The Lesser Declamations, Volume II (Loeb Classical Library 501) - Hardcover

Quintilian, Quintilian; Shackleton Bail, D. R.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0674996194 ISBN 13: 9780674996199

Publisher: Loeb, 2006

Synopsis

Mock trial―Roman style.

The Lesser Declamations, dating perhaps from the second century AD and attributed to Quintilian, might more accurately be described as emanating from “the school of Quintilian.” The collection―here made available for the first time in translation―represents classroom materials for budding Roman lawyers.

The instructor who composed these specimen speeches for fictitious court cases adds his comments and suggestions concerning presentation and arguing tactics―thereby giving us insight into Roman law and education. A wide range of scenarios is imagined. Some evoke the plots of ancient novels and comedies: pirates, exiles, parents and children in conflict, adulterers, rapists, and wicked stepmothers abound. Other cases deal with such matters as warfare between neighboring cities, smuggling, historical (and quasi-historical) events, tyrants and tyrannicides. Two gems are the speech opposing a proposal to equalize wealth, and the case of a Cynic youth who has forsworn worldly goods but sues his father for cutting off his allowance.

Of the original 388 sample cases in the collection, 145 survive. These are now added to the Loeb Classical Library in a two-volume edition, a fluent translation by D. R. Shackleton Bailey facing an updated Latin text.

About this title

About the Author

D. R. Shackleton Bailey was Pope Professor of Latin Language and Literature at Harvard University.

Edition details

• Publisher: Loeb
• Publication date: 2006
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0674996194
• ISBN 13: 9780674996199
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 464