Mary T. Boatwright | Scholars@Duke

Mary T. Boatwright
Professor Emerita of Classical Studies

Pronouns: She/her

I am interested in Roman history, especially the social and political history of the Empire; Roman women, especially imperial women; topography of Rome and Roman urbanism more generally; Rome's northern frontiers; and Latin historiography.

Current Research Interests

Imperial women of Rome; imperial Roman history; city of Rome; Tacitus.
Three current projects are:

Biography of Agrippina the Younger (under contract with OUP).
“Julio-Claudian Women and War.” Chapter for Ancient Women and War in the Mediterranean World, eds. E. Carney and S. Müeller. Leiden: Brill.“Representing Native Women in Roman Art.”
Chapter for project Indigeneity and Empire: Comparing the Roman and American Experiences, eds. M. Maas and F. Yarbrough. University of Oklahoma Press.

Office Hours

By appointment and Zoom.

Current Appointments & Affiliations

Professor Emerita of Classical Studies, Classical Studies, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences 2020

Contact Information

233 Allen Bldg, West Campus, Durham, NC 27708-0103
Box 90103, Durham, NC 27708-0103
tboat@duke.edu (919) 684-3189
Academia.edu page

Background
Education, Training, & Certifications
- Ph.D., University of Michigan, Ann Arbor 1980
- M.A., University of Michigan, Ann Arbor 1975
- B.A., Stanford University 1973
Previous Appointments & Affiliations
- Professor of Classical Studies, Classical Studies, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences 1995 - 2020
- Professor in the Department of History, History, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences 2014 - 2020
- Director of Undergraduate Studies in Classical Studies, Classical Studies, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences 2019 - 2020
- Chair of the Department of Classical Studies, Classical Studies, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences 2014 - 2017
- Interim Chair, Classical Studies, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences 2010 - 2011
- Professor of History, History, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences 2005 - 2010
- Chair, Classical Studies, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences 1996 - 1999
- Associate Professor with Tenure, Classical Studies, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences 1985 - 1995
- Assistant Professor, Classical Studies, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences 1979 - 1985
Leadership & Clinical Positions at Duke
- Department Chair 2014-17; Interim Chair 2010-11; Chair 1996-99.
Academic Positions Outside Duke
- A. W. Mellon Professor in-Charge, Intercollegiate Center for Classical Studies in Rome . 1992 - 1993
Recognition
In the News
- JUL 27, 2015 the News & Observer
  
