Research

PhD research: From Stereotypes to Insults – Contextualizing Popular Invective in the Poems of Martial and Pompeian Graffiti

I'm working on a PhD dissertation on Roman insults and stereotypes at the University of Turku. Based on the poems of Martial and Pompeian graffiti I explore how various stereotypes influenced popular insults, what cultural context these stereotypes arose from, and how insults and stereotypes differ between the poems of Martial and Pompeian graffiti. In my PhD I examine the function of stereotypes in the formation of popular insults, and how different social, historical and literary contexts affected the form and content of insults.

My research has been funded by the Utuling doctoral programme, Foundation Institutum Romanum Finlandiae (Wihuri Fellowship), Jenny and Antti Wihuri Foundation, and Reinhold Ekholm foundation.

Read more in my blog:

• Roman Insults and Stereotypes
• Insults on the Walls of Pompeii
• Roman insults against impotent men and lusty women

A non-fiction book on Caesar

Together with Maria Jokela I edited a non-fiction book on Caesar entitled Gaius Julius Caesar – Rooman diktaattorin monet kasvot (Gaudeamus, 2025). This is the first non-fiction book on Caesar written in Finnish. The book explores the life, literary output, propaganda and later influence of Caesar through chapters written by 16 experts of ancient history, languages, material culture and classical reception. The book was awarded the prize for the best Finnish non-fiction book on a biographical topic by the Kanava magazine and Otava Literary Foundation. More on the book on the publishers webpage (in Finnish).

Research Project on Late Antique Ostia at the Finnish Institute in Rome

In addition to my PhD I'm working on an article as part of a project at the Finnish Institute in Rome. In this project we study the development of Ostia and Portus in Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages. My research focuses on the theatre of Ostia, the end of public spectacles and the later uses of the building during the period of ca. 200–850 CE.

Read more in the blog: Searching for the Theatre of Ostia in the Archives

Selected publications, presentations, posters

Edited volume: Jokela M. & Vanhala J. (eds.) (2025). Gaius Julius Caesar – Rooman diktaattorin monet kasvot, Gaudeamus. (link)

Peer-reviewed article: Meyer A., Mullen A. & Vanhala J. (2023), "A Scato-sexual Message: The Secundinus Stone with Phallus from Vindolanda", Britannia 54, 305–320 (link)

Review: Vanhala J. (2021). "Stefano Rocchi & Roberta Marchionni, Oltre Pompei: Graffiti e altre iscrizioni oscene dall’Impero Romano d’Occidente, Deinotera editrice", Arctos 55, 382–384. (link)

Conference paper "Popular Beliefs about Physicians in Ancient Rome", ISCH 2022, Verona, 2–5 August 2022 (link)

Conference paper "The Greek ”other” in the satirical poems of Martial", Classical Association Conference 2023, Cambridge, United Kingdom, 21–23 April 2023 (link)

Poster "From Stereotypes to Insults: Contextualizing Popular Invective in Martial and Pompeian Graffiti", CIEGL 2022, Bordeaux, 29 August – 2 September 2022 (link)

Poster "From Stereotypes to Insults: Contextualizing Popular Invective in Martial and Pompeian Graffiti", Research Day 2023 organized by the doctoral programme Utuling and the School of Languages and Translation Studies, University of Turku, Turku, 4 May 2023 (link)