Publications and Further Research Outputs
Peer-Reviewed Publications
Servandus' brooch: imperial largitio and 'propaganda' in, editor(s)N. Baker-Brian, R. Flower, H. Holm, W. Lewis , Constantinian Representations: Ideology, Power and Propaganda, Liverpool, 2026, [Rebecca USHERWOOD]
Rebecca Usherwood, Becca Grose, Guy Walker, Kay Boers, Erasure in Late Antiquity, Budapest, Trivent Medieval, 2024, 1 - 298pp
Praising Constantine's Rivals in, B. Gibson & R. Rees , Praising Constantine, Leiden, Brill, 2024, [Rebecca Usherwood]
Fracturing the Collective: Political Disgrace and Tetrarchic Commemoration in, editor(s)F. Carla-Uhink & C. Rollinger , The Tetrarchy as Ideology. (Re)Presentations and (Re)Figurations of an Imperial Power, Stuttgart , Franz Steiner Verlag (Habes), 2023, pp301 - 315, [Rebecca Usherwood]
Rebecca Usherwood, "First Fragments: Biblical Papyrus from Roman Egypt (Exhibit Review Article)", by Chester Beatty Collection , Near Eastern Archaeology, (85.5), 2023, p166-169
Rebecca Usherwood , Where are the names of the Iovii and Herculii? Exploring Christian responses to Tetrarchic material culture, Journal of Late Antiquity, 15.2, 2022, p402 - 422
Rebecca Usherwood, Political Memory and the Constantinian Dynasty: Fashioning Disgrace, Palgrave Macmillan: New Approaches to Byzantine History and Culture, 2022, 1 - 350pp
Rebecca Usherwood , Review of Imagining Emperors in the Late Roman Empire, by D. W. P. Burgersdijk and A. J. Ross , Journal of Roman Studies, 111, 2021, p333-334
Rebecca Usherwood , Finding Clarity in Chaos, Review of Image and Reality of Roman Imperial Power in the Third Century AD. The Impact of War., by L. de Blois , Tijdschrift voor Geschiedenis, 132.4, 2019, p669-670
Rebecca Usherwood, Review of The Last Pagan Emperor. Julian the Apostate and the War against Christianity, by H. C. Teitler , Classics Ireland, 25, 2018
Rebecca Usherwood, Review of Memory in Ancient Rome and Early Christianity (2016); Cultural Memories in the Roman Empire (2016, by Karl Galinsky; K. Lapatin , Journal of Roman Studies, 107, 2017, p396-399
Rebecca Usherwood, Review of Memoria Romana: Memory in Rome and Rome in Memory, by Karl Galinsky , Journal of Roman Studies, 105, 2015, p419-420
Non-Peer-Reviewed Publications
Our Divine Sparks, 'Special broadcast: 1700th anniversary of the Nicene Creed', RTÉ Radio 1, Dublin, 2025, -
Rebecca Usherwood, 'Critical Friend consultancy on audio-visual programme for new gallery space, Museum of London', Museum of London, London, 2025, -
Introduction in, editor(s)Rebecca Usherwood, Kay Boers, Becca Grose, Guy Walker , Erasure in Late Antiquity, Budapest, Trivent Medieval, 2024, pp8 - 24, [Rebecca Usherwood, Kay Boers, Becca Grose, Guy Walker]
Rebecca Usherwood, 'Romans Recreation Revealed', RTÉ The Business, Dublin, RTÉ, 2024, -
Rebecca Usherwood, Constantine and 'Propaganda'. Redressing the Difference, Constantinian Propaganda, Exeter University, 06.09.22, 2022
Rebecca Usherwood, Egypt in the Roman Empire: From Augustus to Diocletian, Out of Egypt lecture series, Chester Beatty Collection, 16.11.22, 2022
Rebecca Usherwood, Scratching the Surface. Inscriptions and Cancel Culture in the Roman World., Galway University, 4th May , 2021, Classics Society, Galway University
Rebecca Usherwood, "Could we do this? Did they do that?" Negotiating the Ancient World on Screen, Utrecht University (virtual), 10th June, 2021, New Discoveries Seminar, Utrecht University
Rebecca Usherwood, How to retire (if you're a Roman emperor), University College Dublin (virtual), 27th April, 2021, Classical Association of Ireland
Rebecca Usherwood, The Invisible Chisel. Political Disgrace and Agency in Epigraphic Erasures., International Medieval Congress 2021, University of Leeds (virtual), 8th July, 2021, Postgraduate and Early Career Late Antiquity Network
Rebecca Usherwood, Becca Grose, Kay Boers, Guy Walker , Erasure in Late Antiquity, 12th - 13th November, 2020, Trinity College Dublin (held virtually)
