logo
Department of Classics
   
   
  

Research publications from the Department of Classics

This page gives an overview of books published recently by members of the Department of Classics. You can also view a list of forthcoming books.

 

Bradley, Mark (2009)

Bradley, Mark (2009)

Uploaded
Mar 01, 2011
Description
Colour and Meaning in Ancient Rome, Cambridge University Press. The study of colour has become familiar territory in anthropology, linguistics, art history and archaeology. Classicists, however, have traditionally subordinated the study of colour to form. By drawing together evidence from contemporary philosophers, elegists, epic writers, historians and satirists, in this 2009 text, Mark Bradley reinstates colour as an essential informative unit for the classification and evaluation of the Roman world. He also demonstrates that the questions of what colour was and how it functioned - as well as how it could be misused and misunderstood - were topics of intellectual debate in early imperial Rome. Suggesting strategies for interpreting Roman expressions of colour in Latin texts, Dr Bradley offers alternative approaches to understanding the relationship between perception and knowledge in Roman elite thought. In doing so, he highlights the fundamental role that colour performed in the realms of communication and information, and its intellectual contribution to contemporary discussions of society, politics and morality.
Bradley, Mark (2010)

Bradley, Mark (2010)

Uploaded
Mar 01, 2011
Description
Classics and Imperialism in the British Empire. Oxford University Press. While the study of Classics in postcolonial worlds has received a great deal of recent attention, this is the first comprehensive study of the relationship between classical ideas and British colonialism. In this collection of essays, classical scholars and modern historians demonstrate that ideas about the Greek and Roman world since the eighteenth century developed hand-in-hand with the rise and fall of the British Empire. Beginning with the history of the British Museum and its engagement both with classical antiquity and with the opportunities provided by the British Empire, the contributors address the role of classical scholarship in understanding British colonization, the development of theories about race in Europe and beyond, the exploitation of individual classical texts as imperial discourses, ideas about imperial decline, and efforts to wrest ownership of the classical past from the dominating control of the British.
Drinkwater, John co ed. (2007)

Drinkwater, John co ed. (2007)

Uploaded
Mar 08, 2011
Description
Wolf Liebeschuetz reflected: essays presented by colleagues, friends, and pupils, Institute of Classical StudiesWolf Liebeschuetz is one of the most distinguished, creative, and best-liked of contemporary Ancient Historians. In his fifty-year career of teaching and publication, Wolf, German-born and British-educated, has informed generations of scholars - collaborating, instructing, disputing, and commenting on research.In this volume, coinciding with his eightieth birthday, twenty historians and archaeologists who have known Wolf as friends, colleagues, and pupils acknowledge and celebrate his influence by presenting papers on topics related to his four monographs: Antioch: City and Imperial Administration in the Later Roman Empire (1972); Continuity and Change in Roman Religion (1980); Barbarians and Bishops (1990); and The Decline and Fall of the Roman City (2001).
Finglass, Patrick (2007)

Finglass, Patrick (2007)

Uploaded
Mar 08, 2011
Description
Pindar's Pythian Eleven is a miniature masterpiece: a poem praising a young athlete which presents a vivid and important account of the Agamemnon legend. Yet it contains so many difficulties that that even Wilamowitz regarded it as one of Pindar's most obscure poems. This new edition provides answers to the problems that have prevented proper appreciation of the work. In addition to the full introduction and commentary, the book also has a new text based on re-examination of the manuscripts, detailed metrical discussion, and a translation.
Finglass, Patrick (2007)

Finglass, Patrick (2007)

Uploaded
Mar 01, 2011
Description
Hesperos: Studies in Ancient Greek Poetry. Oxford University Press. Martin West is widely recognized as one of the most significant classicists of all time. Over nearly half a century his publications have transformed our understanding of Greek poetry. This volume celebrates his achievement with twenty-five papers on different areas of the subject which he has illuminated, written by distinguished scholars from four continents
Finglass, Patrick (2007)

Finglass, Patrick (2007)

