This article presents a proposal for personalised learning itineraries in the field of Ancient History, designed specifically for neurodivergent university students, particularly those with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), or dyslexia. Drawing on the flipped classroom model, the approach shifts the centre of gravity of learning to the students, who are asked to engage with historical content through autonomous preparation, artificial intelligence (AI)-supported tasks, and collaborative in-class activities. Two differentiated learning paths are outlined: one structured and linear and one open and creative. Both incorporate digital tools, such as Google Forms and Canva, and regulation strategies to support executive functioning and autonomy. The article discusses the inclusive potential of this model and reflects on how the integration of AI reshapes historical learning and critical engagement.

This manifesto was originally submitted into and went on to win the senior category in the 2025 Classical Association ‘Write | Speak | Design’ competition. Through a mix of research and my personal classics journey, it argues that the contemporary relevance and remote accessibility of classical subjects, along with the academic joy they encourage in learners, make the study of the ancient past as important as ever and highlights ways these areas could be harnessed to increase the importance of classics further.

During the early twentieth century the rise of professional archaeology pushed the study of deep-time oral tradition into the fringes of historiography. The development of evidence-based archaeological chronologies displaced oral tradition, relying on the assumption that transmission processes include short-term limits on durability. By the end of the century, sporadic innovative partnership experiments brought together archaeological chronology and oral tradition, suggesting the need for further research. This article advances the narrative merging of oral tradition, archaeology, and genomic analysis. After surveying research on archery technology, it explores how the integrative aligning of oral tradition and archaeology can expand meaningful insights into antiquity worldwide. Although twenty-first century inquiry into deep-time oral literature unfolds in the shadowy academic fringes, perhaps such research is on the verge of professionalizing into new scholarship and a mutual enrichment of knowledge systems. Academic scholarship may someday see “prehistory” replaced by ancient human history.

The effectiveness of teaching strategies and resources that promote meaningful content learning is most pronounced when active methods such as project-based learning (PBL) are used to teach Ancient History (Molina, 2020, 53). Therefore, this study focuses on a comprehensive assessment of the methodological and historical competences acquired by students enrolled in the secondary education teacher training programme at the University of Cordoba (Spain). The research, which is non-experimental and quantitative, uses a Likert-type scale and involves the participation of 201 Masters students who have completed the course ‘Learning and Teaching Social Sciences’. The results of the statistical analysis show a positive evaluation of PBL in terms of historical understanding and its effectiveness in improving historical awareness. It is crucial to emphasise the advantages of active and collaborative learning inherent in PBL. However, it is also imperative to acknowledge the challenges that students face in applying their methodological knowledge to the secondary school setting. The transition from theoretical understanding to practical implementation is a significant hurdle for many students aspiring to a career in education. These findings underline the importance of promoting the seamless integration of innovative pedagogical approaches into teacher training programmes in order to effectively address the specific challenges of teaching antiquity in an educational context. Finally, this research was made possible by the Ministry of Science and Innovation's ‘Prueba de Concepto’ project, funded by the European Union under grant number PDC2022-133123-I00, and also by the CLIOGEN project (GINDO-UB/187) on Ancient History.

In their focus on queer sexuality, letters 77 and 78 in Augustine's letter collection are unusual. Same-sex acts and sexual violence are mostly tightly controlled and deliberately erased in antiquity. This article looks again at the case of sexual abuse preserved in letters 77 and 78 between the monk Spes and the presbyter Bonifatius, applying modern critical understandings of gendered violence, victimisation and harm to reach beyond previous critical approaches that have seen the exceptionalism of the case as a reason not to engage with it. This research takes a new critical approach, re-situating the incident within the wider context of gendered violence in Augustine's letters. It engages with the case of sexual abuse solely between men intrinsically, and as a uniquely available point of comparison with sexual violence perpetrated by men against women. It examines how sexual violence is gendered, in Augustine's response, in the adjudication of the case and in the behaviours and expectations of both victim and perpetrator. Whilst working outwards from absence and silence is a central historiographical approach to gender and violence in the past, this article reaches new understandings by turning towards evidence that is usually siloed and working it back into a framework of sexual violence in Augustine's letters.