Thomas A.J. McGinn
2933 Polo Club Road (615) 371-5245 (tel.)
Nashville, TN 37221-4346 (615) 371-1301 (fax)
thomas.a.mcginn@vanderbilt.edu
tommcginn@comcast.net
Special Areas of Interest:
Roman Law and Social History
Education
Harvard College B.A. magna cum laude 1978
Cambridge University M.A. 1980
University of Michigan Ph.D. 1986
Title of Dissertation: Prostitution and Julio-Claudian Legislation: The Formation of
Social Policy in Early Imperial Rome
Teaching Experience
Tutorial in Latin Literature (summer 1981)
Elementary Latin (1981-1982)
Greek and Roman Classical Civilization (1982-1983)
(all at the University of Michigan)
Instructor in Roman History and Classical Sites for
Rhode Island School of Design Rome Program
(summer, fall 1985)
Assistant Director of the Summer School of the American
Academy in Rome, with Gerhard Koeppel (summer 1986)
Assistant Professor, Classical Studies, Vanderbilt University
(fall 1986-fall 1993)
Associate Professor, Classical Studies, Vanderbilt University
(spring 1994-fall 2004)
Associate Professor, Women’s Studies (affiliated), Vanderbilt University
(spring 1995-fall 2004)
Associate Professor, Graduate Department of Religion, Vanderbilt University
(spring 2004-fall 2004)
Professor, Classical Studies, Vanderbilt University
(spring 2005-)
Professor, Women's Studies (affiliated), Vanderbilt University
(spring 2005-)
Professor, Graduate Department of Religion, Vanderbilt University
(spring 2005-)
Courses taught at Vanderbilt include:
Intermediate-level language:
3rd-semester Latin
4th-semester Greek
Upper-level reading courses:
Thucydides
Satire
Roman Comedy
Cicero
Roman Historians
Graduate seminars:
Pliny’s Letters
Sallust
Tacitus
Ovid
Polybius
Greek Orators
Roman Law
Classical Studies courses:
Roman Civilization
Roman History: Empire
Roman Law (Delicts, Family Law)
Women, Sexuality, and the Family in
Ancient Greece and Rome (cross-listed as a Women’s Studies course)
The Roman Family and Household (an undergraduate honors seminar)
Independent Studies:
Cicero, Roman Law (graduate and undergraduate levels), Satire, early Christianity (graduate level),
Roman History (graduate level) , women's studies
Andrew W. Mellon Professor in Charge of the Intercollegiate
Center for Classical Studies in Rome (1996-1997)
Supervised 3 M.A. theses:
John F. Matlock, “The Roman Censorship in the Late Republic and Early Empire”
1989
Richard M. Rothaus, “Augurs and Augury in the Late Roman Empire: A Prosopography and
History” 1989
Joan M. Trimbach, “Paternal Roles in the Letters of Cicero and Pliny”
1995
Supervised 1 M.A. paper:
Mary Jo Maston, “Pliny the Younger’s Self-Image as an Intellectual and Patron of Literature”
2000
Served as a second reader on 1 M.A. thesis and on committees for 5 Ph.D. dissertations.
Supervised first Classics Honors Thesis:
Jason B. Jones, “SPQR: The Honorary Arches of the Roman Forum”
Fall 1998
Supervised a subsequent Classics Honors Thesis:
Amanda Cooper, “Roman Fathers and Sons in Republican and Augustan Times: A Study of
Life, Literature, and Law” 1999-2000
Supervised independent research projects:
Elizabeth Brown, “Widows in Ancient Rome and Modern India”
2000-2001
Meaghan Pomeroy, "How They Were Treated: A Comparison of Roman and Victorian Laws and
Social Practices Regarding Women"
2004-2005
Publications
Books:
1. Prostitution, Sexuality, and the Law in Ancient Rome (Oxford University Press: 1998)
Paperback edition published by Oxford University Press in January 2003
2. A Casebook on Roman Family Law (coauthor with Bruce Frier: Oxford University Press:
October 2003)
3. The Economy of Prostitution in the Roman World: A Study of Social History and the Brothel
(University of Michigan Press: February 2004)
Articles:
Published or in Press:
1. (as co-editor and contributor), Puteoli 9/10 (1985/6) 41-78: Puteolana Analecta: Seven
Inscriptions in the Kelsey Museum
2. Helios 16 (1989) 79-110: The Taxation of Roman Prostitutes
3. Zeitschrift der Savigny-Stiftung für Rechtsgeschichte 107 (1990) 315-353: Ne Serva
Prostituatur: Restrictive Covenants in the Sale of Slaves
4. Transactions of the American Philological Association 121 (1991) 335-374: Concubinage
and the Lex Iulia on Adultery
5. Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik 93 (1992) 273-295: The SC From Larinum and
the Repression of Adultery at Rome (= Il Senatusconsultum di Larino e la repressione
dell’adulterio a Roma, in N. Stelluti ed., Epigrafi di Larino e della bassa Frentania 2
[Campobasso 1997] 691-715).
