Welcome to "Pages of History" a podcast brought to you by Peter Adamson,who also the host of the podcast “History of Philosophy without any gaps.” In this series Peter steps beyond philosophy to speak to a wide range of specialists on various aspects of pre-modern philology around the world: how were texts written down, preserved, and interpreted? How did textual practices, from habits of reading to formal commentary, shape the traditions of the pre-modern world? What happened when texts moved across cultural and linguistic boundaries?

Latest episodes

3. Holger Gzella on Aramaic

September 24, 2026 · 34 min

In this interview we learn about the Semitic language called Aramaic, the language of government in the Achaemenid empire: what do we know about this language, which texts use it, how was it written, and can we say anything about Aramaic…
2. Beate Kellner on Cain and Abel

September 24, 2026 · 29 min

The famous story of Cain and Abel in the Book of Genesis is surprisingly sketchy. In this interview, we learn how later commentators and storytellers through the middle ages filled out the tale and what significance they found in it.
1. Lorraine Daston on Philology as a Science

September 23, 2026 · 33 min

In this opening episode of the series, Peter talks to Lorraine Daston about the surprising parallels between philology and sciences like astronomy. Daston argues that philology is not just a science, but an empirical science, and one of…