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Bryn Mawr Classical Review | 15 Aug 2009 21:08
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BMCR 2009.08.41: Traill on Fortson, Language and Rhythm in Plautus: Synchronic and Diachronic Studies. Sozomena / Studies in the Recovery of Ancient Texts; 3


Benjamin W. Fortson IV, Language and Rhythm in Plautus: Synchronic and
Diachronic Studies. Sozomena / Studies in the Recovery of Ancient
Texts; 3.  Berlin/New York:  Walter de Gruyter, 2008.  Pp. 250.  ISBN
9783110205930.  $98.00.

Reviewed by Ariana Traill, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
(traill <at> illinois.edu)
Word count:  3517 words
-------------------------------
To read a print-formatted version of this review, see
http://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2009/2009-08-41.html
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-------------------------------

[Disclaimer: the reviewer knew the author slightly in graduate school.]

[Table of Contents is listed at the end of the review.]

This is a specialized monograph, primarily of interest to scholars of
Plautine metrics but valuable to anyone interested in archaic Latin.
The central argument is that apparent metrical anomalies, including
departures from Greek practice, are not simply poetic license but
reflect the actual speech of Plautus' day; that is, "prosody" in a
linguistic sense ("the phonological organization of natural speech," p.
4 n. 11) can explain such phenomena as violations of metrical laws,
when e is aphaeretized in est, or how and when words underwent iambic
shortening.
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Bryn Mawr Classical Review | 15 Aug 2009 21:08
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BMCR 2009.08.42: Sampson on Weber, Roman Agrarian History. (Translation by Richard I. Frank of 1891 doctoral dissertation)


Max Weber, Roman Agrarian History. (Translation by Richard I. Frank of
1891 doctoral dissertation).  Claremont:  Regina Books, 2008.  Pp. xiv,
244.  ISBN 193005355x.  $24.95 (pb).

Reviewed by Gareth C. Sampson, TheLastTribune <at> aol.com
Word count:  1757 words
-------------------------------
To read a print-formatted version of this review, see
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-------------------------------

This work is an English translation of Max Weber's thesis on Roman
agrarian history awarded at the University of Berlin in 1891; its
original title being 'Die Roemische Agrargeschichte in ihrer Bedeutung
fuer das Staats-und Privatrecht' or 'Roman Agrarian History in its
relation to Roman Public and Civil Law'. The work was compiled under
the supervision of Theodor Mommsen and submitted in order to gain the
qualification necessary to teach at university level (Habilitation).
Given the importance of Weber's later works to a number of disciplines,
having both a modern version of this work, and an English translation,
makes this book an important volume for anybody working in the field of
Roman agrarian history or political theory.

The work is a straight translation of the 1891 German text rather than
a commentary and begins with short introduction outlining the
background both to the work and Weber himself. The translation has been
undertaken by Richard Frank, who was responsible for translating
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Bryn Mawr Classical Review | 14 Aug 2009 21:14
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BMCR 2009.08.40: Sharma on Fine, The Oxford Handbook of Plato


Gail Fine (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Plato.  Oxford/New York:
Oxford University Press, 2008.  Pp. xi, 604.  ISBN 9780195182903.
$150.00.

Reviewed by Ravi Sharma, Clark University (RSharma <at> clarku.edu)
Word count:  1580 words
-------------------------------
To read a print-formatted version of this review, see
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-------------------------------

Preview
(http://books.google.com/books?id=kixcDyHwFKMC;pg=PP1;dq=%22oxford+handbook+of+plato%22)

The editor of an essay collection on Plato faces challenges that are
not faced, at least not to the same degree, by the editor of a
collection on any other figure of comparable stature.  Since Plato
mainly wrote dialogues, not treatises, there is no neat way to survey
the corpus.  A topical approach runs the risk of ignoring the
interconnection of themes and arguments within a given dialogue, while
a dialogue-by-dialogue approach would be unnecessarily tedious and more
than a little repetitive.  Gail Fine's reasonable policy is to mix
topical essays with studies of selected dialogues. In addition to her
long introduction, the book contains twenty-one newly commissioned
essays: three framing pieces, ten topical studies, six appraisals of
individual dialogues, and two discussions of later reactions to Plato's
thought. Each of the contributions is intended as an "authoritative,
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Bryn Mawr Classical Review | 14 Aug 2009 21:08
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BMCR 2009.08.37: Fry on Zeleny, Itali Modi: Akzentrhythmen in der lateinischen Dichtung der augusteischen Zeit


Karin Zeleny, Itali Modi: Akzentrhythmen in der lateinischen Dichtung
der augusteischen Zeit.  Wien:  Oesterreichische Akademie der
Wissenschaften (OeAW), 2008.  Pp. 294; CD.  ISBN 9783700139562.
$85.00.

