About



Jeffrey Becker is a Mediterranean archaeologist. Becker has held teaching positions at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, The College of William & Mary, Boston University, McMaster University, the Joukowsky Institute for Archaeology and the Ancient World at Brown University, and the University of Mississippi. Additionally, Becker served as Acting Director of the Ancient World Mapping Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is an Associate Editor of the Pleiades Project and contributing editor for Etruscan and Roman art at Smarthistory.org. Becker is a veteran of archaeological fieldwork in Italy, notably on the Palatine Hill in Rome with Clementina Panella and the University of Michigan’s project at Gabii in Central Italy. He is currently a part-time lecturer in the Department of Middle Eastern and Ancient Mediterranean Studies at Binghamton University – SUNY. At Binghamton, he teaches courses in Mediterranean archaeology and Graeco-Roman art history.

Education

Ph.D., Classical Archaeology, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (2007)

M.A., Classical Archaeology, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (2003)

A.B., Classics, Franklin & Marshall College (1999)

Work Shared in CORE

Books
Articles
Book chapters
Syllabi
Book reviews
Reviews

Other Publications

Publications

 

Books

In prep. An Archaeology of Urbanism in Republican Italy: Diachronic Perspectives (Book ms.)

In prep. J. Armstrong and J. Becker. The Archaeology of Archaic Central Italy. (under contract with Oxford University Press)

In prep. A history of Roman urbanism (an English translation of P. Gros and M. Torelli, Storia dell’urbanistica: il mondo romano 2nd ed. Laterza, 2007). (Under contract as translator and co-editor with Princeton University Press)

2012. J. Becker and N. Terrenato. edd. Roman Republican Villas: Architecture, Context, and Ideology. Papers and monographs of the American Academy in Rome. University of Michigan Press. ISBN-13: 978-0-472-11770-3. [Reviews: BMCR 2013.02.30; Antiquity 87 (2013); AJA 117.3 (2013); JRA 26 (2013); Classical Review 65.2 (2015)]

 

Double-Blind Peer-reviewed Contributions

2021. “Ch. 15. Defining space, making the city – urbanism in archaic Rome.” In Making Cities: Economies of Production and Urbanisation in Mediterranean Europe 1000–500 BCE, edited by Margarita Gleba, Beatriz Marin Aguilera, and Bela Dimova. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN-13: 978-1-913344-06-1.

2014. M. Mogetta and J. Becker. “Archaeological research at Gabii, Italy: the Gabii Project Excavations, 2009-2011.” American Journal of Archaeology 118.1:171-88.

2011. J. Becker and J. Nowlin. “Orientalizing infant burials from Gabii, Italy.” BABESCH 86:27-39.

2009. J. Becker, M. Mogetta, and N. Terrenato. “A new plan for an ancient Italian city: Gabii revealed.” American Journal of Archaeology 113.4:629-42.

 

Peer-reviewed Contributions

2013. “Italic architecture of the earlier first millennium BCE.” In The Blackwell Companion to Roman Architecture, edited by R. J. Ulrich and C. Quenemoen, 6-27. Malden MA: Wiley-Blackwell. ISBN-13: 978-1-4051-9964-3.

2013. “Villas and agriculture in Republican Italy.” In The Blackwell Companion to the Archaeology of the Roman Republican Period, edited by J. DeRose Evans, 309-22. Malden MA: Wiley-Blackwell. ISBN-13: 978-1-4051-9966-7.

2006. “The rediscovery of the Villa delle Grotte at Grottarossa and the prehistory of Roman villas.” Journal of Roman Archaeology 19:213-20.

 

Academic editing

2020. Classical archaeology section editor, The Springer Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology 2nd ed., edited by Claire Smith et al. (Springer Reference, 2017-2020).

2013. Classical archaeology section editor, The Springer Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology, edited by Claire Smith et al. (11 v.; Springer Reference).

 

Encyclopedia Entries (peer-reviewed)

2018. “Topography of Rome.” In Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology 2nd ed., edited by Claire Smith. New York: Springer. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-51726-1_926-2

2018. “Boni, Giacomo.” In Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology 2nd ed., edited by Claire Smith. New York: Springer. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-51726-1_1453-2

2014. “Topography of Rome.” In Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology, edited by Claire Smith. New York: Springer. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-0465-2_926

2014. “Boni, Giacomo.” In Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology, edited by Claire Smith. New York: Springer. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-0465-2

2009. “Liguria.” In Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece and Rome, edited by M. Gagarin, 4.253-4. Oxford University Press.

