Tim Howe was born in California and spent his formative years in the Sierra Nevada foothills, chasing cattle and sheep on his parents’ farm.  After completing a B.A. in Anthropology, History and Classical Studies at Cal State, Chico, he went “out east” to Penn State for his M.A. and Ph.D. in Classics and Ancient Mediterranean Studies.  At Penn State, as a student in a Golden Age Latin class, he met his wife, Mary.

Throughout his academic career, Howe has nurtured a life-long passion for the ancient history and archaeology of both the Old and New Worlds.  He has excavated in North America, the Mediterranean and the Middle East.  He also serves as Senior Editor for the ancient studies journal The Ancient History Bulletin.

Prof. Howe’s scholarly research focuses on mass-elite relations and the political, economic and religious tools used to maintain and legitimise power. To this end he has authored and edited books, book chapters and articles on Terrorism, Ancient Mediterranean Trade, Agriculture, Alexander the Great and his Successor Ptolemy I of Egypt, and various Roman Emperors. For more information, go to Prof. Howe's academia.edu page.

Tim digging in Turkey 2014 (2x1)

Reflecting his wide interests, Prof. Howe tries to blend history, classical literature and languages with science in a range of multidisciplinary on-campus classes about the ancient North American, Mediterranean and Near Eastern Worlds.  Each summer Prof. Howe supervises the Acropolis Excavation Project at the Hellenistic/Roman site of Antiochia ad Cragum in Southern Turkey. This project is a collaborative faculty-student research program that combines 3D imaging, advanced photogrammetry, archaeological survey, and traditional excavation.  For more information see the project websites: http://pages.stolaf.edu/antiochia2014/.

Prof. Howe, his wife, and his cats are avid archaeologists (diggers), birdwatchers and gardeners, and he (and the cats) love to fish. Cooking, especially Mediterranean cooking, is his passion.  Someday he hopes to have a farm of his own, full of organic gardens, sheep, a cow or two, and perhaps the odd goat.