Professor Shaun Tougher

Professor of Late Roman and Byzantine History

School of History, Archaeology and Religion

Research interests

History of the later Roman and Byzantine empires
Byzantium's Macedonian dynasty
Eunuchs in the Byzantine empire
The history of eunuchs in general
The Emperor Julian the Apostate
The dynasty of Constantine the Great
The family in Byzantium

Research projects

Emperor and Author: the Writings of Julian the Apostate
The Byzantine Family: the Case of the Macedonian Dynasty
Eunuchs of the Roman Empire
In the Shadows of Constantine and Julian: The Roman Empire AD 337–361

2024

Tougher, S. 2024. Court life in Byzantine Constantinople: The age of the Macedonian Dynasty (867-1056). In: Burgersdijk, D., Gerritsen, F. and Waal, W. eds. Constantinople through the Ages: The Visible City from Its Foundation to Contemporary Istanbul., Vol. 8. Cultural Interactions in the Mediterranean Brill, pp. 86-106., (10.1163/9789004710986_006)
Tougher, S. ed. 2024. Studies in Byzantine history and culture. A Festschrift for Paul Magdalino. The Medieval Mediterranean. Brill. (10.1163/9789004707603)
Tougher, S. 2024. The Macedonian dynasty in the life of Basil the Younger: people and places. In: Tougher, S. ed. Studies in Byzantine History and Culture. The Medieval Mediterranean Brill
Tougher, S. 2024. Sex in Constantinople in the Sixth Century CE. In: Wiesner-Hanks, M. E. and Kuefler, M. eds. The Cambridge World History of Sexualities, vol. 3, Sites of Knowledge and Practice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 47-66.
Tougher, S. 2024. Daddy issues: Remembering Constantius I and his other children. In: Lenski, N., Rees, R. and van Nijf, O. eds. From East to West in Late Antiquity. Bari: Edipuglia

2022

Evans, R. and Tougher, S. eds. 2022. Generalship in Ancient Greece, Rome and Byzantium. Edinburgh University Press.
Tougher, S. 2022. Generalship and gender in Byzantium: non-campaigning Emperors and Eunuch Generals in the Age of the Macedonian Dynasty. In: Evans, R. and Tougher, S. eds. Generalship in Ancient Greece, Rome and Byzantium. Edinburgh University Press, pp. 264-283.
Tougher, S. and Llewellyn-Jones, L. 2022. Alexander the gay and the gloryhole that was Greece. In: Stoneman, R. ed. A History of Alexander the Great in World Culture. Cambridge University Press, pp. 424-447., (10.1017/9781316711798.020)

2021

Tougher, S. 2021. Eudokia Ingerina and the "Macedonian Dynasty": The visible woman. In: Chiriatti, M. C. and Marin, R. V. eds. Mujeres Imperiales, Mujeres Reales: Representaciones públicas y representaciones del poder en la Antigüedad tardía y Bizancio. Brill, pp. 357-372.
Tougher, S. 2021. Basil the Younger comes to stay. Eunuchs and other male friends in Constantinopolitan households. In: James, L., Nicholson, O. and Scott, R. eds. After the Text. Byzantine Enquiries in Honour of Margaret Mullett. Birmingham Byzantine and Ottoman Studies Abingdon and New York: Routledge, pp. 233-240.

2020

Tougher, S. 2020. Roman castrati: eunuchs in the Roman empire. Bloomsbury.
Baker-Brian, N. J. and Tougher, S. 2020. Introduction: In the shadows of Constantine and Julian: The sons of Constantine, AD 337-361. In: Baker-Brian, N. J. and Tougher, S. eds. The Sons of Constantine, AD 337-361: In the Shadows of Constantine and Julian. New Approaches to Byzantine History and Culture Basingstoke: Palgrave MacMillan, (10.1007/978-3-030-39898-9)
Baker-Brian, N. and Tougher, S. eds. 2020. The sons of Constantine, AD 337-361: in the shadows of Constantine and Julian. New Approaches to Byzantine History and Culture. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan. (10.1007/978-3-030-39898-9)
Tougher, S. 2020. Julian and Claudius Mamertinus: Panegyric and Polemic in East and West. In: Omissi, A. and Ross, A. J. eds. Imperial Panegyric from Diocletian to Honorius. Liverpool University Press, pp. 117-140.
Tougher, S. 2020. Eusebia and Eusebius: the roles and significance of Constantinian imperial women and court eunuchs. In: Baker-Brian, N. J. and Tougher, S. eds. The Sons of Constantine, AD 337-361: In the Shadows of Constantine and Julian. New Approaches to Byzantine History and Culture Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 185-220.

