Roman Republic of Letters: Scholarship, Philosophy, and Politics in the Age of Cicero and Caesar

The Roman Republic of Letters is a book that explores the intellectual history of the late Roman Republic, focusing on the literary senators who fought scholarly debates and a civil war. It was a period of intense cultural flourishing and political unrest, and the senators contributed greatly to the development of Roman scholarship and engaged in a lively and often polemical exchange with one another. Volk treats the intellectual and political activities of these "senator scholars" as two sides of the same coin, exploring how scholarship and statesmanship mutually informed one another and how the acquisition, organization, and diffusion of knowledge were bound up with the question of what it meant to be a Roman in a time of crisis.

Format: Hardback
Length: 400 pages
Publication date: 09 November 2021
Publisher: Princeton University Press

In the captivating book "The Roman Republic of Letters," Katharina Volk delves into a captivating chapter of intellectual history, shedding light on the literary senators of the mid-first century BCE. These esteemed individuals, including Cicero, Caesar, Brutus, Cassius, Cato, Varro, and Nigidius Figulus, played pivotal roles in shaping Roman scholarship and engaging in spirited and often polemical exchanges. These men were also deeply involved in the tumultuous events that led to the collapse of the Roman Republic, ultimately finding themselves on opposing sides in the civil war between Caesar and Pompey in the early 40s. Volk views the intellectual and political endeavors of these "senator scholars" as two interconnected facets, exploring how scholarship and statesmanship mutually informed each other and how the acquisition, organization, and dissemination of knowledge were intricately linked to the question of what it meant to be a Roman in a time of crisis. Through her meticulous research, Volk unveils the intricate connections between the remarkable "republic of letters" of first-century Rome and the struggle for the actual res publica, providing a riveting account that captures the complexity and significance of this pivotal period in Roman history.

Weight: 792g
Dimension: 164 x 242 x 36 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780691193878