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Faculty of Classics

 

Biography

I studied Classics and Ancient History at the University of Bristol, where I completed my PhD in 2013. Since then, I have lectured in Roman History and Latin at the University of Manchester, the University of Queensland (Australia), and the University of Roehampton. I joined the University of Cambridge in September 2022.

Research

My research interests include Roman emperors and political culture, Roman historiography, and classical reception studies (particularly in relation to the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries). I am currently Co-I on the joint AHRC-DFG funded project “Twisted Transfers”: Discursive Constructions of Corruption in Ancient Greece and Rome (2020-2023).

Publications

Key publications: 

Selected Publications:

[Forthcoming] Davenport, C. and Malik, S. (eds.) Representing Rome’s Emperors: Historical and Cultural Perspectives through Time, Oxford University Press.
[Forthcoming] ‘Roman Emperors in Montesquieu’s Considérations’, in Representing Rome’s Emperors: Historical and Cultural Perspectives through Time, Oxford University Press.
[Forthcoming] with C. Davenport, ‘Introduction’, in Representing Rome’s Emperors: Historical and Cultural Perspectives through Time, Oxford University Press.
[Forthcoming] with C. Davenport, ‘Epilogue’, in Representing Rome’s Emperors: Historical and Cultural Perspectives through Time, Oxford University Press.
[Forthcoming] ‘Nero’, in V. E. Pagán (ed.) The Tacitus Encyclopaedia, Wiley-Blackwell.
‘Republican Romans: Unlikely Decadent Prototypes’, in J. Desmarais and D. Weir (eds.) The Oxford Handbook of Decadence, Oxford University Press, 2022: 21-38.
‘Cassius Dio’s Nero’, in C. Davenport and C. Mallan (eds.) Emperors and Political Culture in Cassius Dio’s Roman History, Cambridge University Press, 2021: 158-77.
The Nero-Antichrist: Founding and Fashioning a Paradigm, Cambridge University Press, 2020.
Cucuta ab rationibus Neronis Augusti: A Joke at Nero’s Expense?’ Classical Quarterly 69.2 (2019) 783-92.
‘Decadence and Roman Historiography’, in J. Desmarais and D. Weir (eds.) Cambridge Critical Concepts: Decadence and Literature, Cambridge University Press, 2019: 30-46.
‘The Criminal Emperors of Ancient Rome and Oscar Wilde’s “True Historical Sense”’, in K. Riley, A. J. L. Blanshard, and I. Manny (eds.) Oscar Wilde and Classical Antiquity, Oxford University Press, 2017: 305-20.
‘All Roads Lead to Rome?: Decadence, Paganism and Catholicism in the Later Life of Oscar Wilde’, Cahiers victoriens et édouardiens 80 (2015).

I also contribute to popular history publications on a regular basis, including articles for the Times Literary Supplement, the BBC History Magazine, the BBC World Histories Magazine, and History Today.

 

Teaching and Supervisions

Research supervision: 

Roman history and culture, receptions of Rome and ‘classical’ ideas.

Assistant Professor in Classics
Onassis Classics Fellow at Newnham College
Not available for consultancy

Latest news

Senior Curator: Mediterranean Antiquities

28 April 2025

The Faculty and the Fitzwilliam Museum and are seeking to appoint a Senior Curator of Mediterranean Antiquities. The post-holder will be the curatorial and research lead for the Fitzwilliam's substantial collection of Mediterranean antiquities, and will also be a senior member of the Faculty of Classics: 20% of the role...

Ralegh Radford Rome Award

3 April 2025

The Faculty is delighted to report that Jonathan Steward has been awarded the Ralegh Radford Rome Award, BSR, for Lent Term 2026.

Pat Story

2 April 2025

We are very sad to pass on the news of the death of Pat Story on 25th March, after a short illness. Pat has been the single most important figure in classics education for the last 50 years and her passing marks the end of an era. There will be a celebration of her life in Hughes Hall at 2pm on Saturday 17 May. All are...

VIEWS Visiting Fellowships and Remote Inclusivity Fellowships

31 March 2025

The Faculty is pleased to announce that the UKRI funded VIEWS project has launched this year’s visiting fellowship competition, with a new virtual fellowship aimed at tackling inequalities in academia alongside the usual competition. For more information see here . The deadline for both competitions is Friday 23rd May 2025...