WashU Classics

Huge congratulations to Classics major Nicole Spangler on being named a Beinecke Scholar! 🎉 As a rising senior in Classics and History, Nicole is the first WashU student to receive this prestigious award since 2014—supporting her future PhD studies and continued research. We’re so proud of her accomplishments and can’t wait to see what’s next! 📚✨

📢 New research from the Biggs Department!

Assistant Professor Chris Erdman has published two new articles exploring Roman political history and practice.

In Phoenix, his article challenges the long-held view that Clodius planned a legislative agenda in 52 BC—arguing instead that Cicero’s claims are best understood as rhetorical exaggeration.

His open-access article, “Voting Procedure at Late Republican Legislative Assemblies,” rethinks how Romans voted—suggesting that tribes may have voted simultaneously rather than one at a time, allowing for faster and broader participation.

👉 Read it here: https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/klio-2025-0018/html

Exciting progress on Washington University Papyri Volume III! 📜

An international team of scholars—including Will Sieving (MA 2026), Alexander Free, Todd Hickey (University of California, Berkeley), and Roger Bagnall, Honorary Professor of Classics WashU—recently gathered at WashU for an intensive worksprint, bringing the volume into a full draft and moving it closer to completion.

We loved seeing this collaborative work in action!

A new digital resource is live! 📊📚 WashU Classics and the Humanities Digital Workshop have launched Meters of Greek Drama, an online database exploring the metrical patterns of Euripides’ plays. Explore the project and discover ancient drama in a new way.

Learn more: https://classics.washu.edu/news/new-digital-database-greek-dramatic-meters-released-washu-classics-and-humanities-digital

📷️ Chorus members dancing to an aulos-player's music. Depicted on a terracotta hydria (water jar) in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

From Virgil to Missouri farm life 🌾📜

We’re thrilled to see Kate Wilson’s course featured in The Ampersand! By bringing students out of the classroom and into rural Missouri, this class shows how ancient poetry comes alive through lived experience.

👉 Read the story:

Harvesting the Classics: Students connect ancient poetry with Missouri farm life Kate Wilson took her Virgilian poetry class to rural Missouri, using hands-on examples of local farm life to help students better understand the classical world.

We join the Classics community in mourning the passing of James M. Redfield (1934–2026), a brilliant scholar and beloved teacher whose work reshaped how we think about the ancient world.

A Biggs Family Resident in 1992 and a participant in our 2018 reunion, Redfield left a lasting impression on our department. As Associate Professor William Bubelis reflects, he was “a brilliant teacher…for whom what mattered…was the best idea,” remembered as both intellectually formidable and deeply generous.

We are grateful for the time he spent with our community and for the legacy he leaves behind.

Classics alumni—we want to hear from you! 🏛️

As we start working on this year’s Ursus newsletter, we’re collecting updates from our amazing alumni community. Whether it’s a new job, grad school, a move, or something personal—we’d love to share your news.

📩 Send a short update and recent photo to [email protected]

Welcome back stateside to our Rome: Eternal City? Ampersand crew 🇮🇹✈️🇺🇸

We’re so excited to start sharing the first photos trickling in—from the Roman Forum to Pompeii, the Vatican to Ostia—capturing a trip where history truly came alive.

From standing where Cicero once lived to exploring ancient cities layer by layer, this group experienced Rome not just as a place, but as a story still unfolding.

More highlights (and many more photos!) coming soon—but for now, welcome home and arrivederci, Roma ❤️

Last chance to join CLASSICS 3420: Ancient History – The Roman Empire this summer! 🏛️
Travel from Augustus to Constantine while exploring power, religion, and crisis across the empire.
📅 June 8–July 10
🕐 M–F, 1:00–2:45 PM
Don’t miss out—register now!

To all of our Classics & Ancient Studies majors and minors graduating this week — congratulations! 🎓 We are so proud of all you have accomplished and grateful to have been part of your journey. One of our favorite parts of graduation week is meeting the families, friends, and supporters who have cheered you on along the way. Thank you for celebrating with us. We can’t wait to see where your next chapters lead. 💚