Latin Rhetoric

Abstract

This bibliography is designed to provide a structured list of materials relevant to the study of Latin rhetoric in ancient times. In Rome, rhetoric was the art of making persuasive discourse, and its pursuit typically involved the mastery of rhetorical principles and the application of political speaking. Accordingly, the general subject of the bibliography is Latin rhetorical theory and oratorical practice. The period covered in the bibliography is 300 bce to 430 ce. These boundaries—at their outer extremes—are designed to include the earliest oration for which we have a date during the Roman republic (On King Pyrrhus by Appius Claudius Caecus, delivered around 280 bce) as well as the latest theory of Latin speaking that might be called ancient (Teaching Christianity by Saint Augustine, completed in 428 ce). The materials included in the bibliography are organized under headings, and these headings are ordered into three groups. In the first group there are four headings: General Overviews, Reference Works, Encyclopedias, and Handbooks and Companions. These headings cover materials of broad interest that allow users to orient themselves to Latin rhetorical scholarship and to answer questions—from simple to very complex—without consulting primary sources. In the second group there are three headings: Rhetorical Theory, Oratorical Discourse of the Republican Era, and Oratorical Discourse of the Imperial Era. Together these three headings organize a basic collection of the primary and secondary sources that make original research possible on Latin rhetoric. Subheadings under these headings are generally categories of authors or texts, and citations typically refer to Latin primary sources, modern language translations, and interpretive scholarship—including commentaries and scholarly books or essays—related to primary sources. This group of headings is designed principally for users who are undertaking research on Latin rhetoric. The final group of headings includes Rhetoric and Education, Rhetoric and Politics, Rhetoric and Literature, and Influence of Latin Rhetoric. These headings comprise scholarship on the interactions of Latin rhetoric with particular aspects of society and culture during ancient times and in subsequent eras. This group of headings offers aid to users who wish to explain historically situated events and artifacts that are related to, but lie outside the narrow sphere of, Latin rhetorical theory and oratory.