I am a Roman archaeologist who mainly focuses on urban developments in the imperial and late antique periods, especially in the city of Rome and Italy. I am also involved in research on internet-supported learning in archaeology. 

I have researched the impact of movement on land and water on urban developments in central and eastern Rome, as well as along the Tiber. I have also studied how capital cities may express political status through architecture and ritual, with a focus on Rome, Constantinople and Ravenna, and the rituals surrounding banquets in the imperial palaces at Rome and Constantinople. 

Currently, I am continuing my studies of harbour areas in Rome, regarding both their physical and social environments. I am also studying the relationship between Rome and its hinterland, related to ecology, movement and population density. 

Biography

I gained my PhD in Classical Archaeology and Ancient History from the University of Uppsala in 2003. I was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Oxford in 2004-2005, and Research Fellow at the Swedish Institute in Rome in 2005-2011, before taking up my current position at the University of Bergen in 2012. I have since also been a Visiting Professor at the Norwegian Institute in Rome. I have led or participated in research projects funded by the Swedish Research Council, the Bank of Sweden Tercentenary Foundation, the Nordic Research Councils in the Humanities and Social Sciences, the Meltzer Fund, and ERASMUS+. 

Fields of Research

Roman archaeology

Urban processes in Rome, Ostia, Ravenna and Constantinople, especially harbour quarters

Traffic and urban movement

Internet-supported learning

Social identity

Imperial ceremony, political legitimacy, functions of capital cities

Study of foodways

AHKR215: Ancient Rome

ARK100: Introduction to Archaeology

ARK110: People, Evolution and Society: From the First Humans to the End of the Bronze Age c. 500 BC

ARK120: The Mediterranean, Northern Europe, and the Nordic Region from c. 500 BC to AD 1500

ARK123: Introduction to Roman Archaeology

ARK210: Theory and Method

ARK212: Urban Studies in Archaeology

ARK250: Bachelor Thesis in Archaeology

ARK305: Archaeological Theory and Method

ARK350: Archaeology Master Thesis

Selected Publications

Monographs & Edited Books

2023: City, Hinterland and Environment: Urban Resilience during the First Millennium Transition (Acta ad archaelogiam et artium historiam pertinentia, 34), co-edited with Eivind Seland and Christopher Prescott. Vol. 34 No. 20 N.S. (2022): City, Hinterland and Environment: Urban Resilience during the First Millennium Transition | Acta ad archaeologiam et artium historiam pertinentia (uio.no)

2015: The Moving City: Processions, Passages and Promenades in Ancient Rome (Bloomsbury Academic), co-edited with Ida Östenberg and Jonas Bjørnebye

2003: Dazzling Dining: Banquets as an Expression of Imperial Legitimacy (Uppsala University), PhD thesis. Examiner: Professor Dame Averil Cameron.

Scholarly Articles & Book Chapters

2024: The Tiber and the Harbours of Rome, in J. Rüggemeier and S. Feist (eds.) Early Christian Centres 1: Rome (Mohr Siebeck Verlag), in press. 

2023: A Millennium of Resilience, Vulnerability and Sustainability at Rome, c. 200 BCE-800 CE, in S. Malmberg, E. Seland & C. Prescott (eds.), City, Hinterland and Environment: Urban Resilience during the First Millennium Transition (Norwegian Institute in Rome), pp. 45-61. View of A Millennium of Resilience, Vulnerability and Sustainability at Rome, c. 200 BCE-800 CE (uio.no)

2023: Introduction, in S. Malmberg, E. Seland & C. Prescott (eds.), City, Hinterland and Environment: Urban Resilience during the First Millennium Transition (Norwegian Institute in Rome), pp. ix-xiii, co-written with Eivind Seland. View of Introduction (uio.no)

2023: Neighbourhoods by the Tiber: Life at Two Harbours in Rome, in A. Haug, A. Hielscher and A.-L. Krüger (eds.) Neighbourhoods and City Quarters in Antiquity. Design and Experience (De Gruyter), pp. 83-98. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783111248097-006

2023: Hvordan fungerte Roma som havneby i antikken? [How did Rome function as a port in antiquity?], Riss: et arkeologisk tidskrift 2023: 5, pp. 16-23. 

2022: Ancient Cities: Teaching and Learning in the Digital Age, Journal of Archaeology and Education 6:3, article 1 (38 pp.) Ancient Cities: Teaching and Learning in the Digital Age (umaine.edu), co-written with S. Feuser, M. Blømer, F. Brouns, A. Duplouy, S. Merten, C. Videbech, A. Zambon & M. Zarmakoupi.

