Professor Catherine Steel

Professor of Classics (Classics)

telephone: 01413304382
email: Catherine.Steel@glasgow.ac.uk

R514 Level 5, Classics, 65 Oakfield Avenue, Glasgow G12 8LP

ORCID iD https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3436-6989

Research interests

I am a historian of Rome, and I’m particularly interested in political history and the relationship between individual and collective action and the institutional structures which frame and underpin those actions.

I started my research career working on the orator and politician Cicero and I continue to research and publish on his writings, particularly his speeches. More recently I have been working on the other orators of the Roman Republic – a huge number of speakers, who either did not write down their speeches or whose speeches did not survive beyond the end of classical antiquity. I’ve held a European Research Council starting grant to edit the testimonia and fragments for orators other than Cicero: this project, The Fragments of Republican Roman Orators is producing an edition of the material (forthcoming, Oxford University Press) as well as a range of contextual material.

I also have an ongoing interest in the Roman Senate in the Republican period. I held a British Academy mid-career fellowship in 2011-2012 to look at its institutional history and its importance as a model of republican government for subsequent polities, and I am currently working on a monograph on the Republican Roman Senate.

I have taught and researched at the University of Glasgow since 1999. Before that I read Classics at Oxford, getting my BA in 1995 and my PhD in 1999.

Publications

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Jump to: 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002

Number of items: 50.

2022

Steel, C. (2022) The reception of Cicero’s speeches in the early empire. In: Berno, F.R. and La Bua, G. (eds.) Portraying Cicero in Literature, Culture and Politics. de Gruyter: Berlin, pp. 233-245. ISBN 9783110748420 (In Press)

Steel, C. (2022) Rhetoric and Roman Political Culture. In: Arena, V. and Prag, J. (eds.) A Companion to Roman Political Culture. Series: Blackwell Companions to the Ancient World. Wiley-Blackwell: Hoboken, NJ; Chichester., pp. 446-454. ISBN 9781444339659 hbk, 9781119673712 pbk, 9781119673651 ePDF, 9781119673590 oBook, 9781119673675 epub

Steel, C. (2022) Consulars, political office and leadership in the middle and late republic. In: Frolov, R. and Burden-Strevens, C. (eds.) Leadership and Initiative in Late Republican and Early Imperial Rome. Series: Mnemosyne, Supplements, Volume: 453. Brill: Leiden, pp. 133-148. ISBN 9789004511392

Steel, C. (2022) The arrival of eloquence? The changing parameters of public speech in the second century. In: Santangelo, F. and Balbo, M. (eds.) A Community in Transition. Oxford University Press: New York. (Accepted for Publication)

2021

Steel, C. (2021) Philosophy in Cicero's speeches. In: Atkins, J. W. and Bénatouïl, T. (eds.) The Cambridge Companion to Cicero's Philosophy. Cambridge University Press, pp. 59-70. ISBN 9781108241649 (doi: 10.1017/9781108241649.006)

Steel, C. (2021) A single ruling class? The evidence of electoral oratory. In: Pitia, S., Schettino, M. T. and Zecchini, G. (eds.) Héritages de Sylla. L'Erma de Bretschneider: Rome, pp. 77-92. (Accepted for Publication)

2020

Steel, C. (2020) The intersection of oratory and political change. In: Pina Polo, F. (ed.) The Triumviral Period: Civil War, Political Crisis and Socioeconomic Transformations. Series: Libera Res Publica. Prensas de la Universidad de Zaragoza: Zaragoza, pp. 191-204. ISBN 97884134009609

2019

Steel, C. (2019) Sulla the orator. In: Eckert, A. and Thein, A. (eds.) Sulla: Politics and Reception. De Gruyter, pp. 19-32. ISBN 9783110618099 (doi: 10.1515/9783110624700-002)

