Declamations, Volume I: Controversiae, Books 1?6

Seneca The Elder

ISBN 10: 0674995104 / ISBN 13: 9780674995109

Published by Harvard University Press, 1974

Owner's mark on front flyleaf. light yellowing to text. Dust jacket spine yellowed, scratch on back. Tips of front jacket flap clipped. Seller Inventory # 227632

Synopsis:

Mock trial―Roman style.

Roman secondary education aimed principally at training future lawyers and politicians. Under the late Republic and the Empire, the main instrument was an import from Greece: declamation, the making of practice speeches on imaginary subjects. There were two types of such speeches: controversiae on law-court themes, suasoriae on deliberative topics. On both types a prime source of our knowledge is the work of Lucius Annaeus Seneca, a Spaniard from Cordoba, father of the distinguished philosopher. Towards the end of his long life (?55 BC–?AD 40) he collected together ten books devoted to controversiae (some only preserved in excerpt) and at least one (surviving) of suasoriae. These books contained his memories of the famous rhetorical teachers and practitioners of his day: their lines of argument, their methods of approach, their idiosyncrasies, and above all their epigrams. The extracts from the declaimers, though scrappy, throw invaluable light on the influences that colored the styles of most pagan (and many Christian) writers of the Empire. Unity is provided by Seneca’s own contribution, the lively prefaces, engaging anecdotes about speakers, writers, and politicians, and brisk criticism of declamatory excess.

About the Author: Michael Winterbottom is the Corpus Christi Professor of Latin Emeritus at Oxford University.

Bibliographic Details

Title: Declamations, Volume I: Controversiae, Books...
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Publication Date: 1974
Binding: Hardcover
Condition: Very Good
Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good