  Ancient Rome and Confederate Monuments
- JUL 24, 2015 The News & Observer
  
  Mary Boatwright: What ancient Romans can teach us about Confederate monuments
Awards & Honors
Expertise
Subject Headings
Global Scholarship
- Expertise
- Teaching
  - Italy (Country)
Research
Selected Grants
- 2012 Annual Meeting of the Association of Ancient Historians, Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill, May 3-6, 2012 awarded by Josiah Charles Trent Memorial Foundation 2012
Fellowships, Supported Research, & Other Grants
- Resident awarded by American Academy in Rome 2021
- Trinity Research Enhancement Award awarded by Duke University 2018 - 2019
- NEH Summer Stipend awarded by National Endowment for the Humanities 2002
- National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship for University Teachers awarded by National Endowment for the Humanities 1995 - 1996
- Gildersleeve Prize awarded by American Journal of Philology 1992
- Borso di Studio awarded by Università per Stranieri, Perugia, Italy 1974
Publications & Artistic Works
Selected Publications
- Books
 - Boatwright, M. T. (2021). The Imperial Women of Rome: Power, Gender, Example, Context. Oxford University Press.
 - Boatwright, M. T., Maas, M., & Smith, C. (Eds.). (2015). History of the ICCS: The First Fifty Years (1965-2015). Centro Press.
 Link to Item
 - Boatwright, M. T., Gargola, D., Lenski, N., & Talbert, R. J. A. (2013). A Brief History of the Romans. Oxford University Press.
 - Boatwright, M. T. (2012). Peoples of the Roman World. Cambridge University Press.
 - Boatwright, M. T., Gargola, D. J., Lenski, N., & Talbert, R. J. A. (2011). The Romans From Village to Empire: A History of Rome from Earliest Times to the End of the Western Empire. Oxford University Press.
 - Boatwright, M. T., Gargola, D. J., & Talbert, R. J. A. (2005). A Brief History of The Romans. Oxford University Press.
 - Boatwright, M. T., Gargola, D. J., & Talbert, R. J. A. (2004). The Romans: From Village to Empire. Oxford University Press.
 - Boatwright, M. T. (2000). Hadrian and the Cities of the Roman Empire. Princeton University Press.
 - Boatwright, M. T., & Evans, H. B. (Eds.). (2000). The Shapes of City Life in Rome and Pompeii. New Rochelle, NY: Caratzas.
 - Boatwright, M. T. (1987). Hadrian and the City of Rome. Princeton University Press.
- Academic Articles
 - Boatwright, M. T. (2021). INSCRIPTIONS FROM ANCIENT LATIUM - (H.) Solin (ed.) Studi storico-epigrafici sul Lazio antico II. (Commentationes Humanarum Litterarum 137.) Pp. viii + 168, b/w & colour ills. Helsinki: The Finnish Society of Sciences and Letters, 2019. Paper, €20. ISBN: 978-951-653-434-6. The Classical Review, 71(2), 516–518. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0009840x21002006
 Full Text
 - Boatwright, M. T. (2020). What would agrippina do? Transactions of the American Philological Association, 150(2), 253–261. https://doi.org/10.1353/apa.2020.0009
 Full Text Open Access Copy
 - Boatwright, M. T. (2015). Acceptance and Approval: Romans’ Non-Roman Population Transfers, 180 BCE – ca. 70 CE. Phoenix, 29, 122–146.
 - Boatwright, M. T. (2014). Agrippa’s Building Inscriptions. Zeitschrift FüR Papyrologie Und Epigraphik, 189, 255–264.
 Open Access Copy
 - Boatwright, M. T. (2011). Women and Gender in the Forum Romanum. Transactions of the American Philological Association, 141(1), 105–141.
 Open Access Copy
 - Boatwright, M. T. (1992). Matidia the Younger. Echoes De Monde Classique/Classical Views, 26, 19–32.
 - Boatwright, M. T. (1991). Plancia Magna of Perge, and the Roles and Status of Women in Roman Asia Minor, 249–272.
 - Boatwright, M. T. (1991). Imperial Women of the Early Second Century A.C. American Journal of Philology, 112, 513–540.
 - Boatwright, M. T. (1990). Public Architecture in Rome and the Year A.D. 96, 15(1), 67–90.
 - Boatwright, M. T. (1990). Theaters in the Roman Empire. Biblical Archaeologist, 53, 184–192.
 - Boatwright, M. T. (1989). Hadrian and Italian Cities. Chiron, 19, 235–271.
