University College London

Department Member, History

Thesis Title: Carnal, Bloody & Unnatural Acts: Religious Pollution in Ancient Rome

About

I am a Roman historian with research interests in pre-Christian Roman religion and magic. I am also interested in the political history of the late Republic and early Principate, especially the reigns of Augustus and Tiberius. In particular, I have made a study of Roman notions of religious dirt and pollution, and the ways in which this impacted on Rome's perceptions of groups that existed on the periphery of society.

I was awarded my PhD in July 2011. The thesis explored various aspects of religious pollution in Roman society, particularly those taboos surrounding sex, blood and death, but also the various ways of expressing ideas about impurity within Latin language and rhetoric.

I am currently writing entries on Ritual Pollution, Birth Rituals, and the Taurobolium, for the Cambridge Dictionary of Ancient Mediterranean Religions.

I have recently begun researching the uses of pollution as a means of marginalising particular groups within Roman society, exploring ways in which ideas about dirtiness impacted on their treatment, perception and literary presentations.

Contact Information