Benjamin Kelly
Associate Professor
Office: Vari Hall, 2134
Phone: 416-736-2100 Ext: 30415
Email: benkelly@yorku.ca
Degrees
DPhil, University of Oxford (Oct. 1999-Jan. 2003)BA, University of Sydney (Feb. 1995-Nov.1998)
Professional Leadership
Coordinator, Programme in Classical Studies
Research Interests
Current Research Projects
-
Summary:
This project is funded by a five-year Insight Grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. Its major outputs will be two edited volumes: The Roman Emperor and his Court, ca. 30 BC - ca. AD 300. Volume 1: Historical Essays and The Roman Emperor and his Court, ca. 30 BC - ca. AD 300. Volume 2: A Sourcebook.
Funders:
SSHRC Insight Grant
-
Summary:
The objective of this project is to develop quantitative methods to measure temporal variations in ‘state capacity’ in Roman Egypt from ca. 30 BC to ca. AD 300. ‘State capacity’ refers to a state’s ability to implement its official goals. The study will focus on three datasets relevant to these goals: edicts and letters issued by the provincial governor; petitions to judicial authorities; and poll‐tax receipts.
Collaborator: Cornelius Christian
Collaborator Institution: Department of Economics, Brock University
Funders:
LA&PS Minor Research Grant
Petitions, Litigation, and Social Control in Roman Egypt. 2011, Oxford: Oxford University Press. (Pp. xix + 427)
‘ “Access to Justice”: Die soziale Reichweite gerichtlicher Konfliktregulierung’, in Grotkamp, N. and Seelentag, A. (eds.). Handbuch zur Geschichte der Konfliktlösung in Europa. Band 1: Konfliktlösung in der Antike. Berlin: Springer. 13-25.
‘Court Politics and Imperial Imagery in the Roman Principate’, in Russell, A. and Hellström, M. (eds.). The Social Dynamics of Roman Imperial Imagery. 2020, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 128-158.
'Petitions with Requests for Registration from Roman Egypt', in Haensch, R. (ed.) . Recht haben und Recht bekommen im Imperium Romanum: Das Gerichtswesen der Römischen Kaiserzeit und seine dokumentarische Evidenz. 2016, Warsaw: Journal of Juristic Papyrology Supplement 24. 407-456.
'Repression, Resistance, and Rebellion', in Ando, C., du Plessis, P., & Tuori, K. (eds.) . The Oxford Handbook of Roman Law and Society. 2016, Oxford: Oxford University Press. 374-385.
'Crime, Criminal Law, and Order', in Gibbs, M. Nikolic, M. & Ripat, P. (eds.) . Themes in Roman Society and Culture: An Introduction to Ancient Rome. 2014, Toronto: Oxford University Press (Canada). 241-62 (2nd edn. 2020, pp. 277-96).
'Policing and Security', in Erdkamp, P. (ed.) . The Cambridge Companion to Ancient Rome. 2013, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 410-24.
'The Law that Catulus Passed’, in Welch, K.E. & Hillard, T.W. (eds.) . Roman Crossings: Theory and Practice in the Roman Republic. 2005, Swansea: The Classical Press of Wales. 97-120.
Review of Potter, D. The Origin of Empire: Rome from the Republic to Hadrian in Ancient History Bulletin Online Reviews 9 (2019), 110-111.
Review of Ricci, C. Security in Roman Times: Rome, Italy and the Emperors in Phoenix 72.1-2 (2018), 183-185
Review of Waterfield, R. Taken at the Flood: The Roman Conquest of Greece in Classical Review 65.2 (2015), 615-16.
Review of Bryen, A. Z. Violence in Roman Egypt: A Study in Legal Interpretation in Classical Philology 110.1 (2015), 81-86.
Review of Hölkeskamp, K.-J. Reconstructing the Roman Republic: An Ancient Political Culture and Modern Research in Phoenix 65.3-4 (2011), 418-20.
Review of Capponi, L. Roman Egypt in Mouseion 11.3 (2011), 412-15.