2019

Tougher, S. ed. 2019. The Emperor in the Byzantine world: Papers from the Forty-Seventh Spring Symposium of Byzantine Studies. London and New York: Routledge.
Tougher, S. 2019. Macedonian mirrors: The advice of Basil I for his son Leo VI. In: Roksam, G. and Schorn, S. eds. Concepts of Ideal Rulership from Antiquity to the Renaissance. Brepols, pp. 355-382., (10.1484/M.LECTIO-EB.5.116070)
Tougher, S. 2019. Byzantine eunuchs as generals: The case of Narses. In: Grunbart, M. ed. Verflechtungen zwischen Byzanz und dem Orient., Vol. 9. Lit Verlag, pp. 93-102.

2018

Tougher, S. 2018. Gendering grief: Emotional eunuchs - consoling Constantine the Paphlagonian. In: Constantinou, S. and Meyer, M. eds. Emotions and Gender in Byzantine Culture. New Approaches to Byzantine History and Culture Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 93-107., (10.1007/978-3-319-96038-8_4)
Tougher, S. 2018. Julian Augustus on Augustus: Octavian in the 'Caesars'. In: Goodman, P. J. ed. Afterlives of Augustus, AD 14-2014. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 87-102.

2017

Tougher, S. 2017. Byzantine court eunuchs and the Macedonian dynasty (867-1056): Family, power and gender. In: Hofert, A. and Mesley, M. M. eds. Celibate and Childless Men in Power. Ruling Eunuchs and Bishops in the Pre-Modern World. Routledge, pp. 229-245.
Tougher, S. 2017. Periodization. In: Loughran, T. ed. A Practical Guide to Studying History. Bloomsbury, pp. 31-45.

2015

Tougher, S. 2015. Eunuchs in the East, men in the West? Dis/unity, gender and orientalism in the Fourth Century. In: Dijkstra, R., van Poppel, S. and Slootjes, D. eds. East and West in the Roman Empire of the Fourth Century: An End to Unity?., Vol. 5. Radboud Studies in Humanities Brill, pp. 147-163., (10.1163/9789004291935_010)
Tougher, S. 2015. Robert Graves as historical novelist: Count Belisarius - Genesis, gender, and truth. In: Gibson, A. G. G. ed. Robert Graves and the Classical Tradition. Classical Presences Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 77-97.

2013

Tougher, S. F. 2013. Imperial families: The case of the Macedonians. In: Brubaker, L. and Tougher, S. F. eds. Approaches to the Byzantine Family. Birmingham Byzantine and Ottoman Studies Vol. 14. Ashgate, pp. 303-326.
Brubaker, L. and Tougher, S. F. eds. 2013. Approaches to the Byzantine family. Birmingham Byzantine and Ottoman Studies Vol. 14. Farnham: Ashgate.
Tougher, S. F. 2013. Bearding Byzantium: Masculinity, eunuchs and the Byzantine life course. In: Neil, B. and Garland, L. eds. Questions of Gender in Byzantine Society. Farnham: Ashgate, pp. 153-166.
Tougher, S. F. 2013. The aesthetics of castration: the beauty of Roman eunuchs. In: Tracy, L. ed. Castration and Culture in the Middle Ages. Cambridge: Boydell & Brewer, pp. 48-72.

