Ronald J. Mellor Distinguished Professor of Ancient History at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) (USA) and Honorary Visiting Professor of Archaeology at University College of London (UCL) (UK). He studied Classics and History at Oxford and then wrote a PhD in Cambridge on the late Iron Age/Roman transition in France, under the direction of ancient historians and archaeologists. His research and teaching has continued to cross all these fields, while he has held posts in Oxford, St Andrews, London and now Los Angeles. He is a Fellow of the British Academy. Current projects include an examination of the dynamics of cultural change in Rome and a study of mobility in the ancient Mediterranean world.