Dr Laura Losito

Tutor

About

I am a specialist in Ciceronian epistolography with a focus on the Ad Familiares and Ad Quintum fratrem collections. My AHRC-funded PhD offers an experimental commentary on Cicero’s Ad Familiares Book 5. It challenges the traditional view of the collection as a hastily compiled, unsophisticated work, instead arguing for a coherent macro-narrative crafted by the ancient editor. My research demonstrates the importance of preserving the original manuscript order to fully appreciate the narrative and political insights Cicero’s letters provide. 

I have presented my research at conferences across the globe (for which I have secured significant funding from AHRC through Northern Bridge Consortium), including in Edinburgh, Coimbra, Bari, New Orleans, and Melbourne. My published work on Cicero’s Ad Quintum fratrem appeared in The Classical Quarterly in 2024, and I have been invited to contribute to a forthcoming volume on intentional narratives in the Ad Familiares. In addition, I have served as a peer reviewer for journals (JES) and reviewed books on ancient letters for BMCR and Sehepunkte.

Beyond research, I hold extensive teaching experience in Latin and Ancient Greek language and literature, both at school and university levels. At Durham University, I have convened and taught undergraduate and postgraduate modules, sharing my passion for classical languages and literature with students of all backgrounds.

Career Highlights

Research

 

Papers

  • Losito, L. (2024) ‘The narratives of Cicero’s ad Quintum Fratrem: career, republic and the ad Atticum’, The Classical Quarterly. Published online 2024: 1-19. doi:10.1017/S0009838824000181

  • Cammoranesi, S. and Losito, L. (accepted for publication) ‘Without order or narrative? The case of Cicero’s Ad Familiares’, R. Gibson, R. Kirstein and A. Abele, Classical Continuum (Open-Access)

Reviews

  • Henning Ohst: Die Epistulae ad familiares des Kaisers Augustus. Studien zur Textgeschichte in der Antike, Edition und Kommentar, Berlin: de Gruyter 2023, in: sehepunkte 24 (2024), Nr. 2 [15.02.2024], URL: https://www.sehepunkte.de/2024/02/38704.html
  • Thomas Späth, Gesellschaft im Brief: Ciceros Korrespondenz und die Sozialgeschichte. Collegium Beatus Rhenanus, 9. Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag, 2021. Pp. 430. ISBN 9783515130950 (https://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2023/2023.07.06/)
Award Highlights