Dr Alison John

I work on the literary and social history of the late antique West, with a special interest in Gaul and Italy. My PhD thesis examined the shifting practices and attitudes toward classical education in late antique Gaul, exploring the role classical schools of grammar and rhetoric played in Gallo-Roman politics and society, and how this changed in response to the shifting political, religious, and cultural landscapes of the late antique West. The resulting monograph (Learning and Power in Late Antique Gaul: Classical Education and the End of Roman Rule) will be published by Cambridge University Press in 2025.

My new project focuses on Greek-Latin bilingualism in Italy and Gaul in Late Antiquity (ca. AD 300 – 650). It seeks to understand how Greek was used in literary and political culture, in religion, and in daily life during a period that witnessed fundamental transformations to the fabric of society. Since Greek had been an integral part of Roman intellectual culture and identity since the Republic, by collecting and analysing the evidence for the place of Greek in Italy and Gaul, this project aims to offer a more comprehensive picture of the transformations of the late antique West, which will enrich our understanding of the intellectual, cultural, and literary history of Western Europe in this period of transition.