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Bryn Mawr Classical Review | 2 Jul 2009 02:02
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BMCR 2009.07.03: Hunink on Christenson, Plautus: Four Plays. Casina, Amphitryon, Captivi, Pseudolus. Focus Classical Library


David Christenson (ed.), Plautus: Four Plays. Casina, Amphitryon,
Captivi, Pseudolus. Focus Classical Library.  Newburyport, MA:  Focus
Publishing, 2008.  Pp. 265.  ISBN 9781585101559.  $14.95 (pb).

Reviewed by Vincent Hunink, Radboud University Nijmegen
(v.hunink <at> let.ru.nl)
Word count:  1233 words
-------------------------------
To read a print-formatted version of this review, see
http://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2009/2009-07-03.html
To comment on this review, see
http://www.bmcreview.org/2009/07/20090703.html
-------------------------------

Until relatively recently, the archaic Roman comedies of Plautus (ca.
254-184 B.C.) used to find little favour with classical scholars. His
plays were often labelled rude and primitive, lacking in dramatic
finesse and psychology, aiming at easy success with his audience,
without much sense for serious, moral values. The poet earned some
praise, meanwhile, for the liveliness of his works, which offer a
unique insight into daily life in early Rome, and for his creative use
of the Latin language. In recent years, by contrast, Plautus has been
given much attention and he seems to have become almost fashionable
among liberal-minded scholars. For example, English translations of
some Plautine plays were published by Amy Richlin (2006) and John
Henderson (2007), which each in their own way could be described as
radical and postmodern (I reviewed both books in BMCR 2006.05.35 and
2007.01.03 respectively).
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Bryn Mawr Classical Review | 2 Jul 2009 02:01
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BMCR 2009.07.02: Smith on Takacs, The Construction of Authority in Ancient Rome and Byzantium: The Rhetoric of Empire


Sarolta A. Taka/cs, The Construction of Authority in Ancient Rome and
Byzantium: The Rhetoric of Empire.  Cambridge/New York:  Cambridge
University Press, 2009.  Pp. xxiii, 167.  ISBN 9780521878654.  $80.00.

Reviewed by Steven D. Smith, Hofstra University
(Steven.D.Smith <at> hofstra.edu)
Word count:  1995 words
-------------------------------
To read a print-formatted version of this review, see
http://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2009/2009-07-02.html
To comment on this review, see
http://www.bmcreview.org/2009/07/20090702.html
-------------------------------

Table of Contents
(http://www.cup.es/catalogue/catalogue.asp?isbn=9780521878654)

This is an ambitious book. In The Construction of Authority in Ancient
Rome and Byzantium: The Rhetoric of Empire, Sarolta Taka/cs defines the
transformations and continuity of imperial rhetoric from the early
Republican period until the reign of the Byzantine emperor Alexius I
Comnenus (r. 1081-1118), thereby defining as the scope of her study
more than 1300 years of Roman history. Just as ambitious as the book's
chronological scope is Taka/cs's decision to write this history of
imperial rhetoric within the space of 154 pages. One is reminded of
Cornelius Nepos, who according to Catullus dared omne aevum tribus
explicare cartis | doctis (1.6-7). Taka/cs's account of Roman imperial
rhetoric over such a vast period is a qualified success. Although
Taka/cs clearly defines her limited audience at the outset ("The reader
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Bryn Mawr Classical Review | 2 Jul 2009 22:59
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BMCR 2009.07.01: Books Received (June, 2009)

BMCR Books Received (June, 2009)

---------------------------------
Titles marked by an asterisk are available for review. Qualified volunteers should indicate their
interest by a message to classrev <at> brynmawr.edu, with their last name and requested author in the subject
line. (PLEASE DO *NOT* REPLY TO THIS MESSAGE.) They should state their qualifications (both in the sense
of degrees held and in the sense of experience in the field concerned) and explain any previous
relationship with the author. Volunteers are expected to have received their PhD. Those still writing
their thesis should contact their supervisors to ascertain that a review is appropriate at this time and
that the supervisor will vet and stand surety for the review.

An updated version of this list may be found at http://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/booksavailable.html
---------------------------------

*Mare Internum: archaeologia e culture del Mediterraneo. 1 - 2009. Pisa; Roma: Fabrizio Serra editore,
2009. 166 p. (pb). ISBN 20350783.

