412 DE NOVIS LIBRIS IUDICIA and beneficial to further studies. In contrast to this precise demar- cation of Julian's literary output his military and political acts are treated with less exactness and somehow do not seem to have been fully integrated with the history of his time. This has something to do with A.'s handling of the historical sources. In this she seems not critical enough, not merely regarding details. There is e.g. preciously little analysis of the principles and viewpoints from which Ammianus Marcellinus portrayed Julian. Although the achievement of the historian is quite admirable and honourable, it definitely testifies to personal involvement. Moreover, it is cer- tainly not a Hellenist who emerges from the many pages he devoted to Julian. Such critical remarks are not new. A. has reacted to them in her introduction, explaining her own particular objectives on some enlightening pages, which command respect. On these she also admits to have overstated Julian's Mithraic devotion and its conse- quences. This had not been generally noticed by reviewers; K. Rosen (Gnomon 55, 245-9), however, was quite justified in expressing his doubts in some detail. Describing the life of a versatile and even enigmatic person like Julian is treading on a path full of pitfalls. One reviewer called this biography ` `the polar opposite of the invectives of Gregory". Even if such a remark were not an overstatement, Mrs. Athanassiadi's portrait of Julian has much to offer to those who take a deep interest in the history of the 4th century.

2353 BM LEIDERDORP, van Effendreef 15 J. DEN BOEFT

D.A. RUSSELL, An Anthology of Latin Prose. Compiled and edited with an Introduction. Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1990. XXXIII, 251 p. Pr. £ 10,95. (pb.).

In this anthology the compiler has succeeded in giving a representative and varied picture of the development of the literary prose of the Romans. All periods, all important authors and subgenres are represented, while also the products of the Early Christian Latin literature receive ample attention. Naturally the emphasis is on those authors whose work forms either an important landmark in the development of prose or a characteristic example of a particular trend. As a result much space is given to Cato Maior, Cicero, Seneca Minor, Tacitus and Apuleius, as well as to 413 some writers from the period of Late Latin literature whose work is characteristic of this period on account of its complicated style (e.g. Tertullian and Ammianus Marcellinus). That completeness or near-completeness has been striven for appears from the fact that as many as forty authors are presented in this anthology, some of whom, such as Cicero and Tacitus, with a large number of passages (respectively fourteen and seven). Given the aim of the book-to illustrate the development of Latin prose from the beginning (c. 200 B.C.) to the fifth century A . D . -the chronological division adopted (into twelve periods) is perfectly understandable. The compiler has done well also to include a number of texts dealing with the theory of style such as Rhetorica ad Herennium 4, 11-16 (p. 8 ff. ), Quintilian, Institutio oratoria 12, 10, 58-65 (p. 153 ff.) and Seneca, Epistulae ad Lucilium 114, 1-12 (p. 130 ff.). In the choice of texts the author has furthermore been guided by the criterion that the passage in question should be comprehensible (as much as possible) by itself, without an extensive annotation about the cultural-historical background or about specifically linguistic features being necessary. The commentary has therefore on the whole been kept to a minimum. Mostly the explanatory remarks are sufficient for a good understanding of the passage con- cerned, certainly in the case of lucidly written texts such as Caesar, De bello Gallico 1, 42-46 (p. 61 ff.), Celsus, De medicina 1, 2 (p. 113 f.), Apuleius, Florida 16 (p. 201 f.) or Aelius Donatus, Vita hergilii 21-35 (p. 213 f.). Occasionally, though, a somewhat more extensive explanation would have been appropriate, especially with technical and difficult passages like Digest 9, 2, 52 (p. 80 f.), Varro, De re rustica 2 , praef. 1-6 (p. 82 f.), Plinius Maior, Naturalis historia 11, 20-26 (p. 146 f.), Hieronymus, Epist. 22, 29-30 (p. 224 f.) and Sidonius Apollinaris, Epist. 1, 2, 4-10 (p. 238 ff.), the more so as these passages contain numerous rare words. More generally, it is rather odd to find that Russell often does not explain rare words such as bubulcus (p. 6), subrancidus (p. 25), interpellare (p. 63), gypsatus (p. 137), inquies ( = inquietus, p. 168) and lactuca (p. 207)-, but on the other hand provides common words and constructions such as exigere (p. 6), nonnumquam (p. 22), opus esse facto (p. 65), vis venti (p. 101) and non est quod mireris (p. 129) with an explanation. An aspect Russell pays much attention to, and rightly so, is prose-rhythm. For a start this is treated at length in the General Introduction, where a brief historical sketch is given of the develop- ment of Latin prose and where, with respect to style, especially