Giulia La Cognata

Thesis title: Doctors Without Borders: The Professional and Social Identity of Physicians in the Greek World

Biography

Background

I grew up in Italy, where I graduated in History (2021) and Historical Sciences from the University of Milan (2024). I am currently a PhD candidate in Classics at the University of Edinburgh under the supervision of Professor Mirko Canevaro and Professor Benedikt Eckhardt. My doctoral research, titled 'Doctors Without Borders: The Professional and Social Identity of Physicians in the Greek World', examines the conferral of honours and citizenship to physicians in the ancient Greek world, with a strong focus on their professional and social identity. During my studies, I spent three months at the University of Edinburgh writing my master’s thesis on the mobility and honours (timai) granted to Greek physicians.

Qualifications

MA in Scienze Storiche, Università degli Studi di Milano (2021-2024), 'Fra mobilità e τιμή: le concessioni di onori e cittadinanza ai medici nel mondo greco', supervised by Donatella Erdas and Lucia Cecchet, 110/110 e lode.

BA in Storia, Università degli Studi di Milano (2018-2021), 'Attraverso le vesti, sotto il mantello. L'adozione sub pallio da Eracle ai Beaufort', supervised by Silvia Romani, 110/110 e lode.

Maturità Classica, Liceo Classico S. Grattoni (2018), 100/100.

Responsibilities & affiliations

Classics PGR Representative, University of Edinburgh (2025-2026)

Undergraduate teaching

Tutor in Classics:

  • Greek World 1A: Greece in the Making

Research summary

Greek Hellenistic history; Greek epigraphy; Ancient Medicine; Sociology

Current research interests

My project aims to examine the conferral of honours and citizenship to physicians in the ancient Greek world, with a strong focus on their professional and social identity. I try to identify the criteria which define a skilled practitioner, the evolution of the profession into a social group, the recognition ad prestige assigned to physicians in Antiquity. The core of the study regards their dynamics of mobility and integration: in other words, I will analyze the formation of an international network of professionals in the Greek world.

Organiser

Edinburgh Classics Postgraduate Seminar Series 2025/2026 (University of Edinburgh), with Susan Carter and Panayiotis Karageorgopoulos

Papers delivered

  • Classics Postgraduate Seminar Series (University of Edinburgh): 31/01/2025, with a paper titled 'αὶ δ’ ἀρετᾶι ἀκέοιτο καὶ ἤθεσι. The Lexicon of honorific decrees for the ἰατροί.'
  • SCIENTIA Conference (University of Barcelona): 26-27/06/2025, with a paper titled 'Between Struggle and distinction: the definition of Greek physicians in popular culture and medical works.'
  • 16th Celtic Conference in Classics (University of Coimbra): 15-18/07/2025, with a paper titled 'Beyond borders: Honour, Knowledge, and Wealth in the Mobility of Greek Physicians.'

2024-2028: SGSAH AHRC DTP scholarship, University of Edinburgh

2023: Thesis abroad scholarship, Università degli Studi di Milano

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