Sidonius Apollinaris was an inhabitant of southern Roman Gaul in the mid fifth century AD, when it was threatened by invasions from beyond the boundaries of the Roman Empire and by competing warlords. His many poetic works include three panegyrics to emperors at the beginnings of their reigns; these are carefully translated and annotated, and provided with comment and synopses. His multiple shorter poems, in a variety of metres, are translated into good and lively English and given separate introductions and notes of various kinds, historical and literary. There is an extensive and informative introduction to the whole work. This book by Roger Green, a lifelong expert in Late Antiquity, gives a firsthand account of the political strife and manoeuvring of the times but also a vivid picture of the lives of Sidonius's like-minded friends in an almost post-Roman episode of Rome's existence. Sidonius was read widely in the Middle Ages, with a golden age in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries and also in the fifteenth century revival of Late Antique literature. Today his poetry will awaken new study and interest, without the archaism of many older translations and with a fresh and updated approach to many issues.

Sidonius Apollinaris was an inhabitant of southern Roman Gaul in the mid fifth century AD, when it was threatened by invasions from beyond the boundaries of the Roman Empire and by competing warlords. His many poetic works include three panegyrics to emperors at the beginnings of their reigns; these are carefully translated and annotated, and provided with comment and synopses. His multiple shorter poems, in a variety of metres, are translated into good and lively English and given separate introductions and notes of various kinds, historical and literary. There is an extensive and informative introduction to the whole work. This book by Roger Green, a lifelong expert in Late Antiquity, gives a firsthand account of the political strife and manoeuvring of the times but also a vivid picture of the lives of Sidonius’s like-minded friends in an almost post-Roman episode of Rome’s existence. Sidonius was read widely in the Middle Ages, with a golden age in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries and also in the fifteenth century revival of Late Antique literature. Today his poetry will awaken new study and interest, without the archaism of many older translations and with a fresh and updated approach to many issues.

Educated in Scotland and France, George Buchanan became one of the most influential writers of 16th century Europe. Writing in the lingua franca of his time - Classical Latin - he was to be hailed internationally as 'easily the prince of poets'. Here fifteen scholars, from many countries, analyse his writings, his creative use of ancient texts for contemporary purposes, and his impact on the culture of Scotland and of Europe - not least in the spheres of tragedy and music. Contents: Buchanan's poetic achievement (Philip Ford); 'Redundant' epithets in Buchanan's Pastorals (Robert Cummings); Literary metamorphosis in Buchanan's De Sphaera (Emma Gee); The writing of memory in George Buchanan's Iusta (Nathalie Catellani-Dufrene); Homo exsul as the lyric persona in Buchanan's Psalms (Elwira Buszewicz); The Heavens are Telling: a Psalm-paraphrase-poem analysed (Roger Green); The historical importance of Jean Servin's settings of Buchanan's Psalm Paraphrases (James Porter); Buchanan's Psalms and the musical settings by Statius Olthof (Margaret Duncumb); Buchanan's tragedies and contemporary dramatic theory (Giacomo Cardinali); Biblical inspiration in Buchanan's tragedies (Carine Ferradou); Buchanan and the poetics of borrowing in the Latin translation of Euripides' Medea (Jean-Frederic Chevalier); 'Translating' Buchanan (Ronnie Jack); Drama out of the 'closet': Buchanan on stage (Jamie Reid Baxter); 'Return, Buchanan!' The Letter of Walter Dennistoun to George Buchanan and Buchanan's Reply (Jack MacQueen); Dry Bones of Contention? Picking apart Buchanan's Psalms (Roger Green); George Buchanan's Half Millennium; (Robert Crawford).

Latin Epics of the New Testament is about the growth of Christianity, and in particular the challenge of engaging with the Roman intellectual elite and its highly sophisticated Graeco-Roman tradition. In this culture epics like those of Vergil and Lucan were highly valued for their language, their "heroic" themes, and their Rome-centered ideologies. Roger Green examines each of these epics in detail, showing how the three authors Juvencus, Sedulius, and Arator repackage the New Testament as epic, and try to make a bridge between two very different cultures. He explores the fascinating questions of how these authors exploit epic themes such as gods, heroes, war, and fate, without playing down the very real theological concerns of their times. All these poets were popular in the Middle Ages and later, and are the pioneers of poetry that leads to Renaissance epic and the famous poems of John Milton.