Bücher der Reihe Cambridge Library Collection - Classics

'No apology can be needed for introducing to English readers the latest work of Leopold von Ranke', states the editor's preface to this English translation, first published in 1884. Ranke (1795-1886) is well known for pioneering the modern historical method which advocates empiricism, rather than a focus on the philosophy of history. Emphasising the importance of presenting history exactly as the surviving evidence, both documentary and archaeological, reveals it to have happened, Ranke asserted that different eras need to be understood in their own contexts rather than in relation to each other. Though it is limited to the Mediterranean and the Middle East, this work takes a broad overview of 'the oldest historical group of nations and the Greeks', beginning with ancient Egypt and concluding with Alexander the Great and his immediate successors. Other works by Ranke in English translation are also reissued in the Cambridge Library Collection.

The classical scholar J. P. Mahaffy (1839-1919) is known equally for his work on Greek texts and Egyptian papyri (his edition of The Flinders Petrie Papyri is reissued in the Cambridge Library Collection). He graduated from Trinity College, Dublin and spent the rest of his working life there, as a fellow, and ultimately as provost from 1914 until his death. This work, in which Mahaffy records his impressions of his first visit to Greece, was published in 1876. Though it is not uncritical ('Nothing is more melancholy and more disappointing than the first view of the Athenian museums'), his account of the famous Greek sites of Attica, Thebes, Delphi and the Peloponnese is lively and observant, and his preface strongly argues that Greece, at a time of turmoil in Europe, was deserving of greater support from the western powers. The book will be of interest to scholars and travellers alike.

The classical scholar J. P. Mahaffy (1839-1919) is known equally for his work on Greek texts and Egyptian papyri (his edition of The Flinders Petrie Papyri is reissued in the Cambridge Library Collection). He graduated from Trinity College, Dublin and spent the rest of his working life there, as a fellow, and ultimately as provost from 1914 until his death. In this 1874 work, Mahaffy attempts to penetrate what he describes as the 'subjective side ... the feelings of the Greeks in their temples and their assemblies, in their homes, and their wanderings'. He considers the methodology to be used in interrogating works of literature for this sort of sociological, or even psychological, research, and examines the written evidence from Homer to Menander, focusing, almost inevitably, on Athens. This is an early and pioneering work in an area of study which has become increasingly significant over the last century.

A philhellene who took part in the Greek war of independence alongside Lord Byron, George Finlay (1799-1875) later published this work on the country's ancient history in 1844. The text covers political, religious and social life in Greece from the Roman conquest of 146 BCE until 717 CE, the beginning of the Isaurian dynasty of the Byzantine Empire. By focusing on the many ways in which Greece differed from Rome, Finlay demonstrates that the Roman Empire was by no means homogenous in terms of culture or political organisation, and that these differences contributed to the more obvious divides between the eastern and western empires, not only in terms of social life and government but also in terms of their ultimate demise. Also reissued in this series are Finlay's History of the Greek Revolution (1861) and his seven-volume History of Greece (1877), covering the period from the Romans to 1864.

William Emerton Heitland (1847-1935) was a Cambridge classicist, who was described as having 'a passionate desire to attain the truth'. His most distinguished work, Agricola, published in 1921, is a detailed study of agricultural labour in classical times. He makes use of a wide range of sources, from Homer in the eighth century BCE to Apollinaris Sidonius in the fifth century CE. In asking the question, by whom and under what conditions was the work done, he deals with land tenure, taxation, military service and political theory. He argues that changes in agricultural production were necessarily connected to changes in other areas of society. To a large extent, classical agriculture was based on slavery, and even those who were free tenants had limited legal rights. Roman poets such as Virgil idealised the pastoral life, but may not reflect reality. It is an important sourcebook for social and economic history.

A classical scholar from the University of Oxford, Henry Furneaux (1829-1900) specialised in the writings of the Roman historian Tacitus. This work acquired the name of Annals for the style of history it presents, dealing with events year by year, rather than thematically. The Annals cover the reigns of four Roman emperors, beginning after the death of Augustus. The work originally consisted of sixteen books dealing with a period of 54 years, but several of them are incomplete or have not survived at all. This volume contains the text of Books 13 to 16 (the final book being incomplete), and covers the reign of Nero, a subject which brought out to the full Tacitus' famous style of condemnation through cutting irony. This reissue is taken from Pitman's 1904 edition, abridged 'to serve the needs of students requiring a less copious and advanced commentary' than that supplied by Furneaux.

