Laura Stops
Department: Classics & Ancient History
Discipline: Classics and Ancient History
Research Centre/Unit: Centre for Connectivity in the Roman World
Project Summary
My research centres on the urban boundary in the Roman world, and the role that this phenomenon played in Roman conceptions of 'urbanism' and Roman culture more generally. By studying town/city gates from Rome's 'Western' provinces, their architecture, inscriptions, decorative features and urban topography, I hope to demonstrate that these gates are in fact an overlooked form of public monument that relates specifically to the urban boundary.
I am also interested in the role of gates and the urban boundary in Roman myth, iconography, religious ritual and ceremony, and how these ideas reinforce the significance of gateways and the urban boundary.
Supervisory Team
Lead Supervisor: Professor Barbara Borg
Secondary Supervisor: Professor Elena Isayev
Wider Research Interests
- Roman myth, and culture
- Late Antiquity
- Roman Urbanism
- Walls and fortifications in the ancient world.