Epigram (Classics)

An extensive commentary on each poem from Book 9, placing them in their literary, social, and historical context
Includes a comprehensive introduction which establishes Book 9 in Martial's work as a whole
Contains the Latin text of each eprigram, which takes manuscript variants and suggested emendations into account
In this volume, Henriksén offers the first extensive commentary on Book 9 of the Epigrams of M. Valerius Martialis (ca. AD 40-104), who published fifteen books of Epigrams during the last two decades of the 1st century AD. Firmly established in a literary tradition that had begun in Greece more than half a millennium earlier, Martial's work represents the height of the development of ancient epigram. Conscious of his own times and society, Martial often engages current genres and his great Roman predecessors, such as Catullus, Vergil, and Ovid, in an intertextual dialogue.

First published in AD 94/95, Book 9 is the last book in the corpus of Martial to have been published in the reign of the emperor Domitian. While it presents the reader with the epigrammatist's characteristic variety of subjects drawn from contemporary Roman society and everyday life, it also contains a patently higher number of poems focusing on and eulogizing Domitian than any other book in the Epigrams. Unlike those of Book 8, the panegyrics in Book 9 are mixed with satirical and obscene epigrams, and the panegyrical tone is intensified. Book 9 also provides a conclusion to the large cycle on Domitian's Second Pannonian War that extends over Books 7, 8, and 9, the three books that have been termed Martial's 'Kaisertriade'.

A thoroughly revised and expanded edition of Henriksén's published thesis, the book consists of an introduction discussing the date, characteristics, structure, and themes of Book 9, followed by a detailed commentary on each of the 105 poems, which places them in their literary, social, and historical context.
Readership: For scholars and students of classical studies, Latin literature, ancient history, and Roman studies.

This study examines the structural function of the marriage-divorce theme in the second edition of Martial's book 10, which is built around the poet's decision to move back to Spain, leaving his beloved domina Rome after more than thirty years. The paper, in the wake of recent works on intratextuality and especially on the structure of Martial's books, takes into exam the book's epigrams devoted to the marriage-divorce theme, declined in satiric as well as serious way, with the aim of enlightening links between texts, which the poet sets up to increase the book's compactness and to enrich at the same time individual poems with further meaning, inside a sophisticated texture that he presents to his generic lectors, real authors of his lasting fame.

This book offers new insights into a largely understudied group of Greek texts preserved in selected manuscripts from the Library at Wellcome Collection, London. The content of these manuscripts ranges from medicine, including theories on diagnosis and treatment of disease, to astronomy, philosophy, and poetry. With texts dating from the ancient era to the Byzantine and Ottoman worlds, each manuscript provides its own unique story, opening a window onto different social and cultural milieus. All chapters are illustrated with black and white and colour figures, highlighting some of the most significant codices in the collection.

Sundials in Roman and Byzantine Mosaics (1st – 9th Century AD). A scientific monograph. The sundials on ancient mosaics have not been the subject of scientific studies so far. The author has gathered together  in this  publication  the sundials  already known (Torre Anunzaiata, Sarsina, Trier, Saint-Romain-en-Gal, Antioch and Brading; Figs. 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 9) and those which have  not  previously  been  identified.  Thanks  to  the author’s  new  identifcations,  the  catalogue  has  been enlarged  by  six  new  sundials (Grand,Tarsus, Antiochia – interpreted by H. Pamir; Figs.  3, 6,  8, and 10. Tayibat al-Imam, Jerusalem and Umm al-Rasas (Sebastis); Figs. 10, 11, 12) and three monumental gnomes-columns with multiple functions that were used as monumental sundials [Madaba (Jerusalem), Umm al-Rasas (Kastron Mefaa) and Rome (Jerusalem); Figs. 13–15]. In addition, recognizing fully John H. Humphrey’s  interpretations,  the  author  enriches  the catalogue  by  eight  ancient  mosaic  representations  of obelisks in  circuses (Lyon, Barcelona, Volubilis, Piazza Armerina - two mosaics, Girona, Carthage and Gafsa; Figs.  16–23).  They  performed the roles of monumental sundials. In this way, the catalogue includes  twenty-three  mosaics with  the representations of sundials. They come from the Western and Eastern Provinces of the Roman Empire. The first mosaic is dated to the beginning of the 1st century AD and the last dates to the 9th century AD. The author, after  a  short  description  of each monument,  summarizes the issue discussing the role of sundials in Roman and Byzantine society, their complex signifcance and symbolic dificult linked with the progress of time on which nature and human life are dependent. See Pdf : https://www.academia.edu/22653583/

