Matthew Cobb

Lecturer in Classics
Matthew Cobb

Background

Dr Matthew Cobb obtained his PhD from Swansea University in April 2012 and then subsequently became a lecturer in Classics at UWTSD. During this time, he has published numerous books, edited chapters and articles, including the monograph Rome and the Indian Ocean Trade: From Augustus to the Early Third Century CE (2018) and the edited books: The Indian Ocean Trade in Antiquity: Political, Cultural and Economic Impacts (2019); and Globalization and Transculturality from Antiquity to the Pre-Modern World (2022). 

Specialist Subjects

  • Dr Matthew Cobb’s research focuses on cultural and economic relationships between the Graeco-Roman Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean space. He also has wider interests in Ancient Global History. His research specialism include:
  • The utility of theoretical concepts linked to globalization, glocalization and transculturality, among others. 
  • Cross-cultural exchange
  • Diaspora
  • Graeco-Roman conceptions of the East
  • The consumption of Indian Ocean goods within Roman society
  • The spice trade in Antiquity

Professional and/or Research Experience

Dr Matthew Cobb has published over 30 articles, edited chapters and books, as well as having organised and co-organised a range of conferences, workshops and panels. In addition, he is an Advisor (collaborating partner) on the Norwegian Research Council funded project: Like Islands in a Sea of Sand (the PI is Dr Tomas Larsen Høisæter).

Dr Cobb has supervised PhD and MRes students to successful completion and continues to act as the director of studies (primary supervisor) and supporting supervisor for a number of current PGR students.

In a professional/administrative capacity, he is currently the programme manager for the MA Ancient History, MA Ancient Civilisations, MA Ancient Religions, MA Classics, the PGDIP in Greek and Latin and the PGCert in Latin.

Qualifications

  • PhD, Ancient History, Swansea University (Awarded: 2012)
  • MA, Ancient History and Classical Civilisation, Swansea University (Merit – Awarded 2007)
  • BA (Hons.) Ancient History, Swansea University (First Class – Awarded 2006)

Languages Spoken

Dr Cobb's first language is English, but his research and teaching also entails reading Ancient Greek and Latin, as well as reading scholarship in a few modern foreign languages.

