Dr Sandra Bingham (PhD, FSA Scot)

Senior Lecturer, Classics

Biography

Background

My seduction into Classics came in the first year of university in Canada when I took a Classical Literature course as an option. I was instantly hooked! Although both my undergraduate and masters degrees are in Greek, and specifically in tragedy, I was enticed into Roman History in the first year of my PhD by Professor A.A. Barrett when he came into our Suetonius class one day and threw down a stack of photos; we then spent an hour trying to decide which were of Caligula, given our knowledge of the sources (for the answers, see his book on Caligula). I never looked back, though I do get wistful whenever I read Agamemnon.

Responsibilities & affiliations

Dissertations Coordinator for Classics

Undergraduate teaching

  • Latin 2A and Latin 2B
  • Roman World 1A and 1B
  • Ancient History 2A
  • Honours option: Custodians of Empire: the Praetorian Guard
  • Honours option: Empresses and Others: the Women of Imperial Rome
  • Honours option: Monsters, Murder and Mayhem: Biography in the Ancient World
  • Honours option: The Severans

Open to PhD supervision enquiries?

Yes

Current PhD students supervised

Brown, Matilda - PhD - Roman Women - Secondary

Research summary

Places: 

  • Europe
  • Mediterranean

Themes: 

  • Ancient Civilisations
  • Imperialism
  • Language & Literature
  • Material Culture

Periods: 

  • Antiquity

My research interests are varied, but remain rooted in Roman imperial history. My interest in the praetorian guard has led me along many different paths and continues to be my main focus. My other love is the Severans, especially the maligned Caracalla. I also dabble in archaeology, having worked in both Carthage, Greece and Italy; a book on the rediscovery of Carthage will be out in 2024. Recently I have become fascinated with espionage in antiquity, though I also am working on Roman imperial women – not that the two are unconnected! – and I hope to pursue these in future publications. The only problem, of course, is finding time to fit all this in, and still enjoy life in Edinburgh – a fabulous city to explore!

Current research interests

My research currently focuses on several aspects of Roman imperial history, in particular the praetorian guard, Roman imperial women, the reception of ancient Carthage and the Severans.

The list below is a subset of the information held on the University of Edinburgh PURE system, and includes Books, Chapters, Articles and Conference contributions. For a full list, including details of other publication types (e.g. reviews), please see the Edinburgh Research Explorer page for Dr Sandra Bingham.

Books - Authored

Bingham, S. (2013) The Praetorian Guard A History of Rome's Elite Special Forces. Baylor University Press: Waco

Bingham, S. (2012) The Praetorian Guard: A History of Rome’s Special Elite Forces. London: I.B. Tauris

Articles

Bingham, S. (2006) A brave new world? The ship-in-circus coins of Septimius Severus revisited. Ancient History Bulletin, 20, pp. 51-60

Bingham, S. (2003) Life on an island. A brief study of places of exile in the first century AD. Studies in Latin Literature and Roman History, XII, pp. 376-400

Bingham, S. (1999) Security at the games in the early imperial period. EMC/CV, 43, pp. 369-380

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