 

Invited Articles and Chapters (not peer-reviewed)

In progress. Contributions to Reframing Art History, edited by L. Kilroy-Ewbank et al. Four chapters: “Urbanisms”, “Identities”, “Connectivities”, “Legacies”

2013. J. Becker and C. M. Melisch. “Gabii und Rom – zwei antike Zentren in Mittelitalien.” Archäologie in Deutschland 1/2013:58-60.

2010. N. Terrenato, A. Gallone, J. Becker, and S. Kay. “Urbanistica Ortogonale a Gabii: Risultati delle nuove prospezioni geofisiche e prospettive per il futuro.” In Lazio e Sabina VI: atti del convengo. Sesto incontro di Studi sul Lazio e Sabina, edited by G. Ghini, 237-48. Rome: Edizioni Quasar. ISBN-13: 978-88-7140-433-2.

2009. N. Terrenato and J. Becker. “Il sito di Monte delle Grotte sulla via Flaminia e lo sviluppo della villa nel suburbio di Roma.” In Suburbium II: il Suburbio di Roma dalla fine dell’età monarchica alla nascita del sistema delle ville (V-II sec. a.C.), edited by V. Jolivet, C. Pavolini, M. A. Tomei, and R. Volpe, 393-401. (Collection de l’École française de Rome; 419). Rome: École française de Rome. ISBN-13: 9782728308200.

2005. “Investigating early villas: the case of Grottarossa.” In Papers in Italian archaeology VI: Communities and Settlements from the Neolithic to the Early Medieval Period. Proceedings of the 6th Conference of Italian Archaeology held at the University of Groningen, Groningen Institute of Archaeology, The Netherlands, April 15-17, 2003, 2 v. (BAR Int. Ser. S1452), edited by P. A. J. Attema, A. J. Nijboer, and A. Zifferero, 813-21. Oxford: ArchaeoPress. ISBN-13: 978-1841718903.

 

Book Reviews (invited)

2018. Review of Lisa M. Mignone, The Republican Aventine and Rome’s Social Order. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2016. Cambridge Archaeological Journal 28.2:349-50. doi: 10.1017/S0959774317000749.

2017. Review of Rafael Scopacasa, Ancient Samnium. Settlement, Culture, and Identity between History and Archaeology. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2015. Etruscan Studies 20.2:171-4.

2017. Review of Gilbert Gorski and James E. Packer, The Roman Forum: a reconstruction and architectural guide. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2015. Journal of Roman Studies 107:349-51.

2016. Review of B. Borg, Crisis and Ambition: Tombs and Burial Customs in Third-Century CE Rome. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013. Classical Review 66.2.

2016. Review of M. Thomas and G. E. Meyers, Monumentality in Etruscan and Early Roman Architecture: Ideology and Innovation. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2012. American Journal of Archaeology 120.1. DOI: 10.3764/ajaonline1201.Becker

2009. Review of R. E. Roth, Styling Romanisation: Pottery and Society in Central Italy. Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press, 2007. Journal of Roman Studies 99:280-1.

2005. Review of G. Pucci and C. Mascione, Manifattura ceramica etrusco-romana a Chiusi: il complesso produttivo di Marcianella. Bari: Edipuglia, 2003. Journal of Roman Studies 95:310-11.

2004. Review of W. Regter, Imitation and Creation: Development of Early Bucchero Design at Cerveteri in the Seventh Century B.C. Amsterdam: Allard Pierson Museum, 2003. Journal of Roman Studies 94:223-4.

 

Catalog Entries

2017. “An Early Corinthian alabastron (1968.121) in the Binghamton University Art Museum.” In 50 Years: Highlights, edited by Diane Butler, 18-19. Binghamton University Art Museum.

 

Papers

Refereed Submissions

2021. “Confronting the canon – (Sm)art-historical approaches to Mediterranean material culture,” College Art Association panel “Public Art History and Expertise in the Age of COVID-19” organized by Beth Harris, Steven Zucker, and Lauren Kilroy-Ewbank. Online. February 11.

2021. H. Becker and J. Becker. “Memories of the king: political power, placehood, and performativity in early Rome and Etruria,” Archaeological Institute of America / Society of Classical Studies joint colloquium session “Between Myth and Materiality: the Origins of Rome, 800-500 BCE” organized by T. Corey Brennan and Lynne Lancaster. Online. January 9.

2016. V. Vitale, J. Becker, J. Prag. “Where is the House of the Dwarves? Enhancing granularity in the Pleiades Gazetteer: the examples of ancient Sicily and Pompeii,” Computer Applications and Quantitative Methods in Archaeology (CAA) Annual Conference. Oslo. March 29-April 2.

2015. “Architecture and civic identity in Republican Italy,” VI Seminario Internazionale sulle Mura Poligonali. Alatri, Italy. November 29.

