Epic in Republican Rome [Hardcover]

This book is a major new study of the epic poetry of Republican Rome. Goldberg treats the creators of these now-fragmentary works not simply as predecessors of Vergil, but as pioneers and poets in their own right. But Goldberg goes beyond practical criticism, exploring in the literary experiments of Andronicus, Naevius, Ennius, and Cicero issues of poetry and patronage, cultural assimilation and national ideology, modeling and originality that both come to characterize Roman literature of all periods and continue to shape modern responses to that literature. What emerges from Goldberg's study is both a fresh perspective on Vergil's achievement and new insights into the cultural dynamics of second-century Rome.

Goldberg offers the best treatment of Cicero's lack of success as an epic poet that I have yet read....this book is very much worth consulting by those possesed of an interest in Roman religion. --Religious Studies Review

Excellent....Epic in Republican Romesets out to consider the teleological fallacy, by studying the remains of the lost epics of Livius Andronicus, Naevius, Ennius and Cicero, and doing justice to them in their own terms. --Times Literary Supplement