About
Allen received his BA in Classical Studies in 2017 and MA in Comparative Studies in 2019 from BYU, writing his master’s thesis “’Queen of Kings’: Masculinity and Femininity in the Visual Rhetoric of Cleopatra VII and Augustan Distortions Thereof,” which examined gendered elements of the queen’s iconography and self-representation and how Augustan poetry subverted those gendered elements. In addition to being a PhD candidate in IPAH, he is also a student in the Judaic Studies graduate certificate program.
Allen’s interests focus on the dynasties and royal politics of the Hellenistic Near East, particularly Ptolemaic Egypt, but also Hasmonean and Herodian Judea. His research also extends to the earlier Biblical and Pharaonic periods of these same regions, but usually with a focus on the role of royal women. He is beginning a dissertation which will examine the power, influence, and ideological roles of the women of the Ptolemaic royal house.
Ancient Languages include Greek, Latin, Hebrew, Aramaic, Middle Egyptian, Demotic, Coptic, Phoenician.
