Dionysius of Halicarnassus and Augustan Rome: rhetoric, criticism and historiography

The Greek author Dionysius of Halicarnassus came to Rome in 30/29 BC.

He learnt Latin, developed a network of students, patrons and colleagues, and started to teach rhetoric.

He published a history of early Rome (Roman Antiquities), and essays on rhetoric and literary criticism, including On the Ancient Orators, On Composition, and several letters.

This volume examines how Dionysius' critical and rhetorical works are connected with his history of Rome, and the complex ways in which both components of this dual project - rhetorical criticism and historiography - fit into the social, intellectual, literary, cultural and political world of Rome under Augustus.