Big Antiquity

This theme explores the Greco-Roman antiquity in its broader context, pushing the boundaries of what is usually understood as 'the classical world'. From the socially marginalised at Rome to the subaltern in Sparta, and from the desert dwellers of North Africa to the hybrid cultures of Greek colonies, our interdisciplinary approach helps us to expand our vision of classical studies. Within this theme, we have particular expertise in cultural history, the Hellenistic world, the archaeology of the Roman Provinces, and Late Antiquity.

Core staff

Allison, Christie, Edwards, Haselgrove, James, Lennon, Masséglia, Mattingly, Merrills, Scott, Shipley, Stewart

Key research projects

• Ancient Akrotiri Project
• The Birth of Greek Culture
• In the Footsteps of Caesar
• Roman Knossos
• The Trans-Sahara Project

Some recent publications

• Christie, N. and A. Augenti (eds) 2012. Vrbes Extinctae. Archaeologies of Abandoned Classical Towns. Ashgate.
• Christie, N. 2010. The Fall of the Western Roman Empire. An Archaeological and Historical Perspective. Bloomsbury. 
• Edwards, D. N. 2014. ‘Creating Christian Nubia: Processes and Events on the Egyptian Frontier’ in J. Dijkstra and G. Fishers (eds) Inside and Out. Interactions between Rome and the Peoples on the Arabian and Egyptian Frontiers. Peeters
• Haselgrove, C. 2016. Cartimandua's capital? The late Iron Age royal site at Stanwick, North Yorkshire. Council for British Archaeology.
• James, S. 2014. 'The "Romanness of the Soldiers": Barbarized Periphery or Imperial Core?' in L. Brody and G. Hoffman, Eds, Roman in the Provinces: Art on the Periphery of Empire. Boston: 91-107.
• Lennon, J. 2015. ‘Victimarii in Roman religion and society’. Papers of the British School at Rome 83: 65-89.
• Lennon, J. 2014. Pollution and Religion in Ancient Rome. Cambridge University Press.
• Mac Sweeney, N. 2018. Troy: Myth, City, Icon. Bloomsbury.
• Mattingly, D.J., V. Leitch, M. Sterry, C.N. Duckworth, A. Cuénod, F. Cole (eds) 2017. Trade in the Ancient Sahara and Beyond. Cambridge University Press.
• Mattingly. D.J. (with A. Rushworth, M. Sterry, and V. Leitch) 2013. The African Frontiers. Frontiers of the Roman Empire series.
• Mattingly, D.J. 2011. Imperialism, Power and Identity Experiencing the Roman Empire. Princeton University Press.
• Merrills, A. 2018. 'Invisible Men: Mobility and Political Change on the Frontier of Late Roman Africa', Early Medieval Europe, 26: 355-390
• Merrills, A. 2017. ‘Rome and the Vandals’ in P. Arnaud and P. de Souza (eds), The Sea in History. Volume I: The Ancient World. Boydell and Brewer: 496-507.
• Shipley, D.G.J. 2018. The Early Hellenistic Peloponnese. Cambridge University Press.
• Shipley, D.G.J. 2018. Aineias Tacticus in his intellectual context. In M. Pretzler and N. D. Barley (eds), Brill’s Companion to Aineias Tacticus. Brill: 49–67