Catherine E Steel

Professor Catherine E Steel is a distinguished scholar in the Department of Classics at the University of Glasgow, where she has taught and researched since 1999. Her academic journey began with a Classics degree from Oxford University, earning her BA in 1995 and PhD in 1999. As Professor of Classics, she has established herself as a leading historian of Rome with particular expertise in Republican political history and oratory.

• European Research Council Starting Grant recipient (2012-2017) for 'The Fragments of Republican Roman Orators'
• British Academy Mid-Career Fellow (2011-2012) for 'SPQR: the Roman Republican Senate in the 21st century'
• Secretary of the Council of University Classical Departments (2012-2017)
• Editorial board member of the Journal of Roman Studies (2008-2017)

Steel's research focuses on the intricate relationship between individual and collective action within Roman institutional frameworks. Her work spans Cicero's speeches, non-Ciceronian Republican orators, the Roman Senate's institutional history, and cultural memory in public speech. She approaches Roman political history through the lens of rhetoric, examining how speech shaped political structures and vice versa. Her scholarship reveals how Republican political culture evolved through crises, particularly examining the transition from Republic to Empire.

Her extensive publication record demonstrates consistent scholarly output across multiple subfields of Roman studies. Steel's work shows particular strength in analyzing political oratory as both reflection and driver of institutional change. She has made significant contributions to understanding the Roman Senate's operations, electoral practices, and the role of rhetoric in political conflict resolution.

• European Research Council Starting Grant (2012-2017)
• British Academy Mid-Career Fellowship (2011-2012)
• HEA HCA Subject Centre Directorship (2010-2011)
• Carnegie Trust Grant (2009)

Professor Steel actively supervises doctoral research on Roman political history, Cicero, Roman oratory, and related fields. Her supervision portfolio includes projects on Cicero and the Just War tradition, rhetoric's role in Roman law formation, Severan monarchy, and Trajanic monumentality. She has served on grant committees including the Irish Research Council Postdoctoral Fellowships Outer Board and contributed to professional societies including the Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies. Her international recognition is evidenced by prestigious invitations such as the 2016 Prentice Lecture at Princeton University and the 2014 Rothman Lecture at the University of Florida.