Elizabeth Astbury

Elizabeth Astbury

Classics, Ancient History and Archaeology
Doctoral Researcher

Contact details

Qualifications

  • BA (Hons) Ancient & Medieval History
  • MA in Classical Studies

Doctoral research

Research

I aim to follow a multi-disciplinary approach to assess the validity of scholars' arguments that Roman society was socially mobile for all. I will examine epigraphical, archaeological and material evidence from Roman columbaria, which were the final resting places for mainly urban domestic slaves and freedmen of aristocratic households, to explore the individual monuments for signs of socially mobile slaves. To fully understand the issue of social mobility, as a secondary issue, I aim to place the tombs in their historical, social and topographical context.