The Society of Ancients Conference 2022

[SoApub]

The Society of Ancients Conference 2022

This year's conference of the Society of Ancients will take place over the weekend of 28th to 30th October 2022 at Madingley Hall*, near Cambridge.  The conference is open to non-members of the society as well as to members.

There is still room available to attend, so if you would like to do so, please sign up through the Society website or contact the conference organiser, Richard Lockwood, directly at conference@soa.org.uk.

Conference Programme

For those attendees planning to arrive on Friday evening, there will be a pre-Conference dinner followed by after-dinner games, including a fun Command & Colours knockout competition, for which no previous experience is necessary and expert coaching will be available.

The Conference proper begins on Saturday morning at 9am and each day is divided into two sessions, morning and afternoon. The sessions on Saturday morning, Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning will begin with a presentation by an expert in the topic, followed by the opportunity to play a variety of games related to the topic. The session on Sunday afternoon will start with a brief Open Forum followed by more games.

Speakers

We are delighted to announce that our three expert speakers this year are:

Dr Richard Taylor, author of the books The Greek Hoplite Phalanx and The Macedonian Phalanx, who will be speaking on “What is a phalanx?”

Dr Harry Sidebottom, Quondam Fellow and Tutor in Ancient History at St. Benet's Hall, Oxford, and lecturer at Lincoln College, and also author of the well-known “Ballista” series of novels.  Dr  Sidebottom will be speaking on “The Storm of Terrors: Ancient Siege Warfare”.

Duncan Head, Society stalwart and former Slingshot Editor, who wrote the seminal book Armies of the Macedonian and Punic Wars among others.  Duncan will be speaking about “The Second Battle of Mantinea”, which will be the subject of the 2023 Battle Day.

Conference Dinner

On the Saturday evening we will hold our traditional Conference Dinner. Before the Dinner we will have our Keynote Presentation, which this year will be given by Dr David McDermott, from the History Department of the University of Winchester, who will talk to us about “The War of Succession between Edmund Ironside and Cnut”.  This fascinating struggle featured at least five battles in just six months, with lots of action, intrigue and betrayal. And if it couldn’t get any better, David will dress a suitable volunteer to represent a high-status warrior, adding another dimension to the presentation. This is not one to be missed!

Games

Here are some of the games already scheduled but others may be added:

• Hoplite battle using 20mm figures, showcasing a specially written ruleset for hoplite warfare
• 28mm Romans and Britons game, entitled “Shock and Awe in an Hour (or a bit more)”
• Naval battle between the Diadochi in the Aegean circa 310 BC, using 1/600 ships (which are several inches long and so more visually appealing than the smaller scales)
• Opportunity to try the new big armies, big battles, ruleset Strength and Honour
• Mortem et Gloriam Pacto game
• Workshop on The Battle of Issus, including a 15mm refight

Here is a link to a report from the 2021 Society of Ancients conference.


* Madingley Hall is two miles northeast of Cambridge and one mile off the M11.  The hall is an Elizabethan Manor House with modern facilities, set in landscaped gardens, and now serves as the Cambridge University Continuing Education Centre.