The Oxford Approaches to Classical Literature series aims to produce student-friendly scholarly companions to the ever-growing library of affordable, excellent English translations of ancient Greek and Roman literature. The Oxford Approaches distinguish themselves from other similar ‘companions’ and ‘introductions’ in that a single accomplished scholar composes a dedicated interpretive monograph for each work of literature in question. In this case, D.H. Berry, who has previously translated several of Cicero's speeches (including the Catilinarians) for Oxford's World's Classics, and has written an excellent commentary on the Pro Sulla, provides a timely, lively, fascinating scholarly companion to Cicero's Catilinarians, one of the all-time favorites in Classics classrooms both in translation and in the original Latin.
As other reviews have already (aptly) judged its merit as a new piece of critical scholarship on the Catilinarians, and there is little need for much exposition on either Cicero or the Catilinarian speeches themselves, I shall here focus on the strengths of this book as a teaching document. For reasons I will outline in this review, I expect that this volume will become the standard accompaniment to the Catilinarians for classroom use.
First, Berry's introduction far surpasses all others in its inclusion of, and masterful, accessible treatment of, some of the material evidence for the career of Lucius Sergius Catilina in the years leading up to the famous conspiracy of 63 BCE. This greatly increases the classroom utility of Berry's treatment - providing practising teachers with excellent resources for multi-dimensional, rich lesson planning to support a study of the Catilinarians. As many teachers know, one of the very best ways to enliven and engage students of Classics is to situate our ‘characters’ (Cicero, Catiline, etc.) amid some of the most startling finds in the archaeological record.
In particular, Berry draws our attention to two spectacular (hoped-to-be genuine) campaign memorabilia from the consular and tribunate elections of 63 (for the year 62) in the possession of the Museo Nazionale Romano Terme di Diocleziano. Both are food bowls, thought to have been handed out at campaign ‘dinners’ on the streets, where, as the consumer ate, an inscribed message in support of one or the other candidate revealed itself. Images of these bowls are in the public domain at the Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cato_and_Catilina_propaganda_cups.jpg). The one expresses support for Cato's standing for the Tribune of the Plebs (M CATO QUEI PETIT TRIBVNV PLEBEI) and Catiline's for the consulship of 62 (CASIVS LONGINV QUEI CATILINAE SVFRAGATVR). The bowls themselves, the politicking they imply, the informal, readily comprehensible Latin they represent, and Berry's excellent appendix on arguments for and against their authenticity, abound with rich possibilities for exciting classroom activities and substantive teaching interventions. Similarly rich possibilities attend other realia Berry considers, including two silver denarii commemorating the defeat of Catiline and a bronze statuette (ca. 4th-5th century CE) depicting a grammarian teaching the First Catilinarian.
Second, this volume succeeds where many other volumes falter in interweaving contemporary and classical literary and political parallels in a way that is novel and grabs attention, but also makes for interesting sustained comparison (rather than for a gimmick). In particular, to begin his analysis of the First Catilinarian, Berry makes an unexpected comparison. He suggests that, in many respects, we ought to read the Catilinarians as we would read Piers Morgan's 2005 memoir, The Insider: The Private Diaries of a Scandalous Decade. Berry continues:
There are clear parallels between Morgan's Diaries and Cicero's Catilinarians … [T]he Catilinarians, like the diaries, purport, in their form, to be something they are not: they are not verbatim records of Cicero's original speeches. Like the diaries, they were written up after an interval of some years and contain anachronisms and distortions. But the Catilinarians can easily be read as though they are the original speeches, because they have been written as though they are; and as long as readers are aware that they are not, they are unlikely to be led seriously astray. (p.86)
After this, Berry fleshes out this interpretive stance more precisely (and in a way more familiar to mainstream classical scholarship), but this (now) helpful comparison is clearly imprinted on the mind of the reader. I can see this comparative illustration doing a lot of interpretive legwork in a high school or college classroom, and will provide numerous opportunities for interdisciplinary discussion in the classroom on the authenticity, intent, and genre of the Catilinarians. What other unexpected parallels to the Catilinarians might we find in popular literature - even in tabloid tell-all's?
Third, Berry does the teacher a great service in including both Latin and English translations of crucial bits of Cicero's and Sallust's Catilinarian texts, and, in particular, includes a superb appendix with the surviving ‘words’ of Catiline, mined from the Catilinarians and the Bellum Catilinae. This helps to bring this infamous figure to life in a Latin classroom. Catiline can now play both ‘devil’ and ‘devil's advocate’ in Cicero's Catilinarian drama.
Last, Berry's review strikes a good balance between precise, helpful scholarly academic prose and the straightforward writing our students are sure to appreciate. In this way it represents an excellent bridge between classroom reading of the Catilinarians and the world of scholarship that surrounds them. This volume saves advanced students the frustration of reading something interesting about Cicero, Catiline, or the speeches and then wondering where they might find a reference to the Catilinarians or Sallust's Bellum Catilinae. But it also won't overwhelm students who have less interest in the details.
The aims of the Oxford Approaches series are well-represented here. Berry does not simply rehash running theories or historical approaches to the Catilinarians: he instead provides a novel, exciting supplementary document that breathes new life into them. Teachers of Latin and Classics will appreciate the numerous rich lesson plans pre-made, as it were, awaiting in these pages. More important: students will appreciate them even more.
Open access