2012

Baker-Brian, N. and Tougher, S. F. eds. 2012. Emperor and author: The writings of Julian the Apostate. Swansea: Classical Press of Wales.
Tougher, S. F. 2012. Reading between the lines: Julian's first panegyric on Constantius II. In: Baker-Brian, N. and Tougher, S. F. eds. Emperor and Author: The Writings of Julian 'the Apostate'. Swansea: The Classical Press of Wales, pp. 19-34.
Baker-Brian, N. and Tougher, S. F. 2012. Introduction. In: Baker-Brian, N. and Tougher, S. F. eds. Emperor and Author: The Writings of Julian the Apostate. Swansea: The Classical Press of Wales, pp. xiii-xxi.
Tougher, S. F. 2012. Eyeing up eunuchs: Western perceptions of Byzantine cultural difference. In: Lambert, S. and Nicholson, H. J. eds. Languages of Love and Hate: Conflict, Communication, and Identity in the Medieval Mediterranean. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 87-97.
Tougher, S. F. 2012. Imperial blood: Family relationships in the dynasty of Constantine the Great. In: Harlow, M. and Larsson Loven, L. eds. Families in the Roman and Late Antique World. The Family in Antiquity Vol. 2. London: Continuum, pp. 181-198.

2010

Tougher, S. F. 2010. Cherchez l'homme! Byzantine men: a eunuch perspective. In: Stephenson, P. ed. The Byzantine World. Routledge Worlds London: Routledge, pp. 83-91.
Tougher, S. F. 2010. Having fun in Byzantium. In: James, L. ed. A Companion to Byzantium. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell, pp. 135-145., (10.1002/9781444320015.ch11)

2009

Tougher, S. F. 2009. After iconoclasm (850-886). In: Shepard, J. ed. The Cambridge History of the Byzantine Empire c. 500-1492. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 292-304.

2008

Tougher, S. F. 2008. The eunuch in Byzantine history and society. Routledge Monographs in Classical Studies. London: Routledge.
Tougher, S. F. 2008. The Renault Bagoas: The treatment of Alexander the Great's eunuch in Mary Renault's The Persian Boy. New Voices in Classical Reception Studies(3)

2007

Tougher, S. F. 2007. Julian the Apostate. Debates and Documents in Ancient History. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.

2006

Tougher, S. F. 2006. 'The angelic life': monasteries for eunuchs. In: Jeffreys, E. ed. Byzantine Style, Religion and Civilization: In Honour of Sir Steven Runciman. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 238-252.

2005

Tougher, S. F. 2005. Political history (602-1025). In: Harris, J. ed. Palgrave Advances in Byzantine History. Palgrave Advances Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 24-38.
Tougher, S. F. 2005. Two views on the gender identity of Byzantine eunuchs. In: Alison, S. and Shirley, A. eds. Changing Sex and Bending Gender. Berghahn Books, pp. 60-73.
James, L. and Tougher, S. F. 2005. Get your kit on! Some issues in the depiction of clothing in Byzantium. In: Cleland, L., Harlow, M. and Llewellyn-Jones, L. eds. The Clothed Body in the Ancient World. Oxford: Oxbow, pp. 154-161.

2004

Tougher, S. F. 2004. Holy eunuchs! masculinity and eunuch Saints in Byzantium. In: Cullum, P. H. and Lewis, K. J. eds. Holiness and Masculinity in the Middle Ages. University of Wales Press, pp. 93-108.
Tougher, S. F. 2004. Social transformation, gender transformation? The court eunuch, 300-900. In: Brubaker, L. and Smith, J. M. H. eds. Gender in the Early Medieval World. East and West, 300-900. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 70-82.
Tougher, S. F. 2004. Julian's bull coinage: Kent revisited. Classical Quarterly 54(1), pp. 327-330. (10.1093/cq/54.1.327)

2002

Tougher, S. F. 2002. In or out? Origins of court eunuchs. In: Tougher, S. F. ed. Eunuchs in Antiquity and Beyond. London: Classical Press of Wales and Duckworth, pp. 143-159.
Tougher, S. F. ed. 2002. Eunuchs in antiquity and beyond. London: Duckworth and Classical Press of Wales.

