Classical Antiquity in Video Games (Digital Classicist London, 12 June 2026)

[Gabriel Bodard]

Classical Antiquity in Video Games: Combining Visual, Narrative and Interactive Elements
Friday, 12 June 2026, 17:00-18:30 BST
Sarah Rohde (University of London)

In-person: booking required: https://ics.sas.ac.uk/news-events/events/classical-antiquity-video-games-combining-visual-narrative-interactive-elements
Streamed live: https://youtu.be/gq9uSzaZ6Fo

“As of 2023, there were 3.220 billion gamers worldwide.” The sheer number of players of video games should prompt the question of the use of Greek and Roman Antiquity in video games. Classical Antiquity is an historical period that has been highly present in this medium, from games such as The Battle of Olympus (Infinity, 1988) to more recent titles like Anno 177: Pax Romana (Ubisoft, 2025), whether it is simulated as a main setting, an aesthetic or through symbolism. Combining visual, narrative and interactive elements, video games establish new visual codes while also reusing popular images and stereotypes.

The ‘need for narrative’ aspect of video games, as well as the visual aspect of this medium and its interactive nature displace Greek and Roman Antiquity in different ways. This talk will explore the displacement of Classical Antiquity through a corpus of 100 games composed of both popular and lesser-known games, spanning different genres and contexts of productions, and diverse target audiences. First, the focus will be on the ‘classical aesthetic’ and its presence in games by the use of Greek and Roman settings and by making use of established symbolisms. Then the representation of space on a game map and its exploration will be examined, alongside the possibility of ‘change’ in the gameworld, whether it can be induced by the players themselves or is scripted by the game.

Thus, this talk will show that the displacement of Classical Antiquity depends on the genre of the games, previous traditions of representation, the choice of setting and established symbolisms. The interplay of these different aspects produces video games that now influence the popular perception of Greek and Roman Antiquity.

——————————————————————————————————————————

Reminder that the programme for all this summer's Digital Classicist London seminars can be found at: https://blog.stoa.org/archives/4375

-- 

Dr Gabriel BODARD (he/him)
Reader in Digital Classics

Director of Studies (research): Digital Humanities Research Hub

Director of Studies (research): Institute of Classical Studies

Mailing address:

  Institute of Classical Studies

  University of London

  Senate House

  Malet Street

  London WC1E 7HU

 
Due to new IT security rules, I am currently not able to read or reply to email outside of office hours, or while travelling or working from home. This may result in slower replies than usual.