Gregory Aldrete
Gregory S. Aldrete is an American historian of ancient Rome and military history and professor emeritus of history and humanities at the University of Wisconsin–Green Bay; he has written studies of Roman oratorical gesture, floods of the Tiber and the reconstruction of linen body armor (the linothorax), and has recorded several ancient-history courses for The Great Courses.
Contents20 sections
Key facts
1988B.A. from Princeton University
Aldrete received a B.A. from Princeton UniversityPrinceton UniversityPrinceton University is a private university and Ivy League member in Princeton, New Jersey. Chartered on October 22, 1746 as the College of New Jersey, it moved to Princeton in 1756 and adopted its present name in 1896. Undergraduate education leads to A.B. and B.S.E. degrees and emphasizes small-group discussion, independent research and residential college life. Graduate education spans the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences and engineering. As of October 2026, Christopher L. Eisgruber was president. Its 2026–27 operating budget was $3.407 billion, including $342 million for undergraduate aid.Open the full entry in 1988.[1]
1995Joins the University of Wisconsin–Green Bay
In 1995 he received his PhD from the University of MichiganUniversity of MichiganThe University of Michigan is a university founded in Detroit in 1817 that moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan, in 1837; it is governed by a statewide-elected Board of Regents and also has campuses in Dearborn and Flint.Open the full entry.[1]
That year he joined the history department of the University of Wisconsin–Green Bay, where he taught history and humanities for 25 years.[2]
1999Publishes Gestures and Acclamations in Ancient Rome
In 1999 the Johns Hopkins University Press published his first monograph, Gestures and Acclamations in Ancient Rome, on gesture in Roman oratory and its interplay with audiences; reviewer Anthony Corbeill found his summary of the rhetorical rules well done but judged some conclusions overstated, such as those drawn from the illustrated manuscripts of Terence.[3]
2000Promoted to Associate Professor
He was promoted to associate professor of humanistic studies and history in 2000 and to professor in 2005, and from 2012 held the Frankenthal Professorship of History and Humanities.[4]
2004NEH Humanities Fellowship
He received two NEH Humanities Fellowships, in 2004–2005 and 2012–2013.[5]
2007Publishes Floods of the Tiber in Ancient Rome
Floods of the Tiber in Ancient Rome, published by the Johns Hopkins University Press in 2007, assembles 42 ancient passages on floods at Rome from 414 BCE to 398 CE and uses hydrological models to estimate flood frequency and magnitude, arguing that the Tiber flooded Rome far more often than the sources record.[6][7]
Reviewer Eric Kondratieff also found the discussions of post-flood trauma and official relief thinly evidenced and the material on floods and the gods underdeveloped.[6]
2009American Philological Association Teaching Award
In 2009 he received the American Philological Association’s Award for Excellence in Teaching at the College Level.[8]
2012Named Wisconsin Professor of the Year
In 2012 the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) named him Wisconsin Professor of the Year.[8]
That year The Long Shadow of Antiquity, which he wrote with Alicia Aldrete on the influence of the Greeks and Romans on the modern world, was published.[5]
2013Publishes the Linothorax Study
The Linothorax Project, which he started with 2007 graduate Scott Bartell, had students reconstruct the laminated linen body armor of the ancient Greeks from images and texts and test it with arrows, slashing and blunt impacts, including on volunteers wearing it.[9]
The team compiled a database of more than 900 ancient images to analyze the armor’s variations statistically and had replicas of Mediterranean arrows made for testing.[10]
They found the armor was made of layers of linen and rabbit-skin glue and published the book Reconstructing Ancient Linen Body Armor; Aldrete said that anyone wearing one between 600 and 200 BC would have been safe from the arrows of the day.[11]
The book was published in 2013.[5]
2014–2015Joukowsky National Lecturer of the Archaeological Institute of America
He was selected as the Archaeological Institute of America’s Joukowsky National Lecturer for 2014–2015.[5]
May 2014Journal of Roman Studies Article on Roman Sacrifice
In 2014 he published an article in the Journal of Roman Studies that draws on ancient sculpture, comparative sources and animal physiology to reinterpret the distinct purposes of hammers and axes in Roman sacrifice and exactly how bovines were killed and bled.[12]
2015UW System Regents Teaching Excellence Award
