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Spencer E Cole

612/625-5540
CNES 245 Nicholson Hall

Department Affiliations

Narrative

My research explores the role of literature and oratory in phases of cultural reordering at Rome. In particular, I am interested in how texts and speeches work along with other media to process and naturalize new ideas and cultural practices. I am currently finishing a book "Cicero and the Rise of Deification at Rome" which examines Cicero's inventive approaches to deification in his letters, speeches, and theoretical writings. (under contract, Cambridge University Press)


Specialties

  • Republican and early imperial Latin literature
  • Greek and Roman religion
  • Greek and Roman rhetoric

Educational Background

  • Ph.D.: Classics, Columbia University, 2006.
  • M.A.: University of Washington, 1998.
  • B.A.: Universiity of Washington, 1996.

Publications

  • Contributor– The Cambridge Dictionary of Ancient Mediterranean Religions
  • Annotated Innovation in Euripides’ Ion: Cole, Spencer, Classical Quarterly, Forthcoming.
  • Cicero, Ennius, and the Concept of Apotheosis at Rome: Cole, Spencer, Ennius and the Invention of Roman Epic, 39 531-548, 2006.
  • 'Elite Skepticism in the Apocolocyntosis: Further Qualifications' in K. Volk and G. Williams, eds. Seeing Seneca Whole: Perspectives on Philosophy, Poetry and Politics, Leiden: Brill (2006), 174-182. Reviewed BMCR 2007.08.42
  • 'The Dynamics of Deification in Horace Odes 1-3' in S. Asirvatham, C. Pache and J. Watrous, eds. Between Magic and Religion: Interdisciplinary Studies in Ancient Mediterranean Religion and Society, Baltimore: Rowman and Littlefield (2001), 67-91. Reviewed BMCR 2003.02.14
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