Chaniotis, A. and Steel, C. (2019) Emotions in public: collectivities and polities. In: Cairns, D. (ed.) A Cultural History of the Emotions in Antiquity. Series: The cultural histories series, 1. Bloomsbury Academic. ISBN 9781472515063

2018

Steel, C. (2018) Past and present in Sulla's dictatorship. In: Zecchini, G. and Schettino, M. T. (eds.) The Age of Sulla/L'Età di Silla Atti del Convegno presso l'Istituto Italiano per la Storia Antica. Roma 23-24 marzo 2017. L'Erma di Bretschneider, pp. 225-228. ISBN 9788891316967

Steel, C. (2018) Roman citizenship between law and practice. In: Ellis, S. G. (ed.) Enfranchising Ireland? Citizenship, Identity and State. Royal Irish Academy: Dublin, pp. 7-18. ISBN 9781908997845

van der Blom, H., Gray, C. and Steel, C. (Eds.) (2018) Institutions and Ideology in Republican Rome: Speech, Audience and Decision. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge. ISBN 9781108429016

Gray, C., Balbo, A., Marshall, R. M.A. and Steel, C. E.W. (Eds.) (2018) Reading Republican Oratory: Reconstructions, Contexts, Receptions. Oxford University Press: Oxford ; New York. ISBN 9780198788201

Steel, C. , Gray, C., Van Der Blom, H. and Marshall, R. (2018) The Fragments of the Roman Republican Orators: Text, Translation and Commentary. Oxford University Press: Oxford. (Accepted for Publication)

2017

Steel, C. (2017) Re publica nihil desperatius: salvaging the state in Cicero’s pre-civil war philosophical works. In: Müller, G. M. and Zini, F. M. (eds.) Philosophie in Rom - Römische Philosophie? Kultur-, literatur- und philosophiegeschichtliche Perspektiven. Series: Beiträge zur Altertumskunde (358). De Gruyter, pp. 269-282. ISBN 9783110493108 (doi: 10.1515/9783110493108-011)

Steel, C. (2017) Cicero’s defence of Sextus Roscius and the Sullan Res Publica. Lampas, 50(4), pp. 453-462.

Steel, C. (2017) Defining public speech in the Roman Republic: occasion, audience and purpose. In: Rosillo-López, C. (ed.) Political Communication in the Roman World: Transmission and Exchange. Series: Impact of Empire (27). Brill: Leiden, pp. 17-33. ISBN 9789004350830

Steel, C. (2017) Speech without limits: defining informality in Republican Oratory. In: Papaioannou, S., Serafim, A. and Da Vela, B. (eds.) The Theatre of Justice: Aspects of Performance in Greco-Roman Oratory and Rhetoric. Series: Mnemosyne supplements, monographs on Grek and Latin language and literature (403). Brill: Leiden, pp. 75-89. ISBN 9789004334649 (doi: 10.1163/9789004341876_007)

2016

Steel, C. (2016) Early career prosecutors: forensic activity and senatorial careers in the Late Republic. In: Du Plessis, P. J. (ed.) Cicero's Law: Rethinking Roman Law of the Late Republic. Edinburgh University Press: Edinburgh, pp. 205-227. ISBN 9781474408820 (doi: 10.3366/edinburgh/9781474408820.003.0012)

2015

Steel, C. (2015) The Roman political year and the end of the Roman Republic. In: Goušchin, V. and Rhodes, P. J. (eds.) Deformations and Crises of Ancient Civil Communities. Franz Steiner Verlag: Stuttgart, pp. 141-155. ISBN 9783515111621

Steel, C. (2015) Introduction: the legacy of the Republican Roman Senate. Classical Receptions Journal, 7(1), pp. 1-10. (doi: 10.1093/crj/clu011)

2014

Steel, C. (2014) Rethinking Sulla: the case of the Roman Senate. Classical Quarterly, 64(2), pp. 657-668. (doi: 10.1017/S0009838814000421)

Steel, C. (2014) The Roman senate and the post-Sullan res publica. Historia, 63(3), pp. 323-339.

