Dr. Noelle Zeiner-Carmichael’s new book, Roman Letters: An Anthology (Wiley-Blackwell, September 16, 2013) ISBN 978-1444339512, is now available.

Roman Letters offers a diverse and rich selection of original translations of ancient Roman letters spanning from the 1^st century BCE to the 2^nd century CE. The wide range of selections includes translations of prose and verse letters, letters sent and received, canonical epistolary authors such as Cicero, Ovid, Pliny the Younger, and less familiar texts including papyrus letters from Oxyrhynchus, Egypt, and wood leaf tablets from the Vindolanda fort in Britain. In addition, the volume contains representative New Testament letters and some illustrative excerpts from ancient epistolary theorists.

 A valuable introduction includes discussion of the letter as a genre, as well as the practical issues of letter-writing materials and letter delivery in the ancient world, and includes maps to help readers visualize the distance many letters traveled, and an index of authors and topics. An accompanying website offers additional, complementary letters.

 “With translations that are  both true to the intent of the original and entirely accessible to the modern reader, Zeiner-Carmichael has created an engaging survey of Roman epistolography, from the most practical of daily missives to highly refined literature.” Jacqueline M. Carlon, University of Massachusetts Boston