In 415 BC, in the middle of the Peloponnesian War, the Athenians launched an expedition to gain control of Sicily. This disastrous venture - known as the Sicilian Expedition - ended in the catastrophic defeat of the Athenians and their navy at Syracuse in 413 BC. The Athenians suffered enormous losses; those who survived were imprisoned in the limestone quarries at Syracuse, where they died or were sold into slavery.

How influenced was Thucydides by Homer? Despite his criticisms of Homer and the poets, did Thucydides draw upon the great epic poems of ancient Greece - especially the Iliad and the Odyssey - when recounting the events of his own time?

Professor Christopher Mackie is the Head of the School of Humanities at La Trobe University.

Copyright 2013 La Trobe University, all rights reserved. Contact for permissions.

Dr Emma Robertson (History, La Trobe University) talks about the social history of chocolate, the culture that has grown around it and how it has changed.

Copyright 2013 La Trobe University, all rights reserved. Contact for permissions.

What can we still learn from old maps, and how can we transfer their information to current platforms? The Digital Roman Campagna Mapping Project aims to produce a layered digital map of the Roman Campagna (the countryside around Rome), using a template like Google Earth to establish key co-ordinates.

Featuring Dr Lisa Beaven (Art historian, La Trobe University, Professor Christopher Smith (Director, British School at Rome), Valerie Scott (Librarian, British School at Rome) and Chris Myers (VeRSI).

Copyright 2013 La Trobe University, all rights reserved. Contact for permissions.

What can we still learn from old maps, and how can we transfer their information to current platforms? The Digital Roman Campagna Mapping Project aims to produce a layered digital map of the Roman Campagna (the countryside around Rome), using a template like Google Earth to establish key co-ordinates.

Featuring Dr Lisa Beaven (Art historian, La Trobe University, Professor Christopher Smith (Director, British School at Rome), Valerie Scott (Librarian, British School at Rome) and Chris Myers (VeRSI).

Copyright 2013 La Trobe University, all rights reserved. Contact for permissions.

Dr Ian Coller (Historical and European Studies, La Trobe University) explores the Arab presence in France in the early 19th Century, through a group that migrated when Napoleon's troops left Egypt.

Copyright 2012 La Trobe University, all rights reserved. Contact for permissions.

Dr Ian Coller (Historical and European Studies, La Trobe University) explores the Arab presence in France in the early 19th Century, through a group that migrated when Napoleon's troops left Egypt.

Copyright 2012 La Trobe University, all rights reserved. Contact for permissions.

Dr Gillian Shepherd (Mediterranean Studies, La Trobe University) on the Tomb of the Diver.

The Tomb of the Diver is an important 5th century BC grave found near the ancient Greek city of Poseidonia (Paestum) in southern Italy. It is a grave made of five painted slabs forming the four walls and the roof of the tomb. All five slabs were painted on the interior sides. The cover slab shows a man diving into a pool of water and it is from this scene that the tomb gets its name. The paintings on the four walls depict a scene of a symposium, an ancient Greek drinking party – this lecture takes a closer look at partying in the ancient world.

Copyright 2012 La Trobe University, all rights reserved. Contact for permissions.

Dr Rhiannon Evans (Mediterranean Studies, La Trobe University) on Pliny the Elder, the knowledge he contributed to society, and what his writings show of Roman attitudes.

Copyright 2012 La Trobe University, all rights reserved. Contact for permissions.

Dr Rhiannon Evans (Mediterranean Studies, La Trobe University) on the attitude of ancient Romans towards the people they saw as 'outsiders'.

Copyright 2012 La Trobe University, all rights reserved. Contact for permissions.

Dr Lisa Beaven (Art History, La Trobe University) on how the city of Venice developed, and influenced the Renaissance.

Copyright 2012 La Trobe University, all rights reserved. Contact for permissions.