Cynthia Liu, Emeline Hill Richardson Rome Prize in ancient studies, is Lecturer at the Department of Classics, University of Oxford. While at the Academy (September 2025–June 2026), her research will explore the interactions between the Greco- Roman and Chinese “classical” canons, expanding Neo-Latin studies to East Asia, demonstrating the value of the corpus of Sino-Latin texts in research on global antiquities, non-European Neo-Latin, and the afterlife of “classical canons.” Ahead of the release of her latest book in November 2025, Cynthia shared some early thoughts about her time at the Academy.
What is your most surprising discovery since arriving at the Academy?
I have been surprised at how valuable I have come to find time to be. To be able to hold extended trains of thought, to have mental space to let readings and understandings mature is a real treasure and one I am endlessly grateful to have at the Academy.
How have your interactions with this year’s fellows and residents influenced your work or changed your perspective?
Conversations with other fellows and residents at the Academy have pushed me to think about the broader implications and impacts of my research and the way I do my research. A lot of academic work can be quite lonely and isolating, so to be able to talk and build collaborations with scholars outside of my own discipline and artists who work in more public-facing spheres has encouraged me to think more expansively about the role of scholarship in the world.
Where have you most liked working within the Academy?
The Cortile, at a small table under the arch closest to the bar, is my happy place in the Academy. Having a cappuccino, a small chat with Gabri the barista, and listening to the fountain and shockingly green parakeets has been the most wonderful setting to get my reading and writing done.
What have you seen in the city of Rome that has made a strong impression on you?
The Basilica of San Clemente has always been the icon of Rome in my mind, since the first time I saw it in 2015 on my very first visit to Rome, as part of an undergraduate study abroad program which was led, in fact, by Alden Smith, my co- author of ourbook, The Chrysis of Enea Silvio Piccolomini, which is coming out in a few days.
The church is a layered snapshot of Rome’s existence across time: a 12thcentury church above a 4thcentury church above a 2ndcentury mithraeum, built on the remains of a Roman Republican-era house. Rome is a place where time visually both extends itself and collapses on itself, and it was here that the idea to write a critical edition on Piccolomini’s play first came to me, ten years ago, and where I first began to think about the transmission and transformation of ancient literature across time and space.
***
Co-authored with Alden Smith, Cynthia new book, The Chrysis of Enea Silvio Piccolomini which offers an accessible translation and detailed commentary of Piccolomini's only comedy, is out on November 13, 2025.