Edited from Porson's notebooks by two of his Cambridge colleagues, Adversaria was published posthumously in 1812. It includes Porson's prelection (delivered when he was a candidate for the Regius Professorship of Greek) and notes and emendations to his monumental edition of Euripides as well as to editions of other Greek writings. Among his contributions to nineteenth-century classical scholarship was the discovery of a rule relating to the position of words in Greek trimeters which is still known as Porson's law. His scholarly style, which focused on metre and language rather than interpretation, set the standard for classical textual criticism at Cambridge for several decades. One of Porson's legacies was the design of a Greek typeface based on his handwriting, commissioned from Richard Austin by Cambridge University Press. 'Porson Greek' was widely used in British publications for well over a century.

Charles Wordsworth's Graecae Grammaticae Rudimenta in Usum Scholarum was, for decades, the foundational Greek grammar in England. Wordsworth, a nephew of the poet, a master at Winchester College and later bishop of St Andrews, Dunkeld, and Dublane, used his expertise in teaching the classical languages to produce a clear, practical introduction to Greek, beginning with the alphabet and progressing through the declension of nouns and adjectives, the conjugations of verbs, and the fundamentals of syntax. In striving not to replace the standard Eton Grammar but rather to refine and revise it, Wordsworth succeeded in composing a book that one fellow master called 'most distinct, easy of conception for the boys, and lucidly arranged'. This ninth edition (1853) includes the author's full emendations to the text.

Samuel Edward Winbolt (1868-1944) spent his entire working life from 1892 to 1926 teaching classics at his old school, Christ's Hospital. In his later years, he was best known for his work on Romano-British history and archaeology; but Latin Hexameter Verse, published in 1903, is the book by which he deserves to be remembered and which has earned him his place in the history of classical scholarship. Its subtitle and its stated aim of offering 'help to fifth and sixth forms, and undergraduates at universities' belie its true and continuing importance. Winbolt's detailed, sensitive and copiously illustrated analysis of the technique of Latin verse-writing still provides the most accessible and illuminating guide to a just appreciation of the craftsmanship which went to the formation of the Latin hexameter, ' the stateliest measure ever moulded by the lips of man'.

In May 1881, students of Harvard University performed Sophocles' masterpiece, Oedipus Tyrannus, in the original Greek. Witnessed by 6,000 people, this performance was reported far and wide, and has gone down in theatre history as a huge success which excited almost universal enthusiasm. Henry Norman's 1882 book commemorates the performance, providing a record of permanent value for every student of Sophocles. Norman describes the background to the decision to stage the play, and presents key information on Sophocles and the characteristics of Greek tragedy. He then recounts the performance in detail, describing the aspects of the play which made it such a memorable experience, including the music, the setting and the scholarship. The book includes a transcript of the programme and illustrations showing some of the costumes and key moments of the play. It provides a fascinating contemporary account of this landmark in the modern revival of classical Greek theatre.

The celebrated classical scholar and lexicographer Henry Nettleship (1839-1893) published this volume in 1885 while he was Professor of Latin at Corpus Christi College, Oxford. The volume is a revised collection of his published articles up to 1884 on the topic of Latin literature, along with a number of his unpublished lectures given in Oxford between 1884 and 1878. The volume includes an essay on the German philologist Moritz Haupt (1808-1874); early Italian civilization and literature; the Latin authors Cicero, Catullus, Virgil, and Horace; the Latin grammarians Nonius Marcellus, Verrius Flaccus and Aulus Gellius; and reviews of text-critical editions of Latin works such as Georg Thilo's edition of Servius Maurus Honoratus' complete works (1878-1902). This collection of essays and lectures is a valuable source for the theories and ideas of a nineteenth-century Latinist who continues to influence Latin scholarship.

Lectures and Essays, edited by F. Haverfield, was first published in 1895. It contains the published articles of Henry Nettleship (1839-1893) on Latin literature not included in the collection Lectures and Essays on Subjects Connected with Latin Literature and Scholarship (1885), along with one unpublished essay. The volume begins with a memoir written by Nettleship's wife, focusing on his progressive approach towards educational reform and modernisation. The collection includes essays on contemporary scholars such as the Danish philologist Madvig (1804-1886); the poet Juvenal; the earliest Latin grammarians; literary criticism in antiquity; and on the state of English education in the nineteenth century, including the influential essay 'On the Present Relations between Classical Research and Classical Education in England'. This collection of lectures and essays is a valuable source representing the work of an eminent Victorian scholar and educational reformer who made a lasting contribution to Latin studies.

