Dr Ruth Westgate

Publication

• Date
• Type
• Promoted

Research

My research is primarily concerned with the architecture and decoration of Greek and Roman houses, and the relationship between houses and the society, politics and economy of the ancient world.

Domestic space in Archaic–Hellenistic Greece

This aspect of my research examines the relationship between domestic space and socio-political organisation in the Greek world, exploring the ways in which the development of social and political complexity in the Aegean was played out in the architecture of houses, and looking at how social roles and status distinctions within and between households shaped the architecture and decoration of houses. I am particularly interested in how the institution of slavery shaped the form and use of Greek houses, and in the problem of how we can use the archaeological remains of ancient houses to understand slavery and other forms of inequality.

Another strand of this research focuses on Classical and Hellenistic houses in Crete, which are strikingly different in their form and appearance from the courtyard houses found elsewhere in the period. The differences may be related to a different form of social organisation on Crete, which is attested by the literary sources; the austere, backward-looking appearance and furnishings of Cretan houses in this period suggest a desire to suppress or deny social change.

Mosaics of the Classical and Hellenistic periods

I am working on a monograph about decorated mosaics in the Mediterranean world from the fifth century to the early first century BC, covering pavements of pebbles, tesserae, stone chips and various combinations of materials. This will be the first comprehensive study of early mosaics since the 1930s, ranging from the pebble mosaics of the Classical period to the late Hellenistic pavements of Delos and Pompeii, and including a corpus of decorated mosaics which will enable scholars to get a reliable overview of this material for the first time. The book will survey the techniques, materials and design of the mosaics, and will re-evaluate the prevailing models of their stylistic and technical development, considering each pavement in its architectural and regional context. But it also goes beyond conventional art-historical concerns to explore the changing ways in which mosaics and other decoration were used to structure the space in houses, and thus to gain insights into social and economic trends in the Classical and Hellenistic periods.

Teaching

Undergraduate

• Investigating the Ancient World: Skills and Evidence
• Ancient Objects: Then and Now
• An Introduction to Greek Art and Archaeology
• Art and Archaeology of Archaic Greece
• Hellenistic Art and Architecture

Postgraduate

• Special Topic: The Ancient World

Biography

Education and qualifications

• 1995 PhD, History of Art, Manchester University (Greek Mosaics of the Classical and Hellenistic Periods)
• 1988 BA Classics, Clare College, Cambridge

Career overview

• 2019–2023 Head of Ancient History and Religion
  
• 2013–present Senior Lecturer in Archaeology and Ancient History, Cardiff University
• 2004–2013 Lecturer in Archaeology and Ancient History, Cardiff University
• 1998–2004 Research Fellow/Lecturer in Archaeology and Ancient History, Cardiff University
• 1996 Associate Lecturer, Classics Department, King's College London
• 1993–1995 Macmillan-Rodewald Student, British School at Athens
• 1992–1993 School Student, British School at Athens

Notable achievements

• 2017 Cardiff University Research Leave Fellowship
• 2008 Leverhulme Research Fellowship for work on a monograph on Greek mosaics.
• 2001 Lead organiser of the conference 'Building Communities: House, Settlement and Society in the Aegean and Beyond'.

Professional memberships

• Chair and Publicity Officer, Association for the Study and Preservation of Roman Mosaics
• Member of Standing Committee, Council of University Classical Departments, 2016–2018
• External Research Associate, Waterloo Institute for Hellenistic Studies, University of Waterloo, Ontario, 2010–present
• Member of Council, Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies, 2007–2010
• Secretary, Cardiff and District Classical Association, 2001–2010
• Member, Association International pour l'Étude de la Mosaïque Antique
• Member of Council, British School at Athens, 1996–1998

Supervisions

Areas supervised

I would be interested in supervising PhD projects on:

• Greek and Roman houses and households
• Ancient mosaics and painting
• Greek and Roman art and architecture, especially from the Classical, Hellenistic and early Imperial periods
• Greek archaeology and social history

Current PhD students

• Karen Gregory, Mapping Mosaics in Fourth-Century Roman Britain: Regional Patterns and Elite Networks; co-supervisor with Martin Pitts (Exeter University)
• Alexia Miltiadous-Johansson, Houses and Households in Hellenistic–Roman Crete and Cyprus; co-supervisor with James Whitley

Past projects

• Vasiliki Kontogianni, Hydrophobic Coatings and Organic Additives in Hellenistic–Roman Mortars: The Case Study of Crete; third supervisor with David Watkinson and Nicola Emmerson (awarded 2022)
• Nadia Randle, Triumphabant aeternae domus: Motifs of Arms in Roman Domestic Decoration; co-supervisor with Guy Bradley (awarded 2015)
• Mark Woolmer, Inter-regional Merchants in the Greek World: A Reappraisal of their Social, Political and Legal Status during the Archaic and Classical Periods; co-supervisor with Louis Rawlings (awarded 2009)
• Janett Morgan, Domestic Cult in the Classical Greek House; co-supervisor with Nick Fisher (awarded 2005)