Doctoral Student, Ancient History
About
Allen is from central Texas and received his BA in Classical Studies from Brigham Young University in 2017. He received his MA in Comparative Studies from the same institution in 2019. His academic interests stretch over the historical and literary, including Hellenistic history, particularly Ptolemaic Egypt, the Late Roman Republic, Jewish history and literature, and epic poetry. In all of these, he is particularly interested in questions of gender and group identity. His MA thesis examines the manipulation of gender in the visual and early poetic representations of Cleopatra VII and the effect this manipulation had on the queen’s perceived legitimacy as an independent ruler. He also has a soft spot for the poetry of Apollonius and Ovid.