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Bad Ancient/ Owen Rees

@badancient.bsky.social
4.3K followers 485 following 875 posts

Ancient Historian: Global history, ancient disability, veteran studies, etc. Also runs Bad Ancient: Fact-checking common claims about the ancient world. Website: www.badancient.com Newsletter: owenrees.substack.com

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Ancient History 101 Podcast @ancienthistory101.org · 23/09/2026
Featuring Ben Paites, Senior Curator at @colmuseums.bsky.social, Kate Sumnall, Curator of Archaeology at @londonmuseum.bsky.social and Lexi Diggins, archaeologist and guest curator at @stalbansmuseums.bsky.social... Ancient History 101 presents: BOUDICA Part 1: Prelude to Destruction
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Bad Ancient/ Owen Rees @badancient.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
I am one of those! 'Super sexy Alcibiades' is the best way to describe him anf understand why people kept letting him get away with so much cr@p.
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Ancient History 101 Podcast @ancienthistory101.org · 09/09/2026
After his wonderful episode discussing the Thirty Tyrants, @roelkonijn.bsky.social has returned to give us a crash course in the Sicilian Expedition this week! Crack open your copy of Thucydides, we're going sailing...
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Dr Surekha Davies, Historical Monster Consultant (she/her) @drsurekhadavies.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
The South Asian edition of HUMANS: A MONSTROUS HISTORY is out from @westlandbooks.bsky.social! It’s the history of the category of the human since antiquity, told through ideas about monsters and monster-making. 🧪💙📚 🗃 #ancient #medieval #earlymodern #histsci #histmed #18thCentury #politics #HAMH 🧵
A tower of copies of HUMANS, with bright red spines, and a single copy balanced on top, its mirror-foil oval mirror on the cover facing outwards.
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HistFest @histfest.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
📣 Announcement! We’re delighted to share a brand-new podcast series that invites expert historians to challenge your perceptions of the past. CHALLENGING HISTORIES is hosted by historian and author, @amyfuller.bsky.social. Listen wherever you get your podcasts! podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/c...
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alexxkay.bsky.social @alexxkay.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
Some fun stuff in here about Aphrodite as a war-god.
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Bad Ancient/ Owen Rees @badancient.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
New Bad Ancient article is out, with a new contributor from @uonclassarch.bsky.social ... so obviously it is about Sparta! www.badancient.com/claims/ares-...
badancient.com
Was Ares the patron god of Sparta?
The Greek god of war, Ares, seems like a natural fit as the patron god of Sparta, but how prominently was he worshipped in this supposedly militaristic society?
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Bad Ancient/ Owen Rees @badancient.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
New Bad Ancient article is out, with a new contributor from @uonclassarch.bsky.social ... so obviously it is about Sparta! www.badancient.com/claims/ares-...
badancient.com
Was Ares the patron god of Sparta?
The Greek god of war, Ares, seems like a natural fit as the patron god of Sparta, but how prominently was he worshipped in this supposedly militaristic society?
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Bad Ancient/ Owen Rees @badancient.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
Took my 11yo to the videogaming museum in Sheffield today and found these two beauties! Wasn't happy to see things in glass cases as exhibits that I distinctly remember playing as a kid. That was just rude.
Video game set up with an old tv and console. They sit on top of a blue table and a red stand for the tv. The creen is small with a pixellated image of Mickey and Minnie Mouse in a forest.A tv and beige Commodore 64 sit on top of a black sand. A purple seat is in the foreground. The screen is black and blue with some white text. The game's name is Anarchy.
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Catherine Fletcher @catherinefletcher.info · 28/08/2026
Last day of the holidays, so here are a few things I have coming up once I get back to work 🧵
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Bad Ancient/ Owen Rees @badancient.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
Working through a draft of a new Bad Ancient article submitted by a new contributor. Always an exciting prospect, but I am particularly happy because this question on Spartan religion has been in our backlog for years!
Screenshot of a webpage with a black background and white writing. The website is BadAncient.com and the article is titled 'Was Ares the Patron God of Ares?'. There is a colour photo of some stone ruins on an ancient temple on a grassy hill.
