The Gift of Correspondence in Classical Rome: Friendship in Cicero's Ad Familiares and Seneca's Moral Epistles
by Amanda Wilcox
University of Wisconsin Press, 2012 eISBN: 978-0-299-28833-4 | Paper: 978-0-299-28834-1 Library of Congress Classification PA6298.W58 2012 Dewey Decimal Classification 876.01
ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | REVIEWS | TOC | REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE
ABOUT THIS BOOK
Amanda Wilcox offers an innovative approach to two major collections of Roman letters—Cicero’s Ad Familiares and Seneca’s Moral Epistles—informed by modern cross-cultural theories of gift-giving.
By viewing letters and the practice of correspondence as a species of gift exchange, Wilcox provides a nuanced analysis of neglected and misunderstood aspects of Roman epistolary rhetoric and the social dynamics of friendship in Cicero’s correspondence. Turning to Seneca, she shows that he both inherited and reacted against Cicero’s euphemistic rhetoric and social practices, and she analyzes how Seneca transformed the rhetoric of his own letters from an instrument of social negotiation into an idiom for ethical philosophy and self-reflection. Though Cicero and Seneca are often viewed as a study in contrasts, Wilcox extensively compares their letters, underscoring Cicero’s significant influence on Seneca as a prose stylist, philosopher, and public figure.
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
Amanda Wilcox is assistant professor of classics at Williams College in Massachusetts. She specializes in late republican and early imperial Latin prose, with interests in epistolography, ethics, and representations of grief and friendship.
REVIEWS
“The letter collections of Cicero and Seneca have rarely been considered in concert, a consideration crucial to furthering our understanding of ancient epistolography, epistolarity, and ancient literary gift-giving as a whole. Wilcox’s focus on letters as a sort of gift is an important, smart, and valuable one.”—Sarah Culpepper Stroup, University of Washington
“Wilcox describes a ‘logic of practice’ for Roman letter-writing, reveals the contests and strategies at play in Cicero’s exchanges with his friends, and demonstrates that Seneca created his new genre of ‘moral letters’ through a brilliant short-circuiting of the forms and values of the epistolary system.”—James Ker, author of The Death of Seneca
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction
Part One: Cicero
The Social Life of Letters
1 Euphemism and Its Limits
2 Consolation and Competition
3 Absence and Increase
4 Recommendation
Part Two: Seneca
Commercium Epistularum: The Gift Refigured
5 From Practice to Metaphor
6 Rehabilitating Friendship
7 Redefining Identity—Persons, Letters, Friends
8 Consolation and Community
Notes
Bibliography
Index of Passages
General Index
REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE
If you are a student who cannot use this book in printed form, BiblioVault may be able to supply you
with an electronic file for alternative access.
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The Gift of Correspondence in Classical Rome: Friendship in Cicero's Ad Familiares and Seneca's Moral Epistles
by Amanda Wilcox
University of Wisconsin Press, 2012 eISBN: 978-0-299-28833-4 Paper: 978-0-299-28834-1
Amanda Wilcox offers an innovative approach to two major collections of Roman letters—Cicero’s Ad Familiares and Seneca’s Moral Epistles—informed by modern cross-cultural theories of gift-giving.
By viewing letters and the practice of correspondence as a species of gift exchange, Wilcox provides a nuanced analysis of neglected and misunderstood aspects of Roman epistolary rhetoric and the social dynamics of friendship in Cicero’s correspondence. Turning to Seneca, she shows that he both inherited and reacted against Cicero’s euphemistic rhetoric and social practices, and she analyzes how Seneca transformed the rhetoric of his own letters from an instrument of social negotiation into an idiom for ethical philosophy and self-reflection. Though Cicero and Seneca are often viewed as a study in contrasts, Wilcox extensively compares their letters, underscoring Cicero’s significant influence on Seneca as a prose stylist, philosopher, and public figure.
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
Amanda Wilcox is assistant professor of classics at Williams College in Massachusetts. She specializes in late republican and early imperial Latin prose, with interests in epistolography, ethics, and representations of grief and friendship.
REVIEWS
“The letter collections of Cicero and Seneca have rarely been considered in concert, a consideration crucial to furthering our understanding of ancient epistolography, epistolarity, and ancient literary gift-giving as a whole. Wilcox’s focus on letters as a sort of gift is an important, smart, and valuable one.”—Sarah Culpepper Stroup, University of Washington
“Wilcox describes a ‘logic of practice’ for Roman letter-writing, reveals the contests and strategies at play in Cicero’s exchanges with his friends, and demonstrates that Seneca created his new genre of ‘moral letters’ through a brilliant short-circuiting of the forms and values of the epistolary system.”—James Ker, author of The Death of Seneca
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction
Part One: Cicero
The Social Life of Letters
1 Euphemism and Its Limits
2 Consolation and Competition
3 Absence and Increase
4 Recommendation
Part Two: Seneca
Commercium Epistularum: The Gift Refigured
5 From Practice to Metaphor
6 Rehabilitating Friendship
7 Redefining Identity—Persons, Letters, Friends
8 Consolation and Community
Notes
Bibliography
Index of Passages
General Index
REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE
If you are a student who cannot use this book in printed form, BiblioVault may be able to supply you
with an electronic file for alternative access.
Please have the accessibility coordinator at your school fill out this form.
It can take 2-3 weeks for requests to be filled.
ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | REVIEWS | TOC | REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE