Latin literature

Department of Classics and Ancient History

The Department currently hosts probably the largest concentration of scholars working on classical Latin anywhere in the world.

Our staff include:

Dr Erica Bexley, Roman drama and Neronian literature
Prof. Roy Gibson, Ovid, Latin poetry, Pliny, epistolography
Prof. Nora Goldschmidt, Latin poetry, classical reception, fragments
Prof. Peter Heslin, Latin poetry, Roman painting, digital humanities
Prof. Jennifer Ingleheart, Ovid, Latin poetry, history of Roman homosexuality
Ms Justine T Wolfenden, Latin poetry, Lucretius
Prof. Ioannis Ziogas, Latin poetry, Ovid, law and literature
Prof. Nathan Gilbert, Cicero and Roman intellectual culture

An expertise in Augustan poetry is shared by many staff, who have published widely on Vergil, Horace, Propertius, Tibullus and Ovid. We have recently joined the Augustan Poetry Network [https://reseau-poesie-augusteenne.univ-lille.fr/], which unites scholars in the UK, Ireland, Italy, France, Germany and Switzerland. We also continue to produce research on Cicero, Lucretius, Seneca, Pliny, the Latin epistolography of late antiquity, and the reception of Latin literature in the 19th and 20th centuries. Through Peter Heslin, we have played a leading role in Latin and Digital Humanities, including the development of the Diogenes programme for accessing XML files of Latin and Ancient Greek.

Diogenes link = https://d.iogen.es/

Ancient letter collections

This AHRC-funded project (a collaboration between Durham and Manchester Universities) will produce two books: (i) a critical review of all the surviving (Greek and Latin) letter collections up to about 410 CE and (ii) a synchronic monograph surveying the collections from a number of different perspectives. We have identified just over 50 letter collections for inclusion.

Visit the Ancient Letter Collections project website

PI: Prof. Roy Gibson

The project is moving into the final phase of work on the critical review and is producing draft entries of about 4,000-6,000 words on each of the letter collections.

Learn more about Prof. Gibson's research

Latin text collections

“Without order or narrative? Reading Latin text collections from late roman republic to the early middle ages” is a partnership of Latin scholars based in Tübingen and Durham, that examines strategies used to design ancient and early Medieval Latin text collections. The non-chronological or apparently random ordering of these texts have given rise to the modern assumption that as collections they lack significance.

Learn more about Matariki Network collaborations

Co-PI: Prof. Roy Gibson

Such collections stretch from the poetry of Catullus and the Ad familiares of Cicero to legal compilations, speeches and panegyrics, specialist or antiquarian literature as well as biographies and hagiographies. The project seeks to re-evaluate these collections and the assumption that they are the product of untalented or uninterested compilers.

Learn more about Prof. Gibson's research

Staff working in this research area

Learn more about our colleagues who work in the area of Classical Reception.

Dr Erica Bexley

Associate Professor (Latin Literature)

Prof. Roy Gibson

Professor (Latin Literature)

Dr Nathan Gilbert

Associate Professor (Ancient Philosophy)

Prof. Nora Goldschmidt

Professor (Latin Literature and Classical Reception)

Prof. Peter Heslin

Professor (Latin Literature and Digital Humanities)

Prof. Jennifer Ingleheart

Professor (Latin Literature and Classical Reception)

Dr James Oakley

Teaching Fellow

Dr Liam Preston

Teaching Fellow

Justine Wolfenden

Assistant Professor (Latin Literature)

Prof. Ioannis Ziogas

Professor (Latin Literature)

Transformative Classics

Classics at Durham explores the myriad cultures and contexts of the ancient Mediterranean world, from ancient Greek philosophy to Latin linguistics. We engage in collaborations across the humanities, sciences, and social sciences to develop innovative research methods and techniques.

Transformative Humanities

Discover the Faculty of Arts and Humanities' new Transformative Humanities framework which brings together distinctive approaches to humanities research and education within the academy and across a wide range of partners and communities.

Visit the Transformative Humanities website

Find out more

Publications

Read the latest books written and edited by colleagues in our department.
Meet our staff

Learn more about the work and research specialisms of our colleagues.

Publications

Read the latest books written and edited by colleagues in our department.

Meet our staff

Learn more about the work and research specialisms of our colleagues.

Members of staff from Department of Classics and Ancient History

Postdoctoral research funding

Find out about fellowship and scholarship opportunities to undertake research at Durham.
Events and seminars

View our events calendar for the latest research seminars and workshops.

Postdoctoral research funding

Find out about fellowship and scholarship opportunities to undertake research at Durham.

Events and seminars

View our events calendar for the latest research seminars and workshops.

Students presenting in Classics and Ancient History