After earning both the BA and MA degrees at La Sapienza of Rome and spending six months at the University of Toronto as a visiting student / researcher, Emanuele joined the Graduate Group in Ancient History at Penn in Fall 2024. During his career as a student so far, his historical interests have constantly shifted, going from the history of the Roman expansion in the republican period and the so-called “romanization” of ancient Italy, through the study of ancient landscapes and environments, and finally landing on the agrarian history of the Late Roman Empire – very often crossing the border of the ancient world in the meantime. Emanuele has also participated in different archaeological projects in Italy (Ostia, Hadrian’s Villa, Falerii Novi) and in other Mediterranean countries (Kosovo) and intends to keep gaining experience in this field. His MA thesis was an exploration of peasants’ agency in North Africa in Late Antiquity. At Penn, he plans to keep digging in the histories of peasants and other exploited groups of the past, at the same time reconstructing the structural context around them (demographic trends, class structures, land tenure and management, lease terms, short- and long-distance trade etc.) and exploring their worlds on their own terms, shedding light on issues of culture, agency, and identity.