Scrinium Classical Antiquity

RUSSELL, D.A., Plutarch. Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, n.d.(>1973). VII,183p. Cloth wrps. Signature on half title. Small name stamp on title page. 'After a good introductory first chapter on Plutarch's family and social background, Russell devotes his second chapter to ’Language, style and Form'; as he well observes later, 'ancient writers think of their work primarily in terms of persuasive presentation' and 'the reference to the audience determines almost everything. This second chapter is therefore of the greatest importance for his own presentation of Plutarch, and in it he gives a most laudable account of Plutarch's varieties of style, with quotations from widely differing types of work. (…) In the third chapter ('The Scholar and his Books') we are shown how Plutarch collected his vast range of material and the ways in which he used his sources. The scene is now set for a consideration of Plutarch’s philosophical and religious works (Chapter 4) and 'The Moralist and his Fellow-Men' (Chapter 5), in which the Platonic basis of his views is consistently maintained (…). In dealing with the Lives (…) Russell follows a logical rather than a chronological pattern. (…) Although it could not be more than an introduction – and as such it could not have been bettered – it is followed in Chapter 7 by a discussion of the Alcibiades (…) which analyses Plutarch's interpretation of character in more detail. Chapter 8 (…) reminds us that concentration on analysis is apt to distract our attention from Plutarch's considerable powers of description (…). Two concluding chapters provide a more than adequate summary of Plutarch's Nachleben and his influence on western civilization.' (A.J. GOSSAGE in The Classical Review (New Series), 1976, pp.174-75). € 19.50 (Antiquarian)

RUSSELL, J. C., The Germanization of Early Medieval Christianity. A Sociohistorical Approach to Religious Transformation. Oxford University Press, 1996. 272p. Paperback. ‘’The Germanization of Early Medieval Christianity’ presents a series of related theses concerning the social and cultural evolution of Christianity during its first millennium. The most striking thesis is that contrary to the argument in several generations of Western Civilization texts, Latin Christendom did not assimilate the German tribes, rather the German tribes succeeded in having their own cultural values accepted as those of the Latin Church. This thesis is supported not so much with new empirical findings or revised narrative analysis, but by a carefully constructed essay built upon broad reading in ancient and medieval European history, sociology and contemporary missiology. Central to Russel’s case is a contrast between Latin Christianity as a ‘universalis’ religion which through Judaic and Hellenic influences had become ‘world-rejecting’, and the folk religions practiced by the Germanic tribes, which, as extensions of their communities, were essentially ‘world- accepting’. (…) The strongest aspect of Russell’s case is his argument for Germanic cultural resistance to assimilation into Latin civilization. While this is a point that has been made before, few have presented it with such systematic determination and with a concern to prove the vitality of Germanic values in the face of cultural contact. As Russell explains it, from the start the Latin need of Germanic military might far exceeded the German need for Latin civilization.’ (A.E. BARNES in Journal of Social History, 1995, p.441). € 27.50 (New)

RUSSELL, J.B., A History of Heaven. The Singing Silence. Princeton University Press, Princeton, 1997. XV,220p. Original off-white cloth with pictorial dust wrps. Edges a little bit foxed. € 20.00 (Antiquarian)

RUSSO, C.F., Aristophanes. An Author for the Stage. Translated by K. Wren. Routledge, London/NewYork, 1994. XIII,279p.Cloth. Library mark on tail spine. Small personal library mark and name on free endpaper.Original title: Aristofane autore di teatro. Translation based on the revised Italian editions of 1984 and 1992. Carlo Ferdinando Russo's acclaimed work on Aristophanes examines his comedies as plays intended for the stage - not the page. The author considers the invention of printing as a cause of root changes in the nature of drama: The modern reader is inclined to see Aristophanes as an author of texts for reading, rather than of fluid libretti for performance. In Aristophanes, an Author for the Stage , Russo's in-depth philological analysis of the plays is founded on an ever present perception of the realities of Greek theatre. Essential reading for any student of Greek comedy. From the library of the late Sir Kenneth James Dover. € 37.50 (Antiquarian)

