This is the first general study of the earliest writers of Greek prose for students and teachers alike. Looking at history, medicine, science, philosophy and rhetoric, it asks why and how these new genres of writing came about in the fifth and fourth centuries BCE It is thus a study of the cultural and political revolution known as the Greek enlightenment, which has proved so influential and important for modern Western thought and society. Questions discussed include how and why rhetoric played such a role in democracy, how history written in prose changes a view of the past, and how science...

The texts, images and events of the ancient world have been used both as sources of authority and exploitation in politics, culture and society and as icons of resistance and contest. How classical culture is transplanted into new contexts, how texts are translated and performed and how Greek and Roman values are perceived and used continues to be a force in current debates. The main concepts and explanatory frameworks used in the field are introduced through chapters on reception within antiquity and case studies of more recent receptions from Africa, the Caribbean, Europe and the USA. The...

The 'Second Sophistic' is arguably the fastest-growing area in contemporary classical scholarship. This short, accessible account explores the various ways in which modern scholarship has approached one of the most extraordinary literary phenomena of antiquity, the dazzling oratorical culture of the Early Imperial period. Successive chapters deal with historical and cultural background, sophistic performance, technical treatises (including the issue of Atticism and Asianism), the concept of identity, and the wider impact of sophistic performance on major authors of the time, including...

In more recent decades there has been a complete revolution in the way we read the historians of Greece and Rome. Their works have been shown to be quite different in nature from those of today's historians; instead, their techniques and assumptions have much in common with those of Homer or Virgil. Using these narratives as sources for ancient history has become more problematic than ever before, as we come to understand better how their style (the medium) and content (the message) shape each other. This book briefly introduces this revolution as it affects our reading of Latin historical...

In this volume Philip Hardie provides an introduction to Virgil's three major works, a survey of changing critical approaches to the poems during the twentieth century, and a bibliographical guide for further study. A final section on style, language and metre offers a case-study in a close reading of a section of the Aeneid. The book communicates a sense of why reading Virgil matters and how the study of this author is always open to new ideas and fresh insights. No knowledge of Latin is presumed.

Greek Science, first published in 1999, is written for scientists, classicists, historians of science, and anyone with an interest in the beginnings of science. It surveys the range and scope of ancient work on topics now called science, at a lively pace and with colourful examples. It encompasses ancient empirical studies as well as theoretical works, the life sciences and the exact sciences, and is written by one of the foremost authorities on ancient science and technology. No knowledge of Greek, Latin, or ancient history is assumed.

The last forty years have brought about a transformation in the understanding of pagan Roman religion, rescuing it from the margins of the discipline and restoring its rituals and rhythms to their place at the centre of Roman life and literature. This book provides an up-to-date account of the religious history of Rome starting from its mythical origins, describing its character and development through the later Republican centuries and assessing the response of pagans to the coming of new religious forms during the centuries of Roman imperial rule. It places great emphasis on the fundamental...

This survey of recent work on Herodotus, Thucydides, and Polybius focuses on new developments in the study of Greek historiography and synthesises some of the most important research from the last thirty years. There is a detailed treatment of each writer, with an emphasis on analysis of the historians' sources, their narrative methods, and their use of speeches. Also examined are the structure and themes of each man's work, together with consideration of the way each historian employs characterisation. The book provides a full bibliography of recent work done mainly (but not exclusively) in...

Recent scholarship has emphasised that ancient oratory was primarily a performance art. At Rome during the Republican period, public speaking was one of the most important ways in which politicians created support for themselves among the citizen body. The change of political system to a monarchy transformed the functions of oratory but left its importance as an elite skill intact. This New Survey offers an introduction to the topic, and the modern scholarship on it, which emphasises the fact that the occasions of speaking were prior to subsequent written texts. Without ignoring Cicero as the...

This all-new successor to the New Surveys on Aristophanes (R.G. Ussher, 1979) and Menander, Plautus, Terence (W.G. Arnott, 1975) offers a concise, accessible guide to the study of Greek and Roman comedy in the light of current scholarship. It surveys the literary, theatrical, political, and cultural history of the classical genre from its beginnings to the death of Terence, with an overview of the work of each author and introductions to the surviving plays, alongside discussions of lost works and the criticism of comedy ancient and modern.