Professional Membership or Roles

Dr Cobb is a Senior Fellow of Advanced HE

Academic Teaching

Link to Orcid Profile

ORCID Research profile

Professional Publications

  • Monograph:
  • Cobb, M. A. 2018: Rome and the Indian Ocean Trade: From Augustus to the Early Third Century CE. Leiden: Brill.
  • Edited books:
  • Autiero, S. and M. A. Cobb (eds.), 2022: Globalization and Transculturality from Antiquity to the Pre-Modern World. London and New York: Routledge.
  • Cobb, M. A. (ed.), 2019: The Indian Ocean Trade in Antiquity: Political, Cultural and Economic Impacts. London and New York: Routledge.
  • Journal special issue (guest editor):
  • Cobb. M. A. (guest editor) 2023: ‘Travellers, traders and diaspora in Antiquity: networks and nodes across the Indian Ocean and Eurasian world’, Special Issue of the Journal of Global History, volume 18, Issue 3.
  • Journal articles and chapters in edited books:
  • Cobb, M. A. 2025: ‘The hill and forest products of the Tamiḻakam: Communication and exchange between Southern India and the Roman World’, South Asia: Journal of South Asian Studies, 1–25. https://doi.org/10.1080/00856401.2025.2485733
  • Cobb, M. A. 2025: ‘The Palmyrene Merchant Diaspora in Egypt’, in Michael Sommer, Stefano Magnani and Antonietta Castiello (eds.), Palmyrenes Abroad. Diasporas from Rome to Mesopotamia and Beyond, Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag, pp. 155–170.
  • Cobb, M. A. 2024: ‘Reconsidering the Role of Gemstones in the so-called Indo-Roman Trade’, in Thierry De Putter and Christina Karlshausen (eds.), Minerals in Egypt, from Naqada to Alexandria. International Conference: Brussels, 3-4 October 2022, Bruxelles: Académie des sciences d'outre-mer, pp. 241-261.
  • Cobb, M. A. 2024: ‘Spices in the Ancient World’, Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Food Studies: https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780197762530.013.43
  • Cobb, M. A. 2023: ‘Diplomacy and (Mis)comprehension in the Ancient Indian Ocean: Gift-Giving and Ritual as a Form of Communication’, Topoi. Orient - Occident Supplément 26 (1): 27–58.
  • Cobb, M. A. 2023: ‘Introduction: Connecting the Ancient Afro-Eurasian World’, Journal of Global History 18.3: 329-342.
  • Cobb, M. A. 2023: ‘Indian Merchants Abroad: Integrating the Indian Ocean World during the early first millennium CE’, Journal of Global History 18.3: 365-383.
  • Cobb, M. A. 2023: ‘The Palmyrene Diaspora in Egypt: Dependency, Sustainability and Reuse’, R. Raja and N. Andrade (eds), Exchange and Reuse: Economy and Circularity at Roman Palmyra, Studies in Palmyrene Archaeology and History 8. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 113-129.
  • Cobb, M. A. 2023: ‘APOLLONIUS IN INDIA: THE VITA APOLLONII AND THE INDOGRAPHIC TRADITION’, The Classical Journal 118 (4): 440–473.
  • Cobb, M. A. 2022 ‘World-Systems Theory, Globalization or Glocalization? Analysing the Dynamics of the Ancient Indian Ocean Ivory Trade’, Topoi. Orient - Occident Supplément 18: 169–97.
  • Cobb, M. A. 2022: ‘Black Pepper Consumption and the Middling in Roman Society: Affordability, Availability and Status’, in Pierre Schneider and Jean Trinquier (eds.), Le poivre, fragments d'histoire globale : Circulations et consommations, de l'Antiquité à l'époque modern, Paris: Hermann, pp. 71–92.
  • Cobb, M. A. and Wilkinson, T: 2022. ‘The Roman state and Red Sea trade revenue’ in Caroline Durand, Julie Marchand, Bérangère Redon and Pierre Schneider (eds.), Networked spaces: the spatiality of networks in the Red Sea and Western Indian Ocean, Archéologie(s) 8, MOM Éditions, Lyon, pp. 213–226.
  • Cobb, M. A. 2022: ‘From Bronzization to “world system”: Globalization and Glocalization across the Globe (2000 BCE-1500 CE)’, in V. Roudometof and U. Dessi (eds.), Handbook of Culture and Glocalization. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing, pp 28–44.
  • Cobb, M. A. 2022: ‘Mediterranean goods in an Indian context: the use of transcultural theory for the study of the ancient Indian Ocean world’, in S. Autiero and M. A. Cobb (eds.), Globalization and Transculturality from Antiquity to the Pre-Modern World. London: Routledge, pp. 165–182.
  • Autiero, S. and M. A. Cobb, 2022: ‘Introduction: utilizing globalization and transculturality for the study of the pre-modern world’, in S. Autiero and M. A. Cobb (eds.), Globalization and Transculturality from Antiquity to the Pre-Modern World. London: Routledge, pp. 1–15.
