“Adams’ Law” and the Placement of esse in Pliny the Younger

J. N. Adams showed that in Latin of the first century BCE, the verb esse does not necessarily gravitate to “second position” within a phrase; i.e., its placement is not in line with Jacob Wackernagel’s “law of enclitics.” Instead, esse tends to cliticize on—immediately follow—the focus of the phrase. By examining all instances of forms of esse in Plin. Ep. 1 and 10, I show that Adams’ observation still holds true ca. 100 CE. In a pedagogical epilogue, I offer some thoughts on the implications of such subtleties for the teaching and learning of Latin today

Christopher Stray (ed.), Classical Dictionaries: Past, Present and Future - Book Review

When once pressed at a party about what he really did for a living, D.R. Shackleton Bailey is said to have acerbically replied, “I just look things up all day.” This remark, however ironic, carries more than a grain of truth: classicists do in fact devote vast portions of their lives to looking things up, especially in dictionaries of Greek and Latin. It is thus salutary to reflect on the nature of the tools we all spend so much time using. Classical Dictionaries, an edited collection of papers delivered at an Oxford conference in June 2009, does just that, considering the stories of both familiar and lesser known lexica. The book is subtitled “Past, present and future,” but it is mostly devoted to the history of scholarship, and in that field it scores an unqualified success: it is excellent both in treating dictionaries past and in evaluating the present lexical offerings as products of that past. When it comes to discussing the future of dictionaries, the book is occasionally on less sure footing, but nevertheless opens up important fields for discussion and debate

A Rhetorical Figure: Cicero in the Early Empire

My dissertation investigates the reception of Cicero in the early Roman Empire, focusing on the first 250 years after his death. I show that this reception is primarily constructed by the ancient rhetorical schoolroom, where young Romans first encountered Cicero, reading his speeches and writing Ciceronian declamations. Here they were exposed to a particular version of the man, with emphases often selected for political purposes. When they grew up, that schoolroom image of Cicero continued to permeate their thought and writing. My study unpacks this complex process and lays bare the early Empire's relationship with one of its most significant late Republican predecessors.The Classic

Portraying Cicero in Literature, Culture, and Politics. From Antiquity to Modern Times

Il volume abbraccia un arco cronologico amplissimo, dal I secolo a.C. alla contemporaneità, esplorando la ricezione non tanto dell'opera quanto della figura di Cicerone, come modello di oratoria, maestro di retorica e di morale, per taluni addirittura santo, politico imbelle o martire della Repubblica. Cicerone si conferma uno degli autori più presenti nella cultura europea di tutti i tempi.The collection offers an overview of the reception of Cicero's character from his own way (and his own modeling himself as an ideal governor) to contemporary age. Along the centuries, he has been valued as oratory model, master of rhetoric and morality (to the point of being sanctified), irresolute politician or martyr of the Republic. Cicero stands at the roots of European culture

Portraying Cicero in Literature, Culture, and Politics.

Collezione di studi sulla ricezione della figura di Cicerone, dall'antichità al '900.A collection of papers on the reception of Cicero's figure, from antiquity to XIXth century