A collection of Latin verse, translated into English, of the second to the fifth centuries A.D. from all parts of the Roman Empire and beyond: Italy, Spain, Carthage, Gaul, Ireland. There is a wide variety of themes: pastoral, mythological, Christian philosophical, aristocratic life and customs, the sacking of Rome by the Visigoths and regrets at the passing of the Empire. Running through all this is the theme of the fall of Rome, both literally in the destruction of the city, and generally in its gradual decline as cultural and political world centre.
Offers a broad range of texts spanning six centuries of imperial Roman history—Volume II of Empire of the Romans, from Julius Caesar to Justinian Empire of the Romans: From Julius Caesar to Justinian: Six Hundred Years of Peace and War, Volume II: Select Anthology is a compendium of texts that trace the main historical changes of the empire over six hundred years, from the death of Julius Caesar to the late Middle Ages. The second volume of Empire of the Romans, from Julius Caesar to Justinian, this anthology balances literary texts with other documentary, legal, and epigraphic sources. Acclaimed author John Matthews presents texts that reflect individual, first-person experiences rather than those from historians outside of the time periods of which they write. Each selection includes an introduction, annotations on points of interest, author commentary, and suggestions for further reading. Excerpts are organized thematically to help readers understand their meaning without requiring an extensive knowledge of context. Six sections—running in parallel to the structure and content to Volume I—explore the topics such as the building of the empire, Pax Romana, the new empire of Diocletian and Constantine, and barbarian invasions and the fall of the Western Empire. Selected texts span a wide array of subjects ranging from political discourse and Roman law, to firsthand accounts of battle and military service, to the civic life and entertainment of ordinary citizens. This volume: Covers a vast chronological and topical range Includes introductory essays to each selected text to explain key points, present problems of interpretation, and guides readers to further literature Balances the different categories and languages of original texts Enables easy cross-reference to Volume I Minimizes the use of technical language in favor of plain-English forms Whether used as a freestanding work or as a complement to Volume I, the Select Anthology is an ideal resource for students in Roman history survey courses as well as interested general readers seeking a wide-ranging collection of readings on the subject.
Martha Malamud provides the only scholarly English translation of De Reditu Suo with significant notes and commentary that explore historical, literary, cultural, and mythical references, as well as commenting on literary allusions, the structure, diction, and style of the poem, and textual issues. De Reditu Suo provides fascinating insights into travel and communications networks in the rapidly changing, fragmented world of the fifth century. A substantial introductory essay explores Rutilius’ place in several intellectual and literary traditions, as the poem is a sophisticated piece of literature that both draws on the rich tradition of classical Latin poetry and reflects the distinctive formal features of late antique poetry. The poem also conveys the thoughts of a man passionately devoted to Rome and its cultural heritage, enmeshed in the tumultuous political and social upheaval of his day, caught between his hopes for Rome’s restoration and his fear of its disintegration. With line-for-line translation from the Latin and a scholarly introduction, extensive notes, and comprehensive bibliography, Martha Malamud makes this important text accessible and relevant for students and scholars in Classics, Comparative Literature, Religious Studies, Medieval Studies, and Ancient History, as well as independent readers with an interest in the literature of the period.
Based on the major primary sources of Roman history, this book recalls the experiences of the ancient Romans through a thousand years of their history.
First published in 1979, Texts and Contexts identifies those classics of Roman literature which deserve to survive because of their intrinsic quality and their lasting significance. The most important of these texts are placed in the context of the tradition which each represents and which each group of texts, taken together, constitutes. Four main streams of tradition are identified: the poet as storyteller (narrative poetry and drama), the poet as teacher (didactic poetry), the poet as himself (personal poetry and the poetry of social comment), and Roman literary prose. Each major text is presented in the form of one or more passages of substantial length for analysis in detail and comparison with related works. The translations used include leading literary translations since the sixteenth century. The result is a history of Roman literature in which the emphasis is laid on the quality of the text discussed rather than on comprehensiveness of treatment, and on organic relationships rather than chronology. This book is the result of thirty years of teaching experience by the author and his conviction that existing books on the same subject are inadequate and misleading. It will be of particular interest to students taking classical literature and translation courses, to students of English literature and anyone who is interested in literature, even without a knowledge of Latin.
This well-documented study of the Roman army provides a crucial aid to understanding the Roman Empire in economic, social and political terms. Employing numerous examples, Brian Campbell explores the development of the Roman army and the expansion of the Roman Empire from 31 BC-280 AD.When Augustus established a permanent, professional army, this implied a role for the Emperor as a military leader. Warfare and Society in Imperial Rome examines this personal association between army and emperor, and argues that the Emperor's position as commander remained much the same for the next.
Arabs have traditionally considered classical Arabic poetry, together with the Qur'an, as one of their supreme cultural accomplishments. Taking a comparatist approach, Jaroslav Stetkevych attempts in this book to integrate the classical Arabic lyric into an enlarged understanding of lyric poetry as a genre. Stetkevych concentrates on the "places of lost bliss" that furnish the dominant motif in the lyric-elegiac opening section (nasib) of the classic Arab code, or qusidah. In defining the Arabic lyrical genre, he shows how pre-Islamic lamentations over abandoned campsites evolved, in Arabo-Islamic mystical poetry, into expressions of spiritual nostalgia. Stetkevych also draws intriguing parallels between the highlands of Najd in Arabic poetry and Arcadia in the European tradition. He concludes by exploring the degree to which the pastoral-paradisiacal archetype of the nasib pervades Arabic literary perception, from the pre-Islamic ode through the Thousand and One Nights and later texts. Enhanced by Stetkevych's sensitive translations of all the Arabic texts discussed, The Zephyrs of Najd brings the classical Arabic ode fully into the purview of contemporary literary and critical discourse.
The sixth-century bishop Gregory of Tours described how mixing water with dust from the tomb St. Martin would create a potion that would act as a "celestial purgative." Indeed, Gregory could observe Christians being purged of sickness and sin all around him. By contrast, God's willingness to purge Christians of their sin after death was a more complicated proposition. As a process hidden from view, it raised questions: What was purgatory like? Who would experience it? Did purgatory purify souls, punish them, or both? And how painful would it be? This book explores purgatory's earliest history from the first century to the eighth. This was an era in which the idea that sinful Christians might improve their lot after death was often contentious, even heretical. In this, the first study focused on purgatory's history in late antiquity, Moreira explores a wide variety of interests and influences at play in purgatory's early formation. Some of the influences discussed are ideas about punishment and correction in the Roman world, slavery, the value of medical purges at the shrines of saints, and the authority of visions of the afterlife for informing Christians on the hereafter. Finally, this study challenges the deeply ingrained supposition that purgatory was a symptom of barbarized Christianity. It assesses the extent to which Irish and Germanic views of society, and the sources associated with them - penitentials and legal tariffs - played a role in purgatory's formation. Highlighting the importance of the Anglo-Saxon contribution to purgatory, special attention is given to the writings of the last patristic author of antiquity, the Northumbrian monk, Bede.