Der Rostocker Autor Peter Lindeberg (1562-1596) ist vor allem bekannt für seine Stadtchronik, das Chronicon Rostochiense. Darüber hinaus verfasste er jedoch auch eine Vielzahl von abwechslungsreichen neulateinischen Epigrammen, die er in zwei Sammlungen, den Epigrammata und den Hedysmata, veröffentlichte. Lindebergs Dichtung - inspiriert von den Erlebnissen seiner eigenen Bildungsreisen von Skandinavien bis Italien - wurde von seinen Zeitgenossen sehr geschätzt und trug ihm 1595 den Ehrentitel poeta laureatus ein.

Dieser Lektüreband zu Lindebergs Epigrammen nimmt die Leserinnen und Leser mit auf eine literarische Reise durch das Europa des 16. Jahrhunderts, auf deren ‚Route‘ sie prominente Städte und einflussreiche Persönlichkeiten aus der Antike und Frühen Neuzeit erwarten. In den ausgewählten Epigrammen wird nicht nur der Zeitgeist dieser Epoche, sondern auch die Vielseitigkeit und Wirkungsmacht der lateinischen Sprache - weit über die Antike hinaus - erfahrbar.

Das Heft ist als Begleitlektüre für die Oberstufe konzipiert und in zwei Teile untergliedert: Zum einen enthält es eine umfangreiche Materialsammlung für Lateinlehrkräfte, die in das Leben und Werk des Dichters einführt, wichtige Hintergrundinformationen zu Epigramm, Städte- und Personenlob liefert sowie hilfreiches Zusatzmaterial zur Metrik und Stilistik bereitstellt. Zum anderen bietet es eine für Schülerinnen und Schüler aufbereitete und auf Doppelseiten übersichtlich angeordnete Auswahl von 25 neulateinischen Epigrammen Lindebergs (inkl. Übersetzungshilfen, Aufgaben und Lernwortschatz).

Open Access: https://www.shaker.de/de/content/catalogue/Element.asp?ID=&Element_ID=62544&Mode=Download

Der Rostocker Autor Peter Lindeberg (1562-1596) ist vor allem bekannt für seine Stadtchronik, das Chronicon Rostochiense. Darüber hinaus verfasste er jedoch auch eine Vielzahl von abwechslungsreichen neulateinischen Epigrammen, die er in zwei Sammlungen, den Epigrammata und den Hedysmata, veröffentlichte. Lindebergs Dichtung - inspiriert von den Erlebnissen seiner eigenen Bildungsreisen von Skandinavien bis Italien - wurde von seinen Zeitgenossen sehr geschätzt und trug ihm 1595 den Ehrentitel poeta laureatus ein.

Dieser Lektüreband zu Lindebergs Epigrammen nimmt die Leserinnen und Leser mit auf eine literarische Reise durch das Europa des 16. Jahrhunderts, auf deren ‚Route‘ sie prominente Städte und einflussreiche Persönlichkeiten aus der Antike und Frühen Neuzeit erwarten. In den ausgewählten Epigrammen wird nicht nur der Zeitgeist dieser Epoche, sondern auch die Vielseitigkeit und Wirkungsmacht der lateinischen Sprache - weit über die Antike hinaus - erfahrbar.

Das Heft ist als Begleitlektüre für die Oberstufe konzipiert und in zwei Teile untergliedert: Zum einen enthält es eine umfangreiche Materialsammlung für Lateinlehrkräfte, die in das Leben und Werk des Dichters einführt, wichtige Hintergrundinformationen zu Epigramm, Städte- und Personenlob liefert sowie hilfreiches Zusatzmaterial zur Metrik und Stilistik bereitstellt. Zum anderen bietet es eine für Schülerinnen und Schüler aufbereitete und auf Doppelseiten übersichtlich angeordnete Auswahl von 25 neulateinischen Epigrammen Lindebergs (inkl. Übersetzungshilfen, Aufgaben und Lernwortschatz).

This paper deals with some questions concerning the iconography, iconology and date of execution of the famous mosaic pavement from Sheikh Zoueide in Sinai, now exibited in the Ismailiya Museum. The author analyses both the mythological mosaic with the representation of various subjects, like Dionysiac procession, Nilotic theme, Hippolytos and Phaedra, and another geometric mosaic. The iconological study of all symbolic elements sheds light on the mentality of Nestor who lived in this house and of other inhabitants of the city.  The author sees the great influence of Egypt probably of Alexandria, in the mosaic's style. He also discusses stylistic problems and suggests a date of its execution in the first half of the 5th century.
On the iconological study of the mosaic see also: M.T. Olszewski, Mauvais œil et protection contre l'envie dans la mosaïque de Cheikh Zouède au Sinaï (IV-Ve siècle), published in: Paunier, D., Schmidt, Ch (ed. by), la Mosaïque gréco-romaine VIII. Actes du  VIIIe Colloque international de la mosaïque antique et médiévale, Lausanne 1997 (2001), pp. 276-301.
M.T.Olszewski, Two Late Antique synonymous mosaics from Sheikh Zuweid (Egypt) and Vinon (France) (translated) / Deux  mosaïques  synonimiques  de l’antiquité tardive: Cheikh  Zouède  (Egypte)  et  Vinon  (France) / Dwie późnoantyczne mozaiki synonimiczne z Szeikh Zued (Egipt) i Vinon (Francja) - (in Polish), Światowit IV-A, 2002, pp. 99-105.

Dedicatory inscriptions on Middle Byzantine reliquaries have been analyzed for their documentary information, including prosopography, provenance, and date. Relying solely on this data limits our understanding of these objects. The methodology in this paper recontextualizes Byzantine reliquaries and their dedicatory inscriptions by reassessing the meaning and function of the Greek text through its relationship with the form of the object and its relics. The focus of this essay is on one case study—the Limburg Staurotheke, a reliquary of the True Cross now in the cathedral treasury of Limburg an der Lahn, Germany. Three levels of analysis will be applied to the staurotheke and its inscription. First, the dedication functions as a record of patronage—the identification of names, titles, and gifts. Second, it is a typological comparison of the patrons and Christ as expressed in the precise terminology chosen for the dedication. Third, the placement of specific words is significant when viewed in relation to the form of the object and the precious stones and pearls that embellish it. These approaches together reveal the multivalent messages conveyed through the reliquary’s complex interrelationship of text, form, and relic.

Auson. epigr. 57 Green is an ecphrastic mythological poem which, though focussed on the tale of Niobe and composed of only two couplets, constitutes an illuminating case-study of the afterlife of Ovid and an innovative translation of a Greek epigram (Anth. Plan. 129). The aim of my paper is twofold: to highlight the links which the Latin text maintains with its Greek model in its subsequent process of ‘Romanization’, and to demonstrate how Ausonius’ new interpretation of the tale of Niobe, the Ovidian paradigms and the overall intertextual construction of the epigram allow the poet to display his literary sophistication and to create different layers of appreciation amongst his potential readers. || Keywords: Niobe; Ovid; Ausonius; epigram; intertextuality.

