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Ana Garcia Espinosa AFHEA BA (Hons), MA

Ana Garcia Espinosa

(she/her)

AFHEA BA (Hons), MA

Teams and roles for Ana Garcia Espinosa

Overview

I am a PhD candidate researching the role of royal women in Achaemenid Persia their use of power, their leadership, and their agency, through a selection of fragments of Ctesias of Cnidus’ Persica. My research spans from ancient Greece and the ancient Near East to the Hellenistic period, focusing on leadership, queenship, gender studies and sexuality, ancient warfare and Graeco-Persian interaction.

I work and publish on royal women (Achaemenid Persia, ancient Greece and Hellenistic period), Ctesias of Cnidus and their relationship with texts and literature of other backgrounds, especially from ancient Greece and Iran, on orality and collective memory and women's role as transmitters of history and information.

 

Weaving the Narrative and Shaping Power: an Assessment of Achaemenid Royal Women through Ctesias of Cnidus and the Persica.

My PhD project focuses on the use of soft power and the leadership of Achaemenid royal women through the Persica, written by Ctesias of Cnidus, who worked as a physician for the royal family at the Persian court. This project provides new insights into the different types of power and influence that Achaemenid royal women had, and how they were able to shape the accounts of their heritage, culture, and the legitimacy of their families. It examines how traditional views of what power is rely on ideals of masculinity and performance in battle that miss numerous other dimensions of power, focusing on hard power (i.e., armies, wealth, prowess in battle, etc.), while studying the important role that Ctesias had in Greek literature and the crucial influence of Iranian culture and heritage in his work. 

 

Languages

Spanish (native speaker)

English (bilingual)

German (A2)

Ancient Greek and Latin (BA - Hons, Classical Philology)

Italian, French and Portuguese (reading level)

Research

  • Ancient Warfare.
  • Achaemenid Persia (559-331 BCE)
  • Gender and sexuality in Antiquity.
  • Greek and Persian interaction in the Archaic and Classical periods.
  • Cross cultural comparative between Greece and Persia.
  • Women and power during the Hellenistic period.
  • Iranian royal women, power and leadership.

Publications

Book Chapters

  • McAuley, A. and García-Espinosa, A. (2023) Those infamous females: The (ancient) reception of the sexuality of Hellenistic queens. In: Moore, K. R. ed. The Routledge Companion to the Reception of Ancient Greek and Roman Gender and Sexuality. Routledge, 286-299.
  • García-Espinosa, A. (2022) Mercenary Armies and Power: The Narrative of Power in Xenophon's Anabasis. In: Furlan, U., Husøy, T.A., and Bohun, H. eds. Narratives of Power in the Ancient World. Cambridge Scholars, 218-236.
  • García-Espinosa, A. (Invited) Communication and the Concept of Dynasty in the Achaemenid Court. In: Baker-Brian, N., and McAuley, A. eds, Dynasty in Antiquity: Routledge’s Rewriting Antiquity series, proposal in preparation.
  • García-Espinosa, A. (Forthcoming) Beyond Seductive Shadows: Kleopatra's Beauty and Sexuality from Antiquity to Modern Imagination. In: Peer, A., Maurice, L. and Bar, N. (eds.) The Brill Companion for the Receptions of Cleopatra VII.

Articles

  • García-Espinosa, A. (In press) Olympias of Macedon: Woman, Queen and ἀρχή of a Multidimensional Exercise of Power in the Hellenistic World. Ancient History Bulletin.

Book reviews

  • García-Espinosa, A. (2023) Rev. of Eurydice and the Birth of Macedonian Power, by Elizabeth Carney. Journal of Hellenic Studies 142: 418-419. Cambridge University Press.

