Joining Dr Chella Ward this week are Dr Marcus Bell and Ronnais Lloyd to explore how dyslexia and learning difference has influenced their studies of the ancient past.
This UK Disability History Month, we're exploring experiences of disability and the study of the ancient world - follow us on Instagram and TikTok to enjoy clips and find all our episodes.
Ronnais' profile at the University of Leeds: https://ahc.leeds.ac.uk/pgr/9810/ronnais-lloyd and her article on Asterion hub: https://asterion.uk/index.php/2021/09/24/reading-roman-history-while-autistic/
Marcus' profile at UCL: https://profiles.ucl.ac.uk/104704-marcus-bell and their recent article: https://academic.oup.com/crj/article/16/2/178/7471466
The views and opinions expressed in these podcasts are those of the speakers, and do not necessarily reflect those of the CA.
Podcast theme music by Transistor.fm.
Learn how to start a podcast here.
Joining Dr Chella Ward this week are Annis Wiltshire and Dr Ellie Mackin-Roberts for an episode of Talking Disability on autism and neurodivergence. They discuss ancient sensory experiences, retrospective diagnoses and the reliability of accessible adjustments.
This UK Disability History Month, we're exploring experiences of disability and the study of the ancient world - follow us on Instagram to enjoy clips and find all our episodes.
Ellie's article in the Institute of Classical Studies bulletin can be accessed here: https://academic.oup.com/bics/article-abstract/67/1/53/7977041?redirectedFrom=fulltext&login=false
Follow Annis' society Neuroinfinity Oxford here: https://www.instagram.com/neuroinfinityoxford/ and read her blog on Hephaestus
The views and opinions expressed in these podcasts are those of the speakers, and do not necessarily reflect those of the CA.
Podcast theme music by Transistor.fm. Learn how to start a podcast here. Apologies for the mic feedback in this episode.
Join Dr Chella Ward and her two guests, Alexandra and Danny, in this first episode of our Talking Disability mini-series, launching this UK Disability History Month, exploring experiences of disability and the study of the ancient world.
Dr Alexandra F Morris (Queen’s University Belfast): https://alexandrafmorris.wordpress.com/
Dr Danny Pucknell (Cardiff and Vale College) Chair of the Cardiff and District Classical Association
https://classicalassociation.org/croeso-i-caerdydd-classics-past-present-and-future/
SHOW NOTES
Alexandra mentioned Crip Antiquity (https://cripantiquity.com/) and Asterion Hub (https://asterion.uk/)
Disability Terminology Blog: https://classicalstudies.org/scs-blog/alexandra-morris/blog-brief-guide-disability-terminology-and-theory-ancient-world-studies
Article written for the general public about Harpocrates and cerebral palsy: https://www.historyworkshop.org.uk/disability-history/tomorrow-is-yesterday-disability-in-ancient-egypt/
Original peer-reviewed article written for a medical audience: https://pediatricstrokejournal.com/cerebral-palsy-in-ancient-egypt/
The views and opinions expressed in these podcasts are those of the speakers, and do not necessarily reflect those of the CA.
Podcast theme music by Transistor.fm. Learn how to start a podcast here.
We lied - there's one final episode of the series and it's a special one with Oxford don and Virgil super expert, Prof. Morgan. Find out what he thinks about our traitor theories and Aeneas' character arc, his favourite passages, the importance of Hercules and enjoy the quick fire round!
Llewelyn's music picks: Joan Armatrading (Down to Zero), Vaughan Williams (Fantasia on a theme of Thomas Tallis) and Leonard Cohen (Boogie St)
Thanks so much for joining us on this podcast series - look out for a mini series dropping very soon and a brand new season coming in 2026... send your comments and recommendations to us via IG @theclassicalpod
Our Bonus Episode this week is some extra time with Llewelyn: become a CA member to enjoy
Watch on YouTube to view the texts at the same time.
Listen wherever you get your podcasts and find out more about the CA: https://creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/the-classics-podcast
Browse Caroline's work: https://carolinelawrence.com/
Enjoy the rest of the series and our reading suggestions
Read the Aeneid in Latin and English
Podcast theme music by Transistor.fm. Learn how to start a podcast here.
Our final episode has a summary of the series to date and then jumps into Book 3 as Katrina explains why 'The Wanderings' is a bit of a misnomer, and Caroline takes us through the smellscape of Aeneas' voyage from Troy to Carthage. We meet Helenus and Achates, two 'fidus' (faithful) sidekick companions and rate Aeneas' powers of storytelling.
