Gregory Aldrete

Armor, Battles, and Riots

I will be working on three unrelated projects over the course of the year, all of which rather oddly seem to share the theme of violence. First, I will be finishing up a book on reconstructing and testing a mysterious type of linen body armor that was widely used in the ancient world. Next, I will be writing and recording a video lecture course on 36 Decisive Battles in World History, and the remainder of the year will be spent doing research for a book on riots in ancient Rome. While ancient Rome is usually depicted as an unruly, riotous city, this study hopes to offer a more nuanced investigation of the causes, characteristics, organization, and effects of these incidents of collective urban violence.

Gregory S. Aldrete (Princeton B.A, 1988.; Univ. of Michigan M.A. and Ph.D. 1995) is the Frankenthal Professor of History and Humanistic Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. His books include: Linen Armor in Ancient World: The Linothorax Mystery (2013 with S. Bartell and A. Aldrete), The Long Shadow of Antiquity: What Have the Greeks and Romans Have Done For Us? (with A. Aldrete), Gestures and Acclamation in Ancient Rome, Floods of the Tiber in Ancient Rome, Daily Life in the Roman City: Rome, Pompeii, and Ostia, and the Greenwood Encyclopedia of Daily Life I: The Ancient World (editor). Aldrete was awarded NEH Humanities Fellowships for 2004/5 and 2012/13, was a member of two NEH seminars held at the American Academy in Rome, was a Visiting Scholar at the American Academy in Rome, received the Award for Excellence in Teaching at the College Level from the American Philological Association, is a National Lecturer for the Archaeological Institute of America, was a Wisconsin System Teaching Fellow and a UWGB Teaching Scholar, and was chosen as a recipient of both the Founders Association Award for Excellence in Teaching and the Founders Association Award for Excellence in Scholarship, the highest awards given by his university.