John Izzo

Graduate Student

ji2252@columbia.edu

Interests

• Roman Literature and History

• Ancient Slavery

• Neo-Latin and Colonialism

• The Relationship between Philosophy and Poetry

John Izzo focuses his studies on the literature, culture, and history of the Roman Republic. He is currently writing a dissertation that explores the intersection between the institution of slavery and Latin literature. Specifically, his work addresses the life, literary activities, and reception of Marcus Tullius Tiro, a slave and later freedman of the Roman statesman, Cicero. The relative wealth of primary sources on Tiro provides an almost singular opportunity for a substantial study of an individual Roman slave. By studying texts written to Tiro (e.g. Cic. Ad Fam. 16), fragments authored by him, and later commentary on his relationship to Ciceronian literature, the dissertation sheds light not only on Tiro, but also on the importance of other, less well-recorded slaves and freedmen directly related to the production of the Latin classics.

While pursuing his MA at the University of Notre Dame (after graduating from Bowdoin College), John wrote a thesis on Lucretius’ De Rerum Natura. More recently, John has written a Latin MPhil paper documenting allusions to Roman theater in Cicero’s philosophical dialogues and identifying the importance of these allusions for understanding Ciceronian philosophy and its place within Roman intellectual history. John has also worked extensively on Neo-Latin and colonialism. Of particular interest to him is the use of Latin by conquered people to “write back” to colonial powers.

At Notre Dame and Columbia, John has had the opportunity to serve as a teaching assistant for a variety of courses including, Roman History, Roman Archaeology, Augustan Poetry, and Egypt in the Classical World. At Notre Dame, he also taught two semesters of Greek and two semesters of Latin. John is currently teaching Elementary Latin II and is scheduled to teach Intermediate Latin I (Cicero and Catullus). Starting in January, he will also be volunteering as an instructor at Rikers Island (New York Department of Corrections).

Beyond academia, John’s interests include running, lifting, hiking, and nearly anything that takes him outdoors. Alongside these more active pursuits, he finds nothing better than curling up with a book, or spending the day relaxing on the beach.