In 1815 a manuscript containing one of the long-lost treasures of
antiquity was discovered—the letters of Marcus Cornelius Fronto,
reputed to have been one of the greatest Roman orators. But this find
disappointed many nineteenth-century readers, who had hoped for the
letters to convey all of the political drama of Cicero’s. That the
collection included passionate love letters between Fronto and the
future emperor Marcus Aurelius was politely ignored—or concealed.
And for almost two hundred years these letters have lain hidden in
plain sight. Marcus Aurelius in Love rescues these letters from
obscurity and returns them to the public eye. The story of Marcus and
Fronto began in 139 CE, when Fronto was selected to instruct Marcus in
rhetoric. Marcus was eighteen then and by all appearances the pupil
and teacher fell in love. Spanning the years in which the relationship
flowered and died, these are the only love letters to survive from
antiquity—homoerotic or otherwise. With a translation that
reproduces the effusive, slangy style of the young prince and the
rhetorical flourishes of his master, the letters between Marcus and
Fronto will rightfully be reconsidered as key documents in the study
of the history of sexuality and classics.
Les mer
Produktdetaljer
ISBN
9780226713021
Publisert
2018
Utgave
1. utgave
Utgiver
University of Chicago Press
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Digital bok