Professor Acton received her Ph.D. in Greek and Roman History from the University of Michigan. Her research specializations are the history of Rome, especially in the late Republic and early Empire; Roman historiography; Roman numismatics. Her interest, broadly speaking, is in how individuals, groups, or institutions held power in the Roman world. Her historical research draws from a range of types of evidence, including literary texts, epigraphic sources, and material evidence, especially coins. She is currently working on a book about the idea of the emperor in the civil war of 69 CE, as well as a project concerning the production and circulation of coins in the mid-to-late Roman Republic.