Dr Richard Kendall

My research interests lie geographically in the northern Black Sea region and thematically in marginalised communities of the ancient world. I am interested in the interaction of Greeks and Romans with the nomadic peoples of the Eurasian steppe (principally Scythians and Sarmatians) and the unique cultural fusions that occurred in this northern extremity of the ancient world. More recently, I have also begun to explore these cross-cultural exchanges in the Caucasus, a topic which emerged from the 'Novel Research and Approaches to the Study of the Caucasus in the Classical Period' workshop I co-organsied with the Caucasus Through Time Network in December 2021.

Within the more traditional heartlands of ancient history, my research has focused on homelessness in the Roman Empire and the development of the notorious Transtiberim Regio of Rome, while I am currently editing a special journal issue of proceedings of 'The Afterlife of the Greco-Persian Wars' conference I co-chaired at Kyoto University, Japan in December 2023 with a colleague at Chiba University. 

I have several years teaching experience on Roman Britain, ancient art and archaeology, archaeological theory, and Greek and Roman history more broadly at the universities of Birmingham, Edinburgh, Nottingham and now Exeter.

Biography

I read Classical Archaeology and Classical Civilisation at UCL, followed by an MPhil in Classical Archaeology at Magdalen College, University of Oxford. I subsequently took an MRes in Ancient History at the University of Birmingham, where I also took on my first teaching role, before completing a PhD at the University of Edinburgh in 2024. I was Teaching Associate in Roman Archaeology at the University of Nottingham for a year before joining the University of Exeter as Lecturer in Classics and Ancient History in 2025.