Research Catalog

Title

Wisdom from Rome : reading Roman society and European education in the Distichs of Cato / Serena Connolly.

Author

Connolly, Serena

Publication

• Berlin ; Boston : Walter de Gruyter GmbH, [2022]
• ©2022

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Description

xxvii, 241 pages : illustrations; 24 cm.

Summary

For about one thousand years, the Distichs of Cato were the first Latin text of every student across Europe and latterly the New World. Chaucer, Cervantes, and Shakespeare assumed their audiences knew them well--and they almost certainly did. Yet most Classicists today have either never heard of them or mistakenly attribute them to Cato the Elder. The Distichs are a collection of approximately 150 two-line maxims in hexameters that offer instructions about or reflections on topics such as friendship, money, reputation, justice, and self-control. Wisdom from Rome argues that Classicists (and others) should read the Distichs: they provide important insights into the ancient Roman literate masses' conceptions of society and their views of relationships between the individual, family, community, and state. Newly dated to the first century CE, they are an important addition and often corrective to more familiar contemporary texts that treat the same topics. Moreover, as the field of Classics increasingly acknowledges the intellectual importance of exploring the reception of Classical texts, an introduction to one of the most widely read ancient texts for many centuries is timely and important.

Series Statement

Trends in classics. Pathways of reception ; volume 8

Uniform Title

Trends in classics - pathways of reception ; v. 8.

Subject

• Cato, Dionysius > Criticism, interpretation, etc
• Cato, Dionysius
• Catonis disticha > History and criticism
• Catonis disticha
• Aphorisms and apothegms > History and criticism
• Maxims, Latin > History and criticism
• Aphorisms and apothegms
• Maxims, Latin
• Rome > Quotations, maxims, etc
• Rome (Empire)

Genre/Form

• Criticism, interpretation, etc.
• Quotations.

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (pages 203-225) and indexes.

Contents

Introduction -- Part I: The Distichs and Paraenesis -- 1. The Distichs -- 2. Ancient Wisdom -- 3. Style -- Part II: Content and Context -- 4. Friendship -- 5. Money -- Part III: Reception -- 6. Legere et intelligere: Editions and Commentaries for Schools and Homes -- 7. Translations and Transformations -- Conclusion -- Appendix: Selected Translations of DC 3.24.

Call Number

JFE 23-655

ISBN

• 3110788845
• 9783110788846

OCLC

1304242591

Author

Connolly, Serena, author.

Title

Wisdom from Rome : reading Roman society and European education in the Distichs of Cato / Serena Connolly.

Publisher

Berlin ; Boston : Walter de Gruyter GmbH, [2022]

Copyright Date

©2022

Type of Content

text

Type of Medium

unmediated

Type of Carrier

volume

Series

Trends in classics. Pathways of reception ; volume 8

Trends in classics - pathways of reception ; v. 8.

Bibliography

Includes bibliographical references (pages 203-225) and indexes.

Other Form:

ebook version : 9783110789614

Research Call Number

JFE 23-655