[1] Bell earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Classical Studies and History from Wake Forest University, where he was a student of Allen Mandelbaum.

[2] During his graduate work, Bell was the recipient of a Postgraduate Fellowship from the Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (2001-2) to study with Prof. Henner von Hesberg at the Archaeological Institute at the University of Cologne, as well as a Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Pre-Doctoral Rome Prize Fellowship in Ancient Studies at the American Academy in Rome (2002-3).

Bell has co-edited nearly 20 volumes, including a book with Teresa Ramsby on freed slaves in ancient Rome Free at Last!

[6] Bell was selected for a three-year term as the Editor of the journal the Memoirs of the American Academy in Rome.

[10] He also appeared as a presenter in a documentary on the Smithsonian Channel, "Rome's Chariot Superstar" [11] which was based in part on his dissertation research.