Building in Words - The Process of Construction in Latin Literature

Building in Words explores the relationship between text and architecture in the Roman world from the perspective of architectural process. Original readings of literary texts are placed in dialogue with epigraphic and archaeological material. Through its focus on construction, this book furthers our understanding of the aesthetics of Roman architecture and literature.

List of contents

• Introduction


• 1. Making Memories: Representing Construction in Rome


• 2. Debating the Draining of the Fucine Lake


• 3. Writing Cities, Founding Texts: The City as Poetological Metaphor


• 4. Engineering Poetry: The Aesthetics of Construction in Statius' Silvae


• 5. Walls of Song: The Myth of Amphion


• 6. Conclusion. Construction in Reverse


• Epilogue. Constructing romanità: The Obelisk at the Foro Mussolini


• Bibliography

About the author

Bettina Reitz-Joosse is Associate Professor of Latin Language and Literature at the University of Groningen (Netherlands).

Summary

Building in Words explores the relationship between text and architecture in the Roman world from the perspective of architectural process. Original readings of literary texts are placed in dialogue with epigraphic and archaeological material. Through its focus on construction, this book furthers our understanding of the aesthetics of Roman architecture and literature.

Additional text

In the scholarship on 'written Rome' there is nothing like this fine book. Reitz-Joosse expertly studies for the first time how the process of constructing architectural projects (walls, bridges, water-works, obelisks, roads, temples, statues, and cities) is represented throughout early imperial Latin literature, with productive forays, too, into later periods. The rich discussions of well-chosen test cases are informed by an understanding of representational strategies in other media and attentive to the metaliterary significance of the theme.

Product details

• Authors: Reitz-Joose , Bettina Reitz-Joose, Bettina (Associate Professor of Latin Reitz-Joose, Bettina Reitz-Joosse, Bettina (Associate Professor of Lati Reitz-Joosse, Bettina (Associate Professor of Latin Language and Literature Reitz-Joosse
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 28.02.2022
• EAN: 9780197610688
• ISBN: 978-0-19-761068-8
• No. of pages: 288
• Series: Classical Culture and Society; CLASSICAL CULTURE AND SOCIETY SERIES
• Subjects: Fiction > Narrative literature; Humanities, art, music > History > Antiquity; HISTORY / Ancient / General, LITERARY CRITICISM / Ancient & Classical, Classical texts, Ancient History, Classical history / classical civilisation, Ancient, classical and medieval texts, FOREIGN LANGUAGE STUDY / Ancient Languages