Roman Christianity and Paganism

Career overview

Dr Gareth Sears holds a BA and a PhD in Archaeology and Ancient History from the University of Birmingham. He is an Associate Professor in Ancient History at the University of Birmingham, where he focuses on Roman history, particularly the city, city life, and religious change in the Roman world, with a specific emphasis on late Roman North Africa. His doctoral research and subsequent work investigate the relationship between religion and urban development during the late antique period. Dr Sears has authored a book on the late antique city and has produced several monographs examining urban development under various cultural influences, including local, Roman, and Christian ideas. He is committed to integrating literary and archaeological evidence in his research and has co-directed archaeological projects in Croatia and Libya. Dr Sears teaches a broad range of modules on Roman history and culture at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels, emphasising innovative teaching methods and the use of diverse materials to enhance student understanding of the ancient world. He has received recognition for his teaching excellence, including an award from the College of Arts and Law at the University of Birmingham. Dr Sears supervises postgraduate research students on topics related to Roman history, urbanism, and religious evolution, and he is actively involved in various research projects, including those focused on late Roman cities and religious conflicts in North Africa. His recent publications include works on urbanism in Roman Africa and the evolution of urban spaces in the western Roman Empire.

Research interests

Dr Gareth Sears'' research focuses on Roman history, particularly the city, city life, and religious change in the Roman world, with a specific emphasis on late Roman North Africa. His work examines the relationship between religion and urban development during the late antique period, exploring transformations in this relationship. Dr Sears has authored a book on the late antique city and has produced several monographs that investigate urban development under the influence of local, Roman, and Christian ideas. He employs both literary and archaeological evidence in his research and has co-directed archaeological projects in Croatia and Libya. His current research includes the survival of traditional religious practices and beliefs into the fifth and sixth centuries AD, as well as syncretism between traditional beliefs and Christianity. He has published works such as *The Cities of Roman Africa*, which discusses urban evolution from the pre-Roman period to the fall of Carthage, and *The City in the Roman West*, which compares urban development across different regions of the western Roman Empire. Dr Sears is also involved in projects that investigate the archaeological remains of ancient cities and their socio-political contexts.