"history" blog posts
Vindaloo, Victorians, and Ancient Greek Colonisation Part 2: Intermarriage
While studying Ancient Greek Colonisation and British Imperial Thought (ALGY 336) we examined the theme of intermarriage between Greek settlers and the ‘Barbarians’ they met. Archaeologist Anthony Snodgrass examined parallels between this and the British Empire, arguing that marriage between British officers and local women as positively encouraged in Calcutta (now Kolkata) and Burma (now Myanmar) during the early British Empire but it was later outlawed when Victorian pseudo-scientific ideas about race appeared. The same was true of the ancient Greeks. According to Aristotle, the founder of Massalia (now Marseilles) married a local Celtic princess but after the Persian Wars Greek attitudes to ‘Barbarians’ solidified and became negative.
Posted on: 21 February 2020
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Vindaloo, Victorians, and Ancient Greek Colonisation Part 1: Hybridity
The Ancient Greek Colonisation and British Imperial Thought (ALGY336) module examines how academic understanding of ancient Greek overseas settlements was influenced by Victorian ideas of race, gender, and empire. This happened because British scholars made analogies between the ancient Greeks and the contemporary British Empire that they lived in, projecting their own imperialist values back onto history. Even the Victorian Prime Minister William Gladstone said in the House of Commons that the British Empire should treat its colonies like the Greeks had done theirs. We then applied Postcolonialism to critically consider relationships between ancient Greeks and the Celts, Sikels, and Egyptians that they encountered.
Posted on: 12 February 2020
Liverpool University archaeologist in Athens – Georgia not Greece
Professor Harold Mytum visited Athens as part of his collaboration with Dr. Jennifer Birch, Department of Anthropology, UGA, supported by a UGA- Liverpool faculty exchange initiative.
Posted on: 14 May 2019
CLAH Seminars: Aspects of Reception
Liverpool’s Classics degree has a strong interest in reception – but what is ‘reception’? In this blogpost, I review four speakers in the Classics and Ancient History seminars who, in four very different ways, showcase some of the ways ‘reception’ can be understood.
Posted on: 13 May 2019
Fall of Troy: the legend and the facts
The legendary ancient city of Troy is very much in the limelight this year. A big budget co-production between the BBC and Netflix 'Troy: Fall of a City' recently launched, while Turkey designated 2018 the “Year of Troy” and plans a year of celebration, including the opening of a new museum on the presumed site.
Posted on: 6 March 2018
The Blind School: Pioneering People and Places
Outside of her research, Archaeology PhD student Kerry Massheder-Rigby has been working on the HLF funded History of Place project since 2016 as Project Coordinator, investigating the history of the Royal School for the Blind in Liverpool. In this blog, Kerry shares her experience of working on the project and tells us how this work ties in with her research interests.
Posted on: 27 February 2018
Liverpool: Celebrating 10 years as the Capital of Culture
This year, Liverpool will come together once more to celebrate the 10 year anniversary of been named the European Capital of Culture. Here, we will explore some of the highlights 2018 will bring as celebration, and check out some other big names that turn 10, too!
Posted on: 13 February 2018
Terracotta warriors on the march
With the launch of the World Museum's 'China's First Emperor and the Terracotta Warriors' exhibition this week, Professor Douglas Baird provides an insight into the historical context of the Warriors and highlights their significance in today's world.
Posted on: 7 February 2018