Congratulations to Dr. Gibbs on his recent Oxford fellowship!

Wed. Feb. 19, 2020

Congratulations to Dr. Matthew Gibbs, who has recently received an Oxford fellowship to work on three projects in May and June 2020!

As a visiting researcher to St. John's College at the University of Oxford, Dr. Gibbs plans to complete a monograph on professional associations in Ptolemaic and Roman Egypt, to be published as part of the Liverpool Studies in Ancient History series from University of Liverpool Press. This monograph will focus in part on legality and legislation surrounding these associations in Egypt. His visit to Oxford also will provide Dr. Gibbs the opportunity to work on an article regarding the legality and position of these groups in two provinces in the Roman world.

Dr. Gibbs also plans to use this time to continue his major research project: “Social and cultural lubrications: alcohol in the Roman world.” This project not only delves into the use and sensibilities around alcohol in ancient Rome, but also how we consider alcohol in modern society. In addition to several publications and public lectures that Dr. Gibbs has already presented, he plans to submit major articles which will lay the foundation for a future monograph on the place of alcohol in Roman society.

The Oxyrhynchus papyri, and the papyrological resources housed at the University of Oxford, will be an invaluable resource to Dr. Gibbs as he conducts his research. In this collection, there are over 100 papyri which contain information about the production, distribution, and sale of beer in Rome, as well as the role of Egyptian religious institutions in these processes.