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Kieran Blewitt
(he/him)
Teams and roles for Kieran Blewitt
Graduate Tutor
Research student
Overview
Biography
I am PhD researcher interested in applying soft power to the ancient world. I focus on the interaction between the Greek and Italic communities of southern Italy and Rome between the 4th-1st century BCE.
My PhD thesis is entitled 'Soft Power in Magna Graecia: Re-evaluating the Revolts of the Second Punic War' supervised by Professor Guy Bradley and Dr Eve MacDonald.
Publications
- Blewitt, KD. and Runco, LR. eds. Forthcoming 2026. War and Peace: People and the State in Rome and Ancient Italy. Classical Press of Wales.
- Blewitt, KD. 2025. Review of 'Carsten Lange’s From Hannibal to Sulla: The Birth of Civil War in Republican Rome'. Bryn Mawr Classical Review. https://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2025/2025.03.46/
- Blewitt, KD. 2021. ‘Rebirth in Madeline Miller’s The Song of Achilles’. Literae Mentis, 7(1), 9-20. https://issuu.com/litteraementis7/docs/litterae_mentis_7_draft_final_for_print
Conferences
- 16th Celtic Conference in Classics 2025
- 'Fondo Patturelli Sanctuary: Rethinking Oscanisation' in the panel 'Rethinking Colonization in Ancient Italy and the Western Mediterranean (500-250 BCE)'
- 15th Celtic Conference in Classics 2024
- I organised a panel entitled 'War and Peace: People and the State in pre-Roman Italy' where I presented a paper on 'The Economics of Soft Power in the Second Punic War'.
- 2024 Annual Meeting of Postgraduates in Ancient History (AMPAH)
- I was a committee member and presented a paper entitled 'Soft Power in Republican Roman History: Why it Matters'.
Academic Positions
- Graduate tutor at Cardiff University (2023 - present)
Research
What is my PhD about?
I am interested in the power dynamics between small ancient states in Italy and their interactions with larger states and empires. In particular, I am interested in the revolts of the Second Punic War and the Social War. To best understand the power dynamics between small and large states in ancient Italy, it is important to examine the soft power of ancient states. Soft power is the ability for a state to achieve its goals through incentives and co-opting, rather than by force. Whilst force and violence were commonplace in the ancient world, I believe it is important to also consider and theorise how states used non-violent means to achieve their desired aims. To do this, I turn to an interdisciplinary approach using soft power as theorised by Joseph Nye in International Relations (IR) alongside close readings of primary texts and material culture.
Research Interests
- Soft power and International Relations (IR)
- Second Punic War (218-201 BCE) and Social War (91-88 BCE)
- Civic identity in Magna Graecia
- Hegemony and imperialism in Republican Roman Italy
- Numismatics
Teaching
I teach on the following modules
- The Near East, Greece, and Rome, 1000-323 BCE
- Empires East and West, 323 BCE to 680 CE
- Investigating the Ancient World: Skills and Evidence
Contact Details
Research themes
Specialisms
- Classical Greek and Roman history
- International relations
- Numismatics
- History of empires, imperialism and colonialism