Mathisen, Ralph

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Research Topic: A Prosopographical, Geographical, Architectural, and Sigillographic Evaluation of a Constantinopolitan Foundation Legend

Dr. Mathisen is a Professor of History, Classics, and Medieval Studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He studies the ancient world, with specialties in prosopography, numismatics, late Roman law, and the society, culture, and religion of Late Antiquity. He has published over 100 scholarly articles and written or edited thirteen books, most recently Ancient Mediterranean Civilizations: Prehistory to 640 CE (2nd ed., Oxford UP, 2014). He is the Editor of Oxford Studies in Late Antiquity, the Founding Editor and Editor Emeritus of the Journal of Late Antiquity, past President of the Byzantine Studies Association of North America and the Society for Late Antiquity, and Director of the Biographical Database for Late Antiquity Project. He has been supported by the American Council of Learned Societies, the American Philosophical Society, the Howard Foundation, the Mellon Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and, most recently, the Guggenheim Foundation. During his sojourn at ANAMED, he will be engaged in a project entitled “A Prosopographical, Geographical, and Architectural Evaluation of a Constantinopolitan Foundation Legend,” which will investigate the historical, geographical, and architectural backgrounds of increasingly elaborate legends relating to the emperor Constantine’s foundation of the city of Constantinople in 330 CE.