An Altshuler Distinguished Teaching Professor in the Clements Department of History, Melissa Barden Dowling gave the second of a three-part lecture series on the greatest leaders of Egypt, Macedon and Greece and Rome at Maggiano’s at NorthPark Center yesterday.
The final run of the Godbey Lecture Series (GLS), a 30-year old outreach program sponsored by Dedman College to bring the Dallas community and SMU’s faculty together, has been devoted to the great generals of the ancient world. Members of the GLS program could enjoy a hearty lunch at the popular Italian restaurant, while Dowling enlightened them on the specific tactics used by Alexander the Great during one of his many scrimmages against the combined forces of the Persian Empire.
After the lecture, Dowling opened the floor for a question and answer session, which the highly-educated audience indulged in after the many slides, maps, and diagrams of the battlefields. Even the director of the GLS, Dorothy Friedlander, was taken aback by all the information Dowling had brought and “wondered how anyone could be so effective with so many slides yet still be so clear and articulate.”
The lecture focused on how Alexander led a small Greek and Macedonian army against the Persians and later on a conquest of the entire Mediterranean area. The presentation was reminiscent of a football coach’s chalkboard during halftime, with all kinds of X’s and O’s and flanking and positioning, in representation of a real war strategy.
Last week’s lecture on Ramesses II along with yesterday’s talk about Alexander and the upcoming Nov. 27 lecture on Julius Caesar are all part of the fifth and final series by the GLS. Dowling recognized the high attendance and said, “Most people are very interested in war. It fascinates us. We can’t help but scrutinize the effect it has on everything that encompasses our lives.”
This event also marks the second time Dowling has lectured for the GLS, as she has also given lectures on underground cults and religion in ancient Rome. Dowling attributed her return to the GLS to the audience.
“They’re highly educated, highly involved and very perceptive to everything that I say,” Dowling said. “From the Q&A to the food, it’s all very enjoyable.”
