Contact
Biography
I was born and raised in Rome, where I learned Latin and Greek in state school and undertook an Undergraduate and Master's Degree at Sapienza - University of Rome. I moved to the UK in 2017 to read for a DPhil in Classical Languages and Literature at the University of Oxford (Magdalen College): my doctoral thesis was devoted to the Hellenistic poet Leonidas of Tarentum, with the long-term aim of producing a complete edition with commentary of his epigrams.
Before coming to Nottingham, I held a Rome Award at the British School at Rome (2021) and an Ernst Mach Worldwide Grant at the University of Vienna (2022), where I was also a visiting scholar at the ERC-funded project MAPPOLA (Mapping out the poetic landscape(s) of the Roman Empire); in 2022, I was a Research Associate at the CSAD (Centre for the Study of Ancient Documents) in Oxford, where I collaborated with the 'CPI - Corpus of Ptolemaic Inscriptions' project. I have joined the Department of Classics and Archaeology in Nottingham in 2022.
Expertise Summary
My main research interest is Greek literature and culture of the Hellenistic and Imperial age. My main project, springing from my doctoral work, is to comment on all the extant epigrams of Leonidas of Tarentum. I am interested in Greek and Latin epigram more generally, including inscribed epigram, as well as epigraphic poetry on the whole, on which I am currently working alongside Leonidas. I am also interested in Greek religion and myth, cross-cultural contact in the Hellenistic and Imperial age, and the Second Sophistic (especially Aelian and Lucian).
Teaching Summary
In 2023/24 I am teaching in the following undergraduate and postgraduate modules:
- Post-Beginners Greek 1
- Intermediate Latin, Advanced Latin and Latin Texts
- Interpreting Ancient Literature
- Greek and Roman Mythology
- Studying Classical Scholarship
My office hours for the Spring Semester (23/24) are:
Wednesday 10-11 (office hour) Wednesday 3-4 (dissertation hour) Thursday 1-2 (feedback hour). My office is in Humanities B42. You are always welcome to drop by during this hours, but it is advisable to send an email in advance to book an appointment.
Recent Publications
MASSIMO, D., 2022. τὸ ἐπικήδειον/epicedium/epicède (Latin/Grec), dictionary entry. In: Dictionnaire de l’épigramme littéraire dans l’antiquité grecque et romaine Brepols. 529-533
MASSIMO, D., 2021. Huntress and Midwife: two aspects of Artemis in Hellenistic Poetry. In: KLOOSTER, J. H., HARDER, M.A., REGTUIT, R.F. and WAKKER, G.C., eds., Women and Power in Hellenistic Poetry Peters. 231-244