2012. “Storied pasts? Archaic and Republican Urbanism Compared,” Archaeological Institute of America 113th meeting, Philadelphia, Pa. January 6.

2011. N. Terrenato, J. Becker, A. Gallone, and R. Opitz. “The Gabii Project: Excavations 2009-2010,” Archaeological Institute of America 112th meeting, San Antonio, Tx. January 8.

2010. “Architecture and Middle Republican Urbanism,” 9th Roman Archaeology Conference. University of Oxford. Oxford, England. March 25-28.

2010. J. Becker and J. Nowlin. “Infant burials and emerging social hierarchy in Orientalizing Latium,” Archaeological Institute of America 111th meeting, Anaheim, Ca. January 6-9.

2009. “Cities, settlements, and architecture in Republican Latium,” 8th Roman Archaeology Conference, University of Michigan. Ann Arbor, Michigan. April 3-5.

2009. N. Terrenato, A. Gallone, J. Becker, and S. Kay. “Urbanistica Ortogonale a Gabii: Risultati delle nuove prospezioni geofisiche,” Convegno Lazio e Sabina 2009. Rome, Italy. March 4-5.

2009. J. Becker, M. Mogetta, and N. Terrenato. “A new plan for an ancient Italian city: Gabii revealed,” 110th Archaeological Institute of America meeting, Philadelphia, Pa. January 10.

2007. “Polygonal masonry and Republican villas: the problem of the basis villae,” Archaeological Institute of America 108th meeting, San Diego, Ca. January 5.

2004. “The topography of public markets at Rome and the problem of the Macellum Liviae,” CAMWS Southern Section 84th meeting, Winston-Salem, NC. November 5.

2004. J. Becker and N. Terrenato. “The rediscovery of the Villa delle Grotte at Grottarossa and the prehistory of Roman villas,” Archaeological Institute of America 105th meeting, San Francisco, Ca. January 3.

2003. “Investigating early villas: the case of Grottarossa,” 6th International Conference of Italian Archaeology, University of Groningen, The Netherlands. April 15-17.

2002. “Flanking the Forum: the quadriporticus in Roman architecture,” CAMWS 98th meeting, Austin, Tx. April 4.

2001. “Roman perspectives of urban landscapes,” at “Space and Locale in Classical Antiquity,” graduate student colloquium, University of Virginia. Charlottesville, Va. February 24.

2000. “The Flavian Triumph of AD 71,” at “Competition and Celebration in the Roman World”, graduate student colloquium, McMaster University. Hamilton, Ontario. September 30.

 

Refereed Poster Presentations

2012. R.J.A. Talbert, B.D. Turner, J. Becker. “A Map of Asia Minor around 100 C.E.” Archaeological Institute of America 113th meeting, Philadelphia, Pa. January 5-8.

2010. A. Gallone, M. Mogetta, N. Terrenato, J. Becker. “The Gabii Project: the First Season of Excavation,” Poster presentation, Archaeological Institute of America 111th meeting, Anaheim, Ca. January 6-9.

2008. J. Becker and N. Terrenato. “The Gabii Project: a Report on the First Season,” Poster presentation, Archaeological Institute of America 109th meeting, Chicago, Il. January 4.

 

Colloquia and Conference Sessions (as organizer)

2012. Session co-organizer (with J. Sewell), “Comparative urbanism in the ancient Mediterranean world,” (Contributors: J. Becker, G. Emberling, C. M. Melisch, M. Mogetta, J. Sewell, N. Terrenato). Archaeological Institute of America 113th meeting, Philadelphia, Pa. January 6.

2011. Symposium co-organizer (with S. E. Alcock, L. M. Mignone, J. C. Nowlin), “The Archaeology of Italy: the State of the Field 2011,” Joukowsky Institute for Archaeology and the Ancient World, Brown University. March 18-19.

2010. Session co-organizer (with M. Mogetta), “The Archaeology of Middle Republican Rome and Italy,” (Contributors: J. Becker, T. J. Cornell, M. J. Johnson, F. Marcattili, M. Mogetta, F.-H. Massa-Pairault). 9th Roman Archaeology Conference, University of Oxford. March 25-28.

2009. Session co-organizer (with E. C. Robinson), “Current approaches to the archaeology of first millennium BCE Italian urbanism,” (Contributors: P. A. J. Attema, J. Becker, G. Cifani, M. Mogetta, P. Perkins, E. C. Robinson). 8th Roman Archaeology Conference, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. April 3-5.

