Politeness in Cicero's Dialogues
Jon Hall is currently writing a book on politeness in Cicero's dialogues, looking in particular at aspects of face-to-face conversation (or sermo) in ancient Rome.
The study focuses on verbal displays of modesty, expressions of comitas, the role of teasing in aristocratic interaction, non-verbal shows of respect, and Cicero's theorising on politeness.
Cicero the Philosopher
Sean McConnell is currently working on developments in Cicero's political philosophy around the time of the assassination of Caesar. A particular focus is on the various ways in which the relatively understudied dialogues De senectute and De amicitia relate to the earlier De re publica.
Demetrius the Besieger
Pat Wheatley is currently writing three books on the period of Alexander the Great and his Successors (the “Diadochoi”).
The first is on Demetrius Poliorcetes, “The Besieger of Cities” (336-282 BC), the most outstanding historical figure after Alexander, and will be published by Oxford University Press in 2019. As his name suggests, Demetrius was an enigmatic character, prodigious in his military adventures, and profligate in his private life, and he oscillated wildly between successful and catastrophic ventures. Research on Demetrius' life is beset by pernicious historiographic difficulties: the last scholarly book on him was in French in 1968, and no work in English has ever been attempted.
Pat is also writing a book entitled Through a Glass Darkly: Sources for the Successors to Alexander, and is completing A Historical Commentary on Arrian's History of Alexander, vol. iii (also contracted with OUP), the final volume of Prof. Brian Bosworth's magisterial work on Arrian, which was left unfinished at his death in 2014.
Herakles and Early Christianity
Arlene Allan is currently in the process of completing an article on a play by Euripides, with plans to complete another on a play by Aristophanes in early 2021.
Arlene is also in the early stages of preparing another book proposal, tentatively titled, “Encountering the Greek Gods in the Texts of the Early Church.”
Roman Spain
Dan Osland is currently working on a project that uses the archaeological record from the city of Mérida, Spain, in order to illustrate the kinds of changes that took place in the urban setting across the period of Late Antiquity.
The overarching idea behind this work is to add to the published body of evidence as to what factors were most influential in causing urban change in the fourth through eighth centuries AD.
Roman Coins and the Caesars
Gwynaeth McIntyre's current projects focus on the Roman coin collection at the Otago Museum.
First, she is working with Dan Osland and Charlotte Dunn on photographing and cataloguing the complete collection (~1000 coins).
Second, she is working on a research article examining how coins were used to promote imperial values, family, and succession within the Julio-Claudian family.
Finally, she is researching innovative ways of student assessment and the incorporation of e-Learning technologies into the classroom by introducing the development of online exhibitions of the coins into CLAS 344 – From Augustus to Nero: Scandal and Intrigue in Imperial Rome.
She is also beginning work on a new monograph project on Suetonius' De vita Caesarum.