Eduard Fraenkel was one of the most influential classicists of the twentieth century. His Plautine Elements in Plautus (originally published in German in 1922) revolutionized the study of Roman comedy. This translation makes this seminal work accessible to an English-speaking readership for the first time.

Plautus was Ancient Rome's greatest comic playwright, Shakespeare drew heavily on his plots, and his legacy is prevalent throughout modern drama. In this expanded edition of his successful book, one of America's foremost Classical scholars introduces performance criticism to the study of Plautus' ancient drama. In addition to the original detailed studies of six of the dramatists's plays, the methodology of performance criticism, the use of conventions, and the nature of comic heroism in Plautus, this edition includes new studies on: * the induction into the world of the play * the scripted imitation of improvisation * Plautus's comments on his previous work * the nature of 'tragicomedy'.

Michael von Albrecht's A History of Roman Literature, originally published in German, can rightly be seen as the long awaited counterpart to Albin Lesky's Geschichte der Griechischen Literatur. In what will probably be the last survey made by a single scholar the whole of Latin literature from Livius Andronicus up to Boethius comes to the fore. 'Literature' is taken here in its broad, antique sense, and therefore also includes e.g. rhetoric, philosophy and history. Special attention has been given to the influence of Latin literature on subsequent centuries down to our own days. Extensive indices give access to this monument of learning. The introductions in Von Albrecht's texts, together with the large bibliographies make further study both more fruitful and easy.

Gruen studies the Hellenization of Rome during the middle Republic years, where changes in arts, religion and philosophy, and politics altered Roman public life by introducing Greek learning.

A Companion to Latin Literature gives an authoritativeaccount of Latin literature from its beginnings in the thirdcentury BC through to the end of the second century AD. Provides expert overview of the main periods of Latin literaryhistory, major genres, and key themes Covers all the major Latin works of prose and poetry, fromEnnius to Augustine, including Lucretius, Cicero, Catullus, Livy,Vergil, Seneca, and Apuleius Includes invaluable reference material – dictionaryentries on authors, chronological chart of political and literaryhistory, and an annotated bibliography Serves as both a discursive literary history and a generalreference book