Textiles for war: archaeological evidence and approaches
The inaugural keynote presentation of Textiles for war: archaeological evidence and approaches delivered by Professor Margarita Gleba of the University of Padua, Italy, will open the proceedings of the international conference covering Textiles and War in Europe and the Mediterranean from Prehistory to Late Antiquity, which will be held between May 17th – 19th, 2023 at the headquarters of the Institute for Advanced Studies in Levant Culture and Civilization.
Margarita Gleba obtained her PhD in Classical and Oriental Archaeology from Bryn Mawr College (USA), becoming a renowned expert in prehistoric and ancient textiles and other organic materials and carrying out excavations in sites across Italy, Turkey and Ukraine. Her chosen field of study concerns the archaeology of textile production, including the investigation of textiles themselves, the tools used in textile production but also the relevant written and iconographic sources, while her studies employ a variety of scientific methods in archaeology and focus on the prehistory and early periods of the peoples and cultures inhabiting the Mediterranean region. She has obtained numerous grants for her research, including a Marie Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship and a grant from the European Research Council (ERC).
The Sling – an Overlooked Example of a ‘Weaponized Textile’ in Action
Dr Emil Nankov (Sofia, Bulgaria) will open the first session of the Textiles and War in Europe and the Mediterranean from Prehistory to Late Antiquity international conference with a presentation of The Sling – an Overlooked Example of a ‘Weaponized Textile’ in Action.
Dr Emil Nankov is an Associate Professor at the National Institute of Archaeology of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, having obtained his BA and MA in Archaeology from the University of Sofia (Bulgaria) and his PhD in Art History and Archaeology from Cornell University (New York). A lecturer at the Universities of Minnesota and Cornell, Dr Nankov has taught at the International Summer Institute in Bulgaria in 2010 and 2013 and at the American Research Centre in Sofia since 2010, becoming the Centre’s current Scientific Director in 2014. He has contributed to projects focusing on the eastern Mediterranean, and was the Director of the School of Archaeology during two projects undertaken in Bulgaria: Heraclea Sintica (2012-2014) and the Pardesiopolis Field School (from 2015). Dr Nankov is also a notable polyglot, reading ancient Greek, Latin, French, German and Italian and fluent in Bulgarian, modern Greek and English.
His main academic interests focus on urbanization, warfare and the history of ancient Thrace. Nankov has been a member of the American School of Classical Studies in Athens (2005-2007); of the Excellence Cluster Topoi at the Free University in Berlin (2009); the Archaeology programme officer (2009-2014) and provisional scientific director (2014-2017) of the American Research Institute in Sofia. In 2020, Dr Nankov received a Getty Scholar grant from the Getty Research Institute.
He is the principal editor of the Sandanski and its territory in prehistory, Antiquity and the Medieval Period; Contemporary Trends in Archaeological Research; Proceedings of the Sandanski International Conference, September 17th – 20th 2015 volumes, as well as of the third volume of Proceedings of the American Research Centre in Sofia (Veliko Tarnovo: Faber Publishers). He has co-edited a number of works, including Heraclea Sintica: From Hellenistic Polis to Roman Citizenship (4th c. BCE – 6th c. CE); Proceedings of the Petrich International Conference, September 19th 2013 (published in the second volume of PARCS, Sofia, 2015), and A Companion to Ancient Thrace (Wiley-Blackwell, 2015). His forthcoming work, A History of the Sling in Thrace, is undergoing final revision.
Memories of War. The linen cuirass of Lars Tolumnius and the military use of linen in Italic equipment and armour
Professor Gianluca Tagliamonte will continue the series of papers from the first session of the Textiles and War in Europe and the Mediterranean from Prehistory to Late Antiquity international conference with a lecture on the Memories of War. The linen cuirass of Lars Tolumnius and the military use of linen in Italic equipment and armour.
A renowned researcher of pre-Roman Italy, Dr Gianluca Tagliamonte is a tenured Professor of Etruscology and Italic Antiquity at the Department of Cultural Heritage of the University of Salento, where he has been teaching since 2002. Since 2021, he has been part of the Scientific Committee of the ETRU Museum – the National Etruscan Museum of Villa Giulia (Rome). He has been the director of the “Dinu Adameșteanu” School of Specialization in Archaeological Heritage (since 2020), a corresponding member of the National Institute of Etruscan and Italic Studies (since 2000), a member of the Istituto Per La Storia E L'Archeologia Della Magna Grecia and a national corresponding member of the Neapolitan Academy of Archaeology, Letters and Fine Arts (since 2020).
