Gesine Manuwald

Stephen J. Harrison

Stavros Frangoulidis

Roman plays have been well studied individually (even including fragmentary or spurious ones more recently). However, they have not always been placed into their ‘context’, though plays (just like items in other literary genres) benefit from being seen in context. This edited collection aims to address this issue: it includes 33 contributions by an international team of scholars, discussing single plays or Roman dramatic genres (including comedy, tragedy and praetexta, from both the Republican and imperial periods) in contexts such as the literary tradition, the relationship to works in other literary genres, the historical and social situation, the intellectual background or the later reception. Overall, they offer a rich panorama of the role of Roman drama or individual plays in Roman society and literary history. The insights gained thereby will be of relevance to everyone interested in Roman drama or literature more generally, comparative literature or drama and theatre studies. This contextual approach has the potential of changing the way in which Roman drama is viewed.

Roman Drama and its Contexts

This contribution by Gesine Manuwald provides an introduction to all varieties of ‘Roman comedy’, including primarily fabula palliata (‘New Comedy’, as represented by Plautus and Terence) as well as fabula togata, fabula Atellana, mimus and pantomimus.

Roman Comedy

Stephen Harrison

William M. Barton

Lucy R. Nicholas

Compiled by a team of experts in the field, this volume brings to view an array of Latin texts produced in British universities from c.1500 to 1700. It includes a comprehensive introduction to the production of Neo-Latin and Neo-Greek in the early modern university, the precise circumstances and broader environments that gave rise to it, plus an associated bibliography. 12 high-quality sections, each prefaced by its own short introduction, set forth the Latin (and occasionally Greek) texts and accompanying English translations and notes. Each section provides focused orientation and is arranged in such a way as to ensure the volume's accessibility to scholars and students at all levels of familiarity with Neo-Latin. Passages are taken from documents that were composed in seats of learning across the British Isles, in Oxford, Cambridge, Dublin, Edinburgh and St Andrews, and adduce a wide range of material from orations and disputational theses to collections of occasional verse, correspondence, notebooks and university drama. This anthology as a whole conveys a sense of the extent of Latin's role in the academy and the span of remits in which it was deployed. Far from simply offering a snapshot of discrete projects, the contributions collectively offer insights into the broader culture of the early modern university over an extended period. They engage with the administrative operations of institutions, pedagogical processes and academic approaches, but also high-level disputes and the universities' relationship with the worlds of politics, new science and intellectual developments elsewhere in Europe.

An Anthology of Neo-Latin Literature in British Universities

Gareth Williams

Bobby Xinyue

This book offers the first annotated translation into English of two works of the eminent Venetian humanist, Ermolao Barbaro (1454–93). The Neo-Latin texts are also accompanied by a detailed introduction. The first work, On Celibacy, seeks to justify the contemplative life far from the career path expected of the patrician class, while in contrast the second, On the Office of Ambassador, outlines the conduct expected of the dedicated ambassador of Venice. Barbaro's two works are presented as embodying key contrasts within the much wider 15th-century debate about the claims of the reflective as opposed to the active life. On Celibacy argues for an alternative ideal to Barbaro's grandfather's seminal treatise celebrating marriage, promoting the celibate who proudly renounces civic life in the pursuit of self-discovery and wisdom. Presenting a more secular argument, On the Office of Ambassador revolutionises the role of the ambassador in Venetian politics. On a personal level for their author, these two works also captured the dichotomy in Barbaro's life between his humanist calling of scholarship and his public service to the Republic.

Ermolao Barbaro's On Celibacy and On the Duty of Ambassador

Mark Heerink

Brill’s Companion to Valerius Flaccus is the first English-language survey on all key aspects of this Flavian poet. A team of international specialists offers both an account of the state of the art and new insights.

