Classical archaeology has traditionally focused on the big finds—monumental buildings, temples, statuary, and villas. These finds are dramatic and have created some of the most famous elements of the landscape of classical Greece and Rome. But they also give a skewed vision of the ancient world because the big finds only represent a small sliver of ancient life—that of the elite populations and oftentimes those who have colonized regions distant from their own. Peter van Dommelen, professor of archaeology at Brown University, has spent his career searching for evidence of the rest of the population. By focusing on rural life and agricultural practices, he has begun to uncover the other side of ancient societies, the colonized rather than the colonizers. By focusing on the majority, non-elite, and rural populations, Prof. Dommelen has been able to glimpse indigenous populations in Sardinia at different time periods and thus reconceptualize the ancient world of colonization of the island. By looking through a much more complex, kaleidoscope lens, his work helps to fill out the way we understand the ancient landscape beyond the large monuments.

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Classical philology is not usually considered a font of social change, with its very detailed and rigorous look at the language and literature of ancient Greece and Rome. But our guest for this episode sees tremendous potential precisely in the careful work of philology to give us new avenues of civic engagement and social change both in Africa and in the United States. David van Schoor, a classicist from South Africa now teaching at Emory University, draws upon his wide and varied experiences both inside and outside academia to discuss what he calls Liberation Philology, the process of rediscovering the great works of classical antiquity, including the Bible, through deep engagement in the language of these works. This type of engagement can help us to free our minds to see our divided political and social with new lenses that have the potential to break us free from our stalemates and renew civic and social relations.

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The Book of Revelation and other ancient apocalypses portray visions and prophecies that spoke to the moment of their times. The language and imagery depict the divine power that promises to deliver audiences from the powerful, often imperial, oppression that they endured. These apocalypses are both violent and hopeful—violent for the oppressors and hopeful for the oppressed. Our guest today, Harvard Divinity School professor Giovanni Bazzana, helps us to understand this dynamic at a deeper level, but he also discusses later activations of apocalypses, including those of today. What happens to this complex ancient literature? Do the oppressed become the oppressors, and do the powerful convince themselves that they are persecuted? And what is lost over the ages when we see the spectacle and theatricality of apocalyptic imagery in popular culture? Professor Bazzana unpacks this rich cultural dynamic, and also muses about the place of spirit possession in the study of ancient Christianity.

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