Projects of Prof. Weisweiler

I recently completed a history of the imperial elite of the Roman Empire: From Empire to Universal State: Emperors, Senators, and Local Élites in Early Imperial and Late-Antique Rome (University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia; submitted and accepted). This book examines how the formation of a strong state in late antiquity transformed the role of senators within the power structure of the Roman Empire. It also traces the differences that set the Roman elite of office apart from the hereditary aristocracies of other premodern societies.

Another project I am conducting with Myles Lavan (St. Andrews) and Bart Danon (Groningen) examines the history of economic inequality in the Roman Empire from a new perspective. It examines the extent to which contemporary economic theories can be meaningfully applied to the largest and longest-lasting ancient empire. We are developing a computer simulation to assess the influence of various factors (such as euergetism, different inheritance systems, or varying mortality rates) on the development of wealth distribution in Rome. Through this, we hope to gain a more nuanced understanding of how ancient property regimes differed from those of capitalist modernity.

Finally, I am interested in comparative history. I am the editor of a volume on ancient debt that examines the implications of David Graeber’s work for ancient economic history: Debt in the Ancient Mediterranean and Near East: Credit, Money and Social Obligation (Oxford University Press, New York, in press). Together with Myles Lavan and Richard Payne, I have edited another volume on the relationship between local and imperial elites in various ancient empires: Cosmopolitanism and Empire: Universal Rulers, Local Élites and Cultural Integration in the Ancient Mediterranean and Near East (Oxford University Press, New York 2016). Taken together, these projects seek to sharpen our understanding of what is distinctive about the history of Greece and Rome by locating it within this broader comparative context.