René Lavanchy

Having recovered from an MPhil in Greek and/or Roman History at Oxford, I am now doing a DPhil in Ancient History at Trinity College, Oxford, supervised by Dr Beate Dignas with additional supervision from Dr Alfonso Moreno.
My research, founded on my master's dissertation, looks into the cultural attitudes to credit in ancient Greek communities. When real-life people borrowed and lent money, what did that mean to them? Were loans perceived as gifts or commodities, and under what circumstances? And how do these attitudes fit within social structures? I am trying to address these questions and take a fresh look at a subject that has not had a systematic treatment recently.
Throughout history, from ancient times to the present day, attitudes to debt (the obligation to repay it, the injustice of getting into it and so on) have been emotionally charged. My research aims to shine a light not only on ancient Greek history, but also on the history of ideas about debt - not least the morality of debt and of economic systems powered by it. I'd be interested in collaborating with other people working in this area within ancient history, anthropology and adjacent disciplines.
I am interested in ancient Greek history more generally and have contributed a chapter on the Athenian tyrant Pisistratus to the book 'The Dictators' published by Hodder & Stoughton in 2024.
My research is funded by the AHRC OOC DTP, the Clarendon Fund and Trinity College.