Harriet Flower

Harriet Flower is the Andrew Fleming West Professor in Classics at Princeton University, specializing in Roman history and culture. She earned her BA in Ancient History and Classical Literature (Greats) from University College, Oxford (1983) and a PhD in Ancient History from the University of Pennsylvania (1993).

Research Focus

• Roman political culture and memory practices
• Republican periodization models
• Religious rituals and iconography
• Material culture analysis (funerary masks, street shrines)
• Elite family dynamics and social prestige

Her recent work examines Roman religious practices at street-level, particularly the role of Lares and serpentine symbolism in community rituals. Earlier research established her as a leading scholar on damnatio memoriae and aristocratic power structures.

Academic Contributions

• Author of six influential monographs
• Recipient of Charles J. Goodwin Award (2018) and Howard T. Behrman Award
• Editor of expanded Cambridge Companion to the Roman Republic (2014)
• Former Head of Mathey College (2010-2018)