Friday, February 24, 2006

Susan E. Alcock, University of Michigan


John H. D'Arms Collegiate Professor of
Classical Archaeology and Classics

Current research: A project in Armenia.

"Armenia is very interesting for anyone intrigued with the archaeology of memory because it's a country that has a very strong sense of itself through time--Armenians would say it's the first Christian nation, for instance. One tempting thing about our project is that in Armenia there hasn't been that much scholarly attention paid to the Hellenistic, Roman, and Parthian periods--which are what interest me as a classical archaeologist."

"...most of the archaeology done there so far has also been in the Soviet tradition. So techniques that are quite familiar today in the Mediterranean, such as regional survey, are unfamiliar in the Caucasus. On the other hand, the local archaeologists have wonderful knowledge and control of, for example, their ceramic data. So we hope to marry these two traditions, and do something new and very exciting."

Special Interests: Hellenistic and Roman East, landscape archaeology, archaeological survey, archaeology of imperialism

Selected Publications: Graecia Capta: The Landscapes of Roman Greece, Placing the Gods: Sanctuaries and Sacred Space in Ancient Greece (co-editor); The Early Roman Empire in the East (editor); Pausanias: Travel and Memory in Roman Greece (co-editor; forthcoming); Empires (editor, forthcoming)

Contact:
salcock@umich.edu
2172 Angell Hall
(734) 936-3888

Thursday, February 23, 2006

Philip A. Harland, Concordia University


Philip A. Harland is presently Assistant Professor (Social and Cultural History of Christianity) in the Religion Department of Concordia University, Montreal. He received his bachelor?s degree in both History and Religious Studies from the University of Waterloo before pursuing graduate studies at the University of Toronto. His master?s degree and doctorate in Christian origins and the religions of antiquity came from the Centre for the Study of Religion. Before assuming his present position at Concordia, his was teaching at several universities in Ontario, including Wilfrid Laurier University, University of Waterloo, University of Toronto, York University, and McMaster University. His teaching and research focus on the comparative study of Judaism, Christianity, and other religions in ancient society, as well as the social history of the Greco-Roman world generally.

He is currently leading a multi-year seminar within the Canadian Society of Biblical Studies focussed on studying the intersection of religion and travel in antiquity (including pilgrimage, travel to promote the efficacy of a God or gods, ethnography and travel-writing). Furthermore, he is in the midst of preparing a book-length study on the dynamics of identity in the world of the early Christians (especially familial dimensions of group identity). Another of his ongoing projects investigates acculturation and identity among immigrant groups in the Greco-Roman world, shedding light on Judeans in the diaspora. He also has teaching interests in the social and cultural history of Christianity from origins to present generally, as well as the place of women and issues of gender within that history.

Books

2003

Associations, Synagogues, and Congregations: Claiming a Place in Ancient Mediterranean Society. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2003.

(Winner of the F. W. Beare Book Award, Canadian Society of Biblical Studies, 2004)

Articles in Refereed Journals
(Click on blue highlighted titles to view online articles)

2006

?Acculturation and Identity in the Diaspora: A Jewish Family and ?Pagan? Guilds at Hierapolis,? Journal of Jewish Studies (forthcoming, accepted for publication).

?Familial Dimensions of Group Identity (II): ?Mothers? and ?Fathers? in Associations and Synagogues of the Greek World,? Journal for the Study of Judaism (forthcoming, accepted for publication).

2005

?Familial Dimensions of Group Identity: ?Brothers? (???????) in Associations of the Greek East,? Journal of Biblical Literature 124 (2005) 491-513.

2003

?Christ-bearers and Fellow-initiates: Local Cultural Life and Christian Identity in Ignatius? Letters,? Journal of Early Christian Studies 11 (2003) 481-99.

?Imperial Cults within Local Cultural Life: Associations in Roman Asia,? Ancient History Bulletin / Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte 17 (2003) 85-107.

2000

?Honouring the Emperor or Assailing the Beast: Participation in Civic Life among Associations (Jewish, Christian and Other) in Asia Minor and the Apocalypse of John,? Journal for the Study of the New Testament 77 (2000) 99-121.

1996

?Honours and Worship: Emperors, Imperial Cults and Associations at Ephesus (first to third centuries c.e.),? Studies in Religion/Sciences religieuses 25 (1996) 319-34.

Articles in Books and Reference Works

2006

The Declining Polis? Religious Rivalries in Ancient Civic Context,? in Religious Rivalries and Relations Among Pagans, Jews, and Christians, edited by Leif E. Vaage. Waterloo: Wilfrid Laurier University Press (forthcoming).

?Associations and the City,? in Associations in the Ancient World: Cults, Guilds and Collegia, co-authored with John S. Kloppenborg and Richard Ascough. Berlin: de Gruyter (forthcoming).

2005

?Spheres of Contention, Claims of Preeminence: Rivalries Among Associations in Sardis and Smyrna,? in Religious Rivalries and the Struggle for Success in Sardis and Smyrna, edited by Richard Ascough, pp. 53-63. Waterloo: Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 2005.

