Most would place
me into the slavery box, no doubt
for good reasons, since my work to
date has focused strongly on this
ubiquitous institution. But whilst
slavery may be titled the peculiar
institution in the modern world, there
cannot be any doubt that it is the
central institution in the ancient
world, demanding study and analysis
to fully understand that world. Without
slavery, no freedom, without slaves,
no citizens, and hence, if we want
to come to terms with political, institutional,
juridical, economic, social, cultural,
religious and ideological matters,
we have to come to terms with slavery.
It is for this reason that I consider
the study of slavery as quintessential
for an understanding of the ancient
world.
But my interest in
the study of slavery has arisen from
a much larger interest in the social
organisation of societies, ancient
and modern – and slavery, as
a forced system, offers an often much
clearer and more accentuated picture
of the roles that individuals and
groups have been allocated in a given
society. What I really would like
to know is how such role-giving works,
and, most of all, why individuals
accept or break away from the role/s
allocated to them – then as
now. In this endeavour, I have become
strongly interested in labour roles,
and the way that role-giving in this
area is affected by gender. I am equally
interested in the economic setting
especially of agricultural slavery,
and in particular how slavery was
employed as a means to further the
accumulation of wealth of a political
and social elite from their landed
properties. I am not less interested
in how the 'invention' and development
of large-scale slavery by the Romans
in the geography we call Europe created
a social structure that continues
to determine socio-economic behaviour
in modern European societies.
The historical period
with which I am most familiar is that
of the Roman republic, and with that
I feel very much at home with other
aspects of the history of Roman Italy,
including the study of the Italic
peoples (and their epigraphy), Roman
republican politics (no, I’m
not a Ciceronian!), and the study
of Roman imperialism. And when I don't
teach or research, I busy myself with
the staff and student figures of classical
departments in Britain as CUCD's
statistics officer, or engage in further
epigraphic adventures as Secretary
of the British
Epigraphy Society.
IMPORTANT
CONTACT INFORMATION:
As from November
1, 2010, the School of History, Classics
and Archaeology will have moved to
new premises. The new address is:
School of History,
Classics and Archaeology
The University of
Edinburgh
The Old Medical School
West Wing (Doorway
4)
Teviot Place
Edinburgh
EH8 9AG
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