Roman Literary Theory And Criticism: A Study In Tendencies
Condition: SECONDHAND
This is a secondhand book. The jacket image is a photograph of the exact copy we have in stock. This image shows the condition of this book. Further condition remarks are below.
Condition remarks:
Book: Acceptable
Jacket: No dust jacket - some marks on spine and corners
Pages: Yellowed
Markings: Ex-library with usual markings
A cornerstone of classical scholarship, Roman Literary Theory and Criticism: A Study in Tendencies presents a rigorous and illuminating examination of how the ancient Romans understood, practised, and evaluated their own literary arts. Written by J. F. D'Alton, Professor of Greek at St. Patrick's College, Maynooth, this authoritative work traces the evolution of Roman critical thought from its earliest Greek-influenced origins through the Golden and Silver Ages of Latin literature, mapping the intellectual currents that shaped writers from Cicero and Horace to Quintilian and Tacitus. D'Alton's method is both systematic and sensitive, unpacking the rhetorical frameworks, aesthetic doctrines, and philosophical underpinnings that governed Roman literary production with a scholar's precision and a writer's clarity. Beyond its formidable scope, the work stands as a landmark in the history of classical criticism, situating Roman literary ideas within their broader cultural and intellectual context rather than treating them as mere footnotes to Greek theory. D'Alton argues persuasively that Rome developed a distinctive critical voice — one shaped by pragmatism, civic duty, and an acute awareness of literary tradition — that profoundly influenced Western aesthetics long after the empire's fall. For students of classics, literary history, and critical theory alike, this meticulously researched volume remains an indispensable guide to the Roman mind at its most reflective — and raises the tantalising question of how much of our own critical vocabulary we owe to the ancients.
Author: J. F. D'Alton
Format: Hardback
Published: 1931, Longmans, Green and Co.
Genre: Literary theory
Condition remarks:
Book: Acceptable
Jacket: No dust jacket - some marks on spine and corners
Pages: Yellowed
Markings: Ex-library with usual markings
A cornerstone of classical scholarship, Roman Literary Theory and Criticism: A Study in Tendencies presents a rigorous and illuminating examination of how the ancient Romans understood, practised, and evaluated their own literary arts. Written by J. F. D'Alton, Professor of Greek at St. Patrick's College, Maynooth, this authoritative work traces the evolution of Roman critical thought from its earliest Greek-influenced origins through the Golden and Silver Ages of Latin literature, mapping the intellectual currents that shaped writers from Cicero and Horace to Quintilian and Tacitus. D'Alton's method is both systematic and sensitive, unpacking the rhetorical frameworks, aesthetic doctrines, and philosophical underpinnings that governed Roman literary production with a scholar's precision and a writer's clarity. Beyond its formidable scope, the work stands as a landmark in the history of classical criticism, situating Roman literary ideas within their broader cultural and intellectual context rather than treating them as mere footnotes to Greek theory. D'Alton argues persuasively that Rome developed a distinctive critical voice — one shaped by pragmatism, civic duty, and an acute awareness of literary tradition — that profoundly influenced Western aesthetics long after the empire's fall. For students of classics, literary history, and critical theory alike, this meticulously researched volume remains an indispensable guide to the Roman mind at its most reflective — and raises the tantalising question of how much of our own critical vocabulary we owe to the ancients.