Professor of Ancient History

MA, D.Phil. (Oxon.), FHEA, FRAS, FRGS, FRHistS, FSA

Tel. (0116) 252 2775

E-mail: gjs@le.ac.uk

I was born in Tynemouth, Northumberland, and educated at the Royal Grammar School, Newcastle upon Tyne. From there I went to Wadham College, Oxford, to read ‘Literae Humaniores’ (as Classics was then known), specializing in Ancient History and Philosophy. Among my tutors were George Forrest, Nan Dunbar, Simon Hornblower, Oswyn Murray, and Peter Derow.

Under George Forrest’s supervision, with Peter Derow and Robin Lane Fox as advisers, I wrote my doctoral thesis (1983) on late classical–early hellenistic history of the Greek island of Samos, attempting to synthesize histoire totale from texts and geography under the influence of the Annales school of history. After holding research fellowships at Oxford (Wadham and Balliol) and Cambridge (St Catharine’s), I was appointed Lecturer in Ancient History at Leicester in 1987. After periods spent as Senior Lecturer and Reader, I became Professor of Ancient History in 2002.

In 2004–5 I held a one-year British Academy–Leverhulme Senior Research Fellowship; in 2006–7 my research was supported by the Loeb Classical Library Foundation; and in 2009–10 I held an AHRC (Arts & Humanities Research Council) research leave grant for my work on Pseudo-Skylax.

I have been a member of the British School at Athens since 1974 and was Visiting Fellow there in 1999. In recent years I have chaired CUCD, the Council of University Classical Departments (2003–6) and the BSA's Sparta & Laconia Committee (also 2003–6).

I am currently Deputy Head of School and chair of the Academic Committee (which deals with all teaching matters).

Since 2007 I have also been a member of the UK Education Honours Committee, and since 2010 I have been vice-chair of governors at a Leicestershire primary school.

I am also the current convener of the annual series of Dorothy Buchan Memorial lectures

Research

• Research interests
• Publications

Teaching

I teach Greek and hellenistic history at undergraduate levels, including (level 1) Greek history and Greek language; (level 2) a module on classical and hellenistic Greek states, and contributions to teaching in historical theory and textual analysis; (level 3) modules on Spartan history and hellenistic history, as well as supervising a wide range of dissertations on topics both in the above areas and additionally in reception, gender studies, and the ancient economy.

I both coordinate and contribute to MA teaching (both campus-based and distance learning) in Greek history and ancient landscapes, particularly within MA Classical Mediterranean, and have contributed to the writing of distance learning MA modules.

Since 2000 I have supervised completed Ph.D.s in the following areas: hellenistic political history (*Duncan Campbell), hellenistic and Roman landscapes (*Dan Stewart), ancient Greek astronomy (Efrosyni Boutsikas), and classical archaeology (Clare Kelly-Blazeby). I am currently supervising Ph.D.s on hellenistic social and cultural history (*Dorothea Stavrou), hellenistic material culture (Mark van der Enden), and Greek and Egyptian astronomy (Erin Nell). (* = sole or principal supervisor.)

Selected publications

Publications in preparation

Landscape, Power, and Resistance: The Macedonian Peloponnese, 338–197 BC. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Forthcoming

* ‘Pseudo-Skylax the Peripatetic’ (provisional title), Journal of Hellenic Studies

‘Aineias Taktikos in his intellectual context’, in M. Pretzler (ed.), Aeneas Tacticus: War, Politics and Literature in Classical Greece. Leiden: Brill (paper from the Aeneas Tacticus conference)

‘2046 [Skylax]’, in H.-J. Gehrke (ed.), Die Fragmente der griechischen Historiker V. 2. Leiden: Brill

Publications since 2000 (selected)

* 2011 - Pseudo-Skylax’s Periplous: The Circumnavigation of the Inhabited World. Exeter: Bristol Phoenix Press/The Exeter Press

2010 - ‘Pseudo-Skylax on Attica’, in N. V. Sekunda (ed.), Ergasteria: Works presented to John Ellis Jones (Gdańsk: Project/Institute of Archaeology, Gdańsk University), 100–14 http://hdl.handle.net/2381/7677

2009 - ‘Early hellenistic Sparta: changing modes of interaction with the wider world?’, in N. Kaltsas (ed.), Athens–Sparta: Contributions to the Research on the Archaeology and History of the Two City-states (New York/Athens: Alexander S. Onassis Foundation/National Museum of Greece), 55–60 http://hdl.handle.net/2381/9034

2008 - ‘Pseudo-Skylax on the Peloponnese’, in C. Gallou et al. (eds), Dioskouroi: Studies presented to W. G. Cavanagh and C. B. Mee (Oxford: Archaeopress), 281–91 http://hdl.handle.net/2381/7670

2008 - ‘Approaching the Macedonian Peloponnese’, in C. Grandjean (ed.), Le Péloponnèse d'Épaminondas à Hadrien (Bordeaux: Ausonius), 53–68 http://hdl.handle.net/2381/7696

* 2006 - The Cambridge Dictionary of Classical Civilization (1st editor with J. Vanderspoel, D. Mattingly, L. Foxhall). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press

2006 - ‘Landscapes of the ancient Peloponnese: a human-geographical approach’, Leidschrift 21 (1) 27–43 http://hdl.handle.net/2381/7720

2005 - ‘Between Macedonia and Rome: political landscapes and social change in southern Greece in the early hellenistic period’, Annual of the British School at Athens 100 315–30

2004 - Hellēnizein: A Flexible Structure for Teaching Greek to Archaeologists and Ancient Historians (2nd author with E. Parisinou). Milton Keynes: Higher Education Academy Subject Centre for History, Classics, and Archaeology

* 2002 - Continuity and Change in a Greek Rural Landscape: The Laconia Survey. Vol. i: Methodology and Interpretation (4th author with W. Cavanagh et al.). London: British School at Athens

* 2000 - The Greek World after Alexander: 323–30 BC. London–New York: Routledge, 2000. (Shortlisted for the Runciman Prize, and now in its 14th printing. Reprints since late 2004 incorporate corrections.)

2000 - 'The extent of Spartan territory in the late classical and hellenistic periods', Annual of the British School at Athens 95 367–90

Translated editions

forthcoming 2012 - Ο ελληνικός κόσμος μετά τον Αλέξανδρο: 323–30 π.Χ. Athens: National Bank Cultural Foundation (translation, by M. Zachariadou, of my Greek World after Alexander, with lengthy bibliographical update)

2001 - El mundo griego después de Alejandro 323–30 a.C. Barcelona: Crítica (translation, by M. Chocano, of my Greek World after Alexander)

For older publications, follow the 'Publications' link above.