Intellectual Life in the Late Roman Republic

Our picture of any age must necessarily be limited and to some degree stereotyped. So, even though a casual sampling of Cicero's letters will show that life in the late Roman Republic held more than political intrigue and violence and military campaigns, most readers will surely be surprised at the evidence which Rawson has assembled for intellectual life at that time, mostly within Italy itself. This remarkable book demonstrates clearly the liveliness and range of such activities at that time and place, and assesses them critically. The range covered by Rawson is astonishing, and every reader will learn much from these pages.