Robert Weir grew up in Switzerland, the DR Congo, Scotland, and the USA before coming to Canada, where he earned his BA in Honours Classics at the University of British Columbia (1990). From there, he went to Princeton University where he completed an MA (1993) and a PhD (1998), both in Classical Archaeology. He has been on the been on the faculty of the Greek and Roman Studies program of the University of Windsor since 2002.
Weir’s teaching areas include:
- Greek and Roman art and archaeology
- Greek and Roman coins
- an archaeological practicum in Greece
- Greek history
- Greek athletics
- Late Antiquity (circa 300-800 CE)
- reception of ancient Greece and Rome
Weir’s research has often focused on identifying and publishing coins found in archaeological excavations, and he has been the numismatist for several digs in Greece (Mytilene, Stymphalos, Helike, Kenchreai, Lechaion), Cyprus (Polis-tis-Chrysochous), and Turkey (Anamur). In 2001-2004, this research was aided by a Standard Research Grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. In the past several years, Weir has developed a new interest in the modern reception of ancient texts from the evidence of marginalia and ownership marks in printed books of the 16th to 18th centuries.
Weir’s publications include:
- forthcoming: Subtle-Shining Secrecies: How to Find a Book Owned by Shakespeare (Biblioasis, 2026)
- “Coins and Coin-Like Objects,” in J. Rife and E. Korka eds., On the Edge of a Roman Port: The Greek-American Excavations at Koutsongila, Kenchreai (2007-2014) (American School of Classical Studies in Athens, 2022)
- “Exaggerated Rumours of Death and the Downdating of Helike’s Coinage,” in D. Katsonopoulou ed., Helike V (The Helike Society, 2017)
- “Coins,” in G. Schaus ed., Stymphalos. The Acropolis Sanctuary. Volume 1 (University of Toronto Press, 2014)
- “Interpretation and Imitation of Classical Greek Coin Types,” Marburger Beiträge zur Antiken Handels-, Wirtschafts-, und Sozialgeschichte (2010)
- “The Stymphalos Hoard of 1999 and the City’s Defences,” American Journal of Numismatics (2008)
- Roman Delphi and its Pythian Games (British Archaeological Reports, 2004)