Staff profile

I am a historian of ancient Greece, with particular interests in the political history of the Classical Greek World, and in the history (and ideology) of Greek interstate relations. I also work on Greek historiography and epigraphy.

Before coming to Durham (in September 2018), I was a member of the Department of Classics & Ancient History at the University of Manchester; before that, I studied at Oxford (for my undergraduate degree) and Cambridge (for my PhD), and was W.H.D.Rouse Research Fellow in Classics at Christ's College, Cambridge.

Doctoral Supervision

I would be interested in supervising research projects in Greek political history (particularly of the Classical period) and historiography (especially, but not only, Thucydides).

School Talks and Outreach

I am happy to give talks on topics in Greek history and historiography. Potential topics include the Persian Wars; Athens & Athenian Democracy; Sparta; the commemoration of the War Dead in Classical Greece; Thucydides. (This is not an exhaustive list, and I would be happy to discuss other possibilities.)

• Epigraphy
• Greek historiography, particularly Thucydides
• Greek political history

Authored book

• Attic Inscriptions in UK Collections 7: Chatsworth
  Liddel, P., & Low, P. (2019). Attic Inscriptions in UK Collections 7: Chatsworth. Attic Inscriptions Online
• Attic Inscriptions in UK Collections 8: Broomhall
  Liddel, P., & Low, P. (2019). Attic Inscriptions in UK Collections 8: Broomhall. Attic Inscriptions Online
• Attic Inscriptions in UK Collections 5: Lyme Park
  Liddel, P., & Low, P. (2019). Attic Inscriptions in UK Collections 5: Lyme Park. Attic Inscriptions Online
• Attic Inscriptions in UK Collections 6: Leeds City Museum
  Liddel, P., & Low, P. (2019). Attic Inscriptions in UK Collections 6: Leeds City Museum. Attic Inscriptions Online
• Interstate Relations in Classical Greece: Morality and Power
  Low, P. (2007). Interstate Relations in Classical Greece: Morality and Power. Cambridge University Press

Chapter in book

• Thucydides on Empire and Imperialism
  Low, P. (2023). Thucydides on Empire and Imperialism. In P. Low (Ed.), The Cambridge Companion to Thucydides (143-159). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781316227442.013
• Xenia and Proxenia in Thucydides' Sparta
  Low, P. (2021). Xenia and Proxenia in Thucydides' Sparta. In A. Powell, & P. Debnar (Eds.), Thucydides and Sparta (163-182). Classical Press of Wales
• Four Unpublished Inscriptions (and One Neglected Collector) from the World Museum, Liverpool
  Liddel, P., & Low, P. (2019). Four Unpublished Inscriptions (and One Neglected Collector) from the World Museum, Liverpool. In C. F. Noreña, & N. Papazarkadas (Eds.), From Document to History: Epigraphic Insights into the Greco-Roman World (408-430). Brill Academic Publishers. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004382886_024
• Hegemonic Legitimacy (and its Absence) in Classical Greece
  Low, P. (2018). Hegemonic Legitimacy (and its Absence) in Classical Greece. In M. Canevaro, A. Erskine, B. Gray, & J. Ober (Eds.), Ancient Greek History and Contemporary Social Science (433-454). Edinburgh University Press
• Thucydides on the Athenian Empire and Interstate Relations
  Low, P. (2017). Thucydides on the Athenian Empire and Interstate Relations. In S. Forsdyke, E. Foster, & R. Balot (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Thucydides (99-114). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199340385.013.22
• State and Warlord in Classical Greece: From Bipolarity to Multipolarity
  Low, P. (2017). State and Warlord in Classical Greece: From Bipolarity to Multipolarity. In T. Ñaco del Hoyo, & F. López Sánchez (Eds.), War, Warlords, and Interstate Relations in the Ancient Mediterranean (36-53). Brill Academic Publishers. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004354050_004
• Lives from stone: epigraphy and biography in classical and Hellenistic Greece
  Low, P. (2016). Lives from stone: epigraphy and biography in classical and Hellenistic Greece. In R. Fletcher, & J. Hanink (Eds.), Creative Lives in Classical Antiquity (147-174). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781316670651.007
• Empire and crisis in fourth-century Greece
  Low, P. (2014). Empire and crisis in fourth-century Greece. In V. Gouschin, & P. Rhodes (Eds.), Deformations and Crises of Ancient Civil Communities (63-72). Steiner
• Law, authority and legitimacy in the Athenian Empire
  Low, P. (2013). Law, authority and legitimacy in the Athenian Empire. In J. Duindam, J. Harries, N. Hurvitz, & C. Humfress (Eds.), Law and Empire: Ideas, Practices, Actors (25-44). Brill Academic Publishers
• Remembering and forgetting: the creation and destruction of inscribed monuments in Classical Athens
  Low, P. (2013). Remembering and forgetting: the creation and destruction of inscribed monuments in Classical Athens. In J. Tumblety (Ed.), Memory and History: Understanding Memory as Source and Subject (71-87). Routledge
• The Monuments to the War Dead in Classical Athens: Form, Contexts, Meanings
  Low, P. (2012). The Monuments to the War Dead in Classical Athens: Form, Contexts, Meanings. In P. Low, G. Oliver, & P. Rhodes (Eds.), Cultures of Commemoration (12-38). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.5871/bacad/9780197264669.003.0002
• The Greek reply to the satraps’ revolt: peace, common peace and war in fourth-century Greece
  Low, P. (2012). The Greek reply to the satraps’ revolt: peace, common peace and war in fourth-century Greece. In J. Wilker (Ed.), Maintaining Peace and Interstate Stability in Archaic and Classical Greece (118-134). Verlag Antike
• Die Moral zwischenstaatlicher Politik im klassichen Griechenland: Thukydides und sein Kontext
  Low, P. (2011). Die Moral zwischenstaatlicher Politik im klassichen Griechenland: Thukydides und sein Kontext. In E. Baltrusch, & C. Wendt (Eds.), in Besitz für immer? Geschichte, Polis und Völkerrecht bei Thukydides (42-62). Nomos
• Athenian foreign policy and the quest for stability
  Low, P. (2011). Athenian foreign policy and the quest for stability. In G. Herman (Ed.), Stability and Crisis in the Athenian Democracy (67-86). Steiner
• The power of the dead in Classical Sparta: the case of Thermopylae
  Low, P. (2011). The power of the dead in Classical Sparta: the case of Thermopylae. In M. Carroll, & J. Rempel (Eds.), Living through the Dead: Burial and Commemoration in the Classical World (1-20). Oxbow Books
• Remembering defeat and victory in democratic Athens
  Low, P. (2010). Remembering defeat and victory in democratic Athens. In D. Pritchard (Ed.), War, Democracy and Culture in Classical Athens (341-358). Cambridge University Press
• The Athenian Empire
  Low, P. (2009). The Athenian Empire. In G. Boys-Stones, B. Graziosi, & P. Vasunia (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Hellenic Studies (65-76). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199286140.013.0006
• Commemorating the Spartan war dead
  Low, P. (2006). Commemorating the Spartan war dead. In A. Powell, & S. Hodkinson (Eds.), Sparta and War. Classical Press of Wales