Uploaded
Mar 01, 2011
Description
Sophocles Electra. Cambridge University Press. This edition, the first full-scale commentary on any play of Sophocles since the nineteenth century, explores afresh long-standing controversies such as the moral status of the killing of Clytemnestra, while also investigating many subjects which have traditionally attracted less attention, such as the place of rhetoric within the drama, the use of typical scenes, and allusions to epinician poetry.
Finglass, Patrick (2011)

Finglass, Patrick (2011)

Uploaded
Oct 05, 2011
Description
Cambridge University Press. Sophocles' Ajax describes the fall of a mighty warrior denied the honour which he believed was his due. This new edition of the play presents a text and critical apparatus which take full advantage of recent advances in our understanding of Sophoclean manuscripts and scholarship.
finglassajax-Cropped-130x130

finglassajax-Cropped-130x130

Uploaded
Oct 06, 2011
Description
Cambridge University Press. Sophocles' Ajax describes the fall of a mighty warrior denied the honour which he believed was his due. This new edition of the play presents a text and critical apparatus which take full advantage of recent advances in our understanding of Sophoclean manuscripts and scholarship.
Hodkinson, Stephen (2010)

Hodkinson, Stephen (2010)

Uploaded
Mar 08, 2011
Description
Sparta - Comparative Approaches, Classical Press of WalesBoth in antiquity and in modern scholarship, classical Sparta has typically been viewed as an exceptional society, different in many respects from other Greek city-states.This view has recently come under challenge from revisionist historians, led by Stephen Hodkinson. This is the first book devoted explicitly to this lively historical controversy. Historians from Britain, Europe and the USA present different sides of the argument, using a variety of comparative approaches. The focus includes kingship and hegemonic structures, education and commensality, religious institutions and practice, helotage and ethnography.
Hodkinson, Stephen (2010)

Hodkinson, Stephen (2010)

Uploaded
Mar 08, 2011
Description
Sparta the Body Politic, Classical Press of WalesThis is the 7th volume from the International Sparta Seminar. Chapters by distinguished scholars deal with the politics of Spartan nudity; the insecurity of Spartan kings and the social meaning of the prominence of animals in Lakonian vase-painting and in naming; what Lakonian vase-painting reveals about local consumerism; the "ghost of the Lakedaimonian state" and the position of Sparta's perioikoi; Ephorus' idealising view of Sparta; how Spartan women policed the behaviour of men; and how 20th-century intellectuals compared Sparta with Nazi Germany.
Lee, Doug (2007)

Lee, Doug (2007)

Uploaded
Mar 01, 2011
Description
War in Late Antiquity. Blackwell. This book focuses on the social impact of warfare and the Roman army from the third to the early seventh century AD, a period when the empire was exposed to much more serious military threats than it had faced for centuries. Drawing on the rich and varied source materials for the period, it investigates how the prominence of the army and of military affairs in Late Antiquity affected the broader political, economic, and social life of the Roman Empire.
Liebeschuetz, Wolf (2011)

Liebeschuetz, Wolf (2011)

Uploaded
Mar 08, 2011
Description
Ambrose and John Chrysostom: Clerics between Desert and Empire, Oxford University Press. J. H. W. G. Liebeschuetz compares the personalities and the respective careers of two of the greatest of the early Christian Fathers, Ambrose and John Chrysostom. While the statesmanlike Ambrose ended his life as a pillar of the Western establishment, Chrysostom, the outspoken idealist, died in exile. However, their views and ideals were remarakably similar: both bishops were concerned with the social role of the Church, both were determined opponents of what they called the Arian heresy, and each attracted a dedicated following among his urban congregation. This similarity, Liebeschuetz argues, was due not to the influence of one on the other, but was a consequence of their participation in a Christian culture which spanned the divide between the Eastern (later Byzantine) and Western parts of the Roman Empire. The monastic movement figures throughout the book as an important influence on both men and as perhaps the most dynamic development in the Christian culture of the fourth century.
Lorenz, Katharina (2008)

Lorenz, Katharina (2008)

