Dr Jessica Clarke
Jessica Clarke is a historian of ancient Rome, specialising in Roman theatre and ancient slavery. Jessica grew up on the Isle of Wight and moved to London to study at University College London in 2019, where she received her BA (Hons.), MA (Hons.) and PhD.
Jessica has worked at the British Museum, most recently contributing to two major exhibitions, Troy: Myth or Reality? and Nero: The Man Behind the Myth. Her first academic book, The Development of Ancient Theatre in Italy (c. 325 BCE – 50 CE), will be published next year and presents a new interdisciplinary history of Roman theatre. She is also a frequent contributor to the Ancient History Magazine.
Jessica is currently working on her second book, which explores the overlap between theatre and propaganda in the Roman Empire.
In the News
“But where have all the slaves gone who were, with their masks, the main protagonists of ancient Roman theatre?” This time the controversy, raised by a researcher, Jessica Clarke, a PhD in History of Roman Theatre at UCL, the University of London, involves the new exhibition open at the Ara Pacis Museum, “Theatre, authors, actors and …
28.08.24
Original review sent in La Repubblica 27th August 2024
I was very excited to see the new Roman theatre exhibition on display in the Ara Pacis Museum. However, as I walked around the exhibit, I became increasingly uneasy. A persistent question was worrying me. Where were all the slaves? As almost any ancient theatre historian will tell you, Roman theatre was slave theatre. The main characters…