Mario Resta is currently a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Department of Cultures and Societies of the University of Palermo. After completing his academic training in Ancient and Late Antique History and Literature at the University of Bari Aldo Moro (BA in Humanities, 2011; MA in History, 2013), he obtained his PhD (Doctor Europaeus) in Ancient and Late Antique Studies in 2018. The doctorate was jointly awarded by the University of Bari Aldo Moro and the University of the Republic of San Marino. In 2017, he was a visiting doctoral researcher at the University of Valladolid. His doctoral dissertation examined the relationship between Christianity, music, and dance in Late Antiquity. He subsequently held five postdoctoral research positions in Italy and Germany. In 2023, he obtained the Italian National Scientific Qualification for Associate Professor in the academic field 11/HIST-04 (Sciences of Books and Documents and History of Religions), with a specialisation in the History of Christianity (HIST-04/B).
His research interests centre on the late antique theatre, dance, music, and embodied ritual practices in early Christianity, as well as popular devotion and the choreutic-musical cult of saints in the history of Christianity. He also explores property and the economy of salvation in Christian antiquity, gender and ecclesiastical control in Late Antique Christianity, and the cult of saints through mass media and spectacular performances in contemporary culture.
Mario Resta has participated in numerous scholarly and public conferences in Italy and abroad as both an invited speaker and an organiser. Since 2021, together with Maria Dell’Isola, he has served as scientific coordinator of the units Women in Early Christianity (2021–2024) and Gender Issues in Early Christianity (since 2025) within the International Annual Meeting on Christian Origins, held annually in Bertinoro. He is a member of the editorial board of the series Performing Religions (Anthem Press) and has served on the editorial boards of the academic journals Vetera Christianorum (since 2018) and Annali di Storia dell’Esegesi (2023–2024); of the latter, he has served on the board of editors since 2025. He has also served as a peer reviewer for various academic journals and edited volumes.
His most significant contributions include the award-winning monograph «Cristo vale meno di un ballerino?». Danza e musica strumentale nel vissuto dei cristiani di età tardoantica (Edipuglia, 2021), which received the Premio Edipuglia “Renzo Ceglie” (4th edition, 2020-2021). His peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters focus extensively on ritual movement, gender, and sensory history, including Private Property and Res Dei in Canonical Legislation. Boundary Violation in Gaul, Iberian Peninsula and Africa Proconsularis (4th-6th century) in Civiltà e Religioni 11 (2025), Lay or Consecrated, Subjected and Subtracted: The Abduction of Women in 4th Century Canonical Legislation in Augustinianum 62/1 (2022), and Note sui “balli” di san Vito: danze, riti e luoghi del culto in L. Carnevale (ed.), Spazi e luoghi sacri. Espressioni ed esperienze di vissuto religioso (Edipuglia, 2017). Additionally, exploring contemporary digital icons, he published La “santità” secondo Achille Lauro tra TV e web in M. Papasidero and M. Resta (eds.), I santi internauti 2. Agiografia, devozioni e icone digitali (Viella, 2022).
