Exploring the ancient history of risk

From oracles through to gambling, luck and chance, a lecture at the University of Cambridge will explore how we might determine how ancient societies dealt with the concept of risk.

The talk, entitled “Risk and Humanities”, will take place this Friday (February 12th) at 5.30pm and is being given by Professor Mary Beard, distinguished Professor of Classics at the University of Cambridge and the author of numerous books as well as the popular Times Online blog, “A Don’s Life”.

Professor Beard will ask whether there was a popular understanding of risk before the modern age, and whether when discussing ancient civilisations such as Greece and Rome we should imagine that people thought about risks, or, more broadly, simply worried about things instead?

At the same time, she will also explore the risks facing research and teaching in the Humanities in the modern day and what academics themselves need to be worrying about, both now and in the future.

The lecture will include the first consultation for many centuries of the Oracles of Astrampsychus – a 3rd Century Greek language oracle book which was believed to allow the reader to speak to and ask questions of the Gods. In late Antiquity pagan oracles such as this were forbidden, but the Astrampsychus retained a popular following nonetheless and was still being used during the Middle Ages.

The lecture will be held at 5.30pm in the Lady Mitchell Hall on the University’s Sidgwick site. As ever, the event is free and open to members of the public, but those wishing to attend are advised to arrive early to guarantee themselves a seat because places are in high demand.

Mary Beard is one of Britain’s best-known Classicists and a Fellow of Newnham College, Cambridge. She has been researching and teaching at the University for the last 25 years.

She has also written numerous books on the Ancient World, including the 2008 Wolfson Prize-winner, ‘Pompeii: The Life of a Roman Town‘, which portrays a vivid account of life in Pompeii in all its forms, from food through to politics.

Her previous books include ‘The Roman Triumph‘, ‘Classical Art: From Greece to Rome‘ and books on the Parthenon and the Colosseum as part of a series on wonders of the world. Her research interests range from the social and cultural life of Ancient Greece and Rome to the Victorian understanding of antiquity.

In 2008 Mary was visiting Sather Professor at the University of California, Berkeley, where she gave a series of lectures on Roman laughter, one of her other current research interests.