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Society

Essays and videos on social issues, history, political life and the future

Animals and humans Anthropology Archaeology Automation and robotics Cities Demography and migration Economic history Economics Education Environmental history Fairness and equality Future of technology Gender Global history History History of technology Human rights and justice Information and communication Making Nations and empires Politics and government Poverty and development Progress and modernity Public health Race and ethnicity Religion The ancient world The environment The future War and peace Work

Painting of Roman soldiers in red carrying shields, forming a testudo (tortoise) formation during battle, viewed from the side.

video

The ancient world

Petty squabbles and bloody battles – the life of an ancient Roman soldier

18 minutes

Ancient mosaic depicting two figures with instruments on a blue stone background.

essay

Food and drink

The fermented crescent

Ancient Mesopotamians had a profound love of beer: a beverage they found celebratory, intoxicating and strangely erotic

Tate Paulette

Black and white photo of ancient Egyptian artefacts in storage, including statues, chests, chairs, and bundles, within a room.

video

Archaeology

What did the first people who entered Tutankhamun’s tomb see?

5 minutes

An ancient, broken clay tablet with a circular design and various inscriptions, displayed on a dark background.

video

Archaeology

How researchers finally solved the puzzle of the oldest known map of the world

18 minutes

Fresco fragment with geometric borders framing curved shapes representing waves crashing upon the shore, partially damaged.

essay

Nature and landscape

Laughing shores

Sailors, exiles, merchants and philosophers: how the ancient Greeks played with language to express a seaborne imagination

Giordano Lipari

Three cracked ceramic shards with painted faces are arranged on blocks, with strands of twisted rope resembling hair against a blurred green and blue background.

video

The ancient world

Archeological discoveries animate the life of the warrior queen who took on Rome

6 minutes

Illustration of a classroom in ancient Rome with a female teacher in a toga addressing students who are listening intently. She holds a scroll and stands in front of busts on pedestals.

video

Thinkers and theories

A rare female scholar of the Roman Empire, Hypatia lived and died as a secular voice

5 minutes

A marble bust of Thucydides is shown on a page from an old book. The opposite page is blank.

essay

History

What would Thucydides say?

In constantly reaching for past parallels to explain our peculiar times we miss the real lessons of the master historian

Mark Fisher

Illustration of a female group in white togas and red headbands, standing with arms raised before a flaming brazier in a Roman temple with columns.

video

The ancient world

The six priestesses who kept the flame of ancient Rome alight at risk of death

5 minutes

A doorway within a metallic-like surface surrounded by hazard tape leads to a low-lit tunnel

essay

The future

Prehistory in the atomic age

To understand the terrifying futures unleashed by nuclear weapons, we urgently need to return to the deep past

Maria Stavrinaki

Black and white illustration of a man with short curly hair and a beard, wearing a toga-like garment with detailed textures and folds.

video

The ancient world

An ancient Roman’s hilarious (and perhaps relatable) response to a social snub

2 minutes

Ancient bronze statue of a winged figure with raised hand, displaying a humanoid form and detailed feathered wings, set against a dark background.

video

The ancient world

Meet the absentee gods and nefarious spirits of ancient Mesopotamia

6 minutes

Medieval manuscript illustration of a man gesturing towards two red and black snakes, with Greek text above and below the images, on a faded parchment background.

essay

Stories and literature

Vergil’s secret message

Long derided as mere coincidences, acrostics in ancient poetry are finally being taken seriously – with astonishing results

Julia Hejduk

Painting of four solemn figures wearing ornate and colourful robes, holding items like shields and staffs, with animals in the foreground.

essay

Archaeology

The secret life of Druids

The Greeks and Romans portrayed these elusive priests as bogeymen who bathed in their victims’ blood. Who were they really?

Miranda Aldhouse-Green

Ancient ruins with arches and columns, tourists exploring, and palm trees in the background, in a bright, sunny setting.

essay

The ancient world

The great libraries of Rome

Passersby could wander at will into grand public libraries in imperial Rome. Could they trust what they found inside?

Fabio Fernandes

Two small ancient stone statues, each depicting a seated figure, displayed on dark stands in a dimly lit setting.

essay

Stories and literature

Poet of impermanence

Enheduana is the first known named author. Her poems of strife and upheaval resonate in our own unstable times

Sophus Helle

Ancient Roman fresco depicting two figures engaging in an intimate moment on a bed, with a background of earthy tones and visible cracks in the surface.

essay

The ancient world

The horrors of Pompeii

The name ‘Eutychis’ was etched into a wall 2,000 years ago. Finding out who she was illuminates the dark side of Rome

Guy D Middleton

Ancient Greek marble relief of a centaur engaging in combat with a human, displaying intricate muscle details and dynamic movement on a stone background.

essay

Art

All those naked Greeks…

Men in ancient Greek art exercise, fight battles, pursue lovers and mourn lost friends, all without their pants on. Why?

Sarah Murray

A hand holding an ancient horn-shaped bronze vessel with a sculpted animal head, pouring liquid against a brick wall background.

video

The ancient world

What wine vessels reveal about politics and luxury in ancient Athens and Persia

16 minutes

Ancient headless statues amid ruins with grazing sheep in the background under a clear sky.

essay

The ancient world

Guide to a foreign past

The iconoclastic French historian Paul Veyne illuminated the past by showing how deeply alien it is to the present

Carlos Noreña

Carl Sagan in a beige blazer and red jumper holding a model against a clear blue sky.

video

History of science

How an ancient polymath first calculated Earth’s size, as told by Carl Sagan

7 minutes

Marble bust of a bearded man with detailed hair, prominent eyes, and minor surface wear, set against a grey background.

essay

Thinkers and theories

The sage and his foibles

Scholars cannot agree whether the letters of Plato are fake or genuine. Is this just a symptom of misplaced reverence?

James Romm

Ancient cuneiform script inscribed on a worn, rectangular clay tablet set against a black background.

essay

Archaeology

What the tablets say

Some 3,700 years ago, an enslaved girl, a barber, and a king crossed paths in a city by the Euphrates. This is their story

Amanda H Podany

essay

The ancient world

The other Cleopatra

Daughter of Cleopatra and Mark Antony, she became the influential queen of a mysterious, abundant North African kingdom

Jane Draycott