As a double major in history at UVa, I have focused my studies on ancient, particularly Roman, history, which is one of my greatest academic and personal fascinations. I have taken several challenging and comprehensive courses in Roman history under my major advisors, professors Jon Lendon and Elizabeth Meyer, and I recently completed my capstone thesis with the latter on the evoluton of adoption as a political tool over two centuries of the High Roman Empire. My fascination with Roman history springs from its parallels with—and indeed significant contributions to—our modern society, the intense drama and profundity of its key periods and events, and the sheer magnitude and extent to which Roman society ascended and persisted in space, time, and influence. I am interested in all aspects of Roman history, including politics, society, law, economics, and religion, and all periods; however, I am most captivated by the period from ~100 B.C.E to 14 C.E., which witnessed the dramatic fall of the Roman Republic and its transfiguration into the monarchical Roman Empire under the first emperor, Augustus.

And, for the record, I think about the Roman Empire probably 10 or more times a day, on average. Unashamedly.