A Commentary on Livy, Books VI-X
A Commentary on Livy, Books VI-X

Author: S. P. Oakley

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2005-08-18

Total Pages: 783

ISBN-13: 0199271437

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Livy's History of Rome is our main source for the study of the history of the early centuries of the Roman Republic. In Book IX Livy narrates the course of the Second Samnite War, one of the most important that Rome fought during its conquest of Italy: the book begins with Livy's celebrated account of the Roman defeat in the Caudine Forks and ends with Roman victory over the Samnites. This commentary discusses all problems posed by Livy's matchless narrative.

Statius and Epic Games
Statius and Epic Games

Author: Helen Lovatt

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2005-04-21

Total Pages: 356

ISBN-13: 9780521847421

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Epic games are more than just an interlude; they reflect the realities of epic: heroism, power and war. This first major study of the athletic games in Statius' Thebaid Book 6 uses them to produce a new reading of the poem as a whole. It explores each event in Statius' games, discussing intertextual manoeuvres, historical context and poetic positioning, developing a theme from each: audience power, cosmic disruption, national identity, masculinity and the body, games and war, kingship and narrative control. This book uses a close reading of one part of one text to range over ancient literature. It casts light on the tradition of games in ancient epic as a whole, examining the works of Homer, Virgil, Apollonius, Ovid and Lucan. It is essential reading for the student of Statius and of ancient epic and of interest to historians of Roman society with an interest in sport and spectacle.