First published in 1930, this is a collection of essays by the noted classical scholar W. W. Tarn, originally delivered as Lees Knowles Lectures in Military History at Trinity College, Cambridge. Tarn draws on a range of sources to trace the history and development of warfare in the Hellenistic period, with particular emphasis on military strategy under Alexander the Great. The first lecture outlines the role of infantry, analysing the weaponry used in various battles. In the second lecture, Tarn examines the development of cavalry, its history in Macedonia, Thessaly and Iran, and its use of elephants and camels. The final lecture explores improvements in siege and naval methods, with particular attention to advancements in artillery. Providing valuable insight into a period of extensive military innovation, this book gives an overview of the military and naval arts and sciences of the Hellenistic era.

Historical fictionalisations are popular with a wide readership today. The better examples avoid expediency with historical fact, but bring dramatic life to otherwise dry chronology. It is therefore surprising to find sober German historical erudition utilising a fictional narrative to impart a copious amount of detail. However, this style found a readership far wider than just the scholarly. By combining historical learning with dramatisation, Gallus, published in 1838, became a best-seller in Germany and was quickly translated for the English market. Perhaps not to the taste of the English, however, was the somewhat burdensome apparatus of the notes which broke the narrative after each section. These were distilled and placed as footnotes, so that the narrative flowed freely. The depth of learning which abounds throughout the book is an attribute of this significant work which should not be overlooked when engaging with the novelty of its approach.

Henry Nettleship (1839-1893), Professor of Latin at Oxford, published his work on Latin lexicography in 1889. The volume had originally been planned as a complete Latin lexicon; however, after almost twelve years (during which Lewis and Short's Latin Dictionary was published in 1879) of labour on the letter A, the size of the endeavour became apparent and the shape of the work was revised, becoming a detailed lexicon of the letter A, which amounted to two-thirds of the work, with shorter lexicographical notes on the other letters up to U. For the words he covered, many of Nettleship's entries are more detailed and specialised than Lewis and Short's, and there is a far greater emphasis placed on early Roman literature and Latin glossaries in the notes on etymology and usage. The critical thoroughness of the work has ensured its continued use by Latin scholars and lexicographers.

Drawing upon a range of disciplines including anthropology, classical studies, archaeology and psychology, Jane Ellen Harrison's seminal 1912 work Themis pieces together the origins of early Greek religion. Known as one of the founders of modern studies in Greek mythology, Harrison has been described by her biographer, Mary Beard, as 'Britain's first female professional 'career academic'. She is renowned as being one of the most intellectual women of her time, and the ideas espoused on Greek rituals and myths in Themis remain influential today. This revolutionary study traces Themis back through history, as a matriarchal tribal goddess. Addressing areas including magic, sacrifice and the origin of the Olympic games, Harrison applies archaeological discoveries to the interpretation of Greek religion. Including a detailed preface and explanatory notes, this revised second edition of 1927 is described by Harrison as 'addressed not so much to the specialist as to the thinker generally'.

Galen was probably the greatest medical writer of antiquity and certainly the most prolific. His Anatomical Procedures (c. 200 CE) embodies the results of a lifetime of practical research; it is largely based on verbatim notes of lectures delivered during actual demonstrations of dissection. The work comprises fifteen books, of which only the first eight-and-a-half have survived in the original Greek. An Arabic translation of the complete work has survived, however, and this has made possible the translation of the final six-and-a-half books (parts of book 9 and books 10-15). Duckworth's translation was originally made from a German translation of 1906, but for this 1962 edition it was revised by Lyons, working directly from the Arabic text, with the co-operation of Towers. Modern names for the parts of the body are inserted in brackets, and an anatomical index is supplied.

W. W. Buckland's highly regarded magisterial work of 1908 is a scholarly and thorough description of the principles of the Roman law with regard to slavery. Chapters systematically address, in Buckland's words, 'the most characteristic part of the most characteristic intellectual product of Rome'. In minute detail, Buckland surveys slaves and the complexity of the position of the slave in Roman law, describing how slaves are treated both as animals and as free men. He begins by outlining the definition of 'slave', their characteristics and conditions, giving examples of particular cases and describing for the reader the sorts of work a Roman slave might do. Carefully and comprehensively referenced throughout, this is a general survey of an important aspect of Roman law by a renowned Cambridge academic, which retains its status as an enduring classic.

