Rate My Professor Roberta Stewart

Roberta Stewart serves as Professor of Classical Studies and Chair of the Department of Classics at Dartmouth College, where she is also affiliated faculty in History and Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, and associated faculty in Comparative Literature. She earned a B.A. with high distinction in Latin from the University of Michigan in 1979, attended the American School of Classical Studies at Athens in 1982-1983, and obtained her Ph.D. in Classical Studies from Duke University in 1987, with a dissertation on praetors and quaestors in Republican Rome. Stewart's career at Dartmouth spans over three decades, beginning as Assistant Professor from 1990 to 1996, advancing to Associate Professor from 1996 to 2012, and becoming full Professor in 2012. She previously taught as Visiting Assistant Professor at Union College (1989-1990) and Instructor at Duke University (1982-1988). As department chair from 2012 to 2015 and currently, she has shaped the curriculum and faculty development in classics.

Her research specializations encompass Roman history, literature, and culture; comparative slavery; Roman coins; Roman women; Roman priesthood and the holy; as well as Greek and Latin literature and ancient religion. Stewart has published two monographs: Public Office in Early Rome: Ritual Procedure and Political Practice (University of Michigan Press, 1998; paperback 2010) and Plautus and Roman Slavery (Wiley-Blackwell, 2012). Notable articles include “Seeing Fotis: Slavery and Gender in Apuleius' Metamorphoses” (Classical Antiquity 42, 2023), which earned her the 2024 Barbara McManus Award for Outstanding Scholarship from the Women’s Classical Caucus, “Gender, Class, and Slavery in Plautus’ Rudens in 1884 St. Louis” (Classical Journal 119, 2024), and “Seeing Caesar’s Symbols: Religious Implements on the Coins of Julius Caesar and His Successors” (2019). She has contributed lexicographical entries to the Thesaurus Linguae Latinae and chapters on Roman allotment, slave labor in Plautus, and more. Stewart's accolades include National Lecturer for the Archaeological Institute of America (2024-2025), NEH Research Fellowship (2003-2004), Outreach Prize from the Society for Classical Studies (2017), and fellowships from the American Numismatic Society and others. Beyond scholarship, she pioneered a Homer reading group for combat veterans in 2003, now national in scope, fostering dialogue between ancient texts and modern war experiences. Her innovative teaching, such as courses on Roman coins and slaves' history of Rome, and digital projects like coin databases, underscore her impact on classical studies pedagogy and interdisciplinary outreach.