What does the future hold?
By Owain Williams
We have just released issue 60 of Ancient History! I remember working issue 50 almost two years ago as if it were yesterday. So, I thought I would write a quick update on what future themes we have planned and see what you would like to see more of.
We are currently working on issue 61, on cities in the ancient world. This will, hopefully, be a nice, well-rounded issue, covering some familiar territory but also expanding into areas of the ancient world that we know some of you are very keen for us to explore, such as Mesopotamia. For issue 62, we are planning an issue on Greek mythology. While there will be an article or two covering more traditional elements of Greek mythology, such as mythological creatures, the issue will primarily focus on the study of Greek myth — what do the myths mean, how did Greek mythology develop, and how the Greeks interacted with their myths.
As for issue 63, we have planned for an issue on hygiene in the Roman world. However, much to my surprise, this is an issue that has been fairly difficult to put together. There are simply not many people who appear to have the expertise in ancient Roman hygiene and are able to write for the magazine. Indeed, summer and autumn are particularly busy times for academics, since they spend the summer finishing up their own projects and autumn is the beginning of the teaching year.
Going forward, we have a couple of ideas. The first is an exploration of the history of Messenia, from the Bronze Age through to the Roman period. In my last blog, I wrote about how I was lucky enough to go see the excavation at Iklaina, and that, with a trip to ancient Messene, absolutely inspired me to try and put this together. However, it is very much in an early planning stage. Messenia, unfortunately, simply does not have a lot of readily available imagery online, although I did take plenty of photos when I visited the region. So, we have to think carefully about what we will cover in the issue.
The second idea, also very much in the planning stage, is an exploration of the Mayan world, from religion to politics. I was inspired to plan this out because of my discussion with David Stuart on the Ancient History Podcast. Besides Tracy Arden’s introduction to the Mayan world, which I reviewed on the blog a few years ago, I have never really explored the Classical Maya. So, David Stuart’s book, The Four Heavens, was revelatory. There is just so much to explore. Why not explore it in the magazine?
What do you think? Do you like the sound of these theme ideas? What would you like to see covered in the magazine?
8 comments
I would like to see an issue(s) directed to the mummy portraits of the Fayum in Egypt including articles related to Greek-Roman Egypt. I don’t believe this topic has been sufficiently addressed in any ancient history or general history magazine.
Although there a some books available on the market that address the subject, they tend to be expensive and sometimes hard to find. This subject may enable Ancient History magazine an opportunity to exploit a very interesting subject which is not well known and appreciated.