Monday, September 7, 2026

A Pitzer Classicist Reads the Roman Republic Against This American Moment

Michelle Berenfeld discusses and signs Lessons from a Lost Republic at Vroman’s at 7 p.m. Thursday.

Michelle Berenfeld is the John A. McCarthy Professor of Classics at Pitzer College. Her new book describes nearly five centuries of representative government undone by wealth and power concentrated among elites, political violence, expansionist wars and a Senate that normalized emergency measures. She is at Vroman’s Bookstore, 695 E. Colorado Blvd., at 7 p.m. Thursday.

Lessons from a Lost Republic: What Ancient Rome Can Teach Us about This American Moment came out August 11 and sells for $26 in hardcover at the store.

Berenfeld teaches in the Classics field group at Pitzer, an interdisciplinary and intercollegiate program whose courses are taught by faculty at Pitzer, Scripps, Pomona and Claremont McKenna.

The bookstore lists the evening as an adult event and a book signing. Vroman’s asks that attendees buy the book from the store, which it says makes events like this possible.

Vroman’s is open Sunday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through Thursday from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., and Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. The store closes at 9 p.m. on Thursday. Arrive early.

For more information, call (626) 449-5320.

Michelle Berenfeld discusses and signs Lessons from a Lost Republic: What Ancient Rome Can Teach Us about This American Moment will run on Thursday, September 10 at 7 p.m. Vroman’s Bookstore, 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena. For more information, call (626) 449-5320 or visit https://vromansbookstore.com/event/2026-09-10/michelle-berenfeld.