Fall 2026
Dr. Emily Lamond
Wednesday, October 21, 2026, at 2:30 in Dunning, Room 27.
Dynamics of Dowry and Disability
How did Roman dowry shape the valuation (and devaluation) of women who faced the marriage market? For Romans with resources, dowry was a core concern. Although it formed only one feature of marriage negotiations, its influence on marriage selection was undeniable and readily recognized by ancient authors themselves. Discussions of dowry’s benefits and dangers appear in the works of moralists, philosophers, poets, and jurists, as well as in the private letters of Romans negotiating agreements for themselves and their friends. By exploring a selection of the available sources and setting them in conversation with comparative historical and anthropological examples, I argue that an examination of the dynamics of dowry offers a unique means of understanding disability – and especially the disabilities of women – in the context of Roman marriage.
Dr. Carolyn MacDonald
Thursday, October 8th, 2026, at 4:30 PM in Dunning Room 27
High-Brow Hellenism, Low-Brow Latin: Languages and Culture in the Image-Texts of Pompeii and Ostia
How did ancient viewers approach, experience, and respond to the wide range of art objects that surrounded them? And how did the art objects themselves structure these encounters, inviting and encouraging certain kinds of response? This talk wrestles with these questions by looking at a series of wall paintings from Roman Italy that combine images with texts: 1) Exedra Y of the Casa degli Epigrammi, which pairs five fictive panel paintings with five Greek epigrams; 2) the Caupona of Salvius, where four scenes of tavern debauchery are enlivened by Latin inscriptions; and 3) the Caupona of the Seven Sages in Ostia, where Greek philosophers are juxtaposed with Roman latrine-goers. I argue that the Greek image-texts of the Casa degli Epigrammi and the Latin image-texts of the Caupona of Salvius invite their viewers to respond in ways that are marked, respectively, as ‘Greek’ and ‘Roman’ — and in the Caupona of the Seven Sages, we see these two modes contrasted to great comic effect.
Dr. Jaclyn Neel
Wednesday, September 23, 2026, at 2:30 pm, in Dunning, Room 27
Hollywood’s Roman Slavery
In this talk, I briefly introduce my new book project, Roman Slavery on the Silver Screen. I then center the discussion on two of the most influential films featuring Roman enslavement: Spartacus (1960) and Gladiator (2000). The enslavement narratives of both films are similar, featuring homosocial bonding at a ludus (gladiatorial school), a wickedly narcissistic Roman foil (Crassus, Commodus), and the crucifixion and death of the protagonist over their fight for freedom. However, these films are markedly different in their approach to the reality of enslavement. Previous scholars have read Gladiator’s opposition to tyranny as foreshadowing US responses to the War on Terror and Spartacus as either a pro-Communist or Zionist film. I argue that these analyses are anachronistic. Examining these films in the context of their production suggests that Gladiator instead builds on the well-established increase in interest in the American Civil War during the 1990s to offer an unreconstructed depiction of enslaved life as a form of hidden power. Spartacus is more personal, yet both radically and religiously emancipatory.
Jaclyn Neel is Associate Professor of Greek and Roman Studies at Carleton University, and current President of Antiquity in Media Studies. Her research interests center on intellectual history, both ancient and modern. She has published Legendary Rivals (2014) and Early Rome: Myth and History (2017), both on foundation narratives in Roman historiography, as well as a variety of articles on topics ranging from Etruscan art to the post-9/11 rhetoric of George W. Bush. Her current book project analyzes Roman slavery in Hollywood film.
Winter 2026
Dr. Jan-Mathieu Carbon
Wednesday, March 25th, 2026, 2:30 pm, in Dunning RM 11
How to Butcher a Sheep for Greek Sacrifice and Why
Greek animal sacrifice (thysia, θυσία) has been viewed through countless different theories and approaches. Yet there is a clear risk in generalizing when our understanding of the practical aspects of the ritual(s) is still being clarified. What was considered to be a proper mode of butchery? Which parts were extracted and burned for the gods? Which were given to the priests? Why were these thought to be significant? What outcomes could be expected, i.e. what did it all mean? To begin to answer these fundamental questions, a holistic and interdisciplinary approach must be adopted, combining ancient written, visual, and zooarchaeological evidence, as well as modern experimental reconstructions. Here, I will present some recent investigations, a few "bottom-up” contributions, and many lingering questions.
