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The Papers

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . "Communicating Power in Caesar's Army" (Dissertation Prospectus, v. 1.4). New York University. License: Creative Commons 3.0 Attribution.

This dissertation studies communication in the Corpus Caesarianum. Four chapters explore four facets of communication's functioning in Caesar and the continuators' Commentarii. Chapter one outlines armies' administrative networks which structure the transfer of information. Chapter two analyzes how power dynamics, such as the chain of command, influence language in these texts. Moving to a smaller scale, chapter three identifies the operations of successful and unsuccessful interpretation by subordinate officers. The final chapter examines the thematic importance that communication plays in its interaction with ideas of fear. This dissertation demonstrates the centrality of communication to the Commentarii.

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . "Calpurnius Siculus’ Self-Disclosed Fiction in Eclogue 1" (v. 1.0). New York University. License: Creative Commons 3.0 Attribution.

This paper explores Calpurnius Siculus’ use of allusions to Vergil in his first Eclogue, in particular the Eclogues and Aeneid. Through these allusions, Calpurnius draws attention to poetic composition as an act of assessing the relationship of poetry to reality. I argue that Calpurnius should be seen as a contributor to the long conversation undertaken by pastoral about the construction of reality through poetry. The text's creative purpose lies both in his selections from Vergil and in how he arranges and combines them. By examining Calpurnius Siculus’ first Eclogue, imperial pastoral can begin to be understood, after the fashion of imperial epic by Hardie et al., as Vergil’s successor, not just mere imitator.