Fields of Interest

I am a Roman historian with a special interest in the Second Sophistic and early Christianity. My primary research area is the formation of identity among intellectuals in the first three centuries CE. I am currently at work on a book that examines the many ways in which being (who you are) was shaped by belonging (whom you know) for philosophers, sophists, and Christians in this period.

Academic Profile

At Boston College, I teach Latin and Greek at all levels, especially (but not exclusively) prose. In recent years, I have taught advanced seminars on Tacitus, Apuleius, Cicero, Homer, Thucydides, Greek Rhetoric. I also regularly teach Greek and Roman History, Roman Family Law, and Roman Religion.

Representative Publications

“Affection and Affiliation: Social Networks and Conversion to Philosophy.” Classical Journal 103 (2007/08): 147-58.

"Defining the Circle of Sophists: Philostratus and the Construction of the Second Sophistic.”  Classical Philology 103 (2008): 395-413.

"Becoming Heretical: Affection and Ideology in Recruitment to ‘Heretical’ Christianities.” Harvard Theological Review 104 (2011): 191-216.

The Social World of Intellectuals in the Roman Empire: Sophists, Philosophers, and Christians. Cambridge University Press, forthcoming 2012.

Departmental Activities

I am currently the Director of Undergraduate Studies and Director of the Ancient Civilization Minor. Want to sign up as a Classics major or minor? I am the person to see. I also run the Classics department's brown bag series of lunchtime talks by faculty, students, and outside visitors. Please email me your suggestions or requests.