PhD in CLASSICAL ANTIQUITY AND ITS RECEPTION: ARCHAEOLOGY,
PHILOLOGY, HISTORY

Lucrezia Spera is a Full Professor of Christian and Medieval Archaeology (SSD L-ANT/08) in the Department of Literary, Philosophical, and Art History Studies at the University of Rome Tor Vergata. She teaches Late Antique Archaeology in the Bachelor’s program in Cultural Heritage and the Master’s program in Archaeology, Philology, Literature, and History of Antiquity, and has taught Late Antique and Early Christian Archaeology in the Master’s program in Art History in Rome. At the same university, she is also a member of the faculty board for the Doctoral program in Classical Antiquity and its Reception, currently serving as coordinator. From 2011 to 2015, she served as Chair of the Bachelor’s Degree Program in Cultural Heritage and, from 2012 to 2016, as Deputy Director of the Department of Historical, Philosophical, Social, and Territorial Sciences; until 2021, she served as Chair of the Joint Committee of the Department of Literary, Philosophical, and Art History Studies, and in 2021/2022, she served as Coordinator of the Master’s Degree Program in Art History in Rome and Erasmus Coordinator for the Humanities Division.

She earned a Bachelor’s degree in Classical Literature with a thesis on Christian Archaeology in the 1987/1988 academic year; in 1992/1993, she obtained a Specialization Diploma in Medieval Archaeology from the National School of Archaeology at Sapienza University of Rome; in 1996 a Ph.D. in Archaeology and Post-Classical Antiquities (3rd-9th centuries) from Sapienza University of Rome, and in 2003 a Doctorate in Christian Archaeology from the Pontifical Institute of Christian Archaeology.

At the University of Rome Tor Vergata, she served as a Subject Specialist in Christian Archaeology from 1996 to 2005, from 1999 to 2005 she was a Research Fellow at the Department of History within the Faculty of Letters and Philosophy; from September 2005 to October 2006 she served as a researcher for the SSD L-ANT/08, and from 2006 to 2016 as an Associate Professor for the same SSD.

Since 2003, he has also taught Christian Topography of Rome at the doctoral school of the Pontifical Institute of Christian Archaeology. He has also taught on a regular basis at the School of Specialization in Archaeology at the University of Florence from 2005 to 2007 (Archaeology and History of Early Christian and Early Medieval Art), and at the Augustinianum Patristic Institute from 2003 to 2012 (Archaeology and Christian Antiquity).

Since 2003, she has been a member of the Promoting Committee of the International Congresses of Christian Archaeology and of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Christian Archaeology; from 2004 to 2006, she served on the Executive Council of the International Association of Classical Archaeology; since 2005, she has been a member of the Scientific Committee of the Seminars on Christian Archaeology; since 2006, she has been a member of the Governing Council of the Pontifical Academy Cultorum Martyrum; from 2009 to 2017, she was a corresponding member of the Pontifical Roman Academy of Archaeology and has been a full member of the same since 2018 (since 2021, she has also been a member of the Academy’s Academic Council); Since 2017, she has been a corresponding member of the Balearic Institute of History; since 2018, she has been a member of the Vatican Committee for Byzantine Studies and a corresponding member of the German Archaeological Institute in Rome.

She is vice-president of the University Council for Post-Classical Archaeology and a member of the Executive Committee of the Federation of University Councils of Archaeology.

Lucrezia Spera’s primary research has focused on reconstructing the settlement patterns characteristic of urban structures during the centuries of transition from antiquity to the Middle Ages and on the processes of Christianization of spaces. She has participated in and directed numerous excavation campaigns, particularly in the suburbs of Rome; since 2007, she has directed the investigations of the medieval settlement associated with the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls (Rome). She is the scientific director of the restoration and exhibition project, in collaboration with the Vatican Museums, which has led to the opening of the archaeological site to the public. She coordinates various national and international research projects (including the Corpus Architecturae Religiosae Europeae for the churches of Rome’s suburbs, the Villa dei Sette Bassi, and the imperial villas of Rome and Lazio; the Aurelian Walls; geophysical surveys of the Appian Way; and the early medieval construction site), some formalized through inter-institutional agreements, which draw on various funding sources, including fundraising initiatives.

She is currently involved in two projects of national interest: one, in which she serves as Principal Investigator, on the presence of foreigners in Rome; the second on innovative archaeological investigations in the area between the first and third miles of the Via Appia aimed at reconstructing the religious landscape.

She has participated, with invited presentations and papers, in numerous national and international conferences, including in the role of scientific coordinator of sessions; she has organized several academic conferences. She serves as a scientific reviewer for various top-tier journals and accredited series. She is the author of over 200 contributions to monographs, specialized journals, encyclopedic works, and proceedings of national and international conferences.

She has chaired and served on doctoral committees and university competition committees for positions of Full Professor, Associate Professor, and Research Professor in the SSD L-ANT/08.