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Faculty of Classics

 

Biography

I am currently a Teaching Associate in Ancient History at the Faculty, as well as Director of Studies in Classics for Sidney Sussex (Prelim & IA). Previously I taught at King’s College London, where I also completed my PhD. Prior to this I studied at Durham and Corpus Christi College, Oxford.

Research

My core research concerns the identities of early Christian subjects of the Roman empire, and particularly how they navigated the relationship between their religious, social, and political loyalties. My PhD examined the ways in which Christian authors of the second and third centuries AD engaged with Roman imperial justice as a response to persecution, and I am currently working on turning this into a monograph with CUP. On a similar topic, with James Corke-Webster I recently published a joint-edited special issue of the journal Zeitschrift für Antikes Christentum exploring Justin Martyr and his negotiation of Roman imperialism, which can be read here: https://www.degruyter.com/journal/key/zach/28/1/html. Other work-in-progress includes studies on the presentation of Roman military figures in the Christian martyr acts, and on the processes by which narratives of persecution were produced from communal trauma in the ancient world.

 

Beyond this, I am interested in Roman governance—particularly the administration of justice, and the role of voluntary associations—and the place of the Roman army in society.

Publications

Key publications: 

Articles:

Forthcoming 2025: 'A telling terminus technicus in the Codex Bezae's Latin text of Acts', Journal of Theological Studies.

Forthcoming 2024: 'Pudens, Optio Carceris: Roman military figures and their narrative function in the Passion of Perpetua', The Classical Quarterly.

2024: ‘Read it in Rome: miracles, documents, and an empire of knowledge in Justin Martyr’s First Apology’, Zeitschrift für Antikes Christentum 28/1: 21–48 (https://doi.org/10.1515/zac-2024-0002).

2024: ‘Pontius’ conscience: Pilate’s afterlives and apology for empire in John Chrysostom's Antioch’, The Journal of Late Antiquity 17/1: 3–34 (https://doi.org/10.1353/jla.2024.a926279).

2022. ‘A flagrant fabrication? Deconstructing the tradition of collegia fabrum as voluntary fire-brigades in the Roman empire’, Historia: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte 71/3: 337–361 (https://doi.org/10.25162/historia-2022-0012).

2018: ‘A foot in both camps: the civilian suppliers of the army in Roman Britain’, Theoretical Roman Archaeology Journal 1/1. (https://doi.org/10.16995/traj.355).

Chapters:

2024: ‘The early Church and war: the witness of Tertullian’, in I. Polinskaya, A. James, and I. Papadogiannakis (eds.), Religion and War from Antiquity to Early Modernity. London: Bloomsbury, 242–261

Reviews:

‘P. McKechnie, Christianizing Asia Minor’, The Journal of Ecclesiastical History 71/3: 607–609. (https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022046920000366).

Teaching and Supervisions

Teaching: 

I teach ancient history at all undergraduate levels, convene an MPhil seminar on the reality and representation of violence in the imperial period, and supervise research students studying Christianity in the early Roman empire, and experiences of Roman imperialism more broadly.

Teaching Associate in Classics (Ancient History)
Director of Studies in Classics for Sidney Sussex (Prelim & IA)
Not available for consultancy

Affiliations

Latest news

The Kennedy Professorship of Latin

13 June 2025

The Board of Electors to the Kennedy Professorship of Latin invite applications for this Professorship from persons whose work falls within the general field of the Professorship to take up appointment on 1 September 2026 or as soon as possible thereafter. For more information see details here . Closing date: 8 September...

Masters Student wins Roman Society MA dissertation prize

28 May 2025

The Faculty is delighted to announce that Naomi Norden (King’s College) has won joint first place in the Roman Society MA dissertation prize for her 2024 MPhil thesis 'Creating complexity: Paratextuality and Intertextuality in the Works of Ausonius'. Congratulations Naomi!

St John's College Newell Lecture

27 May 2025

This year the St John's College Newell Lecture was delivered by Jackie Murray on the topic of Race and Injustice in Plato's Republic. You can watch a recording of the event here:

Marie Curie / BA postdoctoral fellowship schemes

19 May 2025

The Faculty of Classics invites potential applicants to the MSCA (Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions) and the British Academy’s Postdoctoral Fellowship schemes within areas relevant to our research clusters: Greek and Latin Literature, Greek and Roman Philosophy, Ancient History, C lassical Art and Archaeology, Classical and...