Kathryn Langenfeld

Assistant Professor

Contact
Department of History
Office: Hardin 008
Phone: Hardin 008
Email: klangen@clemson.edu

Education
Ph.D., Classical Studies, Duke University; Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow, Rice University; B.A. Classical Studies, University of Missouri; B.A. History, University of Missouri

Courses
Ancient Rome, Ancient Mediterranean

Research Interests
Roman Empire; Mediterranean World; World History; Historiography/Historical Theory & Method; Archaeology; Art and Architecture; Material Culture

Dr. Langenfeld’s expertise concerns Roman imperial history and historiography of the third and fourth centuries CE—a period notable for prolonged political instability, religious transformation, and historiographical complexity. The driving impetus of her research has been to explicate how late Roman emperors and imperial administrations responded to the many crises, conspiracies, and coups that threatened the stability of the Empire during this era and to assess how historians of the period record these tumultuous and often opaque events.

Central to this effort has been the six single-authored journal articles and book chapters and one co-authored book chapter that she has published in a range of internationally recognized venues for ancient history, such as Historia: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte, Studies for Late Antiquity, Histos, Brill, and Oxford University Press, among others. These publications apply a combination of historical, legal, literary, and epigraphic approaches to reexamine key events in the second through fourth centuries, with a particular focus on illuminating how discrete instances of political usurpation, forgery, and espionage contributed to the tumult of the Late Roman Empire.

Her courses take an interdisciplinary and inclusive approach to the study of ancient history, using both documentary and art historical approaches to examine the cultures of ancient Greece, Rome, the Near East, and medieval Europe. Students in her classes find daily discussions and writing assignments built around the interpretation of primary source documents and a vast array of archaeological evidence, including cuneiform seals, Greek kraters, Athenian funerary reliefs, Pompeian graffiti, Roman coins, medieval manuscripts, and Renaissance art. Recent courses include HIST 3550: The Roman World, HIST 3540: The Greek World, HIST 1720: The West and the World, Part 1, and HIST 4900: Fakes and Forgeries in Ancient and Modern History. Her classes highlight the modern relevance of ancient and medieval history and provide students with skills to analyze ancient texts and material culture as part of broader political, literary, and cultural contexts.

In recognition of her innovative and student-centered approaches, she was recently awarded the Dean’s Award for Excellence in Teaching by the College of Arts and Humanities in May 2026, as well as the John B. and Thelma A. Gentry Award for Teaching Excellence in the Humanities by the College of Arts, Architecture, and Humanities in 2021.

Dr. Langenfeld is also one of the contributing faculty for the new, interdisciplinary Classical and Late Ancient World (“CLAW”) Minor, which debuted in Fall 2025. Please reach out to her at klangen@clemson.edu or Keren Shatalov, the CLAW Coordinator, at kshatal@clemson.edu if you are interested in learning more about the minor.

Awards
2026 Dean’s Award for Excellence in Teaching, Awarded by the College of Arts and Humanities, Clemson University.

Selected Professional Works

Journal Articles & Book Chapters (Published)

“Fraud and Forgery in the Court of Constantius II: The Silvanus Affair of 355 C.E.” Historia: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte (2025) 74(4): 488–522.

“Shorthand Girls and Secret Missives: Women’s Contribution to Late Roman Intelligence Operations,” in Brill's Compantion to Ancient Women and Warfare in the Mediterranean World, ed. B. Carney and S. Müller. Leiden: Brill 2025, 349–382.

“Firmus and the Crocodiles Revisited: Paradoxography and the Historia Augusta’s Life of the Four Tyrants.” Histos (2025) 19: 65–111.

“Ancient Texts and Sibylline Truths: A Reflection on Forged Documentary Evidence and its Value in the Historia Augusta.” In Beyond Deceit: Valuing Forgery and Longing for Antiquity, edited by S. McGill and J. Hopkins. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2023, 181-203.

“Imperial Crisis Response and the Antiochene Magic and Treason Trials of 372 CE.” Studies in Late Antiquity 7 (2): 242-285.

“Reflexivity and Digital Praxis: Reconstructing Ostia’s Networks” in Data Science, Human Science, and Ancient Gods: Conversations in Theory and Method, eds. S. Blakely and M. Daniels. Co-authored with L.A. Mazurek & R.B. Gorham. Lockwood Press, 2023, 175-204.

“Epigraphic Permanence and Ephemerality: Imperial Propaganda and Memory Construction at Ostia’s Caserma dei Vigili,” in Inscriptions and the Epigraphic Habit. Brill Studies in Greek and Roman Epigraphy, vol. 18, ed. R. Benefiel and C. Keesling, Brill Press, 2023, 232-254.

Conference Presentations (Delivered)

“Firmus and the Crocodiles Revisited: Egyptian Imagery and Imperial Anxiety in the Historia Augusta.” Society for Classical Studies Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, PA, Jan. 2–5th, 2025.

“Shorthand Girls and Secret Missives: Women’s Contribution to Late Roman Intelligence Operations” at the annual meeting of the Association of Ancient Historians. Tallahassee, FL April 20-22, 2023.

“Forged Letters and Court Intrigue in the Reign of Constantius II” at the joint Society for Classical Studies and Archaeological Institute of America Annual Meeting in San Francisco, CA Jan. 5-8th, 2022.

“Inscriptions and Permanence: Memory, Spoliation, and Social Networks at Ostia and Dion” at the North American Society for Greek and Latin Epigraphy (NACGLE) conference at Georgetown University Jan. 3-7th, 2020. Co-authored with L. Mazurek.

“’So Great was the Terror’: The Terror and Treason Trials in Rome and Antioch.” The 13th Biennial Colloquium for Shifting Frontiers in Late Antiquity. March 14-18, 2019. Claremont McKenna College, Claremont, CA.

“Conceptualizing Connectivity in Ostia Antica: the 2018 Field Season of the Ostia Connectivity Project,” co-authored with C. Concannon, L. Mazurek, A. Meyer, and R.B. Gorham. The Archaeological Institute of America Annual Meeting, Jan. 3-6, 2019. San Diego, CA.

“Imperial Spies and Intercepted Letters in the Late Roman Empire.” Society of Classical Studies Annual Meeting, Jan. 4-7, 2018. Boston, MA.