Dr Joshua Thomas

thomas joshua
Departmental Lecturer in Classical Archaeology and Art, Faculty of Classics
joshua.thomas@classics.ox.ac.uk

Qualifications: BA, MSt, DPhil (Oxon)

ORCID ID: 0000-0001-6353-397X

Link to college page: 

 

Academic Background

I attended state school in Birmingham before coming to Oxford to study Classical Archaeology and Ancient History. After completing my doctorate in 2016, I held the Lavery-Shuffrey Early Career Fellowship in Roman Art and Archaeology at Lincoln College for four years. I then moved to Munich for a two-year Alexander-von-Humboldt Fellowship, before returning to Oxford as Departmental Lecturer in September 2022.

Research Interests

My research focuses on the historical interpretation of the art and visual cultures of the Graeco-Roman world. I am currently working on my second monograph, which will examine the settings and functions of high-grade animal statues during antiquity, from Archaic Greece to Imperial Rome. I am also a member of the excavation team at Aphrodisias in Turkey, where I work on Roman sculpture.

Research Keywords

Ancient material and visual culture; Greek and Roman sculpture; Hellenistic art and archaeology; intersection of art and science during antiquity

Teaching

I have taught the following undergraduate papers: Greek Sculpture, 600–300 BC; Greek Art and Archaeology, 500–300 BC; Hellenistic Art and Archaeology, 330–30 BC; Rome, Italy and the Hellenistic East, c. 300–100 BC; Art Under the Roman Empire, AD 14–337; Texts and Contexts.

Publications

Full Publications: Dr Joshua Thomas Publications 2022

Selected Publications:

Forthcoming    ‘The Colossal Figural Consoles of the Hadrianic Baths at Aphrodisias’, Istanbuler Mitteilungen 72

2022               ‘The Ptolemy Painting? Alexander’s ‘Right-Hand Man’ and the Origins of the Alexander Mosaic’, Journal of Roman Archaeology 35.1, 306–321.

2021                Art, Science and the Natural World in the Ancient Mediterranean, 300 BC – AD 100, Oxford Studies in Ancient Culture and Representation, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

2019                ‘The Illustrated Dioskourides Codices and the Transmission of Images during Antiquity’, Journal of Roman Studies 109, 241–273.

2018                ‘The Statues of the Cyclops«: Reconstructing a Public Monument from Aphrodisias in Caria’, Istanbuler Mitteilungen 68, 143–172.