Dr Rebecca Usherwood

Assistant Professor in Late Antique and Early Byzantine Studies

I grew up in London, and studied Ancient History at the University of Nottingham, graduating with a PhD in 2015. I have had a very mobile early academic career so far, working as a Teaching Fellow in the History department at University College London, a Teaching Associate at the University of Nottingham, a Lecturer in Roman History at Durham University, and a Lecturer in Ancient History at the University of St Andrews. I Joined Trinity College Dublin in 2018.

My research focuses on the political and cultural history of the Roman and later Roman Empire, especially the third and fourth centuries A.D. I am interested in memory, political ideology, legitimacy, loyalty, and the communication and experience of imperial power from the high to late empire. I work in particular in the combination of literary sources with material evidence, especially inscriptions and coinage. I am in the final stages of completing my first monograph, based on my PhD thesis, entitled Fashioning Oblivion: Political Disgrace and the Constantinian Dynasty. This book offers a fresh interpretation of the ways in which we discuss and interpret the evidence for political memory and disgrace (generally called ‘damnatio memoriae’ in modern scholarship) in ancient world and beyond. I am also finalising work exploring political memory and communication in the Tetrarchic period.

Teaching & Supervision

My teaching specialisms are Roman and late Roman History. I am currently responsible for the middle-year Roman History course, and for a final year course on the life and legacy of the emperor Constantine. I am happy to supervise postgraduate research on any area of Roman Imperial or Late Antique history, especially approaches with an emphasis on material evidence or which incorporate concepts of memory.