2021: Ancient Cities: Teaching and Learning in the Digital Age, in S. Feuser, S. Merten & K. Wesselmann (eds.) Teaching Classics in the Digital Age (Universitætsverlag Kiel), pp. 107-116. Ancient Cities (uni-kiel.de), co-written with S. Feuser, M. Blømer, F. Brouns, A. Duplouy, S. Merten, C. Videbech & M. Zarmakoupi.

2021: Der MOOC 'Discovering Greek & Roman Cities': Lebenslanges Lernen im digitalen Zeitalter, in S. Barsch (ed.) Geschichtsdidaktische Perspektive auf die 'Vormoderne'. Fachwissenschaft und Fachdidaktik im Dialog (Universitætsverlag Kiel), pp. 35-49. Der MOOC 'Discovering Greek & Roman Cities' (uni-kiel.de), co-written with S. Feuser, M. Blømer, F. Brouns, A. Duplouy, S. Merten, C. Videbech & M. Zarmakoupi.

2021: Understanding Rome as a Port City, in F. Vermeulen and A. Zuiderhoek (eds.) Space, Movement and the Economy in Roman Cities in Italy and Beyond (Routledge), pp. 315-372.

2016: Ravenna: Naval Base, Commercial Hub, Capital City, in K. Höghammar, B. Alroth & A. Lindhagen (eds.), Ancient Ports: The Geography of Connections (Uppsala University Press), pp. 323-346.

2015: ’Ships Are Seen Gliding Swiftly along the Sacred Tiber’: The River as an Artery of Urban Movement and Development, in I. Östenberg, S. Malmberg and J. Bjørnebye (eds.), The Moving City: Processions, Passages and Promenades in Ancient Rome (Bloomsbury Academic), pp. 187-201, 307-312.

2015: Introduction, in I. Östenberg, S. Malmberg and J. Bjørnebye (eds.), The Moving City: Processions, Passages and Promenades in Ancient Rome (Bloomsbury Academic), pp. 1-9, co-written with I. Östenberg and J. Bjørnebye. 

2014: Triumphal Arches and Gates of Piety at Constantinople, Ravenna and Rome, in S. Birk, T. Myrup Kristensen & B. Poulsen (eds.), Using Images in Late Antiquity (Oxbow Books), pp. 150-189. 

2014: The Swedish Institute of Classical Studies at Rome, in C. Smith (ed.), Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology (Springer), pp. 7181-7183, co-written with B.S. Frizell.

2013: The New Palace of Mehmed Fatih and its Byzantine Legacy, in A. Ödekan, N. Necipoglu & E. Akyürek (eds.), The Byzantine Court: Source of Power and Culture (Koç University Press), pp. 49-55.

2013: Byen mellem havnene: skibsfart og dagligt brød i senantikkens Konstantinopel [The city between the harbours: shipping and daily bread in late antique Constantinople], Sfinx 2013:2, pp. 57-61.

2013: Vad är klassisk arkeologi? [What is classical archaeology?], Riss: et arkeologisk tidsskrift 2013:1, pp. 16-23.

2013: Banquets, Byzantine, in R. Bagnall, K. Brodersen, C.B. Champion, A. Erskine & S.R. Huebner (eds.), The Encyclopedia of Ancient History (Wiley-Blackwell), pp. 1035-1036.

2012: Romerskt bordsskick [Roman table manners], Klassisk Forum 2012:2, pp. 53-59.

2011: Movement and Urban Development at Two City Gates in Rome: the Porta Esquilina and Porta Tiburtina, in R. Laurence & D. Newsome (eds.), Rome, Ostia and Pompeii: Movement and Space (Oxford University Press), pp. 361-385, co-written with H. Bjur. 

2010: Forum Romanum: marknadsplats eller monument? [Forum Romanum: market place or monument?], Tidningen Stad 2 (2010). pp. 42-43.

2010: Mehmet Fatihs bysantinska palats [The Byzantine Palace of Mehmet Fatih], Dragomanen 14, pp. 74-80.

2009: Navigating the Urban Via Tiburtina, in H. Bjur & B. Santillo Frizell (eds.), Via Tiburtina: Space, Movement and Artefacts in the Urban Landscape (Swedish Institute in Rome), pp. 61-78. 

2009: The Suburb as Centre, in H. Bjur & B. Santillo Frizell (eds.), Via Tiburtina: Space, Movement and Artefacts in the Urban Landscape (Swedish Institute in Rome), pp. 109-128, co-written with H. Bjur. 

2009: Finding Your Way in the Subura, in M. Driessen et al. (eds.), TRAC 2008. Proceedings of the Eighteenth Annual Theoretical Roman Archaeology Conference (Oxbow Books), pp. 39-51. 