 - Boatwright, M. T. (1988). Caesar’s Second Consulship and the Completion and Date of Bellum Civile. Classical Journal, 84, 31–40.
 - Boatwright, M. T. (1986). The Style of the Laudes Neronis, Chapter 4.1 of Seneca’s Apocolocyntosis. Classical Bulletin, 62, 10–16.
 - Boatwright, M. T. (1986). The Style of the Laudes Neronis, Chapter 4.1 of Seneca’s Apocolocyntosis. Classical Bulletin, 62, 10–16.
 - Boatwright, M. T. (1986). The Pomerial Extension of Augustus. Historia, 35, 13–27.
 - Boatwright, M. T. (1985). The ‘Ara Ditis-Ustrinum of Hadrian’ in the Western Campus Martius, and Other Problematic Roman Ustrina. American Journal of Archaeology, 89, 486–497.
 - Boatwright, M. T. (1984). Tacitus on Claudius and the Pomerium of Rome: Annals 12.23.1-24. Classical Journal, 80, 36–44.
 - Boatwright, M. T. (1983). Further Thoughts on Hadrianic Athens. Hesperia, 52(2), 173–173. https://doi.org/10.2307/147788
 Full Text
- Book Sections
 - Boatwright, M. (2022). “The Missing Familia of Agrippina the Younger”. In W. Eck, F. Santangelo, & K. Vossing (Eds.), Emperor, Army, and Society. Studies of Roman Imperial History for Anthony R. Birley. Habelt.
 - Boatwright, M. T. (2015). Visualizing Empire in Imperial Rome. In L. Brice & D. Slootjes (Eds.), Ancient World Views: Institutions and Geography from the Greco-Roman World (pp. 235–259). Leiden: Brill.
 - Boatwright, M. T. (2013). Hadrian and the Agrippa Inscription of the Pantheon. In T. Opper (Ed.), Hadrian: Art, Politics and Economy (pp. 19–30). London: British Museum.
 - Boatwright, M. T. (2012). The Elogia of the Volusii Saturnini at Lucus Feroniae, and the Education of their Domestic Service. In M. Corbier & J.-P. Guilhembet (Eds.), L’écriture dans la maison romaine (pp. 99–112). de Boccard.
 - Boatwright, M. T. (2010). Antonine Rome: Security in the Homeland. In B. C. Ewald & C. F. Norena (Eds.), The Emperor and Rome: Space, Representation and Ritual (pp. 169–197). New York: Cambridge University Press.
 - Boatwright, M. T. (2010). Children and Parents on the Tombstones of Pannonia. In M. George (Ed.), The Roman Family in the Empire: Rome, Italy and Beyond. New York: Oxford University Press.
 - Boatwright, M. T. (2008). Hadrian. In A. A. Barrett (Ed.), Lives of the Caesars (pp. 155–180). Oxford: Blackwell.
 - Boatwright, M. T. (2008). Tacitus and the Final Rites of Agrippina: Annals 14, 9. In C. Deroux (Ed.), Studies in Latin Literature and Roman History (Vol. XIV, pp. 375–393).
 - Boatwright, M. T. (2003). Trajan Outside Rome: Buildings and Sculptural Commissions in Italian and Provincial Cities. In P. Stadter & L. V. D. Stockt (Eds.), Sage and Emperor (pp. 259–277). Leuven: Leuven University Press.
 - Boatwright, M. T. (2003). Faustina the Younger, Mater Castrorum. In R. Frei-Stolba & A. Biel (Eds.) (pp. 249–268).
 - Boatwright, M. T. (2003). Faustina the Younger, Mater Castrorum. In R. Frei-Stolba, A. Bielman, & O. Blanchi (Eds.), Echo 2: Les femmes antiques entre sphère privée et sphère publique. (pp. 249–268). Bern: Peter Lang.
 - Boatwright, M. T. (2000). Public Architecture in Rome and the Year A.D. 96. In E. Badian (Ed.), The Year A.D. 96: Did It Make a Difference?
 - Boatwright, M. T. (2000). Just Window Dressing? Imperial Women as Architectural Sculpture. In D. E. E. Kleiner & S. B. Matheson (Eds.), I Claudia II (pp. 61–75). Austin: University of Texas Press.
 - Boatwright, M. T. (1998). Luxuriant Gardens and Extravagant Women: The Horti of Rome between Republic and Empire. In M. Cima & E. La Rocca (Eds.), Horti romani. Ideologia e autorappresentazione (pp. 71–82). Rome: L’Erma de Bretschneider.
 - Boatwright, M. T. (1997). Italica and Hadrian’s Urban Benefactions. In A. Caballos & P. Leon (Eds.), talica MMCC: Actas de las Jornadas del 2.200 Aniversario de la Fundación de Itálica. (pp. 115–135). Seville: Consejeria de Cultura.