RUSTEN, Jeffrey S., (ed.), Thucydides. Oxford University Press, Oxford (...), 2009. 519p. Cloth wrps. Series: Oxford Readings in Classical Studies. 'This volume (...) provides a full and interesting overview of Thucydidean scholarship and the major Thucydidean issues over the past fifty or so years, and thus allows students who have read it to then place new issues and new articles in context. It seems a very useful volume for anyone coming to the study of Thucydides at this point in time, and I expect it (or portions of it) will be assigned to most undergraduate and graduate seminars on Thucydides. Perhaps the best part of the book is Rusten's 28-page introductory essay 'Thucydides and his Readers'. In it he gives a brief chronological summary of historical turning points in the reading of Thucydides. (...) Students who read this essay will have a good sense of the trends and issues of interest to Thucydidean scholars in the second half of the twentieth century. It is an excellent overview for new readers and is especially clear and interesting on families of scholars (e.g. 7-8), something that it can take students years to figure out on their own. After this introductory essay, Rusten offers an article or book section each by his three representatives of the 'book-by-book' reading (Connor, Dover, and Hornblower) and then a series of (usually two) chapters grouped under the separate books of Thucydides. (...) The book-by-book articles are followed by three on 'Reception (Ancient, Modern, and Contemporary).' For all the articles, Rusten often adds an 'editor's postscript' that discusses subsequent work on the topic at hand, and authors who either relate to, build on, or react against the position in the article. In these 'postscripts' (and, where applicable, in the notes to all articles) Rusten refers to authors by the number assigned them in the 'Select Bibliography' included in the text. This bibliography is another element that makes this volume especially useful to students (and teachers). (...) In sum, (...) the collection here works very well as an overview and an introduction to Thucydidean studies.' (MARTHA C. TAYLOR in Bryn Mawr Classical Review 2010.08.07). € 85.00 (Antiquarian)

RÜTER, H., Zeit und Heimat der homerischen Epen. Vom Zorn des Achilleus und von der Heimkehr des Odysseus. De Gruyter, Berlin, 1937. 293p. With 10 maps. Sewn. Uncut. Simple Cover. € 23.00 (Antiquarian)

RUTGERS, A., Het Homerische Epos en De Aeneïs. Inhoud en betekenis voor studerenden verklaard. Brill, Leiden, 1934. XII,68p. Sewn. Front cover loose. Cover bit stained. € 12.00 (Antiquarian)

RUTGERS, J., Grieksche Vormleer voor Gymnasiën. Stemberg, 's-Gravenhage, 1881. X,182p. Bound. Back a bit damaged. Pencil markings and annotations. € 52.50 (Antiquarian)

RUTHE, R., Merda accidit. Cartoons auf Latein. Carlsen, Hamburg, 2009. 59p. Ills. (colour). Bound. € 8.50 (Antiquarian)

RUTHERFORD, I., Canons of Style in the Antonine Age. Idea-Theory and its Literary Context. Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1998. VIII,168p. Gilt tiled cloth with dust wrps. 'This monograph studies the relationship between 'idea' theory in Hermogenes' 'Peri ideon' and the anonymous 'Peri aphelous logou', and the prose literature of the Second Sophistic. Rutherford offers a well-grounded study of the detailed articulation of theory in practice. (...) This slim volume offers much to students of the Second Sophistic. It illustrates well how literary critical thought changed in response to developments in oratory, drawing upon but transmuting earlier commonplaces. R. shows how the choice of model orators and speeches was actually more integrated than previously recognized with contemporary political and literary concerns. Far from being yet another traditional piece of unworldly literary criticism, Hermogenes is firmly situated in his cultural environment.' (RICHARD HAWLEY in the Journal of Hellenic Studies, 2001, p.193-94). € 69.50 (Antiquarian)