 

Teaching

For the 2022/23, 2023/24 and 2024/25 academic years I have taught as Graduate Tutor in the following modules:

For the 2020/21 and 2021/22 academic years I taught as Graduate Tutor in the following modules:

  • HS3105: Introduction to Ancient History 1: Gods, Kings and Citizens, 1000 - 323 BCE.
  • HS3106: Introduction to Ancient History 2: Empires East and West, 323 BCE to 690 CE.
  • HS0002: Projecting the Past: Film, Media and Heritage

Teaching Qualifications

  • September 2022: AHSS Learning to Teach Programme – Cardiff University.
  • 12th September 2022: Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.                                                                              

Biography

Academic Background

  • PhD in Ancient History - Cardiff University (2019 - Present). Thesis title: Weaving the Narrative and Shaping Power: an Assessment of Achaemenid Royal Women through Ctesias of Cnidus and the Persica. Supervisors: Professor Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones and Dr Alex McAuley.
  • MA Ancient History – Cardiff University (2018 - 2019).
  • BA (Hons - 4 years) Classical Philology – Complutense University of Madrid (2012 - 2018). Specialising in Ancient Greek.
  • BA (Hons - 4 years) History – Complutense University of Madrid (2012 - 2018). Specialising in Ancient History.

Honours and awards

  • June 2024: CVHT (Chalke Valley History Trust) - Grant (£500)
  • November 2022: BIPS (British Institute of Persian Studies) - Research Grant (£600).
  • December 2019: Bill John Travel Scholarship – Cardiff University (£476.50).
  • 2012 – 2018: Complutense University of Madrid - Honour Distinction Performance Award during BA studies (1015.2€).
  • 2012: Honour Distinction Grant for the first year of Higher Education Studies – Spanish Government (1200€).

Professional memberships

  • September 2022 - Present: Postgraduate Member of the Royal Historical Society (RHS)
  • 2022 - Present: Member of the Classical Association (CA)
  • 2019 - Present: Member of the British Institute of Persian Studies (BIPS)
  • 2018 - Present: Member of the Sociedad Española de Estudios Clásicos (SEEC)

Speaking engagements

Papers Delivered

  • Cardiff University - CCC (10th -12th July 2024) Weaving Women into History: Achaemenid Royal Women and Dynastic Image in Ctesias of Cnidus' Persica.
  • University of Warwick - CA Annual Conference (24th March 2024) Warlike Women and Wome that like War: Performative Behaviour of Royal Women in times of Conflict in Ancient Iran. 
  • University of Cambridge - CA Annual Conference (21st April 2023) Royal Women, Armies and Warfare in Hellenistic Iran: Who had more Power?
  • Swansea University - CA Annual Conference (08th – 11th April 2022)  Women as Transmitters of History: Ctesias of Cnidus and the Influence of Orality in his Persica.
  • University of Waterloo (Waterloo Institute for Hellenistic Studies) - Power, Royal Agency, and Elite Women in the Hellenistic and Roman World (September 2021-June 2022) Olympias of Macedon: Woman, Queen and ἀρχή of a Multidimensional Exercise of Power in the Hellenistic World.
  • Swansea University - UWICAH (16th November 2019) Mercenary Armies and Power: The Narrative of Power in Xenophon's Anabasis.

Outreach activities

  • Summer 2021: Judge for the History Catergory for The Global Undergraduate Awards.

Committees and reviewing

Conference and Worshop Organisation

  • July 2024: Panel Strand. Near Eastern and Classical Conceptions of Dynasty and Rulership - Cardiff University.
  • July 2023: Twittering the War: Herodotus, Thucydides, and war in Ukraine on social media - Cardiff University.
  • October 2014: Eros Imperat. Poder y deseo en la Antigüedad - Complutense University of Madrid.

Contact Details

Email GarciaEspinosaA@cardiff.ac.uk

Campuses John Percival Building, Colum Drive, Cardiff, CF10 3EU

Research themes

Specialisms

  • Ancient history
  • Hellenistic history
  • Achaemenid Persia
  • Gender and sexuality

External profiles