Roman Literary Culture: From Cicero to Apuleius (Ancient Society and History)

By Elaine Fantham and Professor Elaine Fantham

Book Overview

Scholars of ancient literature have often focused on the works and lives of major authors rather than on such questions as how these works were produced and who read them. This discussion seeks to fill this void by examining the changing social and historical context of literary production in ancient Rome and its empire. Fantham explores the habits of Roman readers and developments in their means of access to literature, from booksellers and copyists to pirated publications and libraries. She examines the issues of patronage and the utility of literature and shows how the constraints of the physical object itself - the ancient book - influenced the practice of both reading and writing. She also analyzes the ways in which ancient criticism and critical attitudes reflected cultural assumptions of the time.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0801862019
• ISBN13: 9780801862014
• Release Date: April 1999
• Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press
• Length: 352 Pages
• Weight: 1.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.5" x 0.8" x 5.5"