David John Mattingly, FBA (born 18 May 1958) is an archaeologist and historian of the Roman world.

His doctoral thesis was titled "Tripolitania: A comparative study of a Roman frontier province", and was submitted in 1984.

His emphasis has largely been social and economic, and centres on the study of rural settlement, farming technology and the economy; post-colonial approaches to Roman imperialism; Roman military frontiers and the study of native society beyond those frontiers.

[3] His most recent book is Imperialism, Power and Identity: Experiencing the Roman Empire.

He is an active field archaeologist, and is currently directing several expeditions examining the archaeology of the Fazzan and the Ghadames oasis in Libya.