6. Encyclopedia of Social History (1994) 588-591: Prostitution
7. (with P. Tassini), in S. Panciera ed., Iscrizioni greche e latine del Foro Romano e del
Palatino: Inventario generale, inediti, revisioni (Rome 1996) (Tituli 7) 242-243
8. (with S. Pias), ibid., 254-255
9. Encyclopedia of Early Christianity2 2 (1997) 666-668: Roman Law
10. Classical Journal 93 (1997/8) 241-250: Feminae Probrosae and the Litter
11. Echos du Monde Classique / Classical Views n.s. 17 (1998) 95-107: Caligula’s Brothel on the
Palatine
12. Memoirs of the American Academy in Rome 42 (1997 [1998]) 73-116: The Legal Definition
of Prostitute in Late Antiquity
13. Tijdschrift voor Rechtsgeschiedenis 67 (1999) 57-73: The Social Policy of Emperor
Constantine in Codex Theodosianus 4.6.3
14. Proceedings of the Cambridge Philological Society 47 (2001) 81-102: Satire and the Law:
The Case of Horace
15. in J.-J. Aubert and A.J.B. Sirks eds., Speculum Iuris: Roman Law as a Reflection of
Economic and Social Life (University of Michigan Press 2002) 46-93: The Augustan
Marriage Legislation and Social Practice: Elite Endogamy vs. Male “Marrying Down”
16. Journal of Roman Archaeology (Supplement 47) (2002) 7-46: Pompeian Brothels and Social
History
17. Historia: Zeitschrift für alte Geschichte 53.2 ( 2004) 200-208: Missing Females?:
Augustus’ Encouragement of Marriage Between Freeborn Males and Freedwomen
18. in C. Faraone and L. McClure eds., Prostitutes and Courtesans in the Ancient World
(in press: forthcoming): Zoning Shame in the Roman City
19. The Historical Encyclopedia of Prostitution (forthcoming): Ancient Rome
20. in D.C. Allison, J.D. Crossan, and A.-J. Levine eds., Documenting Jesus (series: Readings in
Religion) (Princeton University Press, forthcoming): The Roman Law of Divorce in the Time of
Christ
21. New Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible (Abingdon Press, forthcoming): Caligula
Review Article:
22. Journal of Roman Archaeology 12 (1999) 617-632: Widows, Orphans, and Social History
(review article on Krause, Witwen und Waisen im römischen Reich I-IV).
Popular:
1. Archaeology Odyssey (January/February 2004) 18-25, 62: How to Find a Brothel in Pompeii
2. Corriere della Serra (August 7, 2004) 29: Nella tana della "lupe" che sostenevano l'Impero:
Dai patrizi ai plebei - un giro d'affari che non conosceva distinzione di classe
Reviews:
1. History: Reviews of New Books 18 (1989) 32-33 (review of Dixon, The Roman Mother)
2. American Historical Review (February 1993) 144-145 (review of Treggiari, Roman Marriage)
3. Journal of Social History (Spring 1993) 653-656 (review of Bradley, Discovering the Roman
Family)
4. History: Reviews of New Books 21 (1993) 133-134 (review of Rawson ed., Marriage,
Divorce and Children in Ancient Rome)
5. History: Reviews of New Books 22 (1994) 137-138 (review of Richlin ed., Pornography and
Representation in Greece and Rome)
6. History: Reviews of New Books 23 (1995) 135-136 (review of Dean-Jones, Women’s Bodies
in Classical Greek Science)
7. American Journal of Philology 117 (1996) 667-670 (review of Garland, The Eye of the
Beholder: Deformity and Disability in the Graeco-Roman World)
8. History: Reviews of New Books 26 (1998) 91 (review of McAuslan and Walcot eds.,
Women in Antiquity)
9. Classical Outlook 75 (1998) 80-82 (review of Robinson, The Criminal Law of Ancient Rome
and Bauman, Crime and Punishment in Ancient Rome)
10. History: Reviews of New Books 26 (1998) 147-148 (review of Thornton, Eros: The Myth of
Ancient Greek Sexuality)
11. Classical Outlook 76 (1999) 155 (review of Gardner, Family and Familia in Roman Law and
Life)
12. Classical Outlook 77 (2000) 165-166 (review of Riggsby, Crime and Community in
Ciceronian Rome)
13. Classical Philology 96.2 (2001) 196-199 (review of Stumpp, Prostitution)
14. Classical Outlook 78 (2001) 178-179 (review of Nathan, The Family in Late Antiquity)
15. Journal of Roman Archaeology 15 (2002) 436-438 (review of DeFelice, Roman Hospitality)
16. Classical Outlook 79.4 (2002) 162-163 (review of Edwards, Suetonius: Lives of the Caesars)
17. American Historical Review (June 2003) 890-891 (review of Nussbaum and Sihvola eds., The
Sleep of Reason)
18. History: Reviews of New Books 32.2 (2004) 73 (review of Peirce, Morality Tales: Law and
Gender in the Ottoman Court of Aintab)
19. New England Classical Journal 32.1 (2005) 51-54 (review of Rosenstein, Rome at War)