Thanks so much for joining us on this podcast journey - look out for more episodes soon! Our Bonus Episode this week is a reading of the Roman Quests: become a CA member to enjoy
Watch on YouTube to view the texts at the same time.
Watch a documentary about sailing the route of Aeneas
Listen wherever you get your podcasts and find out more about the CA: https://creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/the-classics-podcast
Browse Caroline's work: https://carolinelawrence.com/
Enjoy the rest of the series and our reading suggestions
Read the Aeneid in Latin and English
Podcast theme music by Transistor.fm. Learn how to start a podcast here.
Virgil's Purple Prose? No, definitely not, but the Aeneid is replete with interesting uses of the word 'purpureus' and in this episode we look at purple as a colour of beauty, death, danger and eroticism - as well as shades of gold and the mystery of Lavinia's blush!
💜 Did you know that the colour purple in ancient Rome was a symbol of power and decadence but its origins are Phoenician?
Camilla is our bonus feature this week: to listen to our bonus content, become a CA member today and head to our member area: https://classicalassociation.org/join-us/
Watch on YouTube to view the texts at the same time.
Listen wherever you get your podcasts and find out more about the CA: https://creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/the-classics-podcast
Browse Caroline's work: https://carolinelawrence.com/
Enjoy the rest of the series and our reading suggestions
Read the Aeneid in Latin and English
Podcast theme music by Transistor.fm. Learn how to start a podcast here.
Is the Aeneid fundamentally a melancholy poem? We revisit the Optimists and Pessimists whilst looking at examples of 'tears' and weeping, learning about the scholar Adam Parry, exploring Virgil’s use of apostrophes and brilliant half-lines, and taking a proper look at the closing scene of book 12, when Aeneas is enraged by sorrow to commit a terrible act...Enter our Verse and Voice Competition
Read Adam Parry's article here
To listen to our bonus content, become a CA member today and head to our member area: https://classicalassociation.org/join-us/
Watch on YouTube to view the texts at the same time.
Listen wherever you get your podcasts and find out more about the CA: https://creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/the-classics-podcast
Browse Caroline's work: https://carolinelawrence.com/
Enjoy the rest of the series and our reading suggestions
Read the Aeneid in Latin and English
Podcast theme music by Transistor.fm. Learn how to start a podcast here.
In this episode, politics come to the forefront as Katrina explains the historical context to Augustus' principate and the grizzly proscriptions (cw: violence) and Caroline explains two different schools of thought about Virgil's poetic intentions: the Optimists and the Pessimists.
To listen to our bonus content, become a CA member today and head to our member area: https://classicalassociation.org/join-us/
Watch on YouTube to view the texts at the same time.
Listen wherever you get your podcasts and find out more about the CA: https://creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/the-classics-podcast
Browse Caroline's work: https://carolinelawrence.com/
Enjoy the rest of the series and our reading suggestions
Read the Aeneid in Latin and English
Podcast theme music by Transistor.fm. Learn how to start a podcast here.
Was Aeneas a pious Faithful or a deceptive Traitor? Caroline and Katrina explore the importance of 'pietas' in the Aeneid, spill the tea on the latest episodes of Celebrity Traitors and discuss morality and heroism - is Aeneas perhaps more like Odysseus than we think?
To listen to our bonus content, become a CA member today and head to our member area: https://classicalassociation.org/join-us/
Watch on YouTube to view the texts at the same time.
Listen wherever you get your podcasts and find out more about the CA: https://creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/the-classics-podcast
Browse Caroline's work: https://carolinelawrence.com/
Enjoy the rest of the series and our reading suggestions
Read the Aeneid in Latin and English
Podcast theme music by Transistor.fm. Learn how to start a podcast here.
It’s Spooky Season and so this week’s episode is a trip to the Underworld, as imagined by Virgil in Aeneid Book VI. But what does ‘Viscum’ mean? A 'parasitic plant' (no, that's not a new description of Aeneas!) and have you ever heard of 'birdlime'?
What links Meleager and Virgil? Would you trust the Sibyl? What's Plato’s The Myth of Er got to do with it, and which talisman would you take?
To listen to our bonus content, become a CA member today and head to our member area: https://classicalassociation.org/join-us/
Watch on YouTube to view the texts at the same time.
Listen wherever you get your podcasts and find out more about the CA: https://creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/the-classics-podcast
Browse Caroline's work: https://carolinelawrence.com/
Enjoy the rest of the series and our reading suggestions
Read the Aeneid in Latin and English
Podcast theme music by Transistor.fm. Learn how to start a podcast here.
