Conville & Walsh

Dr Michael Scott is a busy man. In the past few months he has been lecturing in Cambridge; speaking at public Classical events with Tom Holland and colleagues Mary Beard and Paul Cartledge; writing his regular column on the ancient world for UK and Australian newspapers; guiding tours of classical sites in Turkey, Lebanon and Syria; teaching Latin in primary schools for the Latin Programme and speaking at schools across the country, not to mention researching and writing two books for both the popular and the academic market, as well as giving a lecture series on ancient Greek democracy for Brazilian university students in Rio di Janeiro.

Now following the success of Delphi: Bellybutton of the Ancient World for BBC4 last November, he has taken time off to present two films in BBC4’s Luxury season: the mini-series kicks off from 20 June. Entitled The Story of Luxury, the series shows how ideas about luxury have shaped our history and ourselves, from the ancient Greeks to the Black Death. The first film, ‘Nothing in Excess?’ on ancient Greece explores how the gilded treasures of Alexander the Great, the bizarre political significance of Athenian fish-cookery and the privations of ancient Sparta combined to build an complex and contradictory attitude to luxury which has lingered to this day. That is followed by ‘A Deadly Sin?’, about medieval Britain which explores how those ideas were transformed by Christianity, chivalry, pestilence and rebellion to create the wicked temptations and consumer delights of the modern world.

‘Luxury isn’t just a question of expensive and beautiful things for the rich and powerful,’ says Dr Scott. ‘It feeds into ideas of democracy and patriotism, of social harmony and epic courage, not to mention our values as individuals and our relationships with the divine. Indeed the most fascinating thing about luxury is that it is almost impossible to define, and yet we all know it when we see it, because we each have our own ideas of what luxury is (for some – including me – it might be as simple as a day off!) It all depends on who you are. That’s what makes luxury so good to think with as a way into understanding societies, past and present.’

‘Classics is enjoying a new popularity,’ he continues, ‘not just thanks to Hollywood’s continuing fascination with the ancient world, but, also, significantly, because people are becoming more and more aware of how just how much of value the ancient world has to say to us today.’

The Story of Luxury will be broadcast this 20th June on BBC4, and will be available after broadcast on iPlayer.