He obtained his PhD in Archaeology (Etruscology) at the “Sapienza” University of Rome, where he held a two-year post-doctoral research fellowship in the field of “Civilizations of Pre-Roman Italy”, also winning a Fellowship Award in Mediterranean Studies for the academic year 1994/1995 from the M. Aylwin Cotton Foundation in Guernsey (United Kingdom).
He is the author of over 140 scientific papers on aspects and issues of history, epigraphy and archaeology in pre-Roman Italy, and has led archaeological excavations at important pre-Roman sites such as at Monte San Nicola in Pietravaraino. Notable among his published works are “I figli di Marte. Mobilità, mercenari, mercenariato italici in Magna Grecia e Sicilia” (1994); “Terme di Diocleziano” (1998); “I Sanniti” (2005); “Ricerche di archeologia medio-adriatica, I. Le necropoli: contesti e materiali” (ed., 2008); “Ricerche archeologiche in Albania” (ed., 2014); “Sui due versanti dell’Appennino. Necropoli e distretti culturali tra VII e VI sec. a.C.,” (co-ed. with F. Gilotta, 2015).
Protecting the legionary’s head: analysis of the evidence of lining in Roman helmets from the Imperial age
Fabio Spagiari and Elisabetta Malaman (Department of Cultural Heritage, Archaeology and the History of Art, Cinema and Music of the University of Padua) will continue the series of lectures from the first session of the Textiles and War in Europe and the Mediterranean from Prehistory to Late Antiquity international conference with a presentation titled Protecting the legionary's head: analysis of the evidence of lining in Roman helmets from the Imperial age.
Fabio Spagiari is a PhD student in History, Criticism and Conservation of Cultural Heritage at the University of Padua, Italy. He obtained his undergraduate degree in Archaeology (2017), an MA in Archaeological Sciences (2019) and a Postgraduate Diploma in Archaeological Heritage (2022) from the University of Padua. Since 2015, he has taken part in archaeological excavations and studies across several sites in Italy. His research interests focus on the study of the Classical world, with particular emphasis on the Roman era. He has carried out studies on the Roman army, before moving on to the study of textile archaeology through the analysis of cutting tools (shears/scissors), later becoming interested in the study of burial records relating to Roman craft tools (again with an emphasis on cutting implements). Currently, his research focuses on the study of Roman craft tools used in carpentry, metallurgy and agricultural/pastoral activities. He is a co-author of the volume Le Lenti del passato. Approcci multiscalari all'archeologia (2022) alongside Giorgio Garatti, Andrea Giunto, Giulia Iadicicco and Noemi Ruberti.
Elisabetta Malaman followed the same academic path as did Fabio Spagiari, specializing in the methodology underpinning the scientific analysis of archaeological artifacts. She participated in archaeological excavations at Nora, Sardinia, publishing a work on Punic glassware, and is currently examining the establishment and development of Roman rule over the Eastern Alps and the Veneto region.
Did Wars and Conquests Change Textiles’ Consumption Habits? – Reused and Recycled textiles of the Jewish Rebels under the Roman Sieges compared to Nabatean Sites, First and Second Centuries CE
Continuing the series of papers of the first session of the Textiles and War in Europe and the Mediterranean from Prehistory to Late Antiquity international conference, Dr Orit Shamir will give a presentation that posits an essential question: Did Wars and Conquests Change Textiles’ Consumption Habits? – Reused and Recycled textiles of the Jewish Rebels under the Roman Sieges compared to Nabatean Sites, First and Second Centuries CE.
Dr Orit Shamir is a researcher in the field of ancient textiles and a curator of organic materials. Throughout her career, she has headed the Antiquities and Museums and the International Exhibitions Departments of the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA).
She has published over 150 articles on the textile materials, and the tools used in textile production, that have been discovered in Israel, as well as a monumental monograph on Textiles in the Land of Israel from the Roman Period Until the Early Islamic Period, in Light of Archaeological Finds (2005).
Iconographic representations of sails and ropes of Greek warships depicted on ancient ceramics
Paulina Lebiedowicz’ account of Iconographic representations of sails and ropes of Greek warships depicted on ancient ceramics will open the series of papers from the second session.