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Josephine Quinn @josephinequinn.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
I am VERY EXCITED to see the ad come out for post-doc positions associated with my Cambridge Lab for Ancient World Studies: please pass on to anyone who might be interested and works across ancient regions/languages/worlds... www.cam.ac.uk/jobs/researc...
cam.ac.uk
Research Associate (Fixed Term)
Applications are sought for three Research Associates to join the Cambridge Lab for Ancient World Studies (CLAWS), directed by Professor Josephine Quinn. Starting no later than 1 October 2027, you wil...
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Bad Ancient/ Owen Rees @badancient.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
New books have arrived so I can practice my Sanskrit (I'm definitely not procrastinating from the book I need to finish). Very excited to find that there is a Loeb-like edition of some texts (i.e. dual language), less excited to have numerous book retailers claim to have then but actually not!
Five green books sit on a light brown book shelf. They form the first five books of the Ramayana. In the background are a load of other, unrelated books on the shelf. The books' green covers have black and white text. One is facing out and also has a line drawn bow and arrow on the cover. The other four only have the book spines visible, they each have a black circle at the top with a white elephant's head in profile.
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"Online Rent-a-Sage" Bret Devereaux @bretdevereaux.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
Fun data: this year the most ordered book via my blog's Amazon links is @badancient.bsky.social's The Far Edges of the Known World, followed by 1942: Crux of War and The War People. Last year it was @michaellivingston.com's Agincourt, followed by Infantry in Battle, 1733-1783 and Waging a Good War.
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Ancient History 101 Podcast @ancienthistory101.org · 12/08/2026
New episode alert! @drdragases.bsky.social joins 101 to give us a crash course in Late Antiquity, a fascinating period that gives Game of Thrones a run for its money. Was the Roman empire really 'split in half'? How did Christianity become the official religion? And when did Rome *actually* fall?
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Roel Konijnendijk @roelkonijn.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
Had a chat with the WarTalk team about The Odyssey www.chinatalk.media/p/wartalk-od...
chinatalk.media
WarTalk: Odyssey Edition
yes you need more odyssey content
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Bad Ancient/ Owen Rees @badancient.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
In my life time? Gladiator, 300, Troy, and Alexander all come to mind and all since the year 2000. What happens each time is people say it will save the study of ancient history, it is loved for a bit before the next big thing happens: all while ancient history depts across the world shut.
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Catherine Fletcher @catherinefletcher.info · 04/08/2026
Very short notice (deadline 18 August) but we're advertising a 0.5fte lectureship in public history for next year. Covers my 3rd year undergraduate course on public history of Rome (ancient to modern) plus some MA public history teaching.
manmetjobs.mmu.ac.uk
Lecturer in Public History and Heritage - (9363) | Manchester Metropolitan University Careers
All about Manchester Metropolitan - an exciting, modern university in the heart of one of the UK's great student cities.
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IFLScience @iflscience.com · 31/07/2026
Historians and archaeologists have mixed feelings about the spectre haunting Christopher Nolan's latest blockbuster. www.iflscience.com/were-the-mys...
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Sarah Steegar @paperandairplanes.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
Yay! It’s here
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Bad Ancient/ Owen Rees @badancient.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
The Bad Ancient team's interview with @iflscience.com is live! Inspired by the Odyssey film, it focuses on the question of the Sea Peoples and 'collapsing civilisations'. Also, it is the first time we have ever been called a 'ragtag team' and I like it. We should put that in a bio somewhere!
iflscience.com
Were The Mysterious “Sea Peoples” Lurking Throughout Nolan's The Odyssey Real? We Asked The Experts
Historians and archaeologists have mixed feelings about the spectre haunting Christopher Nolan's latest blockbuster.
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Katy Evans @katyfevans.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
Like if the Powerpuff Girls fought bad history takes 💪
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Bad Ancient/ Owen Rees @badancient.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
The Bad Ancient team's interview with @iflscience.com is live! Inspired by the Odyssey film, it focuses on the question of the Sea Peoples and 'collapsing civilisations'. Also, it is the first time we have ever been called a 'ragtag team' and I like it. We should put that in a bio somewhere!
iflscience.com
Were The Mysterious “Sea Peoples” Lurking Throughout Nolan's The Odyssey Real? We Asked The Experts
Historians and archaeologists have mixed feelings about the spectre haunting Christopher Nolan's latest blockbuster.
