I was in Erie Pennsylvania last weekend attending the AAH annual
meeting and I found it wonderful to be immersed in antiquity and away from the
real world for a couple of days.
There were 90 in attendance including representatives from
Britain, New Zealand, Finland, Germany, and Russia. The presentations were set
up in panels with a moderator and three or four presenters on a particular
topic. After the papers were given, the moderator would present his own views
or comment on the other presentations. Questions then followed.
Recent graduates seemed uniformly nervous, often reading
their papers without looking up. The more experienced ones were at ease with
their subject and it showed.
My overall reaction (no surprise) was how specific the
presentations were. Topics outside my areas of interest were hard to sit
through. For example, The Euergetism of Piety: Palymira, Cult, and Greek
Civic Benefaction.
Still there was much to be interested in.
One panel’s topic was New Directions in Warfare. Papers
included, Moral Contexts of the Roman Siege and Centurions:
Discipline, Violence, and Authority in the Roman Army.
Another, The First Punic War, featured Forgotten POWs in
the First Punic War and The Claudii and the First Punic War.
One of the presenters serves as the historical advisor to
the Starz series Spartacus, Blood and Sand and he had many interesting
stories to tell about his battles with the script writers over historical
accuracy. He lost most of the time because of production constraints, story
flow, or the need for dramatic impact.
I never was able to locate the kind of history I write in this blog at the meeting –
multi-disciplinary with presentation of large issues. These guys (and gals)
live in History and Classics departments which stick to their topics (in minutia). The intent is toward new work, new research -- not trying to make a bigger
picture out of what’s already known. In the end, I’m happy I don’t have to live
with their constraints.
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