Companion to the Neronian Age

Emma Buckley is Lecturer in Latin and Classical Studies at the University of St. Andrews. She has published on post-Virgilian epic, Maffeo Vegio and Christopher Marlowe. She is currently writing a monograph on Valerius Flaccus’ Argonautica. Martin T. Dinter is Lecturer in Latin Literature and Language at King’s College London. He has published articles on Virgil, Horace, Lucan and Valerius Flaccus and is the author of a forthcoming monograph on Lucan’s Bellum Civile.

“Buckley and Dinter must be commended for producing a Companion as stimulating as it is wide-ranging.”  (Language & Literature, 1 October 2014)“All the essays are clear, detailed and relevant… Buckley and Dinter must be commended for producing a Companion as stimulating as it is wide-ranging.”  (Journal of Roman Studies, 17 October 2014)"This book is a must-have for anyone working on the Neronian Age, but it will also be a valuable asset to those interested in Roman culture more broadly." (Classical Journal, 9 May 2014)“Many of its essays should become the standard discussions on the topic, whereas others gesture importantly toward future work to be done in the field. Moreover, the clarity of the chapters makes them suitable to be used pedagogically in an advanced undergraduate or graduate course." (Bryn Mawr Classical Review, 29 February 2014)“It is very hard to do justice to this excellent addition to the series of Blackwell Companions to the Ancient World. The editors have done a splendid job in selecting and organising the material, together with some helpful cross-referencing within the contributions.”  (Journal of Classics Teaching, 1 June 2013)

• List of Illustrations xiNotes on Contributors xiiiAcknowledgments xviiIntroduction: The Neronian (Literary) ‘‘Renaissance’’ 1Martin T. DinterPart I Nero1 The Performing Prince 17Elaine Fantham2 Biographies of Nero 29Donna W. Hurley3 Nero the Imperial Misfit: Philhellenism in a Rich Man’s World 45Sigrid MratschekPart II the Empire 4 The Empire in the Age of Nero 65Myles Lavan5 Apollo in Arms: Nero at the Frontier 83David Braund6 Domus Neroniana: The Imperial Household in the Age of Nero 102Michael J. Mordine7 Religion 118Darja Šterbenc Erker8 Neronian Philosophy 134Jenny BryanPart III Literature, Art, and Architecture9 Seneca, Apocolocyntosis 151Christopher L. Whitton10 The Carmina Einsidlensia and Calpurnius Siculus’ Eclogues 170John Henderson11 Seneca’s Philosophical Writings: Naturales Quaestiones, Dialogi, Epistulae Morales 188Jonathan Mannering12 Senecan Tragedy 204Emma Buckley13 Lucan’s Bellum Civile 225Philip Hardie14 Petronius’ Satyrica 241Tom Murgatroyd15 Persius 258Marden Fitzpatrick Nichols16 Columella, De Re Rustica 275Christiane Reitz 17 Literature of the World: Seneca’s Natural Questions and Pliny’s Natural History 288Aude Doody18 Greek Literature Under Nero 302Dirk Uwe Hansen19 Buildings of an Emperor – How Nero Transformed Rome 314Heinz-Jürgen Beste and Henner von Hesberg20 Portraits of an Emperor – Nero, the Sun, and Roman Otium 332Marianne Bergmann21 Neronian Wall-Painting. A Matter of Perspective 363Katharina LorenzPart IV Reception22 Nero in Jewish and Christian Tradition from the First Century to the Reformation 385Harry O. Maier23 Haec Monstra Edidit. Translating Lucan in the Early Seventeenth Century 405Yanick Maes24 Haunted by Horror: The Ghost of Seneca in Renaissance Drama 425Susanna Braund25 ‘‘Fantasies so Varied and Bizarre’’: The Domus Aurea, the Renaissance, and the ‘‘Grotesque’’ 444Michael SquireEpilogue26 Nachwort: Nero from Zero to Hero 467Miriam GriffinIndex 481