The youngest participant in the conference, Ms Lebiedowicz is currently pursuing her Master's degree in Archaeology at the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, Poland. In 2021, she defended her undergraduate thesis on “The iconography of Hermes in ancient Ainos coinage in northwest Thrace”. Her current progress on her MA thesis is focused on the role of the Propontis in trade relations between the Greek cities on the Aegean and on the Black Seas from the Archaic to the Hellenistic periods, while her areas of academic and research interest concern the development of trade and coinage in ancient Greece, the analysis of iconographic representations on Greek coinage, symbolism related to funerary rituals, the evolution of the Macedonian Kingdom, as well as the conservation and restoration of metallic artefacts.
Thus far, she has already published two scientific papers focused on the iconography of coinage sourced from Ainos.
A Few War-Related Representations on Ancient Textile Tools
Dr Alina Iancu will continue the series of papers from the first session of the Textiles and War in Europe and the Mediterranean from Prehistory to Late Antiquity international conference with the presentation of A Few War-Related Representations on Ancient Textile Tools.
Dr Alina Iancu is a historian and archaeologist within the Museum and Archaeological Documentation Section of the National Heritage Institute, where she manages the development of essential databases necessary for the protection and dissemination of national archaeological heritage. She defended her PhD in Ancient History and Archaeology in 2022 at the University of Bucharest, with a thesis investigating textile production in the Peloponnese through the study of ceramic looms, integrating these artifacts into the broader framework of textile production in this region of Greece.
Her preferred field of study concerns the archaeology of textile production, focusing on the research of tools used to process textile fibres and also on the written and iconographic sources available for the Pontic and Mediterranean areas. Her academic formation also saw her develop practical knowledge of the excavation, preservation and research methods of archaeological fibres and fabrics, gained during a series of specialization courses undertaken at the Copenhagen Textile Research Centre (CTR), She has been a member of the Hellenic Centre for the Research and Conservation of Archaeological Textiles in Athens (ARTEX) since 2018, and of the EuroWeb consortium since 2020, notably being one of the two leaders of the Digital Atlas of European Textile Heritage project, developed within the EuroWeb COST Action framework.
A technical description of the Carthaginian military dress
Professor Amine Hadj Taieb will continue the series of presentations from the second session of the Textiles and War in Europe and the Mediterranean from Prehistory to Late Antiquity international conference with A technical description of the Carthaginian military dress.
Professor Amine Hadj Taieb is the Director of the Higher Institute of Arts and Crafts in Sfax, and is a Senior Researcher and Lecturer in Textile Innovation and Design at ISAMS, University of Sfax.
He obtained his PhD at the University of Monastir’s Institute of Engineering, and is the coordinator of several international projects as well as the Erasmus+ KA2 programme for consolidating skills in higher education.
Professor Taieb is a scientific member of the Tunisian ISAMS PhD board and of the National Commissions for the recruitment of university lecturers in design. He is an associate member of the Textile Engineering Association of Textile Researchers (ATCTex), ISET in Ksar Hellal, Tunisia.
Craft, design and ergonomics: on decorations, reinforcements and protections for Mediterranean panoplies
The keynote lecture on Craft, design and ergonomics: on decorations, reinforcements and protections for Mediterranean panoplies, delivered by Dr Raimon Graells i Fabregat (University of Alicante, Spain), will open the second day of the Textiles and War in Europe and the Mediterranean from Prehistory to Late Antiquity international conference.
Dr Raimon Graells i Fabregat is a Scientific Researcher specialized in the study of ancient weaponry from the Mediterranean region, and currently teaches at the Department of Prehistory, Archaeology, Ancient History, Greek and Latin Philology of the University of Alicante. He defended his PhD at the University of Lleida (Catalonia) in 2009, with a thesis titled “Analysis of funerary manifestations in Catalonia during the 7th and 6th centuries. Society and Material Culture: the assimilation of Mediterranean stimuli", on which occasion he received the Extraordinary Award for Exemplary Doctoral Theses. Between 2010 and 2012, he was the recipient of an Alexander von Humboldt scholarship for a research internship at the Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum in Mainz (Germany). In 2018, he became a visiting professor at the Université de Toulouse II, Jean Jaurès, and in 2019 at the Università degli Studi di Salerno, teaching Greek Archaeology at both institutions.
