Have Toga, Will Travel: Exploring Greece and Rome, Ancient and Modern

Did you know that the popes constructed a palace on top of a mausoleum built by the Roman Emperor Hadrian? Before he died, Hadrian commissioned a magnificent tomb for himself on the right bank of the Tiber River, just north of the ancient walls of Rome. Over the centuries, that tomb would become a f...

Athens was the city the Roman Emperor Hadrian loved most in the world, and he left his mark there by commissioning a bunch of new monumental public buildings for the city and its people. In this episode, Emily and Cam talk about the long and sometimes tense history of Romans building things in Athen...

The emperor Hadrian didn’t just build a wall across Britain! During a career that involved a “world tour” to pretty much every province of the Roman Empire, he rubbed elbows with provincial aristocrats; showered gifts on the cities of the empire; climbed a couple of mountains and hunted at least one...

In “Trojan Women”, the Athenian playwright Euripides highlights an aspect of the Trojan War neglected by Christopher Nolan in “The Odyssey”: the true horror of Troy’s capture and destruction. In this episode, Emily and Cam break down Euripides’ play. Produced at Athens mere months after the Athenian...

When modern authors and filmmakers like Christopher Nolan adapt ancient myths and characters, they are following an old and well-worn precedent. In this episode, Emily and Cam explore how the Athenian playwright Sophocles adapted a well-known story about Odysseus and used it in his play, Philoctetes...

Emily and Cam take on Christopher Nolan’s film, “The Odyssey.” Everyone has an opinion on this movie, and Emily and Cam are no different. Sheep, and Cyclops, and Circe, oh my! Visit our homepage to subscribe, to find us on social media, and to contact us by email: https://havetogawilltravel.com Usef...

Need a refresher on Homer’s Odyssey before you watch the upcoming movie by Christopher Nolan? Emily and Cam have got you covered! In this episode, they break down the poem’s plot and its major themes as they explore topics like Odysseus’ reliability as a narrator (spoiler alert: he has none whatsoev...

Have you ever wondered what a bath-house architect from ancient Rome would think if he found himself swept through a time warp into a modern Japanese Spa? Wonder no more! Emily and Cam discuss Thermae Romae, a 2012 Japanese Film that seeks to explore precisely this question by dramatizing the advent...

We’re dropping a quick note in our feed to remind you that we’re on vacation and won’t be releasing a full episode on June 15, but also to tease a couple of upcoming episodes—including a couple on Homer’s Odyssey and Christopher Nolan’s film of the same name! Visit our homepage to subscribe, to find...

Emily and Cam wrap up their series on hiking Hadrian’s Wall Path with a discussion of the final 31 miles of the Wall. Follow along as they explore medieval monuments made of wallstone, find themselves treed by some cows, and are regaled with tales of cannibals (human and otherwise!). Visit our homep...