Opinions

Economic Reality and Greek Culture

constantinakatsari June 3, 2013

You all know how modern Greece became bankrupt, how its population lives under extreme economic conditions, how the government is trying to pay off the debts (though, not that successfully). The IMF process demanded that the entire economy deflated, that the salaries and the prices were reduced, so that Greece became competitive again. Competitive in what, though? Since the euro entered our lives, most Greeks have been living on borrowed money and time. They neither created products nor offered ... »

‘I Hate (Love) Wikipedia’

constantinakatsari April 6, 2013

Most academics I know are quick to condemn the value of wikipedia as a concept as well as content. When a new batch of undergraduates arrive at the university for the first time, professors are eager to warn them against the evils of the online encyclopaedia. They usually mention how unreliable are the entries, how impossible it is to identify the writer behind them, how the text does not engage in current debates. How justified are such comments? I will not present you here with statistics or t... »

Visit to the Heberden Room in the Ashmolean

constantinakatsari November 19, 2012

Last week I took my students to visit the Heberden room in the Ashmolean museum in Oxford. The visit was organised in collaboration with the Keeper of Coins and Medals, Prof. Chris Howgego. As you probably already know Chris is an expert of Roman coins and the successful author of several books and articles on the subject. Before I even start describing the experience, I would like to express my gratitude to the Ashmolean staff for all their help and support on this educational trip. I know very... »

Preparing for Academic Wars

constantinakatsari November 4, 2012

I have gathered a few useful quotes for academics who want to excel in their work. As our jobs become increasingly more competitive, I thought it was fitting to chose war-related quotations. The following are certainly applicable in Academia, so take them seriously and adjust them accordingly! “Work hard and become a leader; Be lazy and never succeed. – -Proverbs 12:24 You must not fight too often with one enemy, or you will teach him all your art of war. — Napoleon Bonaparte D... »

Dangerous emotions in slavery

constantinakatsari September 25, 2012

I have recently co-organised with Kostas Vlassopoulos a conference in Nottingham under the auspices of ISOS, the well known international centre for the study of slavery. The topic of the conference was Sex and Slavery and it included papers from all periods and geographical areas; it was meant to be comparative (both diachronically and geographically). The discussion was especially fruitful also because the respondents brought sometimes radically opposing viewpoints. Unlike other conferences of... »

Comparative slavery studies

constantinakatsari July 22, 2012

The Institute for the Study of Slavery (ISOS) just published the latest book of the series. Highly recommended to all comparative historians of slavery! Stephen Hodkinson & Dick Geary (eds.), Slaves and Religions in Graeco-Roman Antiquity and Modern Brazil , Cambridge Scholars Publishing, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, July 2012 (ISBN: 978-1-4438-3736-1): http://www.c-s-p.org/Flyers/Slaves-and-Religions-in-Graeco-Roman-Antiquity-and-Modern-Brazil1-4438-3736-9.htm »

Modern Nazi-Greek ideals and the classical tradition

constantinakatsari July 1, 2012

Most of you probably heard a few weeks ago about a violent incident that took place in Greek tv. Apparently, the member of the parliament Elias Kasidiaris, who belongs to the nazi party, attacked the female member of the parliament Liana Kanneli, member of the communist party. At this point, I would like to ignore the fact that there is such a thing as a nazi Greek party, which seems to be deeply disatisfied with current German economic policies! Instead, I would like to focus on a recent interv... »

Rebranding modern Greek identity

constantinakatsari May 2, 2012

The following video went around the world the past few days. I have seen also several very clever responses that I cannot compete. Parts of the younger Greek generation seem to identify with its ideas, while other parts find it misleading and pretentious. As a historian I would like to state that, unlike Katerina, I do not believe that we have democracy in Greece. The traditional media is controlled by the elite and the government follows the dictates of the IMF and the European union. We have n... »

Restaurant recommendations in modern Rome

constantinakatsari April 25, 2012

Close to the Colosseum in Rome I discovered an adorable little restaurant that should not be missed. The initiall attraction to the place was its name, The Golden Ass. Since this is my favourite Roman novel, I decided to sit in one of the outside tables and taste the food. I soon found out that the name of the owner is Lucio; hence the name of the restaurant. The food was nothing sort of excellent; and I can assure you that my standards are very high. You pay 12 euros for a three course meal, a ... »

Support Greece!

constantinakatsari February 15, 2012

For the past couple of years I devoted most of my time in the promotion of ancient history and classical studies. I have always been proud of my classical heritage and that was one of the reasons I have chosen to dedicate myself to the study of the ancient world. I intend to continue publishing online as well as in the form of books or articles for as long as I shall live. I would like to apologise in advance but I will need to expand my interests to modern Greece. There is a possibility that I ... »