  • Cobb, M. A. 2021: ‘"Barbarians" and Blemmyes: Who Was in Control of the Red Sea Port of Berenike in the Late Antique Period?’, Journal of Late Antiquity 14 (2): 267–293.
  • Cobb, M. A. 2021: ‘Conceptualising the Far West: Early Chinese Notions of Da Qin and the Indian Ocean Trade’, in Himanshu Prabha Ray (ed.), The Archaeology of Knowledge Traditions of the Indian Ocean World. London and New York: Routledge, pp. 56–78.
  • Cobb, M. A. 2020: ‘Palmyrene Merchants and the Red Sea Trade’, in Michael Sommer (ed.), Inter duo Imperia: Palmyra between East and West. Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag, pp. 65–83.
  • Cobb, M. A. 2019: ‘Peoples of the Eastern Desert of Egypt and their impact on the Red Sea trade (first to third centuries CE)’, Ancient West & East 18: 85–112.
  • Cobb, M. A. and Mitchell, F. 2019: ‘Eros at Junnar: Reconsidering a Piece of Graeco-Roman Art’, Greece & Rome 66 (2): 203–226.
  • Cobb, M. A. 2019. ‘Introduction: The Indian Ocean in Antiquity and Global History’, in Cobb, M. A. (ed.), 2019: The Indian Ocean Trade in Antiquity: Political, Cultural and Economic Impacts, pp. 1–14.
  • Cobb, M. A. 2019: ‘From the Ptolemies to Augustus: Mediterranean integration into the Indian Ocean Trade’, in Cobb, M. A. (ed.), The Indian Ocean Trade in Antiquity: Political, Cultural and Economic Impacts, pp. 17–51.
  • Cobb, M. A. 2018: ‘Black Pepper Consumption in the Roman Empire’, Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient 61 (4): 519–559.
  • Cobb, M. A. 2016: ‘The Decline of Ptolemaic Elephant Hunting: An Analysis of the Contributory Factors’ Greece & Rome 63 (2): 192–204.
  • Cobb, M. A. 2015: ‘The Chronology of Roman Trade in the Indian Ocean from Augustus to Early Third Century AD’, Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient 58 (3): 362–418.
  • Cobb, M. A. 2015: ‘Balancing the Trade: Roman Cargo Shipments to India’, Oxford Journal of Archaeology 34 (2): 185–203. Cobb, M. A. 2014: ‘The Exchange of Goods from Italy to India during the Early Roman Empire: The Range of Travelling Times’, Ancient West & East 13: 89–116.
  • Cobb, M. A. 2013: ‘The Reception and Consumption of Eastern Goods in Roman Society’, Greece & Rome 60 (1): 136–52.
  • Articles for a popular/wider audience:
  • Cobb, M. A. 2024: ‘The Hunt for Elephants: Pachyderms in the Ptolemaic Army’, Ancient History 48 (Karwansaray Publishers): 36-39.
  • Michel, R., A. Karenowska, G. Altshuler and M. A. Cobb, 2020: ‘A Vexed Pharmacopeia: Musings on Two Thousand Years of Scholarship Regarding the Ancient Spice Trade’, Arion 28 (1): 1-29.
  • Cobb, M. A. 2017: ‘India in the Early Greek Imagination’, ARGO: A Hellenic Review 5 (1): 6-8.
  • Research talks/papers (last 8 years):
  • “Primordial fears: How ancient Red Sea and Indian Ocean mariners coped with the psychological and practical dangers posed by the sea” – Understanding connections and mobility in the ancient and medieval world workshop at Kyoto University, 28 May 2025.
  • “Tracing travellers across the Late Antique Red Sea and Indian Ocean”, a talk for the Newcastle Classics & Ancient History Research Seminar, 13 November 2024.
  • Long-term strategy or responding to new realities? The northern Red Sea from Trajan to Diocletian” – Roman Transport Infrastructure: Revisiting the Via Nova Traiana workshop at University of Aarhus, 10 October 2024.
  • “The Blemmyes, revenue collection and the octava: some speculative reflections” – Red Sea XI conference, Barcelona June 2024.
  • “Ground up Spices: Investigating the Role of the Marginalised and Unseen in the Distribution, Processing and Consumption of Spices and Aromatics During the Roman Imperial Period” – Invisible Economies conference, December 2023.
  • “From Patala to the Barbarikon: Alexander’s legacy and the role of the Indus region in Indian Ocean trade networks of the early to mid-centuries CE” – Alexander on the Indus, Endowment Fund Trust for Preservation of the Heritage of Sindh conference, Karachi, 22-24 February 2023.
  • “Diplomacy and (mis)comprehension in the Antique Indian Ocean: gift-giving and ritual as a form of communication” – Ex Oriente Luxuria 5 conference, Arras, 6-7 December 2022.
