My interests concern Greek colonization, colonial urbanization and the relations between Greeks and barbarians. In an attempt to respond to the questions raised by these issues, I am directing two archaeological missions. The first, in Syria, is located in the large Ras al-Bassit bay. This is the ancient Posideion of the Greeks, one of the oldest contact sites from the 1^st millennium BC between Greeks and peoples on the Syro-Palestinian coast. The research conducted on this site has given us a better understanding of how contacts developed between Greeks and Orientals and the origins of one of the key periods in art and architecture of ancient Greece, the Orientalizing period.

The second dig site is Argilos, in northern Greece, a region that the Greeks colonized starting in the 8^thcentury BC. This was the first Greek colony in the Lower Strymon region, a settlement founded by colonists from the Cycladic island of Andros. Argilos enjoyed tremendous prosperity in the 6^th and 5^thcenturies BC, and the digs have turned up a number of surprisingly well-preserved buildings, allowing us to study the urban development of a colonial city, the evolution of homes, and contacts and trade with indigenous peoples.

In Montreal, in the Mediterranean Archaeology Laboratory, students and research assistants work on databases relating to these projects and help in the stylistic and chronological analysis of the excavated archaeological materials.

I teach Roman history, the so-called auxiliary sciences (epigraphy, numismatics and literature) and advanced Latin courses for the Centre d'études classiques (detached 50%) and the Department of History. My main field of research is the history of the Roman Empire, in particular the Late Empire period (192-565 AD). My research activities fall into three categories.

1. My main interest lies in the history of the administration and political system of the Roman Empire, especially the reorganization of its provinces in the Late Empire period.
2. A second focus of my research has to do with themes of cultural history and mentalities during the Late Empire. This is a direct outgrowth of my main interest, because I have often had to use literary sources in studying the administrative history of the Empire, and in such cases I have had to first understand the cultural background in order to grasp the opinions expressed regarding administrative changes. My interest in this research has particularly to do with Latin and Greek authors who expressed their opinions on politics, although they are not classified in the "historiography" category, such as the sermons by Church Fathers Ambrose of Milan and John Chrysostom, the panegyrics of Themistius, and epic poetry.
3. The third aspect is dedicated to the history of science in antiquity and the historiographical themes related to science, i.e. to famous figures of antiquity (Constantine the Great) or the writings of ancient authors (Livy and Ammianus Marcellinus).

My MA and PhD students have worked on the first two fields of research, but not exclusively. Regardless of the research topic, I consider a good knowledge of ancient languages (Latin and Greek), modern languages (English, German, Italian and Spanish, depending on the subject) and the so-called auxiliary sciences (literature, epigraphy and numismatics) to be key success factors for any kind of advanced research.