Should We Make Classics history?

It is often said that the Humanities are in crisis. If so, this new book by distinguished Roman historian Walter Scheidel should be of interest to anyone who studies or teaches the Humanities, and especially Classics and Ancient History. Scheidel’s proposal, though, is very far from these disciplines’ usual apologetical literature. He advocates for “closing Classics” — that is, the abolition of the very discipline that he and his colleagues are currently paid to teach — and its replacement with a “global” or “foundational” Ancient History.