Sermo juris

"Law played a key role in the workings of Roman culture, and legal discourse was important even in non-legal Latin literature. A proper understanding of that literature requires an investigation of the ways legal language is used. Nevertheless, legal elements have so far been widely neglected by scholars of Latin literature, in particular Augustan poetry. After an examination of legal language as a technical discourse and its role in Latin prose, the present book is devoted to a detailed analysis of legal language and imagery in the work of the Augustan poets. It will, therefore, allow for a better appreciation of these poems as well as of their significance for Augustan culture in the broad sense."--Publisher's website.