Dr. Stella Skaltsa
Wednesday, February 11, 2026, at 3:30 pm, in Dunning 11
Shaking up Hellenistic Rhodes: Earthquakes, Chronology and Disaster Management
Have you ever wondered why at least two or three different dates are provided for the collapse of the Colossus of Rhodes, one of the Seven Wonders of the World? Have you ever questioned that most authoritative historian of Hellenistic times, Polybius? Drawing on
manuscript traditions, Babylonian chronicles, literary sources, epigraphy, and amphoric evidence, this multidisciplinary talk will discuss some of the intricacies of Rhodian chronology. By shaking things up, I will set the record straight about the date of the earthquake that caused the collapse of the Colossus; provide new evidence for the priests of Halios (eponyms of the Rhodian State) during this time; and cast Polybius’ account of the earthquake (5.88–90) in a new light.
As we will see, Rhodes—and by extension the SW coast of Asia Minor and the nearby islands—was hit by two destructive earthquakes within just a quarter of a century (late 3rd/early 2nd c. BC). Both earthquakes caused extensive damage to the physical
infrastructure of a number of cities and communities within this region. Recovery was surprisingly swift and efficient, thanks to mobilization on a global as well as local level. This instructive casestudy shows the need for a multi-pronged approach to Hellenistic history and also has much to teach us about communal resilience in the face of repeated disasters.
Dr. Stephen Russell
Wednesday, January 21st, 2026, from 2:30 pm in Dunning 11
My Secret Life as an Anatomist: The Role for Classicists in Medical Language Research
Dr. Stephen Russell has been teaching and researching medical language at McMaster University since 2012. Debates about the proper use of terms within medicine are lively and vital, and classicists can play an important role in shaping these discussions. This talk moves beyond the classroom and deals with various avenues of research in the current world of medical language (in particular, anatomical Latin) that are waiting for interested classicists, and it focuses on specific projects that Dr. Russell is involved with and is trying to bring to life.
Fall 2025
Dr. Richard Ascough & Dr. Cédric Brélaz
Wednesday, November 19, 2025, from 2:30 pm in Watson Hall Room 517
How Inscriptions Help Us Rethink theEarliest Christians
Ever wonder how we actually know what life was like for the earliest followers of Jesus? In recent decades, Archaeologists and historians have turned to inscriptions to uncover clues about how early Christ groups formed and interacted with the world around
them. Once seen as mere background, these inscriptions now take center stage in understanding how real people lived in cities, workplaces, and neighbourhoods across the Roman Empire. Yet, studying them isn’t easy: very few early Christian inscriptions survive, and researchers must carefully compare this material evidence with more familiar
literary sources like letters and gospels. In this conversation, Professors Cédric Brélaz and Richard Ascough will explore how the study of inscriptions is reshaping what we know about early Christianity and why these small fragments of stone matter for big questions about identity, community, and culture in the ancient world.
Dr. Cédric Brélaz
Tuesday, November 18, 2025, from 5:30 - 7:00 pm in Watson Hall - Room 517
The Response of Early Christ Groups to Civic Participation and Greek Democracy
This lecture will examine the stance of early Christ groups towards Greek civic institutions and ideology in Greece and Asia Minor from the mid-first to the mid-third century. The issue of the relationship to the world of Christ groups will be reassessed in light of the most recent trends in New Testament (Christ groups as associations), ancient history (political life in Greek cities under Roman rule as having democratic features), and epigraphic studies (inscriptions as symbolic communication tools).
It will be argued that members of early Christ groups were reluctant to play an active role in the public life of Greek cities in the Roman Empire, deliberately refusing to display themselves and assert their identity in the cityscape. In this context, Paul provocatively uses the term ekklesia for Christ groups to challenge the political communities in which they were settled.
Cédric Brélaz (PhD Lausanne 2004; Dr. habil. École Pratique des Hautes Études, Paris 2013) focuses his research on Greek political institutions and culture in the Hellenistic and Roman imperial periods, Roman provincial administration and Roman law in the Eastern Mediterranean, Greek and Latin epigraphy, and Early Christianity in its Roman imperial setting.
He is the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Epigraphic Studies and the author of La sécurité publique en Asie Mineure sous le Principat (2005), Corpus des inscriptions grecques et latines de Philippes. Tome II.1 (2014), Philippes, colonie romaine d’Orient. Recherches d’histoire institutionnelle et sociale (2018), and De l’assemblée des citoyens au peuple de Dieu: la démocratie grecque sous la domination de Rome (200 a.C. – 500 p.C.) (forthcoming 2026).
