Latin Anthology

The Latin Anthology is a compilation of Latin verses from the era of Ennius (c. 239 – c. 169 BC, often considered the father of Roman poetry) up to around 1000 AD. This collection was mainly compiled by Pieter Burmann the Younger (1713 – 1778).

While the Greek Anthology was first compiled by the ancient Greek poet, Meleager of Gadara in the first century BC, the ancient Romans did not compile their own Latin Anthology. However, there were volumes of epigrams, such as those compiled by Martial between 95 and 98. There were also compilations of brief sententiae from authors such as Publilius Syrus (fl. 85–43 BC), along with smaller groupings of verse on specialized subjects, such as the Priapeia (circa 100).

Development of the Anthology

The initial modern collection of these fragmented pieces was Catalecta veterum Poetarum (1573), created by Scaliger. This was followed by the more extensive collection of Pithoeus, Epigrammata et Poemata e Codicibus et Lapidibus collecta (1590). Further additions, primarily from inscriptions, were continually added. In 1759–1773, Burmann organized these into his anthology titled Anthologia veterum Latinorum Epigrammatum et Poematum. After Burmann's demise, the editorial responsibilities fell to the philologist Johann Christian Wernsdorf.

This became the standard edition until 1869, when Alexander Riese started a new and more critical recension. In this revision, many pieces that were improperly included by Burmann were removed, and his classification system was replaced. It arranged the material according to the sources, starting with those derived from manuscripts, followed by those obtained from inscriptions.

In 1982, an entirely new edition of the first part was published by D. R. Shackleton Bailey. The second volume (in two parts) was released in 1895–1897, with the title Carmina Epigraphica, edited by Franz Bücheler. As the Latin Anthology was formed by scholars with a primary focus on preserving as much material as they could find, it is significantly more diverse than the Greek Anthology.

References

  •  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Garnett, Richard (1911). "Anthology". In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 2 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 96.