Books in the Oklahoma Series in Classical Culture series

In this first comprehensive reading of Juvenal's satires in more than fifty years, David H. J. Larmour deftly revises and sharpens our understanding of the second-century Roman writer who stands as the archetype for all later practitioners of the satirist's art.The enduring attraction of Juvenal's satires is twofold: they not only introduce the character of the "angry satirist" but also offer vivid descriptions of everyday life in Rome at the height of the Empire. In Larmour's interpretation, these two elements are inextricably linked. The Arena of Satire presents the satirist as flaneur traversing the streets of Rome in search of its authentic core-those distinctly Roman virtues that have disappeared amid the corruption of the age. What the vengeful, punishing satirist does to his victims, as Larmour shows, echoes what the Roman state did to outcasts and criminals in the arena of the Colosseum.The fact that the arena was the most prominent building in the city and is mentioned frequently by Juvenal makes it an ideal lens through which to examine the spectacular and punishing characteristics of Roman satire. And the fact that Juvenal undertakes his search for the uncorrupted, authentic Rome within the very buildings and landmarks that make up the actual, corrupt Rome of his day gives his sixteen satires their uniquely paradoxical and contradictory nature. Larmour's exploration of "the arena of satire" guides us through Juvenal's search for the true Rome, winding from one poem to the next. He combines close readings of passages from individual satires with discussions of Juvenal's representation of Roman space and topography, the nature of the "arena" experience, and the network of connections among the satirist, the gladiator, and the editor-or producer-of Colosseum entertainments. The Arena of Satire also offers a new definition of "Juvenalian satire" as a particular form arising from the intersection of the body and the urban landscape-a form whose defining features survive in the works of several later satirists, from Jonathan Swift and Evelyn Waugh to contemporary writers such as Russian novelist Victor Pelevin and Irish dramatist Martin McDonagh.

Acclaimed by critics as one of the greatest literary achievements of the Roman Empire, the Civil War is a stirring account of the war between Julius Caesar and the forces of the republican senate led by Pompey the Great. Reading Lucan's Civil War is the first comprehensive guide to this important poem.

One of the most admired poets of Roman antiquity, Horace (65-8 BCE) had a major influence on later poets and writers. This new edition of Horace's best-known poetry presents the original Latin texts of his well-known Epodes, Odes, and Carmen Saeculare side by side with English translations.

In this work, Susan Ford Wiltshire traces the evolution of the doctrine of individual rights from antiquity to the 18th century. The common thread through the long story is the theory of natural law, which grew out of Greek political thought, especially that of Aristotle.

After studying ancient Greek for a year, students often become discouraged when presented with unabridged classical texts that offer only minimal supportive apparatus. In contrast, this intermediate-level textbook reinforces the first-year lessons and enables students to read Plato's Symposium, one of the most engaging works in Attic Greek.

This collection of readings about Cleopatra, one of history's most captivating figures, includes 10 b&w illustrations and 2 maps.

What was daily life like for a working man or woman in the Roman Empire? This text examines Roman commemorative inscriptions from the 1st and 2nd centuries AD to determine ways in which slaves, freed slaves and unprivileged freeborn citizens used work to frame their identities.

Volume 4 in the Oklahoma Series in Classical CultureThis thought-provoking book argues the contributions of women to the earliest advances in human knowledge, especially the discovery and development of agriculture, were much greater than has generally been acknowledged. By examining skeletons and grave goods, archeological evidence from settlement sites, and rock carvings and sculpted figurines, and by drawing anthropological parallels to later societies, Ehrenberg throws new light on the lives and social status of women in Europe from the Palaeolithic era to the Iron Age. The high status almost certainly enjoyed by women as the main providers of food in early prehistoric societies probably diminished in the later Neolithic Age, as men assumed an increasingly dominant role in farming. Even so, in the Bronze Age and Iron Age societies, individual women held positions of power: Ehrenberg considers the possibility that Minoan Crete was a matriarchy and that Boudica was only one of a number of female Celtic leaders.

Homer's Iliad and Odyssey and Virgil's Aeneid are three of the most important - and influential - works of Western classical literature. Written in an accessible style and ideally suited for classroom use, Communication, Love, and Death in Homer and Virgil offers a unique comparative analysis of these classic works.

This study presents Virgil as a radically different poet from any of his Greek or Roman predecessors. It begins with the "Aeneid", and includes chapters on the "Bucolics" and the "Georgics".