Promotions - Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles 2023 -

Reitz-Joosse (Univ. of Groningen, Netherlands) explores how Roman authors represent architecture and acts of construction. An introduction lays out the argument, five chapters examine in detail the relevant evidence, a conclusion summarizes the findings, and an epilogue looks at an instance of modern reception of Roman construction. The first two chapters investigate the representation of construction in Latin inscriptions and relief sculptures and the depiction of large-scale engineering projects in Latin literature. The other three chapters discuss how and why certain authors--Virgil, Propertius, Vitruvius, Manilius, Statius--depict the process of construction in their works. The intriguing conclusion examines the interplay of construction and destruction, both physical and literary, with a particular focus on Pliny's Panegyricus. The epilogue shows how the staging and representation of construction by Benito Mussolini shaped modern views about the appearance and meaning of Roman architecture and construction. Reitz-Joosse writes in a clear and engaging style, and 26 well-chosen figures buttress the largely sound argumentation. Scholars of art history as well as Latin literature will learn much from this work.Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty.

Narcisssus and Pygmalion is the first English translation of Gianpiero Rosati's Italian thesis, first published in 1983. The Italian was reprinted with a new introduction in 2016. The reprint and this English translation testify to the importance of Rosati's work for understanding Ovid's poetics and the Metamorphoses. This translation does not update or change the original text; instead, Rosati (Scuola Normale Superiore, Pisa) offers a new introduction that explores how the book's themes fit into the developments of Ovidian and general studies of the two central myths. In the four original chapters that follow the introduction, Rosati provides refined and insightful interpretations of Ovid's Narcissus and Pygmalion episodes. Focusing on the themes of illusion and allusion (or representation and intertextuality), Rosati illustrates the importance of art and its superiority to nature in Ovid. Rosati's original book signaled a shift in modern Ovidian studies. He was among the first to stop treating Ovid as shallow and escapist; instead, Rosati treated the poet as the self-conscious literary artist he was. This book will be especially welcomed by those wanting or needing to read a foundational work in modern Ovidian studies.Summing Up: Essential. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty.

The "Routledge Later Latin Poetry" series is dedicated to the publication of "creative, accessible translations" of Latin poetry produced between the fourth and eighth centuries CE. As one of the latest offerings of the series, this most welcome volume presents the Psychomachia of Prudentius (written c. 405-410), often cited as the first purely allegorical epic in the Western literary tradition. Exerting a profound archetypal influence for over a millennium, this early Christian allegory, itself a synthesis of classical, biblical, and patristic precursors, inspired many subsequent medieval and modern literary forays into the realm of allegorical, didactic, and epic poetry. With great panache, Mastrangelo (Dickinson College) maintains the coloration and tone of the original Latin hexameters and admirably succeeds in graphically conveying the grisly atmospheric elements of the successive battles of the Virtues against the Vices. The translation is truly accessible to 21st-century readers, and renderings such as "trash talk" and "sleazy dive-bar" exhibit facets of contemporaneity. In addition, the book's excellent introduction and copious explanatory notes for each section of the poem effectively contextualize the allegory within its religious and cultural milieu and provide essential interpretive, philological, and historical instruction.Summing Up: Highly recommended. Undergraduates through faculty.