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Ancient History 101 Podcast @ancienthistory101.org · 29/07/2026
Something a little different this week! Our new episode with @alexvandewalle.bsky.social talks about the various ways that video games treat and portray Greek myth, and it's more diverse than you might imagine! We discuss more than half a dozen games, from the good, the bad to the downright weird!
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Bad Ancient/ Owen Rees @badancient.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
When I was governor of a local primary school, reading for pleasure was the latest obsession (rightly so). But every solution was to look like they were fostering a love of reading (posters, book reviews up on walls, etc) - not to actually do anything about it. This is great thread on the topic.
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Bad Ancient/ Owen Rees @badancient.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
This has been sent off and was as difficult as you would expect. Nuance is hard at the best of times, but the Sea Peoples is a topic that is difficult to cover in enough detail to be fair, but also useful enough for a public audience to engage with! I hope we managed it.
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Bad Ancient/ Owen Rees @badancient.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
Bad Ancient is getting recognition in the academic world! The new website for the International Sparta Seminar has a 'resource' section that includes our Sparta articles, and I also spy a blog series by @bretdevereaux.bsky.social as well as some @askhistorians.bsky.social threads on there! 🏺🗂
internationalspartaseminar.org
Resources
Resources Useful Links These are a selection of suggested links to resources which provide current and well-researched information regarding the history, society, culture, and representation of anc…
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Bad Ancient/ Owen Rees @badancient.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
Not sure if I will have to hand in my 'ancient historian badge' for this, but ... I did not enjoy this film.
The door of an elevator with an image of Odysseus from the film poster on it. Odysseus stands in armour and holding a sword, with flames and a large wooden horse in the background. Toward the top of the door is a blue sign that says 'Out of Order' because the elevator does not work.
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Bad Ancient/ Owen Rees @badancient.bsky.social · 25/07/2026
The Bad Ancient team has been asked for an interview about Nolan's Odyssey and one particular topic it touches on*. I said of course, but did not anticipate the large debate between the archaeologists this topic has now caused 😅 Hope we reach a consensus before the deadline!
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Bad Ancient/ Owen Rees @badancient.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
If the new Odyssey film has got you interested in the idea of ancient combat trauma and how it is described in our sources, here is an interview I did with The Ancients podcast on that exact topic!
shows.acast.com
Combat Trauma | The Ancients
From the 2000 historical blockbuster 'Gladiator' to the Total War series, brutal hand to hand warfare is something we commonly associate with antiquity. But do we have any ancient cases of psychologic...
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Bad Ancient/ Owen Rees @badancient.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
This will challenge anyone who says accuracy does not matter in historically themed films #BadAncient
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Dónal Hassett @donalh.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
And some military historians question the relevance of gender studies...
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Bad Ancient/ Owen Rees @badancient.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
A phalanx is only strong if it is unified and cohesive. It only takes one false move for a phalanx to crumble in the face of competence. #BadAncient
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Ancient History 101 Podcast @ancienthistory101.org · 22/07/2026
A new episode dedicated to the birthday boy: Alexander the Great himself! Stephen Harrison jumps on the pod to talk about knotty source issues, cultural identity, military 'necessity', Andy Murray and the Great Man Theory. Think you know Alexander? Think again...
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Ancient History 101 Podcast @ancienthistory101.org · 20/07/2026
Tutankhamun - the disabled Pharaoh! What conditions did he have? Listen to our episode with Alexandra Morris to find out what the discoveries made in his tomb tell us about the disability aids he used, how he managed his pain, and why some Egyptologists refuse to believe he was disabled at all!
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Bad Ancient/ Owen Rees @badancient.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
'Ancient Sparta was a communist state'. I never knew this was a thing until recently, the whole having 2 kings thing is surely an issue? We ended up getting the world's leading Sparta scholar to debunk the idea: www.badancient.com/claims/spart...
badancient.com
Was Sparta a communist state?
Writers have often associated Sparta with a communist or proto-communist ideology, based in no small part on the writings of Plutarch. But is there any truth to this claim?
