When in Rome…

Recipient of the Macquarie University Gale Scholarship, Dr Peter Keegan.

In October, ancient history postdoctoral scholar Dr Peter Keegan was named the first winner of the Macquarie University Gale Scholarship, which will allow him to spend six months in residence at the British School in Rome.

Keegan, whose field of study is epigraphy - the study of inscriptions - plans to undertake a research project entitled Graffiti under the Caesars, an area which, so far, has not been systemically studied. He became interested in the topic of ancient graffiti when he was finishing his PhD thesis, which focused on tombstone inscriptions in the city of Rome.

“In the course of that, it struck me that there were all kinds of other sources,” he says.

The Italian job

Keegan will leave for Rome in mid-January 2006. During his stay he will have access to original materials and preserved remains found in some of Rome’s finest museums. He will also be rubbing shoulders with the world’s top scholars in his field. Over the years, the British School has played host to an extraordinary range of scholars and organised a stream of conferences, lectures and exhibitions.

Keegan plans to undertake a number of field trips from Rome during his stay - particularly to areas such as Pompeii and Herculaneum – sites that are a rich source of ancient graffiti. He says it will be interesting to compare the thoughts of ordinary men and women in the graffiti found in such places with official written sources.

He is also enthusiastic about being required to present some of his findings to other scholars who are either in residence or visiting the British School.

“It will be exciting because there your theories are immediately put to the test,” he says. Ultimately, Keegan is hoping that his project will result in a series of papers and a monograph.

About the Gale Scholarship

The Macquarie University Gale Scholarship is a new award which will allow for an annual scholarship to be given to a Macquarie postgraduate or recent postdoctoral scholar in order for them to pursue further study in their field of interest at one of the foremost research centres for Roman and Italian studies. The scholarship provides not only for return airfare to Rome but also accommodation at the British School as well as internal travel money.

This extraordinary opportunity came about due to the generosity of Dr and Mrs William Gale, both long-time supporters of the University. Dr Gale recently earned his doctorate in ancient history from Macquarie, and the couple share a passion for ancient history. As Professor Alanna Nobbs, head of the Department of Ancient History noted, “scholarships like this don’t come along every day”.

More Humanities and Language stories here