Migration and the Metropolis: How ancient Rome stayed great
Listen now
Description
Professor Greg Woolf, Director of the Institute of Classical Studies at the University of London, gave this year's Ronald Syme Lecture at Wolfson College, Oxford. The lecture was introduced by Professor Philomen Probert. Romans told many myths of their civic inclusiveness, myths repeated from Machiavelli to modern times. The growth of their capital to a city of nearly a million has been understood as dependent on migrations of different kinds. Imperial Rome is often portrayed as a cosmopolitan society in which hundreds of languages, cults and styles rubbed shoulders in cheerful chaos, microcosm of empire, orbis in urbe. Greg Woolf, in his Syme lecture, asks how much of this we can believe given what we know about the scale and nature of human mobility in the classical Mediterranean, and the structure of Roman society. Modern analogies have taken us so far, he will argue, but compared to the capitals of modern empires ancient Rome was an Alien Metropolis.
More Episodes
Wolfson College marks Black History Month 2020 with an engaging discussion with Britain's foremost experts on the history of black lives and communities in Britain. In this panel discussion we look at the deep and fascinating history of black individuals and communities in the UK, and how this...
Published 11/05/20
Published 11/05/20
In this year's Haldane lecture, Professor Kathy Willis examines the newly emerging 'green health' scientific evidence-base. The lecture is introduced by the College President, Sir Tim Hitchens. It has long been recognized that nature, especially in cities, is more than just street furniture. It...
Published 02/18/20