Author Description

Velleius Paterculus' short work occupies a unique position in Roman historiography. It is the earliest surviving attempt on the part of a post-Augustan historian to survey the history of the res publica from its origins. In a period from which no other contemporary historical narrative survives in more than meagre fragments, Velleius' work - written under the emperor Tiberius - offers a critical counter to the later accounts of Tacitus, Suetonius and Cassius Dio. Not only does it give a different view of Tiberius, but it saw continuity where later authors saw only a radical change which destroyed the Republic and put monarchy in its place. This collection of new papers is by a distinguished international cast of scholars. It gives a wide-ranging re-examination of Velleius' work, of its place within, and contribution to, Roman historiography and the intellectual history of the early Principate. Eleanor Cowan is Lecturer in the Department of Classics and Ancient History at the University of Sydney. She conceived and organised the conference on Velleius, at the University of Leicester, from which this volume arises. --Book Jacket.