Princeton UP Ideas Podcast Walter Scheidel, "What Is Ancient History?" (Princeton UP, 2025)
Aug 25, 2025
In this engaging discussion, Walter Scheidel, a renowned professor of Classics and History at Stanford, advocates for a revolutionary approach to ancient history. He argues that ancient societies laid the groundwork for modern civilization, highlighting innovations like farming, writing, and governance. Scheidel critiques the traditional focus on Greece and Rome, noting how it limits our understanding of global patterns. He emphasizes the importance of connecting diverse historical contexts and leveraging cross-cultural evidence to create a more inclusive narrative of our shared past.
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Push Antiquity Earlier Than Writing
- Prehistory and early village societies are meaningfully part of ancient history and predate writing-based periodizations.
- Many everyday institutions existed long before writing, so starting ancient history at 3000 BC is misleading.
Past Is Foreign But Comprehensible
- The past is a foreign country but not another planet; similar environments produce similar solutions.
- Cross-cultural comparison makes ancient societies intelligible rather than wholly alien.
Dedicate Time To Comparative Reading
- Spend part of your research time learning comparable societies to avoid parochial conclusions.
- Even superficial, cross-cultural knowledge yields big payoff in new questions and perspectives.
