JP Johnson

Hello! You've arrived at the homepage of Fairfield, Connecticut based ancient history professor, JP Johnson. JP Johnson currently teaches the at Fairfield Institute of the Classics in Fairfield, Connecticut. He has been studying history for the last four decades and has been teaching at FIC for the past five years. His areas of expertise include the world of Antiquity, particularly the Mediterranean around the time of Christ. He has spent years studying the Roman Republic's transition into Empire and how we as Americans can see our own reflection in the pages of Ancient Roman history. He studied both at Temple University and the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, PA. While at UPenn, he founded the Historians of Antiquity Club or HAC, to this day, one of the most prestigious graduate school history clubs in the Ivy League.

After graduating with a graduate degree in Ancient History and Antiquity from the University of Pennsylvania, JP embarked on several expeditions to the region that he spent his entire educational career studying. He was given the privilege of assisting Professor Erlich Mott on his dig searching for the remains of Queen Boudicca, who led the British rebellion against Roman incursions into the British Isles under Emperor Nero. While the dig did not yield any concrete evidence, JP Johnson learned from one of the best in the field and made sure to carry Dr. Mott's meticulous attention to detail over to his own later expeditions.

JP Johnson eventually was able to lead multiple searches himself. In 1985, he and his team are believed to have discovered a possible location of the final resting place of Gallic nobleman and resistance leader, Vercingetorix. The leader of the Gallic coalition against the Romans was eventually forced to surrender to Julius Caesar at the Siege of Alesia, a longshot Roman victory that solidifed Caesar's place as one of Rome's greatest generals. While most historians believe Vercingetorix's body was kept in Rome after he was executed, JP Johnson believed that he was brought back to his native Gaul. While they were not able to find conclusive evidence, there is reason to believe the burial mound they discovered could be the tomb of Vercingetorix.

In his spare time, JP Johnson enjoys organizing and participating in historical reenactments. You can learn more about his involvement with reeanactments at http://jpjohnsonhst.com/