Matthew Sears

Research interests

• Ancient Greek and Roman History
• Greek and Latin Historiography
• Ancient Warfare and Society

Current projects

• The Battlefields of Ancient Greece: a geo-spatial analysis of the Ancient Greek military landscape
• Ancient Greek Warfare: an upper-level undergraduate textbook to be published with Routledge
• Fallen Soldiers: a study of the literary, artistic and monumental commemoration of soldiers and generals

Biography

Matthew A. Sears joined the department in 2013, after teaching for two years at Wabash College in Indiana. He received his BA (honours in Classics, minor in History) from UNB in 2004 and his PhD (in Classics) from Cornell University in 2011. Sears publishes broadly on ancient politics, society and culture, with special interests in war and society and literary portrayals of warfare and military leaders.

At UNB he teaches a wide range of courses, including all levels of Greek and Latin language and a variety of courses in translation. He is also the fall term lecturer for Arts 1000/1100. Sears is particularly fond of teaching in the UNB Arts Travel Study Program in Greece and looks forward to introducing a new generation of UNB students to the delights of the Mediterranean, including serious academic topics, of course, but also some of the best food and drink around.

Teaching

Courses in 2017-2018

• Greek 2205: Intermediate Greek
• Greek 3243: Advanced Greek: Homer’s Iliad
• Arts 1000/1100: The Development of Western Thought (fall term lecturer)
• Greek 3205/3253: Beginning Ancient Greek Reading/Advanced Greek: Plato’s Apology
• Classics 1403: The Ancient Greeks: Gods, Heroes, Politicians and Poets
• Classics 3623: Remembering War in Ancient Greece (taught on location in Greece, May 2018)

Other courses regularly taught

• Classics 3003: Ancient History: The Greeks from the Trojan War to Alexander the Great
• Classics 3033: Ancient History: The Romans from Republic to Empire
• Classics 3063: Ancient Greek Warfare
• Classics 3513: The Trojan War: Myth and History

Selected publications

Books

Understanding Greek Warfare. Under contract with Routledge.

Battles and Battlefields of Ancient Greece: A Guide to their History, Topography and Archaeology (co-author with C. Jacob Butera). Forthcoming with Pen & Sword.

Athens, Thrace and the Shaping of Athenian Leadership. Cambridge University Press, 2013.

Articles

“The Tyrant as Liberator: The Treasury of Brasidas and the Acanthians at Delphi.” Forthcoming in Classical Philology.

“The Camps of Brutus and Cassius at Philippi, 42 B.C.” (co-author with C. Jacob Butera). Hesperia 86.2 (2017) 359-377.

“Alexander’s Cavalry Charge at Chaeronea, 338 BCE” (co-author with Carolyn Willekes). Journal of Military History 80.4 (2016) 1017-1035.

“Thucydides, Rousseau and Forced Freedom: Brasidas’ Speech at Acanthus.” Phoenix 69.3/4 (2015) 242-267.

“Alexander and Ada Reconsidered.” Classical Philology 109.3 (2014) 211-221.

“The Topography of the Pylos Campaign and Thucydides’ Literary Themes.” Hesperia 80.1 (2011) 157-168.

“Warrior Ants: Elite Troops in the Iliad.” Classical World 103.2 (2010) 139-155.

“A Note on Mardonius’ Emissaries.” Mouseion 9.1 (2009) 21-28.