2000

Tougher, S. F. 2000. Ammianus Marcellinus on the Empress Eusebia: a Split Personality?. Greece & Rome (Second Series) 47(1), pp. 94-101. (10.1093/gr/47.1.94)

1999

Tougher, S. F. 1999. Michael III and Basil the Macedonian: just good friends?. Presented at: 31st Spring Symposium of Byzantine Studies, Brighton, UK, March 1997 Presented at James, L. ed.Desire and denial in Byzantium: papers from the 31st Spring Symposium of Byzantine Studies, University of Sussex, Brighton, March 1997. Publications (Society for the Promotion of Byzantine Studies (Great Britain)) Vol. 6. Aldershot: Ashgate pp. 149-158.
Tougher, S. F. 1999. Ammianus and the eunuchs. In: Drijvers, J. W. and Hunt, D. eds. The Late Roman World and its Historian: Interpreting Ammianus Marcellinus. London: Routledge, pp. 64-73.

1998

Tougher, S. F. 1998. In praise of an empress: Julian's speech of thanks to Eusebia. In: Whitby, M. ed. The Propaganda of Power: The Role of Panegyric in Late Antiquity. Mnemosyne, Supplements Vol. 183. Leiden: Brill, pp. 105-123.
Tougher, S. F. 1998. The imperial thought-world of Leo VI: the non-campaigning emperor of the ninth century. Presented at: Thirtieth Spring Symposium of Byzantine studies, Birmingham, UK, March 1996 Presented at Brubaker, L. ed.Byzantium in the ninth century: dead or alive?: papers from the thirtieth Spring Symposium of Byzantine studies, Birmingham, March 1996. Publications (Society for the Promotion of Byzantine Studies (Great Britain)) Vol. 5. Aldershot: Ashgate pp. 51-60.
Tougher, S. F. 1998. The advocacy of an empress: Julian and Eusebia. Classical Quarterly 48(2), pp. 595-599. (10.1093/cq/48.2.595)

1997

Tougher, S. F. 1997. The reign of Leo VI (886-912): politics and people. The Medieval Mediterranean. Leiden: Brill.

1996

Tougher, S. F. 1996. The bad relations between Alexander and Leo. Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies 20, pp. 209-212.

1994

Tougher, S. F. 1994. The wisdom of Leo VI. Presented at: Twenty-sixth Spring Symposium of Byzantine Studies, St Andrews, UK, March 1992 Presented at Magdalino, P. ed.New Constantines: the rhythm of imperial renewal in Byzantium, 4th-13th centuries: papers from the Twenty-sixth Spring Symposium of Byzantine Studies, St Andrews, March 1992. Publications (Society for the Promotion of Byzantine Studies (Great Britain)) Vol. 2. Aldershot: Ashgate pp. 171-179.

Projects

Emperor and Author: the Writings of Julian the Apostate

Whilst the life and reign of Julian the last pagan Roman emperor (361–363) has been much studied, his own writings (e.g. panegyrics; speeches; hymns; satires; letters) have not been subjected to sufficient study in their own right. This project aims to address this gap in Julian studies. The main aim of the project is to hold a conference at which speakers will address all of Julian's writings, each speaker taking an individual text or set of texts. The proceedings of this conference will be published.

The Byzantine Family: the Case of the Macedonian Dynasty

Compared to its Greek and Roman antecedents the Byzantine family has been inadequately studied. This project intends to consider the nature of the Byzantine family through the case of the imperial family of the Macedonians, from Basil I in the ninth century to Zoe in the eleventh. It will result in the first monograph devoted to the dynasty as a whole. The main aim of the project is to produce a monograph on the Macedonian Dynasty. However the aim is also to encourage wider research into the Byzantine family. A strand on the subject has already been organised for the IMC at Leeds in July 2007.

