(For those coming from Electryone my dossier follows this somewhat casual introduction.)

 

I taught ancient history for 31 years at the University of New Mexico, a plainly third rate institution, finally retiring in 2003 when the harassment from my department (wise ass; 9/11 cracks) drove me from a job I loved.  In a fit of typical academic pettiness and vindictiveness my colleagues refused to grant me emeritus status, though some 20,000 students had passed through my classes, apparently pleased.  After three decades in academe I fail to understand why successful revolutionaries bother to shoot the intellectuals, though ironically Soviet workers had a saying that certainly applies to university professors: “We pretend to work and they pretend to pay us.”  Indeed.

I have at last completed the complex and difficult transition from professor to barfly, and I am ready to write something other than the scholarly tome on Marathon which I have been working on.  Missing the major soapboxes of my classes and the student newspaper, for which I wrote a regular column, I decided to try a blog, fully expecting to be howling in the darkness.  Of course, given the emergence of so many incredibly stupid people in our society, even howling alone in the darkness can be cathartic.

I hope to post a new article every week.  My perspective is particularly that of an historian rather than a journalist or a politician.  My professional interests were in antiquity and I presume to write about contemporary affairs, but that is in fact what history is all about: the past illuminating the present.  Read about the collapse of the Roman Republic and then think about our own country.  Or not: Victor Hanson is the greatest expert – ever – on Greek warfare, yet his newspaper editorials frequently suggest a person clueless about history.

If you like the what you see here, especially the history stuff, try the best and most readable Greek history on the planet: Dare to Struggle. The History and Society of Greece (at Amazon) and help me buy beer.  I am available to lecture at birthdays, weddings, bar mitzvahs, etc.

The photo shows me in my Homeland Security Service uniform.

 

 

Richard M. Berthold

3100 Burton SE

Albuquerque, NM87106

505-266-8275

qqduckus@unm.edu

 

Born 22 January 1946

 

Stanford BA with Great Distinction; Phi Beta Kappa 1967

Cornell MA 1969; PhD 1971

 

Part-time Lecturer   Cornell 1971-72

Asst. Prof.   “Univ.” of New Mexico 1972-85

Assoc. Prof.   “Univ.” of New Mexico 1985-2003

 

Publications

 

History articles and books

 

“Lade, Pergamum and Chios” Historia 24 (1975) 150-63

“The Rhodian Appeal to Rome in 201 B.C.” Classical Journal 71 (1975-76) 97-107

“Which Way to Marathon?” Revue des Études Anciennes 78-79 (1976-77) 84-95

“A Historical Fiction in Vitruvius” Classical Philology 73 (1978) 129-34

“Fourth Century Rhodes” Historia 29 (1980) 32-49

“Alexander the Great, the Macedonian Army and World Empire” Strategy & Tactics 150 (1992) 48-51

“The Army and Alexander the Great’s Successors” Strategy & Tactics 152 (1992) 45-47

“Athens in Vietnam. The Peloponnesian War” The General 28.1 (1992) 13-16 – Editor’s Choice Award for Volume 28

“P. Claudius Pulcher and the Chickens” Command 21 (1993) 5

“Hannibal Barca: The Sunset Years” Command 21 (1993) 8-10

“Happy New Year, Q. Fulvius Nobilior” Command 22 (1993) 10-11

“Backing Into Empire. The Growth of Rome” Command 24 (1993) 52-61

“Thousand Year March. A History of the Roman Army” Command 25 (1993) 48-66

“Athena In Blackface. A Criticism of Martin Bernal” Continuity 17 (1993) 73-79; reprinted in W. Martin, et al., eds., La Puerta² (Dubuque 1999) 19-24

“Alexander’s Mountain Infantry” Command 26 (1994) 5

“A Few Good Men. The Military History of Sparta” Command 29 (1994) 46-64

“The Crisis of Empire. The Roman Anarchy of AD 235-285” Command 31 (1994) 62-79

“The Battle at Marathon” Command 35 (1995) 46-56

“Land and Sea Struggle for Pylos” Military History (February 1997) 62-68

“The Causes and Strategy of the Second Punic War” The General 30.6 (1996) 16-19

“Athenian Stalingrad. The Expedition to Syracuse 415 BC” Command 44 (1997) 68-82

“The Athenian Embassies to Sardis and Cleomenes’ Invasion of Attica” Historia 51 (2002) 259-67

“Archidamian War” T.J.Sienkewicz, ed., Encyclopedia of the Ancient World (Pasadena 2002) I, 277

“Cleisthenes of Athens” T.J.Sienkewicz, ed., Encyclopedia of the Ancient World (Pasadena 2002) I, 420