Uploaded
Mar 01, 2011
Description
Bilder machen Raume. Walter De Gruyter. In this analysis of mythological paintings in the houses of Pompeii the objective is to produce a model of the contextual relationships between viewers and objects, and of the use of myth as means of social communication in the early Roman Empire.
Macgregor-Morris, Ian co ed (2007)

Macgregor-Morris, Ian co ed (2007)

Uploaded
Mar 08, 2011
Description
Reinventing History: The Enlightenment Origins of Ancient History, Institute of Historical ResearchThe eighteenth century was a critical period for the development of historical writing. Revolutions in archaeology, historical methodology and source criticism brought dramatic changes to our understanding of the ancient world. This volume examines these changes through an analysis of the nature of historical narrative, debates about sources, methods and material culture, and through the 'political' uses of history in eighteenth-century constitutional debate.
Mossman, Judith (2010)

Mossman, Judith (2010)

Uploaded
Mar 07, 2011
Description
Euripedes: Medea. Oxbow Books. Jason, in exile in Corinth, is marrying the king's daughter. It looks as though his problems are over, though it's hard on Medea, who has betrayed her family for him, followed him all the way from Colchis, killed for him, and borne him two sons. Euripides' Medea is a compelling study of love turned to hatred and a rejected woman's burning desire for revenge. Its central, shocking, act of infanticide comes as the climax of a psychological thriller in which Euripides' dramaturgical skills are shown at their finest and the audience's emotions are ruthlessly manipulated. Medea's conflicting urges and her dazzling rhetoric have exercised an enduring fascination over audiences and readers since the play was first performed in 431 BC. This edition examines a wide range of aspects of the play, including text, performance, interpretation, Euripides' sources, other lost plays about Medea and Euripides' portrayal of character and gender.
Ryan, Cressida co ed (2010)

Ryan, Cressida co ed (2010)

Uploaded
Mar 08, 2011
Description
Zero to Hero, Hero to Zero: in seach of the classical Hero, Cambridge Scholars PublishingCo ed with Lydia LangerwerfHercules is a hero; we were all brought up to appreciate the supposedly basic idea of the ancient hero. But what about him makes him a hero? This book aims to challenge some of the standard expectations as to what constitutes a hero, through considering the phenomenon of heroism from a range of viewpoints. In this book we invite you to walk around the monumental notions of the hero and of heroism and endeavour to reach out and touch them on all sides. The chapters in this volume testify to the difficulty in answering the question 'what is a hero?' and in attempting their answers engage with a variety of themes. They demonstrate not just the variety of qualities in which the protagonists of classical literature can be deemed heroic, but also the tendency of aspects of heroism to turn sour once identified. It seems that the moment we recognise heroic features we are forced to question them.
Sommerstein, Alan (2008)

Sommerstein, Alan (2008)

Uploaded
Mar 08, 2011
Description
Aeschylus 1 Persians, Loeb Classical LibraryAeschylus (ca. 525?456 BCE), the dramatist who made Athenian tragedy one of the world's great art forms, witnessed the establishment of democracy at Athens and fought against the Persians at Marathon. He won the tragic prize at the City Dionysia thirteen times between 484 and 458, and in his later years was probably victorious almost every time he put on a production, though Sophocles beat him at least once.Of his total of about eighty plays, seven survive complete. The first volume of this new Loeb Classical Library edition offers fresh texts and translations by Alan Sommerstein.
Sommerstein, Alan (2009)

Sommerstein, Alan (2009)

Uploaded
Mar 01, 2011
Description
Aeschylus: The Persians and Other Plays. Penguin. A translation, with introduction and notes, of three plays of Aeschylus - The Persians, Seven against Thebes, and The Suppliants - as well as Prometheus Bound, tradtionally attributed to him but perhaps in fact the work of his son Euphorion. Appended to each play is a section presenting what is known about the other plays that were produced together with it.
Sommerstein, Alan (2009)

Sommerstein, Alan (2009)

