Dr Laurence Totelin

Senior Lecturer in Ancient History

: totelinlm@cardiff.ac.uk
: +44 (0)29 2087 5631
: 4.03, John Percival Building

I am a historian of Greek and Roman Science, Technology and Medicine. I focus on the history of pharmacology and botany. My work is influenced by gender theory, and I have a particular interest in gynaecological treatments, aphrodisiacs, and the properties of milk (especially breast-milk).

I have a background in Classics/Ancient History (BA); History and Philosophy of Science (MPhil); and History of Medicine (PhD). I have published both on the history of ancient pharmacology (in particular on gynaecological pharmacology) and the history of botany. I am currently interested in the ancient history of milk, with a focus on its symbolism in ancient cultures. My approach to research is cross-disciplinary and I enjoy collaborating with people from various disciplines. I am an experienced blogger, writing posts for the Recipes Project, my own blog Concocting History, and guest posts on other blogs. I was involved in the design of the FutureLearn MOOC Health and Wellbeing in the Ancient World.

Honours and awards

ISSF Cardiff Wellcome Trust Grant for ‘Ancient-biotics, re-evaluating traditional medicines for future antibacterial therapies’, collaborative project led by Professor Les Baillie (Pharmacy), 2016
Wellcome Trust small grant to organise the conference 'Bodily Fluids/Fluid Bodies in Greek and Roman Antiquity', 2016
Classical Association grant to organise the conference 'Bodily Fluids/Fluid Bodies in Greek and Roman Antiquity', 2016
ICS grant to organise the conference 'Bodily Fluids/Fluid Bodies in Greek and Roman Antiquity', 2016
ISSF Cardiff Wellcome Trust Grant for ‘Nain, Mam and Me: infant feeding in Wales, social history and modern practices’, collaborative project with Dr Julia Sanders (consultant midwife) and Ms Heather Trickey (DECIPHer). Smaller grants were awarded to this project by the School of History, Archaeology and Religion, Cardiff and Cardiff Engagement Team, 2015
Cardiff University Research Leave Grant, 2014-2015
Wellcome Trust Grant to organise the ‘Approaches to Ancient Medicine’ conference 2012 (Cardiff University), 2012
Classical Association grant to organise ‘Approaches to Ancient Medicine’ conference 2012 (Cardiff University), 2012
Classical Association grant for ‘Approaches to Ancient Medicine’ conference 2010 (Cardiff University), 2010
Wellcome Trust Grant to organise ‘Approaches to Ancient Medicine’ conference 2010 (Cardiff University), 2010
Wellcome Trust Grant to organise panel entitled ‘History of ancient science and medicine vs economic history’ at the Classical Association Conference 2010 (Cardiff University), 2010
Wellcome Trust Grant to organise panel on Ancient Medicine at the Classical Association Conference 2007 (University of Birmingham), 2007
Wellcome Trust Postdoctoral Research Fellowship, 2006-2009
Wellcome Trust Centre PhD Studentship, 2002-2009
Maurice Wiener–Philippe Anspach Studentship, 2001-2002
Medal of the Free University of Brussels for Excellence, 2000
Erasmus Studentship, 1998
Marguerite Bervoets Prize for the best first-year result in the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters, Free University of Brussels, 1997

Professional memberships

Member of the Classical Association
Member of the British Society for the History of Science
Member of the British Society for the History of Pharmacy

Previous academic positions

2009-2015 Lecturer in Ancient History, School of History, Archaeology and Religion, Cardiff University
2006-2009 Wellcome Trust Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of History and Philosophy of Science, University of Cambridge
2006-2009 Bye-fellow of Newnham College, Cambridge
2006-2009 Teaching fellow, Department of History and Philosophy of Science, Cambridge University
2006-2009 Supervisor, Faculty of Classics, Cambridge University
2006-2007 Teaching fellow, Department of Classics, University of Reading
2005-2006 Teaching fellow, London Centre for the History of Science, Technology and Medicine, Imperial College, London
2005-2006 Teaching fellow, Department of Science and Technology Studies, University College London
2003-2006 Supervisor, Department of History and Philosophy of Science, Cambridge University

Speaking engagements

2017

'Climbing up the ladder: the ladder as medical machine in classical antiquity', Medical machines in antiquity workshop, University of Glasgow
'Breastmilk: a healing and poisonous substance in late antiquity', Society for the History of Medieval Technology and Science, London

2016

'The poor man's bees', The London Renaissance Seminar: In search of early modern honey
'A sea of synonyms: naming plants in Galen's pharmacological texts', Conference: Parlare la medicine, University of Parma, Italy
'Anti-abortion and abortion laws: some historical insights', Abortion Rights Cardiff
'Mother and nurse plants in Latin literature', Classical Association 2016, University of Edinburgh
'Crying over spilt milk: analogies between tears and milk in ancient literature’, Departmental Seminar, Swansea Department of History and Classics

2015

‘Concocting History and other blogging adventures’, Work in Progress Seminar, School of History, Archaeology and Religion, Cardiff University
‘The she-wolf at the Eisteddfod’, Conference: UWICAH, Cardiff University
‘What will the neighbours say? Middle-distance drug trade in the ancient world’, Conference: Trade, Discovery and Influences in the History of Herbal Medicine, the Herbal History Research Network, Wellcome Trust
'Baah baah black Sheep, have you any Wool: wool in ancient medicine’, Conference: Technologies of Daily Life in Ancient Greece, Swansea University
‘Castoreum or the testicle of the Istrian beaver: ingredient presentation strategies in ancient recipes’, Conference: Towards a history of epistemic genres: the textbook, the commentary, the case and the recipe in the making of medical knowledge,Max-Plack Institut für Wissenschaftsgeschichte, Berlin
‘Easy remedies – difficult texts: the pseudo-Galenic Euporista’, Conference: Pseudo-Galenic texts and the formation of the Galenic Corpus,Warburg Institute
‘Crying over spilt milk: analogies between tears and milk in ancient literature’, Classical Association 2015, University of Bristol
‘Back to Cleopatra’s kitchen: what I have learnt experimenting with ancient medical and cosmetic recipes’, Remaking History: using re-enactment in historical research and engagement, Symposium, Art Workers Guild, London