Steel, C. (2014) Rhetoric and pedagogy in Ancient Rome. In: The Oxford Handbook of Rhetorical Studies. Oxford University Press: Oxford. ISBN 9780199731596 (doi: 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199731596.013.016)

2013

Steel, C. (Ed.) (2013) The Cambridge Companion to Cicero. Series: Cambridge Companions to Literature. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge. ISBN 9780521729802

Steel, C. and Van Der Blom, H. (Eds.) (2013) Community and Communication: Oratory and Politics in Republican Rome. Oxford University Press: Oxford, UK. ISBN 9780199641895

Steel, C. (2013) Cicero's autobiography: narratives of success in the pre-consular orations. Cahiers du Centre Gustave Glotz, 23, pp. 251-266.

Steel, C. (2013) The End of the Roman Republic, 146-44 B.C.: Conquest and Crisis. Series: Edinburgh history of Ancient Rome, 3. Edinburgh University Press: Edinburgh. ISBN 9780748619443

Steel, C. (2013) Structure, meaning and authority in Cicero's dialogues. In: Follinger, S. and Muller, G.M. (eds.) Der Dialog in der Antike: Formen und Funktionen einer literarischen Gattung zwischen Philosophie, Wissensvermittlung und dramatischer Inszenierung. Series: Beiträge zur Altertumskunde (315). De Gruyter: Berlin, Germany, pp. 221-234. ISBN 9783110311839

Steel, C. and van der Blom, H. (2013) Introduction. In: Steel, C. and van der Blom, H. (eds.) Community and Communication: Oratory and Politics in Republican Rome. Oxford University Press: Oxford, pp. 1-7. ISBN 9780199640895

Steel, C. (2013) Pompeius, Helvius Mancia and the politics of public debate. In: Steel, C. and van der Blom, H. (eds.) Community and Communication: Oratory and Politics in Republican Rome. Oxford University Press: Oxford, UK, pp. 151-159. ISBN 9780199641895 (doi: 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199641895.003.0010)

Van Der Blom, H. and Steel, C. (2013) Introduction. In: Community and Communication: Oratory and Politics in Republican Rome. Oxford University Press: Oxford, UK. ISBN 9780199641895

2012

Steel, C. (2012) The Lex Pompeia de Provinciis of 52 B.C.: a reconsideration. Historia, 61(1), pp. 83-93.

2011

Steel, C. (2011) Cicero's oratory of praise and blame and the practice of elections in the late Roman Republic. In: Smith, C. and Covino, R. (eds.) Praise and Blame in Roman Republican Rhetoric. Classical Press of Wales: Swansea, pp. 35-48. ISBN 9781905125463

Steel, C. (2011) Heroism and despair in Velleius' republican narrative. In: Cowan, E. (ed.) Velleius Paterculus: Making History. Classical Press of Wales: Swansea, pp. 265-277. ISBN 9781905125456

2010

Steel, C. (2010) Tribunician sacrosanctity and oratorical performance in the late republic. In: Berry, D.H. and Erskine, A. (eds.) Form and Function in Roman Oratory. Cambridge University Press, pp. 37-50. ISBN 9780521768955

Steel, C. and Gibson, R. (2010) The indistinct literary careers of Cicero and Pliny the younger. In: Hardie, P. and Moore, H. (eds.) Classical Literary Careers and Their Reception. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521762977

2009

Steel, C. (2009) Divisions of speech. In: Gunderson, E. (ed.) The Cambridge Companion to Ancient Rhetoric. Series: Cambridge companions to literature. Cambridge University Press, pp. 77-91. ISBN 9780521860543

Steel, C.E. (2009) Friends, associates and wives. In: Griffin, M.T. (ed.) A Companion to Julius Caesar. Series: Blackwell Companions to the Ancient World: Ancient History. Wiley-Blackwell: Chichester, UK, pp. 112-125. ISBN 9781405149235

