Frank Russell teaches both history and classics at Transylvania. His background is in ancient history and languages, and he is particularly interested in the margins of empire in the ancient world.
Russell’s book, Information Gathering in Classical Greece, focuses on political and military intelligence, and he has published shorter pieces on Greek and Roman military history. He is currently working on a study of the Rhodian watch-tower system in the southeast Aegean.
Russell teaches courses in ancient history, Greek, and Latin, as well as contributing to Transylvania’s common core courses.
Academic History
Ph.D., University of California-Los Angeles, 1994
M.A., University of California-Los Angeles, 1991
B.A., Loyola Marymount University, 1988
Courses Taught at Transy
The Ancient Polis
From Midgard to Middle Earth (FYRS seminar)
The Frontiers of the Roman Empire
Diplomacy and War in Antiquity
The Golden Age of Greece
Greek Religion
Insurgency and Counterinsurgency
Julius Caesar and the Fall of the Roman Republic
Late Antique Latin
The Myth of the Spy
Vergil’s Aeneid
Areas of Research
Ancient history, especially military and political intelligence, counter-insurgency, and frontier studies
Recent Publications
“The Wolves of Attika: Xenophon and the Poetics of Military Theory” chapter in Asymmetric Warfare in the Ancient World, edited by M. Seaman, Wiley-Blackwell (in progress).
“Revisiting the Other Side of Hill: Military Intelligence in the Greek World,” in A Companion to Greek Warfare, pp. 252-261, edited by W. Heckel and E. Garvin, Wiley-Blackwell (2021).
“Roman counterinsurgency policy and practice in Judaea in the first century AD,” in Brill’s Companion to Insurgency and Terrorism in the Ancient Mediterranean, pp. 248-281, edited by L. Brice and T. Howe, Brill (2016).
Professional Memberships
American Historical Association
Society for Classical Studies
Awards
Kentucky Monthly Professor Superlatives, Most Creative, 2011
Bingham Fellow