Professor Han Baltussen
Professor
School of Humanities
Faculty of Arts, Business, Law and Economics
Eligible to supervise Masters and PhD - email supervisor to discuss availability.
Han Baltussen (FAHA) is an internationally acknowledged expert in the history of (ancient) philosophy. He is currently the W.W. Hughes Professor of Classics — one of Adelaide University's two founding chairs (1874) — at the Department of Historical and Classical Studies. He received the B.A., M.A. at the Classics Department (1988) and his Ph.D. in Ancient Philosophy at the Department of Philosophy of Utrecht University (1993). Before coming to the University of Adelaide he held several postdoctoral positions and worked at Kings College London (Philosophy Dept.) as a tutor in ancient philosophy and chief assistant editor to the Ancient Commentators on Aristotle Translation Project.
Professor Baltussen's research interests fall within the intellectual history of the ancient mediterranean and its influence, from the archaic period (Homer) to late antiquity and occasional excursions into later periods. His books examine the pathways of philosophical doctrines, clarifying exegetical methods and doctrinal entanglements over time. He has published 10 books on such topics as Theophrastus' dialectical method in De sensibus (2000), the late Platonist Simplicius (2008) and Aristotle's school (2016). His collaborations with colleagues have led to several co-edited volumes exploring philosophical commentaries (2004), consolation (2013), censorship (2015), and pain narratives (2023) [more details below under the Research Tab]. A new text and translation of Eunapius (Loeb 2023) lays the groundwork for a new interpretation of the text. His current projects include a short book on self-consolation, book chapters on the physiology of blood in early Greece (with M. Harpas) and gender in ancient medicine (with C. Schwartz) as well as a volume co-edited with Marguerite Johnson (Newcastle) 'A Cultural History of Love in Antiquity' for Bloomsbury, expected in November 2024.
Professor Baltussen has been awarded prestigious visiting appointments, including fellowships at Harvard's Center for Hellenic Studies (JRF, Washington D.C. 1996-97), the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton (School of Historical Studies, 2006), the Royal Flemish Academy (Brussels 2010), Leiden University (Spinoza Fellow 2014) and the Institute of Classical Studies, London (Dorothy Tarrant Fellowship, 2023), and in 2024 as Nominated Fellow at IASH (Edinburgh) and as Network Fellow of the Special Research Fund of the Catholic University Leuven during his study leave.
He served as Head of Department (2009-2013) and as the Head of the Classical Studies Section of the Australian Academy of the Humanities (2017–2020), and serves on the Advisory Boards of the journals 'Studies in Late Antiquity' and 'Aristotelica', the book series 'Rutgers Studies in the Humanities' (Routledge) and the ERC Project "Fragments of Aristotle" which is based at the University of Padua (Italy).
- My Research
- Career
- Publications
- Grants and Funding
- Teaching
- Supervision
- Professional Activities
- Contact
My research interests cover a range of topics in intellectual history and the history of ideas from antiquity to the early modern age, focusing on three themes: origin, transmission, and evolution of ideas. My work has successfully connected the world of Greece and Rome with our own time, in both public talks and scholarly projects on topical subjects such as grief (see The Conversation and "The Power of the Humanities"), censorship, Stoicism. I have collaborated with colleagues on subversion and censorship (with P.J. Davis), the transmission of philosophy from the Hellenistic period to Late Antiquity (with DT Runia and J Mansfeld), and Stoicism in the Enlightenment (with Lisa Hill). I regularly give public talks and lectures to highlight the ongoing importance of human concerns so similar across time. I was co-editor of the journal Antichthon, published by Cambridge University Press 2015-2021. My current book projects concern ancient consolations, a commentary on Theophrastus' fragments in doxography. The most recent publications are a new text and translation of Eunapius. Lives of Philosophers and Sophists for the well-known Loeb Classical Library series (vol. 134 Harvard Press, combined with Graeme Miles' Philostratus. Lives of Sophists, June 2023) and Pain Narratives in Greco-Roman Writings (jointly edited with J.R. Clarke and D. King, EJ Brill, July 2023).
Excellence in Research Australia (ERA): My research outputs go mostly towards Field of Research (FoR) 2203 Philosophy, some towards 2202, History and Philosophy of Specific Fields & 2005 Literary Studies. In the 2015 and 2018 ERA results, Philosophy at Adelaide received a score of 5 out of 5.
