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Location
Herter 712

BACKGROUND

Timothy C. Hart is a social historian of the ancient Roman borderlands, specializing in the textual and material culture of the 2nd – 5th centuries C.E. His research examines the edges of empire as dynamic loci of interaction between Romans and their so-called “barbarian” neighbors, characterized by shifting intersections of environmental, ideological, and political forces. By studying how Romans perceived difference in the imperial borderlands, Dr. Hart seeks not only to write a fuller history of the late classical world, but also shed new comparative light on contemporary borderland issues. He is currently in the final stages of publishing his first book, entitled Beyond the River, Under the Eye of Rome (University of Michigan Press), which examines the profound influence of Greek ethnographic theories on Roman perceptions of, and interactions with, the peoples dwelling beyond the empire’s Danube River frontier.

At UMass Amherst, Dr. Hart teaches a wide range of topics in ancient history, from the origins of agriculture in Egypt and Mesopotamia, to the early middle ages in Europe and the Mediterranean. His broader teaching interests include Roman historiography, classical archaeology, environmental history of the ancient Mediterranean, comparative borderland studies, and ancient ethnographic theory. His approach also explores the complex legacies of the classical world within later societies and the contemporary world. In his courses, studying antiquity means also wrestling with uncomfortable topics such as the ethics of exhibiting antiquities in museums and the appropriation of the Greek and Roman past as a source of legitimacy for later political movements from the American founding fathers to contemporary white nationalists.

After growing up here in Amherst, Dr. Hart earned a B.A. from Grinnell College (2006), an M.A. from the University of Minnesota (2009), and received his P.h.D. from the University of Michigan’s Interdepartmental Program in Greek and Roman History (2017).

SPECIALIZATIONS

  • History of the Roman empire
  • History of late antiquity
  • Epigraphy
  • Numismatics
  • Roman archaeology
  • Roman frontier studies
  • Comparative borderland studies
  • Environmental history
  • Ancient migration studies
  • Ancient ethnographic and geographic writers
  • Reception of the ancient world in contemporary society

COURSES RECENTLY TAUGHT

  • Upcoming: History of the Ancient Near East and Egypt
  • Current and Past: Ancient Rome, Ancient Greece, History of World Religions, The Ancient World in Popular Media, Anatomy of the Barbarian