*Augoustakis, Antonios C. (comm.). Plautus Mercator. Bryn Mawr Latin Commentaries. Bryn Mawr, PA: Bryn
Mawr Commentaries, 2009. 128 p. (pb). ISBN 9781931019064.

*Baños Baños, José Miguel (ed.). Sintaxis del latín clásico. E-excellence. Madrid: Liceus, 2009.
838 p. € 55.00. ISBN 9788498228441.

Barnish, S., L. Cracco Ruggini, L. Cuppo, R. Marchese and M. Breu. Vivarium in context. Vicenza: Centre for
medieval studies, Leonard Boyle, 2008. 140 p. $25.00 (pb). ISBN 9788890203528.

*Betancourt, Philip P. The Bronze Age begins: the ceramics revolution of early Minoan I and the new forms of
wealth that transformed prehistoric society. Philadelphia: INSTAP Academic Press, 2008. xx, 136 p.
$36.00 (pb). ISBN 9781931534529.
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Bryn Mawr Classical Review | 3 Jul 2009 15:40
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BMCR 2009.07.04: Clark on Pittenger, Contested Triumphs: Politics, Pageantry, and Performance in Livy's Republican Rome


Miriam R. Pelikan Pittenger, Contested Triumphs: Politics, Pageantry,
and Performance in Livy's Republican Rome.  Berkeley:  University of
California Press, 2008.  Pp. xiii, 365.  ISBN 9780520241398.  $60.00.

Reviewed by Jessica H. Clark, California State University, Chico
(jhclark <at> csuchico.edu)
Word count:  1926 words
-------------------------------
To read a print-formatted version of this review, see
http://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2009/2009-07-04.html
To comment on this review, see
http://www.bmcreview.org/2009/07/20090704.html
-------------------------------

Table of Contents (http://books.google.com/books?id=fs53Wa6fKRMC)

The Roman triumph -- its pageantry, ritual, and role in the
commemoration of the past -- looms large in the literary and material
record of the Roman Republic. In recent years, the triumph has begun to
receive the critical analysis that it certainly merits. Between 2005
and 2009, four monographs and one edited volume have explored the
historical and material records for the triumph in the Republican and
Imperial periods.[[1]] Miriam R. Pelikan Pittenger's Contested Triumphs
approaches the topic from a different, specifically historiographic,
angle, and analyzes the process of debate that surrounds the award of
the triumph in Livy's narrative. These debates emerge as a venue for
the recognition of a commander by his senatorial peers, in which the
process can be as important as the result.
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Bryn Mawr Classical Review | 3 Jul 2009 15:42
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BMCR 2009.07.05: Eckstein on Lafond, La memoire des cites dans la Peloponnese d'epoque romaine (IIe siecle av. J-C-IIIe siecle apres J.-C.). Collection Histoire


Yves Lafond, La me/moire des cite/s dans la Pe/loponne\se d'e/poque
romaine (IIe sie\cle av. J-C-IIIe sie\cle apre\s J.-C.). Collection
Histoire.  Rennes:  Presses Universitaires de Rennes, 2006.  Pp. 385.
ISBN 978-2-7535-0304-5.  EUR 22.00.

Reviewed by Arthur Eckstein, University of Maryland (ameckst1 <at> umd.edu)
Word count:  3079 words
-------------------------------
To read a print-formatted version of this review, see
http://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2009/2009-07-05.html
To comment on this review, see
http://www.bmcreview.org/2009/07/20090705.html
-------------------------------

The question of the decline or perseverance of the polis in the
Hellenistic and Roman periods has become a perennial issue in ancient
studies. In the age of very large hegemonic units (the Hellenistic
monarchies, followed by the Roman Empire) individual city-states lost
their military importance, as well as a most important aspect of their
autonomy, namely, control over their foreign relations. The latter
development was even more true under the Romans than previously under
the competing Hellenistic kings. But a question remains regarding the
extent to which a vibrant internal political and intellectual life
continued in Greek city-states even under Roman domination, and what
the self-concept of these cities was--i.e., how strong was the
self-concept of their citizenry and their leaders as part of a living
community. Lafond tackles one part of this problem in this new book.

