Mark Matic

Mark Matic is studying a Bachelor of Arts majoring in Ancient Languages at Macquarie University, having previously completed a Bachelor of International Studies and Master of Arts in Ancient History. He is currently working as a PACE intern on the ARC Discovery Project, Forging Antiquity: Authenticity, forgery and fake papyri. He is principally interested in the experiences of refugees and their hosting communities during the Peloponnesian wars and how these narratives might better inform contemporary discourses on migration, asylum and social integration.

In light of the ongoing wars in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia and Darfur and the challenges in accommodating the tens of millions displaced, his research seeks to elucidate the perils which drove people from their homelands (e.g. Messene, Aegina and Plataea) and the expectations and procedures of the Athenians and Spartans in sheltering them. This second set of interests demands consideration not only of the strategic agendas of the leading belligerents but of the socio-religious concepts of hiketeia (supplication) and xenia (hospitality) which are also likely to have informed the treatment of refugees. He is also examining the new status of refugees and the ways in which civic identity was expressed after integration or relocation. He hopes this research will help to foster greater awareness of the experiences of refugees both in antiquity and today and consequently encourage more informed and compassionate responses from governments and local communities.

Contact Mark: mark@forgingantiquity.com