Staff Profiles

Marta García Morcillo holds a PhD in Ancient History by the University of Barcelona. Her research focuses mainly on ancient economic history and the history of economic mentalities. She is particularly interested in the dialogues and conflicts between wealth, money and morality in Roman society. Marta also works on the reception of antiquity in modern visual media. Previous to her appointment at Newcastle University, she was Senior Research Fellow at the College for Social Sciences and Humanities (University Alliance Ruhr, Essen), Research Fellow at the University of Turin (2024), Assistant Professor (research) at Durham University (2023), and Visiting Fellow at the Institute of Classical Studies (London) (2022-23). Marta has lectured Ancient History and Classics at the Universities of Roehampton (London) (2013-22), Wales TSD (Lampeter) (2010-12), Leicester (2008-9), Dresden (2006-8) and Heidelberg (2005-6), and was Senior Research Fellow of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (Heidelberg, 2012-13, and Potsdam, 2023). She has been UK PI of the project Twisted Transfers: Discourses of Corruption in Ancient Greece and Rome (AHRC/DFG) (2020-24), and co-investigator of EtiamEgo: Violence against women in ancient Rome (Università degli Studi di Torino, 2024).

Marta's research projects and publications revolve around topics such as trade and markets, concepts of value, wealth, morality and social inequality, as well as economic corruption in the Greco-Roman world. She is also interested in the intersections between Roman law and economic history, ancient and modern. Recent publications include the journal issue Discursive Constructions of Corruption in Ancient Rome (Cultural History 13.1, 2024, ed. with F. Carlà-Uhink); and the volumes The Real Estate Market in the Roman World (Routledge, 2023), and Managing Information in the Roman Economy (Palgrave-MacMillan 2021) (both ed. with C. Rosillo-López). Marta is cofounder of Imagines Project and member of the Engendering Ancient Economies Network. She is coeditor of the book series: RomeScapes (Edizioni Quasar), Twisted Transfers (De Gruyter), and Elements in the City of Rome (CUP).

Research interests:

• Ancient economic mentalities
• Roman financial history
• Markets and trade in Ancient Rome
• Social and gender inequalities in ancient Rome
• Ancient corruption
• Uses of antiquity in modern media and popular culture

Semester 1, 24-25:

CAH2006: Hellenistic Empires from Alexander to Cleopatra (module leader)

HCA1008: Global Ancient Histories (contributor)

CAH2009: Portfolio in Ancient History I (contributor)