Brill's Companion to Valerius Flaccus

Quintus Ennius (239-169 BC), widely regarded as the father of Roman literature, was instrumental in creating a new Roman literary identity and inspired major developments in Roman religion, social organization, and popular culture. Brought in 204 to Rome in the entourage of Cato, Ennius took up residence on the Aventine and, fluent in his native Oscan as well as Greek and Latin, became one of the first teachers to introduce Greek learning to Romans through public readings of Greek and Latin texts. Best known for domesticating Greek epic and drama, Ennius also pursued a wide range of literary endeavors and found success in almost all of them. His tragedies were long regarded as classics of the genre, and his Annals gave Roman epic its canonical shape and pioneered many of its most characteristic features. Other works included philosophical works in prose and verse, epigrams, didactic poems, dramas on Roman themes (praetextae), and occasional poetry that informed the later development of satire. This two-volume edition of Ennius, which inaugurates the Loeb series Fragmentary Republican Latin, replaces that of Warmington in Remains of Old Latin, Volume I and offers fresh texts, translations, and annotation that are fully current with modern scholarship. Fragmentary Republican Latin continues with oratory, an important element of Roman life from the earliest times, essential to running public affairs and for advancing individual careers long before it acquired literary dimensions, which happened once orators decided to write up and circulate written versions of their speeches after delivery. Based on the critical edition of Malcovati, this three-volume Loeb edition of Roman Republican oratory begins with Ap. Claudius Caecus (340-273 BC) and with the exceptions of Cato the Elder and Cicero includes all individuals for whom speech-making is attested and for whose speeches quotations, testimonia, or historiographic recreations survive.

Fragmentary Republican Latin

Daniel Hadas

Compiled by a team of international experts, this volume showcases the best of the huge abundance of literature written in Latin in Europe from about 1500 to 1800. A general introduction provides readers with the context they need before diving into the 19 high-quality short Latin extracts and English translations. Together these texts present a rich panorama of the different literary genres, styles and themes that flourished at the time, and include authors such as Erasmus, Buchanan, Leibniz and Newton, along with less well-known writers. From the vast array of material available, a varied and meaningful sample of texts has been carefully curated by the editors of the volume. Passages not only exhibit literary merit or historical importance, but also illustrate the role of the complete texts from which they have been selected in the development of Neo-Latin literature. They reflect the wide range of authors writing in Latin in early modern Europe, as well as the importance of Latin in the history of ideas. As with all volumes in the series, section introductions and accompanying notes on every text provide orientation on the material for students.

An Anthology of European Neo-Latin Literature

Compiled by a team of experts in the field, this volume showcases an array of Latin texts produced in the context of British universities from c.1500 to 1800. It includes a general introduction and bibliography to the Neo-Latin literature produced at universities during these centuries, as well as 12 high-quality Latin extracts with accompanying English translations and notes. Passages are taken from documents composed in Oxford, Cambridge, Dublin, Edinburgh and St Andrews, and include a wide range of material assembled by early modern individuals or by teams of people that might involve scholars, students or both, from orations and commentaries to collections of occasional verse, correspondence, notebooks and university drama. This anthology as a whole conveys a sense of the extent of Latin's role in the academy and the span of activities in which it was deployed. Far from simply offering a snapshot of discrete projects, the contributions collectively offer insights into the broader culture of the academy over this extended period, engaging with the administrative operations of institutions, pedagogical processes and academic approaches, but also high-level disputes and the universities' relationship with the worlds of politics, new science and intellectual developments elsewhere in Europe. Introductions to each section and accompanying notes provide orientation for each of the texts that ensure the volume's accessibility to scholars and students at all levels of familiarity with Neo-Latin.

L. B. T Houghton

This volume offers a wide range of sample passages from literature written in Latin in the British Isles during the period from about 1500 to 1800. It includes a general introduction to and bibliography to the Latin literature of these centuries, as well as Latin texts with English translations, introductions and notes. These texts present a rich panorama of the different literary genres, styles and themes flourishing at the time, illustrating the role of Latin texts in the development of literary genres, the diversity of authors writing in Latin in early modern Britain, and the importance of Latin in contemporary political, religious and scientific debates. The collection, which includes both texts by well-known authors (such as John Milton, Thomas More and George Buchanan) and previously unpublished items, can be used as a point of entry for students at school and university level, but will also be of interest to specialists in a number of academic disciplines.

