Ancient History at Basel

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Ancient History at Basel

Welcome to the official page of the Institute of Ancient History, University of Basel!

Learn about Ancient History in a modern, innovative city and engage with our many projects in papyrology, archaeology, numismatics, and environmental history! Willkommen auf der offiziellen Facebookseite des Fachbereichs Alte Geschichte an der Universität Basel! Erfahren Sie mehr über die Alte Geschichte in einer modernen, innovativen Stadt, und bleiben Sie auf dem Laufenden zu unseren Projekten in der Papyrologie, Archäologie, Numismatik, und der Umweltgeschichte!

27/08/2026

We are delighted to celebrate another major achievement by a member of our team!

Dr François Gerardin, Postdoctoral Assistant in Ancient History at the University of Basel, has just published his first monograph with Oxford University Press!

Founding the City: Statecraft and Urbanism in Northeast Africa and Southwest Asia, c. 200–100 BCE appeared online on 7 August and is freely available in Open Access; the print edition will follow on 8 October 2026.

The book offers a major reassessment of city foundation in the later Hellenistic world, examining the Attalid, Ptolemaic, and Seleucid kingdoms through the lens of state formation and changing relations between monarchs, cities, and local communities. At its centre is Euergetis in Egypt, whose fragmentary papyrus archive is reconstructed here for the first time in all its facets.

A wonderful milestone—warmest congratulations, François!

François Gerardin, Founding the City: Statecraft and Urbanism in Northeast Africa and Southwest Asia, c. 200–100 BCE (Oxford University Press, 2026).
Online ISBN 9780197811313 | Print ISBN 9780197811283
Read the book Open Access at Oxford Academic

20/08/2026

👋 We are delighted to welcome Dr. Dario Monti to the Institute of Ancient History at the University of Basel!

From 1 September, Dario joins our SNSF project „The Roman Villa as Ecosystem: Climate, Production, and Society in the Sabina Tiberina“ as a postdoctoral researcher.

An Italian archaeologist, Dario specializes in the archaeology of pre-Roman and Roman Italy, with particular expertise in landscape archaeology, settlement patterns, and human–environment relationships. Combining archaeological fieldwork, GIS, and spatial analysis, his research explores how ancient communities shaped and inhabited the landscapes of central Italy.

His recently published monograph, Inner Sabina before Rome: Landscape, Settlement, and Society in the Central Apennines (University of Groningen Press), is based on his PhD research at the Université catholique de Louvain and has already become an important contribution to the archaeology of the Sabina region.

At Basel, he will strengthen the historical and archaeological investigation of the Sabina Tiberina and help lead our field research at Villa dei Casoni.

Welcome to Basel, Dario—we are thrilled to have you on board!

17/08/2026

👋 We are delighted to welcome Dr. des. Simon Bühler to the Institute of Ancient History at the University of Basel!

From 1 September, Simon joins us as Postdoctoral Assistant, the department’s senior six-year academic position designed to support the completion of a habilitation while combining independent research and teaching.

At the same time, he will join our SNSF project „The Roman Villa as Ecosystem: Climate, Production, and Society in the Sabina Tiberina“ as a postdoctoral researcher, where he will co-coordinate the historical and archaeological research and our fieldwork in Italy.

Simon studied Ancient History, Art History and Classical Archaeology at the University of Basel, the University of Cambridge and Cornell University and has already contributed to our Villa dei Casoni project in the past. Welcome back to the team, Simon—we look forward to the exciting years ahead!

07/08/2026

👋 We are pleased to welcome Dr. Giacomo Vinci to the Institute of Ancient History at the University of Basel!

Giacomo joins our SNSF project „The Roman Villa as Ecosystem: Climate, Production, and Society in the Sabina Tiberina“ as a senior researcher.

A landscape archaeologist specializing in the recent prehistory of the Mediterranean, Giacomo investigates past environments, settlement patterns, economic strategies, and the ways ancient communities responded to environmental change. His research combines remote sensing, geoarchaeological fieldwork, GIS, and palynology within a multidisciplinary framework.

At Basel, he will lead the environmental and geoarchaeological components of our research, helping to reconstruct the ancient landscape surrounding the Villa dei Casoni.

A warm welcome to Basel, Giacomo!

03/08/2026

🏺 Excavations at the Villa dei Casoni begin in one month.

On 5 September, the Department of Ancient History at the University of Basel will launch the first excavation campaign at the Villa dei Casoni, in the territory of Bocchignano (Comune di Montopoli di Sabina, Italy).

Following a year of archaeological survey, geophysical prospection, archival research, and preparation, the project is now ready to open its first excavation trenches. The Department is grateful for the support and collaboration of the Soprintendenza Archeologia, Belle Arti e Paesaggio per l’Area Metropolitana di Roma e la Provincia di Rieti, whose cooperation has made this work possible.

