Harrison Stephen (ed.) A Companion to Latin Literature

Blackwell Publishing Ltd, 2005. — 470 p. — (Blackwell Companions to the Ancient World).A Companion to Latin Literature gives an authoritative account of Latin literature from its beginnings in the third century BC through to the end of the second century AD.Provides expert overview of the main periods of Latin literary history, major genres, and key themes;
Covers all the major Latin works of prose and poetry, from Ennius to Augustine, including Lucretius, Cicero, Catullus, Livy, Vergil, Seneca, and Apuleius;
Includes invaluable reference material ? dictionary entries on authors, chronological chart of political and literary history, and an annotated bibliography;
Serves as both a discursive literary history and a general reference book.The editing of A Companion to Latin Literature necessarily requires ideological and pragmatic choices on the part of the editor as well as by the contributors. This volume is aimed at university students of Latin literature and their teachers, and at scholarly colleagues in other subjects who need orientation in Latin literature, though I hope that it will also be of use to those studying Latin texts in the last years of school. It has been designed to be usable by those who read their Latin literature in translation as well as by those able to read the originals; all major Latin passages are translated, and modern English translations for key authors are listed in the ‘General Resources and Author Bibliographies’ section at the end of this introduction. In general, it seeks to combine the form of a reliable literary history with work by leading-edge scholars in particular areas, while also acting as a general reference book through its list of resources and extensive bibliography.
The contributors to this volume range quite widely in their approaches to Latin literature, and there was no ideological ‘line’ imposed by the editor for their contributions.