This dissertation focuses on the "Apologia", a speech delivered in AD 158-159 by the Latin sophist Apuleius of Madauros. The aim of this study is to shed new light on the extent to which Apuleius’ speech betrays his own knowledge of magic, and it also focuses on implications of the serious charges brought against Apuleius. By analysing the "Apologia" sequentially, I reconstruct, on the one hand, the content of the prosecution’s case which Apuleius heavily distorts to avoid any threatening innuendos. In order to do so, I examine various aspects of Greco-Roman magic and introduce a new semantic taxonomy to describe the term magus and its cognates according to the viewpoint of the ancients. On the other hand, I explore Apuleius’ forensic techniques and assess the Platonic ideology underpinning his speech; this enables me to demonstrate that a Platonising reasoning – distinguishing between higher and lower concepts – lies at the core of Apuleius’ rhetorical strategy, and that Apuleius aims to charm the judge, the audience and, ultimately, his readers with the irresistible power of his arguments.

The purpose of my research is to illuminate the gendered and ethnic stereotyping of Easterners in Roman literature of the central period (c. 200 BCE to 200 CE), particularly in texts concerned with masculinity and warfare. Military situations were often constructed as the ultimate ‘tests’ of masculinity and Romanness, and they are, therefore, uniquely revealing for the constructions of these ideas. The idea of gendered lifestyles was central to these constructions. Roman authors distinguished between easy, pleasurable, feminine lifestyles and hard, austere, masculine ones. Masculinity and virtue were intertwined, and these precepts informed the ways in which Roman authors constructed their own worth, and the worth of other peoples. Easterners were presented as living luxurious, pleasurable lives, which were contrasted with a stereotypical Roman life of martial toil. However, when Easterners were depicted in martial contexts, this resulted in the caricature of their inabilities in this area. The accusation that Easterners allowed pleasure into martial contexts underpins these caricatures, and this was particularly challenging for Roman authors. Athletic training, for example, was constructed as pseudo-martial but inadequately so, as it was enjoyable. This was contrasted with difficult, ‘true’ military training, which helped build a man’s endurance, and proved his masculinity. The relationship of Easterners to arma (arms) was also deemed troubled, and Easterners were often constructed as having poor ability with arms, or an interest in adorned arms for their aesthetic value rather than their rugged purpose. Similarly, in the naval sphere, Roman authors were prone to depict Hellenistic rulers with luxurious and ornamented flagships, oversized and unsuitable for real warfare. In essence, these constructions were used to affirm Roman superiority – both moral and military – and also to serve as a warning as to what could happen should Romans allow themselves to succumb to easy, ‘effeminate’ lifestyles. Fundamentally, I argue that gendered constructions of ethnic ‘warlikeness’ were the principal force behind the disparagement of Greeks and other Easterners in Roman literature.

This thesis aims to establish an impression of the readership and reception of Benedict Burgh’s Middle English Distichs of Cato. The intended outcome of this research is to demonstrate the layer(s) of society in which the text was read and the ways in which it was presented by scribes and marked by its readers. Presentation and annotation are viewed as the best way of identifying the esteem and attention paid to the Distichs and thus of evaluating its cultural importance. These research goals are therefore achieved through examination of the Distichs’ manuscript contexts. The first chapter delineates the text’s background as a translation of a late Classical Latin original, heavily used in primary education throughout Europe both for its practical advice and its suitability for teaching basic Latin grammar. The chapter discusses the authorship of the Latin Disticha Catonis, the translator of the Middle English version under investigation, and the medieval theories of translation and authorial ‘authority’ which impact on the nature of Burgh’s translation efforts. The second and third chapters focus on specific manuscripts, collating and discussing information on their contents, the circumstances of their production, and the likely audience for which they were produced. In chapter two, British Library MSS. Harley 7333 and Harley 2251 are examined in light of their relationship to the miscellanies of fifteenth-century secretarial clerk, John Shirley. Through examination of the likely audience of Shirley’s manuscripts and the nature of other volumes copied from them, it is argued that manuscripts such as the two Harley volumes are likely to have been owned by members of the gentry and/or the literate ‘middle class’ of clerks and merchants. Chapter three focusses on Glasgow, University Library MS. Hunter 259 and Oxford, Bodleian Library MS. Eng. poet. e.15, both of which are in the hand of the Carthusian monk Stephen Dodesham. Dodesham was resident at the Charterhouse of Sheen, which had strong connections to neighbouring Bridgettine nunnery, Syon Abbey. This chapter considers the possibility that these manuscripts were made for Syon nuns but, through comparison with other comparable Distichs volumes, also suggests that their audience may have lain more in the network of pious lay patrons surrounding Sheen and Syon. The members of this patronage milieu were predominately from the gentry, and thus overlapped with the audience of the Harley volumes. Chapter four considers patterns of presentation and use of the manuscripts across the group to support the gentry/middle-class audience established in chapters two and three, and to draw a general picture of the Distichs’ reception by this audience. This includes establishing that both male and female readership was common, and that the dissemination of the text may have been aided by close association with the poetry of John Lydgate. Selection/excerption of stanzas for copying, annotation of particular stanzas, and evidence of wear on the manuscripts are presented as evidence that medieval readers did engage with the text, and continued to value it as previous centuries had valued the Latin source text. A concluding chapter summarises the main points of the argument, and offers directions for future research.

