The 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: Paperback / softback
Length: 400 pages
Publication date: 05 December 2023
Publisher: Princeton University Press

In the captivating book "The Roman Republic of Letters," Katharina Volk delves into a fascinating chapter of intellectual history, exploring the literary senators of the mid-first century BCE who engaged in scholarly debates and a civil war. This period witnessed a remarkable cultural flourishing and extreme political unrest, with the agents of both often being the same individuals. Members of the senatorial class, including Cicero, Caesar, Brutus, Cassius, Cato, Varro, and Nigidius Figulus, made significant contributions to Roman scholarship and engaged in lively and often polemical exchanges. These men were also intricately involved in the tumultuous events that led to the collapse of the Republic and found themselves on opposing sides in the civil war between Caesar and Pompey in the early 40s.

Volk treats the intellectual and political activities of these "senator scholars" as two sides of the same coin, examining how scholarship and statesmanship mutually informed one another. He also explores how the acquisition, organization, and diffusion of knowledge were intertwined with the question of what it meant to be a Roman in a time of crisis. By revealing the connection between the remarkable "republic of letters" of first-century Rome and the fight over the actual res publica, Volk's account provides a captivating portrayal of the complexity of this pivotal period.

Weight: 642g
Dimension: 156 x 235 x 33 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780691253954