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RESEARCH INTERESTS
My research deals with the interpretation, use, and manipulation of the classical tradition (Virgil, Livy, Ovid, etc.) in later medieval Europe. I am particularly interested in the medieval cities of Italy, many of which used legends derived from the classics as political and cultural propaganda: "Our city was founded before yours, by a more famous person than your founder; therefore we're better than you."
I am interested generally in medieval urban life, the history of urban development, medieval cultural and intellectual history, classical Roman history, classical and medieval Latin, palaeography and codicology (the study of medieval manuscripts and their writing), book history, medieval architecture and technology, and reception history generally (the later fortunes of a famous person or idea; for instance, in the Middle Ages, Virgil was thought to have been a magician).