Written by a highly regarded scholar in the field, this is the first published study on the Greek kingdoms of Bactria and India that treats them as Hellenistic states. The book begins with an overview of the Seleucid settlement, providing a background to the relations between Greeks and Asiatics after the death of Alexander the Great. Covering the period from 206 to 145 BCE, the book analyses the reigns of Euthydemus I, Demetrius I and Menander I, and explains how they accomplished Alexander's dream of co-operation instead of domination in the eastern provinces. Tarn's work examines this little-discussed topic and presents it to the reader in a clear and accessible style, making this a great scholarly contribution that remains unsurpassed in breadth and depth. The second edition from 1966 (reissued here) includes an Addendum explaining the further discoveries since the work was first published in 1951.

James Gow's A Short History of Greek Mathematics (1884) provided the first full account of the subject available in English, and it today remains a clear and thorough guide to early arithmetic and geometry. Beginning with the origins of the numerical system and proceeding through the theorems of Pythagoras, Euclid, Archimedes and many others, the Short History offers in-depth analysis and useful translations of individual texts as well as a broad historical overview of the development of mathematics. Parts I and II concern Greek arithmetic, including the origin of alphabetic numerals and the nomenclature for operations; Part III constitutes a complete history of Greek geometry, from its earliest precursors in Egypt and Babylon through to the innovations of the Ionic, Sophistic, and Academic schools and their followers. Particular attention is given to Pythagorus, Euclid, Archimedes, and Ptolemy, but a host of lesser-known thinkers receive deserved attention as well.

John William Donaldson's 1856 essay tackles the topic of university reform, a hotly debated political issue in his day. Donaldson presents a series of suggestions for the improvement of university teaching, and argues for the value of a classical education. Drawing upon his experience both as a headmaster and as a scholar at Trinity College, Cambridge, he considers himself well-placed to address the subject of education, maintaining that there are 'not many who can claim a better right to speak without one-sided prejudice and narrow-minded partiality to some hackneyed system'. He discusses many aspects of the subject, including the meaning of the term 'university', the college system at Cambridge University and the merits of studying classics in comparison to mathematics. Donaldson also addresses the class system, emphasising the need for all classes to be educated. This lively and approachable book foreshadows the debates of our own century.

Jane Ellen Harrison (1850-1928) was a prominent classical scholar who is remembered chiefly for her influential studies of Greek religion, archaeology, literature and art. Introductory Studies in Greek Art (1885) was Harrison's second book, published after a period spent studying archaeology at the British Museum under Sir Charles Newton and writing and lecturing on the subject of Greek vase painting. In her preface to the book Harrison claims that Greek art is distinguished by what she calls 'ideality', a term she defines as a 'peculiar quality ... which adapts itself to the consciousness of successive ages ... a certain largeness and universality which outlives the individual race and persists for all time.' The book covers topics including Chaldaeo-Assyria, Phoenicia, Pheidias and the Parthenon, and the altar of Eumenes at Pergamos.

Sometimes accused of privileging controversy over scholarly restraint, the philologist John William Donaldson (1811-1861) was a precocious talent. Only twenty-five when this book was first published in 1836, he was already a fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, and would live to see his book appear in numerous editions. Revisiting the subject of a successful book published a decade earlier by P. W. Buckham (died 1829), a fellow of St. John's College, Donaldson's colourful new approach proved popular with readers. The appeal of his writing endures, and few can resist his invitation to 'strip our thoughts of their modern garb' and escape into a world of dramatic comedy and tragedy. From the historical account of Thespis, the forefather of Western acting, to an engaging analysis of Euripides and Sophocles, this introduction retains all of the appeal that made it a standard text on the Victorian student's bookshelf.

This monograph on classical engraved gems, which also contains a catalogue of the collection then held by the Fitzwilliam Museum, was published in 1891. J. Henry Middleton (1846-1896) was at the time the Director of the Museum and Slade Professor of Fine Art in Cambridge. His intention was to provide an introductory volume for students of archaeology which both traced the history of the use of engraved gemstones as seals and signets from Babylonian to classical times, described the techniques used to create these miniature works of art, and gave catalogue definitions, enhanced by photographic plates, of the Fitzwilliam collection, which had for the most part been donated by Colonel W. M. Leake (1777-1860), whose antiquarian interests had been aroused when he was sent to the eastern Mediterranean to assist the Turkish army against the French in the early nineteenth century.

