frenzied reading

It’s been a while since my last post and that is an indication of my teaching workload in the last few months. A new assessment system was introduced, which meant that I had to write new units and then had to do some quick reading to make sure I was ok with the content. It was nice to get up close and personal with Thucydides again. But now, the holidays are here and this is where a nerdy ancient history teacher like myself really gets wild - on books!

The best thing that happened to my end of school year was the Black Friday sales. I had never heard of them before and I’m not usually a consumer driven freak - UNTIL NOW! Book Depository and Booktopia were all getting in on the craziness and I was buying up like a demon possessed. My rationale: I am staring my Masters in ancient history next year (hello Macquarie University) and I need to buy every book ever printed about every topic related to ancient history (insert crazed laugh). In addition, I asked a very clever friend of mine to make me a new desk for my upcoming studies, and boy, did he deliver. So I am now sitting at my new desk, writing a new blog post and telling you all about the super books I purchased.

Since reading Rubicon, I have been a not-so-secret fan of Tom Holland and so I have added Dynasty and Millennium to my personal collection. I purchased them for the school library as my senior students also enjoy Holland’s writing style, but now I can sticky note my own copies to my heart’s content. My yr 12 students do an intensive study of Julius Caesar and Augustus in the last two terms of their final year, so I feel justified in this purchase - and Millenium was on sale so I had to get it too!

I picked up a couple of books that grabbed my attention just because I am interested in the authors and in the subject matter. Mary Beard’s Confronting the Classics seems like a must read for an ancient history teacher. I am always linking the past to the present - not to justify why school students should learn ancient history but to show them why everyone should! I also purchased The Darkening Age by Catherine Nixey. It sounds suspiciously relevant as we descend into a new age of climate change (as Australia burns), or am I just pretending to be woke? Either way, both seem like a fabulous read - hopefully while rain pours down over summer - and interrupts the cricket (insert maniacal laugh)!

Some time ago, I sent a literary cooee to various people about ancient history food books. I got some fabulous suggestions and pretty much purchased them all. My thanks go to Dr Serena Love, Dr Sophie Hay, Prof Ray Laurence (who also suggested an appropriate wine to drink, but alas, Qld IGAs do not sell wine), and of course, Sally Grainger. Also a shout out to Caroline Lawrence who spoke to Sally on my behalf regarding superstar chefs of the ancient world. Sure enough, there were some, and one of my holiday projects is to find out more about theses chefs.

So on the food theme, I grabbed copies of:

• Roman Passions: a history of pleasure in Imperial Rome by Ray Laurence

• Pompeii: The Life of a Roman Town by Mary Beard (chapter title: Food, wine, sex and baths!!!)

• Ancient Wine by Patrick McGovern (there is a beer one too according to Dr Love!)

• Cooking Apicius by Sally Grainger

• Cookery and Dining in Imperial Rome by Apicius

I still have several books on the go. I’m one of those readers who can dip in and out of books as I ruminate over the content. One of those is Deep Time Dreaming by Billy Griffiths. It has disappeared under the weight of my sticky notes, and I am ashamed to admit it, I have started to highlight sections and write in the margins.(Secretly not ashamed. I love doing that to books, but I know people who would hang, draw and quarter me if they saw it!) It is very important that I give correct air time in my classroom to Ancient Australia, both in an effort to undo what has been incorrectly taught and to make sure that there is an understanding about the importance of the culture that was here before occupation and how it continues to contribute to the culture of Australia.

I am always keen to receive any recommendations for books. Happy summer (or winter) reading fellow nerds.

Go forth and conquer!