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Appointments
Date Position Institution name 2011 - ongoing Walter W. Hughes Professor of Classics University of Adelaide 2010 - 2011 Associate Professor University of Adelaide 2005 - 2010 Senior Lecturer University of Adelaide 2002 - 2005 Lecturer University of Adelaide 2001 - 2001 Adjunct lecturer Greek philosophy University College London 1997 - 2002 Research Associate and temporary lecturer & tutor King's College London 1997 - 2002 Chief Assistant Editor Ancient Commentators Project (0.8) King's College London 1996 - 1997 Postdoctoral research fellow Harvard Center for Hellenic Studies 1993 - 1996 Postdoctoral research associate Utrecht University -
Awards and Achievements
Date Type Title Institution Name Country Amount 2023 Fellowship Dorothy Tarrant Fellowship Institute of Classical Studies, London United Kingdom £5,000 2017 Fellowship Visiting Professor Institute for Advanced Study Institute for Advanced Studies, UWA Australia $3,000 2014 Scholarship Spinoza Fellow Leiden University Leiden University (LUCAS) Netherlands - 2010 Fellowship Fellowship Royal Flemish Academy Brussels Royal Academy Brussels Belgium - 2010 Research Award Faculty Research Award University of Adelaide Australia - 2009 Fellowship Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities Australian Academy of the Humanities Australia - 2006 Fellowship Member, School of Historical Studies (IAS Princeton) Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton NJ United States $20,000 1996 Scholarship Junior Fellow Centre for Hellenic Studies, Harvard University United States 40,000 -
Language Competencies
Language Competency Dutch; Flemish Can read, write, speak, understand spoken and peer review English Can read, write, speak, understand spoken and peer review French Can read, write and understand spoken German Can read, write, speak, understand spoken and peer review Italian Can read -
Education
Date Institution name Country Title 1988 - 1993 Utrecht University Netherlands PhD 1983 - 1986 Utrecht University Netherlands MA 1978 - 1983 Utrecht University Netherlands BA -
Research Interests
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Journals
Year Citation 2019 Baltussen, J. N. (2019). Theophrastus’ De sensibus in Diels’ the A-fragments: Revisiting the Testimonia and their Value.. Rhizomata. Journal for Ancient Philosophy and Science, 7(2), 120-145.
2018 Baltussen, J. N. (2018). A Curious Sidelight on the Reception of ps.Cicero's Consolatio (1583): Bodleian MS. Rawl. 985 D. Bibliotheque d'Humanisme et Renaissance; travaux et documents, LXXX(3), 485-506. 2018 Baltussen, J. (2018). Peripatetic Epistemology After Aristotle. Theorising Knowledge from Theophrastus to Aristocles. Lexicon Philosophicum. International Journal for the History of Texts and Ideas, 6(Special Issue on Hellenistic Theories of Knowledge), 53-77. 2017 Baltussen, J. N. (2017). Slim pickings and Russian Dolls? Presocratic fragments in peripatetic sources after Aristotle. Journal for Juristic Papyrology, (Suppl. 30), 73-90. 2016 Baltussen, J. N. (2016). Review of H. Bottler, Pseudo-Plutarch und Stobaios: Eine synoptische Untersuchung (Göttingen 2014). Anzeiger für die Altertumswissenschaft. 2015 Baltussen, J. N. (2015). McCoy, M.B. Wounded Heroes. Vulnerability as a Virtue in Ancient Greek Literature and Philosophy. Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2013. xviii, 228 pp. Pr. £50.00 (hb). ISBN 9780199672783. Mnemosyne, 68(6), 1049-1051.
2014 Baltussen, J. N. (2014). A 'Homeric' hymn to Stalin: performing safe criticism in ancient Greek?. Classical Receptions Journal, 7(2), 223-241.
Scopus22013 Baltussen, H. (2013). Theophrastus of Eresus. Commentary, vol 6.1, Sources on Ethics. CLASSICAL REVIEW, 63(1), 66-68.
2012 Baltussen, H. (2012). Richard D. Mohr and Barbara M. Sattler, editors. One Book, The Whole Universe: Plato's Timaeus Today. Las Vegas-Zurich-Athens: Parmenides Publishing, 2010. Pp. viii + 406. Paper, $87.00.. Journal of the History of Philosophy, 50(1), 132-133.
2009 Baltussen, J. (2009). Simplicius and the Subversion of Authority. Antiquorum Philosophia, 3, 121-136. 2009 Baltussen, J. (2009). A Grief Observed: Cicero on Remembering Tullia. Mortality, 14(4), 355-369.
