Latinity and Literary Society at Rome.(Review)

W. Martin Bloomer, Pp. vii + 327. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1997. [pounds]37.95 (ISBN 0-8122-3390-5).

That this is a clever and subtly argued book cannot be denied; whether it will prove also to be influential only time will tell. It may be helpful if I give a necessarily rather extended quotation from what is, in effect, the conclusion:

In the textual technique that has guided this book, Roman literary representations differentiate society, literary and real, through discourses that center around linguistic possession. In maneuvering between owned and genuine speech Roman literature figures its own status and social ambitions, and also …