Steel, C.E. (2009) Oratory. In: Erskine, A. (ed.) A Companion to Ancient History. Series: Blackwell companions to the ancient world: ancient history. Wiley-Blackwell: Chichester, UK, pp. 67-76. ISBN 9781405131506

2008

Steel, C.E. (2008) Finessing failure: the Sixth Philippic. In: Stevenson, T. and Wilson, M. (eds.) Cicero's Philippics: History, Rhetoric, Ideology. Polygraphia: Auckland, New Zealand, pp. 255-265. ISBN 9781877332562

2007

Steel, C.E. (2007) Lost orators of Rome. In: Dominik, W.J. and Hall, J. (eds.) A Companion to Roman Rhetoric. Series: Blackwell companions to the ancient world: literature and culture. Blackwell: Malden, USA, pp. 237-249. ISBN 9781405120913

Steel, C.E. (2007) Name and shame? Invective against Clodius and others in the post-exile speeches. In: Booth, J. (ed.) Cicero on the Attack: Invective and Subversion in the Orations and Beyond. Classical Press of Wales: Swansea, UK, pp. 105-127. ISBN 9781905125197

Steel, C.E. (2007) The rhetoric of the de frumento. In: Prag, J.R.W. (ed.) Sicilia Nutrix Plebis Romanae: Rhetoric, Law, and Taxation in Cicero's Verrines. Series: Bulletin of the Institute of Classical Studies: supplement (97). Institute of Classical Studies: London, UK, pp. 37-48. ISBN 9781905670116

2006

Steel, C.E. (2006) Consul and consilium: suppressing the Catilinarian conspiracy. In: Spencer, D. and Theodorakopoulos, E. (eds.) Advice and its Rhetoric in Greece and Rome. Series: Nottingham Classical Literature Studies (9). Levante: Bari, Italy, pp. 63-78. ISBN 9788879494397

Steel, C.E. (2006) Roman Oratory. Series: New surveys in the classics. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521687225

2005

Steel, C.E. (2005) Reading Cicero: Genre and Performance in Late Republican Rome. Duckworth. ISBN 0715632795

2004

Steel, C.E. (2004) Being economical with the truth: what really happened at Lampsacus? In: Powell, J.G.F. and Paterson, J. (eds.) Cicero the Advocate. Oxford University Press: Oxford, UK, pp. 233-251. ISBN 9780198152804

2003

Steel, C.E. (2003) Cicero's Brutus: the end of oratory and the beginning of history? Bulletin of the Institute of Classical Studies, 46, pp. 195-211.

2002

Steel, C.E. (2002) Cicero, Rhetoric and Empire. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0199248478

This list was generated on Tue May 17 04:17:54 2022 BST.

Jump to: Articles | Books | Book Sections | Edited Books

Number of items: 50.

Articles

Steel, C. (2017) Cicero’s defence of Sextus Roscius and the Sullan Res Publica. Lampas, 50(4), pp. 453-462.

Steel, C. (2015) Introduction: the legacy of the Republican Roman Senate. Classical Receptions Journal, 7(1), pp. 1-10. (doi: 10.1093/crj/clu011)

Steel, C. (2014) Rethinking Sulla: the case of the Roman Senate. Classical Quarterly, 64(2), pp. 657-668. (doi: 10.1017/S0009838814000421)

Steel, C. (2014) The Roman senate and the post-Sullan res publica. Historia, 63(3), pp. 323-339.

Steel, C. (2013) Cicero's autobiography: narratives of success in the pre-consular orations. Cahiers du Centre Gustave Glotz, 23, pp. 251-266.

Steel, C. (2012) The Lex Pompeia de Provinciis of 52 B.C.: a reconsideration. Historia, 61(1), pp. 83-93.

Steel, C.E. (2003) Cicero's Brutus: the end of oratory and the beginning of history? Bulletin of the Institute of Classical Studies, 46, pp. 195-211.

