Prof. O.J. Hekster (Olivier)

Professor - Department of History, Art History and Classics
Professor - Radboud Institute for Culture and History

Chair : Ancient History

Contact

olivier.hekster@ru.nl
024-3612289

Visiting address

Erasmusplein 1
6525 HT NIJMEGEN

Postal address

Postbus 9103
6500 HD NIJMEGEN

Working days

Prof. Olivier Hekster studies the role of ideology in ancient Rome and the representation of Roman emperors in particular. The emphasis is on the various media that the emperors used to express their power (e.g. coins, inscriptions, portraits and buildings) and how the population in the Roman Empire responded to this. Other research interests: theatre and gladiator games in ancient Rome and the history of the city of Rome.

Since 2016, he leads a VICI project analysing the role of traditions in the Roman World (50BC-AD565).

Hekster chairs the international Impact of Empire network. Previously, he was Fellow of Ancient History at Merton College, Oxford (2002-2004), and Humboldt Fellow at the Kommission für Alte Geschichte und Epigraphik (München) for the academic year 2012/2013.

Tags: Rome, Romans, Ancient ideology, gladiator battles, tradition and innovation, leadership, representation of power

Publications

Key publications

Hekster, O.J. (2016). The Size of History. Coincidence, Counterfactuality and Questions. In Klaas Landsman & Ellen van Wolde (Eds.), The Challenge of Chance. A Multidisciplinary Approach from Science and the Humanities (The Frontiers Collection) (pp. 215-232). Dordrecht: Springer Verlag doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-26300-7_12 Full text
Hekster, O.J. (2015). Emperors and Ancestors. Roman Rulers and the Constraints of Tradition (Oxford Studies in Ancient Culture and Representation). Oxford: Oxford University Press Full text
Hekster, O.J., Manders, E.E.J. & Slootjes, D. (2014). Making history with coins: Nero from a numismatic perspective. Journal of Interdisciplinary History, 45 (1), 25-37. doi: 10.1162/JINH_a_00647 Full text
Hekster, O.J. (2014). Son of two fathers? Trajan and the adoption of emperorship in the Roman Empire. The History of the Family, 19 (3), 380-392. doi: 10.1080/1081602X.2014.915865 Full text
Hekster, O.J. & Kaizer, T. (2012). An accidental tourist? Caracalla's fatal trip to the temple of the Moon at Carrhae/Harran. Ancient Society, 42, 89-107. doi: 10.2143/AS.42.0.2172289 Full text
Hekster, O.J. (2011). Imagining power. Reality Gaps in the Roman Empire. Babesch: Annual Papers on Mediterranean Archaeology, 86, 111-125. doi: 10.2143/BAB.86.0.2128094 Full text

Publication lists

Prof. O.J. Hekster (Olivier)

Publications

Research grants and prizes

Teaching

Ancillary activities