Since 2018, he has been a corresponding member of the German Archaeological Institute, and his paper, “Hellenistic decorated breastplates. Oπλα καλα', the ‘Siris Bronzes’ and their context” won the prestigious L’Erma di Bretschneider prize that same year. In 2019, he scored first in the Ramón y Cajal (2018) call for research contracts, and joined the academic team at the University of Alicante in February 2020.
His impressive editorial activity has seen Dr Graells i Fabregat publish nearly 300 works (15 monographs across 17 editions, over 100 articles in scientific journals and almost 200 contributions to volumes, catalogues and conference proceedings). He has organized four international conferences (in Syracuse, Mainz, Paestum and Madrid) and ten Study Days (in Elche, Lecce, Madrid, Mainz, Rome, Alicante and Paris). He has participated in over 100 conferences and seminars (in Alicante, Barcelona, Berlin, Bochum, Bonn, Bordeaux, Budapest, Cagliari, Cluj, Durham, Elche, Faro, Fribourg, Huesca, Hyères, Innsbruck, Karlsruhe, Lecce, Lisbon, Madrid, Matera, Milan, Murcia, Oxford, Padua, Paestum, Paris, Pavia, Prague, Puigcerdà, Rome, Ruvo di Puglia, Saint-Romain-en-Gal, Salerno, Santiago de Chile, Taranto, Tarragona, Turin, Toulouse, Tübingen and Valencia) and organized three exhibitions: Armi a Kasmenae (Palazzolo Accreide, 2021-2022); The Iberian Warrior and the Game (Elche, 2021); Le armi di Athena (Paestum, 2017-2018).
Quod satis in usum fuit sublato. Booty and tribute as textile supply sources for the ancient Greek and Roman armies
The organizer of the Textiles and War in Europe and the Mediterranean from Prehistory to Late Antiquity international conference, Dr Liviu Mihail Iancu will open the third panel of presentations with a communication titled ‘Quod satis in usum fuit sublato’. Booty and tribute as textile supply sources for the ancient Greek and Roman armies.
Dr Liviu Mihail Iancu is a historian and archaeologist, a researcher at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Levant Culture and Civilization in Bucharest, and programme coordinator for the Eurocentric Association. He defended his PhD in Ancient History and Archaeology at the University of Bucharest in 2018, with a thesis on Greek mercenaries in the Mediterranean basin during the Archaic period. He has conducted extensive archaeological research in Romania and Turkey since 2010, especially at the ancient citadel of Histria, where he is currently co-field-director for the Histria Multiscalar Archaeological Project, a joint initiative of the University of Texas and the “Vasile Pârvan” Institute of Archaeology of the Romanian Academy in Bucharest.
His areas of research include international relations and war in Greco-Roman Antiquity (observed primarily from an economic and social perspective); Greek colonization in the Black Sea; ancient metallurgy; the production and use of textile materials by ancient armies, as well as the history of Romanian archaeology.
Among Dr Iancu’s most recent publications, we mention: ‘Who is Gyges?’: Assessing the Carian connections of the first Mermnad king of Lydia once again (Besançon, 2023); The Great Conflict over the Levant (612 – 562 BC) and its consequences for the Greeks (Vienna, 2022); The Eastern Greeks between the Levant and the Pontos Euxeinos in the Archaic period (Bucharest, 2022); New Data on Gevork Tiratsy’an’s Activity before his Repatriation to Armenia from Romania in June 1948 (Yerevan, 2022). Dr Iancu has also published the volume Kleitoi Epikouroi. Conceptual and methodological prolegomena in the study of Greek mercenaries from the Archaic period (Bucharest, 2021), and is currently preparing the English-language publication of his doctoral thesis in full.
Textiles on the March: Textile Activities in Roman Republican Military Contexts of Western Iberia (1st century BCE)
The presentation on Textiles on the March: Textile Activities in Roman Republican Military Contexts of Western Iberia (1st century BCE) will continue the series of papers from the second day of the Textiles and War in Europe and the Mediterranean from Prehistory to Late Antiquity international conference, and will be supported by a group of researchers from Portugal.
Two of the research paper’s four authors, Francisco B. Gomes and Teresa Rita Pereira, will be present in Bucharest for the event.
Francisco B. Gomes is a Scientific Researcher at the School of Arts and Humanities of the University of Lisbon, and completed his postdoctoral studies at the same university with a thesis on the consumption of luxury goods by Iron Age Iberian elites.
