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Long a source for quotations, fragments, and factoids, the Noctes Atticae of Aulus Gellius offers hundreds of brief but vivid glimpses of Roman intellectual life. In this book Joseph Howley demonstrates how the work may be read as a literary text in its own right, and discusses the rich evidence it provides for the ancient history of reading, thought, and intellectual culture. He argues that Gellius is in close conversation with predecessors both Greek and Latin, such as Plutarch and Pliny the Elder, and also offers new ways of making sense of the text's 'miscellaneous' qualities, like its disorder and its table of contents. Dealing with topics ranging from the framing of literary quotations to the treatment of contemporary celebrities who appear in its pages, this book offers a new way to learn from the Noctes about the world of Roman reading and thought.
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AU LU S G E L L I U S A N D RO M A N R E A D I N G C U LT U R E
Long a source for quotations, fragments, and factoids, the Noctes Atticae of Aulus Gellius offers hundreds of brief but vivid glimpses of Roman intellectual life. In this book Joseph Howley demonstrates how the work may be read as a literary text in its own right, and discusses the rich evidence it provides for the ancient history of reading, thought, and intellectual culture. He argues that Gellius is in close conversation with predecessors both Greek and Latin, such as Plutarch and Pliny the Elder, and also offers new ways of making sense of the text’s “miscellaneous” qualities, like its disorder and its Table of Contents. Dealing with topics ranging from the framing of literary quotations to the treatment of contemporary celebrities who appear in its pages, this book offers a new way to learn from the Noctes about the world of Roman reading and thought. Joseph A. Howley is an Associate Professor in the Department of Classics at Columbia University.
AU LU S G E L L I U S A N D RO M A N R E A D I N G C U LT U R E Text, Presence, and Imperial Knowledge in the Noctes Atticae
J O S E P H A . H OW L E Y Columbia University, New York
University Printing House, Cambridge CB2 8BS, United Kingdom One Liberty Plaza, 20th Floor, New York, NY 10006, USA 477 Williamstown Road, Port Melbourne, VIC 3207, Australia 314–321, 3rd Floor, Plot 3, Splendor Forum, Jasola District Centre, New Delhi – 110025, India 79 Anson Road, #06-04/06, Singapore 079906 Cambridge University Press is part of the University of Cambridge. It furthers the University’s mission by disseminating knowledge in the pursuit of education, learning, and research at the highest international levels of excellence. www.cambridge.org Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9781316510124 DOI: 10.1017/9781108186810 © Joseph A. Howley 2018 This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. First published 2018 Printed in the United Kingdom by Clays, St Ives plc A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Howley, Joseph A., author. Title: Aulus Gellius and Roman reading culture : text, presence, and imperial knowledge in the Noctes Atticae / Joseph A. Howley. Description: Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2018. | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2017057301 | ISBN 9781316510124 (hardback) Subjects: LCSH: Gellius, Aulus. Noctes Atticae. | Rome – Intellectual life. Classification: LCC PA6391.H695 2018 | DDC 878/.01–dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017057301 ISBN 978-1-316-51012-4 Hardback Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for external or