Ray Lahiri

I study ancient Greek and Roman historical writing. My ongoing first book project, Bodies of Violence: Roman Historiography and the Problem of Empire, analyzes how Roman historians, writing in Greek and Latin, used the body as a metaphorical and conceptual resource to theorize empire, historiography, and their intersection. Authors treated include Polybius, Livy, Josephus, Florus, Eusebius of Caesarea, and Procopius of Caesarea, among others. 

In addition to my work on historiography, other ongoing interests include the problem of style; counterfactuals; exemplarity in Roman culture; the literary history of Africa in the Roman Empire; the history of ancient Persia and Iranic languages; and global and comparative approaches to premodern cultures (especially through the reception history of Alexander III of Macedon). 

In my leisure time, I enjoy playing the guitar and devotedly following the misadventures of Arsenal Football Club.