Konstantine Panegyres

Originally from Western Australia, I studied at the University of Melbourne (BA Hons 2014-2017; MA 2018-2019) and at the University of Oxford (DPhil 2019-2022), where I was a Clarendon Scholar. I then held a McKenzie Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of Melbourne (2023-2024). I joined the University of Western Australia as Lecturer in Classics and Ancient History in January 2025.

At the moment, my research has two areas of focus:

One specific focus is the editing of unpublished ancient Greek papyri, the oldest manuscripts to survive from Greco-Roman antiquity. Most of the papyri I work on originate from Egypt and come from the period from around 300 BC to 800 AD.

Another specific focus is ancient health and medicine. I am particularly interested in what people thought about being healthy and what they did to keep healthy. Ancient medical texts also provide fascinating insight into daily life in the Greco-Roman world. My first book, Health, Lifestyle, and Elite Culture in Greek and Roman Times, was published by Routledge in 2026.

• Editing a collection of unpublished Christian papyri from the Bodleian Library in Oxford
• A book about cancer in Greco-Roman antiquity

This year I will be teaching intermediate and advanced level Greek and Latin language subjects, as well as giving lectures and tutorials in other general units about the ancient world offered by the department.

I like to write and speak for a general audience. I regularly write popular articles about the ancient world, and I have appeared multiple times on stations such as ABC Radio National, 2SER Radio, Triple R Radio Melbourne, RTR FM Perth, and 2CC Radio Canberra, among others. I am also happy to give general lectures for schools. Please get in touch if you would like to arrange something.