Reviewed by Carole Fry, Universite/ de Gene\ve (Carole.Fry <at> unige.ch)
Word count:  3568 words
-------------------------------
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NB : Ce compte rendu devrait avoir pour comple/ment un article de plus
grande ampleur, intitule/ "Stylistique de la me/trique : Le substantif
en premier mot de l'hexame\tre dactylique". Il sera publie/ dans le
courant de cet e/te/ dans Dictynna, revue online de poe/tologie latine
(http://dictynna.revue.univ-lille3.fr) . Dictynna existe aussi en
e/dition sur papier.

La me/trique est un jardin de de/lices taxinomiques. La complexite/ de
la matie\re la rend indigeste aux e/tudiants. Elle effraie les
philologues et de/route les linguistes. Qui donc pourrait a^tre en
de/saccord avec l'auteur lorsqu'elle affirme: "Atemraubend ist die
Unzahl von Regeln, die Metrikforscher (et tous les anciens grammatici)
in mueseliger Kleinarbeit aus den Versen gefiltert haben" (p. 19)? Son
but est de de/truire de/finitivement l'ictus de/fendu par ceux qu'elle
appelle "Iktologen", et qu'elle me/prise vigoureusement. Dans son
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Bryn Mawr Classical Review | 14 Aug 2009 21:10
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BMCR 2009.08.38: Fuendling on Priwitzer, Faustina minor - Ehefrau eines Idealkaisers und Mutter eines Tyrannen quellenkritische Untersuchungen zum dynastischen Potential, zur Darstellung und zu Handlungsspielraeumen von Kaiserfrauen im Prinzipat. Tuebinger althistorische Studien Bd. 6


Stefan Priwitzer, Faustina minor - Ehefrau eines Idealkaisers und
Mutter eines Tyrannen quellenkritische Untersuchungen zum dynastischen
Potential, zur Darstellung und zu Handlungsspielraeumen von
Kaiserfrauen im Prinzipat. Tuebinger althistorische Studien Bd. 6.
Bonn:  Dr. Rudolf Habelt, 2008.  Pp. xv, 233.  ISBN 9783774935488.
EUR 79.00.

Reviewed by Joerg Fuendling, Aachen University, Germany
(Joerg.Fuendling <at> rwth-aachen.de)
Word count:  2494 words
-------------------------------
To read a print-formatted version of this review, see
http://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2009/2009-08-38.html
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-------------------------------

On his way towards the present volume, his Ph. D. dissertation,
Priwitzer has lived through every postgraduate's nightmare, the death
of his original supervisor. Let it be said in advance that the
cumulative advice both of the late Hildegard Temporini-Graefin Vitzthum
and afterwards of Mischa Meier has been put to a highly creditable use.

There are more 'Untersuchungen' to Priwitzer's book than the table of
contents discloses at first sight. Three large sections, linked by the
person of the Younger Faustina, enquire into Hadrian's settlements of
succession in A.D. 136 and 138 (pp. 15-93), Commodus and Faustina
(96-174), and -- somewhat more condensed -- the circumstances of the
Avidius Cassius usurpation and Faustina's subsequent death in A.D. 175
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Bryn Mawr Classical Review | 14 Aug 2009 21:11
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BMCR 2009.08.39: Raccanelli on Picone, Clementia Caesaris. Modelli etici, parenesi e retorica dell'esilio


Giusto Picone (ed.), Clementia Caesaris. Modelli etici, parenesi e
retorica dell'esilio.  Palermo:  Palumbo, 2008.  Pp. 382, Codice B8470.
ISBN 978-88-6017-065-1.  EUR 30.00.

