Collected Papers on Latin Literature

This book collects twenty-six articles on a wide range of topics in Latin literature by the eminent scholar and former Professor of Latin at Oxford, Robin Nisbet. Some papers address the historical bearing of various literary works--Gallus on Caesar, Virgil and the Gospels, and Ovid in exile--while other papers focus more on issues of style, symbolism, and the poetic address. In articles on prose, Nisbet considers the reader's contribution to the understanding of Cicero's speeches and the use of rhythm to determine the punctuation of Latin sentences. The collection ends with a critique of the current tendency to exaggerate the ambiguities of Roman poetry. Original, stimulating, and at times provocative, these papers represent some of the best in recent Latin scholarship.