On Thursday, 8 October 2026, the Faculty of Classics celebrated a landmark moment as Professor Josephine Crawley Quinn delivered her inaugural lecture, entitled Anarchical Antiquity, to a packed audience in the Old Divinity School Lecture Theatre at St John’s College.
Attended by over 200 members of the University, visiting academics, students, and guests, the occasion marked a historic milestone for Cambridge Classics: Professor Quinn is the first woman to hold the Chair in Ancient History since its creation.
Anarchical Antiquity
In her lecture, Professor Quinn invited the audience to look beyond traditional, state-centric models of classical history. While ancient Mediterranean history is frequently framed around centralised powers such as Athens, Rome, and Persia, her lecture explored the rich landscape of alternative governance, non-state spaces, and active resistance to state-making.
Drawing on broad archaeological and textual evidence, she demonstrated how communities across the ancient Mediterranean organised themselves outside state control and asked what insights modern anarchist frameworks can offer when re-examining the Roman world.
Reception and Celebration
The lecture was followed by a reception in St John’s College.
Among those congratulating her on the excellent lecture was her immediate predecessor, Professor Robin Osborne, who held the Chair in Ancient History from 2001 until 2024 (pictured below).
The Faculty extends its warmest congratulations to Professor Quinn on a memorable and inspiring inaugural lecture.
Professor Jo Quinn and her predecessor as chair of Ancient History Professor Robin Osborne at the reception of Jo's Inaugural lecture
Professor Quinn joined Cambridge in 2025 from the University of Oxford, where she taught ancient history. She is now a Fellow of St John’s College, Cambridge, and author of In Search of the Phoenicians and How the World Made the West.