Professor of Classical Studies
About
I am a Romanist with research interests in religion, Latin prose, the history of the Republic, and women in antiquity. My most recent monograph, Fulvia: Playing for Power at the End of the Roman Republic appeared in 2021. I have also written a Commentary on Cicero, De Divinatione I (2014) and Women's Religious Activity in the Roman Republic (2006), and I have co-edited several volumes on Roman religion and Roman history. I am now working on a book, tentatively titled Sacrifice and the Roman Ritual Repertoire, that draws from the fields of Anthropology and Ritual Studies as it examines what the Romans mean when they talk about sacrificium.
I enjoy being part of both our Language & Literature faculty and our Interdepartmental Program in Ancient History because I get to work with students and colleagues in both programs. Conversations across disciplines are a real highlight for me. I teach courses in Latin literature and Roman history at all levels of our curriculum. In addition to my regular teaching, I advise the Roman Republic Reading Group, where we read new books on anything related to the Republic, and I regularly offer supplemental classes in Latin sight-reading for anyone who is interested.
Fields of Study
- Ancient Rome
- Roman religion
- Latin literature
Courses
- The Roman Republic
- Livy's Third Decade
- Sallust
- Cicero's Philosophical Works
- Early Roman Religion
- Classical Commentaries
- Historiography in the Classical World
- Ritual in the Ancient Mediterranean (w/ Rachel Neis)