Edited book

• The Cambridge Companion to Thucydides
  Low, P. (Ed.). (2023). The Cambridge Companion to Thucydides. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781316227442
• Inscriptions and their Uses in Greek and Latin Literature
  Liddel, P., & Low, P. (Eds.). (2013). Inscriptions and their Uses in Greek and Latin Literature. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof%3Aoso/9780199665747.001.0001
• The Athenian Empire
  Low, P. (Ed.). (2008). The Athenian Empire. Edinburgh University Press

Journal Article

• The Origins of the Peloponnesian War, the Origins of the Peloponnesian War, and Theories of International Relations
  Low, P. (2024). The Origins of the Peloponnesian War, the Origins of the Peloponnesian War, and Theories of International Relations. Polis: The Journal for Ancient Greek and Roman Political Thought, 41(1), 76-91. https://doi.org/10.1163/20512996-12340428
• Attic Inscriptions in UK Collections: National Museums Scotland
  de Lisle, C., Liddel, P., & Low, P. (2022). Attic Inscriptions in UK Collections: National Museums Scotland. AIO papers, 14,
• A Greek Funerary Stele in Newcastle upon Tyne (UK)
  Low, P., & Liddel, P. (2021). A Greek Funerary Stele in Newcastle upon Tyne (UK). Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik, 219, 125-129
• Two Megarian inscriptions at Brocklesby Park (UK)
  Low, P., & Liddel, P. (2021). Two Megarian inscriptions at Brocklesby Park (UK). The Journal of epigraphic studies, 4, 47-62. https://doi.org/10.19272/202113701004
• Remembering, forgetting, and rewriting the past: Athenian inscriptions and collective memory
  Low, P. (2020). Remembering, forgetting, and rewriting the past: Athenian inscriptions and collective memory. Histos, Supplements(11), 235-268
• Panhellenism without Imperialism? Athens and the Greeks before and after Chaeronea
  Low, P. (2018). Panhellenism without Imperialism? Athens and the Greeks before and after Chaeronea. Historia, 67(4), 454-471. https://doi.org/10.25162/historia-2018-0018
• A new inscription from Liverpool and its afterlife: World Museum Liverpool 27.8.85.3
  Liddel, P., & Low, P. (2016). A new inscription from Liverpool and its afterlife: World Museum Liverpool 27.8.85.3. Hermathena, 200-201,
• An honorific gnome of the koinon of the Phrikyladai: a new inscription from Liverpool
  Liddel, P., & Low, P. (2015). An honorific gnome of the koinon of the Phrikyladai: a new inscription from Liverpool. Annual of the British School at Athens, 110, 263-284. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0068245415000076
• Looking for the language of Athenian imperialism
  Low, P. (2005). Looking for the language of Athenian imperialism. The Journal of Hellenic Studies, 125, 93-111. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0075426900007126
• Remembering war in fifth-century Greece: Ideologies, societies, and commemoration beyond democratic Athens
  Low, P. (2003). Remembering war in fifth-century Greece: Ideologies, societies, and commemoration beyond democratic Athens. World Archaeology, 35(1), 98-111. https://doi.org/10.1080/0043824032000078108
• Cavalry identity and democratic ideology in early fourth-century Athens
  Low, P. (2002). Cavalry identity and democratic ideology in early fourth-century Athens. Proceedings of the Cambridge Philological Society, 48, 102-122. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0068673500000857

Other (Print)

• Attic Inscriptions in UK Collections 9: Brocklesby Park
  Liddel, P., & Low, P. (2020). Attic Inscriptions in UK Collections 9: Brocklesby Park
• Attic Inscriptions in UK Collections 12: Great North Museum: Hancock
  Liddel, P., & Low, P. (2020). Attic Inscriptions in UK Collections 12: Great North Museum: Hancock
• Attic Inscriptions Online
  de Lisle, C., Lambert, S., Low, P., & Liddel, P. (2012). Attic Inscriptions Online. [Online]