Julia Wilker is Associate Professor in the Department of Classical Studies and currently also serves as Chair of the Graduate Group in Ancient History.
Wilker is an ancient historian working primarily on the Near East in Hellenistic and Roman times, with a focus on the history of Judea from the Maccabean revolt to the second century CE. She is particularly interested in the political and cultural changes during this period and the interaction between local elites and imperial powers, both literally in regard to foreign relations and political integration and figuratively with a focus on the adoption and adaptation of cultural features. In a broader sense, her research focuses on evolving concepts of identity and normativity and how these changes influenced local societies. Her first book (Für Rom und Jerusalem) dealt with the integration of the highest strata of Judean elites into Roman imperial rule and their role as mediators between Jews and Romans. Her second book (Ruling Families. Women and Dynastic Rule in Hellenistic and Roman Judea, forthcoming with Oxford University Press) analyzes the role of women in the Judean dynasties from the Hasmoneans to the later Herodians (2nd century BCE to 1st century CE). Wilker has also published on the Roman institution of client kingship, the integration of dependent dynasties into the imperial elite, and the impact on their home regions.
Her second field of research is the history of another period of profound changes: late classical Greece, in particular the interstate relations among the Greek poleis, with Achaemenid Persia, and with the kingdom of Macedonia. Her main focus lies on how concepts of foreign relations and key terms, such as peace, autonomy, and hegemony, evolved and were redefined during this period and how this process was reflected in political affairs, treaties, and alliances. She is currently working on a monograph on how the definition and understanding of autonomy (autonomia) changed between the end of the Peloponnesian War and the reign of Alexander the Great.