I studied Classics at Royal Holloway (2005–9), completed a Masters in Greek and Latin Language and Literature at Merton College, Oxford (2010), and earned my PhD in Classics at UCL (2014), with a thesis on divinization in Augustan poetry. I was then Lecturer in Classics and Ancient History at the University of Exeter (2014–15), Teaching Fellow in Latin Language and Literature at the University of Warwick (2015–17), British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow at the Centre for the Study of the Renaissance (2018–2021), Lecturer in Ancient Greek and Latin Language and Literature at King’s College London (2021–22), Bye Fellow in Classics at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge (2022–23), and (briefly) Lecturer in Roman History at the University of Leicester (2023), before returning to King’s in 2023. I was elected member of the council of the Roman Society (2019–22); I co-founded and co-edit the Bloomsbury Neo-Latin Series; and I currently serve on the Classical Associations Journals Board, which oversees the publications of the Classical Quarterly, Classical Review, and Greece & Rome.

Research interests and PhD supervision

Working across Latin literature, literary criticism, and the history of political thought, my scholarship explores the ways in which literature functions as a mode of political thinking and theorization in antiquity. My research brings literary-critical approaches into dialogue with contemporary theories of systems of power, seeking to develop new frameworks for understanding Latin literature not simply as a reflection of Roman politics, but as a distinctive form of political thought and analysis in its own right. I am particularly interested in the relationship between creative power and political power; and my work often explores the ways in which Roman authors imagined authority, dependence, and relations of power across the Roman world.

I am happy to discuss research proposals on any topic in my areas of expertise and would be particularly interested to work with PhD candidates on projects that relate to my current research in fields such as:

• Augustan poetry
• Latin literature and Roman political thought
• Concepts and representations of labour, collaboration, reliance, and self-sufficiency in ancient literature and thought
• Humanist Latin literature (c. 1450–1650).

Teaching

I teach a broad range of modules in Latin and Greek literature, encompassing both prose and verse texts, as well as Roman history and imperial culture. I convene and lead most of the modules I design and deliver, while also contributing to team-taught courses across the curriculum. At MA level, my teaching also encompasses the early modern and modern reception of Graeco-Roman antiquity, with particular attention to the ways in which Classical texts, cultures, and ideas have been reinterpreted across different historical and intellectual contexts.

Expertise and public engagement

I have appeared in 'Ancients: The Greatest Finds' (BBC Select, produced by Woodcut Media); and my research has featured on BBC Radio 4’s In Our Time in an episode on Virgil’s Georgics. I have acted as a historical and expert consultant for major ancient-history documentaries, including Colosseum (History Channel) and Julius Caesar: The Making of a Dictator (BBC). Beyond Classics, I have worked with theatre and film companies on award-winning productions, including X+Y, directed by Morgan Matthews, and Chimerica, Lucy Kirkwood’s acclaimed play. I welcome opportunities to contribute to media and public-facing projects and am happy to respond to enquiries from journalists, broadcasters and production companies.

Selected publications

Politics and Divinization in Augustan Poetry (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2022).

Reflections and New Perspectives on Virgil's Georgics (London and New York: Bloomsbury, 2019) [co-edited with N. Freer].

Temporalities, Texts, Ideologies: Ancient and Early Modern Perspectives (London and New York: Bloomsbury, 2024).

‘Who Makes the Pesto? Labour, Social Status and Authorship in the Moretum’, Classical Quarterly 75(1): 408–22.

‘Imperatrix and bellatrix: Cicero’s Clodia and Vergil’s Camilla’, in D. Campanile, F. Carlà, and M. Facella. (eds), TransAntiquity: Cross-Dressing and Transgender Dynamics in the Ancient World (London: Routledge, 2017), 164–77.