Scopus152009 Baltussen, J. (2009). Personal grief and public mourning in Plutarch’s consolation to his wife. American Journal of Philology, 130(1), 67-98.
Scopus29 WoS162009 Baltussen, J. (2009). Pseudo-Aristoteles (Pseudo-Alexander), Supplementa Problematorum. Classical Review, 59(1), 75-77.
2007 Baltussen, J. (2007). From polemic to exegesis: The ancient philosophical commentary. Poetics Today, 28(2), 247-281.
Scopus25 WoS142006 Baltussen, J. (2006). The Greek Praise of Poverty: Origins of Ancient Cynicism; William D. Desmond. Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews, 11(04), 1. 2006 Baltussen, J. (2006). Aristote. De la generation et la corruption by Marwan Rashed. (Review). Bryn Mawr Classical Review, 2006.11.03, 1-4. 2006 Baltussen, H. (2006). The philosophy of the commentators 200-600 AD. A sourcebook.. JOURNAL OF HELLENIC STUDIES, 126, 216.
2006 Baltussen, H. (2006). Theophrastus of Eresus:: On sweat, on dizziness <i>and</i> on fatigue.. CLASSICAL REVIEW, 56(2), 311-313. 2006 Baltussen, J. (2006). An empedoclean 'hearing aid'? Fragment b99 revisited. Methexis, 19(1), 7-20.
2006 Baltussen, J. (2006). Addenda Eudemea. Leeds International Classical Studies, 5(1), 1-28. 2006 Baltussen, J. (2006). Review of Theophrastus of Eresus: On sweat, on dizziness and on fatigue. / Fortenbaugh W.W., Sharples R.W., Sollenberger M.G. (Philosophia Antiqua 93, Text, Translation, Commentary; Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2003). Classical Review, 56(2), 311-313.
2005 Baltussen, J. (2005). The Presocratics in the doxographical tradition. Sources, controversies, and current research. Studia Humaniora Tartuensia, 6(6), 1-26. 2004 Baltussen, J. (2004). In the Grip of Disease. Studies in the Greek Imagination G.E.R. Lloyd. Bryn Mawr Classical Review (Print Edition), 1. 2002 Baltussen, J. (2002). Matricide revisited: dramatic and rhetorical allusion in Tacticus, Suetonius and Cassius Dio. Antichthon, 36, 30-40.
2001 Baltussen, J. N. (2001). D. Zeyl, Plato, Timaeus (introd. and transl. Hacket 1999). Bryn Mawr Classical Review, 10(35). 2001 Baltussen, J. (2001). Traditions of Platonism. Essays in Honour of John Dillon. J. J. Cleary. Classical Review, 51(1), 69-71.
2001 Baltussen, J. (2001). Plato's Timaeus, Donald J. Zeyl (trans.). Bryn Mawr Classical Review (Print Edition), 10(35), 1. 2000 Baltussen, J. N. (2000). Review of T.K. Johansen, Aristotle on the Sense Organs (Cambridge 1998). Journal of Early Science and Medicine, 5,1(108), 103-104. 2000 Baltussen, J. N. (2000). Review of R.W. Sharples, Theophrastus. Sources for his Life, Writings, Influence, commentary vol. 3.1 Sources on Physics (Leiden, EJ Brill, 1998). Journal of Hellenic Studies, 120, 169-170. 2000 Baltussen, H. (2000). Plato in the placita (aËtius bk. iv): A dielsian blind spot. Philologus, 144(2), 227-238.
