Catullus, Cicero, and a Society of Patrons The Generation of the Text [Paperback]

This book studies the distinctly 'late Republican' socio-textual culture recorded by this period's two most influential authors, Catullus and Cicero.This book studies the emergence, development, and florescence of a distinctly 'late Republican' socio-textual culture as recorded in the writings of this period's two most influential authors, Catullus and Cicero. This laid the foundations for those authors of the Principate and Empire who identified this period as their literary source and inspiration.This book studies the emergence, development, and florescence of a distinctly 'late Republican' socio-textual culture as recorded in the writings of this period's two most influential authors, Catullus and Cicero. This laid the foundations for those authors of the Principate and Empire who identified this period as their literary source and inspiration.This is a study of the emergence, development, and florescence of a distinctly 'late Republican' socio-textual culture as recorded in the writings of this period's two most influential authors, Catullus and Cicero. It reveals a multi-faceted textual - rather than more traditionally defined 'literary' - world that both defines the intellectual life of the late Republic, and lays the foundations for those authors of the Principate and Empire who identified this period as their literary source and inspiration. By first questioning, and then rejecting, the traditional polarisation of Catullus and Cicero, and by broadening the scope of late Republican socio-literary studies to include intersections of language, social practice, and textual materiality, this book presents a fresh picture of both the socio-textual world of the late Republic and the primary authors through whom this world would gain renown.Introduction; Part I. How to Write about Writing: 1. When? Otium as 'time to write'; 2. What? Munus as the 'gift of duty'; 3. Where? Libellus: polished and published; Part II. The Textualization of Display: 4. The problem with lilS6