 - Boatwright, M. T. (1997). The Traianeum in Italica (Spain) and the Library of Hadrian in Athens. In D. Buitron-Oliver (Ed.), The Interpretation of Architectural Sculpture in Greece and Rome (pp. 193–217). Hanover / London: National Gallery of Art, Washington DC.
 - Boatwright, M. T. (1993). The City Gate of Plancia Magna in Perge. In E. D. Ambra (Ed.), Roman Art in Context: An Anthology (pp. 189–207). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
 - Boatwright, M. T. (1991). Plancia Magna of Perge, and the Roles and Status of Women in Roman Asia Minor. In S. B. Pomeroy (Ed.), Women’s History and Ancient History (pp. 249–272). Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press.
 - Boatwright, M. T. (1982). The Lucii Volusii Saturnini and Tacitus. In A. Carandini (Ed.), I Volusii Saturnini: Una famiglia romana della prima età imperiale (pp. 7–16). Bari: De Donato.
- Other Articles
 - Boatwright, M. T. (2015). Monuments and Memory: The Romans and Us. News and Observer.
 Link to Item
 - Boatwright, M. T. (2014). The Antonines. (D. Clayman, Ed.), Oxford Bibliographies in Classics. New York: Oxford University Press.
 Link to Item
 - Boatwright, M. T. (2009). Hadrian in London. American Journal of Archaeology.
 - Boatwright, M. T. (2009). Hadrian. (M. Gagarin, Ed.), Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece and Rome. New York: Oxford University Press.
 - Boatwright, M. T. (2009). Capri. (M. Gagarin, Ed.), Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece and Rome. New York: Oxford University Press.
 - Boatwright, M. T. (2009). Review of the British Museum exhibition Hadrian: Empire and Conflict. American Journal of Archaeology.
- Book Reviews
 - Boatwright, M. T. (2015). JULIA DOMNA - J. Langford Maternal Megalomania. Julia Domna and the Imperial Politics of Motherhood. Pp. xiv + 203, ills. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2013. Cased, £28.50, US$55. ISBN: 978-1-4214-0847-7. The Classical Review. Cambridge University Press (CUP). https://doi.org/10.1017/s0009840x14002182
 Full Text
 - Boatwright, M. T. (2013). CARLOS F. NORENA. Imperial Ideals in the Roman West: Representation, Circulation, Power. The American Historical Review. Oxford University Press (OUP). https://doi.org/10.1093/ahr/118.1.233
 Full Text
 - Boatwright, M. T. (2009). The Roman Triumph. By Mary Beard. (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2007. Pp. 434. $29.95.). The Historian. Informa UK Limited. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6563.2009.00252_40.x
 Full Text
 - Boatwright, M. T. (2004). Review of J. Arce, Memoria de los antepasados: Puesta en escena y desarrollo del elogio fúnebre romano and of J. Edmondson, T. Nogales Basarrate, and W. Trillmich, Imagen y memoria: Monumentos funerarios con retratos en la colonia Augusta Emerita. American Journal of Archaeology.
 - Boatwright, M. T. (2004). Bread and Circuses: Euergetism and Municipal Patronage in Roman Italy (review). American Journal of Philology. Project MUSE. https://doi.org/10.1353/ajp.2004.0013
 Full Text
 - Boatwright, M. T. (2004). Image and memory: Funerary monuments with portrait busts in the Colonia Augusta Emerita. American Journal of Archaeology.
 Link to Item
 - Boatwright, M. T. (2004). Memory of the ancestors: Staging and development of the Roman laudatio-funebris. American Journal of Archaeology.
 Link to Item
 - Boatwright, M. T. (2003). Review of J.H.W.G. Liebeschuetz, Decline and Fall of the Roman City. American Historical Review.
 - Boatwright, M. T. (2000). Review: Temples and Towns in Roman Iberia. The Social and Architectural Dynamics of Sanctuary Designs, from the Third Century B. C. to the Third Century A. D. by William E. Mierse. Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians. University of California Press. https://doi.org/10.2307/991637
 Full Text
 - Boatwright, M. T. (2000). Review of A. R. Birley, Hadrian. The Restless Emperor. Journal of Roman Archaeology.
