Cambridge History of Later Latin Literature
This project aims to consolidate the scholarly gains of previous generations on later Latin literature, but also to ask new questions and invite new directions for the future. (Published 5 June 2017)
Latin literature survives in far greater quantity and diversity from the period of ca. 100 to 700 than from its first 350 years. Nevertheless, the tendency remains, not only in literary histories, but in the mindset of many scholars and students of the Roman world, to conceive of Latin literature as a narrative which ends, or is transformed, many centuries before Roman history terminates. In this volume, 47 chapters cover change and continuity in texts of all kinds: as well as chapters organised by periods, genres, and authors, there will be chapters dedicated to the contexts of literature – such as the educational system and the technology of books – and general trends – such as the late antique turn towards autobiography, and the development of a more episodic and fragmented aesthetic.
A great deal of work has been done on late antiquity in recent years, but scholarship is still often disconnected between the various disciplines that share the end of the ancient world and the early centuries of medieval Europe. This project aims to consolidate the scholarly gains of previous generations but also to ask new questions and invite new directions for the future, with chapters written by leading international scholars.
The conference 'Historical Approaches to Later Latin Literature' was held on 8-9 September 2017, and three further workshops on 8 December 2017, 23 February 2018, and 27 April 2018.