Prof. Dr. John Weisweiler

I am interested in the social, cultural and economic history of Roman élites. The questions which drive my research are: How does inequality arise? How can it be measured? How was it represented and justified? And how do Roman patterns of inequality differ from those prevalent in other societies?

Previous Career

• Undergraduate studies in Classics at the University of Zurich and at Pembroke College, Cambridge (2001-2004).
• MPhil in Classics, Pembroke College, Cambridge (Members’ Classical Essay Prize (2004-5).
• Marie-Curie-Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Departments of Classics of the Universities of Chicago (2010-2012) and Heidelberg (2012-2014).
• Wissenschaftlicher Assistent, Department Altertumswissenschaften, University of Basel (2013-2014).
• Akademischer Rat a.Z., Seminar für Alte Geschichte, University of Tübingen (2014-2016).
• Assistant Professor in the History of the Late-Antique Mediterranean and Near East, History Department, University of Maryland, College Park (2016-2018).
• University Lecturer in Ancient History, University of Cambridge and Fellow and College Lecturer in Classics, St John's College, Cambridge (2018-2022).

Editorships

• Area editor for Roman history, Oxford Classical Dictionary.
• Reviews editor, Journal of Late Antiquity.

Outreach

• WDR Zeitzeichen Podcast "Diokletian - Der konservative Revolutionär Roms" 17/09/2024 - https://www.ardaudiothek.de/episode/wdr-zeitzeichen/diokletian-der-konservative-revolutionaer-roms/wdr-5/13711243/
• Everyday Anarchism Podcast Episode 134 on the Axial Age and the Deep History of Debt 18/09/2024 - https://player.captivate.fm/episode/4de688e5-992c-43f3-964b-4fdbd1f2438b/
• LMU Newsroom "Von Ausbeutung und Rassismus in der Antike" über diskriminierende Topoi im Römischen Reich und Parallelen zur Moderne 06/11/2023 https://www.lmu.de/de/newsroom/newsuebersicht/news/von-ausbeutung-und-rassismus-in-der-antike.html