Ancient History

Ancient History

episodes

Interviews with scholars of ancient history about their new books.

Julia Kelto Lillis, "Virgin Territory: Configuring Female Virginity in Early Christianity" (U California Press, 2022)

November 25, 2024

Virgin Territory

Julia Kelto Lillis
Hosted by Michael Motia

Women's virginity held tremendous significance in early Christianity and the Mediterranean world. Early Christian thinkers developed diverse definitio…

Phillip Lieberman, "The Fate of the Jews in the Early Islamic Near East: Tracing the Demographic Shift from East to West" (Cambridge UP, 2022)

November 23, 2024

The Fate of the Jews in the Early Islamic Near East

Phillip Lieberman
Hosted by Ari Barbalat

In The Fate of the Jews in the Early Islamic Near East: Tracing the Demographic Shift from East to West (Cambridge UP, 2022), Phillip Lieberman revisi…

Matthew Elia, "The Problem of the Christian Master: Augustine in the Afterlife of Slavery" (Yale UP, 2024)

November 11, 2024

The Problem of the Christian Master

Matthew Elia
Hosted by Michael Motia

The Problem of the Christian Master: Augustine in the Afterlife of Slavery (Yale UP, 2024) offers a bold rereading of Augustinian thought for a world …

Naomi S. S. Jacobs, "Delicious Prose: Reading the Tale of Tobit with Food and Drink: A Commentary" (Brill, 2018)

November 8, 2024

Delicious Prose

Naomi S. S. Jacobs
Hosted by Ari Barbalat

In Delicious Prose: Reading the Tale of Tobit with Food and Drink (Brill, 2018), Naomi S.S. Jacobs explores how the numerous references to food, drink…

Roberto Morales-Harley, "The Embassy, the Ambush, and the Ogre: Greco-Roman Influence in Sanskrit Theater” (Open Book, 2024)

November 7, 2024

The Embassy, the Ambush, and the Ogre

Roberto Morales-Harley
Hosted by Raj Balkaran

The Embassy, the Ambush, and the Ogre: Greco-Roman Influence in Sanskrit Theater (Open Book, 2024) presents a sophisticated and intricate examination …

Toni Alimi, "Slaves of God: Augustine and Other Romans on Religion and Politics" (Princeton UP, 2024)

October 28, 2024

Slaves of God

Toni Alimi
Hosted by Michael Motia

Augustine believed that slavery is permissible, but to understand why, we must situate him in his late antique Roman intellectual context. Slaves of G…

Vicente Dobroruka, "Second Temple Pseudepigraphy: A Cross-cultural Comparison of Apocalyptic Texts and Related Jewish Literature" (de Gruyter, 2014)

October 25, 2024

Second Temple Pseudepigraphy

Vicente Dobroruka
Hosted by Ari Barbalat

At this point of the scholarly debate on the nature of Second Temple pseudepigraphy, one may ask why another look at the problem is needed. Second T…

Dominick Hernández, "The Prosperity of the Wicked: A Theological Challenge in the Book of Job and in Ancient Near Eastern Literature" (Gorgias Press, 2022)

October 24, 2024

The Prosperity of the Wicked

Dominick Hernández
Hosted by Michael Morales

Does Job convincingly argue against a fixed system of just retribution by proclaiming the prosperity of the wicked, an argument that runs contrary to …

Bruce Gordon, "The Bible: A Global History" (Basic Books, 2024)

October 19, 2024

The Bible

Bruce Gordon
Hosted by Roland Clark

A “wonderful…highly comprehensive” (John Barton, author of A History of the Bible) global history of the world’s best-known and most influential book …

William T. Taylor, "Hoof Beats: How Horses Shaped Human History" (U California Press, 2024)

October 17, 2024

Hoof Beats

William T. Taylor
Hosted by Nicholas Gordon

Which society was the first to domesticate the horse? It’s a difficult question. The archaeological record is spotty, with only very recent advancemen…

Simcha Gross, "Babylonian Jews and Sasanian Imperialism in Late Antiquity" (Cambridge UP, 2024)

October 15, 2024

Babylonian Jews and Sasanian Imperialism in Late Antiquity

Simcha Gross
Hosted by Michael Motia

From the image offered by the Babylonian Talmud, Jewish elites were deeply embedded within the Sasanian Empire (224-651 CE). The Talmud is replete wit…

Helena Taylor, "Women Writing Antiquity: Gender and Learning in Early Modern France" (Oxford UP, 2024)

October 13, 2024

Women Writing Antiquity

Helena Taylor
Hosted by Elspeth Currie

Women Writing Antiquity: Gender and Learning in Early Modern France (Oxford UP, 2024) recounts women authors' struggle to define the female intellectu…

Adeana McNicholl, "Of Ancestors and Ghosts: How Preta Narratives Constructed Buddhist Cosmology and Shaped Buddhist Ethics" (Oxford UP, 2024)

October 9, 2024

Of Ancestors and Ghosts

Adeana McNicholl
Hosted by Jessica Zu

In Buddhist cosmology, pretas make up one of several categories of rebirth. They are best known as "hungry ghosts," pitiful beings with miniscule mout…

The Ideology of Democratic Athens

October 8, 2024

The Ideology of Democratic Athens

Matteo Barbato

We are Clavis Aurea: a dynamic team constantly looking for ways to make the academic publishing industry grow and to promote groundbreaking academic p…

Darlene L. Brooks Hedstrom, "Desert Ascetics of Egypt" (ARC Humanities Press, 2020)

September 30, 2024

Desert Ascetics of Egypt

Darlene L. Brooks Hedstrom
Hosted by Michael Motia

Egypt is revered as the home of the famous Desert Ascetics, who first embraced a monastic life and established homosocial communities on the borders o…

James A. Anderson, "The Dong World and Imperial China's Southwest Silk Road: Trade, Security, and State Formation" (U Washington Press, 2024)

September 30, 2024

The Dong World and Imperial China's Southwest Silk Road

James A. Anderson
Hosted by Huiying Chen

From the eighth to thirteenth centuries along China’s rugged southern periphery, trade in tribute articles and an interregional horse market thrived. …

William T. Taylor, "Hoof Beats: How Horses Shaped Human History" (U California Press, 2024)

September 29, 2024

Hoof Beats

William T. Taylor
Hosted by Sarah Newman

From the Rockies to the Himalayas, the bond between horses and humans has spanned across time and civilizations. In this archaeological journey, Willi…

Rafal K. Stepien, "Buddhism Between Religion and Philosophy: Nāgārjuna and the Ethics of Emptiness" (Oxford UP, 2024)

September 24, 2024

Buddhism Between Religion and Philosophy

Rafal K. Stepien
Hosted by Jessica Zu

Nāgārjuna (c. 150-250), founder of the Madhyamaka or Middle Way school of Buddhist philosophy and the most influential of all Buddhist thinkers aside …

William H. F. Altman, "Plato the Teacher: The Crisis of the Republic" (Lexington, 2012)

September 24, 2024

Plato the Teacher

William H. F. Altman
Hosted by Joseph Liss

In Plato the Teacher: The Crisis of the Republic (Lexington, 2012), William Altman shines a light on the pedagogical technique of the playful Plato, e…

Philip Freeman, "Julian: Rome's Last Pagan Emperor" (Yale UP, 2023)

September 16, 2024

Julian

Philip Freeman
Hosted by Michael Motia

Today I talked to Philip Freeman about his new book Julian: Rome’s Last Pagan Emperor (Yale UP, 2023). Flavius Claudius Julianus, or Julian the Apost…