Welcome to Marathon2500

Lecture series (Paul Cartledge, Victor Davis Hanson, and others)

Herodotus reading groups (free moderated groups that slowly read Herodotus

Remote Lecture Network (see the universities, schools, libraries that are part of our distributed community

Marathon2500, chaired by Professor Paul Cartledge, A.G. Leventis Chair of Greek Culture at Cambridge University, is a global program commemorating the 2,500 year anniversary of the Battle of Marathon.

The much larger invading Persian Army attempted in 490 BC to take over mainland Greece and the only opposition that day on the battlefield was a much smaller army of Athenians and their allies. 

The unexpected victory by the Athenians made possible the golden age of Greece and Athens including the flourishing of democracy, theater, philosophy, history and science. 

Marathon2500 will commemorate this anniversary through a yearlong series of lectures by top scholars and ongoing reading groups on Herodotus, the great historian who wrote about the deeds of the Persians and Greeks (and thereby wrote the first history ever written).

To participate in any of our free web/phone-based activities click here:

Thanks,

Phil 

Phil Terry
Founder, Marathon2500
Chairman, Reading Odyssey 

Thanks to Mary Beard for her support of Marathon2500

Mary Beard, Professor of Classics at Cambridge and Classics editor at the Times Literary Supplement in London, recently wrote about Marathon2500.

She says - "...some celebrations look more interesting than others. I like the look of [Marathon2500].

Thanks, Mary!

- Phil 

Marathon conference at Emory University

Peter Bing, Chair and Professor of Classics at Emory, is helping to host a great conference to commemorate the 2,500-year anniversary of the Battle of Marathon.

The conference website is here:

http://www.carlos.emory.edu/marathon.html

The event begins Friday, September 24 at 7pm with what looks to be a great talk, "Go tell the Spartans . . ." War and the Warrior in Archaic Greek Art by Andrew Stewart, Professor of Greek Art at the University of California, Berkeley. 

Sponsors of the event are Emory University's Classics Department, Art History Department, Program in Ancient Mediterranean Studies, and Emory's Michael C. Carlos Museum

Professor Bing has been kind enough to promote Marathon2500 to his students and colleagues. Please help me return the favor by visiting their conference site and considering attending their terrific event.

- Phil 

P.S. I have asked Professor Bing if any of the lectures will be available as podcasts. If so, I'll link to them in a future post.

Embassy of Greece sponsors Marathon2500

The Embassy of Greece has become a sponsor of the Reading Odyssey's global Marathon2500 program. 

Special thanks to the Embassy of Greece for supporting the Reading Odyssey's efforts to commemorate the 2,500-year anniversary of the Battle of Marathon. And thanks to James Stathis for alerting them to our program.

Remote lecture network is growing

Colleges, high schools, libraries and other institutions around the world are signing up for the Marathon2500 remote lecture network - i.e. to host groups of students, faculty etc to listen and ask questions live during each of the Marathon2500 lectures starting with the kickoff lecture with Professor Paul Cartledge, September 28, 2010.

We'll publish the full list of remote lecture sites by the 3rd week of September. Until then, see the initial list here.