Dr. Alan Bowman

Biography

Alan Bowman is a historian specializing in the Roman Empire, with research focused on Greek and Latin documents from the ancient Mediterranean, including papyri and inscriptions from Egypt during the Ptolemaic and Roman periods. He has significantly contributed to the understanding of social and economic history in the Roman Empire and has published works on ancient agricultural economy, taxation, demography, and literacy. As the Founding Director of the Centre for the Study of Ancient Documents, which he established in 1995, he has played a pivotal role in developing digital imaging technologies for damaged documents, serving as Director from 1995 to 2018. He has held key academic positions including Principal of Brasenose College and has been an active member of various scholarly societies, including serving as President of the Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies and Vice-President (Humanities) of the British Academy. His current research focuses on the Corpus of Ptolemaic Inscriptions and new writing tablets from Vindolanda, investigating themes of Latinization in the northwestern provinces of the Roman Empire.

Research Interests

Experience