By all means experiment with different ways, I don't think theres any right/wrong answers when it comes to questions like this one. I would go about creating a PagesController and an ArchiveController.

// routes.php

// Static Pages
Route::get('/', ['as' => 'home', 'uses' => 'PagesController@showLandingPage']);
Route::get('/about', 'as' => 'about', 'uses' => 'PagesController@showAboutUsPage']);

// Archives
Route::get('/archives', ['as' => 'list-archives', 'uses' => 'ArchiveController@listRecentArchives']);
Route::get('/archives/topic/{slug}', ['as' => 'browse-by-topic', 'uses' => 'ArchiveController@browseByTopic']);
Route::get('/archives/date/{date}', ['as' => 'list-archives', 'browse-by-date' => 'ArchiveController@browseByDate']);

// PagesController.php
class PagesController extends BaseController {

    public function showLandingPage()
    {
        return View::make('static.home');
    }

    public function showAboutUsPage()
    {
        return View::make('static.about');
    }

}


// ArchivesController.php
class ArchivesController extends BaseController {

    public function listRecentArchives()
    {
        // Get recent archives from wherever they are stored
        $archives = [];

        return View::make('archives.index')->withArchives($archives);
    }

    public function browseByTopic($slug)
    {
        // Get archives from wherever stored using the topic slug
        $archives = [];

        return View::make('archives.browse')->withArchives($archives);
    }

    public function browseByDate($date)
    {
        // Get archives from wherever stored using the date provided
        $archives = [];

        return View::make('archives.browse')->withArchives($archives);
    }

}