Historian, author and broadcaster Bettany Hughes’ television programmes are a worldwide staple of the BBC’s history programming. Oliver R. Moore Howells catches up with her ahead of a visit to Swansea.
Tell us about the talk on Istanbul you’re doing at Taliesin Arts Centre this month.
I visited Istanbul when I was 18 and fell in love with the place. It’s one of the most exciting cities on earth. I’ve spent 10 years writing this book on Istanbul and what it takes to make a city. As part of the talk, I’ll be asking big questions as to how we can all manage to live together and all the challenges and delights of that.
It’s one of the most extraordinary cities in the world and also one of the most powerful, spanning 8,000 years. There’ll be a mixture of anecdotes, juicy gossip and gobbets of history, but also a look at how we can all live together as a species.
What key principles do you think we can learn from ancient civilisations?
It may sound a bit corny, but the civilisations that were the most successful were those that loved each other. You see the great big thinkers like Socrates, Buddha and Confucius and they all talk about that. I think it’s important to get on with those around you, and also recognise the importance of culture and the part it plays. Even in really tough times, people took time out to listen to music, to get together and have a good time. It’s not just the living life but loving the living of it.
Many voices from antiquity have been suppressed or simply ignored. Do you see it as your duty to give a voice to the voiceless?
Absolutely. As a historian I think you should find where the gaps are and try to fill them in. One of the characters I’ll be talking about at the lecture is an amazing empress called Theodora, who was one of the most powerful women on Earth – yet most people wouldn’t have heard of her. I’m trying to write those sorts of people back into history. History is written by the winners, the most powerful, but that doesn’t necessary mean those are the most interesting or truthful stories.
Who do you think is the greatest, and who the most repulsive, person according to history?
There are lots of historical characters who are really fascinating – the empress Theodora, and another, Wu Zetian. I would love also to spend a dinner chatting to Socrates, Alexander The Great and Constantine The Great, who founded Constantinople. There are many people from history I’d love to spend an evening with asking them what their motivation was.
In regards to the most repulsive – being a historian can be very depressing at times as you come across a lot of them. I won’t select one but the casual cruelty of history is such that you can get post-traumatic stress disorder just reading about it; the lives that people lived meant that death was just around the corner. As a historian you have to focus on where life is really working and analyse what they were doing right.
I take a more hopeful view, since life is better now that it has been for most people for thousands of years: whilst we’re absolutely not perfect as a species we do learn from our mistakes – sometimes – so you could say we’re heading in the right direction.
In regards to Wales, are there any Welsh men, women, eras you think we should take particular note of?
The Roman period in Wales is incredible. There are lots of Roman words which are taken from interactions with the Welsh. I think it’s a forgotten chapter in a way but it was incredibly influential both in terms of Wales’ history and the Romans and what they thought about themselves. People talk about Roman Britain but Roman Wales is what we should focus on.
Taliesin Arts Centre, Swansea, Fri 7 June. Tickets: £8/£5 NUS or under-18s. Info: 01992 602060 / www.taliesinartscentre.co.uk. Istanbul: A Tale Of Three Cities, published by W&N. Price: £25 hardcover/£8.50 paperback.