Antiquity Alive
Engaging, richly illustrated Zoom lectures on ancient Greece and Rome — plus history, art, and statecraft — for OLLI programs, senior centers, libraries, and lifelong-learning organizations across the country.
Meet Scott Jones
Scott Jones brings a rare combination of scholarship, real-world experience, and storytelling to every lecture. A retired U.S. Navy captain with more than thirty years of service, he commanded three ships and a destroyer squadron, served as Director of Operations for the U.S. Atlantic Fleet, and advised the Secretary of State.
For the past decade he has been a docent at the J. Paul Getty Museum’s Getty Villa in Los Angeles, guiding visitors through its galleries, gardens, and antiquities — the deep well of classical expertise behind his talks. An engineer by training, with a degree from Purdue University, he has a particular gift for unravelling how ancient technology actually worked — from aqueducts and catapults to the machines that built empires. He is an adjunct professor at CSU Channel Islands and California Lutheran University, and he leads academic tours to Turkey, Italy, and Greece.
He teaches with warmth, wit, and a gift for making the ancient world feel urgently alive — no background required, and everyone leaves wanting the next installment.
Bring These to Your Members
A sample of the catalog. Every talk is a two-hour illustrated session, offered as a single lecture or a two-to-six-week series — and any topic can be tailored to your audience.
Was the Iliad True?
Was Troy real, or a poet’s invention? Follow the trail from Homer’s epic to the excavated ruins, where poetry meets archaeology.
The Fall of the Roman Republic
The world’s most famous republic came apart from within — a slow-motion collapse with pointed parallels to modern politics.
Pompeii: Life, Death & Legacy
Walk the streets of a city frozen in ash, from its shops and politics to the eruption and the ongoing “New Dig.” The closest thing to time travel.
A Wine-Dark Sea
Were the ancient Greeks colorblind? A surprising tour of color in the ancient world — and the shockingly bright statues we imagine as white.
A Diplomat in Uniform
Sea power, diplomacy, and strategy — told by someone who lived it, from the bridge of a destroyer to the corridors of Washington.
The Invisible Thread
3,500 years of history told through trade and logistics — from a Bronze Age shipwreck to the shipping container that remade the economy.
A Short Taste
How It Works
Choose your topics
Pick a single talk or a multi-week series from the catalog — or ask for a custom program.
We schedule
Two-hour sessions with a mid-point break, live over Zoom. I host, or join yours. Recording available on request.
Your members are delighted
Illustrated, interactive, and made for curious adults — no background required.
Praise
“He makes people who never thought they cared about ancient Rome lean forward in their seats. Our members asked us to book him again before the series even ended.”
“Beautifully illustrated, warmly delivered, and genuinely fascinating. One of the best-attended series we’ve offered.”
“Scott handled the Zoom logistics effortlessly and kept a hundred people engaged for two hours. A pleasure to work with.”
Bring the Ancient World to Your Members
Tell me your program and your audience, and I’ll match the right lectures — or build a custom series for your season. I’ll send the full catalog by return email.