On the Spot: Michael Scott
‘The most common misconception about my field is that classicists study a past that no longer impacts on our world today.’
Why are you a historian of the ancient world?
I went to Greece on a school trip. I loved the sense of being in the footsteps of the ancients.
What’s the most important lesson history has taught you?
Nothing is to be feared, it is only to be understood.
Which book has had the greatest influence on you?
The Chronicles of the World gave me a fascination with the comparative development of human societies.
What book in your field should everyone read?
Anthony Snodgrass’ The Age of Experiment.
Which moment would you most like to go back to?
The debate on the Pnyx in 480 BC, when Athenians decided to abandon their city to the Persians, to prepare for the naval battle at Salamis.
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