The excavations form part of the SNSF project The Roman Villa as Ecosystem: Climate, Production, and Society in the Sabina Tiberina. The excavation is directed by Sabine Huebner, PI of the SNSF project „The Roman Villa as Ecosystem: Climate, Production, and Society in the Sabina Tiberina“. The archaeological fieldwork is coordinated by Stefania Alfarano, together with Simon Bühler, Dario Monti, Giacomo Vinci, and an outstanding group of students from the University of Basel.

As a small preview of what awaits us in September, enjoy this short video introducing the site and its remarkable setting:
🎥 https://youtu.be/a8yiWrvQ1RU

Stay tuned—we look forward to sharing updates from the field and our first discoveries throughout the excavation season!

27/07/2026

11th „Deutscher Papyrologentag“ in Münster 📜🏛️
From 23 to 26 July 2026, a delegation from Ancient History at Basel attended the 11th German Papyrology Day in Münster and took active part in it!

François Gerardin presented an overview of the papyrological projects that have been successfully completed or are still ongoing at our department, such as the SNSF projects „The Roman Egypt Laboratory. Climate Change, Societal Transformations, and the Transition to Late Antiquity“, „Urban Biographies of the Roman and Late Antique Worlds“ and „EGRAPSA“.

Anna Monte moderated a session on Late Antique Egypt, while our former PhD student and current postdoc at UniWien Lucas Weisser-Gericke presented the results of his doctoral dissertation on the city of Herakleopolis.

Many thanks to our colleagues in Münster for their warm hospitality and for organizing such a succesful event! Danke und bis zum nächsten Papyrologentag!

08/07/2026

📢 Fully Funded PhD Position in Ancient History – University of Basel

Applications are now open for a fully funded 4-year PhD position at the Department of Ancient Civilizations, University of Basel, as part of the SNSF-funded research project:
The Roman Villa as Ecosystem: Climate, Production, and Society in the Sabina Tiberina
(PI: Prof. Dr. Sabine R. Huebner)

The doctoral project, „The People Behind the Villa: Life, Labour, and Death in Roman Italy,“ investigates the lives of the men, women, and children who formed the labour force of the Roman countryside, drawing on archaeological, historical, bioarchaeological, and environmental evidence.

📍 Location: University of Basel, Switzerland

📅 Start date: 1 October 2026 (negotiable)

⏳ Application deadline: 1 August 2026

The position is open to excellent graduates in Ancient History, Classical Archaeology, Bioarchaeology, Archaeology, or related fields.

The working language is English. Knowledge of German is not required at the time of application.

For the full advertisement and application instructions, please visit the University of Basel jobs portal:
https://jobs.unibas.ch

19/06/2026

Another major milestone: we warmly congratulate Dr. Simon Bühler, PhD in Ancient History and fellow of the graduate program eikones, on the successful defence of his dissertation, “Synergetic Spaces, Peripheral Images: The Politics of Mosaics in the Late Antique Eastern Levant.”🎓🥳

The thesis situates the rich mosaic corpus of the eastern Levant within its historical context and explores how visual programs articulate sociopolitical ideas and narratives. It demonstrates how peripheral and dynamic environments fostered innovative image practices and new forms of visual communication in Late Antiquity.

Congratulations to Simon on this achievement!

05/06/2026

Time to celebrate at Ancient History at Basel! 🎉 ☀️

At our End of Semester Apéro, we raised our glasses to the many achievements and events of this closing spring semester and looked ahead to the exciting projects and initiatives awaiting us in the coming months.

With our new SNF-funded project, “The Roman Villa as Ecosystem”, launching soon, a productive survey at the Villa dei Casoni (and another to come this September), three PhD theses successfully completed, an inspiring excursion in Lycia and Pamphylia, and many other initiatives, there is plenty to celebrate.

Summer is around the corner, but our work continues. Stay tuned as we share updates in the months ahead! Cheers!🥂

03/06/2026

Basel Ancient History is in the press! 📰 📣

Marco Vitale’s research on the relationship between coinage and power in Antiquity is featured in the latest issue of the periodical UniNova.

The earliest coins in the Mediterranean appeared in present-day western Turkey, but money did not circulate everywhere. In many regions, barter remained the dominant form of economic exchange, particularly in times of crisis.

Interested in learning more? Follow the link below. ⬇️

German: https://www.unibas.ch/de/Aktuell/Uni-Nova/Uni-Nova-147/Uni-Nova-147-Alte-Muenzen-Forschung-Numismatik-Antike-Tauschwirtschaft-Altertumswissenschaften.html

English: https://www.unibas.ch/en/News-Events/Uni-Nova/Uni-Nova-147/Uni-Nova-147-Research-on-Ancient-Coins-Numismatics-Antiquity-Barter-Economy-Classical-Studies.html

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Petersgraben 51
Basel
4051

Webseite

https://altegeschichte.unibas.ch/

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