Books

Steel, C. (2013) The End of the Roman Republic, 146-44 B.C.: Conquest and Crisis. Series: Edinburgh history of Ancient Rome, 3. Edinburgh University Press: Edinburgh. ISBN 9780748619443

Steel, C.E. (2006) Roman Oratory. Series: New surveys in the classics. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521687225

Steel, C.E. (2005) Reading Cicero: Genre and Performance in Late Republican Rome. Duckworth. ISBN 0715632795

Steel, C.E. (2002) Cicero, Rhetoric and Empire. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0199248478

Book Sections

Steel, C. (2019) Sulla the orator. In: Eckert, A. and Thein, A. (eds.) Sulla: Politics and Reception. De Gruyter, pp. 19-32. ISBN 9783110618099 (doi: 10.1515/9783110624700-002)

Steel, C. (2018) Roman citizenship between law and practice. In: Ellis, S. G. (ed.) Enfranchising Ireland? Citizenship, Identity and State. Royal Irish Academy: Dublin, pp. 7-18. ISBN 9781908997845

Van Der Blom, H. and Steel, C. (2013) Introduction. In: Community and Communication: Oratory and Politics in Republican Rome. Oxford University Press: Oxford, UK. ISBN 9780199641895

Steel, C. (2011) Heroism and despair in Velleius' republican narrative. In: Cowan, E. (ed.) Velleius Paterculus: Making History. Classical Press of Wales: Swansea, pp. 265-277. ISBN 9781905125456

Edited Books

van der Blom, H., Gray, C. and Steel, C. (Eds.) (2018) Institutions and Ideology in Republican Rome: Speech, Audience and Decision. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge. ISBN 9781108429016

Steel, C. (Ed.) (2013) The Cambridge Companion to Cicero. Series: Cambridge Companions to Literature. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge. ISBN 9780521729802

Steel, C. and Van Der Blom, H. (Eds.) (2013) Community and Communication: Oratory and Politics in Republican Rome. Oxford University Press: Oxford, UK. ISBN 9780199641895

This list was generated on Tue May 17 04:17:54 2022 BST.

Grants

2012-17

£881,000: European Research Council - 'The fragments of Republican Roman Oratory'

2011-12

£141,000: British Academy mid-career fellowship - 'SPQR: the Roman Republican Senate in the 21st century'

2010-11

£17,500: Director of Classics, HEA HCA subject centre
£450: Carnegie Trust: 'Reconsidering Roman Government at the end of the Republic: Pompeius' lex de prouinciis in context'0

2009-10

£15,000: Director of Classics, HEA HCA subject centre

Supervision

Research proposals

I am particularly interested in supervising research students working on the following areas and topics:

Cicero
the Roman Republic, particularly its political history
Roman oratory
Roman political theory and practice, including its reception

I am also very happy to discuss proposals across a broader range of topics in Latin prose literature and Roman history.

Current projects

I am currently supervising research students working on:

Cicero and the Just War tradition
rhetoric and the formation of Roman law
the Severan monarchy
Trajanic monumentality.

Past projects

Past PhD theses supervised include:

The pontifex maximus in the late Republic
Dio the Rhetorician: Studies in Rhetoric and Rhetorical Education in Cassius Dio’s ‘Roman History’
A New Study of the Rhetorica ad Herennium.

Teaching

Roman History; Latin language and prose literature

Professional activities & recognition

Grant committees & research advisory boards

2018: Irish Research Council, Postdoctoral Fellowships Outer Board

Editorial boards

2008 - 2017: Journal of Roman Studies

Professional & learned societies

2012 - 2017: Secretary, Council of University Classical Departments
2008 - 2017: Council Member, Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies

Selected international presentations

2016: Prentice Lecture (Princeton University)
2014: Rothman Lecture (University of Florida)

Catherine Steel

School of Humanities | Sgoil nan Daonnachdan