Overview
My work focuses on early Christianity and late antiquity. I published on death and burial, martyr narratives, and the transformations of religious practices in late antiquity. My forthcoming book is The Triumph of Christianity Redescribed (Cornell University Press: Spring/Summer 2026). I am currently working on North Africa from the Numidian kingdom of the Massyli (4th c. BCE) to the Rustamid Imamate (10th c. CE).
Prior to coming to Cornell University, where I now hold the Avalon Foundation Professorhip in the Humanities, I was a researcher in the French Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) and a member of the École française de Rome.
I have published four single-authored monographs, including Christians and their Many Identities in Late Antiquity, North Africa, 200-450 CE, a collection of martyr narratives in Greek and Latin with translations and commentary, the excavation report of the imperial necroplis from Musarna (Italy), and six edited works. I have been a visiting scholar at the Institute of Advanced Study (Princeton), the Max-Weber Kolleg (Erfurt), and Corpus Christi College (Oxford). I was awarded a Mellon New Directions Fellowship and a Guggenheim Fellowship.
Research Focus
- History of Late Antiquity and Early Christianity
- Augustine of Hippo
- Roman Funerary Archaeology
Publications
Books
- The Early Martyr Narratives: Neither Authentic Accounts Nor Forgeries. Divinations: Rereading Late Ancient Religion. University of Pennsylvania Press, 2020.
- Greek and Latin Narratives about the Ancient Martyrs. Oxford Early Christian Texts. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017.
- Transformations of Religious Practices in Late Antiquity. Farnham, UK: Ashgate, 2014.
- Christians and their Many Identities in Late Antiquity, North Africa, 200-450 CE. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2012 (paperback 2016).
- The Care of the Dead in Late Antiquity. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2009 [English translation of Religion et sépulture: l’Église, les vivants et les morts dans l’Antiquité tardive (IIIe-Ve siècles). Civilisations et sociétés 115. Paris: Éd. de l’EHESS, 2003].
- Musarna. 3, La nécropole impériale. Collection de l’École française de Rome 415. Rome: École française de Rome, 2009.
- In hora mortis: évolution de la pastorale chrétienne de la mort aux IVe et Ve siècles dans l’Occident latin. Bibliothèque des Écoles Françaises d’Athènes et de Rome 283. Rome: École française de Rome, 1994.
Edited volumes
- Group Identity and Religious Individuality in Late Antiquity. Edited by Éric Rebillard and Jörg Rüpke. Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press, 2015.
- Les frontières du profane dans l’Antiquité tardive. Edited by Éric Rebillard and Claire Sotinel. Collection de l'École française de Rome 428. Rome: École française de Rome, 2010.
- Economie et religion dans l’Antiquité tardive. Edited by Éric Rebillard and Claire Sotinel. Special issue of Antiquité tardive 14 (2006): 15-116.
- Hellénisme et christianisme. Edited by Michel Narcy and Éric Rebillard. Lille: Presses universitaires du Septentrion, 2004.
- Orthodoxie, christianisme, histoire = Orthodoxy, christianity, history. Collection de l’École française de Rome 270. Edited by Susanna Elm, Éric Rebillard and Antonella Romano, Rome: École française de Rome, 2000.
- L’évêque dans la cité du IVe au Ve siècle: image et autorité. Collection de l’École française de Rome 248. Edited by Éric Rebillard and Claire Sotinel. Rome: École française de Rome, 1998.
In the news
- Twelve new Klarman Fellows to pursue innovative, timely research in A&S
- Roman historian views early martyr narratives as ‘living texts’
- A new look at early Christianity
- Classics scholar awarded Guggenheim fellowship
- Seven projects awarded 2018 digitization grants
- Christian martyrdom narratives explored in Medieval Studies talk
- Apply for 2018 Arts and Sciences digitization grants
- Three projects awarded 2017 digitization grants
- Doctoral student receives prize for archaeological research
- New proposals sought for digital grants
