Conversations with experts in the history of Byzantium and surrounding fields, hosted by Anthony Kaldellis.
Episodes
Thursday Nov 25, 2021
Thursday Nov 25, 2021
A conversation with Polymnia Athanassiadi (University of Athens) about the way of life that ended in late antiquity. Scholars of Byzantium and the Middle Ages may see this as a period of new beginnings, but Polymnia doesn't want us to forget the practices and urban values that came to an end during it. The conversation touches on issues raised throughout her papers collected in Mutations of Hellenism in Late Antiquity (Variorum Ashgate 2015), as well as the concept of "monodoxy" explored in Vers la pensée unique: La montée de l'intolerance dans l'Antiquité tardive (Les Belles Lettres 2010).
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Polymnia is an obviously very erudite scholar who deeply loves classical antiquity. Therein lies my issue with her. She’s utterly in love with her vision of classical cities as pristine centers of colonnaded streets and and lives of leisure dedicated to cultivation of the mind and body. She seems to forget that 1 in 3 ancients were slaves, and only very few enjoyed leisure. The classical cities fell apart just as soon as the elites left because the elites were the only one keeping them afloat.
Sunday Oct 08, 2023
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