Assistant Director

Dr Georgios Mouratidis

British School at Athens
52 Souedias Street
Athens, 10676
+30 211 1022 804

assistant.director@bsa.ac.uk

As ancient historian, my research specialty is on Greek epigraphy during the Hellenistic and Imperial periods, especially inscriptions in the Peloponnese, northern Greece, and Asia Minor. My research focuses on two key areas: on self-representation of athletes and on life in the Greek gymnasium, with a view to understanding how civic education was conceptualised in the post-Classical world. As such, central to my research methodology is the study of epigraphic and literary sources, and material culture for context (e.g., my 2021 publication on citizenship and Hellenic identity in Klio). My ambition over the next decade is to focus on regional data beyond the traditional Graeco-Roman centres and across the Mediterranean, and give voice to various communities (e.g., non-citizens, women, slaves, e.g.,) that are often underplayed by the way we talk about the Graeco-roman past. For example, my forthcoming monograph Athletes and Cities in the Hellenistic and Imperial Periods which offers a critical analysis of a substantial volume of epigraphic and literary evidence, explores the variety in the styles of athletic self-representation, in the process casting new light on some of the ways used to navigate the various cultural and political pressures and obligations during the Late Hellenistic and Imperial periods.

My second area of research is the ancient gymnasium. By asking what informed political action and what motivated civic benefactions, this project aims to better understand how civic education was conceptualised in the post-Classical world. It is unique in its approach of the epigraphic record in the sense that it treats it as an open discourse about training practices; a medium for various communities across Greece, Asia Minor and the East to negotiate their views about what paideia was—or should have been. As part of this project, I co-author a book with Heather Reid, titled: The Philosophy of the ancient Gymnasium (forthcomming).

As part of my wider interest in Greek epigraphy, I also occasionally publish on other topics of Greek epigraphy and the political culture of the Greek city during the Imperial Period (e.g., Mouratidis G.E. 2018).

Publications

Books

• Mouratidis G.E. (forthcomming), Athletes and Cities in the Late Hellenistic and Imperial Periods, to be published with Cambridge University Press.
• Reid H.L. and Mouratidis G.E. (forthcomming), The Philosophy of the ancient Gymnasium, to be published with Parnassos Press.

Articles & book chapters

•  Reid, H.L.  and Mouratidis, G.E. 2024. ‘Did gymnastike train the body or the mind?’, in J.R. Gatt, S. Newington, and M. Senkova, Body and Soul in Ancient Greece and Rome, Siracuse.
• Mouratidis G.E. 2024. ‘Money, Honour, and Athletics in the Hellenistic polis’, in Mann C. – Begass C. – M.T. Montalto (eds.), Money and Honor in Ancient Athletics, Stuttgart.
• Mouratidis, G.E. and Reid, H.L. 2023. ‘From Euexia to Eupraxia: Gymnastic Education and Moral Performance’, in: H.C. Cusion, M. Ralkowski, H.L. Reid, Paideia and Performance, Siracuse.
• Mouratidis G.E. 2023.‘Athletes, identity, and inscriptions during the Late Hellenistic and Imperial periods: the case of epigrams’, in Bianco M.M. – Cusumano N. –Melidone C. – Rallo G.E. (eds.), Memoria, spazio, identita, in Grecia e a Roma, Palermo, 137-154.
• Mouratidis G.E. 2021. ‘Athletes, Citizenships, and Hellenic Identity during the Imperial Period’, Klio 103.2, 675-703.
• Reid H.L. and Mouratidis G.E. 2020. ‘Naked Virtue: Ancient Athletic Nudity and the Olympic Ethos of Aretē’, Olympika 29, 29-55.
• Mouratidis G.E. 2018. ‘The political vocabulary of the imperial-period Greek elite; some notes on the title ἀξιολογώτατος’, Arctos 52, 119-135.

Book reviews

• Mouratidis G.E. 2021. ‘Stewart E., Harris E., Lewis D. (eds.), Skilled Labour and Professionalism in Ancient Greece and Rome (Review)’, The Classical Review1, 138-141.
• Mouratidis G.E. 2020. ‘Papakonstantinou Z., Sport and Identity in Ancient Greece (Review)’, The Classical Review, 70.1, 163-165.

Online publications

• Reid, H.L., & Mouratidis, G. (2024). Early Greek and Roman Examinations of Sport (V. Girginov, & F.J.L. Frias, Eds.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780367766924-RESS175-1

Publications without peer–review

• Μουρατίδης Γ. 2016. Η Γέννηση των Ολυμπιακών Αθλημάτων, RasterOne, Thessaloniki.
• Μουρατίδης Γ. Ιούνιος 2016. ‘Η Πολιορκία της Κωνσταντινούπολης το 1453’, Στρατιωτική Ιστορία 233, 10-21 .
• Μουρατίδης Γ. Φεβρουάριος 2015. ᾽Οι μισθοφόροι της Ελληνιστικής περιόδου 323-31π.Χ.’, Στρατιωτική Ιστορία 217, 62-69.