Have Toga, Will Travel: Exploring Greece and Rome, Ancient and Modern

Have you ever wondered what a bath-house architect from ancient Rome would think if he found himself swept through a time warp into a modern Japanese Spa? Wonder no more! Emily and Cam discuss Thermae Romae, a 2012 Japanese Film that seeks to explore precisely this question by dramatizing the adventures of one Lucius Modestus, an engineer who becomes Emperor Hadrian’s personal bath-house designer....

We’re dropping a quick note in our feed to remind you that we’re on vacation and won’t be releasing a full episode on June 15, but also to tease a couple of upcoming episodes—including a couple on Homer’s Odyssey and Christopher Nolan’s film of the same name! Visit our homepage to subscribe, to find us on social media, and to contact us by email: https://havetogawilltravel.com Read the first in ou...

Emily and Cam wrap up their series on hiking Hadrian’s Wall Path with a discussion of the final 31 miles of the Wall. Follow along as they explore medieval monuments made of wallstone, find themselves treed by some cows, and are regaled with tales of cannibals (human and otherwise!). Visit our homepage to subscribe, to find us on social media, and to contact us by email: https://havetogawilltravel...

Fabulous vistas and amazing artifacts await eager hikers along the central section of Hadrian’s Wall Path. Listen as Emily and Cam chat about them all in this installment of their series on the Wall. Get ready for Roman Army re-enactors, the world’s oldest surviving document written by a woman, and the tree that stole the show from Kevin Costner and Morgan Freeman—but watch out for the cheesecake!...

Curious to know what it’s like to walk the length of Hadrian’s Wall in northern England and experience the monument the way the ancient Romans did (on foot!)? Join Emily and Cam as they describe what there is to see and do along the first 38 miles of Hadrian’s Wall Path National Trail. You’ll hear about Roman soldiers from Mesopotamia, a Smell-o-Rama (yes, really!), the modern worship of the ancie...

Join Emily and Cam as they discuss the Romans in Britain from the time of Caesar to the emperor Hadrian, and then talk about Hadrian’s monumental wall—what it was, how it was built, what it was for, and why some bits of it still survive today. Visit our homepage to subscribe, to find us on social media, and to contact us by email: https://havetogawilltravel.com Links David Keys, “Roman Invasion Be...

Emily and Cam chat about whether Monty Python's Life of Brian is truly the greatest movie about ancient Rome (as Cam claimed in the last episode). They also explore what "truths" the movie might expose about life under Roman occupation, and contemplate the Pythons’ love for Aristophanes. Visit our homepage to subscribe, to find us on social media, and to contact us by email: https://havetogawilltr...

In the final installment of a four-part series on the Greeks and the Persians, Emily and Cam discuss both the Battle of Salamis and the Battle of Plataea, and finish off with some remarks about the Serpent Column—a living monument to the accomplishment of the Greeks. Visit our homepage to subscribe, to find us on social media, and to contact us by email: https://havetogawilltravel.com Links Our Bl...

Emily and Cam dive into Xerxes’ decision to invade Greece, and tell the story of his expedition as far as the Battle of Thermopylae. (Featuring a very brief digression on "300".) Visit our homepage to subscribe, to find us on social media, and to contact us by email: https://havetogawilltravel.com Links The first episode in this series (The Persians and the Greeks, Part I: The Rise of the Persian...

Emily and Cam continue their discussion of the conflict between the Persians and the ancient Greek world. In this episode, they chat about Cyrus’ son Cambyses, about the rise to power of Darius, and about Darius’ relationships with Greeks on the western frontier of his empire. Visit our homepage to subscribe, to find us on social media, and to contact us by email: https://havetogawilltravel.com Ep...

Emily and Cam talk about the ancient Persians and the growth of their empire in the first episode of a series on the conflict between the Persians and the ancient Greek world. Visit our homepage to subscribe, to find us on social media, and to contact us by email: https://havetogawilltravel.com Cover photo adapted from an image by Jakub Hałun (Persian Warriors, Pergamon University, Berlin) -------...

Emily and Cam break down “The Persians”—the oldest surviving Greek tragedy, which offers a surprisingly sympathetic take on the enemies of Athens. Visit our homepage to subscribe, to find us on social media, and to contact us by email: https://havetogawilltravel.com Cover photo adapted from an image of the Salamis Soldiers' monument, by Ziegler175: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SalamisPa...

