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Tacitus the Epic Successor: Virgil, Lucan, and the Narrative of Civil War in the Histories: 345 Bilingual Edition
Author(s): Timothy Joseph (Author)
- Publisher: Brill
- Publication Date: 25 July 2012
- Edition: Bilingual
- Language: English
- Print length: 228 pages
- ISBN-10: 9004229043
- ISBN-13: 9789004229044
Book Description
Allusions to the epic poets Virgil and Lucan in the writing of the Roman historian Tacitus (c. 55 – c. 120 C.E.) have long been noted. This monograph argues that Tacitus fashions himself as a rivaling literary successor to these poets; and that the emulative allusions to Virgil’s Aeneid and Lucan’s Bellum Civile in Books 1-3 of his inaugural historiographical work, the Histories, complement and build upon each other, and contribute significantly to the picture of repetitive, escalating civil war in the work. The argument is founded on the close reading of a series of related passages in the Histories, and it also broadens to consider certain narrative techniques and strategies that Tacitus shares with writers of epic.
Editorial Reviews
Review
“T.A. Joseph offers a sophisticated reading of Tacitus’ Histories through the lens of intertextuality. (…) [T]his is a dense, well-thought-out study (…) which will be of interest to scholars and graduate students working not only on Tacitus, but also on Vergil, Lucan, and, more generally, on intertextuality in Latin literature.” Salvador Bartera, Bryn Mawr Classical Review, 2013.05.17.
“
J. offers numerous deft observations which neatly encapsulate the elegance and wit of Tacitus’ Latin (…) The strength of this monograph lies in its close readings.” Rhiannon Ash, The Classical Review 63.2 (2013), pp. 457-459.About the Author
Timothy A. Joseph, Ph.D. (2007) in Classical Philology, Harvard University, is an Assistant Professor of Classics at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts.
