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.
Pinned
Roel Konijnendijk
@roelkonijn.bsky.social
· Oct 31
This is a thread to gather some of the stuff I've done that's available online🧵
View of the ha-ha (also known as a blind fence or deer wall) at Langley Park. This is not a defensive ditch but a barrier that keeps sight lines open. Still, with just a couple stakes, you could easily--
November 2, 2025 at 7:54 PM
View of the ha-ha (also known as a blind fence or deer wall) at Langley Park. This is not a defensive ditch but a barrier that keeps sight lines open. Still, with just a couple stakes, you could easily--
A kind and informative review of my latest volume, The Economics of War in Ancient Greece, by Matthew Sears
www.hsozkult.de/publicationr...
www.hsozkult.de/publicationr...
Rezension zu: R. Konijnendijk u.a. (Hrsg.): The Economics of War in Ancient Greece
Rezension zu / Review of: Konijnendijk, Roel; Dal Borgo, Manu: The Economics of War in Ancient Greece
www.hsozkult.de
October 28, 2025 at 5:36 PM
A kind and informative review of my latest volume, The Economics of War in Ancient Greece, by Matthew Sears
www.hsozkult.de/publicationr...
www.hsozkult.de/publicationr...
Fantastic article in which actual experts on AI and higher education cut through the nonsense surrounding the infinite garbage engines and expose a system captured by the techbro sales pitch. "A general ban is necessary, but nobody dares to say so."
Belgian AI scientists are advocating *against* the use of AI in academia. “If independent thinking is no longer encouraged at university, where would it?” apache.be/2025/10/24/b...
Belgian AI scientists resist the use of AI in academia
Several AI scientists have published an open letter calling for a ban on AI use by students.
apache.be
October 25, 2025 at 10:54 AM
Fantastic article in which actual experts on AI and higher education cut through the nonsense surrounding the infinite garbage engines and expose a system captured by the techbro sales pitch. "A general ban is necessary, but nobody dares to say so."
Next week I will be a guest at the University of Mainz 🇩🇪 giving a lecture on military developments of the fourth century BCE as well as a workshop on approaches to public engagement in ancient history
Save the date! Late October @roelkonijn.bsky.social is giving a lecture and a workshop. #AncientHistory #MilitaryHistory
October 24, 2025 at 5:55 PM
Next week I will be a guest at the University of Mainz 🇩🇪 giving a lecture on military developments of the fourth century BCE as well as a workshop on approaches to public engagement in ancient history
Visited Saffron Walden today and admired its Great Ditch or Battle Ditch. The medieval town was unwalled; this earthwork (ditch + ramp) was its full defensive perimeter
October 11, 2025 at 11:42 PM
Visited Saffron Walden today and admired its Great Ditch or Battle Ditch. The medieval town was unwalled; this earthwork (ditch + ramp) was its full defensive perimeter
Writing a piece on Greek masculinity and I have now written the word 'man' so often it has become ridiculous. Men: ridiculous
a woman and a stuffed animal are looking at each other in front of a tv
Alt: GIF from a children's TV show. A puppet says to the woman presenter, "we're just normal men"; she unintentionally cracks up
media.tenor.com
September 17, 2025 at 8:40 AM
Writing a piece on Greek masculinity and I have now written the word 'man' so often it has become ridiculous. Men: ridiculous
Reposted by Roel Konijnendijk
Save the date! Late October @roelkonijn.bsky.social is giving a lecture and a workshop. #AncientHistory #MilitaryHistory
August 27, 2025 at 12:03 PM
Save the date! Late October @roelkonijn.bsky.social is giving a lecture and a workshop. #AncientHistory #MilitaryHistory
Love to find myself and my ditch opinions mentioned as a favourite of amateur military historians in this podcast by @andreloez.bsky.social & friends
Le reste de l’épisode est ici (et aussi évidemment sur toutes les plateformes de podcast)
youtu.be/dhkX5a3UKHM?...
youtu.be/dhkX5a3UKHM?...
