Toby Wilkinson and Owen Rees chaired by Josephine Quinn

Egyptologist Professor Toby Wilkinson and classical Greek historian Dr Owen Rees discuss what archaeological findings tell us about the classical world beyond Rome and Greece including the great flowering of Egyptian culture.

Wilkinson is author of The Last Dynasty: Ancient Egypt from Alexander the Great to Cleopatra. He uses the latest archaeological studies and original papyrus documents to tell the full story of how Alexander the Great arrived in Egypt and overthrew the hated Persian overlords. He explains how a general Ptolemy seized the throne on Alexander’s death and ushered in a 300-year dynasty that blended Greek and Egyptian cultures and led to an unprecedented flowering of learning. Wilkinson has written 25 books on the history and culture of the Nile valley including The Rise and Fall of Ancient Egypt, winner of the Hessell-Tiltman Prize.

Rees is author of The Far Edges of the Known World: A New History of Ancient Civilisations. In it, he looks at the civilisations that existed on the boundaries of the Greek and Roman empires. He explains how many Greeks and Romans thought that civilisation ceased to exist at the boundaries of their empires. However, Rees says archaeological excavations have revealed that these boundaries hosted thriving and vibrant cultures and not always in the way we might expect. Rees specialises in ancient history at Birmingham Newman University and is founder and lead editor of badancient.com, which brings together specialists to fact-check common claims about the ancient world.

Discussions are chaired by historian Professor Josephine Quinn, author of How the World Made the West: A 4,000-Year History.