Publications
For a complete list, click here. Book reviews are here. Popular press writings are here.
Latest Books
11. 2026. Plato. How to Speak Freely: An Ancient Guide to Free Speech and Dissent. Princeton University Press. Google Books link.
A vivid and timely new translation of Plato's Apology, in which Socrates defends his pursuit of truth, no matter the consequences, supplemented by Lucian's short dialogue The Gods in Council.
12. 2027. Killing Socrates: Four Dialogues by Plato, with Aristophanes' Clouds. Princeton University Press. (Fresh translations of these golden oldies, with original commentary.)
I'm now working on a book (or more) that draws on Lucian, Celsus, Euripides, Aristophanes, Gorgias, and a host of Latin authors from antiquity through the Renaissance. The working title is The Art of Bullshit.
Latest Articles
- In press (allegedly). “How to Make a Joke Without Getting Cancelled: Plutarch’s Survival Guide to Jesting Safely.” (On some passages in Table Talk and Macrobius' Saturnalia)
- In press (allegedly). "Humour as a Calculated Risk." (For a Cambridge Companion)
- 2026. "Clueless Strepsiades, Clueless Scribes? Recovering Two Lost Jokes in Aristophanes’ Clouds (234, 380–81)." Electryone.
Just for Fun
- 2026. Trump: Brutale Kämpfe zum 80. Geburtstag (video in German). Kulturzeit
- 2026. Trump celebrates 80th birthday with an Iran deal and UFC cage fights at the White House. AP.
- 2026. Did Ovid Bury Philippi in a Love Story? (Part 2 of 2) In Medias Res.
- 2026. Was Ovid Really Apolitical? (Part 1 of 2) In Medias Res.
- 2025. Caesar in the Kremlin: Vladimir Putin's Speeches in Latin. Antigone.
In the news
- Cornell classicist: White House UFC event mirrors Imperial Rome’s spectacles
- Economist: Are living standards falling for young Americans?
- Back to in-person work? Classics professor offers tips on office humor
- Trade expert discusses misconceptions about trade Jan. 29
- Talk examines Civil Rights Act’s unintended consequences
- Your September 2025 reads
- Talk explores medicine and social justice activism Oct. 6
- Listen to the ancients: Don’t cave to peer pressure, improper requests
- Your July 2024 reads
- In a new book, prof translates ancient advice for the lovelorn
- What to read in 2022? A&S faculty weigh in
- Translation updates Cicero’s treatise on jokes as ‘weapons’
- Event highlights strategies for online teaching
- Adult University goes virtual with free ‘education vacations’
- A 500-year-old book for our time, newly translated
- Einaudi Center awards eight faculty grants
- Professor publishes Placentius’ pugnacious pig poem
- Action figures in classical literature
- A&S Dean Ray Jayawardhana to lead Argentine study tour to see eclipse
- Caesar’s death and life in Antiquitas podcast
- Twitter has become the modern-day Colosseum
- Classics students create art installations on Hercules story
- Warrior-scholars gain skills, confidence from Cornell experience
- Ancient Latin puns revealed in new edited volume
- Arts & Sciences faculty offer summer adventures
- Living language
- Einaudi Center announces grant recipients
- Grants fund 22 Cornell teams, community partners
- Nishii, Fontaine appointed to academic leadership
- Amy Villarejo to lead Milstein Program in Technology and Humanity
- Classicist Michael Fontaine examines mental distress in humanities podcast
- A new-old look at mental distress
- Contemporary bard to present ancient Odyssey in music
- Student spends semester immersed in the study of Latin
- Warrior-scholars explore the relevance of 'Our Declaration'
- Renowned Vatican Latinist joins classics faculty
- Volume in honor of classics professor Fred Ahl released
