Product Description

The first-century emperor Claudius did not leave the fledgling Roman Empire as he had found it: his contribution was to turn its developing institutions into an imperial tradition. But the ancient sources represent him as an odd personality - active but manipulated by his inferiors, at once distracted and awkward and cruel. Suetonius’ biography is a rich offering of both solid fact and the prejudicial anecdotes that his contemporaries and the generation that followed thought worth repeating, raw material for exploring the man and his reign. This commentary provides context for the text’s abundant information, but form is not neglected, and attention is given to Suetonius’ intelligent and conscious marshalling of his material, and guidance offered to students reading the biographer’s often densely compressed style. This is the first English commentary on the Claudius Life to deal with both historical and stylistic issues.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1088644 in Books
• Published on: 2001-03-15
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 284 pages

Review
'Hurley brings us the first English commentary on Suetonius' Life of Claudius to deal with both historical and stylistic issues … Hurley's commentary situates the Life of Claudius squarely at the centre of our attention and enriches our understanding of the Principate, the author, and the emperor.' Journal of Roman Studies

Customer Reviews

Content unimpeachable, binding poor
This is an excellent study text, with full commentary on historical, stylistic and grammatical matters. For any student, though, it has two serious drawbacks:

(1) The commentary is at the back of the book after the text, when it would be more conveniently placed on facing pages (i.e. like the Bristol Classical Press edition of Ovid's Amores I which I now have in front of me)

(2) The paperback binding is so stiff that it's actually hard even to hold the book open, let alone lie it down open on your desk so you can write. Surely any such book intended for a student to make a translation from must be able to lie open? I have to resort to weighing it down with other heavier books, which is incredibly inconvenient as I continually also have to flick forwards and backwards from the text to notes and vice versa.

As a result of problem (2) the binding has torn and several pages have now come unstuck and fallen out. Very poor for a reference book -- and a expensive one as well.