Rate My Professor Ryan Strickler

Dr Ryan Strickler is Lecturer in Ancient History and Discipline Lead for Ancient History in the School of Humanities, Creative Industries and Social Sciences at the University of Newcastle, Australia. He holds a PhD from Macquarie University, submitted in 2017 on seventh-century apocalypticism, an MA in Classics and Byzantine History from the University of Kentucky with a thesis on the disputatio between St. Maximus the Confessor and Pyrrhus, an MA in Comparative Religion from Western Michigan University concentrating in Greek Patristic Literature and Eastern Orthodox Studies, and a BA from Spring Arbor University. His academic career includes prior positions as Lecturer in Classics at the Australian National University from 2020 to 2022 and Lecturer in Classics and Ancient History at the University of Queensland from 2018 to 2020. Strickler coordinates and lectures courses such as AHIS3221 Early Roman Empire: From AD 14 to 235, examining institutional transformation, authority, legitimacy, and Roman identity through diverse evidence including literary, documentary, numismatic, epigraphic, art historical, and monumental sources, and AHIS1020 Rome to Julius Caesar, covering Rome's rise from its mythical foundation to Mediterranean prominence, political and social structures, military organization, empire evolution, self-image, and applications of Digital Humanities.

Strickler's research specializes in the intersection of religion, identity, and crisis response in the Roman and Byzantine Empires, with emphasis on apocalyptic themes in sixth- and seventh-century Byzantine literature amid millenarian concerns, Sassanid Persian invasions, and nascent Islamic invasions; Roman Imperial History; Early Medieval and Byzantine History; and ancient religion and identity. Fluent in Greek and Latin, his fields of research are Classical Greek and Roman history, history of religion, and Latin and classical Greek literature. He is author of the monograph Early Byzantine Apocalyptic Discourses: Coping with Crises in the Sixth and Seventh Centuries (2026). Key publications include chapters 'Letters of Maximus in the Collectanea of Anastasius Bibliothecarius: Opuscula 10, 12, and 20' (2022, with Bronwen Neil), 'Dehumanisation, Apocalypticism, and Anti-Judaism: Reflections on Identity Formation in Seventh-Century Byzantium' (2022), 'Monsters Dressed in Purple: Imperial Critique in Early 7th-Century Byzantine Literature' (2021), 'Paradise regained? Utopias of deliverance in seventh-century apocalyptic discourse' (2020), 'Persecution and apostasy: Christian identity during the crises of the seventh century' (2019), and 'Dreaming of Treason: Portentous Dreams and Imperial Coups in Seventh-Century Byzantine Apocalyptic Discourse' (2018); journal articles 'A dispute in dispute: Revisiting the disputatio cum pyrrho attributed to maximus the confessor (CPG 7698)' (Sacris Erudiri, 2017) and 'The "wolves of arabia": A reconsideration of maximus the confessor's epistula 8' (Byzantion, 2016); and contributions to ARC-funded projects on dreams and utopianism in the late-antique world.