globe and became much bigger than they ever thought possible, the importance of finding inventive and entertaining ways to teach people - especially children - about the ancient world, the Minimus at Vindolanda weekend, and being inspired by the TV series I, Claudius.

As well as her work on the Minimus series, Helen teaches at Primary School in Suffolk. You can follow her on Twitter and find out the latest news about Minimus at http://www.minimus-etc.co.uk. 

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Ben joins David to discuss his PhD on the representation of the eagle in Roman society, which included looking at the traditional military/political/divine aspects, but also delved into lesser known themes, like what the symbol meant to women and how it related to pregnancy. He also talks about his post-doctoral work on the project 'People and Birds in the Southern Levant', which included a steep - but an ultimately rewarding - learning curve when he had to jump from classics to prehistoric archaeology. 

They also chat about Ben's other big research interest, the reception of the classical world in film and TV, especially in Star Trek. He discusses the Original Series classically-themed episodes 'Bread and Circuses' and 'Who Mourns for Adonais?' along with the Romulans have Roman-like traits, and how these reflected the political climate in America at the time.

Ben Greet worked as Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Reading. You can find him on Twitter and follow him at 'Dr Ben's Blog'. You can find the chapter on how Star Trek inadvertently challenges Plato here. 

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Liz joins David to discuss her forthcoming book Tracking Classical Monsters in Popular Culture. They chat about the portrayal of monsters in Ray Harryhausen's stop-motion films of the 1960s-80s, as well as more recent depictions, such as in Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, reflecting on what makes a good monster and how the presentation of these creatures has changed.

There's also talk about the place of reception studies in academia more generally, Liz's research on Seneca, her blog which you can check-out here, and why the Sphinx is the patron monster of defeating mansplaining!

Liz Gloyn is Senior Lecturer in the Department of Classics at Royal Holloway. 
You can find Liz on Twitter @lizgloyn.

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