2007. Joint AIA/APA Colloquium co-organizer (with N. Terrenato), “Roman Republican villas: architecture, context, and ideology,” (Contributors: J. Becker, J. Bodel, C. M. C. Green, B. Reay, N. Terrenato, M. Torelli, R. Volpe, A. Wallace-Hadrill). Archaeological Institute of America 108th meeting, San Diego, Ca. January 5.

 

Invited presentations

2021. “The Column of Trajan and narrative art.” Smarthistory Commons Conversations. November 3.

2018. SunoikisisDC Digital Cultural Heritage live programme, “Session 1. Historical Digital Gazetteers”, with G. Bodard, R. Mostern, and V. Vitale. October 3.

2018. Pelagios workshop on building urban gazetteers. Koninklijk Nederlands Instituut Rome (KNIR) organized by S. de Beer, V. Vitale, and J. Jenstad. June 25.

2017. Presentation on Roman urbanism and colonialism. Project Advance, Syracuse University. October 27.

2017. Presentation on “The Pleiades Project” at “From Theory to Practice: Digital Methods in Research and Teaching”, Wesleyan University. September 8.

2017. “Urbs ipsa moenia sunt: urbanism and identity in Republican Italy,” VizCult (The Harpur College Dean’s Workshop on Visual Culture lecture series), Binghamton University – SUNY. March 8.

2015. “Architecture and civic identity in Republican Italy,” at VI Seminario Internazionale sulle Mura Poligonali, Alatri, Italy. November 29.

2013. T. Elliott, S. Gillies, R. Horne, J. Becker. “Stitching together ancient geography online,” at Word, Space, Time: Digital Perspectives on the Classical World (An interdisciplinary conference organized by the Digital Classics Association), University at Buffalo – SUNY. April 5.

2012. A. Gallone, J. Becker, M. Mogetta. “Gabii in età repubblicana: i rivestimenti pavimentali di alcune unità abitative,” at AISCOM 18, Cremona, Italy. March 14-17.

2011. “The Gabii Project 2009-2011: preliminary conclusions and new directions,” Department of Classics, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. November 2.

2011. “Digging the past, building the future: a research agenda for first millennium BC Italy,” at “The Archaeology of Italy: the State of the Field 2011,” Joukowsky Institute for Archaeology and the Ancient World, Brown University. March 19.

2010. “Cities and their culture in Republican Italy,” Central Carolinas Society of the Archaeological Institute of America (Davidson-Charlotte), Davidson College, Davidson NC. November 7.

2010. “City and symbol in Republican Italy,” Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Harvard University. October 28.

2010. J. Becker and J. Nowlin. “Orientalizing infant tombs at Gabii, Italy: discovery, documentation, interpretation,” Joukowsky Institute Brownbag Series in Archaeology, Brown University. September 21.

2010. “The Gabii Project, 2007-2010: preliminary conclusions and future perspectives,” Oberlin College Department of Classics. April 12.

2010. “The Gabii Project, 2007-2010: preliminary conclusions and future perspectives,” McMaster University Department of Classics, Faculty-Graduate Student Symposium. March 11.

2010. “Imagination and reality: Republican Roman cities,” Wellesley College. March 8.

2010. “Villas and their culture in Republican Italy,” Reno, Nv., chapter of the Archaeological Institute of America. February 3.

2010. Invited Session Chair for “Republican and Augustan Rome,” Archaeological Institute of America 111th meeting, Anaheim, Ca. January 7.

2009. “Cities and cultural identity in Republican Italy,” Fr. Bader Lecture, Central Pennsylvania chapter of the Archaeological Institute of America, University Park, Pa. October 7.

2009. Invited Session Chair for “Current Work in Pre-Roman and Roman Italy,” Archaeological Institute of America 110th meeting, Philadelphia, Pa. January 10.

2008. “Urbanism, architecture, and the Roman conquest of Italy,” Classical Association of Virginia. Williamsburg, Va. May 3.

2007. “Architecture and identity in Republican Italy,” Williamsburg, Va. Society of the Archaeological Institute of America. November 8.

2007. “City walls and Roman urbanism,” Scholarly Communication Working Group, UNC-Chapel Hill. March 21.

2005. N. Terrenato, J. Becker. “Il sito di Monte delle Grotte sulla via Flaminia e lo sviluppo della villa nel suburbio di Roma,” Convegno Suburbium II, École française de Rome. February 17-18.

 

Consulting

2017-2018. Project Strategy Advisor for At Risk Cultural Heritage Education Series (ARCHES) at Smarthistory.org funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities (Grant no. TR-253959-17, Dr. Steven Zucker, PI).

