Staff profile

I joined the department as a Career Development Fellow in 2025 having previously lectured in Roman Archaeology at Newcastle University and in Classical and Archaeological Studies at the University of Kent. I have also worked for various fieldwork units and participated in research excavations both in the UK and abroad, including in Italy, Kosovo and Cyprus. 

Much of my earlier research focussed on the Roman cult of Mithras and the role of temples in (mainly late) Roman military communities. However, following a foray into the world of reception with an article on the portrayal of Mithraic initiates in the works of Rudyard Kipling my attention has turned to the modern reception of Roman material culture. I am currently writing a book, contracted to Bloomsbury Academic Press, on the reception of Roman Britain in postwar historical fiction, particularly the works of Rosemary Sutcliff and Henry Treece. 

Many moons ago I also hosted a podcast in which I interviewed guests who studied the ancient world in various capacities. The archive for the podcast can be found here: https://shows.acast.com/coffee-and-circuses/episodes.

You can find me in room D302 in the Dawson Building. My drop-in hours are 10-12pm Monday or you can email to arrange a different time. 

• Roman Religion (particularly the Cult of Mithras)
• Early Christianity
• Roman Britain
• The Late to Post Roman West
• The Modern Reception of Roman Material Culture
• Archaeological Fieldwork Methods

Authored book

• Walsh, D. (2018). The Cult of Mithras in Late Antiquity: Development, Decline and Demise ca. A.D. 270-430. Brill Academic Publishers. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004383067

Chapter in book

• Walsh, D. (2018). Mithras/Cult of Mithras. In D. G. Hunter, P. J. van Geest, & B. Jan Lietaert Peerbolte (Eds.), Brill Encyclopedia of Early Christianity Online. Brill Academic Publishers. https://doi.org/10.1163/2589-7993_eeco_sim_00002255

Journal Article

• Walsh, D. (2024). Values and Material Culture in Rosemary Sutcliff's Roman Britain Stories. Britannia: A Journal of Romano-British and Kindred Studies, 55, 257-273. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0068113x24000199
• Walsh, D. (2023). The transformation of Mithraea in the Late Roman period. Journal of Roman Archaeology, 36(2), 454-476. https://doi.org/10.1017/s1047759423000430
• Walsh, D. (2021). Evangelicalism and empire: Rudyard Kipling on the Roman cult of Mithras and Christianization. Classical Receptions Journal, 13(3), 368-383. https://doi.org/10.1093/crj/claa032
• Walsh, D. (2020). Military Communities and Temple Patronage: A Case Study of Britain and Pannonia. American Journal of Archaeology, 124(2), 275-299. https://doi.org/10.3764/aja.124.2.0275
• Walsh, D. (2018). Reconsidering the Butt Road "Church," Colchester: Another Mithraeum?. Journal of Late Antiquity, 11(2), 339-374. https://doi.org/10.1353/jla.2018.0021
• Walsh, D. (2016). The Fate of Temples in Noricum and Pannonia. American Journal of Archaeology, 120(2), 221-238. https://doi.org/10.3764/aja.120.2.0221
• Walsh, D. (2016). Understanding the Status of the Cult of Mithras in the Tetrarchic Period: A Socio-Archaeological Approach. Theoretical Roman Archaeology Journal, 141–152. https://doi.org/10.16995/trac2015_141_152