Personal Summary

Scott Lawin Arcenas is a historian and classicist who specializes in the history of democracy and political violence in ancient Greece. His first book project examines the nature, frequency, and intensity of political violence in fifth- and fourth-century Greek city-states. It also introduces new methods and new tools to overcome three of the most significant obstacles that confront attempts to study Greek history on a panhellenic scale: the scarcity, ambiguity, and deep biases of the evidentiary record. In recent years, Professor Arcenas has published articles on travel and transportation in the ancient world, digital history, Roman numismatics, Thucydides, and digital pedagogy. At the moment, he is working on two research projects: a book on the many births of democracy in archaic and classical Greece and series of articles on epistemic uncertainty in narrative histories of Greek city-states.

At the University of Montana, Professor Arcenas teaches courses on Greek history, Roman history, Latin, Greek, the history of democracy, and citizenship in both the ancient and the modern world. He is a passionate advocate of civic education and General Education curricula--both at the University of Montana and elsewhere. Before arriving at UM, he taught at Stanford University, Dartmouth College, and George Mason University. 

Education

PhD, Classics, Stanford University, 2018
MPhil, Classics, University of Cambridge, 2011
AB, Classics, Princeton University, 2009

Teaching Experience

University of Montana, assistant professor, 2020-present
George Mason University, assistant professor, 2019-20
Dartmouth College, lecturer, 2018-19
Stanford University, teaching assistant and graduate instructor, 2013-16

Field of Study

European History; Political, Economic, and Social History of the Ancient Mediterranean; Digital History; Ancient Historiography; Greek and Latin Literature

Selected Publications

2023   “Establishing a dynasty in ideology and practice: The aedes Vestae aurei of Vespasian,” Papers of the British School at Rome 91: 35-92. Co-authored with George C. Watson. 

2021   “Mare ORBIS: A Network Model for Maritime Transportation in the Roman World,” Mediterranean Historical Review 36.2: 1-30.

2020  “The Silence of Thucydides,” TAPA 150.2: 299-332.

2019  “Teaching Ancient Geography with Modern Tools,” in B. Natoli and S. Hunt (eds.)Teaching Classics with Technology. Bloomsbury Academic, New York: 165-180.