Selected earlier speaking engagements

June 2014: ‘Etouffement et empoisonnement au lait dans le monde Gréco-Romain’, Journée d’étude internationale, les ambiguïtés du lait, Université de Fribourg
April 2014: ‘Ethnic and hybrid vegetables: reading ancient botanical texts with a historian’s eye,’ Departmental Seminar, Classics, Princeton University
December 2013: ‘The Third Way: Galen’s influence on gynaecological pharmacology in late antiquity and early Byzantium’, Conference on Late Antique – Early Byzantine Pharmacology and its Reception in the Talmud Tradition, Humboldt University
October 2013: ‘Selling pharmaka – buying health: pharmacology, wealth and branding in the ancient world’, Ancient Drugs: Pharmacology across the Ancient World, Penn Museum, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia

University committees

2015-present Erasmus/Study Abroad coordinator, History
2015-present Postgraduate coordinator, Ancient History
2015-2016 Chair of Equality and Diversity Committee, School of History, Archaeology and Religion
2015-2016 Member of the School Board, School of History, Archaeology and Religion
2013-2014 Senior Tutor, Ancient History Department
2010-2015 Chair of the Cardiff and District Classical Association Branch
2010-2013 Member of the Equality and Diversity Committee
2010-2012 Ancient History Part One Coordinator
2009-2012 Third-Year Dissertation and Second-Year Independent Study Coordinator, Ancient History Department
2009-2012 Exams Convener, Ancient History Department

Education and qualifications

2002–2005 PhD, Wellcome Trust Centre for the History of Medicine at UCL
2001–2002 MPhil in History and Philosophy of Science, University of Cambridge
2000–2001 Teaching degree in History and Classical languages, Free University of Brussels
1996–2000 BA in Ancient History, Free University of Brussels

Career overview

2015–present Senior Lecturer in Ancient History, School of History, Archaeology and Religion, Cardiff University
2009–2015 Lecturer in Ancient History, School of History, Archaeology and Religion, Cardiff University
2006–2009 Wellcome Trust Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of History and Philosophy of Science, University of Cambridge, and bye-fellow at Newnham College. I combined my postdoctoral research with teaching at various UK institutions (Cambridge, UCL, Imperial College, and Reading)

View orca profile

Undergraduate

Introduction to Ancient Greek History - 20 credits (HS3101)
Introduction to Roman History - 20 credits (HS3102)
Investigating the Ancient World - 20 credits (HS3103)
The Ancient World in 20 Objects - 20 credits (HS3104)
Gods and the Polis - 10 credits (HS3330)
Gender and Sexuality - 20 credits (HS3362)
Science and Technology in the Graeco-Roman World - 10 credits (HS3373)
Greek and Roman Medicine - 20 credits (HS3376)
Pots, Poems and Pictures: using Evidence for Ancient History - 20 credits (HS4336)

Postgraduate

Themes and Approaches in Ancient History - 20 credits (HST002)
Gender, Sexuality and Society in Ancient Greece and Rome - 20 credits (HST018)
Special Topic: Medicine and Society in Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages - 20 credits (HST039)
Postgraduate Greek II - 20 credits (HST025)

Research supervision

I welcome PhD proposals relating to Greek and Roman medicine, science and technology. In particular I am interested in topics relating to pharmacology, botany and gardening, especially if they have a gender element. I would also be interested in topics relating to the reception of ancient botany and pharmacology, especially in the eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

Ancient botany

In collaboration with the botanist Gavin Hardy, I have published a book entitled Ancient Botany, Routledge 2015. Our hope was for this book to promote further research in the field. Personally, I will look further in the history and symbolism of grafting, as well political allusions in ancient texts on plants.

Retail Therapy: Selling pharmaka, buying health in the Greek and Roman World

Ancient pharmacological recipes may appear to be a very dry topic of research, but they are a mine of information for any ancient historian interested in social or economic history. I have published a book on the earliest recipes preserved in Greek, the recipes of the Hippocratic Corpus (Hippocratic Recipes: Oral and Written Transmission of Pharmacological Knowledge in Fifth- and Fourth-Century Greece, 2009). This study brought together my interests in the history of Greek medicine, social, cultural and economic history, studies of ancient literacy, and gender studies. I am currently working on a book examining the economic aspects of ancient pharmacology. I discuss how those involved in the Greek and Roman pharmacological 'business' promoted their remedies and sold them at the highest cost.

Got Milk? The symbolism of milk in antiquity and beyond

My newest project is on milk in the ancient world. I am interested in the symbolic significance of milk – all milks, be they human, animal or vegetable – in Greek and Roman culture. Together with Dr Victoria Leonard, I am organising a conference 'Bodily Fluids, Fluid Bodies' in which milk, alongside other bodily fluids, will be examined. I am also the recipient, with Ms Heather Trickey (SOCSI) and Dr Julia Sanders (HCARE) of an ISSF Wellcome grant for a project entitled 'Nain, Mam and Me: infant feeding in Wales, social history and modern practices'. Our aim is to use historical artefacts to promote discussions on infant feeding in Wales.

Academic Schools

School of History, Archaeology and Religion