Late Antiquity is often assumed to have witnessed the demise of literature as a social force and its retreat into the school and the private reading room: whereas the sophists of the Second Sophistic were influential social players, their late antique counterparts are thought to have been overshadowed by bishops. Literature and Society in the Fourth Century AD argues that this presumed difference should be attributed less to a fundamental change in the role of literature than to different scholarly methodologies with which Greek and Latin texts from the second and the fourth century are being studied. Focusing on performance, the literary construction of reality and self-presentation, this volume highlights how literature continued to play an important role in fourth-century elite society.

In "East and West in the Roman Empire of the Fourth Century" scholars examine from different angles to which degree the empire was still unified and whether it was perceived as such in the fourth century AD.

This book contextualizes Claudian's handling of the Proserpina myth and the underworld in the history of literature and religion while showing intersections with and differences between the literary and religious uses of the underworld topos. In doing so, the study provides an incentive to rethink the dichotomy of the terms 'religious' and 'non-religious' in favour of a more nuanced model of references and refunctionalisations of elements which are, or could be, religiously connotated. A close philological analysis of De raptu Proserpinae identifies the sphere of myth and poetry as an area of expressive freedom, a parallel universe to theological discourses (whether they be pagan-philosophical or Christian), while the profound understanding and skilful use of this particular sphere – a formative aspect of European religious and intellectual history – is postulated as a characteristic of the educated Roman and of Claudian's poetry.

This Sourcebook contains numerous original translations of ancient poetry, inscriptions and documents, all of which illuminate the multifaceted nature of sexuality in antiquity. The detailed introduction provides full social and historical context for the sources, and guides students on how to use the material most effectively. Themes such as marriage, prostitution and same-sex attraction are presented comparatively, with material from the Greek and Roman worlds shown side by side. This approach allows readers to interpret the written records with a full awareness of the different context of these separate but related societies. Commentaries are provided throughout, focusing on vocabulary and social and historical context. This is the first major sourcebook on ancient sexuality; it will be of particular use on related courses in classics, ancient history and gender studies.

Four Centuries of Geological Travel: The Search for Knowledge on Foot, Bicycle, Sledge and Camel focuses on the complexities of geological exploration and will be of particular interest to earth scientists, historians of science and to the general reader interested in science.

The purposes of this short monograph are to identify and analyze the problems of Athenian society with which the last two extant plays of Aristophanes - the Ekklesiazousai and the Ploutos - are concerned, as well as to examine the playright's views on the essence of these problems and on attempts to find satisfactory solutions to them. The work contains an introduction and seven sections: 1. Historical Background; 2. Poverty: Symptoms, Ideas regarding Solutions and Criticisms of Ideas; 3. Poverty versus Riches; 4. The sources of the ''Communistic'' Ideas; 5. Misthos Ekklesiastikos; 6. The Censure of Materialism; 7. Aristophanes and the ''Middle Road''. The author has attempted here to set forth both the value of Aristophanes' last plays as historical sources and the significance of their social message.