Unpopular opinions #14 : La pelle et la pioche
YouTube video by Le Collimateur
youtu.be
August 15, 2025 at 7:31 PM
Love to find myself and my ditch opinions mentioned as a favourite of amateur military historians in this podcast by @andreloez.bsky.social & friends
A fun moment on the ol' hellsite
August 14, 2025 at 4:59 PM
A fun moment on the ol' hellsite
Back on HistoryHit for a live interview with Dan Snow (at his fabulous central London flat) - all about the battle of Thermopylai in excruciating detail
www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7_k...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7_k...
Battle of Thermopylae: Spartan Defeat | As It Happened
YouTube video by History Hit
www.youtube.com
July 28, 2025 at 11:28 PM
Back on HistoryHit for a live interview with Dan Snow (at his fabulous central London flat) - all about the battle of Thermopylai in excruciating detail
www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7_k...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7_k...
My PhD turns 10 today🥳
When I passed the viva I could not have imagined that I would be spending the next 10 years (and who knows how many more) searching for a permanent position. It is clear now that I have made many mistakes. But I have also achieved things I would never have thought possible
When I passed the viva I could not have imagined that I would be spending the next 10 years (and who knows how many more) searching for a permanent position. It is clear now that I have made many mistakes. But I have also achieved things I would never have thought possible
July 18, 2025 at 8:29 PM
My PhD turns 10 today🥳
When I passed the viva I could not have imagined that I would be spending the next 10 years (and who knows how many more) searching for a permanent position. It is clear now that I have made many mistakes. But I have also achieved things I would never have thought possible
When I passed the viva I could not have imagined that I would be spending the next 10 years (and who knows how many more) searching for a permanent position. It is clear now that I have made many mistakes. But I have also achieved things I would never have thought possible
I may not be well known among scholars but I take pride in being well known among DnD players
My DnD party members are listening to TGS and this just took me out
July 11, 2025 at 6:58 PM
I may not be well known among scholars but I take pride in being well known among DnD players
Reposted by Roel Konijnendijk
Reposted by Roel Konijnendijk
Oh my god, this weeks episode of @thisguysucked.com is my favourite least likable Athenian Alcibiades with @roelkonijn.bsky.social!!!
June 16, 2025 at 12:20 AM
Oh my god, this weeks episode of @thisguysucked.com is my favourite least likable Athenian Alcibiades with @roelkonijn.bsky.social!!!
For a bit of fun, watch Tristan and me discuss the merits of hoplites vs legionaries. The format supposes that we should fight our corner, but there really is no point pretending hoplites could have the edge, so we ended up just giving a nice series of mini-lectures
www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTGQ...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTGQ...
Ancient Roman vs Greek Army: Which Was Better? | HEAD TO HEAD
YouTube video by History Hit
www.youtube.com
June 14, 2025 at 12:35 PM
For a bit of fun, watch Tristan and me discuss the merits of hoplites vs legionaries. The format supposes that we should fight our corner, but there really is no point pretending hoplites could have the edge, so we ended up just giving a nice series of mini-lectures
www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTGQ...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTGQ...
Our thoughts on whether personal professional experience was ever a methodological requirement for historians, as Polybios said it ought to be (spoilers: no, it was not, but especially soldiers have always loved to bash historians over the head with it)
@roelkonijn.bsky.social and Herman Paul’s article, ‘First-hand experience: a Polybian motif in nineteenth-century German historiography’ is available now and open access!
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
First-hand experience: a Polybian motif in nineteenth-century German historiography
How important is it for historians to have first-hand experience of political or military affairs? Up until the eighteenth century, historians often followed Polybius in welcoming experience in pub...
www.tandfonline.com
June 4, 2025 at 11:41 AM
Our thoughts on whether personal professional experience was ever a methodological requirement for historians, as Polybios said it ought to be (spoilers: no, it was not, but especially soldiers have always loved to bash historians over the head with it)
Reposted by Roel Konijnendijk
The mighty @roelkonijn.bsky.social wages war on the centuries old theory that the flourishing of ancient Greece was the result of a rising middle class, and instead takes a close look at the context involved.
Iphikrates's comment on "Was the Ancient Greek 'middle class' the secret weapon in their defeat of the Persian empire?"
Explore this conversation and more from the AskHistorians community
buff.ly
May 31, 2025 at 10:59 PM
The mighty @roelkonijn.bsky.social wages war on the centuries old theory that the flourishing of ancient Greece was the result of a rising middle class, and instead takes a close look at the context involved.
