Gregory Aldrete

So you can't interact with others unless you understand where they're coming from. And the answer to where they're coming from is where they came from and what shaped them and what forces affect them. So I think it's absolutely vital to have some understanding of the past in order to make competent decisions in the present.

So you can't interact with others unless you understand where they're coming from. And the answer to where they're coming from is where they came from and what shaped them and what forces affect them. So I think it's absolutely vital to have some understanding of the past in order to make competent decisions in the present.

So you can't interact with others unless you understand where they're coming from. And the answer to where they're coming from is where they came from and what shaped them and what forces affect them. So I think it's absolutely vital to have some understanding of the past in order to make competent decisions in the present.

Probably the biggest problems are history. The sources themselves, the incompleteness of them. And this gets more intense the farther back we go in time. Yes. So if you say, I want to write a book about the 19th century. There is more material available for almost any topic you want to pick than you could possibly go through in your lifetime.

Probably the biggest problems are history. The sources themselves, the incompleteness of them. And this gets more intense the farther back we go in time. Yes. So if you say, I want to write a book about the 19th century. There is more material available for almost any topic you want to pick than you could possibly go through in your lifetime.

Probably the biggest problems are history. The sources themselves, the incompleteness of them. And this gets more intense the farther back we go in time. Yes. So if you say, I want to write a book about the 19th century. There is more material available for almost any topic you want to pick than you could possibly go through in your lifetime.

If you say, I want to write a book about the Roman world, this is a very different thing. In my office, I have a bookshelf that's, I don't know, 8 feet high, 10 feet wide, and it contains pretty much all the main surviving Greek and Roman literary texts. Mm-hmm. Okay? One bookshelf. Wow. It's a big bookshelf. Yeah. But that's what we use to interpret this world.

If you say, I want to write a book about the Roman world, this is a very different thing. In my office, I have a bookshelf that's, I don't know, 8 feet high, 10 feet wide, and it contains pretty much all the main surviving Greek and Roman literary texts. Mm-hmm. Okay? One bookshelf. Wow. It's a big bookshelf. Yeah. But that's what we use to interpret this world.

If you say, I want to write a book about the Roman world, this is a very different thing. In my office, I have a bookshelf that's, I don't know, 8 feet high, 10 feet wide, and it contains pretty much all the main surviving Greek and Roman literary texts. Mm-hmm. Okay? One bookshelf. Wow. It's a big bookshelf. Yeah. But that's what we use to interpret this world.

Now, there's a lot of other types of texts. There's, you know, papyri. There's all sorts of things. There are inscriptions. There's archaeological evidence. So there's other stuff. But honestly, you know, 99% of things about the world I study are lost. So then you get into all the issues are – is what we have surviving a representative example? We know it's not.

Now, there's a lot of other types of texts. There's, you know, papyri. There's all sorts of things. There are inscriptions. There's archaeological evidence. So there's other stuff. But honestly, you know, 99% of things about the world I study are lost. So then you get into all the issues are – is what we have surviving a representative example? We know it's not.

Now, there's a lot of other types of texts. There's, you know, papyri. There's all sorts of things. There are inscriptions. There's archaeological evidence. So there's other stuff. But honestly, you know, 99% of things about the world I study are lost. So then you get into all the issues are – is what we have surviving a representative example? We know it's not.

For example, all the literary texts are written by one tiny group, elite males. So that's a problem there. There's the problem of bias. We know that they're not necessarily telling us the truth. They have an agenda. They're representing history in a certain way to achieve certain things. Then there's the problem of transmission. I mean, all those texts are copies of copies of copies of copies.

For example, all the literary texts are written by one tiny group, elite males. So that's a problem there. There's the problem of bias. We know that they're not necessarily telling us the truth. They have an agenda. They're representing history in a certain way to achieve certain things. Then there's the problem of transmission. I mean, all those texts are copies of copies of copies of copies.

For example, all the literary texts are written by one tiny group, elite males. So that's a problem there. There's the problem of bias. We know that they're not necessarily telling us the truth. They have an agenda. They're representing history in a certain way to achieve certain things. Then there's the problem of transmission. I mean, all those texts are copies of copies of copies of copies.

And everybody knows that game where you whisper a sentence to someone and then go around the room. Are you going to get that same sentence back? Well, every ancient text we have has gone through that process. So this is a real problem, and that's just with the sources, right? And this is the historic era.

And everybody knows that game where you whisper a sentence to someone and then go around the room. Are you going to get that same sentence back? Well, every ancient text we have has gone through that process. So this is a real problem, and that's just with the sources, right? And this is the historic era.

And everybody knows that game where you whisper a sentence to someone and then go around the room. Are you going to get that same sentence back? Well, every ancient text we have has gone through that process. So this is a real problem, and that's just with the sources, right? And this is the historic era.

When you move back just a little earlier to the prehistoric era or to civilizations that don't have written sources surviving, and some of these are ancient Mediterranean ones, I mean, anything goes. I mean, one of the jokes is that museums, archaeological museums, are full of objects which are labeled cult object. Right. It's a religious object.

When you move back just a little earlier to the prehistoric era or to civilizations that don't have written sources surviving, and some of these are ancient Mediterranean ones, I mean, anything goes. I mean, one of the jokes is that museums, archaeological museums, are full of objects which are labeled cult object. Right. It's a religious object.