It's our Dido episode at last! In Book 4 Line 69 Virgil describes Dido as a 'cerva' - a 'doe', wounded by an arrow in one of his most impressive and ambiguous similes. But who is to blame in their 'doomed' relationship?
We examine some other similes from books 1 and 4, with Aeneas as hunter (is he unknowing or just careless?) and Dido as Diana. Caroline has an interesting theory about 'the horse in the bedroom' and we talk funeral pyres, everlasting curses, young Ascanius, and a hunting dog...
To listen to our bonus content, become a CA member today and head to our member area: https://classicalassociation.org/join-us/
Watch on YouTube to view the texts at the same time.
Listen wherever you get your podcasts and find out more about the CA: https://creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/the-classics-podcast
Browse Caroline's work: https://carolinelawrence.com/
Enjoy the rest of the series and our reading suggestions
Read the Aeneid in Latin and English
Podcast theme music by Transistor.fm. Learn how to start a podcast here.
We're sticking with the theme of song and Katrina explains the relevance of some of the minor characters in the Aeneid from Iopas the bard to the unfortunate Cretheus from book 9, with some comparisons to Homer and the oral tradition. Caroline has been revisiting the Muses - just why does Erato come to inspire Virgil?
Watch on YouTube to view the texts at the same time.
Listen wherever you get your podcasts and find out more about the CA: Join Us
Browse Caroline's work: https://carolinelawrence.com/
Enjoy the rest of the series and our reading suggestions
Read the Aeneid in Latin and English
Podcast theme music by Transistor.fm. Learn how to start a podcast here.
Cano - 'I sing'! We're heading back to the beginning and in this episode, Caroline and Katrina explore the opening lines of the poem, translation difficulties, Aeneas' heroism, and find out more about Virgil the man - as well as themselves!
Watch on YouTube to view the texts at the same time.
Listen wherever you get your podcasts and find out more about the CA: Join Us
Browse Caroline's work: https://carolinelawrence.com/
Enjoy the rest of the series and our reading suggestions
Read the Aeneid in Latin and English
Podcast theme music by Transistor.fm. Learn how to start a podcast here.
Following straight on from our last episode, we're finding thresholds in Books 5-8 - featuring footraces, fatherly mentors, a fearsome Fury and The Shining.
Tell us your favourite 'crossing the threshold' moments on screen or on the page! And watch on YouTube to view the texts at the same time.
Up Next: Cano, 'I sing'
Listen wherever you get your podcasts and find out more about the CA: Join Us
Browse Caroline's work: https://carolinelawrence.com/
Enjoy the rest of the series and our reading suggestions
Read the Aeneid in Latin and English
Podcast theme music by Transistor.fm. Learn how to start a podcast here.
Starting with the word for 'threshold', Katrina and Caroline explore storytelling techniques and the stages of the Hero's Journey; the links between Paddington Bear and Aeneas; and dalliances with death, talismans, chihuahuas and K Pop Demon Hunters! Watch now on YouTube for the accompanying slides and make sure to come back for Part 2 of this bumper episode.In each episode, inspired by a particular word, Katrina and Caroline explore characters, themes and poetic techniques, their favourite Virgilian similes, hear the sounds of ancient languages, and dive into the rich imagery and literary heritage of the Aeneid. Listen wherever you get your podcasts and find out more about the CA: Join UsBrowse Caroline's work: https://carolinelawrence.com/
Enjoy the rest of the series and our reading suggestions
Read the Aeneid in Latin and English
Podcast theme music by Transistor.fm. Learn how to start a podcast here.
In this brand new series, TCP host Katrina Kelly is joined by bestselling author Caroline Lawrence, to discuss Virgil's epic poem, The Aeneid.
Inspired by a particular word (this week it's lumen, 'light') that acts as a springboard for each episode, Katrina and Caroline explore characters, themes and poetic techniques, their favourite Virgilian similes, hear the sounds of ancient languages, and dive into the rich imagery and literary heritage of the Aeneid. In Episode 1, they jump straight to Book 8 - in medias res, as Virgil would say - and a simile that has caught Caroline's attention. They'll discuss wheelie bins and copper bowls, Aeneas' shield, the theories of intromission and focalisation, Apollonius of Rhodes, time travel, and a very hard stare...Listen to more TCP episodes and catch us on YouTubeFind out about the Classical AssociationBrowse Caroline's workEnjoy the rest of the series and our reading suggestionsRead the Aeneid in Latin and English
Podcast theme music by Transistor.fm. Learn how to start a podcast here.
Featuring ancient sourdough, hippos, ritual instruments, obelisks in Rome, Hadrian’s lover Antinous, and Louise's favourite ancient god!
