Dr Kathryn Tempest

I studied at Royal Holloway, University of London, where I completed my BA (Hons), MA and PhD in Classics. I then lectured at the University of Roehampton (2007-2024) before joining the School at Leicester.

Outside the University, I am committed to outreach and public engagement activities that bring the ancient world to as wide an audience as possible, e.g. through talks, radio and TV. I regularly speak to students on a range of topics in Roman republican history and literature, as well as serving on the editorial board for Omnibus magazine. In recognition of my outreach work, I was appointed Vice-President for the Association of Latin Teaching and Outreach Officer (now Vice-President) for the Classical Association. My work ranges across Cicero and Roman Republican history, cultural and political history, as well as the theory and practice of rhetoric. 

My research focuses on Cicero, Roman Oratory, and Roman Republican history, as well as the theory and practice of rhetoric more generally. My first book Cicero: Politics and Persuasion in Ancient Rome (Continuum, 2011; reprinted by Bloomsbury, 2013) explored the political and oratorical career of Rome’s foremost advocate. I have also co-edited a book on Hellenistic Oratory: Continuity and Change with Christos Kremmydas (Oxford University Press, 2013) revealing the dynamic character of oratory in the Hellenistic period. More recently, I have written a biography of Caesar's famous assassin: Brutus: The Noble Conspirator (Yale University Press, 2017). But it does not just tell the story of his life; it also examines how that story was transmitted and interpreted from antiquity to today (you can read reviews online at BMCR, History Today and Times Literary Supplement).

I am currently completing work on the pseudepigrapha of M. Iunius Brutus and Mithridates; this project, which has received generous funding from the Leverhulme Trust and the International Society for the History of Rhetoric, has already resulted in several publications:

1. (Forthcoming; accepted), ‘Responding to Roman Rule: The Letters of Brutus and Mithridates’, in P. von Möllendorff and E. Marquis (eds), Brief und Macht: Pseudonyme Briefsammlungen der Antike, Millennium-Studien, Berlin: De Gruyter.
2. (2023), ‘The Latin Letters of Pseudo-Brutus (Cic. Ad Brut. 1.16 and 1.17)’, in C.R. Jackson and J. Soldo (eds), Res vera, res ficta: Fictionality in Ancient Epistolography, Trends in Classics, Berlin: De Gruyter, 125-53.
3. (2021), ‘Confessions of a Literary Forger: Reading the Letters of Mithridates to Brutus’, in J. Martínez (ed.), Tenue est Mendacium: Rethinking Fakes and Authorship in Classical, Late Antique & Early Christian Works, Groningen: Barkhuis, 119-35.

Books and Edited Volumes
 
1. (2017), Brutus: The Noble Conspirator, New Haven and London: Yale University Press (translated into Dutch, Omniboek 2019). 
2. (2013), Hellenistic Oratory: Continuity and Change, edited with Christos Kremmydas (Oxford University Press, Oxford.
3. (2011), Cicero: Politics and Persuasion in Ancient Rome, Continuum, London and New York (repr. Bloomsbury Academic 2013).


Articles in Journals and Essay Collections

4. (Forthcoming; accepted) ‘Cicero: Orator, Politician, Writer, and Theorist’, in H. Yunis and H. van der Blom (eds), Cambridge History of Rhetoric, Vol. 1: Rhetoric of the Ancient World, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
5. (Forthcoming; in press), ‘Cicero under Attack: Deception and Emotion in the Trial of Plancius’, in D. Pausch (ed.), Ciceronian Invective, Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 181-203.
6. (2024) ‘Responding to Roman Rule: The Letters of Brutus and Mithridates’, in P. von Möllendorff and E. Marquis (eds), Brief und Macht: Pseudonyme Briefsammlungen der Antike, Millennium-Studien, Berlin: De Gruyter, 124-43.
7. (2023), ‘The Latin Letters of Pseudo-Brutus (Cic. Ad Brut. 1.16 and 1.17)’, in C.R. Jackson and J. Soldo (eds), Res vera, res ficta: Fictionality in Ancient Epistolography, Trends in Classics, Berlin: De Gruyter, 125-53.
8. (2023) ‘Remembering M. Brutus: From Mixed and Hostile Perspectives,’ in M. Dinter and C. Guérin (eds), Cultural Memory in Republican and Augustan Rome, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 218-238
9. (2021), ‘Confessions of a Literary Forger: Reading the Letters of Mithridates to Brutus’, in J. Martínez (ed.), Tenue est Mendacium: Rethinking Fakes and Authorship in Classical, Late Antique & Early Christian Works, Groningen: Barkhuis, 119-35.
10. (2020), Cicero’s Artes Liberales and the Liberal Arts, Ciceroniana Online: A Journal of Roman Thought, Ciceroniana 4.2, 479-500.
11. (2019), ‘Meidias and the Mute Witness: Cicero’s Debt to Demosthenes Reconsidered,’ GRBS  59. 2, 215-241.
12. (2017), ‘Oratorical Performance in Pliny’s Letters’, in A. Serafim, S. Papaioannou and B. da Vela (eds), A Theatre of Justice: Aspects of Performance in Greco-Roman Oratory and Rhetoric, Leiden: Brill, 175-197.
13. (2013), ‘An Ethos of Sincerity: Echoes of Cicero’s De Re Publica in the Pro Marcello’, G&R 60.2, 262-80.
14. (2013), ‘Staging a Prosecution: Aspects of Performance in Cicero’s Verrines’, in C. Kremmydas, L. Rubinstein and J. Powell (eds), Profession and Performance: Aspects of Oratory in the Greco-Roman World, BICS supp. 123, 41-72.
15. (2013), ‘Exploring Hellenistic Oratory’, co-authored with Christos Kremmydas, in C. Kremmydas and K. Tempest (eds), Hellenistic Oratory: Continuity and Change, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1-17. 
16. (2013), ‘Hellenistic Oratory at Rome: Cicero’s Pro Marcello’, in C. Kremmydas and K. Tempest (eds), Hellenistic Oratory: Continuity and Change, Oxford: Oxford University press, 295-318.
17. (2011), ‘Combating the Odium of Self-Praise: The Divinatio in Q. Caecilium’, in C. Smith and R.Corvino (eds), Praise and Blame in Roman Republican Rhetoric, Swansea: Classical Press of Wales, 145-63.
18. (2007), ‘Saints and Sinners: Some Thoughts on Characterisation in Cicero’s Verrines and the Attic Orators’, in J. Prag (ed.), Sicilia Nutrix Plebis Romanae (BICS Supp. 97), 19-36.
19. (2007), ‘Cicero and the Art of Dispositio: The Structure of the Verrines’, Leeds International Classical Studies (vol. 6.02), 1-25.

Pedagogical Publications

20. (2018), ‘Classics and Twenty-First Century Skills,’ co-authored with A. Holmes-Henderson, in A. Holmes-Henderson, S. Hunt and M. Musié (eds.) Forward with Classics: Classical Languages in Schools and Communities, Bloomsbury, 231-241.
21. (2010), ‘Embedding Employability into a Classics Curriculum,’ co-authored with C.Behr, F. McHardy, R. Barrow and S. Deacy, AHHE 9.3, 339-52.
22. (2009), ‘Teaching the Language of Employability to Classical Civilisation students,’ The Higher Education Academy: Languages, Linguistics Area Studies (available online: https://www.llas.ac.uk//events/archive/3226). 

Book Reviews:

23. (2021), Review of R. Kaster, ‘Cicero's Rhetorical Works: Cicero: Brutus and Orator. Translated, with Introduction and Notes’, Classical Review 71.2, 395-6.
24. (2020), Review of Luca Grillo and Christopher B. Krebs (eds), ‘The Cambridge Companion to the Writings of Julius Caesar,’ JRS 110, 275-276.
25. (2013), Review of T.D. Frazel, ‘The Rhetoric of Cicero’s In Verrem,’ in Gnomon 85.3, 269-272.
26. (2012), Review of D. Mankin, ‘Cicero, De Oratore III,’ JRS 102, 376-78.
27. (2010), Review of S. Usher ‘Cicero’s Speeches: The Critic in Action,’ JRS 100, 281-82.

Dictionary and Encyclopedia Entries

28. (2022), ‘Tullius Cicero, Marcus, life’, in Oxford Classical Dictionary, https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.013.6597. 
29. (2012), Cato, Marcus Porcius (Cato the Younger),’ in R. Bagnall, K. Broderson, C. Champion, A. Erskine and S. Huebner (eds), The Encyclopedia of Ancient History, Wiley-Blackwell.
30. (2012), ‘Cicero, Quintus Tullius,’ in R. Bagnall, K. Broderson, C. Champion, A. Erskine and S. Huebner (eds), The Encyclopedia of Ancient History, Wiley-Blackwell.
31. (2012), ‘Hortensius Hortalus, Quintus,’ in R. Bagnall, K. Broderson, C. Champion, A. Erskine and S. Huebner (eds), The Encyclopedia of Ancient History, Wiley-Blackwell.
32. (2012), Pomponius Atticus, Titus,’ in R. Bagnall, K. Broderson, C. Champion, A. Erskine and S. Huebner (eds), The Encyclopedia of Ancient History, Wiley-Blackwell.
33. (2012), Tiro, Marcus Tullius,’ in R. Bagnall, K. Broderson, C. Champion, A. Erskine and S. Huebner (eds), The Encyclopedia of Ancient History, Wiley-Blackwell.
34. (2010), ‘Marcus Tullius Cicero: In Catilinam [Against Catiline]’, in W. Dominik, T. Habinek, E. Kneebone, S. Papaioannou and J. Wildberger (eds), The Literary Encyclopedia.
35. (2010), ‘Marcus Tullius Cicero: In Verrem [Against Verres]’, in W. Dominik, T. Habinek, E. Kneebone, S. Papaioannou and J. Wildberger (eds), The Literary Encyclopedia.
36. (2010), ‘Marcus Tullius Cicero: Pro Roscio Amerino [On Behalf of Roscius of Ameria]’, in W. Dominik, T. Habinek, E. Kneebone, S. Papaioannou and J. Wildberger (eds), The Literary Encyclopedia.

Magazine Articles and Popular Press

37. (2022), ‘The Question of Truth in Cicero’s Pro Cluentio’, Omnibus 83, 27-29.
38. (2021), Killing Caesar: How History Remembers Caesar’s Assassin, Ad Familiares - Classics for All's online journal, https://classicsforall.org.uk/reading-room/ad-familiares/killing-caesar 
39. (2020), ‘The Will to Power’ Review of Luca Fezzi, ‘Crossing the Rubicon: Caesar’s Decision and the Fate of Rome’, BBC History Magazine.
40. (2018), ‘Porcia: The Mirror of her Man,’ Argo, Hellenic Journal. 
41. (2017) ‘What is the issue? Getting to the heart of Cicero’s Defence of Milo,’ Omnibus 73.
42. (2014), ‘Cicero and the Young Octavian,’ Omnibus 68, 5-7.

I welcome proposals for supervision in any aspect of Republican and Early Imperial Roman History, especially political life in the Roman republic or ancient oratory and rhetoric, including Cicero.

Current and past PhD projects include: 'Pliny’s Exemplary Society: Engineering a New Rome'; 'A Commentary on Cicero's Pro Caecina'; 'The Impact of Roman Culture on the Countryside of Sussex'; 'Gaius Cassius Longinus - The History and Memory of a Tyrannicide'; 'Greco-Roman Rhetoric in Luke-Acts.'

Television

• Series Consultant: Julius Caesar: The Making of a Dictator (BBC2)
• Consultant: Ancient Empires (Sky History)
• Consultant: Roman Empire (Netflix)

Radio

• Guest Contributor: In Our Time - Demosthenes' Philippics (BBC Radio 4)
• Guest Contributor: Rory Stewart - The Long History of Argument (BBC Radio 4)
• Guest Contributor: I Confess - The Power of Confession (BBC Radio 3, The Essay)
• Interviewee: Cicero: Live Debate (Talking History, Newstalk)
• Interviewee: Retelling the Story of Brutus (Thinking Aloud, Brigham Young University Radio) 

Podcasts

• Consultant: Literature and History - Cicero and the End of the Republic (Episodes 46, 47 and 48). 
• Interviewee: The Pioneer Institute’s The Learning Curve – Cicero, Brutus and the Death of Julius Caesar.
• Interviewee: ‘Can’t Make this up History Podcast’ - Brutus: The Noble Conspirator

Animations

• Script Writer: The Great Conspiracy against Julius Caesar (TedEd)

Awards:

• 2018 Winner of the Outstanding Academic Title award sponsored by the American journal Choice for Brutus: The Noble Conspirator.

Research Grants and Fellowships:

• 2016 International Society for the History of Rhetoric. Research Fellowship: ‘The Use of Letters in Diplomatic Oratory and Rhetorical Education.’ 
• 2015 The Leverhulme Trust. Research Fellowship: ‘The Pseudepigrapha of Marcus Iunius Brutus.’
• 2002 Arts and Humanities Research Council. Doctoral Fellowship: ‘Prosecution Techniques in Cicero’s Verrines.’