Scopus111999 Baltussen, J. N. (1999). Review of W. Burkert, L. Gemelli, E. Matelli, L. Orelli (eds) Fragmentsammlungen philosophischer Texte der Antike. (Aporemata. Bd 3, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1998). Bryn Mawr Classical Review, 99.9.23. 1998 Baltussen, J. N. (1998). The Purpose of Theophrastus’ De sensibus Reconsidered. Apeiron: a Journal for Ancient Philosophy, 167-200. 1993 Baltussen, J. N. (1993). Review of ‘Theophrastus. De causis plantarum’, (Loeb 474, 475)'. Mnemosyne: a journal of classical studies, IV(46), 107-109. 1989 Baltussen, J. N., & Harder, A. (1989). ‘Eudaimon to Sarapion (private letter nr. 3852)’. The Oxyrrhynchus Papyri, LVI, 100-102. 1989 Baltussen, J. N., & Harder, A. (1989). ‘Eudaimon to Sarapion (private letter nr. 3852)'. Unknown Journal, LVI, 100-102. -
Books
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Book Chapters
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Conference Papers
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Original Creative Works
Year Citation 2012 Authors: Baltussen JN, Share, M, Atkinson, M, Mueller, I.. Title: Simplicius, Commentary on Aristotle's Physics 1.5-9 (translated from Ancient Greek with annotations). Description: N/A. Extent: 1.5. -
Internet Publications
Year Citation 2015 Baltussen, H., & Marks, K. (2015). Learning lessons from Antiquity about Coping with Grief. Australia Academy of the Humanities. 2012 Baltussen, J. N. (2012). Coping with Bereavement and Grief: Lessons from History. The Conversation. - Baltussen, H. (n.d.). Theophrastus of Eresus. Oxford University Press.
DOI
PROJECT |
GRANTING BODY | YEAR | AMOUNT |
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Dorothy Tarrant Fellow 2020 (postponed to 2023 due to covid) | Institute of Classical Studies, London | 2023 | $10,000 |
Short-term fellowship | Institute for Advanced Studies (UWA) | 2017 | $3,000 |
Paper international Conference | Center for the History of Emotions (AI) | 2015 | $3,000 |
"Stoic Liberalism and the Enlightenment" (with Lisa Hill) | Australian Research Council (DP) | 2014-16 | $300,000 |
"The Dynamics of Censorship in Antiquity" (with Peter J. Davis) | Australian Research Council (DP) | 2011-13 | $249,000 |
Short-term fellowship | Leiden University (Spinoza Fellow) | 2014 | $3,000 |
Invited paper international Conference | Center for the History of Emotions (AI) | 2014 | $3,000 |
"Hitching a Ride on iPods" (podcasting to enhance student engagement) | DVC(A) eLearning grant | 2013 | $13,000 |
Overseas conference papers, archival research in UK libraries | Various Faculty Travel Grants | 2005-13 | $18,000 |
Invited paper international Conference | Center for the History of Emotions (AI) | 2012 | $3,000 |
"Ancient consolation and psychotherapy" | Australian Research Council (DP) | 2007-09 | $69,000 |
Simplicius' Methodology | Faculty Small Research Grant | 2003 | $3,500 |
International conference London | Multiple sources (UK based) | 2002 | £10,220 |
Junior Fellowship | Harvard Center for Hellenic Studies, Washington D.C. | 1996-97 | $40,000 |
Travel grant short study leave, Fondation Hardt (Geneva, Switzerland) | Dutch Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) | 1996 | €2,000 |
PhD scholarship | Dutch Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) | 1993-96 | $68,000 |
Courses I (co)teach: [N.B. On study leave July-Dec. 2024]
- CLAS 1003 Introduction to Greek and Roman History [annually]
- CLAS 2008 True Lies: Science and Fiction in the Roman Empire [2024]
- CLAS 2029 Rome! Rise of Empire [2023, 2025]
- CLAS 2032 Classical Mythology [2023, 2025]
- CLAS 2038OL Latin and Greek for Scientists: The Language of Science (summer Jan., online only)
- CLAS 3026 Journeys to the Underworld from Homer to Hollywood [2024]
- HIST Capstone course now shared with History [annually, semester 2]
- CLAS 4001-4 Honours (common and special courses; thesis) [annually]
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Current Higher Degree by Research Supervision (University of Adelaide)
Date Role Research Topic Program Degree Type Student Load Student Name 2023 Principal Supervisor Greek Physicians Under Rome: Immigration and Integration Master of Philosophy Master Full Time Miss Chelsea May Louise Schwartz 2022 Co-Supervisor Separations, Grief, and Consolation in the Later Works of Thomas More Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Mitchell Robert Thompson 2022 Principal Supervisor Visualising Human Anatomy and Physiology in Medical Literature (10th - 17th c.) Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Part Time Miss Mary Elizabeth Harpas 2022 Co-Supervisor Legitimacy and Authoritarianism in the Late Roman Republic Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Nicholas Keefe George 2021 Principal Supervisor From Magic to Medicine: The dynamics of faith and science in drug development in antiquity. Master of Philosophy Master Part Time Mr Greg Macpherson -
