Description
Book SynopsisThis landmark study of Latin prose intertextuality radically reinterprets Pliny's Epistles as a brilliant transformation of Quintilian's Institutio oratoria and a unique reply to Tacitus' Dialogus. Indispensable to readers of imperial Latin prose, the book is also essential reading for all students of imitation in Roman literature and culture.
Trade Review'This original and learned book, written in sparkling and stylish prose, makes a fundamental contribution to our appreciation of Pliny the Younger's artistry. Christopher Whitton shows that there is much more Quintilian in Pliny's Epistles than anyone had realised - and that recognising Quintilian's presence is of vital importance for understanding Pliny's literary project. With complete control of the sources, Whitton takes the reader on an unexpectedly fascinating tour of Quintilian's earliest reception, and along the way sheds new light on Latin prose intertextuality and the quintessentially Roman practice of imitatio.' Tom Keeline, Washington University, St Louis
'The Arts of Imitation in Latin Prose is a very useful addition to Plinian scholarship and, more generally, a milestone for all those concerned with intertextuality.' Lorenzo Vespoli, Bryn Mawr Classical Review
Table of Contents1. Two scenes from the life of an artist; 2. Setting the stage; 3. Brief encounters; 4. Dancing with dialectic; 5. Through the looking-glass; 6. On length, in brief (Ep. 1.20); 7. Letters to Lupercus; 8. Studiorum secessus (Ep. 7.9); 9. Docendo discitur; 10. Reflections of an author; 11. Quintilian, Pliny, Tacitus; 12. Beginnings.
