The Night City of the Bacchanalian Conspiracy

April 16, 2026.Reading time 17 minutes.

By Grace Gillies In the early second century BC, Rome was rocked by a scandal so intense that the consuls decided to pursue investigations instead of leading their foreign campaigns. These investigations led to severe restrictions to the worship of Bacchus (Greek Dionysos) and even the execution of Roman citizens. The Bacchanalian conspiracy has been […]

Building the Golden City: Rome in the Gladiator Films

February 5, 2025.Reading time 27 minutes.

Editor’s Note: This is the second post in The Metropole’s theme for February 2025 “Celluloid City” which explores the role of and interplay between cities and film. You can see all posts from the theme here. By Grace Gillies The Rome in both Gladiator films is a landscape of monumental architecture subtly but pervasively inflected […]

(Un)Welcome Enhancements: Notes from an Archival Research Trip

August 22, 2023.Reading time 21 minutes.

Welcome to the first entry in our 2023 Graduate Student Blogging Contest! Our theme this year is “Stumble.” Aimée Plukker studies the history of tourism, and in this essay considers what tourists are and are not supposed to stumble across, and how cities treat welcome and unwelcome visitors. To see all entries from this year’s […]