My research seeks to uncover the ways in which historical strategy games set in antiquity contribute to present-day receptions of ancient Carthage and Punic civilisation more widely. In doing so, I look at representations of ancient Carthage in classical Roman historiography and epic and how this subsequently impacts on 21st-century game design.

My PhD thesis, provisionally titled 'In the Shadow of Rome: Memory and Modern Receptions of Ancient Carthage through Experimentation in Total War, Civilization and Old World', is interdisciplinary in nature and sits at the cross-section of analyses of ancient historiography, cultural memory theory and historical game studies. Its purpose is to interrogate the extent to which the design and mechanics of these historical strategy game franchises contribute to present-day receptions of ancient Carthage. It will do so in part by analysing their adoption of ludic elements present within Livy’s History of Rome, Polybius’s Histories and Silius Italicus’ Punica in order to demonstrate how such elements are translated into game form, such that they are able to creatively present elements of the historical record to modern audiences. Supported by theoretical frameworks based on the idea of cultural memory, I also synthesise aspects of cultural memory theory with ancient and modern representations of Carthage to investigate three primary research questions relevant to understanding the broader relationships between games and ancient historiography. These include:

• What can we learn about the choices, limits, potentials and subject matter of games through their manipulation of existing cultural heritage and lieux de mémoire (sites of memory) based on the historiographical tradition?
• How do the possibilities for counterfactual play and the exploration of ‘problem spaces’ presented by these emergent media forms benefit our cultural understanding and transform what we collectively ‘remember’?
• How might audiences and educators further harness multimedia in games as a contributor to classical historical narratives alongside ancient texts, and consequently as a source of an enriched understanding of past events?

More broadly, I am deeply interested in all aspects of how ancient cultures (particularly 'othered' cultures occupying the boundaries of Greek and Roman influence) are represented in wider media and visual culture alongside videogame design and the ways in which modern audiences may learn from both their pedagogical and ludic potentialities.

Supervisors: Dr Richard Cole, Dr Ellen O'Gorman