Review of Brélaz, C. and Ducrey, P. (eds.) Sécurité collective et ordre public dans les sociétés anciennes in Classical Review 60.2 (2010), 480-3.
'Proving the ius liberorum: P.Oxy. XII 1467 Reconsidered,' Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies 57.1 (2017), 105-35.
'Control policial, represión y seguridad privada en la ciudad de Roma', Desperta Ferro: Arqueología y Historia 2 (2015), 20-25 (trans. Gustavo García Jiménez). [For a general audience.]
'"When the culprits come to light ...": P.IFAO I 26, BGU III 731.ii, and P.Fay. 108', Archiv für Papyrusforschung und verwandte Gebiete 59.2 (2013), 369-74.
'Notes on Five Documents from the Roman Period', Tyche: Beiträge zur Alten Geschichte, Papyrologie und Epigraphik 27 (2012), 224-5 (= Korr.Tyche 729-33).
‘Tacitus, Germanicus and the Kings of Egypt (Tac. Ann. 2.59-61)’, Classical Quarterly 60.1 (2010), 221-37.
'Dellius, the Parthian Campaign, and the Image of Mark Antony’, in Deroux, C. (ed.) Studies in Latin Literature and Roman History, 14 (2008), 209-34 (= Collection Latomus, vol. 315).
‘Deviant Ancient Histories: Dan Brown, Erich von Däniken and the Sociology of Historical Polemic’, Rethinking History 12.3 (2008), 361-82.
‘A Late-Antique Contract in the Collection of the Australian National University Classics Museum’, Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik 161 (2007), 207-14.
'Riot Control and Imperial Ideology in the Roman Empire’, Phoenix 61.1-2 (2007), 150-76.
‘Accessing Justice in Roman Egypt: Quantitative Methods and their Limitations,’ in Waebens, S. and Vandorpe, K. (eds.). Dispute Resolution in Greco-Roman and Late-Antique Egypt. Leuven: Peeters.
‘Alexandria,’ in Pagán, V. (ed.). The Tacitus Encyclopedia. Wiley-Blackwell
(with C. Davenport) ‘Administration, Finances, and the Court,’ in Kelly and Hug (eds.) The Roman Emperor and his Court. Volume 1: Historical Essays. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
B. Kelly, ‘Introduction,’ in Kelly and Hug (eds.) The Roman Emperor and his Court. Volume 1: Historical Essays. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
(with R. Wei) ‘The Roman Aristocracy at Court,’ in Kelly and Hug (eds.) The Roman Emperor and his Court. Volume 1: Historical Essays. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
B. Kelly and A. G. Hug (eds.), The Roman Emperor and his Court: ca. 30 BC – ca. AD 300. Vol. 2: A Sourcebook. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
B. Kelly and A. G. Hug (eds.), The Roman Emperor and his Court: ca. 30 BC – ca. AD 300. Vol. 1: Historical Essays. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
‘Violence and Security at Court,’ in Kelly and Hug (eds.) The Roman Emperor and his Court. Volume 1: Historical Essays. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
‘Was the Roman Imperial Court an “Emotional Community”?’ in Davenport, C. and McEvoy, M. (eds.) The Roman Imperial Court in the Principate and Late Antiquity. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Approach to Teaching
Courses taught (York):
HIST 1100: Gladiators, Gods, Gigolos, and Goths: Reading Roman Society, c. 200 BCE – c.500 CE - 2015-16 [Fall/Winter]; 2016-17 [F/W]
HIST 2100: Ancient Greece and Rome - 2009 [W]; 2010 [W]; 2011 [W]; 2013 [W]; 2014 [W]
HIST 3131: Rome and Empire: From War to pax romana - 2007-8 [F/W]; 2008-9 [F/W]; 2010 [F]; 2012-13 [F/W]; 2013-14 [F/W]; 2016 [F]
HIST 3140: The City in the Roman World - 2009 [F]; 2018 [F]
