Scholarship and Biography
Caitlin Gillespie is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Classical Studies. Previously, she taught at Columbia University in New York and Temple University in Philadelphia. She received her BA in Classics from Harvard University (2005), her Master of Studies in Greek and Latin Languages and Literatures from the University of Oxford (2006), and her PhD from the University of Pennsylvania (2012) with a dissertation on female exemplarity in Tacitus’ Annals.
Professor Gillespie’s research focuses on women of the Roman Empire, with a particular interest in the relationship between gender, power, and politics among women of the ruling family. She has published articles on Boudica, Agrippina the Younger, Epicharis, Livia, Messalina, Agrippina the Elder, and class and gender in the opposition to Nero, among others. Her first book, Boudica: Warrior Woman of Roman Britain (Oxford, 2018) explored representations of Boudica in Roman history and the material culture of first century Britain. She currently contributes to several collaborative projects, including articles on women, gender, and motherhood in Tacitus for a forthcoming Tacitus Encyclopedia and intermediate-level Latin commentaries available through the online “Companion to the Worlds of Roman Women.” Her current work includes articles on domestic disruption in Lucan’s Bellum Civile, women in Cassius Dio, and gender in Sallust. Her new book project examines women's movements in the early Roman empire.