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"To teach correct Latin and to explain the poets" were the two standard duties of Roman teachers. Not only was a command of literary Latin a prerequisite for political and social advancement, but a sense of Latin's history and importance contributed to the Romans' understanding of their own cultural identity. Put plainly, philology — the study of language and texts — was important at Rome.
Critics, Compilers, and Commentators is the first comprehensive introduction to the history, forms, and texts of Roman philology. James Zetzel traces the changing role and status of Latin as revealed in the ways it was explained and taught by the Romans themselves. In addition, he provides a descriptive bibliography of hundreds of scholarly texts from antiquity, listing editions, translations, and secondary literature. Recovering a neglected but crucial area of Roman intellectual life, this book will be an essential resource for students of Roman literature and intellectual history, medievalists, and historians of education and language science.
Table of Contents
Preface
List of Abbreviations
Part I: A Short History of Roman Scholarship
Chapter 1: The Face of Learning
Chapter 2: The Origins of Roman Grammar
Chapter 3: Word and World: Varro and his Contemporaries
Chapter 4: Past and Present: From Caecilius Epirota to Valerius Probus
Chapter 5: Finding the Right Word
Chapter 6: Dictionaries, Glossaries, Encyclopedias
Chapter 7: Commentary and Exegesis
Chapter 8: Grammar and Grammarians
Chapter 9: Author, Audience, Text
Chapter 10: Dictionaries and Encyclopedias
Chapter 11: Commentaries
Chapter 12: Grammars and Other Forms of Erudition
Chapter 13: Early Medieval Grammars
List of Works Cited
Indices
Manuscripts
General
Description
"To teach correct Latin and to explain the poets" were the two standard duties of Roman teachers. Not only was a command of literary Latin a prerequisite for political and social advancement, but a sense of Latin's history and importance contributed to the Romans' understanding of their own cultural identity. Put plainly, philology — the study of language and texts — was important at Rome.
Critics, Compilers, and Commentators is the first comprehensive introduction to the history, forms, and texts of Roman philology. James Zetzel traces the changing role and status of Latin as revealed in the ways it was explained and taught by the Romans themselves. In addition, he provides a descriptive bibliography of hundreds of scholarly texts from antiquity, listing editions, translations, and secondary literature. Recovering a neglected but crucial area of Roman intellectual life, this book will be an essential resource for students of Roman literature and intellectual history, medievalists, and historians of education and language science.
