Research
My major interests concern Latin prose and poetry of the Republic and Early Empire with a focus on authors of the Late Republic and Augustan and Tiberian age, the interrelation between memory, exemplarity, and history, as well as on the creation, transmission and politics of memory. My research aims to provide new and original insights on the literature, culture, and politics of Rome at the time of Augustus’ successor, the emperor Tiberius (AD 14-37). It enhances scholarly understanding of understudied Latin authors and of a historical period often regarded as characterised by continuity with the past, which in reality had distinctive features and played a crucial role in the development of Roman history.
At present I am working on converting my doctoral thesis into a book. My PhD thesis focused on Valerius Maximus’ Facta et dicta memorabilia, a nine-book collection of more than a thousand exempla (moralising anecdotes from Roman and non-Roman history) assembled in the 20s and 30s AD under Tiberius. The thesis, “Dynamics of Power and Artistry of Arrangement in Valerius Maximus’ Facta et dicta memorabilia”, investigates how Valerius deals with the dynamics of power between individuals – how these are established, maintained, or subverted – with a particular focus on the relationship between power and the art of speaking, as well as between power and silence and inability to speak. It analyses Valerius in his historical and literary context and is, therefore, also closely engaged with other Tiberian authors such as Velleius Paterculus and Seneca the Elder, as well as with the last production of Ovid.