Events
Cosponsor
- Department of Classics
Notes
- Free and open to the public
- No registration necessary
- First come, first seated

Check back soon for schedule details.
Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 BCE)—ill-fated statesman during the collapse of the Roman Republic, Latin orator extraordinaire, and the author of a wide-ranging and influential corpus of philosophical writings—is unique among premodern individuals in that we possess large parts of his correspondence and are thus unusually well informed about both the minutiae of his life and the developments of his thought. In recent years and months, scholarly interest has increasingly turned to the philosophical aspects of this correspondence, which contains everything from passing references to philosophical jokes, serious disquisitions, and the author's attempts to apply philosophical precepts to his own and his correspondents' lives.
The one-day symposium, "Philosophy in Cicero's Letters" aims to capture this moment in the fast-developing scholarship on Cicero, ancient philosophy, and intellectual history.
Four scholars who are right now working on some aspects of the topic will be presenting papers: Margaret Graver (Dartmouth), Nathan Gilbert (University of Toronto), Katharina Volk (Columbia), and Raphael Woolf (King's College London. These speakers will be paired with responses from four established specialists on Cicero, ancient philosophy, and late Republican culture: Yelena Baraz (Princeton), Brad Inwood (Yale), Wolfgang Mann (Columbia), and James Zetzel (Columbia).
Program
time10:30am - 10:40am EDT
Welcome
time10:40am - 11:40am EDT
"The Dregs of Romulus"
Speaker
Margaret Graver
Aaron Lawrence Professor in Classics
Dartmouth College
Respondent
Brad Inwood
Professor of Classics and Philosophy
Yale University
Chair
Gareth Williams
Violin Family Professor of Classics
Columbia University
time12:00pm - 1:00pm EDT
"Philosophy and Death in Cicero's Letters to Atticus"
Speaker
Raphael Woolf
Reader in Philosophy
King's College London
Respondent
Wolfgang Mann
Professor
Columbia University
Chair
Gareth Williams
Violin Family Professor of Classics
Columbia University
time1:00pm - 2:30pm EDT
Lunch Break
time2:30pm - 3:30pm EDT
"Pompeian Group Therapy in Cicero's Letters (47-45 BCE)"
Speaker
Katharina Volk
Professor of Classics
Columbia University
Respondent
Yelena Baraz
Assistant Professor of Classics
Princeton University
Chair
Dan-el Padilla Peralta
Assistant Professor in Classics
Princeton University
time3:50pm - 4:50pm EDT
"Cicero the Philosopher at Work: The Genesis and Execution of De Officiis III"
Speaker
Nathan Gilbert
Junior Research Fellow in the Department of Classics and Ancient History
Durham University
Respondent
James Zetzel
Anthon Professor of the Latin Language and Literature, Department of Classics
Columbia University
Chair
Dan-el Padilla Peralta
Assistant Professor in Classics
Princeton University
time4:50pm - 5:15pm EDT
Final Discussion (followed immediately by Reception)
Participants
- Yelena Baraz Assistant Professor of Classic Princeton University
- Nathan Gilbert Junior Research Fellow in the Department of Classics and Ancient History Durham University
- Margaret Graver Aaron Lawrence Professor in Classics Dartmouth College
- Brad Inwood Professor of Classics and Philosophy Yale University
- Wolfgang Mann Professor Columbia University
- Dan-el Padilla Peralta Assistant Professor in Classics Princeton University
- Katharina Volk Professor of Classics Columbia University
- Gareth Williams Violin Family Professor of Classics Columbia University
- Raphael Woolf Reader in Philosophy King's College London
- James Zetzel Anthon Professor of the Latin Language and Literature, Department of Classics Columbia University