• People
• School of Classics

Dr Jon Coulston

Research Interests

• Roman Army studies
• Roman military equipment
• Ancient warfare
• Roman provincial archaeology
• Trajan's Column
• Roman art (especially stone sculpture)
• Roman architecture
• The City of Rome.
• Asiatic steppe nomads

Select Publications

A more extensive list of publications is available in the Research Expertise database.

• ‘Tacitus, Historiae I.79 and the impact of Sarmatian warfare on the Roman empire’, in C. von Carnap-Bornheim (ed.), Kontakt - Kooperation - Konflikt: Germanen und Sarmaten zwischen dem 1. und 4. Jahrh. n. Chr., Neumünster, 2003, 415-33
• ‘Overcoming the barbarian: depictions of Rome’s enemies in Trajanic monumental art’, in L. de Blois, P. Erdkamp, O.J. Hekster, G. de Kleijn & S.T.A.M. Mols (ed.), Impact of Empire III. The Representation and Perception of Roman Imperial Power, Amsterdam, 389-24
• 'Military identity and personal self-identity in the Roman army', in, Licht, L. de, Hemelrijk, E.L. and Sengor, H.W. (ed.), Impact of Empire IV. The Empire at the Lower Level: Effects of Roman Rule on Life in Italy and the Provinces, Amsterdam, 2004, 135-52
• ‘Military equipment and the archaeology of Roman conflict’, in S. Jilek (ed.), Archäologie der Schlachtfelder - Militaria aus Zerstörungshorizonten. Akten der 14. Internationalen Roman Military Equipment Conference (RoMEC), Carnuntum Jahrbuch, Wien, 2005, 19-32.
• (with M.C. Bishop) Roman Military Equipment from the Punic Wars to the Fall of Rome, 2nd edition, Oxbow, Oxford, 2006
• ‘Introduction’ and ‘Further Reading’ in L.E. Nolan, Cavalry. Its History and Tactics, Westholme Publishing, Yardley USA, 2007, xi-xxxiv, 218-24
• ‘Art, culture and service: the depiction of soldiers on funerary monuments of the 3rd century AD’, in L. de Blois and E. Lo Cascio (ed.), Impact of Empire VI, The Impact of the Roman Army (200 BC – AD 476). Economic, Social, Political, Religious and Cultural Aspects, Leiden, 2007, 529-61
• ‘By the sword united: Roman fighting styles on the battlefield and in the arena’, in B. Molloy (ed.), The Cutting Edge: Studies in Ancient and Medieval Combat, Stroud, 2007, 34-51
• ‘Immortalising victory: votive weapons depositions in northern Europe and the Roman empire’, in A. Abegg-Wegg and A. Rau (ed.), Aktuelle Forschungen zu Kriegsbeuteopfern und Fürstengräbern im Barbaricum, Neumünster, 2008, 307-30
  

Deurne Helmet, Roman,4th c.AD

Milecastle 42, Hadrian's Wall

Research Students

I would be happy to supervise suitable students in the areas implied by my research interests, especially in Roman military matters.

Teaching

In addition to team-teaching Sub-Honours courses in Greek and Roman history, I offer the following one-semester Honours modules: The Ancient City of Rome (AN4121), The Roman Army (AN4130), Roman Imperial Art (AN4117), The Archaeology of Roman Britain (AN4145) and Principles and Techniques of Archaeology (AN3020). The latter is the core module for the joint degrees in Ancient History and Archaeology, and Mediaeval History and Archaeology. I also administer fourth year dissertations across the School of Classics, contribute to graduate core teaching, and offer a series of themed graduate modules.

Academic Career

I graduated in 1978 from the University of Leicester with a BA in History, then went on to study for an MPhil (Archaeology of the Roman Empire,1980) and a PhD (1988) at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne. My research concerned Trajan's Column in Rome, under the supervision of Charles Daniels. Thereafter I was a tutor in the Centre for Continuing Education and a Guest Lecturer in the Dept of Archaeology at Newcastle. In 1995 I was appointed to my present post as Lecturer in Ancient History in the University of St Andrews. In 2005-6 I was a Visiting Scholar at Trinity College, Dublin.

Other Activities

My principal publication project is a monograph dealing with the architecture, sculpting and relief content of Trajan’s Column in Rome (All the Emperor’s Men. Roman Soldiers and Barbarians on Trajan’s Column). With Lindsey Allason-Jones (Newcastle) I am compiling the Corpus Signorum Imperii Romani fascicule for Northern England. With Hazel Dodge and Christopher Smith I am writing a source-book for Routledge concerned with the ancient city of Rome. The updated and considerably expanded second edition of Roman Military Equipment from the Punic Wars to the Fall of Rome appeared in 2006. I have also been publishing papers in two specific and expanding academic areas: gladiatorial studies, and conflict landscape (‘battlefield’) archaeology.

Trajan's Column, Rome

Editorial committees: Journal of Roman Military Equipment Studies; Gladius. Estudios sobre armas antiguas, armamento, arte military y vida cultural en oriente y occidente (Madrid). I am also a member of the administrative committee for the Roman Military Equipment Conferences (RoMEC). Invited papers read at universities and to conferences at Budapest, Capri, Dublin, Durham, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Honolulu, København, Leiden, Leuven, Mainz, Marburg, Montpellier, Newcastle, Nottingham, Oxford, Roma, Schleswig, St Andrews, Segovia, Sheffield, Wien and Windisch. I have contributed as an advisor and ‘talking head’ to numerous radio and television programmes (Time Watch, Terry Jones’ Barbarians etc.). Elected Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland (1995) and Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London (2003).