HIST 3154: Egypt from Alexander to Cleopatra - 2010 [F]; 2014 [F]; 2017 [F]; 2018 [F]
HIST 3155: Egypt after Cleopatra: Society and Culture in a Roman Province - 2015 [W]; 2018 [W]
HIST 3990: Supervised Reading and Research - 2010 [S]; 2014 [W]
HIST 4130: Problems in Roman History (The Roman Imperial Court) - 2013-14 [F/W]; 2014-15 [F/W]; 2015-16 [F]
HIST 4132: Caesar's Palace: A Social History of the Roman Imperial Court - 2016-17 [F/W]; 2017-18 [F/W]; 2018-19 [F/W]
HIST 4140: Problems in Hellenistic History (Graeco-Roman Egypt) - 2007-8 [F/W]; 2008-9 [F/W]; 2009-10 [F/W]
HIST 4990: Supervised Reading and Research - 2013 [W]; 2014 [W]
HIST 5038: Crime and Society in the Roman World - 2009 [F]; 2010 [F]; 2013 [F]; 2015 [F]
HIST 5060/6001: Directed Readings (Cicero, Pro Caelio) - 2014 [F]
HIST 5070: Directed Readings - 2017 [F]; 2018 [F]
LA 3040/4040: Roman Philosophical Writings (Cicero, De amicitia) - 2013 [F]
LA 3060/4060: Roman Historians (Sallust, Bellum Catilinae) - 2014 [F]
LA 3070/4070: Roman Rhetoric (Cicero, Pro Caelio) - 2012 [W]
GK 2000: Intermediate Classical and Biblical Greek - 2019 [W]
Courses taught (ANU):
HIST 1019: Rome: Republic to Empire - 2003 [Semester 1]; 2004 [S1]; 2005 [S1]; 2006 [S2]; 2007 [S1]
HIST 2139: The Historical Jesus and Christian Origins - 2003 [S2]
HIST 2216/HIST 6216: Religions and Society in the Roman Empire - 2004 [S2]
HIST 2218: The City in the Roman Empire 2005 [S2]
HIST 4005: Crimes, Courts and Crucifixions: Maintaining Order in the Roman Empire - 2005 [S2]
HIST 6545: Graduate Reading Course A (Politics, War and Diplomacy in the Middle and Late Republic) - 2005 [S1]
Courses tutored (Oxford):
Mods: Tacitus and Tiberius - 2002 [Michaelmas Term]
Greats Roman 1.5: Late Republic - 2002 [MT]
Greats Roman 1.6: Julio-Claudians - 2002 [MT]
Greats Roman 1.7: Flavians - 2002 [MT]
Current Courses
| Term | Course Number | Section | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fall/Winter 2021 | AP/GK2000 6.0 | A | Intermediate Classical & Biblical Greek | REMT |
| Fall/Winter 2021 | AP/HIST4132 6.0 | A | Caesar's Palace | SEMR |
| Fall 2021 | AP/LA3060 3.0 | A | Roman Historians | REMT |
| Fall 2021 | AP/LA4060 3.0 | A | Roman Historians | REMT |
| Fall 2021 | AP/HIST3154 3.0 | A | Egypt from Alexander to Cleopatra | BLEN |
| Fall 2021 | AP/HIST3154 3.0 | A | Egypt from Alexander to Cleopatra | TUTR |
Upcoming Courses
| Term | Course Number | Section | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winter 2022 | AP/GK3080 3.0 | M | Later Greek Prose | SEMR |
| Winter 2022 | AP/GK4080 3.0 | M | Later Greek Prose | SEMR |
| Winter 2022 | AP/HIST3155 3.0 | M | Egypt after Cleopatra | BLEN |
| Winter 2022 | AP/HIST3155 3.0 | M | Egypt after Cleopatra | TUTR |
| Fall/Winter 2021 | AP/GK2000 6.0 | A | Intermediate Classical & Biblical Greek | REMT |
| Fall/Winter 2021 | AP/HIST4132 6.0 | A | Caesar's Palace | SEMR |
Degrees
DPhil, University of Oxford (Oct. 1999-Jan. 2003)BA, University of Sydney (Feb. 1995-Nov.1998)
Professional Leadership
Coordinator, Programme in Classical Studies
Research Interests
Current Research Projects
-
Summary:
This project is funded by a five-year Insight Grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. Its major outputs will be two edited volumes: The Roman Emperor and his Court, ca. 30 BC - ca. AD 300. Volume 1: Historical Essays and The Roman Emperor and his Court, ca. 30 BC - ca. AD 300. Volume 2: A Sourcebook.
