Professor Elliott studies the history of Latin literature from its inception through the classical period, with particular interest in the epic and historiographical traditions of Rome. Her prize-winning book, Ennius and the Architecture of the Annales, explores the genesis of standard accounts of Ennius’s epic poem, Annales. The poem, which has survived only in fragments, had a significant impact on Roman literature and culture. It was the first major epic poem in Latin and dealt with Roman history from mythological times to events in the poet’s lifetime. Professor Elliott examines the ways in which the sources for the Annales determine the standard accounts of the poem and offers an alternative account of the poem’s use of time and the disposition of the gods. She makes the case that the manifest impact of the Annales on the collective Roman psyche resulted from its innovative promotion of a vision of Rome as the primary focus of the cosmos. The author of a number of articles in leading scholarly journals, Professor Elliott has received fellowships from the American Academy at Rome and the Loeb Foundation.