2002

?Connections with Elites in the World of the Early Christians,? in Handbook of Early Christianity: Social Science Approaches, edited by Anthony J. Blasi, Paul-André Turcotte, and Jean Duhaime, pp. 385-408. Walnut Creek, CA: Alta Mira Press, 2002.

?The Economy of First Century Palestine: The State of Scholarly Discussion,? in Handbook of Early Christianity: Social Science Approaches, edited by Anthony J. Blasi, Paul-André Turcotte, and Jean Duhaime, pp. 511-27. Walnut Creek, CA: Alta Mira Press, 2002.

2000

?Bithynia,? ?Mysia,? ?Pamphylia,? and ?Perga,? in Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible, edited by D.N. Freedman, A.B. Beck and A.C. Myers. Grand Rapids: Eerdman, 2000."

Contact: pharland@alcor.concordia.ca


Thursday, February 16, 2006

Dr Philip de Souza


UCD - School of Classics: "BA, MA, PhD (Lond.), FRHistS

College Lecturer
E-mail: philip.desouza@ucd.ie
Tel. 353 1 716 8170
Room K206, John Henry Newman Building

Research Interests
Greek and Roman social and economic history, esp. warfare and piracy.

Recent Publications

* The Greek and Persian Wars 499-387 BC (Osprey, January 2003).
* The Peloponnesian War 431-404 BC (Osprey, November 2002).
* Seafaring and Civilisation: Maritime Perspectives on World History (London: Profile 2001; paperback edition June 2002). German edition: Seefahrt und Zivilisation (Hamburg: marebuchverlag 2003).
* Piracy in the Graeco-Roman World (Cambridge University Press 1999: paperback edition April 2002).
* Beyond the Horizon: locating the enemy in ancient naval warfare. In: J. Andreau & C. Virlouvet (eds.), Mer et circulation de l?information dans le monde antique (?cole Fran?aise de Rome, 2002).
* Western Mediterranean Ports in the Roman Empire: First Century BC to Sixth Century A.D. The Journal of Mediterranean Studies 10 (2001) 229-254.
* Articles on: ?Mycenaean and Homeric Warfare 1600-600 BC?, ?The Persian Wars 490-448 BC?, ?The Peloponnesian Wars 480-404 BC? and ?Hellenistic and Macedonian Warfare 400-200?, ?Ancient and Classical Warfare?. In: The Reader?s Guide to Military History, ed. C. Messenger (London: Fitzroy Dearborn, 2001).
* Ancient Rome and the Pirates. History Today (July 2001) 24-31."

Alexander Thein, University College Dublin

Alexander Thein: "Contacts

E-mail: alexander.thein@ucd.ie

Tel. 353 1 716 8662

Room K204, Arts Building
Research interests

Roman Archaeology, esp. the topography of the city of Rome; Roman Republican History, esp. the Sullan Dictatorship.
Recent Publications

Ad Pictas and the Junction of the Via Latina and Via Labicana. In: Papers of the British School at Rome 73 (2005, forthcoming).

Sulla the ?Weak? Tyrant. In: Sian Lewis (ed.), Tyrants and Autocrats in the Classical World (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, forthcoming).

Sullan veteran settlements. In: Papers of the British School at Rome 72 (2004) 363-4.

Review of Francis Cairns and Elaine Fantham (eds.), Caesar against Liberty? Perspectives on his Autocracy, Papers of the Langford Latin Seminar 11 (Cambridge: Francis Cairns [Publications], 2003). In: Journal of Roman Studies 94 (2004) 239.

Review of Karl Christ, Sulla. Eine r?mische Karriere (Munich: C. H. Beck, 2002). In: Bryn Mawr Classical Review 2003.03.08 (http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/bmcr/2003/2003-03-08.html)

David Woods, University College, CORK (National University of Ireland)

David Woods, Ancient Classics, UCC: "David Woods graduated with a 1st class BA in Greek and Latin from St. Patrick's College, Maynooth, in 1987. He did his postgraduate research at the Queen's University of Belfast under the supervision of Dr. Raymond Davis. He obtained his PhD in 1991 for his thesis ?The Christianization of the Roman Army in the Fourth Century.?

He then worked in the Rescue and Insolvency Division of the chartered accountants Coopers & Lybrand, Belfast. He taught Latin for a year (1995-96) at St. Patrick's Classical School, Navan, Co. Meath, before obtaining a temporary appointment in the Department of Ancient Classics, St. Patrick's College, Maynooth (1996-98). He is now College Lecturer at the Department of Ancient Classics at UCC, teaching language courses and Roman history.