2007: Dazzling Dining, in L. Brubaker & K. Linardou (eds.), Eat, Drink and Be Merry (Luke 12:19) – Food and Wine in Byzantium. Papers of the 37th Annual Spring Symposium of Byzantine Studies in Honour of Professor A.A.M. Bryer (Ashgate), pp. 75-91. 

2005: Visualising Hierarchy at Imperial Banquets, in W. Mayer & S. Trzcionka (eds.), Feast, Fast or Famine: Food and Drink in Byzantium [Byzantina Australiensia 15] (Australian Association for Byzantine Studies), pp. 11-24. 

2005: Rituals on the road: two highways at Rome and Ravenna AD 400-750, in H. Bjur & B. Santillo Frizell (eds.), Via Tiburtina. Space, movement and artefacts in the urban landscape [The Swedish Institute in Rome. Projects and Seminars, 4:1] (The Swedish Institute in Rome), pp. 47-50.

Reviews

2021: Review of N. Westbrook, The Great Palace in Constantinople: an Architectural Interpretation, in Antiquité Tardive 29, pp. 293-295.

2015: Review of M. David, Eternal Ravenna: from the Etruscans to the Venetians, in The Classical Review 65:1, pp. 238-240. 

2014: Review of S. Alcock, J. Bodel, R. Talbert (eds.), Highways, byways, and road systems in the pre-modern world, in The Classical Review 64:1, pp. 262-264.

2011: Review of L. Revell, Roman Imperialism and Local Identities, in European Journal of Archaeology 14:1-2, pp. 334-336. 

2009: Review of P. von Rummel, Habitus barbarus: Kleidung und Repräsentation spätantiker Eliten im 4. und 5. Jahrhundert, in Opuscula 2, pp. 226-227. 

The Tiber River in Rome: Shaping Urban Movement and Development 

The project, funded by the Meltzer Foundation, studies the impact of the river Tiber on Rome. The river was essential in supporting the massive urban population of Rome from the late Republic to late antiquity. The strain of supplying up to a million inhabitants in a pre-industrial society necessitated harbour facilities of an unprecedented scale. The harbours transformed the banks of the Tiber not just into the largest port of the Mediterranean area, but also into the largest commercial and industrial zone of the ancient world. The Tiber shaped the character of the adjacent city districts of Campus Martius, Transtiberim and Testaccio. Thus, the river was more than infrastructure - it was one of the essential geographic features that shaped the urban form of Rome. 

Results of the project so far has been presented at international conferences, and published in several scholarly publications. 

Earlier Projects

Ancient Cities: Creating a Digital Learning Environment on Cultural Heritage

The project developed an innovative, pan-European digital learning module on the subject of Greek and Roman cities for use at universities, and created a freely available online course (a so-called MOOC) entitled Discovering Greek & Roman Cities for a broad audience. Leading scientists from the field of urban archaeology worked closely together with specialists in digital learning for this project, constantly guided by two questions: How can digital teaching be implemented in the historical humanities and how can digitalisation appeal to different target groups?

The project involved the universities of Bergen, Aarhus, Athens, Kiel, Paris, Pennsylvania, and the Open University of the Netherlands and was funded as an ERASMUS+ Strategic Partnership. The project results have been published in a series of articles. 

For more information, see the project webpage, facebook page and twitter page. 

Globalization, Urbanization and Urban Religion in the Eastern Mediterranean in the Roman and Early Islamic periods

The project, funded by the The Joint Committee for Nordic Research Councils in the Humanities and Social Sciences, consisted of three workshops to examine various outcomes of globalization, urbanization and urban religions in the eastern Mediterranean in the period 1-800 CE. The workshops brought together classicists, classical archaeologists, biblical scholars, theologians,historians and scholars of Islam who integrated the most recent archaeological material into the study of relevant literary sources. The network created  multidisciplinary cooperation and encouraged methodological innovation in the study of the ancient world.

The first workshop, Global and Local Cultures in the Roman East: From Domination to Interaction, was held at the Faculty of Theology, University of Helsinki, in November 2018, organized by Dr. Raimo Hakola. 

The second workshop, Urban Religion and Urban Landscapes in the First Millennium, was held at the Centre for Urban Network Evolutions at Aarhus University, in May 2019, organized by Prof. Rubina Raja.

The third workshop, City, Hinterland, and Environment: Urban Resilience in the Late Roman and Early Islamic Period, was held at the Department of Archaeology, History, Cultural Studies and Religion, University of Bergen, on September 23-25, 2019, organized by Prof. Eivind Seland and Prof. Simon Malmberg. The workshop papers are published as a thematic issue of the journal Acta ad archaeologiam et artium historiam pertinentia by the Norwegian Institute in Rome in 2023.