Overview
Michael (Mike) Fontaine is Professor of Classics and Director of Cornell’s Program on Freedom and Free Societies. A Latinist with broad interests in ancient Rome and its reception from the Renaissance through the Enlightenment, he writes and teaches about free speech, humor, persuasion, leadership, and human behavior. His latest book, How to Speak Freely: An Ancient Guide to Free Speech and Dissent, combines a new translation of Plato’s Apology with an ancient satire about what happens when leaders promise free speech and someone takes them at their word. His books for general readers also include How to Tell a Joke, How to Drink, How to Grieve, How to Get Over a Breakup, and How to Have Willpower. His work has occasionally escaped the academy altogether—including, somewhat improbably, into a Saturday Night Live sketch. He is currently bringing a forgotten Renaissance comedy back to life; curious readers can follow the story on his Burmeister’s Asinaria project page.
He teaches courses on ancient Rome, Julius Caesar, mythology, humor, wine culture, and Latin literature, and develops executive-education programs for eCornell.
Cornell’s Program on Freedom and Free Societies promotes serious, open discussion of liberty, free inquiry, and the institutions that sustain them. Its lectures and events welcome disagreement, encourage debate, and are open to everyone.
For books, public writing, talks, media, and personal projects, visit michaelfontaine.com
Research Focus
- Latin and Greek literature
- Roman intellectual and cultural history
- Classical reception
- Rhetoric and humor
- Free speech and freedom of inquiry
Publications
For a complete list, click here. Book reviews are here. Popular press writings are here.
Latest Books
11. 2026. Plato. How to Speak Freely: An Ancient Guide to Free Speech and Dissent. Princeton University Press.
12. 2027. Dying for Truth: Four Dialogues by Plato, with Aristophanes’ Clouds. Princeton University Press. Fresh translations of Plato’s Apology, Crito, Euthyphro, and Phaedo, together with Aristophanes’ Clouds, with original commentary.
Current Book Projects
Fontaine is currently developing two book projects.
13. The first draws on Lucian, Celsus, Euripides, Aristophanes, Gorgias, and numerous Latin authors from antiquity through the Renaissance. Its working title is The Art of Bullshit, and the goal is to demonstrate how and why people believe so much of it.
14. The second is an English translation of Claus Gatterer’s Schöne Welt, böse Leut (1965), provisionally titled Nice Place, Awful People: A Childhood in South Tyrol. This remarkable memoir of childhood under Fascism and Nazism combines affection for Gatterer’s Alpine homeland with a penetrating critique of conformity, prejudice, and moral compromise. Fontaine’s aim is to preserve Gatterer’s distinctive ironic voice—by turns humorous, unsparing, and deeply humane—which at times recalls the ancient satirist Lucian.
Latest Articles
- In progress. Quando si dormiva con i pastori: la Valtellina del 1910 raccontata in latino. (When we slept among the shepherds: Valtellina in 1910, recounted in Latin.)
- In progress. Der letzte Lateiner in den Alpen. Carolus Egger und die Entstehung der modernen Alpen. (The Last Latinist in the Alps: Carolus Egger and the Making of the Modern Alps.)
- 2027. Erodoto a Cortina. (Herodotus in Cortina.) Le Dolomiti Bellunesi.
- 2026. Carolus Egger auf der Seiser Alm. Eine lateinische Wanderung wird zum Zeitzeugnis. (Carolus Egger on the Alpe di Siusi: A Latin hike becomes a historical document.) Berge erleben.
- 2026. The Lost Foreskins of Joannes Burmeister.
- 2026. Clueless Strepsiades, Clueless Scribes? Recovering Two Lost Jokes in Aristophanes’ Clouds (234, 380–81). Electryone.
- In press? (2023). “How to Make a Joke Without Getting Cancelled: Plutarch’s Survival Guide to Jesting Safely.” On some passages in Table Talk and Macrobius' Saturnalia.
- In press? (2023). "Humour as a Calculated Risk." For a Cambridge Companion.
Just for Fun
- 2026. Über Geld und Sex: 400 Jahre alte biblische Komödie aufgetaucht. Norddeutscher Rundfunk (radio broadcast in German)
- 2026. Fornication in America: Trump’s Arch, Rome’s Emperors, and the Meaning of Victory. War on the Rocks.
- 2026. Sacrum na sterydach. Wielkie odkrycie w Bibliotece Narodowej. Polityka. Q&A feature on Burmeister's Asinaria (in Polish)
- 2026. Trump: Brutale Kämpfe zum 80. Geburtstag (video in German). Kulturzeit
- 2026. Trump celebrates 80th birthday with an Iran deal and UFC cage fights at the White House. AP.
- 2026. Did Ovid Bury Philippi in a Love Story? (Part 2 of 2) In Medias Res.
- 2026. Was Ovid Really Apolitical? (Part 1 of 2) In Medias Res.
In the news
- Ancient texts offer timely lessons on speaking freely
- How to speak freely examined in eCornell event Oct. 6
- Trump's triumphal arch revives a symbol of empire rule, says Cornell expert
- Back to in-person work? Classics professor offers tips on office humor
- Your September 2025 reads
- Listen to the ancients: Don’t cave to peer pressure, improper requests
- Your July 2024 reads
- In a new book, prof translates ancient advice for the lovelorn
- What to read in 2022? A&S faculty weigh in
- Translation updates Cicero’s treatise on jokes as ‘weapons’
- A 500-year-old book for our time, newly translated
- Einaudi Center awards eight faculty grants
- Professor publishes Placentius’ pugnacious pig poem
- Twitter has become the modern-day Colosseum
- Living language
- Einaudi Center announces grant recipients
- Grants fund 22 Cornell teams, community partners
- Nishii, Fontaine appointed to academic leadership
- Classicist Michael Fontaine examines mental distress in humanities podcast
- A new-old look at mental distress
- Contemporary bard to present ancient Odyssey in music
- Renowned Vatican Latinist joins classics faculty
- Volume in honor of classics professor Fred Ahl released
Courses - Fall 2026
- CLASS 2615 : Introduction to Ancient Rome
- LATIN 3220 : Rapid Reading in Latin
- LATIN 5230 : Rapid Reading in Latin