Emily "Sal" Salamanca
Email: emilycs@princeton.edu
I am a current Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Politics at Princeton University. I specialize in ancient political thought and its reception. My dissertation, Legitimizing Luxury: Sumptuary Laws and Democratic Aesthetics in Athens, Rome, and Venice, explores how sumptuary laws were employed to reconcile economic inequality with democratic values and, in doing so, further marginalized oppressed non-citizen groups.
Beyond this, my work delves into elite political strategies, the role of legal legitimacy in governance, and how wealth inequality intersects with legal and social frameworks. In pursuing these inquiries, I work to bridge ancient and modern political theory to better understand the dynamics of democratic self-rule. My additional research projects have included investigations of the rehabilitative effects of temporary political exclusion in Athens and Rome, revolutionary rhetoric in Renaissance Florence, and concepts of political legitimacy in Roman republican rhetoric.My research has been supported by the University Center for Human Values.
Before coming to Princeton, I received my dual B.A. in Political Science and Italian Studies from the University of Chicago.
I am originally from Lexington, Kentucky. My other interests include historical linguistics, etymology, as well as art history and I am an inveterate language learner (especially Italian, Latin, Ancient Greek, and Korean)!