Dr. Ramón Soneira-Martínez

Principal Investigator

Degree in History from the Complutense University of Madrid (Spain), with a focus on Ancient History and a Master’s degree in Religious Studies, completed in 2016. Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Religious Studies developed at the Max-Weber-Kolleg of the University of Erfurt (Germany) and the University of Graz (Austria), completed in 2022.

Currently, postdoctoral fellow in the research group »Religious Studies« at the Department of Classical Studies of the Austrian Archaeological Institute. Author of the book Relational Atheism. Studying Unbelief in Ancient Greece (Kohlhammer, 2026).

Dr. David Sierra Rodríguez

Core team member

Degree in History from the University of Granada (Spain), with a focus on Ancient History and a Master’s degree in Classical Studies, completed in 2017. Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in History and Arts with specialization in Ancient Greek History developed at the University of Granada (Spain), with a co-direction with the Complutense University of Madrid (Spain), completed in 2024. Currently, postdoctoral fellow in the research group »Religious Studies« at the Department of Classical Studies of the Austrian Archaeological Institute. David Sierra Rodríguez is a specialist in the construction of archaic Athenian citizenship through religious memory, gender, and political landscapes. His doctoral research and his different publications on collective memory and spatial agency in archaic Athens contribute to a nuanced sociocultural perspective with gender-informed methodology.

Dr. Nirvana Silnović

Core team member

Degree in Swedish Language and Culture and Art History from the University of Zagreb (Croatia) with a Master’s degree in Art History (2013) and a Master’s degree in Medieval Studies (2014). She earned her PhD in Medieval Studies, specializing in Late Antique Studies, from the Central European University in 2022. She is currently a postdoctoral researcher in the »Religious Studies« research group at the Department of Classical Studies of the Austrian Archaeological Institute. As an APART-GSK Excellence Fellow, she leads the project The Global, the Local, and the In-Between: The Cult of Mithras in the Roman Province of Dalmatia. Her research more broadly focuses on religion and material culture in the Roman provinces, with particular emphasis on polychromy and the role of colour in shaping religious experience and meaning in ancient contexts. She is currently preparing a major exhibition on the Mithras cult in present-day Bosnia and Herzegovina, in cooperation with the National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Sarajevo.

PD Dr. Nickolas P. Roubekas

Collaborator

Habilitation in Religious Studies (venia docendi) from the University of Vienna (Austria, 2022). PhD in Religious Studies from Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (Greece, 2011, with distinction). M.Res in Social Anthropology of Religion from the University of Aberdeen (U.K., 2009), M.A. in Religious Studies from Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (2006, with distinction), and B.A. in Theology from the University of Athens (Greece, 2003). Since 2025, he has been Assistant Professor of Theories of Religion at the Department of Religious Studies, University of Vienna. He is a specialist in Graeco-Roman religions and the academic study of religion, with a particular focus on the intersection of religious ideas, discourses and practices in antiquity. Among his publications, the book The Study of Greek and Roman Religions: Insularity and Assimilation (Bloomsbury, 2022) stands out.

Prof. Dr. Mª Cruz Cardete del Olmo

Collaborator

PhD in History from the Complutense University of Madrid and the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC, 2005, cum laude), following postgraduate studies in Ancient History (DEA, Complutense University of Madrid, 2002). Bachelor’s degree in History from the Complutense University of Madrid (2000), with a specialisation in Ancient History, Extraordinary Bachelor’s Degree Award from the university and from the Spanish Ministry of Culture and Education. Since 2024, she has been Reader in Ancient History (Profesora titular acreditada como Catedrática) in the research group “Eschatia” at the Department of Prehistory, Ancient History and Archaeology, Complutense University of Madrid, where she also serves as Dean of the Faculty of Geography and History. She is a specialist in Greek Ancient History, with a particular focus on religious and mental landscapes, frontier regions and the socio-political dynamics of the archaic and classical Greek world. Among her publications, the book El dios Pan y los paisajes pánicos: de la figura divina al paisaje religioso (Universidad de Sevilla, 2019) stands out.

Dr. Orietta Dora Cordovana

Collaborator

PhD in Roman History from the University of Messina and the University of Rome “La Sapienza” (1999). MA magna cum laude with honours in Classics and Ancient History from the University of Rome “La Sapienza” (1994). She is currently Professor of Roman History (RTT) at the University of Calabria, Rende–Cosenza (Italy).

Her research focuses on Roman imperial history, with particular interest in the representation of power between the High Empire and Late Antiquity, the visual and material languages of authority, and the political and cultural history of Roman North Africa, especially Tripolitania. Among her publications, the book Environmental Thought in the Graeco–Roman World (De Gruyter, 2024) stands out.

Prof. Dr. Christina G. Williamson

Collaborator

PhD in Archaeology and Ancient History from the University of Groningen (2012), following an MA in Mediterranean Archaeology from the same university (1992), including research periods at the American School of Classical Studies at Athens and Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. She is currently Associate Professor of Ancient History at the University of Groningen.

As the book Urban Rituals in Sacred Landscapes in Hellenistic Asia Minor (Brill, 2021) demonstrates, her work is focused on the relationship between cities and sanctuaries, sacred and ideological landscapes, and the role of rural sanctuaries in the construction of civic identity. She has led major international projects such as Deep-mapping Sanctuaries, authored foundational works on urban ritual and religious space, and brings outstanding expertise in spatial analysis and ancient festival networks.

Dr. Anna-Katharina Rieger

Collaborator

Doctor of Philosophy (Dr. phil.) in Classical Archaeology from the University of Munich (1999, magna cum laude). Magister Artium in Classical Archaeology from the University of Munich (1994, with distinction), following studies in Classical Archaeology, Ancient History and Near Eastern Archaeology at the universities of Munich and Bonn (1989–1994). Since 2017 she has been working as a postdoctoral researcher and coordinator in Classical Archaeology.

She is a specialist in Roman urban sanctuaries and religious architecture, with a particular focus on the spatial organisation, decoration and functions of cult places in cities such as Ostia and Pompeii. Her research combines archaeological, architectural and contextual analyses to explore how sacred spaces were integrated into the fabric of Roman urban life.