Dr Laura Losito

Tutor
Classics

About

My research focuses on ancient epistolography, with particular emphasis on Ciceronian epistolography. I explore the literary artistry, political rhetoric, and editorial construction of Cicero's letters, examining how ancient letter collections were consciously shaped into coherent narratives. While I cherish the traditional tools of philological analysis - the patient unraveling of manuscript traditions, the forensic examination of textual variants - I remain thoughtfully curious about how digital tools might offer new lenses for viewing these ancient texts.

My AHRC-funded PhD (Durham University) produced an experimental commentary on Cicero’s Ad Familiares Book 5 (forthcoming), challenging the traditional view of the collection as a haphazard compilation. Instead, I argue for its deliberate structure, demonstrating how the ancient editor crafted a meaningful macro-narrative that offers deeper insights into Cicero’s political world. My work emphasizes the importance of preserving manuscript order to fully appreciate the letters’ rhetorical and historical significance.

I have developed these ideas in publications such as my 2024 article on Ad Quintum fratrem (The Classical Quarterly) and an invited contribution on intentional narratives in the Ad Familiares (forthcoming). My research has been presented at international conferences in Edinburgh, Coimbra, Bari, New Orleans, and Melbourne, supported by competitive funding from the AHRC through the Northern Bridge Consortium.

Beyond my own research, I contribute to scholarly dialogue as a peer reviewer (Journal of Epigraphic Studies) and through critical reviews of recent work on ancient letters (BMCRSehepunkte, Gnomon).

Career Highlights

Research

 

Papers

  • Losito, L. (2024) ‘The narratives of Cicero’s ad Quintum Fratrem: career, republic and the ad Atticum’, The Classical Quarterly. Published online 2024: 1-19. doi:10.1017/S0009838824000181

  • Cammoranesi, S. and Losito, L. (accepted for publication) ‘Without order or narrative? The case of Cicero’s Ad Familiares’, R. Gibson, R. Kirstein and A. Abele, Classical Continuum (Open-Access)

Reviews

  • Henning Ohst: Die Epistulae ad familiares des Kaisers Augustus. Studien zur Textgeschichte in der Antike, Edition und Kommentar, Berlin: de Gruyter 2023, in: sehepunkte 24 (2024), Nr. 2 [15.02.2024], URL: https://www.sehepunkte.de/2024/02/38704.html
  • Thomas Späth, Gesellschaft im Brief: Ciceros Korrespondenz und die Sozialgeschichte. Collegium Beatus Rhenanus, 9. Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag, 2021. Pp. 430. ISBN 9783515130950 (https://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2023/2023.07.06/)
Award Highlights