The Complete Critical Assembly

This new collection of essays commissioned from a range of scholars across the world takes as its theme the reception of Rome's greatest poet in a time of profound cultural change. Amid the rise of Christianity the changing status of the city of Rome and the emergence of new governing classes Vergil remained a bedrock of Roman education and identity. This volume considers the different ways in which Vergil was read understood and appropriated; by poets commentators Church fathers orators and historians. The introduction outlines the cultural and historical contexts. Twelve chapters dedicated to individual writers or genres and the contributors make use of a wide range of approaches from contemporary reception theory. An epilogue concludes the volume.