Classics Professor
Self-contained public lectures, keynote addresses, and research seminars.
Melissa Lane critically examines the protracted decline of Athenian democracy, challenging definitive end dates and analyzing constitutional shifts under Macedonian and Roman influence, including the roles of figures like Demosthenes.
Explore the historical tensions between oligarchic power and popular discontent, drawing insights from ancient Roman and Athenian political structures. Professor Melissa Lane examines models of elite accommodation versus irredentist resistance.
A rigorous examination of ancient Greek and Roman political thought, tracing the evolution of theories on constitutional stability and change from Plato's ideals to Polybius's analysis of Rome's mixed constitution.
An examination of the complex transition from the Roman Republic to the Augustan Principate, critically analyzing the historical narratives and the concept of the Republic's 'fall.'
A scholarly examination of Cicero's life and political thought amidst five defining crises of the Roman Republic, analyzing his role as both philosopher and statesman.
