Associate Professor and Chair
Department of Ancient History and Classics
Trent University
1600 Westbank Drive
Peterborough ON, K9J 7B8
CANADA
Telephone: 705-748-1011 ext 7838
Email: hughelton@trentu.ca
Hugh Elton’s current research concentrates on Cilicia and Isauria (i.e. Asia Minor north of Cyprus), addressing the question of what it means to be Roman in these areas. This question of identity can be addressed in many different ways. Although in literature Isaurians are a well-stereotyped ethnic grouping, with a clear identity (at least, as perceived by outsiders), how is this represented materially? And is Isauria significantly different in its material culture to other regions of the Roman Empire? These questions are addressed through the Göksu Archaeological Project, an interdisciplinary multi-period survey in the Taurus Mountains (www.biaatr.org/goksu). This project provides contextual information for a number of previously excavated sites (Alahan, Aloda, Dağpazarı) as well as recording low-lying areas threatened with flooding by a planned dam near Mut. Changes in regional culture are explored between the Paleolithic and the Ottoman periods, though focusing in particular on the fifth century AD, when a local, Zeno, became Roman emperor.
Dr. Elton is also writing a book on Cilicia and Rome in Late Antiquity. This work covers the third to seventh centuries AD and focuses on what it meant to Cilicia and Isauria to be a part of the Late Roman Empire. These consequences are discussed thematically, with chapters focusing on cities, the economy, the gods, the emperor, etc.
Publications (in PDF)
