37 episodes

Join host Dr. Chelsea Gardner and co-hosts Dr. Carolyn Laferièrre and Dr. Melissa Funke for a journey through under-explored aspects of archaeology, history, and everyday life in the ancient Mediterranean. Every week we feature an expert whose cutting-edge research sheds light on the real people who lived in ancient Greece, Rome, Egypt, and beyond. Follow us on Twitter @peoplingthepast with the #peoplingpodcast, on Instagram and Facebook @peoplingthepast, and on our website peoplingthepast.com.

Peopling the Past Chelsea A.M. Gardner, Carolyn Laferrière, Melissa Funke

    • Education
    • 5.0 • 28 Ratings

Join host Dr. Chelsea Gardner and co-hosts Dr. Carolyn Laferièrre and Dr. Melissa Funke for a journey through under-explored aspects of archaeology, history, and everyday life in the ancient Mediterranean. Every week we feature an expert whose cutting-edge research sheds light on the real people who lived in ancient Greece, Rome, Egypt, and beyond. Follow us on Twitter @peoplingthepast with the #peoplingpodcast, on Instagram and Facebook @peoplingthepast, and on our website peoplingthepast.com.

    How do you Solve a Problem like Cleopatra? : Shelley Haley and the last Egyptian Pharoah

    How do you Solve a Problem like Cleopatra? : Shelley Haley and the last Egyptian Pharoah

    For the final episode of our season on women in the ancient Mediterranean, we feature the most famous woman in antiquity: Cleopatra! Dr. Shelley Haley joins Chelsea and Melissa to untangle the image of Cleopatra as a seductive manipulator and to challenge assumptions, misconceptions, and preconceived notions about her persona and reign. Listen in as Dr. Haley talks about Cleopatra as an African ruler and unpacks the sensationalized narratives about this talented and canny Egyptian pharoah. Come for the Plutarch, stay for the Beyonce!

    • 46 min
    These Boots were Made for Walking: Women's Mobility and Migration in the Roman Empire with Marie-Adeline Le Guennec

    These Boots were Made for Walking: Women's Mobility and Migration in the Roman Empire with Marie-Adeline Le Guennec

    Travel, displacement, religious pilgrimage - these are just some of the motivations for ancient migration, but how and why did people move from one place to another in antiquity? This week, Chelsea and Melissa are joined by Dr. Marie-Adeline Le Guennec, a historian of Roman mobility and migration. Listen in as Dr. Le Guennec talks about the ways in which women moved around the Roman Empire, the few sources that document this movement, and how modern scholars examine issues of mobility in the Roman world.
    We guarantee: this episode will really move you! 

    • 28 min
    (Not so) Risky Business: the Potential Perils of Childbirth in ancient Rome with Anna Bonnell Freidin

    (Not so) Risky Business: the Potential Perils of Childbirth in ancient Rome with Anna Bonnell Freidin

    In today's episode, Dr. Anna Bonnell Freidin joins Melissa and Chelsea to talk about risk, pregnancy, and childbirth in the ancient Roman empire. Listen in as we discuss the definitions of risk in various contexts, how women's lives were affected by risks associated with pregnancy, childbearing, and delivery, and how the concept of communities of care might link us to people who lived long ago. This episode discusses infant and maternal death, so might not be appropriate for our youngest listeners. 

    • 35 min
    Not a Puella, Not Yet a Femina: Roman Girlhood with Lauren Caldwell

    Not a Puella, Not Yet a Femina: Roman Girlhood with Lauren Caldwell

    Ah, youth! We are all familiar with that mysterious and formative period of life between childhood and adulthood, but how did the ancient Romans describe this time of transition? In this episode, social historian Dr. Lauren Caldwell joins Chelsea and Melissa to talk about aspects of Roman "girlhood" and the difficult transition to "womanhood". Listen in, as we dive into ancient Latin medical and legal texts to learn how the ancient Romans grappled with puberty and the various changes that took place in the female body that differentiated girls (puellae) from the women (feminae) they would become.

    • 34 min
    Do Not Afflict the Widow: the Women of Ancient Nubia with Jacke Phillips

    Do Not Afflict the Widow: the Women of Ancient Nubia with Jacke Phillips

    We're celebrating Black History and African Heritage month with a very special episode on the women of ancient Nubia! Join Chelsea and Melissa as they welcome Dr. Jacke Phillips, an expert in Nubian history and archaeology, to the show. In this episode, we discuss women in ancient Nubia, from rulers and royals to the lives of everyday women. Listen in as Dr. Phillips introduces a variety of evidence, including graves, tattoos, statues, and historical sources. You'll also learn the origin of the name "Candace"! Don't miss this very special episode on a fascinating region of the ancient world. 

    • 26 min
    Beyond the Bare Bones: Women in the Osteological Record with Efthymia Nikita

    Beyond the Bare Bones: Women in the Osteological Record with Efthymia Nikita

    What better way to understand the real lives of everyday folk in the ancient Mediterranean than to look at the bones of the people themselves? On this episode, Chelsea and Melissa welcome Dr. Efthymia Nikita, a bioarchaeologist who studies the  surviving skeletal remains of ancient humans. Dr. Nikita shares her research and explains how bones can provide crucial information for understanding how people in the past lived, not just how they died. Join us as Dr. Nikita explores the way in which skeletal remains of ancient women can shed light on their mobility, sickness, diet, societal roles, and more!

    • 32 min

Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5
28 Ratings

28 Ratings

Aethelstan972 ,

The modesty of real expertise

The discussions of sources and their limitations makes everything more interesting.

Nkeck72 ,

Good, but editing isn't smooth

The podcast is great and is on a very interesting subject matter, but the editing in the audio isn't smooth at all - there's mid-sentence cuts, jarring splices, and quite a lot of noticeable cutting. It keeps me from fully enjoying what's being talked about because it's so distracting. The guest episodes are particularly distracting in this way, as they like to splice the guest's audio together to make it flow better. That really is my only gripe - a great podcast for anyone interested in the ancient world if you can get past this.

MSC_digs ,

Great ancient podcast!

Loving season 1 on Ancient Greece and can’t wait to hear more about Ancient Rome in season 2!

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