My friend @drdragases.bsky.social has been live tweeting WAWIC2025 - the War in the Ancient World International Conference, in Münster, Germany. Exciting papers on the cutting edge of ancient military history
Kicking off second day of Ancient Warfare conference with Julian Gieseke talking about the army of the Bosporan Kingdom.
No pressure on this guy, because I am so looking forward to some ancient Crimean history.
No pressure on this guy, because I am so looking forward to some ancient Crimean history.
May 30, 2025 at 9:10 AM
My friend @drdragases.bsky.social has been live tweeting WAWIC2025 - the War in the Ancient World International Conference, in Münster, Germany. Exciting papers on the cutting edge of ancient military history
Reposted by Roel Konijnendijk
Sparta continues to be a popular #history topic on the net, leading the mighty @roelkonijn.bsky.social to draft up a post on how we can understand how Sparta came to be so powerful at its height, despite little detailed information to help us.
Iphikrates's comment on "Did Sparta’s power really hinge more on numbers than on military culture or tactics?"
Explore this conversation and more from the AskHistorians community
buff.ly
May 19, 2025 at 6:05 PM
Sparta continues to be a popular #history topic on the net, leading the mighty @roelkonijn.bsky.social to draft up a post on how we can understand how Sparta came to be so powerful at its height, despite little detailed information to help us.
Finally had the pleasure of meeting @nakhthor.bsky.social today, and hearing his Dacre Lecture on sexuality in the Hellenistic world. Truly there are those ancient historians who do the job, and those who show us how to do the job
May 16, 2025 at 11:16 PM
Finally had the pleasure of meeting @nakhthor.bsky.social today, and hearing his Dacre Lecture on sexuality in the Hellenistic world. Truly there are those ancient historians who do the job, and those who show us how to do the job
Reposted by Roel Konijnendijk
Ok #classicsbluesky I’ve got a weird question for you. Pollux 10.55 gives a lovely little list of horse grooming tools. Has anyone got any leads on a picture of an actual horse comb (aka a currycomb)? As in has one been dug up somewhere?
May 13, 2025 at 12:30 PM
Ok #classicsbluesky I’ve got a weird question for you. Pollux 10.55 gives a lovely little list of horse grooming tools. Has anyone got any leads on a picture of an actual horse comb (aka a currycomb)? As in has one been dug up somewhere?
People pinged me a few weeks ago to ask my opinion on the defences of Jackson Hole in The Last of Us S2E2. But they already know what I think. This town is an island in a hostile world but somehow it is ringed only by a single flimsy palisade! If you get turned into fungus here, that's on you
May 13, 2025 at 10:21 AM
People pinged me a few weeks ago to ask my opinion on the defences of Jackson Hole in The Last of Us S2E2. But they already know what I think. This town is an island in a hostile world but somehow it is ringed only by a single flimsy palisade! If you get turned into fungus here, that's on you
Proofs of the final piece to come out of my postdoc research (2018-2020) on the deep roots of scholarship on ancient Greek warfare. Written with much help from the brilliant Prof Herman Paul, who taught me as an MA student back in 2007, but was still somehow willing to supervise me
May 9, 2025 at 12:43 PM
Proofs of the final piece to come out of my postdoc research (2018-2020) on the deep roots of scholarship on ancient Greek warfare. Written with much help from the brilliant Prof Herman Paul, who taught me as an MA student back in 2007, but was still somehow willing to supervise me
Richmond Park yesterday
May 2, 2025 at 3:52 PM
Richmond Park yesterday
Reposted by Roel Konijnendijk
AskHistorians has joined with thirty other research- and academia-focused subreddits to issue this statement condemning recent and ongoing efforts to undermine scholarly research and intellectual freedom in the United States.
Please share widely!
www.reddit.com/r/AskHistori...
Please share widely!
www.reddit.com/r/AskHistori...
From the AskHistorians community on Reddit
Explore this post and more from the AskHistorians community
www.reddit.com
April 29, 2025 at 1:41 PM
AskHistorians has joined with thirty other research- and academia-focused subreddits to issue this statement condemning recent and ongoing efforts to undermine scholarly research and intellectual freedom in the United States.
Please share widely!
www.reddit.com/r/AskHistori...
Please share widely!
www.reddit.com/r/AskHistori...