 

Maps

2017. R. J. A. Talbert, B. D. Turner, R Horne, J. Becker, R. Twele, G. Moss, et al. Asia Minor in the Second Century C.E. Licensed under CC-by-4.0; Print release from the British Institute at Ankara forthcoming.

2014. J. Becker, R. Horne, R. J. A. Talbert et al. Comprehensive digital map to accompany D. Roller. The Geography of Strabo: An English Translation, with Introduction and Notes. Cambridge University Press. http://awmc.unc.edu/awmc/applications/strabo/

2009-present. The Pleiades Project. 11,840 additions, 22,286 other contributions. (cc-by).

2006-2007; 2011-2013. Digital map-making on commission using ArcGIS 10.0, Adobe Illustrator, and Adobe Photoshop.

2012-2013. Contributions to ‘Antiquity à la carte 2.0’ online application, Ancient World Mapping Center.

2011. R. J. A. Talbert, B. D. Turner, R Horne, J. Becker, et al. A Map of Roman Asia Minor Around 100 C.E.

2011. Contributions to R. J. A. Talbert et al. Routledge Wall Maps for the Ancient World series (7 maps).

 

Smarthistory (online art history curriculum content)

 

Didactic open access essays (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)

1.     “Pompeii: House of the Vettii” (8 August 2015)

2.     “The Equestrian Statue of Marcus Aurelius” (8 August 2015)

3.     “Tomb of the Triclinium” (8 August 2015)

4.     “Forum Romanum (The Roman Forum)” (8 August 2015)

5.     “Riace Warriors” (8 August 2015)

6.     “Mars of Todi” (8 August 2015)

7.     “Greek architectural orders” (8 August 2015)

8.     “Sarcophagus of the Spouses (Museo Nazionale di Villa Giulia, Rome)” (8 August 2015)

9.     “The Imperial fora” (8 August 2015)

10.  “Introduction to ancient Greek architecture” (8 August 2015)

11.  “Head of a Roman patrician” (8 August 2015)

12.  “Aule Metele (Arringatore)” (8 August 2015)

13.  “Chimera of Arezzo” (8 August 2015)

14.  “Tomb of the Reliefs” (8 August 2015)

15.  “Bucchero” (8 August 2015)

16.  “Temple of Portunus, Rome” (8 August 2015)

17.  “Temple of Bel (Palmyra)” (8 August 2015)

18.  “The Arch of Titus” (8 August 2015)

19.  “Palmyrene Funerary Portraiture” (with Steven Zucker) (8 August 2015)

20.  “The Forum and Markets of Trajan” (8 August 2015)

21.  “Ara Pacis Augustae” (23 November 2015)

22.  “The Column of Trajan” (27 November 2015)

23.  “Roman Domestic Architecture – domus” (28 November 2015)

24.  “Temple of Baalshamin, Palmyra” (19 December 2015)

25.  “Roman Domestic Architecture – insula” (27 February 2016)

26.  “Roman Domestic Architecture – villa” (7 March 2016)

27.  “Maison Carrée” (8 March 2016)

28.  “Persepolis: the Audience Hall of Darius and Xerxes” (24 January 2016)

29.  “‘Preparations for a Sacrifice’: Fragment of an Architectural Relief (Musée du Louvre, N° d’entrée MNC 1786 (n° usuel Ma 992)” (14 August 2016)

30.  “Tomb of the Scipios and the sarcophagus of Scipio Barbatus” (15 August 2016)

31.  “Su Nuraxi Barumini” (28 December 2016)

32.  “Severan Marble plan (Forma Urbis Romae)” (19 April 2017)

33.  “A-level Greek architectural orders” (14 June 2017)

34.  “Organizations and agencies that work to protect cultural heritage” (25 March 2018)

35.  “Italo-Roman building techniques” (24 July 2020)

36.  “Views of past and present: the Forum Romanum and archaeological context” (10 August 2020)

37.  “City of Rome Overview – origins to the archaic period” (5 September 2020)

38.  “The Regolini-Galassi tomb and the Parade Fibula” (7 June 2021)

39.  “City of Rome Overview – the Republican Period”

40.  “Sanctuary of Fortuna Primigenia at Praeneste (Palestrina, Italy)”

41.  “City of Rome Overview – Augustus and the early Imperial period”

 

Open access instructional videos (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)

1.     J. Becker and Beth Harris. “What is archaeology: understanding the archaeological record,” In At Risk Cultural Heritage Education Series (ARCHES) (25 November 25 2017)

2.     J. Becker and Beth Harris. “Rome’s history in four faces at the Met” (28 April 2018)

Blog Posts

    Projects

    2017 . Project Strategy Advisor for At-Risk Cultural Heritage Education Series (ARCHES) at Smarthistory.org funded by NEH.

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