The mosaic from Sheikh Zuweid on the western coast of North Sinai, discovered in 1913, as well as the mosaic brought to light in 1919 at Vinon near Aix-en-Provence in southern France had to wait until the end of the 20th century for scholarly studies to focus again on their iconography, but also their iconological program. It is the reading of this program that one can truly call sensational. The mosaic from Sinai consists of three panels: Hippolytus and Phaedra, a Dionysian cortege and an inscription surrounded with motifs referring to the fauna and flora of a Nilotic landscape as well as to iconography of the seasons of Spring and Fall. The mosaic from Vinon also consists of three pictures: Dionysus offering Ikarios the grapevine, the Three Graces and a panel depicting a voracious goat defiling the gift of Dionysus. Inscriptions accompany both the mosaics, in Latin at Sheikh Zued and in Greek at Vinon.
Numerous apotropaic symbols and inscriptions are known, but never before has a mythological picture been interpreted as apotropaic. The latest research has shown that the owners of the respective estates had chosen mythological themes in order to protect them and their property from the Evil Eye and Hatred. Dionysian motifs are associated with the putative function of the rooms, where banquets with music and dancing must have been held, and wine must have flowed in abundance. The allusion to the abundance of the Nile was meant to ensure the prosperity and wealth of the house, in similarity to the Dionysian motifs as a matter of fact. Dionysus, Heracles and Venus were patrons of the houses. The interpretation of the two mosaics takes advantage of studies in the field of the history of mentality of the communities standing on the threshold of post-classical times. At the same time, it constitutes a huge step forward in the understanding of this category of finds. The two mosaics confirm what Artemidoros of Daldis (2nd century AD) had to say about the status of pictures: that they could be synonymous in meaning (see: M.T. Olszewski, Le statut de l'image selon Artémidore et l'art romain, in: Morlier, H. ed., IXe Colloque international pour l'étude de la mosaïque antique et médiévale, Roma 5.11.2001-10.11.2001, Collection de l'Ecole Française de Rome 352/2, Rome 2005, pp. 859-880).
See also: M.T. Olszewski, La mosaïque de style naïf de Cheikh Zouède au Sinaï, Archeologia (Warsaw) 53, 2002, pp. 45–61, pls III+VI; M.T. Olszewski, Mauvais œil et protection contre l'envie dans la mosaïque de Cheikh Zouède au Sinaï (IV-Ve siècle), in: Paunier, D., Schmidt, Ch (ed. by), la Mosaïque gréco-romaine VIII. Actes du  VIIIe Colloque international de la mosaïque antique et médiévale, Lausanne 1997 (2001), pp. 276-301.

La célèbre mosaïque de Cheikh Zouède, situé au nord-ouest du Sinaï, ainsi que celle de Vinon dans la Gaule Narbonaise ont été découvertes dans les années dix du XXe siècle. Depuis leurs mises à jour jusqu’à la fin du siècle dernier, elles devaient attendre deux réexamens scientifiques qui ont apportés une analyse iconographique plus complète ainsi que deux nouvelles lectures iconologiques que l’on peut sans doute considerer comme sensationelles !
La mosaïque de Cheikh Zouède est composée de trois tableaux superposés. Deux panneaux représentent des scenes mythologiques: procession dionysiaque et Hippolyte et Phèdre. La troisième image comporte une inscription de bienvenue bordée au-dessus et au-dessous d’animaux et de plantes; une allusion aux scènes nilotiques et à la symbolique printanière et automnale.
La mosaïque de Vinon est également composée de trois tableaux qui sont cependant juxtaposés. Ils représentent, au centre, les trois Grâces et deux scènes à caractère dionysiaques. Celle de gauche représente le don de la vigne (grappes de raisins) par Dionysos à Icarios et celle de droite, le sacrilège de la vigne par un bouc. Les deux mosaïques sont accompagnées par des inscriptions en grec et latin. Elles sont datées à la première moitié du Ve siècle.
On connais plusieurs inscriptions, images et symboles de caractère apothropaïque. C’est pourtant la première fois que des images mythologiques ont dévoilées aux chercheurs leurs sens prophylactique et apotropaïque. Les propriétaires de ces deux résidences ornées de belles mosaïques ont choisis ces thèmes mythologiques pour protéger et écarter le Mauvais Œil et l’Envie. Les sujets dionysiaques dans les salles à manger évoquent probablement des fêtes joyeuses arrosées de vin où la danse et la musique constituaient des éléments essentiels. Par contre, l’abondance nilotique évoquait sans doute le bonheur et l’opulence des dons de la Nature sur les tables de la maison; cette signification concernait certainement aussi les scènes dionysiaques. Les maisons ont été protégées par Dionysos, Héraclès et Vénus.
Pour interpréter ces deux œuvres, les auteurs ont utilisé des recherches sur “l’histoire de la mentalité” des sociétés administrées par les Romains. La lecture de ces deux mosaïques confirme ce que l’on vient de découvrir en étudiant le célèbre texte d’Artémidore de Daldis (IIe siècle) sur les images synonimiques (cf. M.T. Olszewski, Le statut de l'image selon Artémidore et l'art romain, in: Morlier, H. ed., IXe Colloque international pour l'étude de la mosaïque antique et médiévale, Roma 5.11.2001-10.11.2001, Collection de l'Ecole Française de Rome 352/2, Rome 2005, pp. 859-880).
Voir M.T. Olszewski, La mosaïque de style naïf de Cheikh Zouède au Sinaï, Archeologia (Warsaw) 53, 2002, pp. 45–61, pls III+VI; M.T. Olszewski, Mauvais œil et protection contre l'envie dans la mosaïque de Cheikh Zouède au Sinaï (IV-Ve siècle), in: Paunier, D., Schmidt, Ch (ed. by), la Mosaïque gréco-romaine VIII. Actes du  VIIIe Colloque international de la mosaïque antique et médiévale, Lausanne 1997 (2001), pp. 276-301.

Depuis longtemps, les études critiques ont reconnu la valeur métapoétique
de l’opposition des concepts « grand » et « petit » chez Martial. Le « grand » est souvent
compris comme la noblesse et l’exaltation du dédicataire et de la valeur littéraire de
l’oeuvre ; le « petit » peut être interprété comme la modestie formelle du genre et la petite
taille de la composition individuelle. Cependant, dans le douzième livre des épigrammes
on observe une valorisation particulière des deux concepts. La réinterprétation du
« grand vs petit » permet au poète de créer un nouveau discours métapoétique, à travers
lequel il présente, en même temps, une innovante revalorisation nostalgique de la grandeur
perdue (dimension existentielle, statut social et poétique et production littéraire destinée
aux grands empereurs), une désapprobation du « petit » négatif dans lequel il doit vivre
(la pusillitas de Bilbilis qui castre sa uis poétique) et une revalorisation finale du « petit »
dans le « grand » (avec de suggestifs jeux de miroir entre les dimensions chronologique,
géographique et littéraire). Ce sera la seule solution pour atteindre le bonheur et l’épanouissement
existentiel ainsi que, dans ses déclarations et prises de position, la maturité
poétique. Le moyen par lequel s’exprime ce mouvement est la fama.

Epigr. 37 Sh. B., a ferocious attack against Domitian, guilty of having put discredit on his gens, is the only poem in the whole corpus of Martial preserved exclusively by indirect tradition, within Juvenal's scholia vetustiora. It is printed at the end of the Liber Spectaculorum since Scriverius' first edition (1619), in spite of the patent incoherence of this ecdotic behaviour. In fact, because of his cruelty to Domitian, the distich's composition date is unanimously placed after his killing (96 C.E.). Martial's autorship is generally accepted. However a careful evaluation of the epigrammatist' postdomitianic poetic strategies and a close linguistic, metric and stilistic analysis of the distich show that the ascription is highly unlikely. It could descend from a mere scholiast's error, but the hypothesis of a pseudo-epigraphic work should not be disregarded: the text in fact could have been written by an evil rival aimed at discrediting the poet among the imperial court.

Epigr. 37 Sh. B., una feroce aggressione a Domiziano, reo di aver disonorato la sua gens, è l'unico componimento dell'intero corpus di Marziale a essere tramandato solo per via indiretta, all'interno degli scholia vetustiora a Giovenale. È stampato in coda al Liber Spectaculorum fin dalla prima edizione di Scriverius (1619), nonostante l'evidente incoerenza di questa scelta ecdotica. Infatti, per via della sua ferocia contro Domiziano, il distico è unanimemente collocato dopo la sua uccisione (96 d.C.). La paternità marzialiana non è per lo più stata messa in discussione. Tuttavia un'attenta valutazione delle strategie poetiche postdomizianee dell'epigrammista e un'analisi ravvicinata del distico sotto il punto di vista linguistico, metrico e stilistico dimostrano che l'attribuzione è altamente improbabile. Essa potrebbe discendere da un errore dello scoliasta, ma non va trascurata neanche l'ipotesi di un prodotto pseudoepigrafo: il testo potrebbe infatti essere stato composto da un malevolo intenzionato a screditare il poeta presso la corte imperiale.

Επιστημονική Επετηρίς της Φιλοσοφικής Σχολής του Πανεπιστημίου Αθηνών, 44 (2019 - 2020) 117 - 130
This paper is exploring the peculiar –for the Christian West– “double-faced” sexuality of the ancient Greeks in epigrammatic poetry with emphasis on the Late Hellenistic and Imperial period. Platonic dialogues on eros, Phaedrus and especially Symposium, sparked off the creation of a long tradition of erotic literature in which the comparison between love for women and love for boys plays an important role (inter alia Plutarch’s Amatorius, ps.-Lucian’s Amores, Achilles Tatius’ Leucippe and Clitophon 2.35-38).
The topic of the comparison and dilemma between heterosexual sex and paidikos eros is examined in the epigrams of the 5th and 12th books of the Palatine Anthology. Most of them belong to three erotic epigrammatists par excellence, Meleager, Rufinus and Strato, whose poetic speakers have a differentiated sexual orientation. The arguments of both sides are analyzed in detail. Most of these epigrams declare a preference for boys over women. They come from a period in which polis has completely lost the political function of the classical period, and before Christianity is established and enforces its own morality. However, when the motif returns in the 6th century, the preference is reversed. The epigrams of Agathias and Eratosthenes Scholasticus, written during the period of Justinian’s Christian fanaticism and the strict anti-homosexual law, advocate always female love.

La tradizione di Marziale rappresenta un caso particolare di “recensio aperta”: il testo è tramandato da tre famiglie di manoscritti medievali, ognuna derivante da un’edizione tardoantica, ed è conservato in modo soddisfacente. La contaminazione fra i tre rami è quasi assente. Gli editori dovrebbero pertanto essere cauti nell’accogliere congetture, soprattutto quando il testo è tramandato in modo concorde da tre (o anche da due) rami. In molti casi l’analisi intertestuale può gettare luce sulle scelte stilistiche del poeta e corroborare il testo tràdito. Questo contributo discute alcune congetture e tenta di mostrare
la correttezza del testo tràdito (xii 52 9; x 103 5; xi 52 9).
Martial’s transmission is a peculiar example of “open recensio”: the text is transmitted by three medieval manuscript branches, each one deriving from a late antique edition, and it is very well preserved.
Contamination between the three branches is almost absent. Editors should therefore be cautious to accept conjectures, especially when the text is transmitted unanimously by three (or even two) branches. In many cases intertextual analysis can cast light on the poet’s stylistic choices and give strenght to the transmitted text. This paper discusses some conjectures and seek to demonstrate the correctness of the text preserved by the manuscripts (xii 52 9; x 103 5; xi 52 9).

L’épigramme I, 109 de Martial est-elle l’éloge convenu de l’animal favori d’un patron que l’on y a généralement lu ? Il nous semble, au contraire, que le génie satirique de Martial culmine dans cette pièce où l’auteur exploite en virtuose l’ambiguïté des formes non explicites de discours rapporté – mentions et discours au style direct libre – grâce auxquelles il se livre à un pastiche et à une mise à distance ironique des propos louangeurs du maître entiché de son animal de compagnie. Martial se rattache-t-il, en ce qui concerne ces animaux, à la tradition encomiastique ou à la tradition satirique ? Lui arrive-t-il de tourner en dérision des personnes réelles désignées par leur véritable nom ? Se permet-il, enfin, de porter sur ses protecteurs un regard critique ? Autant de questions de portée plus générale que met en jeu l’interprétation de cette épigramme.

This paper deals with two textual problems in Martial 2.7. At vv. 1 and 5 most editors print the name
Atticus, while Shackleton Bailey recently favours Attalus. The former has stronger elements on his side: not only
it is better transmitted (by the first family and the excerpta Frisingensia, a XIth century anthology; also the
Gennadian edition shows traces of this name), but Attalus could have been interpolated from 1.79.1, where not
only the same name occurs, but also an almost identical clausula (1.79.1 semper agis causas et res agis, Attale,
semper ~ 2.7.1 Declamas belle, causas agis, Attice [Attale], belle). At v. 7 all modern editors print Nil bene cum
facias, facias tamen omnia belle with the exc. Fris., while second and third family have the ametrical Nil bene
cum facias, facis tamen omnia belle. The vulgate text however is far from convincing: the syntax is very strange
(tamen is always in the main clause) and the punctuation also raises doubts. I propose to read: Nil bene cum
facias, facis ‹haec› tamen omnia belle, a text transmitted by ms. G and by another ms. mentioned by Scriverius.
The omission is very easy and occurs often in Martial’s transmission. The verse resembles much Ovid, met.
14.121 et dare plangorem: facit haec tamen omnia seque (this may be due to intentional allusion or to
reminiscence). Moreover, imitation of Martial’s verse by the carolingian poet Thedoulf of Orléans, carm. 6.1 Nil
horum fixe geris, haec tamen omnia ficte shows that he read 2.7.7 in the form proposed.

