Apuleius: Rhetorical Works (Hardcover)

S.J. Harrison

ISBN 10: 0198152922 / ISBN 13: 9780198152927

Published by Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2001

About this Item

Hardcover. These rhetorical texts by Apuleius, second-century Latin writer and author of the famous novel Metamorphoses or Golden Ass, have not been translated into English since 1909. They are some of the very few Latin speeches surviving from their century, and constitute important evidence for Latin and Roman North African social and intellectual culture in the second century AD. They are the work of a talented writer who is being increasingly viewed asthe major literary artist of his time in Latin.The Apologia, Apuleius' self-defence against a charge of magic delivered in North Africa in AD 158-9, has been well described as 'a masterpiece of theSecond Sophistic'. It is a brilliant lively and colourful piece and is the only full Latin oration preserved from the second century AD, and provides important evidence for contemporary North African life.The Florida ('flowery pieces') is a collection of excerpts deriving from an earlier anthology of Apuleian speeches, most apparently delivered at Carthage in the 160s AD. As a whole, these passages offer a unique view of the rhetorical practice of a performingintellectual in Latin in the second century AD. They also give important information on civic life in Carthage through their treatment of proconsuls and the local senate.The De DeoSocratis, probably also from the 160s, is an oration in the form of a popular philosophical lecture on the 'god' of Socrates, the inner voice which, according to Plato, advised him; This is the only surviving sophistic declamation in Latin. The material is treated brilliantly by Apuleius, being much ornamented with poetic quotation and rhetorical and stylistic pyrotechnics. These rhetorical texts by Apuleius, second-century Latin writer and author of the famous novel Metamorphoses or Golden Ass, are some of the very few Latin speeches surviving from their century, and constitute important evidence for Latin and Roman North African social and intellectual culture in the second century AD. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability.

Seller Inventory # 9780198152927

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Apuleius: Rhetorical Works (Hardcover)
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, Oxford
• Publication Date: 2001
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0198152922
• ISBN 13: 9780198152927
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: new

About this title

Synopsis

These rhetorical texts by Apuleius, second-century Latin writer and author of the famous novel Metamorphoses or Golden Ass, have not been translated in English since 1909. They are some of the very few Latin speeches surviving from their century, and constitute important evidence for Latin and Roman North African social and intellectual culture in the second century AD. They are the work of a talented writer who is being increasingly viewed as the major literary artist of his time in Latin. The translations are presented with explanatory notes.

About the Author

S. J. Harrison is Fellow and Tutor of Classics, Corpus Christi College, Oxford.

John L. Hilton is Lecturer in Classics, University of Natal, Durban.

Vincent Hunink is Lecturer at the Katholieke Univeriteit Nijmegen, the Netherlands.