Jane Ellen Harrison (1850-1928) was a pioneer in the academic study of myth in its historical and archaeological context, and was also one of the first women to make a full-time career as an academic. In her introduction to this book (1903), making the point that 'Greek religion' was usually studied using the surviving literary retellings of myths and legends, she states: 'The first preliminary to any scientific understanding of Greek religion is a minute examination of its ritual'. Using the then emerging disciplines of anthropology and ethnology, she demonstrates that the specific mythological tales of the Greeks embody systems of belief or philosophy which are not unique to Greek civilisation but which are widespread among societies both 'primitive' and 'advanced'. Her work was enormously influential not only on subsequent scholars of Greek religion but in the wider fields of literature, anthropology and psychoanalysis.

John Stuart Blackie (1805-1895) trained in law and studied divinity in Scotland and Germany before becoming a professor of Classics. Confident, well-travelled, vivacious, and outspoken, he delivered numerous public lectures, was instrumental in the founding of the Gaelic Chair at Edinburgh University, and published translations of many German and Classical works, as well as an impressive body of literary criticism. He was active in Radical politics, a strong opponent of the 1867 Reform Bill, and well-known for his eccentric dress. Anna M. Stoddart's detailed biography of Blackie, published in 1896, provides captivating insights into this extraordinary man's life and times by drawing on letters and papers provided by Blackie's widow and colleagues soon after his death. It remains a useful source for scholars interested in Scottish education or the experience of Scots abroad, as well as those studying nineteenth-century literature and literary criticism.

Thomas Kerchever Arnold's Practical Introduction to Greek Prose Composition first appeared in 1838 and was reprinted in several editions due to popular demand, being adopted as a textbook in leading public schools. Ordained as a priest in 1827 after graduating from Trinity College, Cambridge in 1821, Arnold had studied both theology and classics, and wrote prolifically on both subjects. His first school textbook was published in 1836 and others followed steadily until his death in 1853. One of the chief merits of Arnold's classical publications was his use of contemporary works of German scholarship, to which he readily acknowledged his debt. He produced, alongside Latin and Greek textbooks, grammars of English, French, German, Italian, and Hebrew, and editions of many Greek and Latin authors. This introduction was designed to provide students with the basic tools with which to construct sentences and includes exercises on syntax and a vocabulary index.

Thomas Kerchever Arnold's Practical Introduction to Latin Prose Composition first appeared in 1839 and was reprinted in several editions due to popular demand, being adopted as a textbook in leading public schools. Ordained as a priest in 1827 after graduating from Trinity College, Cambridge in 1821, Arnold had studied both theology and classics, and wrote prolifically on both subjects. His first school textbook was published in 1836 and others followed steadily until his death in 1853. One of the chief merits of Arnold's classical publications was his use of contemporary works of German scholarship, to which he readily acknowledged his debt. He produced, alongside Latin and Greek textbooks, grammars of English, French, German, Italian, and Hebrew, and editions of many Greek and Latin authors. This introduction was designed to provide students with the basic tools with which to construct sentences and includes exercises on syntax and a vocabulary index.

Published in 1891, this revised edition of Oskar Seyffert's Dictionary provides comprehensive coverage of Greek and Roman antiquities, and extends its range to incorporate the areas of mythology and literature. From Abacus to Zosimus, over 2,500 articles cover topics including the lives and work of Greek and Roman philosophers, historians, orators, poets and artists, and related subjects including Greek and Roman religion, philosophy, rhetoric, literature, architecture, painting, sculpture, music and drama. A landmark publication in its time, it is still regarded as factually reliable, and although there have been considerable advances in the interpretation of the data it is valuable as a benchmark for the state of classical scholarship in the late nineteenth century. Enhanced by over 450 illustrations, the volume gives the Latin equivalent for every Greek word, and contains a thorough index.

Sabrinae Corolla, published in 1850, takes its name from a poem by John Milton. It is a collection of poems from a wide range of sources, mainly in English but also in German, Greek and Italian, with translations into Greek or Latin on the facing page. It was edited by the Victorian classicist Benjamin Hall Kennedy (1804-1889), most famous for his Latin primer (also available in this series), and the translations were made by some of Kennedy's former students at Shrewsbury School, who are named in a separate list. The book contains Latin versions of works including the eighteenth-century Scottish poet Tobias Smollett's My Native Stream, the German Friedrich Schiller's Hektors Abschied, and Greek renditions of Shelley's The World's Wanderers and Voltaire's Enigma. It also includes nine illustrations.