W. Dominik – A Companion To Roman Rhetoric

Автор: W. Dominik
Название книги: A Companion To Roman Rhetoric
Формат: PDF
Жанр: Древний мир и Античность
Страницы: 539
Качество: Изначально компьютерное, E-book

A Companion to Roman Rhetoric introduces the reader to the wide-ranging importance of rhetoric in Roman culture.
A guide to Roman rhetoric from its origins to the Renaissance and beyond
Comprises 32 original essays by leading international scholars
Explores major figures Cicero and Quintilian in-depth
Covers a broad range of topics such as rhetoric and politics, gender, status, self-identity, education, and literature
Provides suggestions for further reading at the end of each chapter
Includes a glossary of technical terms and an index of proper names and rhetorical concepts

This Companion aims to provide a contemporary, accessible introduction to Roman
rhetoric that will find a broad readership principally within an academic context. It is
intended in the first place for the advanced Classics student confronting rhetoric for
the first time and for scholars in adjacent disciplines such as comparative literature,
English, rhetoric, communication studies, and critical theory. At the same time we
hope that scholars working specifically in the field of Roman rhetoric will find the
volume useful and stimulating, not only because it constitutes the first attempt in a
generation of scholarship at a wide-ranging treatment of the discipline but also
because some of the contributions raise new questions or suggest new paths of
scholarly investigation. Our focus is on the cultural and practical significance
of rhetoric within Roman society; therefore our approach is not primarily historical
or biographical. Some chapters (e.g., chapters 4–5, 12–13, 16) are more specialized
or technical than others (a number are particularly relevant for students of Latin), but
this is perhaps inevitable given the highly technical nature of the various topics
discussed. Nevertheless, we have tried to ensure that the basic information expected
of a Companion is included in these chapters as well.
The scale of the volume reflects the vast scope and complexity of rhetoric’s
influence on Roman society. This very complexity, however, poses organizational
problems. It is not easy to divide such a multifaceted topic into tidy and discrete
sections, and some overlap in content between chapters is inevitable. The point is
illustrated best by the fact that the decree of 92 BCE, in which the censors expressed
disapproval of Latin teachers of rhetoric, is referred to in no fewer than eight of the
following chapters. As we hope will become clear, this repetition reflects not the
redundancy of the various chapters but the impact of the decree on numerous
different aspects of Roman social and political life such as the response to Greek
learning, educational methods at Rome, the political advantages of oratorical training,
and the emergence in Rome of the professions of grammarian and rhetorician.
To minimize repetition, however, we have incorporated a text and detailed discussion
of the decree in chapter 3, and retained in later chapters only the information on its
background and content necessary to provide some context for the discussion at
hand. Overall we hope the result is a clear and user-friendly approach to Roman
rhetoric, although we acknowledge that there are no doubt other ways in which we
could have organized the material with no less cogency. Even in a volume of this size
there remains much that could have been discussed; hence the inclusion of ‘‘further
reading’’ sections at the end of each chapter providing guidance on the most useful
scholarship on the particular topic covered. Naturally the length of these sections
depends upon whether the chapter has a broad or narrow focus and how much
bibliography is actually cited in the discussion. Other key features of this volume,
which are designed to optimize its usefulness for the general reader and scholar alike,
include translations of all Greek and Latin passages, a glossary of technical terms, a
comprehensive bibliography, an index locorum, and a general index of important
figures and concepts. This volume is also designed to provide a complement to A
Companion to Greek Rhetoric edited by Ian Worthington in the Blackwell Companions
to the Ancient World series.
The usual acknowledgement of debts in the case of this Companion is a necessity.
We wish especially to acknowledge the assistance of Sean McConnell, who was
involved not only in the editing of the chapters but also in the revision of the material
submitted; the translations of some of the Latin passages; the compilation of the
glossary, bibliography, and indices; and the checking of the proofs. Thanks are due to
Beatrice Hudson, who was involved in the initial formatting and editing of the
chapters, and Karen Pickford, who helped with the graphic design of the figures in
chapter 17. We also wish to express our appreciation to Al Bertrand, Sophie Gibson,
Ben Thatcher, Angela Cohen, Ann Bone, and Sue Leigh for seeing this book through
from the original proposal to its publication. To all our contributors we express our
sincere gratitude not only for contributing chapters on specially designated topics but
also for their patience and support in the production of this volume. The University
of Otago awarded various research grants that enabled us to complete much of the
editing of this volume.
William Dominik and Jon Hall