Lewis Webb

Pro Futura Scientia Fellow, SCAS
Associate Professor of Ancient History, University of Gothenburg

Lewis Webb is an ancient historian specializing in the Roman Republic, with an emphasis on gender and religion. He has a background in neuroscience, psychology, and Classics. He completed his PhD in 2019 at the University of Gothenburg, where he was promoted to Docent (Associate Professor) in 2025. In the interim, he held research and teaching positions at the University of Gothenburg and the University of Oxford. He has won two major research grants from the Swedish Research Council (2019-06370; 2022-02444). He is also a member of the Young Academy of Sweden (2026–2031).

Webb takes an interdisciplinary and source-diverse approach to the study of the ancient Mediterranean. His research aims at diversifying historical narratives, recovering marginalized voices, and using innovative theoretical perspectives to break new ground. He has three main research foci: (1) women and politics; (2) religion and crisis; and (3) the archaeology of ancient Etruria. His publications include the edited volumes Beyond the Romans: Posthuman Perspectives in Roman Archaeology (Oxbow, 2020), Gender and Status Competition in Premodern Societies (Brepols, 2021), Female Agency in the Ancient Mediterranean World (Liverpool, 2024), and Women, Wealth, and Power in the Roman Republic (Cambridge University Press, 2026), as well as multiple journal articles and book chapters. He is a series editor for Women in Ancient Cultures (Liverpool).

As a Pro Futura Fellow, Webb will explore religious crisis management in ancient Italian communities. He is interested in the dynamics of religious coping practices and their impact on social resilience. By examining a range of ancient texts with theoretical perspectives from anthropology, sociology, and psychology, he aims to reveal how religious activity affects people’s capacity to cope with uncertainty.

This information is accurate as of the academic year 2026-27.