Our fourth season of lectures began in 2017: here are the details of all the talks and how you can find out more about the speakers.

Lectures 2017-18

Thursday 21st September 2017

Dr Caroline Vout: Seeing the Gods of Greece and Rome

Eminent art historian from the University of Cambridge, Dr Vout gave a learned talk about the representation of ancient divinities within art and taught us how to ‘think with the visual’. Read Student Ambassador Alex Melling’s blog The Art of Divinity to find out more and follow this link to her books!

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Thursday 19th October 2017

Dr Harry Sidebottom: Third Century Rome

Prolific author of historical fiction and Oxford academic, Harry Sidebottom brought his characteristic sense of fun and humour to Lytham St Annes as he entertained us all with a gripping exploration of the many crises that Rome faced in the Third Century. To catch up with Harry’s latest releases, visit his website and read our blog Too many Emperors?

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Thursday 9th November 2017

Dr Margaret Mountford: Riches from the Rubbish Dumps

Former mentor on the Apprentice and lawyer-turned historian Dr Margaret Mountford brought the daily lives of ancient people to life by uncovering the secrets hidden on tiny scraps of papyri, from theatre tickets to private letters! Classics Ambassador Sam Holden wrote about the evening here.

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Thursday 11th January 2018

Dr Michael Scott: Sicily: An island for everyone?

Our President, Michael Scott, returned for his fourth annual lecture following his recent BBC documentary series on Sicily and he demonstrated how the island has a very long, fascinating history and is a ‘cultural melting pot’ – learn more in A Wonderful Evening. After the lecture, 80 members enjoyed a meal at Ego restaurant in Lytham and celebrated the branch’s successes over the past year.

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Thursday 22nd February 2018

An Evening with Lindsey Davis

Adopting a slightly different format, Chair of the branch Katrina Kelly conducted an interview with the bestselling novelist Lindsey Davis in front of 210 members and visitors – it was a whirlwind tour through her career and the fascinating ancient world of her detective protagonist Marcus Didius Falco (and his adopted daughter Flavia Albia) and included a brand new reading! Read more with our blog An Excellent Evening with Lindsey Davis and make sure to visit her website (or our second hand bookstall) to read her books.

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Thursday 1st March 2018

Professor Joann Fletcher: Cleopatra the Great

Egyptologist and broadcaster Joann Fletcher brought her engaging delivery, her memorable red hair and her comprehensive slideshow to her excellent talk on Cleopatra the Great! Sam H again recaps her lecture in his great blog Kleopatra The Great – make sure to watch Immortal Egypt to catch up on her hugely popular TV series.

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Thursday 12th April 2018

Mary Ann Ochota: Rocks, Holes and Pots of Gold

Anthropologist and archaeologist Mary Ann shared some of Britain’s most interesting Hidden Histories with us, from coin hoards to helmets and rather risqué knifehandles…read Jonathan’s blog on the lecture here and make sure to keep up to date with her latest TV and radio work at maryannochota

 

A huge thank you to all of our marvellous lecturers, to AKS Lytham for the great venue, and, of course, to our volunteers for ensuring that events run so smoothly.