Dr Ruben Post
Director of Impact
Lecturer in Ancient History
- Phone
- +44 (0)1334 46 2604
- rmp26@st-andrews.ac.uk
- Office
- S5
- Location
- Swallowgate
Biography
I grew up in Canada and attended the University of Victoria for my undergraduate degree before receiving an MA in Ancient History from McGill University. I then moved to the US and earned my PhD from the University of Pennsylvania (2013-2020) with my dissertation, "The Achaian Koinon: An Economic History." During the course of my doctoral studies, I spent two years (2016-2018) in Athens conducting research at the American School of Classical Studies.
I first came to St Andrews as Leventis Senior Research Fellow (2020-2022) working on my project on climate change in the ancient Greek world. I then transitioned in 2022 to a temporary Lecturer position before becoming a permanent Lecturer in 2023.
Research areas
I am an ancient historian of the Greek world especially interested in environmental, economic, and social developments in the Hellenistic period. The primary focus of my work is on the interplay between the myriad ecological and economic forces that impacted ancient people’s lives, from climate and disease to money and law. To illuminate such interactions, I integrate highly varied evidence types, including environmental proxies, human and animal remains, archaeological survey, coinage, and ethnographic research, with the more traditional sources of ancient history, namely literary texts, inscriptions, and excavation archaeology.
My primary project is a book-length examination of the impact of climate change on Aegean societies from the end of the Bronze Age until the advent of the Roman Empire. By examining the most up-to-date environmental proxy evidence, research on the relationship between climate and agriculture, and written and archaeological evidence testifying to the perception of and responses to climate change, this project will outline the prospects and problems of studying the impact of climate change on ancient Greek societies.
PhD supervision
- Michael Alexander Dyer
- Kenneth Arthur
Selected publications
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Open access
Environment, sustainability, and Hellenic studies
Post, R., 3 Mar 2023, In: Journal of Hellenic Studies. 142, p. 317 - 333 17 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review
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Warfare, weather, and the politics of grain shortage in the early 2nd c. BC Achaian League
Post, R., 1 Jun 2022, In: Historia: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte. 71, 2, p. 188-224 37 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Panhellenic sanctuaries and monetary reform: Elis and Epidauros’ adoption of the symmachic weight standard
Post, R., 1 Oct 2020, In: Revue numismatique. 177, p. 21-57 37 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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THE ANCIENT GREEKS AND THE ENVIRONMENT: (C.) Bosak-Schroeder Other Natures. Environmental Encounters with Ancient Greek Ethnography. Pp. xiv + 270. Oakland, CA: University of California Press, 2020. Cased, £78, US$95. ISBN: 978-0-520-34348-1
Post, R., 5 Oct 2020, (E-pub ahead of print) In: The Classical Review. 71, 1Research output: Contribution to journal › Book/Film/Article review
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Open access
Integration and coercion: non-Boiotians in the Hellenistic Boiotian League
Post, R., 2019, Ethnos and Koinon: Studies in Ancient Greek Ethnicity and Federalism . Beck, H., Buraselis, K. & McAuley, A. (eds.). Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag, p. 99-111 (Heidelberger Althistorische Beiträge und epigraphische Studien; vol. 61).Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution
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Open access
Review of Duyrat, Frédérique and Catherine Grandjean (edd.), Les monnaies de fouille du monde grec (VIe-Ier s. a.C.): apports, approches et méthodes (Bordeaux and Athens: Ausonius Éditions and École française d'Athènes, 2016)
Post, R., 2017, In: Bryn Mawr Classical Review. 2017.10.43.Research output: Contribution to journal › Book/Film/Article review
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The environmental history of Classical and Hellenistic Greece: the contribution of environmental archaeology
Post, R., Oct 2017, In: History Compass. 15, 10, 12 p., e12392.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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A GIS Approach to Finding the Metropolis of Rhapta
Post, R. & Hughes, C., 2016, Early Exchange between Africa and the Wider Indian Ocean World. Campbell, G. (ed.). New York; London: Palgrave Macmillian, p. 1350-155 (Palgrave Series in Indian Ocean World Studies).Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter