Incerti Auctoris Aetna

The Aetna is something of a curiosity: a didactic poem on the nature and causes of volcanic activity. In antiquity it was ascribed by some to Virgil; modern scholars reject this and although unable to agree upon a date favour the first century A.D. The text itself presents many problems in reading and interpretation arising partly from corruptions in the manuscripts partly from obscurities in the subject-matter. These difficulties are increased by the nature of the author''s style: it is terse and elliptical and at the same time loaded with scientific detail and mythological allusion. Dr Goodyear''s edition provides a long introduction a text with critical apparatus a commentary bibliography and indexes. The text is more reliable than any published hitherto.