Uploaded
Mar 01, 2011
Description
Talking About Laughter. Oxford University Press. This book brings together fourteen studies by Alan Sommerstein on Aristophanes and his fellow comic dramatists, some of which have not previously appeared in print. The studies cover almost all the major topics of Sommerstein's work.
Sommerstein, Alan (2010)

Sommerstein, Alan (2010)

Uploaded
Mar 08, 2011
Description
Aeschylean Tragedy (2nd ed.) Duckworth Aeschylus was the dramatist who made Athenian tragedy one of the world's great art-forms. In this completely revised and updated edition of his book Alan H. Sommerstein, analysing the seven extant plays of the Aeschylean corpus (one of them probably in fact the work of another author) and utilising the knowledge we have of the seventy or more whose scripts have not survived, explores Aeschylus' poetic, dramatic, theatrical and musical techniques, his social, political and religious ideas, and the significance of his drama for our own day. Special attention is paid to the Oresteia trilogy, and the other surviving plays are viewed against the background of the four-play productions of which they formed part. There are chapters on Aeschylus' theatre, on his satyr-dramas, and on his dramatisations of Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, and a detailed chapter-by-chapter guide to further reading. No knowledge of Greek is assumed, and all texts are quoted in translation.
Sommerstein, Alan (2010)

Sommerstein, Alan (2010)

Uploaded
Mar 08, 2011
Description
The Tangled Ways of Zeus, Oxford University PressThis book brings together nineteen studies by Alan Sommerstein on ancient Athenian drama, especially tragedy; five of these have not previously appeared in print, and almost all the others were first published (between 1992 and 2006) in out-of-the-way journals, collections or conference volumes. These appear here as originally written, but are accompanied by updating addenda. Though they cover a wide range of topics – from the presentation of violence in drama to the socialization of the adolescent male, from the authenticity of play titles to the significance of one character calling another "dearest" – most of them focus on four or five themes: the dramatists' exploitation and modification of myth; how much their audiences could know or guess in advance about the content of a play; connected suites of plays that were produced together (trilogies and tetralogies); the information that can be gleaned from our fragmentary evidence about plays that have not survived; and some of the multifarious connections between Athenian tragic drama and Athenian society, including the socioeconomic composition of audiences, the relationship between Aeschylus' Oresteia and the politics of its day, and evidence supporting the tradition that Aeschylus desired to be commemorated on his tomb not as a poet but as a soldier. All are informed by the conviction that "the study of ancient, or any other, literature is a branch of history".
Vlassopoulos, Kostas (2007)

Vlassopoulos, Kostas (2007)

Uploaded
Mar 08, 2011
Description
Unthinking the Greek Polis: Ancient Greek History beyond Eurocentrism, Cambridge University PressThis study explores how modern scholars came to write Greek history from a Eurocentric perspective and challenges orthodox readings of Greek history as part of the history of the West. Since the Greeks lacked a national state or a unified society, economy or culture, the polis has helped to create a homogenizing national narrative. This book re-examines old polarities such as those between the Greek polis and Eastern monarchies, or between the ancient consumer and the modern producer city, in order to show the fallacies of standard approaches.
Vlassopoulos, Kostas (2009)

Vlassopoulos, Kostas (2009)

Uploaded
Mar 08, 2011
Description
Politics - Antiquity and its Legacy, I B TaurisAncient Greece is famous as the civilization which 'gave' the world democracy. Democracy has in modern times become the rallying cry of liberation from supposed totalitarianism and dictatorship.
Vlassopoulos,Kostas (2009)

Vlassopoulos,Kostas (2009)

Uploaded
Mar 08, 2011
Description
Slavery, Citizenship and the State in Classical Antiquity and the Modern Americas, European Review of HistoryThis special edition of the European Review of History/Revue europeene d'histoire publishes the proceedings of the 2006 conference of Nottingham's Institute for the Study of Slavey on "Slavery, Citizenshipand the State".

 

Department of Classics

University of Nottingham
University Park
Nottingham, NG7 2RD

Contact details