Man and Animal in Severan Rome (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9781107033986)

The Roman sophist Claudius Aelianus, born in Praeneste in the late second century CE, spent his career cultivating a Greek literary persona. Aelian was a highly regarded writer during his own lifetime, and his literary compilations would be influential for a thousand years and more in the Roman world. This book argues that the De natura animalium, a miscellaneous treasury of animal lore and Aelian's greatest work, is a sophisticated literary critique of Severan Rome. Aelian's fascination with animals reflects the cultural issues of his day: philosophy, religion, the exoticism of Egypt and India, sex, gender, and imperial politics. This study also considers how Aelian's interests in the De natura animalium are echoed in his other works, the Rustic Letters and the Varia Historia. Himself a prominent figure of mainstream Roman Hellenism, Aelian refined his literary aesthetic to produce a reading of nature that is both moral and provocative.

Author: Steven D. Smith
ISBN-10: 1107033985
ISBN-13: 9781107033986
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Language: English
Published: 09/29/2014
Pages: 310
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 1.40lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.20w x 0.80d

Review Citation(s):
Choice 03/01/2015 pg. 1141