Dr. Roger Brock

Profile

I studied at Oxford both as an undergraduate and a graduate student (in the latter case with a visiting year at the University of Toronto), and then was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Ohio State University.  Before coming to Leeds in 1990, I taught at St. Andrews (in Greek) and Balliol College, Oxford (as an ancient historian).

Research interests

My special interests lie in Greek historiography, particularly Herodotus, and ancient Greek politics, especially citizenship and political thought.

I co-edited a volume devoted to the variety of politics in ancient Greece, Alternatives to Athens (OUP 2000, revised paperback 2002), with Steve Hodkinson, and more recently I've published a book on Greek Political Imagery from Homer to Aristotle (Bloomsbury 2013, pb. 2014) and another co-edited volume, this time with Alain Duplouy, Defining citizenship in archaic Greece (OUP 2018).

 I've also written articles on democratic and oligarchic ideology, as well as on wider topics in Greek history and literature (particularly historiography), and am now returning to pursuing my interest, sparked by working on Alternatives to Athens, in ancient Greek citizenship, especially non-political aspects, and the related topics of the role of civic subdivisions and the functioning of Greek oligarchies.

I also have a long-standing interest in wine in ancient Greece, and have ideas for a project to re-create it by combining the ancient sources with modern oenological knowledge.

I was editor of the Journal of Hellenic Studies from 2011 to 2016 and am currently Chair of the Publications Committee of the British School at Athens.

Qualifications

• DPhil Literae Humaniores
• MA Literae Humaniores

Professional memberships

• Classical Association
• Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies
• British Epigraphy Society

Student education

I teach modules in Greek language and literature and in ancient history, often co-teaching with colleagues in Classics, and supervise UG dissertations on a wide range of topics.

Research groups and institutes

• Classics
• History
• Literary studies

Current postgraduate researchers

• Anna Reeve