Reviewed by Renata Raccanelli,  Universita\ degli Studi di Verona
(renata.raccanelli <at> univr.it)
Word count:  2629 words
-------------------------------
To read a print-formatted version of this review, see
http://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2009/2009-08-39.html
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-------------------------------

Clementia Caesaris presents an innovative combination of scholarship
and teaching. It consists of 15 essays, which came to fruition after a
Masters seminar on Latin literature held at the University of Palermo
under the guidance of Giusto Picone and his assistants Antonio De Caro,
Pietro Li Causi and Rita Marchese, with contributions by Lucia Beltrami
(University of Siena) and Licinia Ricottilli (University of Verona).
These authors' contributions are collected in the first part of the
book, while the second section contains the students' work, divided
into three study groups each with its respective tutor: De Caro for the
Parenesis, Marchese for the Ethical patterns, Li Causi for the Rhetoric
of exile.

This is not a traditional collection of contributions by expert
scholars, followed by young scholars' studies and their practice.
Rather, the volume proposes an original dialogue among three
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Bryn Mawr Classical Review | 13 Aug 2009 15:18
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BMCR 2009.08.34: Geraci on Andreau, Vocabulaire et expression de l'e/conomie dans le monde antique. E/tudes, 19


Jean Andreau, Ve/ronique Chankowski (ed.), Vocabulaire et expression de
l'e/conomie dans le monde antique. E/tudes, 19.  Pessac:  Ausonius,
2007.  Pp. 463.  ISBN 9788910023920.  EUR 35.00.

Reviewed by Giovanni Geraci, Department of Ancient History, University
of Bologna (giovanni.geraci <at> unibo.it)
Word count:  1640 words
-------------------------------
To read a print-formatted version of this review, see
http://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2009/2009-08-34.html
To comment on this review, see
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-------------------------------

[Authors and titles are listed at the end of the review.]

This book is the product of a joint research effort which has been
going on since 2000, the first installment of which was the volume
"Mentalite/s et choix e/conomiques des Romains", published in
2004.[[1]] Its ultimate aim is both to enlarge and to deepen our
present understanding of economic behaviour and attitudes in the
ancient Near East, Greece and Rome. The stress is on how the Ancients
saw what we call economics and economic activity. The editors in their
'Introduction' insist that they do not claim that a vocabulary
specifically devoted to economic matters ever existed in antiquity.
That is why they chose to enlarge the investigation field to social
structures, identities, hierarchies and ideologies.

The first part ('Identite/ sociale et expression de l'e/conomie') deals
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Bryn Mawr Classical Review | 13 Aug 2009 15:20
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BMCR 2009.08.35: Mariaud on Charlier, Oste/o-arche/ologie et techniques me/dico-le/gales: Tendances et perspectives. Pour un manuel pratique de pale/opathologie humaine. Collection Pathographie, 2


Philippe Charlier, Oste/o-arche/ologie et techniques me/dico-le/gales:
Tendances et perspectives. Pour un manuel pratique de pale/opathologie
humaine. Collection Pathographie, 2.  Paris:  De Boccard, 2008.  Pp.
684.  ISBN 9782701802374.  EUR 80.00 (pb).

Reviewed by Olivier Mariaud, University of Bordeaux 3, France
(o.mariaud <at> orange.fr)
Word count:  1480 words
-------------------------------
To read a print-formatted version of this review, see
http://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2009/2009-08-35.html
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http://www.bmcreview.org/2009/08/20090835.html
-------------------------------

[Authors and titles are listed at the end of the review.]

A l'image de l'arche/ologie en son temps, l'anthropologie (au sens non
anglo-saxon du terme, c'est-a\-dire l'e/tude du facteur humain
biologique: os, maladies, transformation des corps) tend peu a\ peu a\
s'affranchir, et de passer du statut de science annexe de
l'arche/ologie a\ une discipline a\ part entie\re. Nous en voulons pour
preuve le dynamisme de l'anthropologie fune/raire et en particulier la
cre/ation de l'arche/othanatologie. L'ouvrage dirige/ par Ph. Charlier
(e/galement responsable de cette nouvelle collection Pathographie dont
le pre/sent volume est le no 2) marque sans doute une e/tape
supple/mentaire importante dans cette autonomisation.

Son ambition: offrir un manuel pratique a\ ceux qui, historiens,
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Bryn Mawr Classical Review | 13 Aug 2009 15:21
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BMCR 2009.08.36: Rubarth on Desmond, Cynics. Ancient Philosophies


William Desmond, Cynics. Ancient Philosophies.  Stocksfield:  Acumen,
2008.  Pp. vi, 290.  ISBN 9781844651290.  L15.99 (pb).

