Ewan Coopey

Ewan Coopey is a PhD candidate and sessional academic at Macquarie University's School of Humanities, Department of History and Archaeology, specializing in Roman archaeology and theoretical approaches to military communities. His research focuses on Roman military communities in southeastern Europe through new materialist frameworks.

Education:

• Master of Research in History and Archaeology (Macquarie University, 2019-2020; awarded 18 Feb 2021)
• Bachelor of Ancient History specializing in Greece, Rome and Late Antiquity (Macquarie University, 2016-2019)

Ewan's research explores Roman military communities in Dalmatia through 'assemblage thinking' adapted from Deleuze, Guattari, and DeLanda, addressing tensions between 'affect' and 'agency' in new materialist archaeology. His work integrates digital and open archaeology principles, with interests in de/postcolonial reexaminations, social histories, and reception studies of the ancient world. He actively develops open-access database infrastructure for archaeological artifacts through the MANTO project and fieldwork in Australia and Croatia.

His recent publications demonstrate consistent focus on Legio VII in Dalmatia, examining funerary monuments, soldier identities, and community formation through digital epigraphy and spatial analysis. Key trends include the application of new materialism to archaeological evidence and the development of open-access digital resources for Roman military studies.

Awards:

• University Medal for Ancient History (1 Mar 2021)
• CSF Community, Culture and Research Scheme Grant (26 Aug 2020)
• CSF Community, Culture and Research Scheme Grant (2022)

Ewan serves as a sessional academic teaching units including AHIS1210, AHIS1300, AHIS2225, and AHIS3005, and convened the Master's unit AHIS7001: Material Worlds. His external engagements include a Visiting PhD Researcher position at the University of Leicester (Feb-Apr 2023) and field archaeology work in Australia and Croatia. He contributes to public history through the Centre for Applied History and Australia and Aotearoa NZ Public History Network, and gained media attention through The Ancients Podcast on Roman military tombstones (Jan 2021).