John-Mark Philo

I'm a Leverhulme Early Career Fellow at the University of East Anglia. My research focuses on the reception of Roman history in the early modern period, from debates over the rights of women to verse translations of Tacitus into Middle Scots.

The Livy project -- 'An Ocean Untouched and Untried: Translating Livy in the Sixteenth Century' -- examined the cultural, political, and social implications of Livy's reception in the British Isles, and uncovered a new source for Shakespeare's Macbeth.

My current project -- 'Tacitus before Tacitism' -- examines the earliest reception of Tacitus, including how his style of historiography shaped early modern depictions of William Wallace and Robert the Bruce.

This research on Roman history and the British Isles has been published in Renaissance Quarterly, The Review of English Studies, and The Scottish Literary Review and has been covered in some detail by the national and international press.