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Matt Simonton received a doctorate in Classics and an MA in Political Science from Stanford University in 2012. His research brings contemporary social science theory to bear on ancient Greek history, particularly political history. He is interested in how the Greeks crafted social and political institutions in response to crises and how those institutions shaped history over time. Simonton's work also analyzes how Greek political actors appropriated existing cultural features of the ancient city-state - such as religious festivals, public spaces, and monumental architecture - for partisan purposes.
In his first book, Classical Greek Oligarchy: A Political History (Princeton University Press, 2017), Simonton approaches the phenomenon of Classical Greek oligarchy, or the "rule of the few," from an institutional standpoint, comparing oligarchic political practices to those of contemporary authoritarian regimes. The book won the Anglo-Hellenic League's Runciman Award in 2018.
In his second book project, tentatively titled "Watchdogs of the People: Demagogues and Political Culture in Ancient Greece," Simonton seeks to provide a history of demagoguery (popular leadership) in Greece from its beginnings in fifth-century Athens through the Roman Imperial era. Drawing on theories of popular culture, the study will approach the words and actions of demagogues as a potential window onto the everyday thoughts and values of non-elite Greeks.
Simonton has published on civil war and reconciliation, stability and violence in democratic Athens, the politics of Greek hero-cult, local history, Hellenistic demagoguery, and other historical phenomena of the ancient Greek world in venues such as Classical Quarterly, the Journal of Hellenic Studies, TAPA, Hesperia, Historia, and Classical Antiquity.
He is currently Book Review Editor at Polis: The Journal for Ancient Greek and Roman Political Thought and serves on the Editorial Board at Classical Antiquity.
Education
Ph.D. Classics, Stanford University 2012
M.A. Political Science (Political Theory), Stanford University
Bachelor's degree. Classics, Washington University in St. Louis
"The Mouth of the Demagogue: Demochares of Athens between Monstrosity and Monument." Historia: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte 73.4 (2024), 386-409.
“Demagogues and Demagoguery in Hellenistic Greece.” Polis: The Journal for Ancient Greek and Roman Political Thought 39.1 (2022), 35-76.
“Representing the Demos: Adapting Insights from the Constructivist Turn in Political Representation.” Ramus 50: Special issue, “In Terms of Athens,” co-edited by Johanna Hanink and Demetra Kasimis (2021), 129-44.
“Two Notes on the New Croesus Epigram from Thebes.” Classical Quarterly 70.1 (2020), 10-15.
“Teisamenos the Son of Mechanion: New Evidence for an Athenian Demagogue.” TAPA 150.1 (2020), 1-38.
“The Telos Reconciliation Dossier (IG XII 4 132): Democracy, Demagogues, and Stasis in an Early Hellenistic Polis.” The Journal of Hellenic Studies 139 (2019), 187-209.
"The Burial of Brasidas and the Politics of Commemoration in the Classical Period." American Journal of Philology 139.1 (2018), 1-30.
"The Local History of Hippias of Erythrai: Politics, Place, Memory, and Monumentality." Hesperia: The Journal of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens 87.3 (2018), 497-543.
"Stability and Violence in Classical Greek Democracies and Oligarchies." Classical Antiquity 36 (2017), 52-103.
"The Cry from the Herald's Stone: The Revolutionary Logic behind the Rhodian Democratic Uprising of 395 BCE." TAPA 145 (2015), 281-324.
Research Activity
Second monograph project in progress: "Watchdogs of the People: Demagogues and Popular Culture in Ancient Greece"
Matt Simonton. "The Original '1%': Studying the Authoritarian Politics of Ancient Greek Oligarchies". New College Faculty Research Colloquium (Sep 2014).
Matt Simonton. Aristotle the Game Theorist: Authoritarian Breakdown in Classical Greek Oligarchies. European Social Science History Conference, Annual Meeting (Apr 2014).
Matt Simonton. Situating a Lost Greek Historian: The Works and Days of Hippias of Erythrae. American Philological Association, Annual Meeting (Jan 2014).
Professional Associations
Society for Classical Studies, Archaeological Institute of America, Association of Ancient Historians
Service
Martin Luther King Jr. Committee, committee member (2014 - present)
Archaeological Institute of America, Central Arizona Chapter, Treasurer (2014 - present)