The Cambridge Companion to the Writings of Julius Caesar
The Cambridge Companion to the Writings of Julius Caesar
Christopher B. Krebs, Stanford University, California
Well-known as a brilliant general and politician, Julius Caesar also played a fundamental role in the formation of the Latin literary language and remains a central figure in the history of Latin literature. With twenty-three chapters written by renowned scholars, this Companion provides an accessible introduction to Caesar as an intellectual along with a scholarly assessment of his multiple literary accomplishments and new insights into their literary value. The Commentarii and Caesar's lost works are presented in their historical and literary context. The various chapters explore their main features, the connection between literature, state religion and politics, Caesar's debt to previous Greek and Latin authors, and his legacy within and outside of Latin literature. The innovative volume will be of great value to all students and scholars of Latin literature and to those seeking a more rounded portrait of the achievements of Julius Caesar.
- Provides an up-to-date, scholarly and accessible assessment of Caesar as writer, linguist, and intellectual, demonstrating his key role in the history of Latin literature
- Considers both his Commentarii and his fragmentary works and explores them in their historical and literary context
- An international team of experts provide multiple views on Caesar's writings, alongside chapters on the contemporary and later reception of his work
Reviews & endorsements
'In sum, this volume serves its purpose commendably: it presents a range of possibilities for approaching Caesar's historical works as literary texts rather than merely as sources of evidence; it engages with Caesar as a literary figure beyond his historical writing with a battery of strong pieces on his fragmentary works; and it situates Caesar and his literary works in the context of the extended Greco-Roman and European tradition. In these ways, this collection succeeds in demonstrating how the 'historiographic turn', which reached Caesar's writings relatively late, has now rehabilitated him as a literary artificer.' Bryn Mawr Classical Review
'Although his contemporaries judged him an excellent orator and writer, Caesar has traditionally received more scholarly attention for what he did than for what he wrote. This book remedies that neglect. Grillo and Krebs have gathered a top-notch group of experts to examine an impressive range of topics connected to the writings of Caesar. The contributions are uniformly informative and well written, and the editors have performed a difficult job with enviable efficiency and acumen. In fewer than 350 pages they give readers much detailed information, judiciously presented and up-to-date with current scholarship, that anyone interested in Caesar will want to read.' Choice
Product details
No date availablePaperback
9781107670495
418 pages
227 × 152 × 21 mm
0.6kg
2 b/w illus.
Table of Contents
- Introduction: Caesarian questions: then, now, hence Luca Grillo and Christopher B. Krebs
- Part I. Literature and Politics:
- 1. Caesar, literature and politics at the end of the Republic Kurt Raaflaub
- 2. The Commentarii in their propagandistic context Christopher B. Krebs
- 3. Caesar constructing Caesar William Batstone
- 4. Priesthoods, gods and stars Jörg Rüpke
- 5. The politics of geography Andrew M. Riggsby
- 6. Nostri and 'the other(s)' Andrew C. Johnston
- Part II. Genre, Rhetoric, Language and Style:
- 7. Genres and generic contaminations in the Commentarii Debra L. Nousek
- 8. Caesar's style Christopher B. Krebs
- 9. Speeches in the Commentarii Luca Grillo
- 10. Wit and irony Anthony Corbeill
- 11. Literary approaches to Caesar Luca Grillo
- Part III. Fragmentary Works:
- 12. Caesar the linguist: the debate about the Latin language Giuseppe Pezzini
- 13. Caesar's orations Henriette van der Blom
- 14. Caesar's poetry in its context Sergio Casali
- 15. Anticato Anthony Corbeill
- 16. The letters of Caesar Ruth Morello
- Part IV. Sources and Nachleben:
- 17. Caesar and Greek historians Luke Pitcher
- 18. Caesar and Roman historiography prior to the Commentarii Martine Chassignet
- 19. The Corpus Caesarianum Jan Felix Gaertner
- 20. Caesar in Livy and Tacitus Christine S. Kraus
- 21. Caesar, Virgil and Lucan Timothy A. Joseph
- 22. Narrating the Gallic and Civil Wars with and beyond Caesar James Thorne
- 23. Writing war with Caesar: the Commentarii's afterlife in military memoirs Hester Schadee.
