Anonymi versus serpentini

More about the book

This edition presents a critical revision of the collection Anonymi versus serpentini, reflecting recent textual, literary, and interpretative studies since D’Orville’s editio princeps. It incorporates findings from the 2002 Herder edition. The poems share a common theme—events governed by chance—and, while identical in form, they exhibit a rich variety in internal structures and sophisticated literary play, embodying the style of this anonymous collection of epanaleptic distichs. This style is both original and influenced by contemporary literary experiments in Roman Africa. The text, previously translated into Italian, now includes an extensive philological and historical commentary that addresses textual issues identified in the apparatus and explores them within the context of the complete work. Furthermore, it situates this collection, preserved in the Anthologia Salmasiana, among the works of learned poets active in Roman Africa during the late Vandal period. The commentary enhances the reader's understanding of the intricate relationships between the poems and their mythological references, revealing the depth and complexity of the literary landscape of the time.