Robert Morstein-Marx
About:
Robert Morstein-Marx is Professor of Classics. After his B.A. from the University of Colorado (Classics, History and Philosophy) and an Honors B.A. from the University of Oxford (Literae Humaniores), he earned his PhD in 1987 at UC Berkeley from the Graduate Group in Ancient History and Mediterranean Archaeology. He is the author of two books, the first, Hegemony to Empire: The Development of the Roman Imperium in the East from 148 to 62 BC, focusing on questions of Roman imperialism, the second, Mass Oratory and Political Power in the Late Roman Republic, analysing the effects of public speech and public meetings upon the distribution of political power in Rome. He has also co-edited (with Nathan Rosenstein) the “Blackwell Companion to the Roman Republic.” His latest book (2021) is a study of Julius Caesar and the Roman People, which he describes as “not another biography of Caesar” but an attempt to illuminate the popular character of the Late Roman Republic and shed new light on its crisis. (An interview about the book is posted here on the New Books Network.)
Prof. Morstein-Marx’s main research interests lie in Roman history from the middle Republic to the early Empire, and current work focuses on political culture in the Late Roman Republic, especially political values and concepts and their realization in institutions during a time of crisis. Other major interests include Cicero, Roman rhetoric, Roman imperialism, and classical historiography, both Greek and Latin.
Graduate Supervision
Prof. Morstein-Marx would be happy to hear from prospective students who are interested in pursuing advanced study in any of the above areas.
Publications:
Books
- Julius Caesar and the Roman People (Cambridge U.Press, 2021). If you are part of the UC community you should have free online access here.
- Blackwell Companion to the Roman Republic (edited, with N.S. Rosenstein). (Blackwell Press, 2006).
- Mass Oratory and Political Power in the Late Roman Republic. (Cambridge University Press, 2004).
- Hegemony to Empire: The Development of the Roman Imperium in the East, 148-62 B.C. (Berkeley: UC Press, 1995).
Selected Articles
- “Roman Republican Political Culture: Values and Ideology.” In V. Arena and J. Prag, eds., A Companion to the Political Culture of the Roman Republic (Wiley Blackwell 2022), 391-407.
- “Fear of the People.” Rivista Storica Italiana 131 (2019), 515-33. (Special section on “L’opinione pubblica popolare nella Roma di età tardorepubblicana,” ed. By A. Angius and A. Marcone.)
- “Persuading the People.” In A Companion to Greek Democracy and the Roman Republic, edited by D. Hammer (Malden, MA and Oxford 2015), 294-310.
- “‛Cultural Hegemony’ and the Communicative Power of the Roman Elite,” in C. Steel and H. van der Blom, eds., Community and Communication: Oratory and Politics in Republican Rome (Oxford 2013), 29-47.
- “Political Graffiti in the Late Roman Republic: Hidden Transcripts and Common Knowledge,” in Politische Kommunikation und öffentliche Meinung in der antiken Welt, ed. by C. Kuhn (Heidelberg 2012).
- “Consular Appeals to the Army in 88 and 87: the locus of legitimacy in late-republican Rome” in Consuls and Res Publica, ed. by H. Beck et al. (Cambridge 2011).
- “Dignitas and res publica: Caesar and Republican legitimacy,” in Eine politische Kultur (in) der Krise? Die “letzte Generation” der römischen Republik, edited by K.-J. Hoelkeskamp (Munich 2009).
- “Political History,” in the A Companion to Ancient History, edited by A. Erskine (Malden, MA, 2009).
- “Caesar’s Alleged Fear of Prosecution in the Approach to the Civil War”, Historia 56 (2007) 159-78.
- “The Transformation of the Republic” (with N.S. Rosenstein), in A Companion to the Roman Republic (2006).
- “The Myth of Numidian Origins in Sallust’s African Excursus,” American Journal of Philology 122 (2001) 179-200.
- “The Alleged ‘Massacre’ at Cirta and Its Consequences (Sall. BJ 26-27),” Classical Philology 95 (2000) 468-76.
- “Publicity, Popularity, and Patronage in the ‘Commentariolum petitionis’,” Classical Antiquity 17 (1998) 259-88
- “Q. Fabius Maximus and the Dyme Affair (Syll.3 684),” Classical Quarterly 45 (1995) 129-53.