Rebecca Usherwood, What's in a name? The consulate and political communication in the fourth century. , University of Oxford (virtual), 5th November, 2020, Oxford Late Antiquity Seminar Series
Rebecca Usherwood, Names for now and for posterity: consular dates and integration at the dawn of Late Antiquity, Classics Department Research Seminar, Maynooth University, 15th November, 2019, Classics Department, Maynooth University
Becca Grose, Lea Niccolai, Ideal Spaces, 14th January 2019, In:Posgraduate and Early Career Late Antiquity Network, 2019, Kings College London
Rebecca Usherwood, Integration, Legitimacy, and Time. The Consulship in Late Antiquity, Trinity Medieval History Research Centre, 21st November, 2019, The James Lydon Research Seminar in Medieval History
Rebecca Usherwood, 'Constantine the Great - Between West and East', Irish-Hellenic Society Inaugural 2019: Byzantium, Trinity Long Room Hub, 8th February, 2019
Rebecca Usherwood, Constantine and Crispus. Between modern myths and ancient monuments., Universiteit Utrecht, 26th November, 2019
Rebecca Usherwood, How to retire (if you're a Roman emperor), Cork, 7th October, 2019, Classical Association of Ireland
Rebecca Usherwood, Even the memory of his name was erased: remembering and forgetting the persecutor, Oxford Patristics 2019, University of Oxford, 19th August, 2019
Rebecca Usherwood, How to retire (if you're a Roman emperor), University of Cork, 7th October, 2019, Classical Association of Ireland
Rebecca Usherwood, Experiences as a Historical Consultant for TV, CONSULT Trinity Launch, School of Nursing & Midwifery , 3rd October , 2019
Rebecca Usherwood, 'Even the memory of his name was erased.' Remembering and forgetting the persecutors, XVIII International Conference on Patristics, Oxford, 19th - 23rd August, 2019
Rebecca Usherwood, Consular Dates and Integration at the Dawn of Late Antiquity, Maynooth Classics Research Seminar, Maynooth, 15th November, 2019, Department of Ancient Classics, Maynooth
Rebecca Usherwood, 'Father Diocletian': Defining and Rationalising an Abdicated Emperor, Annual Lecture: Cardiff Centre for Late Antique Religion and Culture, Cardiff University, 13th November, 2018, Centre for Late Antique Religion and Culture
Research Expertise
Description
My research is concerned with the political and cultural history of the transitional period from the 'high' to 'late' Roman empire, especially the late third to fourth centuries CE (the Tetrarchy and its breakdown; the emperor Constantine and his sons). I am primarily interested in emperors and imperial ideology, but aim to approach these topics in ways which de-prioritise the traditional focus on the agency and actions of rulers. Instead, I am drawn to the challenge of finding methodologies where we can identify the ways in which 'normal' people living in the ancient world defined their identities through their attitudes and behaviours towards often distant emperors. My first monograph, Political Memory and the Constantinian Dynasty (Palgrave-Macmillan 2022), challenges the common assumption that the destruction of traces of fallen or disgraced rulers (so-called 'damnatio memoriae') was a standardised procedure imposed by governments. Using erasures of imperial names from inscriptions, I reveal how these actions relied on the willing participation of individuals who chose to engage (or not engage) in such behaviours for their own reasons, thus allowing us to trace the ways in which news of political change was received and interpreted. This and my wider research taps into theories of cultural and political memory, the collective shaping of public and private space, and the ways in which ancient communities processed the legacies of earlier rulers in the transition to the late antique world.Recognition
Representations
Reviewer, Oxford University Press
External Reviewer, European Research Council
Reviews Editor, Hermathena
Awards and Honours
Trinity Innovation Awards: Consultancy award (winner)
Trinity Innovation Awards: 'Ones to Watch' (nominee)
Memberships
Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies, member