Reviewed by Scott Rubarth, Rollins College (srubarth <at> Rollins.edu)
Word count:  1245 words
-------------------------------
To read a print-formatted version of this review, see
http://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2009/2009-08-36.html
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http://www.bmcreview.org/2009/08/20090836.html
-------------------------------

William Desmond's new book offers an introduction to the ideas,
practices, and influences that have been associated with the rather
diverse and disparate group of thinkers called Cynics.  This book is an
addition to the Ancient Philosophies series, a collection of
introductory studies on major thinkers and movements from Greco-Roman
antiquity which seeks to offer "a clear yet rigorous presentation of
core ideas" in a compact manner and at a reasonable price.  Desmond's
Cynics succeeds in making the key ideas accessible and intelligible to
the introductory reader; however, a more direct and focused discussion
in connection with a more critical use of sources would have made the
work even more valuable.

The ancient Cynics present special challenges for an introductory text.
Not only has nearly all the primary evidence been lost, but there are
also serious questions as to what constitutes Cynicism.  Is Cynicism a
philosophy in the same way that Epicureanism or Stoicism constitutes a
philosophy, or is it primarily a cultural stance, a social identity, or
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Bryn Mawr Classical Review | 12 Aug 2009 18:05
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BMCR 2009.08.30: Draeger on Schrott, Homer. Ilias; Homers Heimat: der Kampf um Troia und seine realen Hintergruende


Raoul Schrott, Homer. Ilias.  Muenchen:  Carl Hanser Verlag, 2008.  Pp.
xl, 630.  ISBN 9783446230460.  EUR 34.90.

Raoul Schrott, Homers Heimat: der Kampf um Troia und seine realen
Hintergruende.  Muenchen:  Carl Hanser Verlag, 2008.  Pp. 426.  ISBN
9783446230231.  EUR 24.90.

Reviewed by Paul Draeger, Trier (paul.draeger <at> uni-trier.de)
-------------------------------
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-------------------------------

[Der vorliegende Text ist eine Kurzfassung. Die vollstaendige Fassung
(68 S.) kann abgerufen werden unter Rezension-Schrott-Homer
(http://www.uni-tuebingen.de/troia/deu/Rezension-Schrott-Homer.pdf).]

"Die Uebersetzung eines griechischen Gedichtes kann nur ein Philologe
machen. Wohlmeinende Dilettanten versuchen es immer wieder, aber bei
unzureichender Sprachkenntnis kann nur Unzureichendes herauskommen"
(Wilamowitz).[[1]]

Schrotts Ilias-"Uebertragung" zerfaellt in drei Hauptteile: Teil I:
"Zur Ilias/Zu dieser Fassung" (p. V-XL) -- Teil II: "Uebertragung" der
Ilias, gerahmt von Inhaltsangaben der Kypria und der Aithiopis: p.
1-523 -- Teil III: "Anhang" (p. 525-621) und "Inhalt" (p. 623-631). --
Wir betrachten zunaechst kurz Teil I und Teil III, um uns danach auf
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Bryn Mawr Classical Review | 12 Aug 2009 18:08
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BMCR 2009.08.31: Archibald on Batty, Rome and the Nomads. The Pontic-Danubian Realm in Antiquity


Roger Batty, Rome and the Nomads. The Pontic-Danubian Realm in
Antiquity.  Oxford:  Oxford University Press, 2008.  Pp. xxiv, 652;
figs. 59, tables 10, pls. 32.  ISBN 9780198149361.  $190.00.

Reviewed by Zosia Archibald, University of Liverpool
(Z.Archibald <at> liverpool.ac.uk)
Word count:  1677 words
-------------------------------
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-------------------------------

This is a substantial volume, not only in terms of length--575 pages of
text, 32 pages of bibliographic references--but also in respect of
detail. There are ten tables, sixteen colour plates, sixteen black and
white plates, and 81 figures that provide data in visual form,
principally maps, including geographical, environmental, and climatic
information on the regions examined, as well as the political and
social disposition of the various groups investigated. I noted very few
spelling errors across citations and titles in at least seven modern
European languages and references to primary textual material are
meticulously reproduced in Latin or in translation. The book has been
very carefully edited and looks neat, clear, and well organised. The
visual material conveys a fair amount of complex information in a
readable and comprehensible format.

The author has made two important and undoubtedly under-researched
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