Project Type: FundedRole: Principal Investigator
Funders:
SSHRC Insight Grant
-
Summary:
The objective of this project is to develop quantitative methods to measure temporal variations in ‘state capacity’ in Roman Egypt from ca. 30 BC to ca. AD 300. ‘State capacity’ refers to a state’s ability to implement its official goals. The study will focus on three datasets relevant to these goals: edicts and letters issued by the provincial governor; petitions to judicial authorities; and poll‐tax receipts.
Project Type: FundedRole: Principal Investigator
Collaborator: Cornelius Christian
Collaborator Institution: Department of Economics, Brock University
Funders:
LA&PS Minor Research Grant
All Publications
‘ “Access to Justice”: Die soziale Reichweite gerichtlicher Konfliktregulierung’, in Grotkamp, N. and Seelentag, A. (eds.). Handbuch zur Geschichte der Konfliktlösung in Europa. Band 1: Konfliktlösung in der Antike. Berlin: Springer. 13-25.
‘Court Politics and Imperial Imagery in the Roman Principate’, in Russell, A. and Hellström, M. (eds.). The Social Dynamics of Roman Imperial Imagery. 2020, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 128-158.
'Petitions with Requests for Registration from Roman Egypt', in Haensch, R. (ed.) . Recht haben und Recht bekommen im Imperium Romanum: Das Gerichtswesen der Römischen Kaiserzeit und seine dokumentarische Evidenz. 2016, Warsaw: Journal of Juristic Papyrology Supplement 24. 407-456.
'Repression, Resistance, and Rebellion', in Ando, C., du Plessis, P., & Tuori, K. (eds.) . The Oxford Handbook of Roman Law and Society. 2016, Oxford: Oxford University Press. 374-385.
'Crime, Criminal Law, and Order', in Gibbs, M. Nikolic, M. & Ripat, P. (eds.) . Themes in Roman Society and Culture: An Introduction to Ancient Rome. 2014, Toronto: Oxford University Press (Canada). 241-62 (2nd edn. 2020, pp. 277-96).
'Policing and Security', in Erdkamp, P. (ed.) . The Cambridge Companion to Ancient Rome. 2013, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 410-24.
'The Law that Catulus Passed’, in Welch, K.E. & Hillard, T.W. (eds.) . Roman Crossings: Theory and Practice in the Roman Republic. 2005, Swansea: The Classical Press of Wales. 97-120.
Review of Potter, D. The Origin of Empire: Rome from the Republic to Hadrian in Ancient History Bulletin Online Reviews 9 (2019), 110-111.
Review of Ricci, C. Security in Roman Times: Rome, Italy and the Emperors in Phoenix 72.1-2 (2018), 183-185
Review of Waterfield, R. Taken at the Flood: The Roman Conquest of Greece in Classical Review 65.2 (2015), 615-16.
Review of Bryen, A. Z. Violence in Roman Egypt: A Study in Legal Interpretation in Classical Philology 110.1 (2015), 81-86.
Review of Hölkeskamp, K.-J. Reconstructing the Roman Republic: An Ancient Political Culture and Modern Research in Phoenix 65.3-4 (2011), 418-20.
Review of Capponi, L. Roman Egypt in Mouseion 11.3 (2011), 412-15.
Review of Brélaz, C. and Ducrey, P. (eds.) Sécurité collective et ordre public dans les sociétés anciennes in Classical Review 60.2 (2010), 480-3.