In an epoch in which cities could not be envisaged except as integrated
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Bryn Mawr Classical Review | 5 Jul 2009 22:23
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BMCR 2009.07.07: Armstrong on Sage, The Republican Roman Army: A Sourcebook. Routledge Sourcebooks for the Ancient World


Michael M. Sage, The Republican Roman Army: A Sourcebook. Routledge
Sourcebooks for the Ancient World.  New York/London:  Routledge, 2008.
Pp. vii, 310.  ISBN 9780415178808.  $41.95.

Reviewed by Jeremy Armstrong, University of Auckland
(js.armstrong <at> auckland.ac.nz)
Word count:  1306 words
-------------------------------
To read a print-formatted version of this review, see
http://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2009/2009-07-07.html
To comment on this review, see
http://www.bmcreview.org/2009/07/20090707.html
-------------------------------

In recent years scholarship on Roman republican warfare has
increasingly worked to correct a long-standing bias towards the late
Republic and to present a chronologically balanced view of this
important subject. Michael Sage's (henceforth S.) The Republican Roman
army: a sourcebook is part of this trend. In this book, S. presents a
range of sources covering the entirety of Roman warfare during the
Republic, beginning in the sixth century BC with Rome's late regal
period and continuing down through the civil wars of the first century
BC. Although S.'s selection of sources is by no means comprehensive (an
impossible task), he has managed to bring together a number of
important passages, and touch on many key points, all in an
approachable manner. Coupled with very extensive commentary, this work
stands as an important addition to this burgeoning field, representing
the first major sourcebook on the topic and a useful snapshot of
scholarly opinion on various issues within the subject.
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Bryn Mawr Classical Review | 5 Jul 2009 22:26
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BMCR 2009.07.09: Harbsmeier on Buettner, Antike Aesthetik. Eine Einfuehrung in die Prinzipien des Schoenen


Stefan Buettner, Antike Aesthetik. Eine Einfuehrung in die Prinzipien
des Schoenen.  Muenchen:  C.H. Beck, 2006.  Pp. 211; 14 ills.  ISBN
3-406-54092-9.  EUR 12.90.

Reviewed by Martin S. Harbsmeier, Humboldt-University, Berlin, Germany
(martin.harbsmeier <at> staff.hu-berlin.de)
Word count:  2642 words
-------------------------------
To read a print-formatted version of this review, see
http://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2009/2009-07-09.html
To comment on this review, see
http://www.bmcreview.org/2009/07/20090709.html
-------------------------------

Preview
(http://books.google.com/books?id=O_QDSjLtvE0C;pg=PP1;dq=buttner+antike)

Ever since Alexander Gottlieb Baumgarten first coined the term and
founded the philosophical study of aesthetics in 1750, a perennial
problem of this discipline has been to define its subject-matter. Some
contend it to be the study of beauty, others the study of art, and
still others the study of beautiful art.

In his introduction to ancient Greek and Roman aesthetics, Stefan
Buettner acknowledges that Baumgarten's own concept of aesthetics as
the science of perceptual beauty was unknown in antiquity.[[1]] Yet by
arguing that our ancient sources feature theories of beauty as well as
theories of perception, Buettner (hereafter B.) argues that one might
speak of a "double ancient aesthetics" (9) and he thus decides to keep
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Bryn Mawr Classical Review | 5 Jul 2009 22:22
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BMCR 2009.07.06: Machuca on Delattre, Sur le Contre les professeurs de Sextus Empiricus


Joe+lle Delattre (ed.), Sur le Contre les professeurs de Sextus
Empiricus.  Lille:  Presses de l'Universite/ de Charles-de-Gaulle-Lille
3, 2006.  Pp. 159.  ISBN 9782844670779.  EUR 17.00 (pb).

Reviewed by Diego E. Machuca, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones
Cienti/ficas y Te/cnicas (Argentina) (diegomachuca <at> fibertel.com.ar)
Word count:  2818 words
-------------------------------
To read a print-formatted version of this review, see
http://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2009/2009-07-06.html
To comment on this review, see
http://www.bmcreview.org/2009/07/20090706.html
-------------------------------

Le Contre les professeurs, mieux connu par son titre latin d'Adversus
Mathematicos (AM), est l'ouvrage de Sextus Empiricus qui a attire/ le
moins l'attention des spe/cialistes du pyrrhonisme ancien. La raison en
est probablement que c'est le moins philosophique des trois ouvrages
conserve/s de ce me/decin pyrrhonien. En effet, tandis que les
Pyrrho^neioi Hypotypo^seis (PH) et les cinq livres conserve/s de
l'Adversus Dogmaticos (AD) exposent la nature du pyrrhonisme et
l'assaut sceptique contre les parties logique, physique et e/thique de
la philosophie, AM est consacre/ a\ l'attaque de six mathe^mata, a\
savoir la grammaire, la rhe/torique, la ge/ome/trie, l'arithme/tique,
l'astrologie et la musique. E/tant donne/ l'inte/re^t relativement
limite/ suscite/ jusqu'ici par cet ouvrage, le pre/sent volume
repre/sente un apport important a\ la litte/rature sur le pyrrhonisme.
Et ceci surtout parce qu'AM contient des e/le/ments qui pourraient
aider a\ de/terminer plus pre/cise/ment le caracte\re de ce type de
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Bryn Mawr Classical Review | 5 Jul 2009 22:24
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BMCR 2009.07.08: Sailors on Holmes, The Apostolic Fathers: Greek Texts and English Translations. 3rd edition


Michael W. Holmes (ed.), The Apostolic Fathers: Greek Texts and English
Translations. 3rd edition.  Grand Rapids:  Baker Academic, 2007.  Pp.
xxv, 806.  ISBN 9780801034688.  $42.99.

Reviewed by Timothy B. Sailors, University of Tuebingen
(t.b.sailors <at> uni-tuebingen.de)
Word count:  4282 words
-------------------------------
To read a print-formatted version of this review, see
http://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2009/2009-07-08.html
To comment on this review, see
http://www.bmcreview.org/2009/07/20090708.html
-------------------------------

This third edition of the Apostolic Fathers, edited and translated by
Michael W. Holmes, traces its origins back to the bilingual edition of
J. B. Lightfoot collected, edited, and published posthumously by J. R.
Harmer in 1891. Holmes revised the Greek texts and English translations
of this nineteenth-century work in 1992 and published an updated
edition in 1999. The new edition under review here, however, has shed
almost all vestiges of Lightfoot-Harmer and stands on its own as an
independent critical edition of the Greek texts and English
translations of the Apostolic Fathers.

The volume contains introductions to and editions and translations of
the following works: First Clement, Second Clement, the Letters of
Ignatius of Antioch, the Letter of Polycarp to the Philippians, the
Martyrdom of Polycarp, the Didache, the Epistle of Barnabas, the
Shepherd of Hermas, the Epistle to Diognetus, the Fragment of
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Bryn Mawr Classical Review | 6 Jul 2009 16:27
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BMCR 2009.07.12: Barletta on Gruben, Klassische Bauforschung


Gottfried Gruben, Klassische Bauforschung.  Muenchen:  Hirmer Verlag,
2007.  Pp. 304.  ISBN 978-3-7774-3085-0.  EUR 39.90; $56.00.

Reviewed by Barbara A. Barletta, University of Florida
(barletta <at> ufl.edu)
Word count:  2286 words
-------------------------------
To read a print-formatted version of this review, see
http://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2009/2009-07-12.html
To comment on this review, see
http://www.bmcreview.org/2009/07/20090712.html
-------------------------------

[Chapter titles are listed at the end of the review.]

This book is a collection of articles and essays written by G. Gruben
over nearly his entire career, with publication dates extending from
1965 to 2000.  It represents a selection of the numerous publications
of this author, which are listed at the back (302-303). The eleven
essays assembled here were apparently chosen for their range of
subjects and their appeal to a larger audience.  Thus, they include
general discussions of the role of the architect throughout history,
Classical architecture, the origin of the Greek temple, and
architectural reconstructions in Greece.  There are also more
specialized works that reflect Gruben's particular interests in marble
as a building material and in Ionic architecture.  This last subject is
represented by articles on the Sphinx Column at Aigina, Cycladic
architecture, and re-used columns on Naxos. The book is organized from
the general to the specific and within the latter category roughly from
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Gmane