Dr Jane Masseglia

I joined the University of Leicester in 2016 after 8 years in Oxford as a lecturer and postdoc on two major research projects: The Emotions Project: The Greek Paradigm a five-year ERC-funded funded programme under Prof. Angelos Chaniotis; and The Ashmolean Latin Inscriptions Project (AshLI) a three-year AHRC project under Warwick's Prof. Alison Cooley. Until August 2022, as Senior Scientist for the LatinNow Project (ERC) under PI Alex Mullen, I oversaw a programme of Public Engagement and Knowledge Exchange, including a 6-country Travelling Exhibition.

My research interests lie in the lives of the ordinary, undesirable and overlooked social groups of antiquity, using a combination of textual and visual evidence. I have a particular passion for the history and material culture of Asia Minor, be it "Greek" or "Roman". I am also Co-Director of the Çadır Höyük Excavations in central Anatolia (Republic of Türkiye), having previously been part of the excavation team at Pessinus.

As a former school teacher, I am also heavily involved in projects which bring the Classical World to a wider audience. 

As Director of Undergraduate Studies (Distance Learning) and Director of Distance Learning Transformation within the School of Archaeology and Ancient History, I oversee the teaching and content of our two Distance Learning degrees to our 300 undergraduate students.

I was elected Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries in 2020 and Associate Professor in 2022.

- Greek social history: biography: ancient emotions; interpersonal relationships and prejudice

- The body in the Greek world: body language and gesture; figurative sculpture; medicine and healing; self-representation in art; physical disability in antiquity

- The history and material culture of the Hellenistic period (c. 330-30 BC)

- The material culture of Greek and Roman Asia Minor

Selected Works

Masseglia, J. E. A. (2021) Quintilian and the Visual Arts. In in M. van der Poel and J.J. Murphy (eds), The Oxford Handbook of Quintilian. Oxford University Press.

Masseglia, J. E. A. (2020). Imaging the Philae Obelisk at Kingston Lacy. In A. Bowman (ed.), Proceedings of the Corpus of Greek and Bilingual Inscriptions Of Ptolemaic Egypt (CPI) Conference (1-2 April 2016, Oxford). Oxford Studies in Ancient Documents, Oxford..

Masseglia, J. E. A. (2019). The Banquet Scene at Kazanluk: a feast of speculation. In R. Raja, C. Draycott, K. Welch, & W. Wootton (Eds.), Visual Histories: Visual Remains and Histories of the Classical World. Papers in Honour of R.R.R. Smith (pp. 375-386). Brepols.

Masseglia, J. E. A., & Young, S. G. (2019). The "Wool Basket" stelai from Pessinus: relics of a lost landscape. In G. Tsetskhladze (Ed.), Pessinus and its regional setting : Volume 2 Work in 2009-2013 (pp. 293-320). Peeters.

Masseglia, J. E. A. (ed.) (2016). The Philae Obelisk: Tales from Egypt, Dorset and Outer Space. J. E. A. Masseglia (Ed.), Centre for the Study of Ancient Documents.

Masseglia, J. E. A. (2016). Rome's Walking Dead: Resurrecting a Roman Funeral at the Ashmolean Museum. The Journal of Classics Teaching, 17(33), 31-34.

Masseglia, J. E. A. (2016). The lost boys: did the Romans love their children?. Omnibus, 71, 24-26.

Masseglia, J. E. A. (2015). Body Language in Hellenistic Art and Society. Oxford University Press.

Masseglia, J. E. A. (2015). The Ashmolean Latin Inscriptions Project (AshLI): Bringing epigraphic research to museum visitors and schools. In in S. Orlandi, R. Santucci, et al. (eds), Information Technologies for Epigraphy and Cultural Heritage: Proceedings of the First EAGLE International Conference 2014 (pp. 221-232). Sapienza Universita  Editrice.

Masseglia, J. E. A., Smith, R. R. R., & Ertug, A. (2015). Ancient Theaters of Anatolia. Ege Yayinlari.

Masseglia, J. E. A. (2014). Feeling Low: The relationship between social status and emotional display in Hellenistic Art. In A. Chaniotis, P. Ducrey (eds), Unveiling Emotions II (pp. 314). Steiner Verlag.

Masseglia, J. E. A. (2013). Phrygians in relief: trends in self-representation. In Roman Phrygia: Culture and Society (pp. 95-123). CUP.

Masseglia, J. E. A. (2012). Reasons to be Cheerful? The Drunken Old Woman of Munich and Rome. In in A. Chaniotis (ed.), Unveiling Emotions: Sources and Methods for the Study of Emotions in the Greek World (Vol. 52, pp. 413-440). Heidelberger Althistorische Beitrage und Epigraphische Studien, Steiner.

Masseglia, J. E. A. (2012). Make or Break Decisions: The Archaeology of Allegiance in ancient Ephesos. In in A. Chaniotis (ed.), Unveiling Emotions: Sources and Methods for the Study of Emotions in the Greek World (pp. 329-355). Heidelberger Althistorische Beitrage und Epigraphische Studien, Steiner.

Masseglia, J. E. A. (2012). Emotions and Archaeological Sources: a methodological introduction. In A. Chaniotis (ed.), Unveiling Emotions: Sources and Methods for the Study of Emotions in the Greek World (Vol. 52, pp. 131-150). Heidelberger Althistorische Beitrage 

I teach a range of Ancient History and Archaeology modules including (but not limited to):

AH1008 Approaching Ancient Evidence (Greek)

AH1010 Introduction to Greek History

AH1552 Introduction to Greek History (DL)

AH1553 Languages for Ancient History (DL)

AR1554 Introduction to Classical Archaeology (DL)

AH1013 Introduction to Classical Cultures

AH2044 Greek History in 40 Lives

AH3082 Great Greek Monuments

Ancient Greek History

Ancient Greek art (sculpture, vases, mosaics etc.)

Ancient Greek and Latin inscriptions

Greek and Roman tombs and gravestones

Ancient Greek and Roman women

Ancient Greek Body Language

Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI)

The Philae Obelisk at Kingston Lacy

DPhil MPhil MSt MA (Oxon)

PCGE Classics (KCL)

Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries