The Dalton School’s Classical Languages Department is pleased to invite you and your students to its inaugural Classics Colloquium Lecture. There is no cost for this event, but we ask that you register online.
The lecture will be followed by a reception in the lobby, offering attendees an opportunity to continue the discussion with Professor Moss and fellow members of the classical studies community.
Classics students at every level (MS, HS, undergraduate, graduate, etc.), high school teachers, university faculty, and others with an interest in Classics are welcome to attend.
Please feel free to share this invitation (poster linked) with colleagues, students, and anyone else who may be interested.
Lecture Abstract:
When we imagine the great works of ancient Rome, we often picture famous authors like Cicero, Caesar, or Virgil writing alone. In reality, ancient texts were produced through the labor of many unseen workers. Enslaved secretaries took dictation, copyists reproduced manuscripts, and educated assistants who read texts aloud. Drawing on the multiple-award-winning book God’s Ghostwriters, this talk explores the hidden workforce behind Roman literature and shows how the writings attributed to celebrated authors were often the product of collaborative systems of labor. By looking at how texts were actually produced, we gain a new perspective on the making of classical literature and the many invisible hands that helped create it.