“Hippias of Athens” T.J.Sienkewicz, ed., Encyclopedia of the Ancient World (Pasadena 2002) II, 621

“Miltiades the Younger” T.J.Sienkewicz, ed., Encyclopedia of the Ancient World (Pasadena 2002) II, 790-91

 

Review: K.-W. Welwei, Unfreie im antiken Kriegsdienst, American Historical Review 84 (1979) 432

Review: J. Cargill, The Second Athenian League, American Historical Review 87 (1982) 755-56

Review: M. Grant, From Alexander to Cleopatra. The Hellenistic World, American Historical Review 89 (1984) 103-4

Review: A. Fuks, Social Conflict in Ancient Greece, American Historical Review 92 (1987) 104

Review: H. Bengtson, Die Diadochen, American Historical Review 93 (1988) 1303

Review: R. Byron, The Byzantine Achievement, History 17 (1989) 181

Review: A. Powell, ed., Classical Sparta. Techniques Behind Her Success, History 18 (1990) 181

Review: A.P. Kazhdan, ed., Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium, History 20 (1992) 125-26

Review: J. Neils, ed., Goddess and Polis. The Panathenaic Festival In Ancient Athens, History 22 (1994) 89

Review: L.Worley, Hippeis. The Cavalry of Ancient Greece, History 23 (1994) 41

Review: I.G. Spense, The Cavalry of Classical Greece, American Historical Review 100 (1995) 1540-41

Review: L. Foxhall & A. Lewis, eds., Greek Law in its Political Setting, History 25 (1996) 41

Review: S. Swain, Hellenism and Empire, History 25 (1997) 183

Review: P. Cartledge, P. Garnsey & E. Gruen, eds., Hellenistic Constructs. Essays in Culture, History, and Historiography, History 27 (1998) 43-44

Review: T. Figueira, The Power of Money. Coinage and Politics in the Athenian Empire, History 27 (1999) 87-88

Review: N.F. Jones, The Associations of Classical Athens, History 28 (1999) 39

Review: P. Hunt, Slaves, Warfare, and Ideology in the Greek Historians, Red River Valley Historical Journal 1 (2000) 87-88

 

Rhodes in the Hellenistic Age. Ithaca 1984

Η Ρόδος στην Ελληνιστική Εποχή. Trans. Spyros Syropoulis. Athens 2010

Dare To Struggle. The History and Society of Greece.  New York 2009

 

 

Non-history articles

 

“Crazy Ken is Downtown and He’s Dealing” Albuquerque Living (January 1986) 10

“Ten Reasons Why Albuquerque is Better Than Santa Fe” Albuquerque Living (February 1986) 8

“Just Call It ‘Creative Financing’” Albuquerque Living (March 1986) 9

“Finding Out What Makes the Big Chili Tick” Albuquerque Living (June 1986) 9

“A Noble Proposition: Albuquerque Needs a Duke” City (Winter 1987-88) 8

“Acquiring the Knack” The General 26.3 (1990) 42-44

“Princeps. The Design of REPUBLIC OF ROME” The General 27.4 (1992) 25-28

“Post-Atomic (?!) ADVANCED CIVILIZATION” The General 28.2 (1993) 33

“A Mole in the Roundhouse” New Frontiers 1.2 (1994) 26-27

“Welcome to the Language of Enchantment” New Frontiers 1.3 (1994) 29-30

“UNM: What Is To Be Done?” New Frontiers 1.4 (1994) 16-19

“The Nature of the University” in C. Bigrigg, et al., eds., La Puerta. A Doorway into the Academy (Dubuque 1997) 5-10

“The Content of a Liberal Education” in C. Bigrigg, et al., eds., La Puerta. A Doorway into the Academy (Dubuque 1997) 11-14

“A Response to Technology Use” Teaching Excellence 7.2 (1999) 1-2

“Trying to Sell your Game” Boulder Games Notes 4 (2000) 2

“Welcome to the Wonderful World of the Catheter” pamphlet for LovelaceHospital urology department (2000)

“Hectoring Aeneas: From Virgil to Berlioz” NM Symphony Orchestra Berlioz Festival (Albuquerque 2003) 26-27

“Herr Wachtmeister, wo ist der Dom. Stray Notes from the Periphery of German Studies” in P. Pabisch, ed., Patentlösung oder Zankapfel? “German Studies” für den internationalen Bereich als Alternative zur Germanistik – Beispiele aus Amerika (Berlin 2005) 79-86.

