Dr Leah Lazar

After working at the Centre for the Study of Ancient Documents from 2021-2024, I am now finishing my research for the CHANGE project as Lecturer in the Department of Classics, Ancient History, Archaeology and Egyptology at the University of Manchester.

My research explores the political and economic history of the ancient Greek world. I’m especially interested in empires and their complex interaction with smaller political communities. While I am first and foremost a historian, and make use of a broad range of sources, I also have specialist expertise in studying Greek inscriptions and coins. My first book, Athenian Power in the Fifth Century BC (Oxford University Press, 2024), provides an innovative analysis of the fifth-century BC Athenian empire, a central topic in ancient Greek history. 

For the CHANGE project, I am writing a second book, with the working title of Empires, Cities and Monetary Economy in Ancient Anatolia. It will analyse the varied interaction between empires and cities in the ancient world through the lens of the monetary economy, with case studies from the invention of coinage in the Archaic period through to the arrival of Rome. I have also led the creation of the CHANGE Project’s Site Finds and Coins Hoards Databases, and I'm co-editing a collaborative volume on Hellenistic monetary economies with Marcus Chin and Simon Glenn.