" As Easily as a Fox Eats a Pear " (Plaut. Most. 559): a Homoerotic Pun In Plautus' Mostellaria, Tranio, who has already persuaded his master, Theopropides, that his house is haunted is afraid that his trickeries will be revealed. Theopropides reports to him that he has spoken to his neighbor, Simo, whose house has allegedly been bought by Philolaches, Theopropides' son. He recounts Tranio's fake story about the haunted house, which is new to Simo, so the slave, encourages his master to find an arbiter. Thus, he will win the case easier than a fox eats a pear (559 Tam facile vinces quam pirum volpes comest). The proverb is unique in both Greek and Latin literature. The fox, a common metaphor of cunning and trickery, sometimes symbolizes the sexual predator, whose object of desire is the grape, a fruit suggesting an immature boy or girl. A probable transposition changed the grape into another provocative fruit, the pear, which was a phallic symbol. So the meaning is that Theopropides will win the case easier than the foxy pederast subjugates the young man. If we accept that there is a hidden homoerotic meaning, then the-humoristic-case of Theopropides and Simo will be the only one in Plautus involving two free men and not a master and a slave.

An "Alexandrian" encomiastic epigram in honor of Augustus (Supplementum Hellenisticum 982), "Aevum Antiquum" 11 (1998), 255-344

Contents:
1) Papyrological evidence. Hypothesis on the period and on the circumstances of the composition of the epigram. [The first known Greek epigram on papyrus with pentameters in eisthesis].
2) Epigram as Encomium and encomiastic ekphrasis. Possible epigraphical destination of SH 982.
3) Encomium as a hymn to the laudandus' divinity.
4) The Text.
5) August as a Zeus Eleutherios/Liberator: the Roman-Egyptian interpretation of the "Basileis soteres" Hellenistic tradition.
6) The Personification present in the epigram: a picture of the "Golden Age".
7) August as Nilotic ruler, bringer of Prosperity.
8) Iconography of the Augustean Apollo: the princeps and the elaboration of his own divine image.
9) Apollo "Actius" and Apollo "Leucadius".
10) Mutual influences of the Greek and Latin encomiastic poetry in the Augustan age: two different ways of expressing the same ideology.
11)  Appendix: the documentary texts of the tomos (P.Lond II 256 a, d, e) with translation and commentary.
12) Bibliography.

Alcuin's carm. 69 has been interpreted in some influential studies of the Codex Amiatinus as describing a pandect written per cola et commata. It  incorporates in its final four lines both the couplet found above the Amiatinus Ezra-portrait and a  line (not a couplet) from the preface to Juvencus's hexameter retelling of the Gospels. The occurrence of the Ezra-couplet underlies the theory that Alcuin had seen either the Codex Amiatinus or one of its sister codices and there obtained the Ezra-couplet.  Amiatinus scholars (though not liturgists) have thus  often assumed that carm. 69 describes a book written per cola et commata. Some editors of carm. 69 have assumed that the final two couplets are a later addition.
      In this study of the relevant lines I show that carm 69 does not describe a book written per cola et commata and further, that that phrase would never have been used to describe a page layout in the eighth century. 
    The Juvencus line can give a clue to the poem's date, substantiating Bonifatius's Fischer's views of a 799-801 date against recent skepticism. Alcuin reworked the line borrowed from Juvencus's praefatio in two letters written on either side of the year 800; in both, his adaptation resembles the relevant lines in carm. 69. The combination of the couplet with the Juvencus borrowing is thematically coherent: both treat, in different ways, the theme of destruction and deliverance from fire. Accordingly, the notion that the Ezra couplet and Juvencus lines were later additions to Alcuin's poem cannot be upheld.
    The transmission of the poem and its form in each witness has not previously been correctly set out. No edition uses all witnesses.
      New information from the Peutinger library catalogue research project allows us to assign the exemplar of the text of carm. 69 as transmitted in  London BL Harley 3685 to Freising; this points to a stronger Bavarian reception than has hitherto been recognized.
    The prevailing  hypothesis about carmen 69 and the Ceolfirth pandects, developed and elaborated by Corsano, Meyvaert, and Chazelle--  that Alcuin derived the Ezra couplet from first-hand acquaintance with either the Codex Amiatinus or one of its sister codices (if they indeed contained material similar to the first quire) must therefore be set aside. While Alcuin could indeed have seen the book, it is far more likely that his acquaintance with the couplet derives from an intermediary such a lost collection of epigrams..