Teresa Rita Pereira is a Doctor in Archaeology at the Centre of Archaeology at the University of Lisbon. Her research interests focus primarily on metal artefacts, the second Iron Age, Romanization and on mining in the Roman period.
Dressed for (Military) Success: Official and Private Suppliers for the Roman Army during the Empire
Dr Iulia Dumitrache’s presentation on Dressed for (Military) Success: Official and Private Suppliers for the Roman Army during the Empire will continue the series of papers from the second day of the Textiles and War in Europe and the Mediterranean from Prehistory to Late Antiquity international conference.
Dr. Iulia Dumitrache is currently a Grade III Scientific Researcher at the Interdisciplinary Research Institute and Arheoinvest Research Centre within the Department of Exact and Natural Sciences of the “Al. I. Cuza” University of Iași.
Her scientific focus spans several distinct fields and research directions. Although the most recurrent thread in her works relates to the economic history of the Roman Empire, the underlying level of Dr Dumitrache’s expertise concerns Roman social and military history. The majority of her works involve prosopographic investigation as the primary research method, with applications in the study of the individuals involved in officiating the imperial cult, the merchants of the Roman Empire, Roman military personnel and its links with the native populations.
Her expertise also includes Latin epigraphy (with a particular focus on occupational epigraphy) and archaeology. Dr Dumitrache is a member of the research team at Micia (Vețel, Hunedoara county).
Private textile supply and personal appearance of Roman soldiers in Imperial times
The presentation of Private textile supply and personal appearance of Roman soldiers in Imperial times, delivered by Dr Kerstin Droß-Krüpe (Bochum / Kassel, Germany) will continue the proceedings of the second day.
Dr Kerstin Droß-Krüpe is a Scientific Researcher at the Departments of Ancient History of the University of Kassel and the University of Bochum. A student of Classical Archaeology, Ancient History and Business Management, she gained her PhD defending a thesis on textile production in the Roman province of Egypt. Her main research interests focus on ancient economic history, ancient textile studies and studies of the reception of Antiquity in the modern era.
Woven and engraved military dress from Daunia
The presentation of Woven and engraved military dress from Daunia by Francesco Meo (Lecce, Italy) will open the fourth panel of the Textiles and War in Europe and the Mediterranean from Prehistory to Late Antiquity international conference taking place between May 17th and 19th 2023 at the headquarters of the Institute for Advanced Studies in Levant Culture and Civilization.
Francesco Meo is a Scientific Researcher in the Department of Cultural Heritage of the University of Salento, Italy. His field of research concerns the knowledge, protection and valorisation of the Etruscan-Italic archaeological heritage, with a focus on the study of the archaeological remains of Magna Graecia and the production of textiles during Antiquity in this historical region. He is currently coordinating archaeological excavations at Muro Leccese.
Mantles, drapes and other textiles: echoes of military hierarchy on the proto-Lucanian Hydria from tomb 2 of Gravina di Puglia – Botromagno
Carlo Lualdi’s presentation of Mantles, drapes and other textiles: echoes of military hierarchy on the proto-Lucanian Hydria from tomb 2 of Gravina di Puglia – Botromagno will continue the series of papers from the second day of the Textiles and War in Europe and the Mediterranean from Prehistory to Late Antiquity international conference taking place between May 17th and 19th 2023 at the headquarters of the Institute for Advanced Studies in Levant Culture and Civilization.
Carlo Lualdi is a PhD candidate in Classical Studies and Ancient History at the University of Warwick (United Kingdom). A graduate of the Faculty of Archaeology of the Università Cattolica del Sacro (Milan, Italy), his areas of interest include historical anthropology, the ancient history of the Italian Peninsula and studies of historical iconography.
The paludamentum during the conquests of the Roman Republic
The presentation on The paludamentum during the conquests of the Roman Republic, delivered by Dr Dimitri Maillard (Paris, France) will conclude the series of papers from the second day of the Textiles and War in Europe and the Mediterranean from Prehistory to Late Antiquity international conference.
Dr Dimitri Maillard is a researcher at the University of Paris 8 Vincennes-Saint-Denis, having received a PhD from the University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne in 2021 for his thesis on the insignia of power employed in the Roman Republic. He specializes in the history of ancient Rome, studying the symbolism of power across the Roman world, with particular emphasis on the topic of vestments.
