Aaron L. Beek
Full-time Lecturer
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Degree: PhD University of Minnesota, MA University of British Columbiz, BA Macalester College
About
Dr. Aaron L. Beek is a Minnesota native who has taught at nine universities in four countries. He works principally on bandits and mercenaries in the Mediterranean World, the recruitment of ‘outsiders’ into the Roman army, the history of North Africa,
and ancient maritime history. He also has ongoing projects in pedagogy; political philosophy; religion, ritual, and witchcraft; Greek and Roman comedy (mainly Plautus); and the early Christian theologians of North Africa. He also works as an editor on several projects, including his current book project “Trickery and Treachery in Ancient Warfare”, and regularly reviews new books.
His research examines changes in what was considered criminal and illegitimate behavior by society. He focuses on the Ancient Mediterranean over a broad chronological scale, roughly from 500 BCE to 500 CE, with particular emphasis on
banditry, travel, and warfare. He works closely on the Hellenistic Period of Greece and the Middle Republic of Rome (that is, the third and second centuries BCE), but also examines pirates, bandits, terrorists and mercenaries across a much wider chronological span.
As a teacher, Dr. Beek argues that understanding the explicit and implicit biases of our ancient source material is crucial to understanding the social dynamics of the ancient world. He is particularly interested in interdisciplinary work