Özge Acar

Research topic during fellowship: Local Cultural Identity Markers in Roman Caria

Özge Acar studied Ancient Greek Language and Literature at Akdeniz University and received her MA from the Mediterranean Civilisations Research Institute. She completed her PhD in Classical Philology at Istanbul University in February 2024, with a dissertation examining musical contests in Roman Asia Minor. Her research centers on Anatolian epigraphy, particularly the epigraphic culture of the Hellenistic and Roman periods. She approaches inscribed materials—from formal public inscriptions to everyday graffiti—as valuable sources for understanding cultural history, identity formation, and heritage preservation. She also has a personal interest in the history and material legacy of Constantinople, which she shares through her work as a professional tour guide, leading specialized historical excursions throughout the city. During her doctoral work, she received several competitive awards, including the ARIT George M. A. Hanfmann Fellowship and the Koç University AKMED Doctoral Fellowship. Her fieldwork spans a decade of archaeological excavations and epigraphic surveys across Anatolia, including sites at Phaselis, Kibyra, Uylupınar, and Sakarya. Since 2019, she has been a member of the Aphrodisias excavation team. Her current research investigates local cultural identity in Roman Caria. As a Harvard CHS Fellow, she will explore how Carian cities under Roman rule selectively preserved, adapted, and emphasized local traditions within the broader imperial context. Drawing on multiple source types, including inscriptions, coinage, and literary texts, she will attempt to reconstruct how Roman-era Carians articulated their local identity through collective memory, religious practices, naming conventions, and cultural production, in ways that evoke Pausanias’ perspective on the relationship between contemporary cultural landscapes and their historical foundations.