Petitions, Litigation, and Social Control in Roman Egypt. 2011, Oxford: Oxford University Press. (Pp. xix + 427)
'Proving the ius liberorum: P.Oxy. XII 1467 Reconsidered,' Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies 57.1 (2017), 105-35.
'Control policial, represión y seguridad privada en la ciudad de Roma', Desperta Ferro: Arqueología y Historia 2 (2015), 20-25 (trans. Gustavo García Jiménez). [For a general audience.]
'"When the culprits come to light ...": P.IFAO I 26, BGU III 731.ii, and P.Fay. 108', Archiv für Papyrusforschung und verwandte Gebiete 59.2 (2013), 369-74.
'Notes on Five Documents from the Roman Period', Tyche: Beiträge zur Alten Geschichte, Papyrologie und Epigraphik 27 (2012), 224-5 (= Korr.Tyche 729-33).
‘Tacitus, Germanicus and the Kings of Egypt (Tac. Ann. 2.59-61)’, Classical Quarterly 60.1 (2010), 221-37.
'Dellius, the Parthian Campaign, and the Image of Mark Antony’, in Deroux, C. (ed.) Studies in Latin Literature and Roman History, 14 (2008), 209-34 (= Collection Latomus, vol. 315).
‘Deviant Ancient Histories: Dan Brown, Erich von Däniken and the Sociology of Historical Polemic’, Rethinking History 12.3 (2008), 361-82.
‘A Late-Antique Contract in the Collection of the Australian National University Classics Museum’, Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik 161 (2007), 207-14.
'Riot Control and Imperial Ideology in the Roman Empire’, Phoenix 61.1-2 (2007), 150-76.
‘Accessing Justice in Roman Egypt: Quantitative Methods and their Limitations,’ in Waebens, S. and Vandorpe, K. (eds.). Dispute Resolution in Greco-Roman and Late-Antique Egypt. Leuven: Peeters.
‘Alexandria,’ in Pagán, V. (ed.). The Tacitus Encyclopedia. Wiley-Blackwell
(with C. Davenport) ‘Administration, Finances, and the Court,’ in Kelly and Hug (eds.) The Roman Emperor and his Court. Volume 1: Historical Essays. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
B. Kelly, ‘Introduction,’ in Kelly and Hug (eds.) The Roman Emperor and his Court. Volume 1: Historical Essays. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
(with R. Wei) ‘The Roman Aristocracy at Court,’ in Kelly and Hug (eds.) The Roman Emperor and his Court. Volume 1: Historical Essays. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
B. Kelly and A. G. Hug (eds.), The Roman Emperor and his Court: ca. 30 BC – ca. AD 300. Vol. 2: A Sourcebook. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
B. Kelly and A. G. Hug (eds.), The Roman Emperor and his Court: ca. 30 BC – ca. AD 300. Vol. 1: Historical Essays. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
‘Violence and Security at Court,’ in Kelly and Hug (eds.) The Roman Emperor and his Court. Volume 1: Historical Essays. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
‘Was the Roman Imperial Court an “Emotional Community”?’ in Davenport, C. and McEvoy, M. (eds.) The Roman Imperial Court in the Principate and Late Antiquity. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Approach to Teaching
Courses taught (York):
HIST 1100: Gladiators, Gods, Gigolos, and Goths: Reading Roman Society, c. 200 BCE – c.500 CE - 2015-16 [Fall/Winter]; 2016-17 [F/W]