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Catherine Fletcher @catherinefletcher.info · 20/07/2026
Back at work today and am very pleased to see my discussion about the Firearm Revolution out on the @newbooksnetwork.bsky.social podcast:
newbooksnetwork.com
Catherine Fletcher, "The Firearm Revolution: From Renaissance Italy to the European Empires" (Princeton UP, 2026) - New Books Network
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Dr. Jeroen W.P. Wijnendaele @drdragases.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
I am once again begging Hollywood to stop using the Greek alphabet for an Ancient World movie, if they can't afford to even throw a couple of quid at anyone with an inkling of the language. Unless they really think audiences are dying to see THS THDPSSSSPS
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Bad Ancient/ Owen Rees @badancient.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
This should be a great episode. Anyone who has read the work of @disabledarchaeo.bsky.social knows this will be a good one, anyone who hasn't is in for a treat! #ancientbluesky 🏺
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Bad Ancient/ Owen Rees @badancient.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
My children had to suffer the embarassment of having their dad be the only one laughing at a joke about Medea opening a new child care facility. Oh well!
A well lit theatre stage with blue background and a redish hue to some Greek ruins that form the scenery. In the middle, behind the three arches, can be seen a keyboard for the musicians. Above the scenery is the word Thespians in capital letters, with a pillar and flame making up the letter I.
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The mathematican's apprentice @mathapprentice.bsky.social · 15/06/2026
Bought at Lisbon Airport to while away the trip back. Very good so far
Cover of Owen Rees' book "The far edges of the known world (A new history of the ancient past)"
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Bad Ancient/ Owen Rees @badancient.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
The Trung Sisters were, indeed, amazing! If you do not know the story, give them a look.
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Ancient History 101 Podcast @ancienthistory101.org · 08/07/2026
⚠️NEW EPISODE⚠️ Jane Draycott talks about Fulvia, a woman with an astonishing impact on the late Roman Republic. In this biography episode, we discuss how Fulvia managed this from within the confines of ancient Roman gender roles - dangerous virago? Or ideal Roman wife and mother?
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Ancient History 101 Podcast @ancienthistory101.org · 28/06/2026
What military force in Greece could defeat a Spartan army? In the 4th century, that would be the Sacred Band. Our full episode on Theban myth and history with @profboeotia.bsky.social is available now on all platforms! www.ancienthistory101.org/p/thebes
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Catherine Fletcher @catherinefletcher.info · 22/06/2026
Lovely to see this review of The Firearm Revolution in the WSJ
wsj.com
‘The Firearm Revolution’ Review: Shots Heard Around the World
On 16th-century battlefields, formidable mounted cavalry were overwhelmed by a military innovation: lines of foot soldiers armed with long-barreled guns.
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Bad Ancient/ Owen Rees @badancient.bsky.social · 13/06/2026
This is a great listen. If you know the work of @debscavator.bsky.social, then you know how good this will be!
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Bad Ancient/ Owen Rees @badancient.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
I have been giving talks on my book for over a year now and the one thing that is guaranteed to get an audience reaction is the Berenike Buddha in Egypt. People seem amazed it exists and then what it tells us about the ancient world. So I wrote the whole thing up as a Bad Ancient article:
badancient.com
Were there Buddhists in ancient Egypt?
With the growth of Buddhism in ancient India, there were claims that the religion spread out towards the Mediterranean; but is there any clear proof this was the case?
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Writing our Destiny aka Andrew @planecrazy.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
People got around in the Ancient World much more than we often think of. I remember an account of an Egyptian religious token (small statue of one of the gods) found along the silk road in far west China, African elephant tusks in a 3rd-c BCE tomb in Guangdong, etc...
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Bad Ancient/ Owen Rees @badancient.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
I have been giving talks on my book for over a year now and the one thing that is guaranteed to get an audience reaction is the Berenike Buddha in Egypt. People seem amazed it exists and then what it tells us about the ancient world. So I wrote the whole thing up as a Bad Ancient article:
badancient.com
Were there Buddhists in ancient Egypt?
With the growth of Buddhism in ancient India, there were claims that the religion spread out towards the Mediterranean; but is there any clear proof this was the case?
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