Books by Elaine Fantham
Selected Letters (Oxford World's Classics)
by Seneca, Elaine Fantham
Seneca's letters to his friend Lucilius are powerful moral essays that also yield illuminating insight into Seneca's personal life and the truly turbulent times in which he lived. One of the great Stoic philosophers, Seneca here guides Lucilius' struggle to achieve wisdom and serenity, uninfluenced by worldly emotions. He advises his friend on how to do without what is superfluous, whether in terms of happiness, riches, reputation, or the emotions. The letters include literary discussions, moral exhortation, exemplary heroes and episodes from Roman history, and a lurid picture of contemporary luxury. And under Nero's chaotic reign, the topic of death is never far away. This marvelous new translation by eminent scholar Elaine Fantham offers the largest selection of Seneca's letters currently available. Fantham's invaluable introduction discusses Seneca's family and political career, his many and varied writings, the nature of the letters as genuine epistles or fiction, their philosophical concerns, and other social and cultural aspects. Short head-notes to each letter summarize its themes and parallels with other letters, opening a window on to Seneca's world.
About the Series: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the broadest spectrum of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, voluminous notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.
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Cicero's Pro L. Murena Oratio (Society for Classical Studies Texts & Commentaries)
by Cicero, Elaine Fantham
Cicero's speech on behalf of L. Lucinius Murena, newly elected to the consulship of 62 BCE but immediately prosecuted for electoral bribery, is especially famous for its digressions and valuable for its insights into the complex political wrangles of the late 60s. It is, however, a speech more commonly excerpted and cited than read in its entirety, though whether the absence of an English-language commentary is a cause or effect of that situation remains uncertain. In short, a pedagogical commentary on this important and strange speech is long overdue.
Distinguished Latinist Elaine Fantham's commentary is noteworthy for its ability to elucidate not only the rhetorical structure of this speech but the rationale behind Cicero's strategic decisions in creating that structure. It also calls attention to the stylistic features like word choice, rhetorical figures, and rhythmic effects that make the speech so effective, and explains with care and precision the political, social, and historical considerations that shaped the prosecution and defense of the somewhat hapless defendant. This commentary includes the kind of grammatical explication required to make its riches accessible to undergraduate students of Latin.
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Roman Literary Culture: From Plautus to Macrobius (Ancient Society and History)
This new edition broadens the scope of Fantham’s study of literary production and its reception in Rome.
Scholars of ancient literature have often focused on the works and lives of major authors rather than on such questions as how these works were produced and who read them. In Roman Literary Culture, Elaine Fantham fills that void by examining the changing social and historical context of literary production in ancient Rome and its empire.
Fantham’s first edition discussed the habits of Roman readers and developments in their means of access to literature, from booksellers and copyists to pirated publications and libraries. She examines the issues of patronage and the utility of literature and shows how the constraints of the physical object itself―the ancient "book"―influenced the practice of both reading and writing. She also explores the ways in which ancient criticism and critical attitudes reflected cultural assumptions of the time.
In this second edition, Fantham expands the scope of her study. In the new first chapter, she examines the beginning of Roman literature―more than a century before the critical studies of Cicero and Varro. She discusses broader entertainment culture, which consisted of live performances of comedy and tragedy as well as oral presentations of the epic. A new final chapter looks at Pagan and Christian literature from the third to fifth centuries, showing how this period in Roman literature reflected its foundations in the literary culture of the late republic and Augustan age. This edition also includes a new preface and an updated bibliography.
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The Emperor Nero A Guide to the Ancient Sources
by Elaine Fantham, Anthony A. Barrett, John C. Yardley
Nero's reign (AD 54–68) witnessed some of the most memorable events in Roman history, such as the rebellion of Boudica and the first persecution of the Christians—not to mention Nero's murder of his mother, his tyranny and extravagance, and his suicide, which plunged the empire into civil war. The Emperor Nero gathers into a single collection the major sources for Nero's life and rule, providing students of Nero and ancient Rome with the most authoritative and accessible reader there is.
The Emperor Nero features clear, contemporary translations of key literary sources along with translations and explanations of representative inscriptions and coins issued under Nero. The informative introduction situates the emperor's reign within the history of the Roman Empire, and the book's concise headnotes to chapters place the source material in historical and biographical context. Passages are accompanied by detailed notes and are organized around events, such as the Great Fire of Rome, or by topic, such as Nero's relationships with his wives. Complex events like the war with Parthia—split up among several chapters in Tacitus's Annals—are brought together in continuous narratives, making this the most comprehensible and user-friendly sourcebook on Nero available.
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