"To teach correct Latin and to explain the poets" were the two standard duties of Roman teachers. Not only was a command of literary Latin a prerequisite for political and social advancement, but a sense of Latin's history and importance contributed to the Romans' understanding of their own cultural identity. Put plainly, philology-the study of language and texts-was important at Rome. Critics, Compilers, and Commentators is the first comprehensive introduction to the history, forms, and texts of Roman philology. James Zetzel traces the changing role and status of Latin as revealed in the ways it was explained and taught by the Romans themselves. In addition, he provides a descriptive bibliography of hundreds of scholarly texts from antiquity, listing editions, translations, and secondary literature. Recovering a neglected but crucial area of Roman intellectual life, this book will be an essential resource for students of Roman literature and intellectual history, medievalists, and historians of education and language science.

James E.G. Zetzel is Anthon Professor of the Latin Language and Literature at Columbia University. He studied at Harvard University and the Institute of Classical Studies of the University of London; he has taught at Brown and Princeton Universities and for the last 32 years at Columbia University. He has written extensively on the literature of the first century BCE and on the history of classical scholarship. He has also published two volumes of translations of Cicero.

Table of Contents Preface List of Abbreviations Part I: A Short History of Roman Scholarship Chapter 1: The Face of Learning Chapter 2: The Origins of Roman Grammar Chapter 3: Word and World: Varro and his Contemporaries Chapter 4: Past and Present: From Caecilius Epirota to Valerius Probus Chapter 5: Finding the Right Word Chapter 6: Dictionaries, Glossaries, Encyclopedias Chapter 7: Commentary and Exegesis Chapter 8: Grammar and Grammarians Chapter 9: Author, Audience, Text Chapter 10: Dictionaries and Encyclopedias Chapter 11: Commentaries Chapter 12: Grammars and Other Forms of Erudition Chapter 13: Early Medieval Grammars List of Works Cited Indices Manuscripts General