The Centre for Classical Studies explores the language, literature, history, culture, and legacy of Ancient Greece and Rome. We teach Ancient Greek and Latin language from beginner to advanced levels, allowing students to discover the excitement, beauty, and joy of authors such as Homer, Sappho, Vergil, Tacitus, and Egeria, not to mention the vast corpus of writing that survives on papyri, inscriptions, graffiti, and ostraca, which bring alive the experiences of Greeks and Romans across the social spectrum. Our history and literature courses in translation encompass topics such as Greek and Roman mythology, politics, imperialism, gender, slavery, theory, material culture, and memory, allowing students to engage with the fascinating and complicated societies of Greece and Rome and their impact on the contemporary world. The rich collection of the ANU Classics Museum allows students to study ancient textiles, pottery, glass, coins, statuary, and inscriptions first-hand

Teaching Areas

• Ancient Greek
• Ancient History
• Latin
• Honours in Classical Studies
• Master of Philosophy (MPhil) and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Researchers and Research Areas of Expertise

The Centre for Classical Studies is one of the leading places to study Ancient Greece and Rome in Australasia. The team of internationally renowned staff have expertise in a wide range of topics such as Greek and Roman music, technology, literature, theatre, archaeology, religion, politics, and history, extending from the 12th century BC to the early Middle Ages. They also engage in research in the memory and cultural legacy of Greece and Rome in subsequent centuries

Associate Professor Caillan Davenport: Head of the Centre for Classical Studies; Roman history; Roman emperors and the imperial court; Greek and Roman historiography; Roman letter-writing; comparative study of monarchies and court societies

Dr Chris Bishop:  Fixed-term Lecturer in Classics (2022); Classical Greek and Roman history; Latin and Classical Greek literature; late antiquity; early medieval history; classical and medieval reception studies; medievalism; comic book studies

Dr Phoebe Garrett: Fixed-term Lecturer in Classics (2022); Ancient biography and historiography; the literature of the early Roman empire, especially Suetonius

Dr Georgia Pike-Rowney: The Friends’ Lecturer and Curator of the ANU Classics Museum: Greek and Roman music and material culture; arts engagement and outreach

Centre Affiliate

Dr Meaghan McEvoy: Senior Lecturer in History; Late Antique, Early Medieval, and Byzantine History, especially emperors and empresses, generals and courtiers, Christian politics, patronage, and benefaction

New Staff from 2023

For the information of applicants for the Humanities Research Centre/Centre for Classical Studies Visiting Research Fellowship, the Centre will be expanding in 2023 with the appointment of three new continuing Lecturers in Classics:

• Dr Tatiana Bur: ancient Greek history; ancient Greek religion; Greek and Roman science and technology, especially mechanics; intersection of science and religion in antiquity.
• Dr Tom Geue: Late Republican and Imperial literature and culture (Latin and Greek), Roman satire, anonymous and pseudonymous texts, Roman slavery, authorship, autobiography, politics, literary theory (esp. Marxist criticism), classical reception, writing cultures, graffiti, early Christianity
• Dr Estelle Strazdins: Greek Literature and Cultural History; the Eastern Roman Empire; Monuments, Memory, Commemoration; Reception & the Classical Tradition; Identity & Ethnicity; Literary Landscapes