Mr Thomas Gavin

Position

Stipendary Lecturer in Ancient History

Qualifications

BA (St Anne’s College, Oxford)
MPhil (University College, Oxford)

Academic positions

Stipendary Lecturer in Ancient History, Brasenose College
Stipendary Lecturer in Ancient History, St Anne's College

Academic background and previous positions

I studied at St Anne’s College as an undergraduate, completing a BA in Classics (Course IB) in 2019. I then moved to University College for an MPhil in Greek and Roman History, supported by a Clarendon Scholarship. I am now studying for a DPhil in Ancient History at Wolfson College (estimated completion October 2025), supported by the Lorne Thyssen Scholarship, alongside teaching at Brasenose and St Anne’s Colleges.

Undergraduate teaching areas

I am responsible for organising all aspects of teaching for ancient history and classical archaeology, mostly for undergraduates in Classics; Ancient and Modern History; and Classical Archaeology and Ancient History. I myself teach most of the Roman history papers offered at Oxford for Prelims, Mods, Finals, and Greats from the Middle Republic all the way through to 312 CE.

Research interests

My current doctoral research focuses on cooperation and concord between the cities of Western Asia Minor in the Roman imperial period, aiming to better understand why discourses of inter-city concord were so prominent from the 1st to 3rd centuries CE and whether this led to real changes in political behaviour. My wider interests concern the civic life of the post-Classical polis, in particular the role of the demos in the Greek city and the relationship between civic life and the built urban environment.

Selected publications

Gavin, T. (forthcoming). ‘Asclepian social distancing? A reinterpretation of Aelius Aristides, Oration 47.23’, Phoenix 78.1.

Gavin, T. (2024). ‘A Note on SEG 62.978 and the Proconsulship of Rufius Varenus’, Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik 229, 252-254.

Links

https://www.classics.ox.ac.uk/people/thomas-gavin

Email

thomas.gavin@classics.ox.ac.uk