At Play in the Theater of Dionysus The Theater of Dionysus as Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides knew it was very different than the theater whose remains you see today in Athens. Listen to Emily and Cam walk you through the development of the space, and through the creation of the genre associated most strongly with it: Greek tragedy. Visit our homepage to subscribe, to find us on social media,...

Emily and Cam talk about their recent trip to Athens and Rome in an episode that features some talk about marathons, tsipouro, and cats. Visit our homepage to subscribe, to find us on social media, and to contact us by email: https://havetogawilltravel.com For images of the Museum of the Forma Urbis, visit our blog post: https://havetogawilltravel.com/blog/the-museum-of-the-forma-urbis Links to so...

Emily and Cam tackle “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum”—an uproarious adaptation of Plautus’ Roman comedy. Visit our homepage to subscribe, to find us on social media, and to contact us by email: https://havetogawilltravel.com Some plays of Plautus referenced in this episode: Pseudolus Mostellaria Miles Gloriosus Menaechmi Cover Image: Mosaic of Masks. Second or third century CE. Fou...

Emily and Cam break down the character arc of Eleven in Stranger Things and argue that she is on a “heroic journey” like that of Herakles. Visit our homepage to subscribe, to find us on social media, and to contact us by email: https://havetogawilltravel.com/ For more information about Herakles and about “heroes” in Ancient Greece, listen to our previous episode: https://havetogawilltravel.com/epi...

What’s a “hero”, and what kinds of stories do we tell about them? Emily and Cam explore how heroes were imagined in ancient Greece as they lay the groundwork for next episode’s discussion of Eleven’s heroic journey in Stranger Things. Visit our homepage to subscribe, to find us on social media, and to contact us by email: https://havetogawilltravel.com Links: NYPL’s list of “Heroines in Fairytales...

The Athenian Acropolis, Then and Now The Athenian Acropolis had a long life both before and after the construction of the Parthenon in the fifth century BCE. Join Emily and Cam as they explore the long history of Athens’ most iconic landmark. Visit our homepage to subscribe and to find us on social media: https://havetogawilltravel.com Cover Image: Illustration from  Atene Attica Descritta da...

In this episode, Emily and Cam talk about what it’s like to visit the Athenian Acropolis today; how that experience compares to what visitors would have seen in the fifth century BCE; when and why the remains of the structures there today were created (especially the Parthenon and the Erechtheion); and what those structures meant to ancient Athenians. Visit our homepage to subscribe and to find us...

In this episode—the final episode in a three-part series on gladiators—Emily and Cam focus on Spartacus, the most famous gladiator of all. They first discuss the causes of Spartacus’ rebellion against the Romans, and then explore how Spartacus has been represented in modern literature and film. Cover image: Vincenzo Vela, Spartacus (1848); photograph by Rama (Wikimedia commons) Links: “I am Sparta...

In this episode—the second of three on gladiators and related topics—Emily and Cam talk about what happened in the Colosseum and in other Roman arenas. First, they discuss the kinds of things that people would expect to see when they went to the games, including beast shows, public executions, and gladiator matches. Then, they focus on the gladiators themselves: who were they, and what were their...

In the first of three episodes about gladiators in ancient Rome, Emily and Cam explore the world’s most iconic remnant of ancient gladiator games: the Roman Colosseum. They talk about the appearance of the building, then and now; the origins of the building as part of the emperor Vespasian’s effort to legitimize his power; and the cycles of destruction and renewal that produced the ruin that survi...

“The Return” sticks the landing. Join Emily and Cam as they talk about how the movie adapts and builds on its source material, the Odyssey, to deliver a gripping modern interpretation of Homer’s timeless story. The Return Released December 6, 2024 Starring Ralph Fiennes and Juliette Binoche Directed by Uberto Pasolini Visit our homepage to subscribe and to find us on social media: https://havetoga...

In Part Two of a two-part series on the Athens Marathon, Emily and Cam talk about what it’s like to participate in the Athens Marathon today. They discuss the first marathon race at the 1896 Olympic Games in Athens; the development of the marathon as a marquee sporting event; and the route of the contemporary Athens marathon. Links: Part I of our photo essay on the Athens Marathon; Part II of our...

In Part One of a two-part series on the Athens Marathon, Emily and Cam dive into ancient Greek legend and history as they explore the origins of the modern marathon race. They discuss the well-known story of the messenger (Pheidippides?) who is said to have run from Marathon to Athens with news of the Athenian victory over the Persians at Marathon in 490 BCE; the context of the Battle of Marathon...