Cambridge Classical Texts and Commentaries
2 total works
The first volume of Professor Woodman's edition of, and commentary on, Velleius Paterculus was published in the Cambridge Classical Texts and Commentaries series in 1977. This is the second volume to appear, covering Velleius' narrative of Julius Caesar and Augustus, down to 19 B.C. Velleius' history was first published in A. D. 30 and is being increasingly regarded as an important source for Roman history. Professor Woodman's aims have been the same as in his first volume: to establish the text, or at least to indicate where it is unreliable, and to explain the nature and meaning of the narrative. Thus his commentary is primarily textual, linguistic and stylistic, to be used by those who want to read Velleius, whether their interests are literary, historiographical or historical. It is the first commentary of its scale and scope since the beginning of the nineteenth century.
This volume deals with the most controversial part of Velleius' work, regarded by the majority of modern scholars as a panegyrical biography of Tiberius and used as an excuse for dismissing the historical value of Velleius' whole work. In the introduction Dr Woodman considers the nature of the Tiberian narrative in the light of the literary tradition, and argues that it is no more panegyrical than some of the most admired products of Roman historiography such as Livy and Ammianus. He also considers the transmission of Velleius' text since its discovery in 1515, and argues that, contrary to the opinion of most nineteenth and twentieth-century editors, Rhenanus' editio princeps of 1520 is a more reliable authority than Amerbach's apograph of 1516. Dr Woodman provides a full apparatus criticus, and an extensive commentary which is intended for use by students and specialists in Roman literature, historiography, and history.