Academic Background
I did my undergraduate degree in Ancient and Modern History and Masters degree in Roman History at Oxford before moving to Cambridge for my PhD. Following my PhD, I held a Postdoctoral Fellowship jointly between the Centre for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities, Cambridge, and the British School at Rome and then a Research Fellowship at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge. Immediately before taking up my post at Oriel and Jesus, I was a Departmental Lecturer in Oxford’s Faculty of Classics and Merton College.
Undergraduate and Postgraduate Teaching Areas
For undergraduate teaching, my primary specialism is in Roman republican and imperial history, but I teach a wide range of Ancient History options for Jesus at both Mods and Greats.
Additionally, I supervise graduate students in Roman history and epigraphy on topics including Roman identity, enslavement, migration, bilingualism, epistolography, and graffiti. I am always eager to hear from prospective graduate students whose research interests intersect with my own.
Research Interests
At the core of my research is an interest in language as a way to understand core questions about Roman identity, society, and politics; the main themes of my work are multilingualism, migration, citizenship, and slavery in the Roman world. My research is inherently cross-disciplinary, combining sociolinguistic and historical approaches. I investigate a range of evidence, including inscriptions, letters, and graffiti.
My first book, The Language of Roman Letters: Bilingual Epistolography from Cicero to Fronto (co-authored with Alex Mullen) was published by CUP in 2019. I am currently finishing my second book, Multi-tongued Empire: Language and the Politics of Roman Identity. A third book, Julius Caesar: A Very Short Introduction, is under contract with OUP. Other ongoing projects include comparative work on multilingualism in Mediterranean cities; a collaborative project with Myles Lavan on the meaning of the category ‘Roman’ in antiquity and the ways it diverges from modern usage; and a Brill edited volume with Lewis Webb on women in Roman historiography.
Links
See the Faculty of Classics website.