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Murray Dahm
Hi, I'm Murray Dahm, an independent academic researcher based in Sydney Australia. I'm originally from New Zealand but moved to Australia in 2001. I started out as an ancient military historian studying the didactic military literature tradition of Greece and Rome but which also encompasses other times and cultures. I've also dabbled all over the field of military history, not just in the ancient world, but also in viking, crusader and wider medieval warfare. Of course, when I began studying it in the 1990s, military history was a little un-PC, but I stuck to my guns (no anachronistic pun intended). From there I also branched out into studies on the runic alphabet (a combination of fascination with the vikings, Roman signalling and Roman paleography) and other topics (I once did an exhaustive study of the graffiti on the walls of Kirkstall Abbey in Leeds - because it was down the road from where we were living at the time). I am wont to find a topic and then go 'off on a tangent' and explore it fully (just ask any of my supervisors over the years) even when I should be examining something else. I would recommend this method highly as it led to my research on the Agora oinochoe, various aspects of the futhark, Old English Poetry, and Roman signalling and 'camp-gate' coins - all highly successful research enterprises! I also started examining film, especially those depicting warfare in the ancient and medieval worlds, or even just the worlds themselves (although in film terms, warfare is never far away) and ran a series of popular lectures called 'watching history happen'. This interest in film continues in myresearch to this day. When I was completing my Master's thesis on Polyaenus of Macedon and embarking on a Master's of Literature examining Sextus Julius Frontinus, I also became an opera singer (a second 'you're doing what?' in career terms from my parents!) - and being me, I began to explore and research the history and the world of opera too (as well as obsessively buy CDs and DVDs (well, videos back then, but now DVDs)). I also started to write scripts for the dead genre of the radio play - but have since branched out to write stage play scripts and opera libretti. I started to lecture and write about opera and have done so around Sydney since 2003. I've also lectured and tutored in Greek and Roman history in New Zealand and Australia - I still have plans to combine military history and opera in an academic paper some day! I have attended conferences worldwide and presented papers on Nero in opera, Attila in opera and on the dating debate around Dido and Aeneas. These are in addition to presenting at academic conferences on 'normal' ancient history which I have presented at around the world. I've been lucky enough to present my research in the USA, Canada, the UK, Australia and New Zealand. Most of these presentations have ended up published in some form (research on Polyaenus, Frontinus, camp-gate coins, Roman signalling, Greek art and archaeology, Festus ofTridentum and his Breviarium, but also on Spartacus and other topics). As you can see, my research interests are wide and varied (and I haven't touched on my 'other' field of educating young people about opera experientially!) and I hope to upload more of my work (both academic articles and specialized general articles). There are also some things I never got around to submitting anywhere or finalizing which I will also put up. There are even a couple of things which never made it through editors or peer reviewers but in which I still believe. If there is anything on my CV which you are interested in, please get in touch - a message here will do and I can see if I can get you a copy - it might be a proof or a PDF of my submitted copy or even a photocopy. I have physical off prints of a few things if you are really keen. Let me know. And remember - through tough thorough thought though, it can be achieved.
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This is (an 8,000 word!) paper I wrote after watching the new, live-action, Dora film with my daughters for Father's Day. I suppose it proves that inspiration for historical research can indeed come from anywhere. Before you get too worried about me, however, I was already examining the other films mentioned here for another article on medieval warfare on films - Herzog's Saura's and the others mentioned within. Watching Dora, however, I made so many connections to these earlier films - connections I think many people would not consider possible in a 'children's film.' Anywho, I hope you enjoy it.
We have already seen the ubiquity of the Cretan archer in ancient armies from at least the late fifth century BCE onwards until the late Roman Republic. The question should be asked therefore, what set these archers apart from any other type of archers and made them so attractive to employ as mercenaries above other groups. Unfortunately, our sources are generally silent on this matter but there is one tantalising possibility suggested in our sources which seems to have been overlooked.
This is (an 8,000 word!) paper I wrote after watching the new, live-action, Dora film with my daughters for Father's Day. I suppose it proves that inspiration for historical research can indeed come from anywhere. Before you get too worried about me, however, I was already examining the other films mentioned here for another article on medieval warfare on films - Herzog's Saura's and the others mentioned within. Watching Dora, however, I made so many connections to these earlier films - connections I think many people would not consider possible in a 'children's film.' Anywho, I hope you enjoy it.
We have already seen the ubiquity of the Cretan archer in ancient armies from at least the late fifth century BCE onwards until the late Roman Republic. The question should be asked therefore, what set these archers apart from any other type of archers and made them so attractive to employ as mercenaries above other groups. Unfortunately, our sources are generally silent on this matter but there is one tantalising possibility suggested in our sources which seems to have been overlooked.
This paper will examine the re-imagining of the Scourge of God and his world in Verdi’s opera. The history of interpretations and interpreters of this opera and role also bear fruit to explore what Attila the Hun has looked and sounded like; indeed what he ‘should’ look and sound like. Verdi’s operatic imagining of Attila will also be placed within the wider audio-visual sound world of imaginings of Attila which range from Fritz Lang’s 1924 film Die Nibelungen (with an original score by Gottfried Huppertz although later accompanied by a score cobbled from Wagner’s operatic tetralogy) through Anthony Quinn, Jack Palance and Gerard Butler to Disney’s 2010 Rapunzel film, Tangled, and the loveable singing thug Attila Cupcake. In all of these filmic representations Attila has a sound world which tells us a great deal about how he is being presented to us.
Extensive use will be made of recordings of performances of Verdi’s Attila throughout the 20th century, footage of several productions as well as production stills from earlier interpretations. A wide range of film excerpts and their soundtracks will also be utilised. The image of Attila, both sonic and visual, which emerges from these sources presents a far more wide-ranging and challenging character than the stereotype we all think we know would have us believe was possible.