The Eclogues and Cynegetica of Nemesianus, edited with an introduction and commentary

Abstract

Although editions of Nemesianus have been surprisingly numerous, very few of them have contributed appreciably to our understanding of this author, and most texts have been based on a very limited number of manuscripts. There has been no commentary of any length since that of Burman (1731) and there has never been one in English covering the whole corpus. The present thesis is an attempt to remedy these deficiencies. There is a text of the Eclogues and Cynegetica which is the first to have been based on an examination of all the known manuscripts, and a detailed and accurate apparatus criticus is provided. Readings of interest for which there is no room in the main body of the apparatus criticus have been included in an appendix. The textual history of both the Eclogues and the Cynegetica is thoroughly discussed. The question of the authenticity of the Eclogues is examined and Nemesianus's authorship is held to be proved. There is a commentary, mainly concerned with textual and grammatical matters, on both the Eclogues and the Cynegetica. A complete list of editions of Nemesianus to date is provided, as well as a bibliography. There is also an excursus on the scansion of final -o in Latin poetry and an Index Verborum.