Past Higher Degree by Research Supervision (University of Adelaide)
Date Role Research Topic Program Degree Type Student Load Student Name 2020 - 2021 Co-Supervisor ‘A lightness that is both new and a return’: Nekyia and katabasis in twenty-first century receptions of the Iliad Master of Philosophy Master Full Time Mr Patrick James Moritz 2020 - 2024 Co-Supervisor Taking Liberties: (Mis)translating Sexual Violence in Ovid’s Metamorphoses Master of Philosophy Master Full Time Miss Gemma Caitlin Neall 2019 - 2021 Principal Supervisor The Ascent to the Hidden One: The Reception of the Egyptian One God in Neoplatonism and the Greek Magical Papyri Master of Philosophy Master Full Time Ms Tiana Blazevic 2019 - 2021 Principal Supervisor Classical Ideas of Physiology and Pathology: Understandings of the Living Body in the Hippocratic Corpus Master of Philosophy Master Full Time Miss Mary Elizabeth Harpas 2019 - 2021 Principal Supervisor Veiled Criticism in Seneca’s Epistulae Morales Master of Philosophy Master Full Time Mr Tamas Karoly Preston 2014 - 2017 Co-Supervisor Dental Crown Morphology Variations Associated with Congenital Syphilis and their Importance in Paleopathological Diagnosis Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Dr Stella Ioannou 2013 - 2016 Co-Supervisor Faunus and the Fauns in Latin Literature of the Republic and Early Empire Master of Philosophy Master Full Time Ms Tammy DI-Giusto 2012 - 2014 Principal Supervisor Venus Restrained: The Regulation of Rome's Women in the Second Punic War. Master of Philosophy Master Full Time Lewis Mark Webb 2011 - 2017 Co-Supervisor A Dynamic Equilibrium: Doctors and Patients in Seventeenth Century England Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Part Time Mrs Elizabeth Connolly 2005 - 2008 Co-Supervisor Understanding and Dealing with Evil and Suffering: A Fourth Century A.D Pagan Perspective Master of Arts Master Part Time Ms Susanne Harvey Wallis
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Committee Memberships
Date Role Committee Institution Country 2021 - 2022 Member Professorial Committee for Fellowship Program University of Adelaide Australia 2018 - 2018 Member ERA REC Humanities and Creative Arts University of Adelaide Australia 2014 - ongoing Member Research Committee School of Humanities University of Adelaide Australia 2014 - 2016 - Member Executive Council Australian Academy of the Humanities Australia 2011 - 2020 Advisory Board Member Barr Smith B. Cowan Scholarship Committee University of Adelaide Australia 2009 - 2014 - Member Faculty Research Committee University of Adelaide Australia 2004 - 2008 - Chair Faculty Library Committee University of Adelaide Australia -
Memberships
Date Role Membership Country 2010 - ongoing Member Australian Historical Association Australia 2003 - ongoing Board Member Australasian Society of Classical Studies Australia 1998 - ongoing Member Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies (UK) United Kingdom 1997 - ongoing Member Society for Classical Studies (US) United States -
Consulting/Advisories
Date Institution Department Organisation Type Country 2023 - ongoing Padua University Department of Historical and Geographic Sciences and the Ancient World Scientific research Italy 2020 - 2020 TEQSA College Scientific research Australia -
Editorial Boards
Date Role Editorial Board Name Institution Country 2022 - ongoing Board Member Aristotelica University of Padua Italy 2017 - ongoing Member Rutgers University Studies in the Classical Humanities Rutgers University United States 2016 - ongoing Board Member Studies in Late Antiquity - United States -
Offices Held
Date Office Name Institution Country 2017 - 2020 Head of Classics Section, Australian Academy Australian Academy of the Humanities Australia 2015 - ongoing Editor Antichthon: journal of ancient world studies Australasian Society for Classical Studies Australia 2014 - 2016 Council Member, Australian Academy Australian Academy of the Humanities Australia 2013 - 2017 Program Coordinator BA(Advanced) University of Adelaide Australia 2009 - 2013 Head of Department University of Adelaide Australia 2003 - ongoing Adelaide Representative Executive Board Australasian Society for Classical Studies Australia -
Review, Assessment, Editorial and Advice
Date Title Type Institution Country 2019 - ongoing Flemish Science Foundation Grant Assessment Flanders Science Foundation (FWO) Belgium 2015 - 2021 Editor of Antichthon (Greek materials) Editorial University of Adelaide - 2014 - ongoing Reviewer fellowship applications Grant Assessment Institute of Advanced Study, Princeton United States
Connect With Me
External Profiles