Walter Scheidel | What is Ancient History? | The Paideia Institute

In his new book, What is Ancient History? (Pricenton University Press, 2025), Walter Scheidel argues for reuniting the study of antiquity as a global, transformative era in human development–rather than a fragmented, Greco-Roman centered discipline–in order to better understand the shared foundations of our world. Scheidel discusses the central ideas put forth in his book in dialogue with James Hankins, whose recent book, The Golden Thread: A History of the Western Tradition (Encounter Books, 2025) offers a differing methodology for the study of Western history.

This lecture is the first installment of the Paideia Institute's two-part series, "A Conversation on the Future of the Classics", which brings two differing visions for the future of our field of study into direct conversation, offering some answers to the question: how should we approach the study of antiquity today?

James Hankins' lecture will take place on Thursday, October 2nd at 7:00pm ET. RSVP here: https://www.paideiainstitute.org/the_...
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Walter Scheidel is Dickason Professor in the Humanities and Professor of Classics and History at Stanford University. His research ranges from ancient social and economic history and premodern historical demography to the comparative and transdisciplinary world history of inequality, state formation, and human welfare. He has written or (co-)edited 22 books, published about 270 papers and reviews, and created the interactive digital project "Orbis: The Stanford Geospatial Network Model of the Roman World." He has also held positions at the Universities of Vienna, Cambridge and Chicago as well as visiting appointments in Paris, Innsbruck, New York, Abu Dhabi, Copenhagen and Zurich.
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