Paola Ceccarelli is a historian of the ancient Greek world, with a focus on the cultural history and the historiography of the classical and Hellenistic period. Before joining UCL in 2015, Paola held university posts in Switzerland (Lausanne, 1991-93), Italy (L'Aquila, 1994-2006), and England (Durham, 2006-12), and research fellowships in France (EHESS, 2009), the United States (Center for Hellenic Studies, 1998-99), Germany (Konstanz, 2009; Heidelburg, 2011), and Cambridge (2013-2015). Paola's main areas of interest include concepts of space and identity in the ancient world; ancient performance culture; and Greek historiography. She is curently working on an edition, including translation and commentary, of the Seleukid Royal Correspondence.
PhD supervision
Paola is interested in receiving research proposals from prospective students on topics including ancient Greek dance, theatre, and more generally performance culture of the ancient world; Greek historiography; Greek social and cultural history of the Classical and the Hellenistic period.
Current students: Karolina Frank
Major publications
- Greek memories. Theories and practices, Castagnoli, L., & Ceccarelli, P. (Eds.), Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, (2019)
- Letters and Communities. Studies in the Socio-Political Dimensions of Ancient Epistolography, Ceccarelli, P., Doering, L., Fögen, T., & Gildenhard, I. (Eds.), Oxford, UK and New York, USA: Oxford University Press, (2018)
- Ancient Greek Letter-Writing: A Cultural History, Oxford (2013)
- Friedrich Gottlieb Welcker e l'antiquaria napoletana: Carteggi Gervasio - Welcker e Minervini-Welcker, San Severo (2006)
- La pirrica nell'antichità Greco-romana: studi sulla danza armata, Pisa - Roma (1998)
For a full list of publications, see Paola's Iris profile.
Teaching
- (HIST0787) The Greek world, from the end of the Persian wars to the battle of Chaeronea (479-338 BCE)
- (HIST0023) Asia, the Aegean, Europe: Dividing the World in Ancient Greece
- (HIST0204/0196) The Transmission of Knowledge in the Ancient World