Sara Borrello

Project description

This project investigates the roles that young boys (‘pueri’) played in the political elite of the Roman Republic. According to the second century CE antiquarian Gellius (Attic Nights, 10.28), a male individual was a puer (‘boy’) until he turned seventeen. At that point he would become a civis (‘citizen’), equipped to serve the res publica.

The study will frame the political engagement of young boys within a wider context of interactions and competition of the senatorial nobility. It will encompass the period between the Hannibalic War (218BCE) and the establishment of the Principate (27BCE).

I am using a wide range of literary, numismatic, epigraphic, and iconographic evidence. My research will make a distinctive contribution to our understanding of the dynamics of political advancement and demotion in the Roman world.

Research grants

• AHRC Full Studentship (Northern Bridge Consortium) 2017-2020

Awards

• ECOMAP scpa Prize for High Master Degree Grade (academic year 2014/2015)
• ECOMAP scpa Prize for High Average Exam Marks (academic year 2013/2014)

Papers

• Contextualising portraits of Roman boys: the cases of Lepidus and the young Verres, 'PeClA 2019. Visual Culture in the Classical World', Charles University, Prague (December 2019) (Conference Paper)
• Children in Politics. Family Strategies under the Roman Republic, ‘Heirloom, Tales, and Generations: Setting Agendas for Family Histories’, Newcastle University. (May 2019) (Networking Event Presentation)
• Rejuvenating a Roman hero. The portrait of Scipio Africanus as the saviour of his father, ‘Northern Lights Postgraduate Workshop for Ancient History’, The University of Edinburgh. (April 2019) (Conference Paper)
• ‘Beware the Ill-Girt Boy’: Caesar’s Clothing Policy?, ‘AMPAH’. Annual Meeting of Postgraduates in Ancient History, Birkbeck University of London. (March 2018) (Conference paper)
• Moving Matrons: the Case of Servilia, ‘Movement’. 14th Annual Postgraduate Forum Conference, Newcastle University. (May 2017) (Conference paper)
• Servilia tra Cesare e Bruto. Una matrona al tramonto della Repubblica romana. Department of Humanities, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, Italy. (October 2015) (Seminar paper)
• Commémorer le membres de la domus: méthodologie de l’étude des inscriptions funéraires dédiées aux femmes, aux enfants et aux animaux familiers (with P. Maouchi e C. Stevanato). International Conference Épigraphie antique et médiévale en Europe: pratiques et méthodes de jeunes chercheurs, Poitiers University, France. (October 2015) (Conference paper)
• Presentation of Progetto ME-TI (Mediolanum - Tituli). Uno sguardo multimediale alle epigrafi latine di età romana reimpiegate nel centro di Milano, Conference Humanités numériques. Enjeux méthodologiques et pratiques du développement des outils numériques pour l’étude des sociétés antiques et médiévales, Poitiers University, France. (April 2015) (Conference paper)

Other roles

• Durham & Newcastle Workshops Coordinator (2018/2019)
• Teaching Assistant on CAH 2007/2207 (2018/2019)

Publications

• S. Borrello, Enim vocata est mamma. Affettività e appartenenza famigliare nell'epigrafia latina, in “ZPE” 206, 2018. (Academic paper)
• S. Borrello, Prudentissima et diligentissima femina. Servilia, M. Bruti mater, tra Cesariani e Cesaridici, in F. Cenerini – F. Rohr Vio (eds.), Matronae in domo et in re publica agentes. Spazi e occasioni dell’azione femminile nel mondo romano fra tarda repubblica e primo impero, Atti del Convegno Internazionale di Venezia (16-17 ottobre 2014), Trieste, EUT, 2016, pp. 165-191. (Academic paper)
• S. Borrello, Progetto ME-TI (Mediolanum - Tituli). Uno sguardo multimediale alle epigrafi latine di età romana reimpiegate nel centro di Milano, in “Annales de Janua” 4, 2016. (Academic paper)
• S. Borrello, Costruire la memoria: uso e abuso della storia fra tarda repubblica e primo principato. Convegno internazionale: Venezia, Università Ca’ Foscari, 14-15 gennaio 2016, in “Bollettino di studi latini” 46, I, 2016, pp. 345-349. (Conference report)

Qualifications

• Master Degree (Laurea magistrale) in Ancient Civilisations: Literature, History and Archaeology (Ca’ Foscari University of Venice)
• Bachelor Degree (Laurea triennale) in Cultural Heritage Sciences (Catholic University of Milan)