He teaches courses in ancient Greek and Roman history. Borbonus was a contributing author on the Mapping Augustan Rome project and has written a book on Columbarium Tombs, enigmatic tombs in Rome that resemble the more familiar catacombs. His current research project is on the development of funerary culture in imperial Rome. Borbonus spent the 2016-17 academic year as a Rome Prize Fellow at the American Academy in Rome to carry out the research underlying this new book. The goal of this project is to create a narrative of historical change in the imperial capital that is based primarily on material culture.