HIST 2100: Ancient Greece and Rome - 2009 [W]; 2010 [W]; 2011 [W]; 2013 [W]; 2014 [W]
HIST 3131: Rome and Empire: From War to pax romana - 2007-8 [F/W]; 2008-9 [F/W]; 2010 [F]; 2012-13 [F/W]; 2013-14 [F/W]; 2016 [F]
HIST 3140: The City in the Roman World - 2009 [F]; 2018 [F]
HIST 3154: Egypt from Alexander to Cleopatra - 2010 [F]; 2014 [F]; 2017 [F]; 2018 [F]
HIST 3155: Egypt after Cleopatra: Society and Culture in a Roman Province - 2015 [W]; 2018 [W]
HIST 3990: Supervised Reading and Research - 2010 [S]; 2014 [W]
HIST 4130: Problems in Roman History (The Roman Imperial Court) - 2013-14 [F/W]; 2014-15 [F/W]; 2015-16 [F]
HIST 4132: Caesar's Palace: A Social History of the Roman Imperial Court - 2016-17 [F/W]; 2017-18 [F/W]; 2018-19 [F/W]
HIST 4140: Problems in Hellenistic History (Graeco-Roman Egypt) - 2007-8 [F/W]; 2008-9 [F/W]; 2009-10 [F/W]
HIST 4990: Supervised Reading and Research - 2013 [W]; 2014 [W]
HIST 5038: Crime and Society in the Roman World - 2009 [F]; 2010 [F]; 2013 [F]; 2015 [F]
HIST 5060/6001: Directed Readings (Cicero, Pro Caelio) - 2014 [F]
HIST 5070: Directed Readings - 2017 [F]; 2018 [F]
LA 3040/4040: Roman Philosophical Writings (Cicero, De amicitia) - 2013 [F]
LA 3060/4060: Roman Historians (Sallust, Bellum Catilinae) - 2014 [F]
LA 3070/4070: Roman Rhetoric (Cicero, Pro Caelio) - 2012 [W]
GK 2000: Intermediate Classical and Biblical Greek - 2019 [W]
Courses taught (ANU):
HIST 1019: Rome: Republic to Empire - 2003 [Semester 1]; 2004 [S1]; 2005 [S1]; 2006 [S2]; 2007 [S1]
HIST 2139: The Historical Jesus and Christian Origins - 2003 [S2]
HIST 2216/HIST 6216: Religions and Society in the Roman Empire - 2004 [S2]
HIST 2218: The City in the Roman Empire 2005 [S2]
HIST 4005: Crimes, Courts and Crucifixions: Maintaining Order in the Roman Empire - 2005 [S2]
HIST 6545: Graduate Reading Course A (Politics, War and Diplomacy in the Middle and Late Republic) - 2005 [S1]
Courses tutored (Oxford):
Mods: Tacitus and Tiberius - 2002 [Michaelmas Term]
Greats Roman 1.5: Late Republic - 2002 [MT]
Greats Roman 1.6: Julio-Claudians - 2002 [MT]
Greats Roman 1.7: Flavians - 2002 [MT]
Current Courses
| Term | Course Number | Section | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fall/Winter 2021 | AP/GK2000 6.0 | A | Intermediate Classical & Biblical Greek | REMT |
| Fall/Winter 2021 | AP/HIST4132 6.0 | A | Caesar's Palace | SEMR |
| Fall 2021 | AP/LA3060 3.0 | A | Roman Historians | REMT |
| Fall 2021 | AP/LA4060 3.0 | A | Roman Historians | REMT |
| Fall 2021 | AP/HIST3154 3.0 | A | Egypt from Alexander to Cleopatra | BLEN |
| Fall 2021 | AP/HIST3154 3.0 | A | Egypt from Alexander to Cleopatra | TUTR |
Upcoming Courses
| Term | Course Number | Section | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winter 2022 | AP/GK3080 3.0 | M | Later Greek Prose | SEMR |
| Winter 2022 | AP/GK4080 3.0 | M | Later Greek Prose | SEMR |
| Winter 2022 | AP/HIST3155 3.0 | M | Egypt after Cleopatra | BLEN |
| Winter 2022 | AP/HIST3155 3.0 | M | Egypt after Cleopatra | TUTR |
| Fall/Winter 2021 | AP/GK2000 6.0 | A | Intermediate Classical & Biblical Greek | REMT |
| Fall/Winter 2021 | AP/HIST4132 6.0 | A | Caesar's Palace | SEMR |