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An in-depth look at the epic literary history of the short, poetic genre of the epigram

From Nestor’s inscribed cup to tombstones, bathroom walls, and Twitter tweets, the ability to express oneself concisely and elegantly, continues to be an important part of literary history unlike any other. This book examines the entire history of the epigram, from its beginnings as a purely epigraphic phenomenon in the Greek world, where it moved from being just a note attached to physical objects to an actual literary form of expression, to its zenith in late 1st century Rome, and further through a period of stagnation up to its last blooming, just before the beginning of the Dark Ages.

A Companion to Ancient Epigram offers the first ever full-scale treatment of the genre from a broad international perspective. The book is divided into six parts, the first of which covers certain typical characteristics of the genre, examines aspects that are central to our understanding of epigram, and discusses its relation to other literary genres. The subsequent four parts present a diachronic history of epigram, from archaic Greece, Hellenistic Greece, and Latin and Greek epigrams at Rome, all the way up to late antiquity, with a concluding section looking at the heritage of ancient epigram from the Middle Ages up to modern times.

Provides a comprehensive overview of the history of the epigram
The first single-volume book to examine the entire history of the genre
Scholarly interest in Greek and Roman epigram has steadily increased over the past fifty years
Looks at not only the origins of the epigram but at the later literary tradition
A Companion to Ancient Epigram will be of great interest to scholars and students of literature, world literature, and ancient and general history. It will also be an excellent addition to the shelf of any public and university library.

Nossis' auto-epitaph is one of the most important texts in Nossis' corpus, and yet one of the most controversial. This paper offers a careful analysis of the text and focuses on the programmatic reuse of epigraphic models and structures, which leads here to a complete subversion of the epitymbion schema. In addition, a thorough analysis is offered for the corrupted passages in the last couplet.

The aim of this paper is to analyse the elegiac framework of Epigr. Bob. 45, a fascinating epigram in the collection of the Epigrammata Bobiensia, which may be briefly described as “Dido’s palinode”, and in which the Carthaginian queen retracts her earlier sentiments and clarifies that she has, in fact, never met Aeneas. The epigram in question belongs to the literary genre of ecphrastic poetry, as I have argued elsewhere (see «Sileno», 41/1-2, 2015, pp. 277-304). The present study is divided into four sections: (1) the Latin text of the carmen with a critical apparatus, (2) the interpretative paradigms of Ovid and Vergil, (3) the influence of Propertius on the author of the epigram as shown through three examples taken from Book 4 of Propertius’ elegies, and (4) the analysis of the ‘inscriptional intermediality’ of this poem. My intention is to show, first, how the ‘genre epigram’ is an open rhetorical system and, second, that it is possible, as a result of this openness , not only to recognize in Epigr. Bob. 45 an ‘elegiac movement’ (to paraphrase slightly Antonio La Penna’s famous definition about the “epigrammatic movement and rhythm in Propertius’ elegies”) but also to delineate the different ways in which the various literary models I have discussed previously were re-codified in the late antique literary culture. || Key Words: «Dido, Vergil, Propertius, Ovid, Inscriptions, Latin Elegy, Ancient Epigram, Late Antiquity, Intertextuality, Epigrammata Bobiensia».

Success in war over rival kings or barbarian invaders was one of the marks of legitimation for the Hellenistic rulers. Depictions of, or allusions to, war are quite rare in the surviving Hellenistic court poetry; however, we can have a glance of military life (and death) through the lens of verse epitaphs for men who served in the army –in every rank, from royal philoi to humble privates–, and from the occasional dedicatory epigrams they commissioned for temple offerings. Poetic portrayal of members of an army involves display (or concealment) of many layers of their individual and public “identity”: social status, ethnicity, cultural background, religious belief, etc. Building a corpus of such epigrams produced in the 4th-1st cent. BC, from every area of the Hellenistic world (mainland Greece, Macedonia, the Ptolemaic, Attalid and Seleucid kingdoms, the independent poleis of Asia Minor) I shall try to assess similarities and differences in self-presentation of men who –often gone unremarked by ancient historians or court poets– helped building the power of their basileis or keeping the freedom of their own polis.