PhD Position History: Behind Villa Labour, and Death in Roman Italy

Job Overview

The Department of Ancient Civilizations at the University of Basel invites applications for a fully funded PhD position, tenable from October 2026 (negotiable), within the SNSF-funded project "The Roman Villa as Ecosystem:
Climate, Production, and Society in the Sabina Tiberina" (PI: Prof. Dr. Sabine Huebner). The position is specifically directed at candidates interested in Roman social and economic history, ancient demography, or Roman archaeology, and offers the opportunity to investigate the lives of the men, women, and children who formed the labour force of the Roman countryside.

Deadline for application:
August 1, 2026
. Beginning of the position:
October 1, 2026 (negotiable).

Roman villas have traditionally been studied as centers of elite residence and agricultural production. Much less attention has been paid to the populations who lived and worked on these estates. This doctoral project investigates the life histories, health, mortality, mobility, ancestry, and social organization of the land-working population of the Roman hinterland between the first century BCE and the third century CE.

The successful candidate will work with an interdisciplinary dataset comprising literary and epigraphic sources, archaeological evidence, cemetery populations, osteological analyses, stable isotope data, and archaeogenetic data from the Sabina Tiberina, a rural region north of Rome. The project forms part of a broader investigation of Roman villas as socio-ecological systems linking environment, production, nutrition, health, and demographic behaviour.

The doctoral researcher will reconstruct the lived experiences of rural populations associated with Roman villa landscapes, with particular emphasis on questions of daily life, health and disease, mortality patterns, kinship structures, migration and mobility, ancestry, childhood, labour, and social inequality. The role involves engaging critically with broader debates concerning rural populations, family, slavery, dependency, labour organisation, and demographic behaviour in the Roman world.

Participation in fieldwork, summer schools, project workshops, and international conferences is included. The candidate will contribute to the project’s publication strategy and will prepare a doctoral dissertation.

Applicants should hold a Master's degree in Ancient History or a closely related field. A strong interest in Roman social and economic history and in interdisciplinary collaboration between the humanities and natural sciences is essential. Very good command of English is required.

Applications should include a motivation letter, a CV, copies of academic degrees, a writing sample (e.g. MA thesis chapter, seminar paper, or publication), and the contact details of two referees.

• Motivation letter
• Curriculum Vitae (CV)
• Copies of academic degrees
• Writing sample (e.g. MA thesis chapter, seminar paper, or publication)
• Contact details of two referees

Applications must be submitted via the University of Basel online portal by August 1, 2026
; applications not submitted through the portal will not be considered.

Questions about the position can be addressed to Prof. Dr. Sabine Huebner, Department of Ancient Civilizations, University of Basel, Petersgraben 51, CH - 4051 Basel. Email: sabine.huebner.