In 2015 he received the University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents’ Teaching Excellence Award, the system’s highest recognition for faculty and staff; at the time he taught eight courses to about 450 students a year.[13]
January 2019Releases The Roman Empire
His course The Roman Empire: From Augustus to the Fall of Rome has 24 lectures incorporating recent scholarship that challenges older views of Rome’s decline; its audio edition was released on Audible on January 11, 2019.[14]
2020Becomes Professor Emeritus
Since 2020 he has been professor emeritus of history and humanities at the University of Wisconsin–Green Bay.[4]
May 2023Publishes Ancient Rome on the Silver Screen
In May 2023 Rowman & Littlefield published Ancient Rome on the Silver Screen: Myth versus Reality, written with illustrator Graham Sumner, which examines about 50 films set in ancient Rome from the early 20th century to the present.[15]
Military-history reviewer Mike Markowitz wrote that the book shows how film production and marketing grossly distort the picture of ancient Rome, especially Roman warfare, and praised its 29 full-page drawings.[16]
September 12, 2024Appears on the Lex Fridman Podcast
On September 12, 2024, he appeared on episode 443 of the Lex FridmanLex FridmanLex Fridman is a Soviet-born, US-raised computer scientist and podcast host who works as an MIT research scientist on human-AI interaction and autonomous driving. His Lex Fridman Podcast is known for hours-long conversations with guests including heads of state and technology leaders.Open the full entry Podcast, discussing the three phases of Roman history, the Punic Wars, Scipio and Hannibal, Roman law, slavery, the fall of the Republic, Julius Caesar, Augustus, Roman religion, Marcus Aurelius, the fall of the Roman Empire and decisive battles.[17]
October 2024Releases Unsung Heroes of the Ancient World
His course Unsung Heroes of the Ancient World has 24 lectures that use letters, inscriptions, manuals and other sources to reconstruct the lives of more than a dozen little-known figures of the classical world; its audio edition was released on Audible on October 11, 2024.[18]
As of October 2026: Writing and Making Courses
His Great Courses series The Rise of Rome comprises 24 lectures on the Roman Republic from its early days to its dramatic collapse.[19]
His other Great Courses series include the 48-lecture A History of the Ancient World: A Global Perspective, the 36-lecture Decisive Battles of World History, a 24-lecture course on military blunders and the 12-lecture A Historian Goes to the Movies: Ancient Rome.[2]
Related Organizations, Websites, and Public Accounts
Personal website: Public link: https://gregorysaldrete.com/ (opens in a new window)[17]
University of Wisconsin–Green Bay: Official website: https://www.uwgb.edu/ (opens in a new window)[8]
Sources
- Reconstructing and Testing Ancient Greek Linen Armor – Classical and Ancient Near Eastern Studies – UW–Madison (opens in a new window)
- Gregory S. Aldrete – Ancient History, Archaeology, Military History, Roman History (opens in a new window)
- Gestures and Acclamations in Ancient Rome – Bryn Mawr Classical Review (opens in a new window)
- Aldrete CV Page – Gregory S. Aldrete (opens in a new window)
- Aldrete, Gregory – Institute for Research in the Humanities – UW–Madison (opens in a new window)
- Floods of the Tiber in Ancient Rome – Bryn Mawr Classical Review (opens in a new window)
- Project MUSE - Floods of the Tiber in Ancient Rome (opens in a new window)
- UW-Green Bay’s Aldrete is Wisconsin Professor of the Year for 2012 (opens in a new window)
- Living because of linen? Professor’s project takes a shot at ancient armor (opens in a new window)
- Book Review: Reconstructing Ancient Linen Body Armour by Gregory S Aldrete, Scott Bartell and Alicia Aldrete | The EXARC Journal (opens in a new window)
- Why did Greek warriors go to war wearing what today looks like a linen mini-dress? - The World from PRX (opens in a new window)
- Hammers, Axes, Bulls, and Blood: Some Practical Aspects of Roman Animal Sacrifice* | The Journal of Roman Studies | Cambridge Core (opens in a new window)
- Prof. Gregory Aldrete receives UW System’s highest teaching honor (opens in a new window)
- The Roman Empire: From Augustus to the Fall of Rome (opens in a new window)
- Aldrete publishes new book on Roman movies (opens in a new window)
- Military Book Review Ancient Rome on the Silver Screen: Myth versus Reality (opens in a new window)
- #443 – Gregory Aldrete: The Roman Empire - Rise and Fall of Ancient Rome | Lex Fridman Podcast (opens in a new window)
- Unsung Heroes of the Ancient World (opens in a new window)
- History of Rome | The Rise and Origins of Ancient Rome | | The Great Courses Plus (opens in a new window)