Paul Cartledge, professor of Greek history at the University of Cambridge, kicks off
the 2008-09 Moses Finley Memorial Lecture Series at Syracuse University with a
presentation titled "The Spartans on the Silver Screen." Presented by the Program in
Classics in The College of Arts and Sciences, the lecture will take place Tuesday, Sept.
23, at 4:30 p.m. in Maxwell Auditorium. The event is free and open to the public. Paid
parking is available in SU pay lots.
Drawing on the popularity of the 2006 motion picture "300"-a fictionalized retelling
of the Battle of Thermopylae-Cartledge will examine Hollywood's love affair with
Spartan culture and history. He will also discuss his involvement with the BBC-TV
series "The Greeks" and the U.K.'s Channel 4 series "The Spartans."
"Professor Cartledge has done significant work on the history of ancient Sparta and
is a dynamic and engaging speaker," says Donald H. Mills, event organizer and
professor of classical languages and literatures.
An expert in ancient Athens and Sparta, Cartledge has served on the faculty of
Cambridge since 1979. Also, he is the Hellenic Parliament Global Distinguished
Professor in the Theory and History of Democracy at New York University and a
fellow at Clare College at Cambridge.
Cartledge is author or editor of more than two dozen books, including "Alexander
the Great: The Hunt for a New Past" (Macmillan, 2004); "The Greeks: A Portrait of
Self and Others" (Oxford University Press, 2002); "The Cambridge Illustrated
History of Ancient Greece" (Cambridge University Press, 1997); and "Sparta and
Lakonia: A Regional History, 1300-362 B.C." (Routledge, 1979). He co-edits two
monograph series, sits on the editorial boards of three learned journals, and serves as
consultant in ancient history to Duckworth Publishers.
Cartledge is a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London and holds the Gold
Cross of the Order of Honour, awarded by the President of the Hellenic Republic.
The Finley Lecture Series honors the memory of Sir Moses I. Finley '27. One of the
20th-century's most influential historians, he enjoyed a long and distinguished career
as a professor of ancient history and as a master of Darwin College at the University
of Cambridge. The series is made possible by the generous donation of A&S alumnus
Robert Papworth '68.
For more information about the lecture series, contact Mills at (315) 443-5903 or
dhmills@syr.edu.
