John Izzo

Graduate Student

ji2252@columbia.edu

Interests

• Latin Prose and Poetry

• Ancient Slavery

• Neo-Latin and Colonialism

• Philosophical Literature

John Izzo is currently writing a dissertation that studies extant sources on the life, writings, and reception of Marcus Tullius Tiro, a Roman freedman who had formerly been enslaved to Cicero. By using a diverse range of literary and historical approaches, his research aims both to reassess what these sources can tell us about Tiro and to offer new insights into the multifarious connections between Roman slavery and classical literature.

In addition to this research on ancient slavery, John also studies Latin texts written by marginalized authors of the sixteenth century. Much of his recent work has focused on the Latin writings of Nahua (Aztec) authors and has explored their complex engagement with classical literature.

John is the recipient of the 2022 Millicent Mercer Johnsen Rome Prize at the American Academy in Rome. Last academic year, he was a Fellow at the Heyman Center for the Humanities (2020–2021).

Before coming to Columbia University, John completed a BA at Bowdoin College and an MA at the University of Notre Dame, where he wrote a thesis on Lucretius’ De rerum natura.

Throughout graduate school, John has had the opportunity to teach a variety of courses, including Elementary Latin, Elementary Greek, Intermediate Latin I (Cicero and Catullus), and Intermediate Latin II (Ovid and Seneca). He has also served as a teaching assistant for classes on ancient history and literature.