Tacitus: Dialogus de oratoribus

Tacitus’ Dialogus de Oratoribus is his most neglected work - there has not been an English-language commentary in over a century - and yet it is arguably his most original. Although among his earliest writings it shows complete mastery of the dialogue from and of Ciceronian idiom. It makes an original contribution to the continuing first-century AD debate about the role of oratory in Rome under the Principate, and raises the question of what a man can do to secure lasting renown. This edition contains a substantial introduction discussing such matters as the place of the work in the author’s oeuvre, its style and layout. The commentary is designed to explain not only the language, and its subtle reformation of the Ciceronian idiom, but also the large issues mentioned about the decline of oratory, and the best career for a man to follow.

• First English-language commentary on this work for over a century • Good text for undergraduates • Author has contributed two other commentaries to the series: Seneca, Phaedra (with Michael Coffey); and Horace Epistles Book I

Introduction: 1. The background; 2. Tacitus’ career; 3. The Agricola; 4. Fame; 5. The state of oratory; 6. The Dialogus; 7. Authenticity; 8. Date of composition; 9. The style of the work; 10. The lay-out of the Dialogus; 11. Characters and characterization; 12. The transmission of the text; CORNELI TACITI DIALOGVS DE ORATORIBVS; Commentary.