Eunuchs of the Roman Empire

In recent years there has been a dramatic rise in interest in the subject of eunuchs in world history. Eunuchs who have received particular attention are those of the Chinese and Byzantine empires, the castrati singers, the Christian Skoptsy of Russia, and the Hijras of modern India. Much of this interest has stemmed from the flourishing of gender studies as an academic discipline. There clearly exists also a more widespread and popular fascination with the subject of eunuchs, which has led to the publication of some more general books, such as Scholz's Eunuchs and Castrati: A Cultural History (2001). These general books can however be problematic, as sometimes the expertise of the author is not sufficient to provide a reliable or critical guide to such a broad range of history. As yet no book has focused exclusively on Roman eunuchs. This projects aims to fill the gap. As the reaction to the recent discovery of the skeleton of a Roman eunuch at Catterick demonstrates, there is a huge general interest in the subject: there was extensive media coverage, including an item on Richard and Judy on Channel 4. A number of important academic books and articles on Roman eunuchs do exist, but they focus on individual groups or aspects, such as the self-castrating priests of the goddess Cybele (known as the Galli) (e.g. Mary Beard), Favorinus the intersex sophist from Gaul (e.g. Maud Gleason), the powerful court eunuchs of the later Roman empire (e.g. Keith Hopkins), and the place of castration in early Christianity (e.g. Walter Stevenson). The only general sustained treatment of Roman eunuchs is in Peter Guyot's Eunuchen als Sklaven und Freigelassene in der griechisch-römischen Antike (1980). Thus there is ample scope for an accessible and wide-ranging treatment of Roman eunuchs in a single volume. The main aim of the project is to produce a monograph on eunuchs in the Roman empire (3rd century BC to 6th century AD).

Research groups

Centre For Late Antique Religion & Culture (CLARC)

This centre promotes and supports the study of late antique religion and culture from the late Hellenistic Period to the early Middle Ages, also in relation to earlier and later periods, in particular Classical Antiquity and the modern world.

Undergraduate

Introduction to Ancient Greek History - 20 credits (HS3101)
Introduction to Roman History - 20 credits (HS3102)
Julian the Apostate - 10 credits (HS3307)
The End of Antiquity- 10 credits (HS3308)
Kingdoms, Cities and Hellenization - 30 credits (HS3315)
Roman Imperial History 31 BC-AD 138 - 30 credits (HS3317)
The Later Roman Empire AD 284-602 - 30 credits (HS3318)
Literary Evidence for Ancient History - 10 credits (HS3325)
Byzantium: The Golden Age, c. AD 850-1050 - 10 credits (HS3329)
Gender and Sexuality - 20 credits (HS3362)

Postgraduate

Themes and Approaches in Ancient History - 20 credits (HST002)
Understanding Texts - 10 credits (HST011)
Eunuchs of the Roman Empire - 20 credits (HST029)
Special Topic: Julian the Apostate - 20 credits (HST038)
Special Topic: Aspects of Late Antiquity and Byzantium - 20 credits (HST941/HST942)
Researching and Writing Late Antiquity and Byzantium - 10 credits (HST944)
Special Topic: The Golden Age of Byzantium - 20 credits (HST945)
Themes in Late Antique and Byzantine Studies - 20 credits (HST946)

Research supervision

I am currently supervising a PhD on baths and bathing in Late Antiquity. I would welcome supervising PhDs on topics in late Roman and Byzantine social and political history; I have particular expertise in Julian the Apostate, Byzantium's Macedonian dynasty, and eunuchs.

Education and qualifications

1984–88 First Class BA (Hons) in Ancient History and Byzantine Studies, The Queen's University of Belfast

1988–94 PhD, University of St Andrews (The Reign of Leo VI, 886–912)

Career overview

2007– Senior Lecturer in Ancient History, Cardiff School of History, Archaeology and Religion, Cardiff University (2007–2010 Head of Ancient History)

1997–2007 Lecturer in Ancient History, Cardiff School of History and Archaeology, Cardiff University

1995–97 Lecturer in Byzantine Studies, School of Greek, Roman and Semitic Studies, The Queen's University of Belfast

1994–95 Honorary Lecturer in the Department of Ancient History, University of St Andrews

1993–94 Tutor in the Department of Ancient History, University of St Andrews

1991–93 Teaching Assistant in the Department of Greek and Latin, The Queen's University of Belfast

Current supervision

Sean Strong

Teifi Gambold

Contact Details

TougherSF@cardiff.ac.uk
+44 29208 76228