Dr Alison Pollard
Qualifications: MA (St. And.), MSt (Oxon), DPhil (Oxon)
I have studied the history, art and archaeology of ancient Greece and Rome at the University of St Andrews, Emory University in Atlanta, the British School at Rome and the University of Oxford.
Alison is a classical archaeologist who specialises in the art and archaeology of ancient Rome, in particular sculpture and domestic decoration (wallpaintings and mosaics) alongside their reception, restoration and display since the 1600s. She has taught several graduate and undergraduate courses in Greek and Roman archaeology at Oxford over the past thirteen years. Alison was the Lecturer in Classical Archaeology at St John’s College from 2018-2023 and currently teaches Greek and Roman art and archaeology options for several Oxford colleges and the Faculty of Classics.
Alison has worked at the Ashmolean Museum on various projects since 2010: as Project Curator for the redevelopment of the Randolph Sculpture Gallery; Co-Curator for the redevelopment of the Greek World Gallery; Co-Curator for the Story of the Ashmolean Gallery; and Research Curator for the Last Supper In Pompeii exhibition. You can visit Alison's interactive, online catalogue of the Arundel Marbles here: https://www.cloudtour.tv/ashmolean/arundel_marbles.
Alison is co-editor of the four-volume monograph on BInchester Roman Fort in County Durham that will be published in 2028-9. As part of this she is working on the catalogues of copper alloy, silver and gold small finds, sculpture and inscriptions, intaglios and painted fresco that were excavated from the fort between 2009 and 2017.
Classical Archaeology, Greece, Rome, fresco, sculpture, small finds, Roman Britain
Undergraduate
Art Under the Roman Empire: AD 14–337
Greek Sculpture: 600-300 BC
Greek Art and Archaeology: 500-300 BC
Hellenistic Art and Archaeology: 330-30 BC
Imperial Culture and Society: AD 50-150
Texts and Contexts
Roman Core: 50 BC- AD 50
Approaches to History: Archaeology
Handling sessions at the Ashmolean Museum
Developing skills in Classical Archaeology
Graduate
Greek and Roman Painting
Roman Sculpture
Publications
Gerrard, C. and Pollard, A. (eds) Vinovium. Binchester Roman fort, vicus and cemetery. Excavations and research 2009-18 (forthcoming 2028-9), including the individual chapters:
‘The Roman copper alloy small finds’
‘The Binchester ring’
‘The intaglios’
‘The pipeclay’
‘The gold and silver small finds’
‘The marble sculpture and inscriptions’
‘The painted wall plaster’
Pollard, A. ‘Public paintings in fifth century Athens: the Stoa Poikile, the Theseum, and the Pinacotheca in the Propylaea’ in J. Bernhardt, A. Bierl, L. Hübner and A. Trachsel (eds) The Poet of the Greeks: The Genesis and Reception of Homer in Archaic and Classical Greece (De Gruyter, forthcoming 2026)
Pollard, A. ‘A first look at the bronze small finds from the Roman fort at Binchester’ in Omnibus 86 (The Classical Association, September 2023)
Pollard, A. ‘Was sport ever fair in ancient Greece and Rome?’ in St John’s Inspire Programme. Inspire Critical Thinking 2022/3: Is Sport Ever Fair? (St John’s College, Oxford, 2023) 13-15
Gardiner, H. and Pollard, A., ‘Crockery by Celadus’ in Ashmolean: Museum of Art and Archaeology 78 (Oxford: Ashmolean Museum; 2019) 9-10
Pollard, A. ‘Catalogue of exhibition objects and organic samples’ in P. Roberts (et al.) Last Supper in Pompeii (Oxford: Ashmolean Museum; 2019) 252-272
Pollard, A. ‘I came, I saw, I ate fried dormice’ in SJC Inspire Magazine, Issue 2 (July 2019: https://sjcinspire.com/2019/07/31/i-came-i-saw-i-ate-fried-dormice/
Pollard, A. ‘Gladiators and Circus Horses in Pompeii’s House of D. Octavius Quartio?’ in The Journal of Roman Archaeology, Vol. 31 (2018)
Pollard, A. ‘A multispectral imaging and 3D modelling project on the Arundel Marbles’ in K. Kelley and R. K.L. Wood (eds) Digital Imaging of Artefacts: Developments in Methods and Aims (Oxford, 2018)
Selected entries in The Ashmolean Museum: Crossing Cultures, Crossing Time (Oxford, 2014): Metrological Relief, Funerary Relief of a Doctor and his Wife, Head of Marcus Aurelius, The Wint Hill Bowl, Intaglio with Alexander, Gold Bulla, The Felix Gem, The Beneventum Brooch, Gold Buckle, Gem with the Archangel Michael, The Parian Marble, Wall Painting from Pompeii, Ivory Panel of Virgin Hodegetria.
Pollard, A. ‘Two Roman fresco paintings’ in Ashmolean: Museum of Art and Archaeology, no. 68 (Oxford, 2014)
Pollard, A. ‘Redeveloping the Randolph Sculpture Gallery’ in Ashmolean: Museum of Art and Archaeology, no. 65 (Oxford, 2013)
Pollard, A. and Kennedy, E. The Methodist Church: Celebrating 150 years of Ministry to the Armed Forces (London, 2010)
Catalogues and online resources
The Arundel Marbles at the Ashmolean Museum: An interactive guide to the collection by Dr Alison Pollard (2022): https://www.cloudtour.tv/ashmolean/arundel_marbles
Audio / Podcasts
‘Requiem for a Pug’ in Museum Secrets: Hidden Stories from the Ashmolean (Oxford: Ashmolean Museum, 2022): MUSEUM SECRETS | Ashmolean Museum
'Competitive Collecting and Suspicious Shipwrecks' in Fingerprints: An Ashmolean Museum podcast: FINGERPRINTS | Ashmolean Museum
