Tuesday, September 28
Speaker: PAUL CARTLEDGE
Hellenic Parliament Global Distinguished Professor in the History and Theory of Democracy at New York University; A.G. Leventis Professor Greek Culture, Cambridge University
Lecture #1: Kickoff of our 9 part lecture series celebrating 2,500 year anniversary of the Battle of Marathon

6:00 PM EST/ 3:00 PM PST (90 minute lecture and Q&A)

On the 2,500 year anniversary of the Battle of Marathon

The battle changed the shape of European history - ushering in the Golden Age of Greece - inspired marathons run around the world today and, though they lost, showed the power of the Persian Empire (an empire larger than Rome at its height).

On the proper date for the anniversary?

Paul Cartledge and I asked Peter Krentz, Professor at Davidson College and author of the forthcoming book on the battle of Marathon, what the proper date is. He says he can't offer a single day. "I don't think we can even know the month-I incline personally to August, but it could have been September-and the difficulty with the day is that I believe the calendar was observational rather than astronomical, that is, that the new month began when the new moon was observed."

So what does Krentz recommend?

"To keep most people happy, I suppose you should opt for either August 13 or September 12, assuming the Spartans marched the day after the full moon that people put on an astronomical calendar on either August 10 or September 9. September 11 is often given but would wouldn't work at all."

What date have we chosen?

We have decided to go with September 12, 2011 (not 2010 - because the "zero" year in our system has to be accounted for). Our series starts then on September 12, 2010 and concludes a year later.

Paul Cartledge Biography

Paul Cartledge, Hellenic Parliament Global Distinguished Professor in the History and Theory of Democracy at New York University and A.G. Leventis Professor of Greek History, the A G Leventis Professor of Greek Culture and a Fellow of Clare College at Cambridge, is a world expert on Athens and Sparta in the Classical Age and has been described as a Laconophile. He was chief historical consultant for the BBC TV series The Greeks and the Channel 4 series The Spartans, presented by Bettany Hughes. He is also a holder of the Gold Cross of the Order of Honour and an Honorary Citizen of (modern) Sparta. Besides the posts at Cambridge, he holds a visiting Global Distinguished Professorship at New York University, funded by the Greek Parliament.

He has written a wide number of scholarly articles, books and books for the general public. He has a real passion for reaching the general reader and is a longtime advisor to the Reading Odyssey and chief advisor on the design of this 2,500 year Battle of Marathon anniversary lecture series and celebration.

There is no one better to kickoff this worldwide celebration.