Fragments of Roman Poetry c.60 BC-AD 20 [Hardcover]

This book aims to fill in the literary history of the greatest period of Latin poetry, about 60 BC to AD 20. Catullus (by a slender thread) has survived, but later contemporaries valued his friend Calvus just as highly; comparison of the two reveals an extraordinarily close relationship. Horace mentions Varius Rufus in the same breath as Virgil. Adrian Hollis prints fragments of up to thirty poets, with an individual introduction and a translation for each. Almost every genre of ancient poetry is represented, from heroic epic to scurrilous lampoon. Hollis's commentary, fuller and richer than any yet published, contains many new ideas. In some cases (such as Varius Rufus) the fragments illumine the history of this period, which saw the collapse of the Roman Republic and establishment of the Augustan Empire. Taken together, these fragmentary texts enable us better to appreciate surviving great poets such as Catullus and Virgil.

I. List of Poets
II. Numbering of Items
III. Introduction
IV. Text, Translation, and Commentary
V. Appendix: Named poets of whom no verbatim quotations survive

The characteristics of Hollis' edition are just what one would expect from the editor of Ovid and Callimachus: both learned and capable of explaining his learning to others. Hollis understands the texts, and he understands what is needed to understand the texts. --Classical World

Adrian Hollis is Fellow and Tutor in Classics, Keble College, Oxford.