An Anthology of British Neo-Latin Literature

L. B. T. Houghton

This book considers the story of Nero and Octavia, as told in the pseudo-Senecan Octavia and the works of ancient historiographers, and its reception in (early) modern opera and some related examples of other performative genres. In total the study assembles more than 30 performative texts (including 22 librettos), ranging chronologically from L'incoronazione di Poppea in 1642/43 until the early 20th century, and provides detailed information on all of them. In a close examination of the libretto (and dramatic) texts, the study shows the impact and development of this fascinating story from the beginnings of historical opera onwards. The volume demonstrates the various transformations of the characters of Nero and his wives and of the depiction of their relationship over the centuries, and it looks at the tension between “historical” elements and genre conventions. The book is therefore of relevance to literary scholars as well as to readers interested in the evolution of Nero’s image in present-day media.

Librettos as Transformations of Ancient Sources

Nero in Opera

This, the second volume in the new four-volume edition of the »Tragicorum Romanorum Fragmenta«, contains all known extant fragments of the tragedies of Ennius in the most probable text version, with a comprehensive, structured apparatus reflecting the history of the exegesis and interpretation of the fragments as well as a detailed list of scribal abbreviations and references, indices and concordances. By collecting all possible materials in a single volume the editor has made it possible for Ennius ́ tragedies to be studied in detail in the future.

Ennius

Tragicorum Romanorum Fragmenta. Vol. II

Astrid Voigt

This volume on the three Flavian epic poets (Valerius Flaccus, Statius and Silius Italicus) for the first time critically engages with a unique set-up in Roman literary history: the survival of four epic poems from the same period (Argonautica; Thebaid, Achilleid; Punica). The interactions of these poems with each other and their contemporary context are explored by over 20 experts and emerging scholars. Topics studied include the political dimension of the epics, their use of epic themes and techniques and their intertextual relationship among each other and to predecessors. The recent upsurge of interest in Flavian epic has been focussed on the analysis of individual works. Looking at these poems together now allows the appreciation of their similarities and nuanced differences in the light of their shared position in literary and political history and gives insights into the literary culture of the period. The different approaches and backgrounds of the contributors ensure the presentation of a range of viewpoints. Together they offer new perspectives to the still increasing readership of Flavian epic poetry but also to anyone interested in the epic genre within Roman literature or other cultures more generally.

Flavian Epic Interactions

This volume takes a new approach to Roman drama by looking at comic and tragic plays from the Republican and imperial periods in ‘context’. By presenting a number of case studies and considerations of wider issues, the 33 international contributors explore the role of Roman drama in contexts such as the literary tradition, the relationship to works in other literary genres, the historical and social situation or the intellectual background.

The two-volume edition provides the first comprehensive scholarly commentary on seven central orations from the corpus of Cicero’s Philippics. These orations against Mark Antony are an important testimony to the critical final phase of the Roman Republic. The notes on each speech explain linguistic, literary and historical issues (vol. 2). They are based on a revised Latin text with facing English translation as well as a detailed introduction dealing with problems relevant to the whole corpus (vol. 1).

Edited with Introduction, Translation and Commentary. Volume 1: Introduction, Text and Translation, References and Indexes. Volume 2: Commentary

Cicero, "Philippics" 3-9

The influence of Cicero is everywhere to be found. His rhetorical and philosophical writings have made an inescapable impact on the history of western culture, impressing figures such as Augustine, Jerome, Petrarch, Erasmus, Martin Luther, John Locke, David Hume, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. Despite his wide appeal, until now no study has yet offered a comprehensive overview of 'Cicero' as a character in stage plays in the early modern and modern periods. The first book of its kind to discuss Cicero's reception on stage, it includes works by Ben Jonson (1611, Catiline His Conspiracy), Voltaire (1752, Rome sauvée, ou Catilina), Richard Cumberland (1761, The Banishment of Cicero), Henry Bliss (1847, Cicero, A drama) and, most recently, Mike Poulton (Imperium, adapted from the novels of Robert Harris in 2017). Through a chapter-by-chapter account of each play in turn, every oeuvre is placed in its historical and cultural context; the plots are discussed in relation to the ancient sources. These analyses demonstrate how the presentation and assessment of the figure of Cicero develop over time and how this character is exploited for varying political statements. The wealth of material in this book is vital reading for scholars of Classics, drama and literary studies as well as historians of ideas and of the early modern age.

Gesine Manuwald

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