Time stamps for this episode:
11 mins: what hieroglyphics sounded like
12 mins: if we didn’t have the Rosetta stone...
14:10: the Egyptian money system
15:50: Egyptian crops and diet
18:30: funeral practices
21:20: ancient embalmers
22:21: marriage and mummification
23:52: Neithhotep
26:08 which famous figure you’d like to meet
27:30: life under Roman rule
Join us now to listen to Louise's online lecture on 16 September!
Louise recently completed her PhD in Egyptology at the University of Liverpool, having gained her MA Egyptology and BA(hons) in Egyptology & Classical Studies from the same institution.
Her thesis ‘Portraits of Hybridity’ focused on mummy portrait panels from Roman Egypt, and investigated how cultural hybridity and identity was displayed through artistic culture in the Roman Fayum.
Coming from a working-class background, she also has a passion for outreach and widening participation, and is particularly interested in getting more state school students involved in ancient history and inspiring younger people to study subjects they may not have been aware they could. Follow Louise on Instagram.
Introducing Dr Louise O'Brien, our new Expert in Residence!
Ask Louise a question for our next episode
Time stamps for this episode:
9.53 Intro to Roman Egypt
11.05 Mummy portraits
14.22 Commissioning these portraits
18.15 What would you add to the curriculum?
19.55 The most shocking thing about the ancient Egyptians
21:40 Louise’ work in museums
26.13 Day in the life of a PhD student
28.30 Why is Classics important?
Louise recently completed her PhD in Egyptology at the University of Liverpool, having gained her MA Egyptology and BA(hons) in Egyptology & Classical Studies from the same institution.
Her thesis ‘Portraits of Hybridity’ focused on mummy portrait panels from Roman Egypt, and investigated how cultural hybridity and identity was displayed through artistic culture in the Roman Fayum.
Coming from a working-class background, she also has a passion for outreach and widening participation, and is particularly interested in getting more state school students involved in ancient history and inspiring younger people to study subjects they may not have been aware they could. Follow Louise on Instagram.
Follow our Celebrating Classics Campaign and become a CA member, using your exclusive discount from this episode
We have a bonus episode for you... what better way to close out Season 2 than with an interview with one of the most fascinating people we've ever met - Baroness Black. Sue, as she prefers, is a trailblazing scientist and a champion for education and, indeed classical subjects.
After graduating from the University of Aberdeen in human anatomy and forensic anthropology, Sue has had a varied and distinguished academic career, lecturing in Anatomy at St Thomas’ Hospital London and working as a consultant in forensic anthropology for both the Home Office and Foreign and Commonwealth Office, undertaking forensic investigations in Iraq, Sierra Leone and Grenada.
She was the lead forensic anthropologist during the international war crimes investigations in Kosovo and in 2024, she was appointed to the Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle, the highest honour in Scotland.
Sue is currently the President of St John's College, Oxford and a crossbencher peer in the House of Lords, where she is a part of the Classics All Party Parliamentary Group.
In this episode, she explains to Katrina what a Day in the Life is like for a Peer and President of an Oxbridge college, talks about the careers classicists go into, her own experiences with forensic archaeology, her love for Roman roads, and using her Latin in everyday life!
Find out more about the APPG here
Find more episodes of Classics and Careers
Follow the Classics Podcast on Instagram
Join the Classical Association to access discounts, events and more
Follow the CA on Instagram (podcast), LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube
And lots more at classicalassociation.org
Before her Expert in Residence Special Lecture on Thursday 15th May, Jessica joins us to answer your questions: featuring discussion on layered cakes, Cestius' pyramid, the Appian Way, Roman London, ancient archaeologists and of course Pompey's Theatre, with a sneak preview of her lecture!
To watch Jessica's lecture and participate in the Q&A,
Jessica is a historian and archaeologist, specialising in ancient Roman theatre and entertainment. She grew up on the Isle of Wight and moved to London to study at University College London in 2019, where she received her BA, MA, and PhD. She currently works as an Archaeologist for the Museum of London Archaeology. Her first academic book, entitled A New History of Ancient Roman Theatre, is being published by Liverpool University Press, and her first trade book, entitled Julius Caesar: Murder at the Theatre, is being published through Nurnberg Literary Agents. As well as academic publications, Jessica’s writing has appeared most recently in the BBC History Magazine, History Today, La Repubblica, The Ancient History Magazine, and The History News Network. You can find her on X (formerly known as Twitter) @drjessicaclarke
Please note: the views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the speaker, and do not necessarily reflect those of the CA.
Find out more about our Expert in Residence scheme