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Roel Konijnendijk

@roelkonijn.bsky.social

Ancient historian (Greece, Persia, war, history-writing). Darby Fellow in Ancient History at Lincoln College, Oxford. Moderator at r/AskHistorians. Ditch guy on YouTube.

420 Posts6558 Follower1438 Folgt
Roel Konijnendijk@roelkonijn.bsky.social · 2w ago

Goryokaku (Five Point Fort) in Hakodate is a Japanese design of the 1850s, apparently by a man who had studied one book about European fortified cities (!). Note his excellent decision to add an extra ditch between moat and curtain. The original plan included five ravelins but only one was built.

View of the moat around one of the bastions of Goryokaku. Lily pads cover the water under a cloudy sky.View of the grassy ditch seen from the top of the main curtain, with one of the 3 gateways in the distance.The ditch and earthwork in front of the main curtain of one of the bastions of Goryokaku. The grey irregular ashlar masonry of the curtain matches the colour of the sky
Roel Konijnendijk@roelkonijn.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Fun thread here from a participant of the first Olympias trials, but one of the things that surprised me as I tried it myself in 2024 was that I (at a very Dutch 193cm/6'4) could fit comfortably on the top bench.

View from the top bench of the reconstructed trireme Olympias, showing overhead clearance between the rowers and the deck. Several people are on or making their way to the benches; oars lie across the central walkway.
Paul Clarke@paulclarke.com · 2mo ago

Actually, given this is all built to 2,000yr-ago-humans scale, I am better off than most, who are packed in like hunchbacks in rocking rows above me. But I still have huge wooden beams all around me and behind my head.

Jeremy Salkeld@enclavedmicrostate.bsky.social · 3mo ago

As @roelkonijn.bsky.social once told me, there is only one movie actually about classical Greek *history* and it is The Warriors (1979).

𝕋𝕙𝕖 ℍ𝕚𝕤𝕥🎃𝕣𝕪 𝕠𝕗 ℂ𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕒 ℙ💀𝕕𝕔𝕒𝕤𝕥@thoc.bsky.social · 3mo ago

When it comes to debates over the historical accuracy of the Odyssey, it's helpful to remember that it's a story about a guy who kills Poseidon's cyclops son, who then blows him off course for a decade, then has his men turned into pigs by the nymph daughter of the Sun god

Roel Konijnendijk@roelkonijn.bsky.social · 5mo ago

A fun chat about many things to do with ancient warfare and its modern reception. Reconstructing ancient history requires imagination as well as research, and I tried to articulate the difference between "it is possible, but..." and "it is possible, therefore..." approaches to that fact

The Ozymandias Project@theozymandiasp1.bsky.social · 5mo ago

Today on AOH, Dr. @roelkonijn.bsky.social, the Darby Fellow in Ancient History at Lincoln College, Oxford, discusses psychological warfare and imperial brutality in antiquity,Greek ambivalence about war’s glory and horror, & myth-busts Sparta as less uniquely militarist than popularly imagined.

Roel Konijnendijk@roelkonijn.bsky.social · 6mo ago

Had a lot of fun talking in detail about the brutal oligachy of the Thirty that briefly ruled Athens (404-3 BCE) and its spectacular downfall. Sometimes democracy wins

Ancient History 101 Podcast@ancienthistory101.org · 6mo ago

404 BCE: Squads in Athens are tearing residents from their homes. Some are thrown out of the city. Others are murdered in cold blood. What happens next? Listen to the full episode with Roel Konijnendijk to find out... www.ancienthistory101.org/p/the-thirty...

Bad Ancient/ Owen Rees@badancient.bsky.social · 7mo ago

New interview is out, all about the greatest Greek historian ever: Xenophon (yeah, I said it!). Come for the history, stay to find out what happens when two historians with ADHD try to stick to the question being asked. Also got in a quick reference to @roelkonijn.bsky.social and 'Xenophon is Sad'.

Ancient History 101 Podcast@ancienthistory101.org · 7mo ago

Second: @badancient.bsky.social gives us the dramatic biography of Xenophon, with a cameo from Super Secy Alcibiades... www.ancienthistory101.org/p/xenophon-a...

Dan Howlett@dhowlett1692.bsky.social · 7mo ago

Today marks 1 year since the first Ask Me Anything (AMA) for AskHistorians in our push to very actively recruit guests, and where are we now? Today is the 90th AMA in that effort, helping us cross the thresholds of 35k upvotes, 8k comments, and 15k link shares in that year (and ~10m views)!