Research Interests

* The Reigns of Caligula and Nero
* The Reign of Constantine I
* The Latin Historian Ammianus Marcellinus (c. AD390)
* The Military Martyrs
* Early Hiberno-Latin Texts
* The Byzantine Chronicler Theophanes (c. AD814)
* The Arab-Byzantine Conflict in the 7th Century"

Recent publications:
  1. ?The Constantinian Origin of Justina (Themistius, Or.3.43b)?
    Classical Quarterly 54 (2004), 325-27
  2. ?Amm. 21.6.3: A Misunderstood Omen?
    Classical Philology 99 (2004), 163-68
  3. ?The Crosses on the Glass Pilgrim Vessels from Jerusalem?
    Journal of Glass Studies 46 (2004), 191-95
  4. ?Some Dubious Stylites on Early Byzantine Glassware?
    Journal of Glass Studies 46 (2004), 39-49
  5. ?Acorns, the Plague, and the 'Iona Chronicle'?
    Peritia 17-18 (2003-04), 495-502
  6. ?Nero's Pet Hippopotamus (Suet. Nero 37.2)?
    Arctos 38 (2004), 219-22
  7. ?Malalas, "Constantius", and a Church-Inscription from Antioch?
    Vigiliae Christianae 59 (2005), 54-62
  8. ?The Consequences of Nero's Ill-Health in AD64?
    Eranos 102 (2004), 109-16
  9. ?Sopater of Apamea: A Convert at the Court of Constantine I ??
    Studia Patristica forthcoming
    1,900 words
  10. ?The Origin of the Cult of St. George?
    in forthcoming conference proceedings
    7,600 words
  11. ?The Good Soldier's End: From Suicide to Martyrdom?
    in forthcoming conference-proceedings
    5,800 words
  12. ?Adomnán, Arculf, and Aldfrith?
    in forthcoming conference-proceedings
    8,100 words
  13. ?Tacitus, Nero, and the 'Pirate' Anicetus?
    Latomus, forthcoming
    3,400 words
  14. ?Jews, Rats,and the Reason for the Byzantine Defeat at the Battle of Yarmuk?
    in forthcoming conference-proceedings
    6,700 words
  15. ?Adomnán, Arculf, and the True Cross?
    ARAM Periodical, forthcoming
    4,800 words
  16. ?The Cross in the Public Square: The Column-Mounted Cross c.AD450-750?
    in forthcoming conference-proceedings
    5,500 words
  17. ?Libanius, Bemarchius, and the Mausoleum of Constantine I?
    in C. Deroux (ed.), Studies in Latin Literature and Roman History XIII, forthcoming
    4,600 words
  18. ?Caligula, Ptolemy of Mauretania, and the Danger of Long Hair?
    Arctos, forthcoming
    2,400 words
  19. ?An Earthquake in Britain in 664?
    Peritia, forthcoming
    2,000 words
  20. ?Valentinian I, Severa, Marina, and Justina?
    Classica et Mediaevalia 57 (2006), forthcoming
    4,450 words
  21. ?On the Alleged Reburial of Julian the Apostate at Constantinople?
    Byzantion, forthcoming
    2,400 words
  22. ?Flavius Felix and the Signum of the Numerus Divitiensium?
    ZPE, forthcoming
    1,006 words


Current research: Currently preparing papers on various aspects of the reigns of Caligula and Nero, focussing on the origin of some of the more fantastic tales told about these emperors.

Special website project: Military Martyrs

Contact:

Phone: (+ 353 21) 490 3491
Email: d.woods@ucc.ie

Wednesday, February 08, 2006

Olivia Robinson

Olivia Robinson, University of Glasgow, School of Law

Research interest: Roman Law generally, with a particular interest in Roman criminal law.

Recent Publications: Critical Studies in Ancient Law, Comparative Law and Legal History (2001); The Criminal Law of Ancient Rome (2001)

"Early Roman criminal law is both obscure and hotly debated. We only begin to approach reasonable probabilities around 200 BC, the period from which contemporary evidence - Plautus, Cato, and others - survives. Criminal procedures of the period comprised the domestic jurisdiction of the paterfamilias, private criminal actions, the exercise of their powers by the resviri capitales (minor magistrates with police functions), and the jurisdiction of the assemblies of the people, i.e. trials before one of the comitia. In the year 207 BC the Senate ordered a special commission, a quaestio, to investigate the conduct of certain Italian allies arising from the Second Punic War, and such commissions were relatively common in the second century, supplementing the comitial jurisdiction. However, when in 171 BC the provincials of Spain asked the Senate for redress against their governors, the Senate ordered the praetor to whom the Spains had been allotted to appoint recuperatores from among the Senate, but this was a procedure of the private law without a penal element. Then in 149 BC the lex Calpurnia was passed, concerned not only with reparation but also punishment; it established a permanent court of senators as sworn jurors to deal with claims of provincial extortion."

Contact Information:
University of Glasgow, School of Law
5-9 Stair Building, The Square
Glasgow, Scotland, G12 8QQ, United Kingdom
TEL: 0141 330 4507, FAX: 0141 330 4900

o.robinson@law.gla.ac.uk