  • “The hill and forest products of the Tamilakam communication and exchange between southern India and the Roman world” – Of Exotic Plants, Wild Beasts and Precious Gems: The Trade and Use of South Asian Forest Products across the Indian Ocean (Late Prehistory to Early Colonial Period), International Workshop, Ghent University, 26 October 2022.
  • “Reconsidering the role of precious and semi-precious stones in the so-called Indo-Roman trade” – Minerals in Ancient Egypt, from Naqada to Alexandria conference, Palace of the Academies (Brussels), 3-4 October 2022.
  • “The Imperial to the Late Antique Red Sea: reconsidering the Third Century CE as phrase of decline, break or transition” – Red Sea X conference, Rethymno Crete, 6-9 July 2022.
  • “The Palmyrene Diaspora in Egypt: Dependency, Sustainability and Reuse” – Exchange and Reuse: Economy and Circularity at Roman Palmyra conference, Aarhus University, 11-12 October 2021.
  • “World-Systems Theory, Globalization or Glocalization – analysing the dynamics of the ancient Indian Ocean ivory trade?” – Ex Oriente Luxuria 4 conference, Lille, 11-12 of March 2021.
  • Black pepper: a status marker for the middling in the Roman world? – Ancient Spice Conference, Samarkand, February 2020
  • “Barbarians” and Blemmyes: who was in control of the Red Sea branch of the Indian Ocean trade at the end of Antiquity? – Indian Ocean World Archaeology Conference, Exeter, 10-11 January 2020
  • Medicine and the ancient spice trade – Medicine and Trade in the Classical World, Cambridge, 9-10 September 2019.
  • (co-organiser and co-chair of the Archaeology of Globalization panel) – paper titled: Mediterranean goods in an Indian Context: The use of transcultural theory for the study of the Ancient Indian Ocean world – European Archaeological Association, Switzerland, 4-7 September, 2019.
  • Integrating the wider Indian Ocean World: Connectivity between the Roman Empire and the Tamilakam – Centre for Connectivity in the Roman World workshop – 18 June, 2019.
  • Conceptualising the Far West: Early Chinese Notions of Da Qin and the Indian Ocean Trade - Knowledge Traditions of the Indian Ocean World, a two-day symposium at the Ashmolean Museum organised by Professor Himanshu Prahba Ray as part of the OCHS, Oxford – 29 to 30 of November, 2018.
  • Using Globalisation to Conceptualise the Ancient Indian Ocean World (300 BCE to 700 CE) – Re-Thinking Globalisation in the Ancient World, Lampeter – 10-12 of May, 2018 (also delivered an introductory paper as organiser of the conference).
  • Palmyrene Merchants and the Red Sea Trade - PALMYRA. ORIENT. OKZIDENT., Oldenburg – 16-17 of March, 2018.
  • Haute cuisine or staple fare? Black Pepper’s Role as a Status Marker in the Roman World - 3rd Ex Oriente luxuria conference, Paris – 23-25 of November, 2017.
  • A Marginalised Sea: Indigenous Cultures and Trade Systems in the Red Sea – Danish Institute in Rome – invited to give a paper on Peoples of the Eastern Desert of Egypt and their impact on the Red Sea trade (first to third centuries CE) – 3-5 of October, 2017.
  • Organised, acted as chair, and delivered paper, for a panel on the Indian Ocean trade in Antiquity, at IX Celtic Conference in Classics (June 2016). – received £500 of funding from Classical Association, and also £500 from the Donald Atkinson Fund (Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies).
  • Projects:
  • Project advisor (collaborating partner) for: Like Islands in a Sea of Sand. Understanding the Silk Roads of Late Antiquity as a layered network model. The Project owner (Principal Investigator) is Dr Tomas Larsen Høisæter. Funded by the Norwegian Research Council.
  • Public Engagement/Outreach:
  • A guest contributor to an episode of BBC Radio 4’s Making History Programme. This was an episode on Food which originally aired at 15:30 on Tuesday 7th of January, 2020.
  • Featured as an expert contributor in episode 6 of the second season of Finding Jesus: Fact, Faith, Forgery. The episode is entitled ‘Doubting Thomas’. This aired on CNN in America in spring 2017. I was consulted for my knowledge of Indian Ocean trade in the first century CE.
  • Talks to Secondary School and Sixth form pupils doing Latin and Classical Civilisation at Dartford Grammar School – January 2016, January 2017, and April 2018.

Available to Supervise Doctoral Students

Yes