Robert A. Kaster FBA (born 1948) is an American classicist and retired academic. He was a professor of classics and the Kennedy Foundation Professor of Latin at

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

from 1997 to 2018.

Life

Born in 1948, Robert A. Kaster graduated from

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College ( ) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, Dartmouth is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the America ...

in 1969, then secured an MA and a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

from

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

(in 1971 and 1975 respectively)."Robert A. Kaster: Curriculum Vitae"
(

, September 2022). Retrieved 4 June 2024. Kaster was a

teaching fellow A teaching fellow (sometimes referred to as a TF) is an individual at a higher education institution, including universities, whose work involves teaching and potentially pedagogic research. The work done by teaching fellows can vary significantl ...

in classics at Harvard from 1972 to 1973, then an instructor at

Colby College Colby College is a private liberal arts college in Waterville, Maine, United States. Founded in 1813 as the Maine Literary and Theological Institution, it was renamed Waterville College in 1821. The donations of Christian philanthropist Gardner ...

until 1974. He joined the faculty at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

in 1975 as an assistant professor; promoted to associate professor in 1982 and a full professorship in 1989, Kaster was appointed Avalon Foundation

Distinguished Service Professor Professors in the United States commonly occupy any of several positions of teaching and research within a college or university. In the U.S., the word "professor" is often used to refer to anyone who teaches at a college of university level at ...

in the Humanities at Chicago in 1996. In 1997, he moved to

to take up the positions of professor of classics and Kennedy Foundation Professor of Latin. He retired in 2018, and remains an

emeritus ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". In some c ...

professor at Princeton as of 2024. Kaster's research has focused on "Roman rhetoric, the history of ancient education, Roman ethics, and textual criticism"."Robert Kaster"
''

''. Retrieved 4 June 2024.

Published works

Monographs

* Robert A. Kaster, ''Guardians of Language: The Grammarian and Society in Late Antiquity'', The Transformation of the Classical Heritage, vol. 11 (Los Angeles and London: University of California Press, 1988) * Robert A. Kaster, ''The Tradition of the Text of the ''Aeneid'' in the Ninth Century'', Harvard Dissertations in the Classics (New York: Garland Publishing Inc., 1990) * Robert A. Kaster, ''Studies on the Text of Suetonius' ''De Grammaticis et Rhetoribus, The American Philological Association: American Classical Studies, vol. 28 (Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1992) * Robert A. Kaster, ''Emotion, Restraint, and Community in Ancient Rome'' (New York:

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, 2005) * Robert A. Kaster, ''Studies on the Text of Macrobius' ''Saturnalia, The American Philological Association Monograph Series (New York:

, 2010) * Robert A. Kaster, ''The Appian Way: Ghost Road, Queen of Roads'', Culture Trails (Chicago:

University of Chicago Press The University of Chicago Press is the university press of the University of Chicago, a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. It is the largest and one of the oldest university presses in the United States. It pu ...

, 2012) * Robert A. Kaster, ''Studies on the Text of Suestonius' ''De Uita Caesarum(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016) * Robert A. Kaster, ''Studies on the Text of Seneca's ''De Beneficiis (Oxford:

, 2022)

Edited collections of essays

* Ruth R. Caston; Robert A. Kaster (eds), ''Hope, Joy, and Affection in the Classical World'', Emotions of the Past (New York:

, 2016)

Editions of classical texts

Suetonius Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus (), commonly referred to as Suetonius ( ; – after AD 122), was a Roman historian who wrote during the early Imperial era of the Roman Empire. His most important surviving work is ''De vita Caesarum'', common ...

; Robert A. Kaster (ed.), ''Suetonius: ''De Grammaticis et Rhetoribus (Oxford:

Clarendon Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, 1995) *

Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, orator, writer and Academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises tha ...

; Robert A. Kaster (ed.), ''Cicero: ''Speech on Behalf of Publius Sestius, Clarendon Ancient History (Oxford:

, 2006) * Seneca; Robert A. Kaster (ed.), ''Seneca: Anger, Mercy, Revenge'' (Chicago:

The University of Chicago Press The University of Chicago Press is the university press of the University of Chicago, a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. It is the largest and one of the oldest university presses in the United States. It publishes a wide range ...

, 2010) *

Macrobius Macrobius Ambrosius Theodosius, usually referred to as Macrobius (fl. AD 400), was a Roman provincial who lived during the early fifth century, during late antiquity, the period of time corresponding to the Later Roman Empire, and when Latin was ...

; Robert A. Kaster (ed.), ''Macrobius: '' The Saturnalia, The Loeb Classical Library (Cambridge, MA:

Harvard University Press Harvard University Press (HUP) is an academic publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University. It is a member of the Association of University Presses. Its director since 2017 is George Andreou. The pres ...

, 2011) *

; Robert A. Kaster (ed.), ''Macrobii Ambrosii Theodosii Saturnalia'',

Oxford Classical Texts Oxford Classical Texts (OCT), or Scriptorum Classicorum Bibliotheca Oxoniensis, is a series of books published by Oxford University Press. It contains texts of ancient Greek and Latin literature, such as Homer's ''Odyssey'' and Virgil's ''Aeneid'' ...

(Oxford:

, 2011) *

; Robert A. Kaster (ed.), ''C. Suetoni Tranquilli De Uita Caesarum Libri VIII et De Grammaticis et Rhetoribus Liber'',

(Oxford:

, 2016) *

Servius Servius may refer to: * Servius (praenomen), a personal name during the Roman Republic * Servius the Grammarian (fl. 4th/5th century), Roman Latin grammarian * Servius Asinius Celer (died AD 46), Roman senator * Servius Cornelius Cethegus, Roma ...

; Charles E. Murgia (ed.); Robert A. Kaster (ed.), ''Serviani in Vergili Carmina Commentarii: Commentarii in Aeneidos Libros IX–XII'', Special Publications of the

Society for Classical Studies The Society for Classical Studies (SCS), formerly known as the American Philological Association (APA), is a non-profit North American scholarly organization devoted to all aspects of Greek and Roman civilization founded in 1869. It is the pree ...

(New York:

, 2018) *

; Robert A. Kaster (ed. and trans.), ''Cicero: ''

Brutus Marcus Junius Brutus (; ; 85 BC – 23 October 42 BC) was a Roman politician, orator, and the most famous of the assassins of Julius Caesar. After being adopted by a relative, he used the name Quintus Servilius Caepio Brutus, which was reta ...

'' and ''

Orator An orator, or oratist, is a public speaker, especially one who is eloquent or skilled. Etymology Recorded in English c. 1374, with a meaning of "one who pleads or argues for a cause", from Anglo-French ''oratour'', Old French ''orateur'' (14 ...

(New York:

, 2020) * Lucius Annaeus Seneca; Robert A. Kaster (ed.), ''Lucius Annaeus Seneca: De Beneficiis, De Clementia, Apocolocyntosis'',

(Oxford:

, 2022) * Seneca; Robert A. Kaster (ed.), ''How to Do the Right Thing: An Ancient Guide to Treating People Fairly'', Ancient Wisdom for Modern Readers (Princeton:

Princeton University Press Princeton University Press is an independent publisher with close connections to Princeton University. Its mission is to disseminate scholarship within academia and society at large. The press was founded by Whitney Darrow, with the financial ...

, 2023)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kaster, Robert A. Living people 1948 births American classical scholars Dartmouth College alumni Harvard University alumni University of Chicago faculty Princeton University faculty