Dr. Emily Varto
Thursday, November 13th, 2025, at 5:30 pm in Watson Hall 217
Hungry like the wolf or the pig? Early Greek Imagery of Animal Hunger
What does the imagery of animal hunger in early Greek poetry and art reveal about the pursuit of human wants and needs? This talk will expose cultural ideas about heroism, gender, and power suggested by scenes of animal hunting and feeding.
Maria Elisabetta Gamba
Wednesday, October 22, 2025, from 2:30 - 4:30 pm in Watson Hall Room 517
Expert knowledge in Seneca’s Thyestes
Atreus, the monstrous villain of Seneca’s Thyestes, is frequently depicted as either the consummate avenger, often alongside the equally cruel Medea, or as the embodiment of the bloodthirsty tyrant. Instead, my paper approaches Atreus as an expert who carries out his revenge through the clever and calculated application of various types of specialist knowledge. He moves skilfully across three domains (medicine, literature/rhetoric, and natural philosophy), acting in turn as a perverse doctor, a literary author, and a manipulator of cosmic knowledge. However, his mastery, detached from virtue, produces cruelty, suffering, and authoritarianism. This analysis explores the ethical dimensions of knowledge in Seneca’s tragedies, situating Atreus in relation to the figure of the sapiens as described in Seneca’s prose works. By distinguishing between technical expertise, which can be turned toward destructive ends, and true wisdom, which is inseparable from virtue, my paper aims to shed new light on the character of Atreus. Ultimately, this villain emerges as a warped version of the Stoic sapiens, prompting reflection on paradoxical and potentially troubling aspects of Stoic ethics itself.
Dr. Shane Hawkins
Wednesday, September 17th, 2025, from 2:30PM - 4:30PM in Watson Hall Room 517.
Voices from the Grave: New Papyri of Euripides’ Ino and Polyidus
In September of 2024, scholars published what is being called one of the most significant discoveries relating to ancient Greek tragedy in nearly 60 years. Two years earlier, archaeologists working at the necropolis of Philadelphia, Egypt, discovered a small cache of papyrus in the shallow grave of a woman. The papyrus records nearly 100 lines from two lost plays by the great tragedian Euripides. Ino is a tale of Dionysian frenzy and the gruesome murder of innocent children, while Polyidus raises questions about the extent of human power and free will as it portrays the struggle of the titular seer against the tyrannical demands of King Minos to resurrect his dead son.
Shane Hawkins teaches ancient Greek language and literature at Carleton University, where he is an Associate Professor and Director of the College of the Humanities. He has published on Homer, Greek lyric and iambic poetry, and comparative linguistics. He is preparing a book on Greek Iambic Poetry and, with colleagues, an Outline of the Historical and Comparative Grammar of Ancient Greek.
Winter 2025
Dr. Joshua Paul
Wednesday, March 26th, 2025, from 2:30 PM - 4:00 PM in Watson Hall Room 517.
The Road to Brundisium: Parodies of Epicureanism in Horace’s Satires
I argue that Horace Satire 1.5 (the so-called “Journey to Brundisium”) presents a candid day in the life of a cartoonishly exaggerated Epicurean. The narrator constantly succumbs to the various pitfalls and stereotypes associated with the Garden. I draw attention to the narrator’s eager memorization of doctrine, self-centered conceptions of friendship, constant miasma of sickliness, and obsession with food. I then demonstrate how this philosophical caricature explains the protagonist’s complete apathy towards the political embassy, defangs the biting vitriol of potential detractors, and facilitates in-group bonding among fellow Epicureans within the Circle of Maecenas.
Dr. Cristiana Zaccagnino
Wednesday, March 19th, 2025, from 2:30 PM - 4:30 PM in Watson Hall Room 517.
Not Only Divination. Birds in Etruria: A Few Case Studies
Among Etruscans, birds certainly played an important religious role. Augurs interpreted the will of the gods observing their flight, songs, and feeding behaviours. According to Pliny the Elder (NH 10.17.37), moreover, several bird species were also treated in Etruscan books on auspicia, but according to the Latin author, no one at his time had ever seen them. This affirmation seems to confirm that Etruscans were used to detailed descriptions of birds, but also that some bird species had probably already disappeared before Pliny’s time.
In Etruscan art, the depictions of birds frequently show a high level of observation and attention to specific details which allow a precise identification and a better understanding of the settings in which they appear.
Even though the religious and symbolic aspect of birds in Etruria will not be overlooked, special attention will be given to species which were not native to the Italian peninsula and their reception, such as the rooster, and migratory birds, such as the swallow. Along with artistic representations and ancient literary sources, archaeozoological data, when available, will be taken into consideration.