 - Boatwright, M. T. (2000). Review of W. E. Mierse, Temples and Towns in Roman Iberia. The Social and Architectural Dynamics of Sanctuary Designs, from the Third Century B.C. to the Third Century A.D. Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians.
 - Boatwright, M. T. (1998). Review of A. Grimm, D. Kessler, and H. Meyer, Der Obelisk des Antinoos. American Journal of Archaeology.
 - Boatwright, M. T. (1998). Review of A. Grimm. D. Kessler, and H. Meyer, Der Obelisk des Antinoos. American Journal of Archaeology.
 - Boatwright, M. T. (1995). Review of F. Yegul, Baths and Bathing in Classical Antiquity. Design Book Review.
 - Boatwright, M. T. (1994). Review of D. Willers, Hadrian’s Panhellenisches Programm. Archaologische Beitrage zur Neugestaltung Athens durch Hadrian. Journal of Roman Archaeology.
 - Boatwright, M. T. (1993). Review of O. F. Robinson, Ancient Rome: City Planning and Administration. Classical Outlook.
 - Boatwright, M. T. (1991). S. Martin, The Roman Jurists and the Organization of Private Building in the Late Republic and Early Empire (Collection Latomus CCIV). Brussels: Revue d'Études Latines, 1989. Pp. 157. ISBN 2-87031-144-3. Fr.b.750. Journal of Roman Studies. Cambridge University Press (CUP). https://doi.org/10.2307/300504
 Full Text
 - Boatwright, M. T. (1986). Review: Hadrien et l'architecture romaine by Henri Stierlin. Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians. University of California Press. https://doi.org/10.2307/990211
 Full Text
 - Boatwright, M. T. (1986). Review of K. Christ, The Romans: An Introduction to their History and Civilization. Classical Outlook.
 - Boatwright, M. T. (1986). Review of F. S. Kleiner, The Arch of Nero in Rome. A Study of the Roman Honorary Arch before and under Nero. American Journal of Archaeology.
- Digital Publications
 - Boatwright, M. T. (2010). Review of A. Galimberti, Adriano e l’ideologia del principato.
 - Boatwright, M. T. (2009). New Approaches to Roman Institutional and Political History.
 - Boatwright, M. T. (2009). 'Res bene gestae’: Ricerche di storia urbana su Roma antica in onore di Eva Margareta Steinby.
- Conference Papers
 - Boatwright, M. T. (2016). Imagining Regium Lepidi historically: A Roman town in North Italy (In preparation). In M. Forte (Ed.). Presented at the Regium@Lepidi 2200. Archeologia a confronto per la ricostruzione della città Romana.
- Theses and Dissertations
 - Boatwright, M. T. (1980). Tacitus and the Wealth, Enrichment, and Impoverishment of the Roman Upper Class. (J. H. D’Arms, Ed.). Presented at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
Teaching & Mentoring
Recent Courses
- CLST 493: Research Independent Study 2023
- CLST 491: Independent Study 2022
Advising & Mentoring
- I am the dissertation advisor of Courtney Monahan, “Women’s Public Visibility and Civic Identity in Hispania Tarraconensis” and of Adrian Linden-High, “Slaves and Ex-Slaves in the Roman Military Community under the Principate” (both Duke CLST). I am on the dissertation committee of Lindsay Holman (PhD, UNC-History), “Herzog's Roman Tesserae: Their Nature and Purpose Revisited,” and of M. Naglak (PhD, Univ. of Michigan), "The Rhythm of the Forum: A Reconsideration of Piazza Spaces in Roman Italy."
  I am advising Gretchen Write, who is writing a 2019-20 Senior Honors Thesis on print editions of Suetonius' Lives of the Caesars.
Scholarly, Clinical, & Service Activities
Presentations & Appearances
Service to the Profession

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Education, Training, & Certifications

Previous Appointments & Affiliations

Leadership & Clinical Positions at Duke

Academic Positions Outside Duke

In the News

Awards & Honors

Subject Headings

Global Scholarship

Expertise

Teaching

Selected Grants

Fellowships, Supported Research, & Other Grants

Selected Publications

Books

Academic Articles

Book Sections

Other Articles

Book Reviews

Digital Publications

Conference Papers

Theses and Dissertations

Recent Courses

Advising & Mentoring

Presentations & Appearances

Service to the Profession