Finding new ways to excavate and understand the making of Roman urban neighbourhoods

Online lecture: Wednesday 9 September, 8pm 

Join us online for the unique opportunity to hear Roman archaeologist Dr Steven Ellis from the University of Cincinnati discuss the challenges and results of excavating ancient cities of Pompeii and Tharros.

This presentation begins with a behind-the-scenes look at the most recent excavations of the Porta Stabia neighbourhood at Pompeii. These excavations, under the auspices of the University of Cincinnati and the American Academy in Rome, targeted two town blocks made up of shops, houses, and hospitality establishments. More than charting the centuries-long development of a sub-elite neighbourhood, the intention is to demonstrate the value in more broadly contextualizing not just the research and results but equally so the methods and approaches to digging a city. To that end we will situate the Pompeii excavations with another of Cincinnati’s archaeological projects: the new excavations of the Punic-Roman city of Tharros on the west coast of Sardinia. Both projects offer new insights into the social and economic making of Roman urban neighbourhoods: from diet and urban consumption to retail investment and civic infrastructure.

How to tune in

Join us live Wednesday 9 September 2020, 8pm AEST

Registration is essential

We will send a link inviting you to join the webinar prior to the event. Before the event, make sure Zoom is downloaded on your device.

This lecture will be recorded and made available online after the event.

Meet the speaker

Steven Ellis (PhD Sydney, 2005) is a Roman archaeologist and Associate Professor of Classics at the University of Cincinnati, whose research activities and publications spring from his interests in ancient cities and urban life. He has conducted fieldwork principally throughout Italy and Greece, but with other field activities in Spain, Portugal, France, Morocco, and Algeria. Steven directs the University of Cincinnati’s excavations at both Pompeii (Pompeii Archaeological Research Project: Porta Stabia) and Tharros, Sardinia (Tharros Archaeological Research Project); and co-directs (with Eric Poehler) the Pompeii Quadriporticus Project and (with Timothy Gregory) the ‘East Isthmia Archaeological Project’ in Greece. His forthcoming work includes a multi-volume publication on the Pompeii excavations.

Featured image (top): Kunisada/Toyokuni III Utagawa, View of fast shooting by Hon’ omaru Shoshun, Edo, Japan 1847 (detail)