Telephone number:	+31 (0)71 527 2602
E-Mail:	b.l.reitz@hum.leidenuniv.nl
Faculty / Department:	Faculteit der Geesteswetenschappen, Institute for Cultural Disciplines, Latijnse T&C
Office Address:	Johan Huizingagebouw Doelensteeg 16 2311 VL Leiden Room number 1.20b

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Fields of interest

• Latin poetry
• Relation between literature and material culture in the Roman world

Research

Representing Construction in Imperial Rome

In recent decades, Roman imperial building has increasingly been interpreted as embodying and communicating complex ideologies. Much attention has also been paid to the manipulations of urban spaces and their effect on those who moved within them. Unlike the impact of finished monuments, however, the impact of the process of creating these buildings and spaces has not so far received much attention. Building is a conspicuous process, a potentially spectacular display of control over manpower, resources and nature. Ambitious large-scale construction projects were always in progress somewhere in Rome, and often carried out at astounding speed. They could involve huge workforces, impressive feats of transportation and lifting, and radical re-configurations of urban landscapes.

My project looks at construction in ancient Rome by considering representations of the process of construction and engineering in the literary texts of the period (from Vergil to the early second century AD). How is construction represented in literary texts, and what do these representations reveal about ancient responses to the building process, and about the texts themselves? What is the function of representations of construction in their various contexts? What strategies are used to represent construction, and why? The answer to these questions arises from a careful consideration of the relevant literary sources as well as their cultural contextualisation with the help of archeological, epigraphic and visual/artistic evidence.

The first two chapters investigate how representations of the construction and construction history of an edifice can influence the reader-viewer’s evaluation of it. Chapter 1 focusses on major monuments in the city, exploring questions of memory-making, chapter 2 on large-scale water engineering projects, with a focus on the moral aspects of human intervention in nature. In chapters 3, 4, and 5, I explore the metaliterary function of representations of construction: the role of construction as a metaphor for the creation of a text. I trace how city building and text-construction coincide in epic poetry, the specific aesthetic of construction conceived in Statius’ Silvae, and uses of the myth of Amphion. The final part will concern representations of deconstruction and reconstruction, while an epilogue will deal with the reception of Roman spectacles of engineering in the demolitions and constructions of Mussolini’s Rome.

Key publications

‘Between Cooperation and Coercion: Literary Strategies of Representing Human Interventions in Nature’, in Heirman, J. and Klooster, J. (eds.) Ideologies of Space: Ancient and Modern, Gent, forthcoming.

‘Denouncing One’s Friends: The Ending of Tacitus’ Dialogus’, forthcoming in Mnemosyne (peer-reviewed).

‘Episch eindigen: De manipulatie van closure-motieven in Statius’ Thebais’, forthcoming in Lampas 45.2 (2012). (peer-reviewed)

‘Tantae molis erat: On Valuing Roman Imperial Architecture’, in Rosen, R. and Sluiter, I. (eds.), Aesthetic Value in Classical Antiquity, Leiden 2012, forthcoming. (peer-reviewed)

Review of Spencer, D. (2010), Roman Landscape: Culture and Identity, Cambridge, in AHB Online Reviews 2 (2012), 5-7.

Translation (into English) of two articles for Gale, M. (ed.), Oxford Readings in Lucretius, Oxford 2007.

Translation (into German) and adaptation of Powell, B. B., A Short Introduction to Classical Myth, New Jersey 2002 (Einführung in die klassische Mythologie, St Katherinen 2006¹, Stuttgart 2009²).

Teaching activities

March – May 2011 and April –May 2010: ‘Latijnse Liefdeselegie’ (seminars, lectures and reading classes on Latin Love Elegy, BA-1)

September – November 2010: ‘Taalverwerving Latijn I’ (Latin language course for BA-1)

May 2010: Trip to Rome with BA-2 students

February – March 2010: ‘The city of Rome’ (series of 8 lectures as preparation for student trip to Rome, BA-2, in English)

November 2008 and November 2010: ‘Sex, the City and Martial’s Epigrams’, lecture, contribution to ‘Rome als Wereldstad’ (Ancient History/Literary Studies lecture series on the City of Rome, BA-2/BA-3, in English)

Curriculum vitae

Date of Birth   24.09.1984
Place of Birth  Mannheim (Germany) 

Education
Since 2008 2007-8 2003-7	Leiden University: PhD Student in Latin Literature University of Oxford: MSt (Master of Studies) in Greek and/or Latin Languages and Literature, distinction University of Oxford: BA in Literae Humaniores (Classics), First Class
Scholarships
2009 2008-12 2007-8 2005-7 2005-8 2003-8	Scholarship of the Koninklijk Nederlands Instituut in Rome (KNIR) for 3-month study period in Rome ‘Toptalent’-award of the Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschapelijk Onderzoek (NWO), full funding for a four-year PhD project Scholar of the ‘Hölderlin-Programm’ of the Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes Scholar of the ‘Ambassador-Programm’, funded jointly by the Boston Consulting Group and the Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes Scholarship of Corpus Christi College, Oxford Scholarship of the Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes
Other activities
Sept. 2011 2009-11 2010-11 2009 2005-07	Co-organisation of a one-day international colloquium on Augustan poetry to mark the retirement of Prof. Joan Booth Organisation of ‘Forum Antiquum’ (series of fortnightly guest lectures at the Leiden Classics Department) Representing Latin in the department’s teaching committee (opleidingscommissie) Board Member of LEO (Leids Promovendi Overleg), the Leiden PhD student organisation Joint President of the Oxford Classics JCC (Joint Consultative Committee: representation of the Classics undergraduates within the faculty).