Dr Lina Girdvainyte
Lecturer in Ancient History
Contact details
- Email: lgirdvai@ed.ac.uk
Address
- Street
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00M.34, William Robertson Wing, Old Medical School, Teviot Place
- City
- Post code
Availability
Semester 2 (2023/24): By appointment only, contact via email
Background
Before joining the University of Edinburgh in January 2023, I was the Alexander von Humboldt Stiftung postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Hamburg, Germany, where I worked on the history of citizenship and civic belonging in the Greek world under Rome. Prior to that, I was a researcher on the ERC PATRIMONIVM project at the Ausonius Institute, in the wonderful city of Burdigala, otherwise known as Bordeaux, France. I wrote my D.Phil. thesis at Lady Margaret Hall, University of Oxford, on the legal history of mainland Greece under Roman hegemony. I also hold an MA(Res) in Classics & Ancient Civilisations from the University of Leiden, The Netherlands, and a BA in Classical Philology from the University of Vilnius, Lithuania. Besides all things ancient, I particularly enjoy jogging, hiking, backpacking, and am constantly on the look out for the best coffee in town.
Undergraduate teaching
Pre-honours 2023-24:
Roman World 1a (Semester 1)
Roman World 1b (Semester 2)
Ancient History 2a (Semester 1)
Ancient History 2b (Semester 2)
Honours 2023-24:
Roman Greece
Open to PhD supervision enquiries?
Yes
Research summary
Places:
- Europe
- Mediterranean
Themes:
- Ancient Civilisations
- Culture
- Imperialism
- Migration
- Society
Periods:
- Antiquity
Research interests
My research explores various intersections and interactions between ‘the Roman’ and ‘the local’ in the Eastern Mediterranean from the late third century BC to the early third century AD. Working with a range of epigraphic, literary, and legal sources, I investigate the impact of the early establishment and subsequent development of Roman imperial structures in the Greek-speaking provinces and, conversely, the subject populations’ reactions to those structures and, by extension, to Rome itself.
Current research interests
At present, I continue to work on the project which I started in Hamburg, entitled “Beyond Citizen and Alien: Civic Diversity in the Greek World under Rome”. This project investigates the fundamental transformation of the Greek concept of civic belonging as a result of continuous interaction with Roman power in the critical period of the late republic to early empire. As such, it aims to reshape the present understanding of the nature of a Greek city-state under Rome, as well as nuance existing views on Roman imperialism. At the same time, this study challenges and reconfigures contemporary perspectives on transnational migration, civic rights and duties, and multiple enfranchisement, thus placing modern-day concerns into a wider historical perspective.Project activity
Beyond Citizen and Alien: Civic Diversity in the Greek World under Rome (c. 200 BCE—300 CE)
Under contract. “Greek and Roman citizenships”, in A. Heller & M. Hallmannsecker (eds.) The Oxford Handbook of Greek Cities in the Roman Empire, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
In press. “Imperial properties in mainland Greece”, in A. Dalla Rosa & M. Maiuro (eds.) The Emperor and His Properties in the Roman World (44 BCE–284 CE): Geography, Economy, History, Bordeaux: Ausonius.
In press. “Imperial domains and their administration in Crete and Cyrenaica”, in A. Dalla Rosa & M. Maiuro (eds.) The Emperor and His Properties in the Roman World (44 BCE–284 CE): Geography, Economy, History, Bordeaux: Ausonius.
2023. “Rights, obligations, and the Antonine Constitution: Response to Kostas Buraselis”, in P. Scheibelreiter, ed. Symposion 2022: Vorträge zur griechischen und hellenistischen Rechtsgeschichte (Gmunden, 22-24 August 2022), Vienna: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 505-517.
2022. “Roman citizens in the legal economy of a Greek polis: The case of private donations to public bodies”, in K. Verboven & P. Erdkamp (eds.) Law and Economic Performance in the Roman World, Leiden: Brill, 218-234.
2020. “Law and citizenship in Roman Achaia: Continuity and change”, in K. Czajkowski & B. Eckhardt (eds.) Law in the Roman Provinces, Oxford Studies in Roman Society & Law Series, Oxford, 210-242.
2019. “Memmius Antiochos and Daulis (IG IX.1.61): Between Roman procedure and local law?”, Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik 209 (2019), 159-174.