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Lydia Langerwerf

After an academic career which brought me international experience in Lebanon, England and Germany, I joined the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (the Dutch research council) as a policy officer. It was my job in Lebanon as a programs coordinator which inspired this career shift. I am a versatile and effective manager and administrator, who enjoys solving problems and helping others.

I previously taught ancient history at the University of Groningen and the Lebanese American University while researching representations of rebel daring in Greek literature of the Roman Empire. I am strongly interested in diachronical and cross-cultural comparative history.

In Lebanon I was instrumental in building a new Ba-program in History at the Lebanese American University. In addition to my role in the establishment of this program, I acted as programs coordinator (associate chair) for the department of humanities in the academic season 2012-2013, and coordinator of Cultural Studies and Moral Reasoning in 2013-2014.

My research interests include Roman and Greek slavery, classical conceptions of courage and bravery, Greek literature (esp. Second Sophistic), historiography (classical and modern), Pausanias, rebellions and resistance.

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Papers by Lydia Langerwerf

Recognizing Miracles in Antiquity and Beyond, 2018

Reviewing President Clinton’s speech in commemoration of the victims of UAF 93, held in Shanksvil... more Reviewing President Clinton’s speech in commemoration of the victims of UAF 93, held in Shanksville on September 10 th , 2011, this paper examines the use of descriptions of the Battle of Thermopylae as a propaganda tool in times of national crisis and war. Reading the speech in the context of the 9/11 memorial tradition and its reception of president Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address and Thucydides’ account of Pericles’ Funeral Oration, as well as popular representations of the Spartans’ last stance, it discusses how these manipulations of history are used to propagate certain ideas of citizenship and democratic freedom and silences others. A comparison with Hermann Goring’s use of the myth of Thermopylae in a speech directed at soldiers in Stalingrad (1943) bears this out. Key words: Bill Clinton, UAF 93, Thermopylae, Hermann Goring, 9/11 memorial tradition. Anhand einer Untersuchung der Rede von Prasident Clinton zum Gedenken an die Opfer von Flug UAF 93, gehalten in Shanksville am 10...

Greece and Rome, 2015

Known to us only through the spectrum of hostile sources, Lucius Sergius Catilina (108–62bc) is a... more Known to us only through the spectrum of hostile sources, Lucius Sergius Catilina (108–62bc) is an enigma. Nevertheless, one aspect of his personality seems clear. However much they differ in their evaluation of the patrician's failedcoup d’étatin 63bc, our main authorities, Cicero and Sallust, both assert his tremendous daring. This article will demonstrate that their agreement on this issue is deceptive. Reviewing their use of the wordaudacia(‘daring’) as an attribution typical for rebel behaviour, I will explore how its use in combination with words for madness and despair provides it with different positive as well as negative connotations. Although, as we shall see in more detail below, many scholars have either ignored the term or discussedaudaciaas a standard, mono-dimensional piece of invective, it is a dynamic and multifaceted word representative of the chaos of the Late Republic.

This article compares Cicero's and Sallust's use of audacia ('daring') in their depiction of Cati... more This article compares Cicero's and Sallust's use of audacia ('daring') in their depiction of Catilina. It argues that Sallust's more nuanced account of him not only shows signs of sympathy and understanding for the rebels, but also hints at a different idea of the role of daring and despair in courage in battle.

This dissertation explores Pausanias' depiction of the (mythical) Messenian revolt against the Sp... more This dissertation explores Pausanias' depiction of the (mythical) Messenian revolt against the Spartans in book 4 of his Periegesis in comparative perspective with ancient depictions of slave revolts and Flavius Josephus' Jewish War.

The Messenians and their foolish courage in Pausanias' book 4 τοιούτων οὖ ν οὖ Μεσσήνιοι κατειληφ... more The Messenians and their foolish courage in Pausanias' book 4 τοιούτων οὖ ν οὖ Μεσσήνιοι κατειληφότων καὖ ὖ μα ὖ ς τὖ μέλλοντα οὖ δὖ ν ὖνορὖντες παρὖ τὖν Λακεδαιμονίων φιλάνθρωπον, πρό τε δὖ τὖν παρόντων τεθνάναι μαχομένους ὖ καὖ τὖ παράπαν ὖκ Πελοποννήσου φεύγοντας οὖχεσθαι νομίζοντες αὖρετώτερα, ὖ φίστασθαι πάντως ὖγίνωσκον. ὖνὖ γον δὖ οὖχ ὖ κιστα ὖς τοὖ το καὖ οὖ νεώτεροι, πολέμου μὖν ὖ τι ὖπείρως ὖχοντες, λαμπροὖ δὖ ὖ ντες τὖ φρονήματα καὖ ὖποθανεὖ ν προτιμὖντες ὖν ὖλευθέρὖ τὖ πατρίδι, εὖ καὖ τὖ ὖ λλα εὖδαιμόνως δουλεύειν παρείη.