UCSB Homepage UCSB History Department Homepage Sign In

Elizabeth DePalma Digeser

Current Courses

Winter 2013 (current)


Spring 2013 (tentative)


Department Fields

Announcements

Ph.D. Emphasis in Ancient Mediterranean Studies
Explore our new interdisciplinary Ph.D. emphasis.

What's going on at PENATES, the southern CA UC multi-campus research group in Late Antiquity

What's going on in the Ancient Borderlands Research Focus Group



Current Graduate Students

Ancient Rome, Late Antiquity


Professor, Department Chair
Ph.D., University of California at Santa Barbara, 1996

Office: HSSB 4226 and 4213 (chair)
Hours: by appointment
Phone: (805) 893-2700   Fax: (805) 893-8795
Download CV

I study the intersection of religion and philosophy with Roman politics, as well as the process of "conversion" in Late Antiquity. My latest book, A Threat to Public Piety: Christians, Platonists, and the Great Persecution (Cornell 2012), explores the interactions of Platonist philosophers and Christian theologians in the period leading up to the Great Persecution of AD 303-11. My new research explores the issue of religious diversity within the Roman empire: when religions appeared in the center from the frontier, when did Romans appropriate them? when did their differences spark violence? If you are interested in pursuing graduate work with me, please contact me directly through email.

Research and Teaching Interests

  • Research: Roman Religion in Politics and Thought in the 3-5C CE
  • Teaching: The History of Rome from the Middle Republic through Late Antiquity; History of Christianity

Current Projects

  • The Edict of Serdica: Why Has It Been Ignored?
    This paper, soon to appear in an edited volume collecting papers from a conference in Sofia, Bulgaria (April 2013) explores why the first law expressing a policy of religious toleration is often overlooked.

Selected Publications

  • The Rhetoric of Power in Late Antiquity: Religion and Politics in Byzantium, Europe and the Early Islamic World. I.B. Tauris, 2010
    Edited with Justin Stephens and R. M. Frakes, this collection of essays pays homage to the work of H.A. Drake.
  • "Methodius and Porphyry." Studia Patristica 46 (2010): 21-26
  • "The Power of Religious Rituals: A Philosophical Quarrel on the Eve of the Great Persecution." Shifting Frontiers in Late Antiquity, Vol. VII (2009).
  • "Lactantius, Eusebius and Arnobius: Evidence for the Causes of the Great Persecution." Studia Patristica 39 (2006): 33-46.
  • Religious Identity in Late Antiquity. Toronto, 2006. Co-edited with R. M. Frakes
  • "An Oracle of Apollo at Daphne and the Great Persecution." Classical Philology 99 (2004): 57-77
  • "Porphyry, Julian or Hierokles? The Anonymous Hellene in Makarios Magnes' Apokritikos." Journal of Theological Studies 53 (2002): 466-502.
  • The Making of a Christian Empire: Lactantius and Rome. Ithaca, 2000.
  • "Lactantius, Porphyry, and the Debate over Religious Toleration." Journal of Roman Studies 88 (1998): 129-46

Undergraduate and Graduate Courses

  • HIST 213AB (spring & fall 2011), HIST 201E
    The theme for spring/fall 2011 is the ancient city of Ephesus from a theory of borderlands perspective
  • HIST 112A: Roman Imperialism
    last taught Winter 2010
  • HIST 112B: The Roman Revolution
    last taught Winter 2011
  • HIST 112C: The Late Roman Empire
    Winter 2012
  • HIST 112D: The Roman World in Late Antiquity
    Winter 2013
  • HIST 114A: The History of Christianity to 1000 CE
    Winter 2013
  • HIST 2A: World Civilization to 1000 CE
    last taught Fall 2010
  • HIST 112DR: Directed Readings in Roman History
    Spring 2011 with Ms. Turtledove

Honors and Professional Activities

  • Co-founder, Ancient Borderlands Research Focus Group (with Prof. Christine Thomas)
  • Member, Advisory Board for Ancient Mediterranean Studies
  • President, Phi Beta Kappa, Lambda Chapter
  • UCSB Academic Senate Award for Distinguished Teaching, 2008
  • McGill University History Students Award for Excellence in Teaching, 2004
  • Co-director, UC Workgroup in Late Antiquity