Tacitus' Wonders

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"This volume unfolds Tacitus' wonders, paradox, the marvellous and the admirable to scrutiny. Tacitus' withering reference to those who marvel at matters worthy only of the daily gazette expresses a scepticism that can be regarded as typically Tacitean; nevertheless wonder has an important role to play in his writing, and his narratives are filled with wondrous phenomena. This collection asks whether new approaches to reading Tacitus can accept wonders as an integral part of the narrative, rather than aberrations.While recent scholarship has advanced the study of wonders in ancient Greek and Roman literatures with special attention to paradoxographers and poets, this volume tackles the problem of how marvels, paradox and wonder challenge readerly credulity in historiography and the adjacent genres in which Tacitus worked. Individual chapters draw on a range of interpretive approaches that mirror the wealth of authorial and reader-specific responses in play. As a result, historical judgement and literary artistry come to be seen as working in concert."_ Contracub.