The Villa Council Presents is an annual program related to the theme of antiquity made possible by the generous support of the Villa Council. Founded in 2001, the Villa Council is comprised of dedicated supporters of the arts who believe strongly in the mission and goals of the Getty Villa and support a variety of interdisciplinary programs including education, exhibitions, conservation, lectures, theater, and research.

All presentations are free and take place in the Auditorium at the Getty Villa.

Alexander the Great, Hannibal, and Julius Caesar were the three greatest soldier-statesmen of the ancient world. Each achieved stunning successes but faced ultimate failure. Acclaimed scholar, historian, and author Barry Strauss of Cornell University tells the story of these three great captains and outlines their ups and downs in strategy, politics, and battle while measuring the differences between myth and reality. Alexander was Macedonian, Hannibal was Carthaginian, and Caesar was Roman and yet they still speak to us. Tactics change, weapons change, but the ultimate purpose of war remains much the same through the centuries.

About Barry Strauss
A noted scholar and an award-winning teacher, Barry Strauss is chair of the department of history at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York and is a leading expert on military history and on leadership. He is the author of numerous books, including his latest Masters of Command: Alexander, Hannibal, Caesar and the Genius of Leadership (Simon and Schuster, 2012) as well as The Battle of Salamis (2004), The Trojan War: A New History (2006), and The Spartacus War (2009). Strauss's books have been translated into nine foreign languages, from French to Korean. He is currently writing a book on the death of Julius Caesar. His fellowships and residencies include the National Endowment for the Humanities, the American Academy in Rome, the American School of Classical Studies at Athens, MacDowell Colony for the Arts, the German Academic Exchange Service, and the Korea Foundation. Strauss is a contributing editor of MHQ, The Quarterly Journal of Military History. He frequently appears on the History Channel, Discovery Channel, and National Geographic Channel. In 2012 Strauss was named an Honorary Citizen of Salamis, Greece in recognition of his book, The Battle of Salamis.

Did the Ancient World Decide the Fate of the Modern World?
March 1, 2012
Noted archaeologist, classicist, and historian Ian Morris of Stanford University delves into the themes of his critically acclaimed 2010 book Why the West Rules—For Now: The Patterns of History, and What They Reveal About the Future and takes a fresh look at what ancient history meant for subsequent world history, comparing global developments from the Ice Age to the twenty-first century.

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The Revolutionary Architecture of the North Baths at Morgantina, Sicily
March 2, 2011
Archaeologists Malcolm Bell and Sandra Lucore share their research on the ancient city of Morgantina, Sicily: its history, art and architecture, and the excavation of the North Baths, where a new form of thermal architecture, including domes and vaults, appears for the first time.

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Tracking the Cosmos: the Technology of the Antikythera Mechanism
March 4, 2010
Jo Marchant, author of Decoding the Heavens, and science historian and physicist James Evans join moderator Patt Morrison to discuss the Antikythera Mechanism, a unique object recovered from the wreck of a Greek ship lost 2,000 years ago. For over a century, its function intrigued scholars, and only recently have modern imaging techniques revealed the purpose of this unusual mechanical device.

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Balancing Fact and Fiction: The Ancient World of HBO's Rome
March 5, 2009
Classical historian and documentary filmmaker Jonathan Stamp spoke with award-winning journalist and author Patt Morrison about his experiences as the historical consultant on Rome, the celebrated HBO series that chronicled the fall of a republic and the creation of an empire.

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Writing Historical Fiction: The Ancient World in Modern Literature
March 6, 2008
In the inaugural event of the series, celebrated authors Steven Saylor and Steven Pressfield joined award-winning journalist, author, and local commentator Patt Morrison to discuss the art of writing historical fiction set in antiquity and the challenges of interpreting the classical past for modern audiences.

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