 

Review: J. Toubbeh, Day of the Long Night. A Palestinian Refugee Remembers the Nakba, Albuquerque Journal12 April 1998

 

 

Newspaper articles

 

“Bubonicon 8 brings out fans and loonies for SF activities” New Mexico Independent 7 September 1976

“Civil Disobedience In Society” (NM Humanities Council Essay) Portales News-Tribune 28 May 1978, Silver City Daily Press 31 May 1978, Quay County Sun 1 June 1978, Jal Record 1 June 1978, Lordsburg Liberal 2 June 1978, Las Cruces Bulletin 13 July 1978

“The Unpersuaded Minority: Right To Work” (NM Humanities Council Essay) Los Alamos Monitor 27 October 1978, Quay County Sun 29 October 1978, Portales News Tribune 29 October 1978, Tucumcari Daily News 29 October 1978, Artesia Daily Press 2 November 1978

“Did Your Hear the One About the Sumerian?” (NM Humanities Council Essay) Carlsbad Current Argus 3 August 1979, Alamagordo Daily News 5 August 1979, Raton Daily Range 6 August 1979, Silver City Daily Press 9 August 1979, Valencia County News Bulletin 18 August 1979, Quay County Sun 19 August 1979

“Resolution I: Let Us Send a Message” Albuquerque Journal 1986

“Ideas, Not Ethnicity, Should Be University’s Primary Concern” Albuquerque Journal5 March 1990

“For Better or Worse, Hussein Is All Theirs” The Albuquerque Voice19 September 1990

“UNM 2000 Spruces Up Image, Neglects Substance of Institution” Albuquerque Journal6 January 1991

“American Image Tied To Israel’s Actions” Albuquerque Journal31 October 1991

“American 6-Day War Casualties Forgotten” Albuquerque Journal 8 June 1997

“Games Revert to Ancient Olympic Spirit” Albuquerque Journal 12 August 2004

“The Terrorist Nuisance” Albuquerque Tribune 26 October 2006

Some 300 columns in UNM Daily Lobo from 1977 to 2003

 

Poetry

 

“Security” Encore. A Quarterly of Verse and Poetic Arts 17.4 (1983) 8 – The New   Mexico State Poetry Society 1983 National Contest: 2^nd   Place Rhymed Verse

 

Scripts

 

Three hour video documentary on the Greeks

 

Translations

 

Rules for the game GERMANICA

Supplementary rules and historical glossary for the game KAMPF UM ROM

 

Games

 

REPUBLIC OF ROME (with Robert Haines) Avalon Hill Games 1990 – Origins 1990 Best Pre-20^th Century Board Game

RES PUBLICA ROMANA Jeux Descartes 1994 (French edition)

REPUBLIC OF ROMEValley Games 2010

 

Blog

 

QQDUCKUS: A professional historian and wise ass considers the contemporary world and the past; qqduckus.wordpress.com

 

In progress

 

Monograph on Marathon

Hear, O Israel, a novel of Moses

 

Awards

 

UNM-El Paso Natural Gas Faculty Achievement Award 1998-1999

 

University Classes

 

Western Civilization, Part I

Ancient Near East

Greece

Rome

Philip and Alexander

Greek Civilization (with Monica Cyrino)

Roman Civilization (with Monica Cyrino)

Sundry Seminars on Athenian Political History

The Whole Works (with History Department)

Co-Director (with Monica Cyrino) of Ariadne Institute for Global Studies on the Aegean May-June 1998: The Wrath of Achilles; May-June 1999: Reclaiming Helen; May-June 2000: In the Shadow of Olympus; May-June 2002: The Children of Gaia

 

Non-University Classes

 

Some half dozen lectures a year for Oasis since 2002

Lectures for Lifelong Learning since 2006

 

Service

 

University gadfly 1972-2003

Sundry university committees 1972-79

Athletic Council 1999-2000

Faculty Senate 1976-79? (quit in wake of athletic scandal)

Faculty Senate 1984-86 (Silly Party – quit in disgust at faculty cowardice)

Lobo columnist 1977-91, 1992-2003

Faculty Follies 1976-78

Faculty advisor: Georgian Society 1984-89

Faculty advisor: Society for Creative Anachronism 1985-88

Faculty advisor: UNM chapter of NORML (Hemp Coalition) 1988-2002

Faculty advisor: Weregamers Guild 1990-94

Faculty advisor: Iranian Human Rights Organization 1992-93

Faculty advisor: College Republicans 1996-99

Faculty advisor: Campus Libertarians 1996-99

Faculty advisor: Objectivist Club 1998-2000

Faculty advisor: American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee 1996-99

Faculty advisor: UNM Gaming Club 2000-2001

Faculty advisor: UNM Chess Club 2000-2001

President: New Mexico Association of Scholars 1993-2002