Tacitus, the epic successor : Virgil, Lucan, and the narrative of civil war in the histories /
Allusions to the epic poets Virgil and Lucan in the writing of the Roman historian Tacitus (c. 55 - c. 120 C.E.) have long been noted. This monograph argues that Tacitus fashions himself as a rivaling literary successor to these poets; and that the emulative allusions to Virgil's Aeneid and Luc...
Main Author:
Format: eBook
Language: English
Published:
Leiden ; Boston :
Brill,
2012.
Series:
Mnemosyne, Supplements
345.
Mnemosyne Supplements Online, Volumes 204-407, ISBN: 9789004322288.
Subjects:
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Call Number: DG206.T32 J67 2012
| Summary: | Allusions to the epic poets Virgil and Lucan in the writing of the Roman historian Tacitus (c. 55 - c. 120 C.E.) have long been noted. This monograph argues that Tacitus fashions himself as a rivaling literary successor to these poets; and that the emulative allusions to Virgil's Aeneid and Lucan's Bellum Civile in Books 1-3 of his inaugural historiographical work, the Histories , complement and build upon each other, and contribute significantly to the picture of repetitive, escalating civil war in the work. The argument is founded on the close reading of a series of related passages in the Histories , and it also broadens to consider certain narrative techniques and strategies that Tacitus shares with writers of epic. |
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| Physical Description: | 1 online resource (xi, 215 pages) |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references and index. |
| ISBN: | 9789004231283 |
| Access: | Available to subscribing member institutions only. |