Lucilius and Satire in Second-Century BC Rome

This volume considers linguistic, cultural, and literary trends that fed into the creation of Roman satire in second-century BC Rome. Combining approaches drawn from linguistics, Roman history, and Latin literature, the chapters share a common purpose of attempting to assess how Lucilius' satires functioned in the social environment in which they were created and originally read. Particular areas of focus include audiences for satire, the mixing of varieties of Latin in the satires, and relationships with other second-century genres, including comedy, epic, and oratory. Lucilius' satires emerged at a time when Rome's new status as an imperial power and its absorption of influences from the Greek world were shaping Roman identity. With this in mind the book provides new perspectives on the foundational identification of satire with what it means to be Roman and satire's unique status as 'wholly ours' tota nostra among Latin literary genres.

Brian W. Breed is Associate Professor of Classics and Chair of the Department of Classics at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. His previous books include Citizens of Discord: Rome and Its Civil Wars (2010), co-edited with Cynthia Damon and Andreola Rossi, and Ennius and the Invention of Roman Epic (2006), co-edited with Andreola Rossi.

Elizabeth Keitel is Associate Professor of Classics at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. She has published many articles and book chapters on Latin historiography with a special interest in Tacitus. She is currently co-editing a volume on urban disasters and the Roman imagination.

Rex Wallace is Professor of Classics and Associate Dean for Research at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. He is author of Zikh Rasna: A Manual of the Etruscan Language and Inscriptions (2008) and co-author, with Anthony Tuck, of First Words: The Archaeology of Language at Poggio Civitate (2013).