In this volume, we are offered a new perspective on Roman literature, based on the conviction that our present appreciation for it should be informed and influenced by how it was originally perceived. From the beginning of the Roman Empire to the end of the classical era, this book focuses on the "receivers" of Roman literature-the readers, spectators, and audiences who first witnessed the works. Six contributors map out the lively and provocative surveys, covering the kinds of literature that have shaped Western culture--epic, lyric, tragedy, comedy, history, philosophy, elegy, satire, biography, and panegyric. "Excellent volume."-- Times Literary Supplement Oliver Taplin is Professor of Classical Languages and Literature at Oxford University, where he is a Tutorial Fellow at Magdalen College. He is also co-director (with Edith Hall) of the Archive of Performances of Greek and Roman Drama. His books include 'Homeric Soundings' (Oxford, 1992) and 'Comic Angels' (Oxford, 1993). He maintains the importance of reaching wider audiences, and has collaborated with various productions in radio, television, and the theatre.