Professor
Office: Lady Eaton College S107
Phone: 748-1011, ext. 7838
E-mail: hughelton@trentu.ca
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B.A. (Sheffield), D.Phil. (Oxford)
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Prof. Elton specializes in Roman and Late Roman political and military history, and the regions of Cilicia and Isauria in southern Turkey.
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He has participated in a number of archaeological projects, most recently running a multi-period interdisciplinary survey in the GöksuValley near Alahan, and providing advice about best practice for the archaeology of the BTC pipeline.
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Prof. Elton has taught in the Ancient Greek and Roman Studies programme since 2006. His teaching has included courses on the Trojan War, the history of the Roman world (including a number of upper-year courses focusing on the Late Roman Empire in the East), ancient warfare, Isauria, Anglo-Saxon England, Greek and Latin.
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Prior to his arrival at Trent, Hugh taught at a number of American Universities since 1993, and from 2001 through 2006 served as Director of the British Institute at Ankara.
A full list of Dr. Elton's publications and presentations can be read in his Curriculum Vitae
Books
Understanding Ancient Battle Combat in the Classical World from the Unit Commander's Perspective
Traditional military history of battles focussed on the strategies of great leaders, though in modern times many scholars have discussed the ‘face of battle’, describing the personal experience of the ordinary soldier. But in between, there still lies a major gap in our understanding of ancient combat: the officer’s battle. This focuses on how units actually fought and manoeuvred in battle. Hugh Elton seeks to redress this through analysis of the interaction of equipment, morale, leadership, and terrain.
Recent Publications
Elton, H., Haldon, J. and Izdebski, A., “Managing the Roman Empire for the Long Term: Risk Assessment and Management Policy in the Fifth to Seventh Centuries”, in Izdebski, A. et al., eds., Perspectives on Public Policy in Societal-Environmental Crises, Risk, Systems and Decisions (Cham, 2022), 237-246; https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-94137-6_16
Elton, H., Jacobson, M., Pickett, J., Gascoigne, A., and Fleitmann, D., “Settlement, environment, and climate change in SW Anatolia: dynamics of regional variation and the end of Antiquity”, PLoS ONE 17.6 (2022); https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0270295
Elton, H., “Agricultural Decision Making on the south coast of the Black Sea in Classical Antiquity”, in Coskun, A., ed., Ethnic Constructs, Royal Dynasties and Historical Geography around the Black Sea Littoral (Stuttgart, Franz Steiner Verlag, 2021), 343-355
Elton, H., “Fighting for Chalcedon: Vitalian’s rebellion against Anastasius” in Dijkstra, J. and Raschle, C., eds., Religious Violence in the Ancient World (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2020), 367-388.
Jacobs, I. and ELTON, H., eds., Asia Minor in the Long Sixth Century: Current Research and Future Directions (Oxford, Oxbow Books, 2019).
ELTON, H. "Pulcheria, Roman Augusta, 414–453 CE" in The Oxford Classical Dictionary, digital ed. Oxford University Press. [2019]. doi: 10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.013.7000.
ELTON, H. “The countryside in Southern Asia Minor in the long sixth century AD” in Jacobs, I. and Elton, H., eds., Asia Minor in the Long Sixth Century: Current Research and Future Directions (Oxford, Oxbow Books, 2019), 91-108.
ELTON, H., The Late Roman Empire in late antiquity: a political and military history (Cambridge, CUP, 2018).
ELTON, H., Haldon, J., Huebner, S.R., Izdebski, A., Mordechai, L., and Newfield, T.P., “Plagues, climate change, and the end of an empire: A response to Kyle Harper's The Fate of Rome”
- "Climate," History Compass. 16.12 (2018); e12508. https://doi.org/10.1111/hic3.12508.
- "Plagues and a crisis of empire," History Compass. 16.12 (2018); e12506. https://doi.org/10.1111/hic3.12506.
- "Disease, agency, and collapse," History Compass 16.12 (2018); e12507. https://doi.org/10.1111/hic3.12507.
Haldon, J., ELTON, H., and Newhard, J., Archaeology and Urban Settlement in late Roman and Byzantine Anatolia (Cambridge: CUP, 2018).
ELTON, H., Cassis, M., Doonan, O., Elton, H. and Newhard, J., ‘Evaluating Archaeological Evidence for Demographics, Abandonment, and Recovery in Late Antique and Byzantine Anatolia’, Human Ecology 46.3 (2018), 381-398. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10745-018-0003-1.
ELTON H., Roberts, N., Cassis, M., Doonan, O., Eastwood, W., Haldon, J., Izdebski, A. and Newhard, J. "Not the end of the world? Post-Classical decline and recovery in rural Anatolia", in Human Ecology 46.3 (2018), 1-18; https://doi.org/10.1007/s10745-018-9973-2
ELTON, H. “The settlement at Alahan: an example of dispersed urbanism?”, in Aydınoğlu, Ü. and Mörel, A., eds., Antik Dönemde Akdeniz’de Kırsal ve Kent (Rural Settlements and Urban Centers in Mediterranean during Antiquity) (Mersin, 2017), 5-14.
Recent Presentations
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November 2023: "An Isaurian city and its villages: how the Late Roman City at Alahan managed its territory", Between City and Countryside: Order and Authority in Late Antique Asia Minor, University of Cologne, Germany
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November 2023: "Imperial Decision-Making in the Reign of Zeno (474-491)", Bamberg University, Germany
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November 2023: "The Roman City of Isaura", Ankara University, Turkey
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May 2023: “Theodoret of Cyrrhus and Theodosius II in 448”, Letters and Late Roman Politics, Ghent University, Belgium
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March 2023: “Roman Imperial Politics in the Reign of Zeno", Classics Department, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario
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February 2023: “How to Integrate Human and Environmental Histories”, in Classical Charleston: Lecture Series on Environmental Change and Human Resiliency, Charleston, SC
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November 2022: "Palynology and olive cultivation in ancient Anatolia", Bodrum, Turkey
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November 2019: “Feeding Constantinople”, Trent GIS Day, Trent University
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October 2019: with Mark Jackson, “Isauria and the End of the Roman Empire“, British Institute at Ankara, Turkey; https://www.youtube.com/watchv=y1II_R-6JOA.
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June 2019: “The emperor Zeno and Isauria”, Late Antique Archaeology: Imperial Archaeologies, Birkbeck College, London UK.
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November 2018: “Agricultural Decision Making in Roman Paphlagonia and Pontus”, Recent Research in Ancient Black Sea Studies, University of Waterloo.
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October 2017: "Vitalian and his revolt against the emperor Anastasius”, Late Roman Seminar, Oxford, UK.
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September 2017: “Fighting for Chalcedon: Vitalian’s Rebellion against Anastasius (513-515 CE)”, Religious Violence in Antiquity, in Ottawa, held in Montreal and Ottawa.
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July 2017: “Agriculture and Climate Change in Late Roman Pontus”, Black Sea Workshop, Iasi, Romania (via Skype).
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April 2017: “Assessing Regional Wealth in Late Roman Pontus: interpreting the results of the Avkat Archaeological Project”, CAMWS, University of Waterloo.
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December 2016: The development of the countryside in South Asia Minor in the long sixth century”, Asia Minor in the Long Sixth Century, Oxford, UK.