Official Launch of the EuroWeb Digital Atlas of European Textile Heritage
The third day of the Textiles and War in Europe and the Mediterranean from Prehistory to Late Antiquity international conference will begin with the official launch of the Digital Atlas of European Textile Heritage, created under the auspices of the EuroWeb European research network. The digital atlas represents a free online cartographic resource that is connected to a specially adapted database containing archaeological, historical and ethnographic data from prehistory up to the 20th century.
The keynote launch ceremony will be hosted by Catarina Costeira (Lisbon) and Alina Iancu (Bucharest), who will present the main functions of the Digital Atlas.
Dr Catarina Costeira specialises in prehistoric and protohistoric archaeology and history, and is affiliated to the Faculty of Letters of the University of Lisbon, Portugal. Among her areas of expertise are the study of the weaving craft in prehistory, the production of ceramics during the late 4th – 3rd centuries BC, the late Neolithic period and the promotion of cultural heritage.
Dr Alina Iancu is a historian and archaeologist within the Museum and Archaeological Documentation Section of the National Heritage Institute, where she manages the development of essential databases necessary for the protection and dissemination of national archaeological heritage. Her preferred field of study concerns the archaeology of textile production, focusing on the research of tools used to process textile fibres and also on the written and iconographic sources available for the Pontic and Mediterranean areas.
Roman military textile garments on the sarcophagi in Cilicia (Southern Turkey)
The joint presentation by Ergün Laflı (Izmir, Turkey) and Maurizio Buora (Udine, Italy) of Roman military textile garments on the sarcophagi in Cilicia (Southern Turkey) will open the fifth panel of the Textiles and War in Europe and the Mediterranean from Prehistory to Late Antiquity international conference.
Professor Ergün Laflı teaches Classical Archaeology at the Dokuz Eylül University of Izmir, focusing mainly on the study of the ancient regions of Cilicia and Paphlagonia in Asia Minor. He has published and edited numerous studies and volumes, including “Statues et statuettes en bronze de Cilicia” (2006); “Hadrianopolis I: Inschriften aus Paphlagonia” (2012), and “Archaeology and history of Lydia from the Early Lydian period to Late Antiquity” (2023).
A specialist in the archaeology of the northern Italian Peninsula and in Latin epigraphy, Maurizio Buora is a member of the Friulian Society of Archaeology based in Udine, Italy. He has published numerous studies, including two articles in the Romanian journal Cercetări Arheologice: A Roman tree trunk coffin from the Museum of Anamur in Rough Cilicia (southern Turkey) – in no. 29.1/2022 and New Observations on the Fine – Sgraffito ware and Aegean ware in western Asia Minor. A revision – in no. 29.2/2022.
Roman soldiers, miners or others: who were the people depicted on the funerary stelae from the Middle Strymon valley?
The presentation of Roman soldiers, miners or others: who were the people depicted on the funerary stelae from the Middle Strymon valley? delivered by Philip Kolev (Sofia, Bulgaria) will continue the series of interventions occurring as part of the third day of the Textiles and War in Europe and the Mediterranean from Prehistory to Late Antiquity international conference.
Philip Kolev is a researcher at the National Institute of Archaeology of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. He defended his PhD from the “St Kliment Ohridsky” University of Sofia with a thesis titled The Settlement Life in the Valley of the Middle Strymon during the Roman period.
From milites to Augusti: The adoption of military clothing in Roman emperors' depictions during the Third Century AD
The presentation From milites to Augusti: The adoption of military clothing in Roman emperors' depictions during the Third Century AD, delivered by Adrián Gordón-Zan (Zaragoza, Spain) will continue the series of papers from the third day of the Textiles and War in Europe and the Mediterranean from Prehistory to Late Antiquity international conference.
Adrián Gordón-Zan is a PhD candidate specializing in Archaeology at the University of Zaragoza’s Department of Ancient Sciences. He is currently redacting his PhD thesis, titled The Legitimation of Imperial Power in Third-Century Numismatics: From Septimius Severus to Diocletian (AD 193-284). An interdisciplinary approach. As evidenced, his preferred areas of research focus on the analysis of third-century numismatics and imperial politics through a statistical and interdisciplinary study of available period sources. He has also conducted studies in military history where, focusing on the same period, he analyzed the origins of soldiers’ clothing.