Valerius Maximus situates his ninth and final book (henceforth referred as V9) in clear contrast to the rest of his output by adopting an apotreptic approach and focusing entirely on 'vitia'. This makes a break from the dispersive manner in which 'vitia' had hitherto been treated by different authors across a myriad of works, nor was V9’s structure replicated in the same manner by any other Roman author since V. Worthy of note is also how V treats his subject exclusively in a single book, creating 'intensity' as a technique 'per se' to shock the reader into making them fully aware – beyond all reasonable doubt – how pernicious and dangerous 'vitia' are. At the heart of V9 is the ubiquity of vice that transcends ethnicity. In fact V brings domestic and external 'exempla' closer, vice is inherent in life itself; the characters inhabiting both the domestic and external sections are not opposites, but are presented as culpable of the same vices (although sometimes certain 'exempla' are graded worse than others).

The main body of this thesis is a commentary on sections 1.19b-33 and 1.97-109 of Cicero's De Inuentione. These sections treat partes orationis in general (1.19b), then exordium (1.20-26), narratio (1.27-30), partitio (1.31-33), digressio (1.97), and conclusio (1.98-109). Due to the imposed word limit, the sections on confirmatio (1.34-77) and reprehensio (1.78-96) could not be included in the thesis. The structure of the commentary on each of these sections will be: introduction to the section, references to parallel passages in other Latin and Greek rhetorical texts, the most important general literature on the subject of the section, comparison of the passage in Cic.Inu.1 with the corresponding one in Rhet.Her, individual lemmata. The lemmata will cover various kinds of information, such as textual, grammatical, and linguistic issues, background information on persons, objects etc. mentioned, the young Cicero's position within the rhetorical tradition for a particular point (i.e. influence on and by Cic.Inu.). To the commentary proper, a number of introduction chapters have been added. Due to the word limit, only a selection of these can be included in the thesis: the title 'De Inuentione' and Cicero's intention to write on all five partes artis; the structure of Cic.Inu.; subdividing the art; rhythm and clausulae; the young Cicero's knowledge of Aristotle's works; the relationship between Cic.Inu. and Rhet.Her. (abbreviated version); the proems of Cic.Inu. (abbreviated version); preliminary comments on Narratio; the Orestes case in the rhetorical tradition; examples in Cic.Inu. (abbreviated version). The structure of the commentary on each of these sections will be: introduction to the section, references to parallel passages in other Latin and Greek rhetorical texts, the most important general literature on the subject of the section, comparison of the passage in Cic.Inu.1 with the corresponding one in Rhet.Her, individual lemmata. The lemmata will cover various kinds of information, such as textual, grammatical, and linguistic issues, background information on persons, objects etc. mentioned, the young Cicero's position within the rhetorical tradition for a particular point (i.e. influence on and by Cic.Inu.). To the commentary proper, a number of introduction chapters have been added. Due to the word limit, only a selection of these can be included in the thesis: the title 'De Inuentione' and Cicero's intention to write on all five partes artis; the structure of Cic.Inu.; subdividing the art; rhythm and clausulae; the young Cicero's knowledge of Aristotle's works; the relationship between Cic.Inu. and Rhet.Her. (abbreviated version); the proems of Cic.Inu. (abbreviated version); preliminary comments on Narratio; the Orestes case in the rhetorical tradition; examples in Cic.Inu. (abbreviated version).

Ce travail de recherche étudie le dialogue intertextuel entre l’oeuvre de Stace et celle de Claudien, en mettant en évidence - dans les vers de ce dernier - les reprises les plus significatives de thèmes et de styles staciens. Ayant constaté la mémoire persistante de Stace chez Claudien, il vérifie la pertinence des références notifiées à ce jour par les éditeurs et commentateurs et il intégre les remarques critiques jugées valables à travers des argumentations diverses et selon certains axes thématiques importants chez les deux auteurs. En suivant les critères de recherche intertextuelle et la classification des passages parallèles illustrés dans le chapitre I, l'étude comparative est divisée en sept sections, sur autant de thèmes : le pouvoir dans l'univers mythique, le pouvoir parmi les hommes, la conception et la représentation de la discorde et de la guerre, la valorisation de la culture, l'éloge du mariage, l'image de la mère. La présente contribution, au-delà des coïncidences verbales qui – sans être dues au hasard – peuvent être considérées comme des réminiscences inconscientes, approfondit la relation entre les deux poètes sous le signe du processus afférent de leurs textes à une koinè thématique et stylistique qui s’est stratifiée dans le temps, mais surtout sous le signe d’une imitatio directe, créative et volontaire. Les textes de Claudien sont donc présentés à la lecture enrichis de réflexes et de significations provenant de la leçon de l’illustre prédécesseur. / The paper studies the intertextual dialogue between the work of Statius and that of Claudian, showing the most significant recurrences of Statius’ themes and stylistic features in the latter’s verses. Having ascertained the persistent memory of Statius in Claudian, it verifies the relevance of the allusions reported to date by editors and commentators and it supplements the critical remarks deemed valid with various arguments and in accordance with certain thematic axes of importance in both authors. Following intertextual research criteria and the classification of the parallel passages illustrated in Chapter I, the comparative survey is divided into seven sections dealing with as many themes: power in the mythical universe, power among men, the conception and representation of discord and war, the valorization of culture, the nuptial encomium, the image of the mother. The present contribution, apart from verbal coincidences which, albeit not casual, can be explained as unconscious reminiscences, explores the relation between the two poets in terms of the relevance of their texts to a stylistic-thematic koiné stratified in time, but above all in terms of a direct, creative and deliberate imitatio. Claudian’s texts are therefore presented to the reading enriched with reflections and meanings stemming from the example of his illustrious predecessor.

This is a study of the translation and reception of the Roman historian Livy in the sixteenth century in the British Isles. The thesis examines five major translations of Livy's history of Rome, the Ab Urbe Condita, into the English and Scottish vernaculars. The texts considered here span from the earliest extant translation of around 1533 to the first, full-scale translation published in 1600. By taking a broad view across the century, the thesis uncovers the multiple and versatile uses to which Livy was being put and maps out the major trends surrounding his reception. The first chapter examines Livy's initial reception into print in Europe, outlining the attempts of his earliest editors to impose a critical order onto his enormous work. The subsequent chapters consider the respective translations undertaken by John Bellenden, Anthony Cope, William Thomas, William Painter, and Philemon Holland. Each translation is treated as a case study and compared in detail with the Latin original, thereby revealing the changes Livy's history experienced through the process of translation. By locating these translations in the cultural and political contexts from which they emerged, this study reveals how Livy was exploited in some of the most pressing debates of the period, from arguments over women's apparel to questions of faith. The thesis also considers how these translations responded to the most recent developments in European scholarship on the Ab Urbe Condita and on classical history more generally. Livy's contribution to the development of Scottish historiography is also considered, both as a stylistic model and as a rich source of narrative material. Ultimately this thesis demonstrates that Livy played a fundamental though hitherto underexplored role in the development of vernacular literature and historiography in the British Isles.

The focus of this thesis is Firmicus Maternus, his text the Mathesis, and their place in the intellectual culture of the fourth century AD. There are two sections to this thesis. The first part considers the two questions which have dominated the scholarship on the Mathesis and relate to the context of the work: the date of composition and Firmicus' faith at the time. Chapter 1 separates these questions and reconsiders them individually through an analysis of the three characters which appear throughout the text: Firmicus, the emperor, and the addressee Mavortius. The second part of the thesis considers the Mathesis within the intellectual culture of the fourth century. It examines how Firmicus establishes his authority as a didactic astrologer, with an emphasis on Firmicus' use of his sources. Chapter 2 examines which sources are credited. It considers the argument that Manilius is an uncredited source through an analysis of the astrological theory of the Mathesis and the Astronomica. In addition, the astrological theory of Ptolemy's Tetrabiblos is compared to the Mathesis to assess Firmicus' use of his named sources. The methods that Firmicus uses to assert his authority, including his use of sources, are compared to other didactic authors, both astrological or Late Antique in Chapter 3. This chapter examines whether Firmicus' suppression and falsifying of sources is found in other didactic literature. Chapter 4 considers possible reasons for the omission of Manilius' name and also the effect that this has had on intellectual culture and the place of the Mathesis within it.

L’œuvre de Tite-Live propose une histoire de la Res publica romaine depuis sa naissance jusqu’au tournant du premier siècle av. J.-C. où, selon les termes de l’auteur, « l’État se détruit sous l’effet de ses propres forces ». Au sortir d’une période de guerres civiles qui bouleversa en profondeur les repères politiques et sociaux, il s’agit pour l’historien de redéfinir l’identité politique de Rome en puisant dans les grands exemples du passé, à une époque où Auguste, en ramenant la paix, propose aussi, avec le Principat, un nouveau modèle d’exercice du pouvoir. Cette étude propose de relire l’Ab Vrbe condita comme une réflexion sur le pouvoir, un « discours », à une époque de profondes mutations. Retraçant le passé de la ville, l’historien exprime une pensée politique cohérente à travers ses commentaires, ses choix narratifs, et les discours qu’il attribue à différents personnages historiques. Celle-ci est le plus souvent proche de celle de Cicéron qui, du De Republica au De Officiis, offrait un cadre philosophique à la réflexion sur les institutions et les devoirs de l’homme d’État. Mais Tite-Live se la réapproprie en l’enrichissant des préoccupations politiques de son époque. Son récit de l’histoire de Rome s’inscrit principalement dans une défense de la libertas du peuple romain menacée par l’émergence d’un pouvoir personnel. Dans chaque situation, l’historien insiste sur les rapports complexes du dirigeant avec les institutions de la cité et le peuple de Rome. Par la mise en relation des exempla et des discours, Tite-Live propose un modèle de gouvernement unifié et cohérent fondé sur les vertus des dirigeants du passé et les valeurs collectives du peuple romain. / Livy’s body of work presents a history of the Roman Res publica from its beginnings to the turn of the first century. Civil wars had then deeply shaken the political and socials benchmarks and, while Augustus, after bringing peace back, was trying to impose a new political model with the Principate, it was the historian’s role to redefine Rome’s political identity through the use of well-known examples from the past. Livy’s From the Founding of the City may thus be read as a discourse about Roman power in a period of deep political change. The historian, as he tells the story of the city’s past, makes comments, narrative choices, and inserts into the historical figures’ speeches general remarks which help in many ways to grasp his political thinking. Most of the time, this thoughts are close to what can be read in Cicero’s political treatises. Cicero’s De Republica and De Officiis actually offered a philosophical frame of reference to political thinking, concerning the state institutions and the duties of state leaders. However, Livy develops his own theory and adds to Cicero’s political thought considerations on issues specific to his own time. Livy mainly defends the libertas of the Roman people against the emergence of personal power. In each and every situation, Livy sheds light on the complex relationships between the leaders and the state institutions and between the leaders and the Roman people. Linking exempla and speeches, Livy suggests a stable and coherent leadership model based upon the virtues of past political leaders and the collective principles of the Roman people.