Dr Benet Salway

Benet Salway's broad area of interest is the Roman world from the late republic until late antiquity. The particular focuses of his research are later Roman history, Greek and Roman epigraphy and onomastics, Roman law, and travel and geography in the Graeco-Roman world. He teaches undergraduate courses on the Roman Empire and the Roman Army, and postgraduate courses on Latin Epigraphy and aspects of late antiquity.

Benet is a director of the British Academy Projet Volterra on Roman Law, and member of the international team of l'Année épigraphique (responsible for 'Asie', 'Galatie', and 'Cappadoce'). He is also Area Editor (Geography) for the Oxford Classical Dictionary. He previously held positions in the History department at Manchester University and in the Classics department at Nottingham University.

PhD supervision

Benet can offer research supervision in the broad area of later Roman history. He will consider topics for PhD supervision or co-supervision, and would particularly welcome prospective students, in the following areas: Later Roman history (social and political), Roman epigraphy (Greek and Latin) and onomastics, Roman law, and travel and geography in the Graeco-Roman world.

Recently completed: Tom Campbell-Moffat, ‘The Value of 476: Charting the end of the Western Roman State’ (2023), Gabrielle Villais, 'Virgins as bureaucrats? Rhetoric, administration, and the institutional development of ecclesiastical communities in the fourth century' (2016); Roderick White, 'Locus Classicus: origin brands in Roman luxury markets c.100 BC - c.AD 130 (2017).

Current students: Greg Mansi, ‘Sulla and imperium’ ; Noam Rytwo, ‘Compromise in Roman political thought’; Fucheng Zhang, ‘Public Interest and the Political Discourse of Ancient Rome’.

Major publications

• Wolf Liebeschuetz Reflected: Essays presented by colleagues, friends, and pupils (Bulletin of the Institute of Classical Studies supplement 91). London: Institute of Classical Studies, 2007, edited (with JF Drinkwater).
• 'The publication and application of the Theodosian Code: NTh 1, the Gesta senatus, and the constitutionarii', Mélanges de l'École française de Rome - Antiquité 125.2 (2013)
• 'What's in a name? A survey of Roman onomastic practice from c. 700 BC to AD 700', Journal of Roman Studies 84 (1994), 124-145

For a full list of publications, see Benet's Iris profile.

Grants/projects

Projet Volterra (Roman Law Project) II, phase 2: Law and the end of Empire

Media appearances

BBC Radio 4 In Our Time, 'Strabo's Geographica', April 2014