The Latin Letters of Pseudo-Brutus (Cic. Brut. 1.16 and 1.17)
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Kathryn Tempest
Abstract
This chapter looks at two letters attributed to Marcus Iunius Brutus (Cicero, Ad M. Brutum 1.16 and 1.17), the dubious authenticity of which has attracted much critical attention. Following a summary of earlier scholarship, the contribution steers the debate in a different direction by arguing that these letters are instead pseudepigrapha, fictional impersonations of Brutus, composed around the first century CE. To this end, it highlights the elements of the text which betray a learned and creative author: dexterous allusions and imitations of Ciceronian style; a deep knowledge and manipulation of Brutus’ own writings and of a wide range of other sources about his person and philosophical ideas; echoes of the hostile biographical tradition developed against Brutus in later times; and self-conscious meta-literary games with the conventions of epistolarity.
Abstract
This chapter looks at two letters attributed to Marcus Iunius Brutus (Cicero, Ad M. Brutum 1.16 and 1.17), the dubious authenticity of which has attracted much critical attention. Following a summary of earlier scholarship, the contribution steers the debate in a different direction by arguing that these letters are instead pseudepigrapha, fictional impersonations of Brutus, composed around the first century CE. To this end, it highlights the elements of the text which betray a learned and creative author: dexterous allusions and imitations of Ciceronian style; a deep knowledge and manipulation of Brutus’ own writings and of a wide range of other sources about his person and philosophical ideas; echoes of the hostile biographical tradition developed against Brutus in later times; and self-conscious meta-literary games with the conventions of epistolarity.
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Acknowledgments V
- Contents VII
- Introduction: Fictions of Genre 1
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Part I: (Auto)Biographical Fictions
- Fact and Fiction in Pliny’s Epistles: The Augustan Poetry Book and its Legacies 21
- Fiction and Authenticity in the Letters of Euripides 45
- Greetings from the Margin: Ovid’s Epistulae ex Ponto 69
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Part II: Editorial Fictions
- Just Some Notes for My Own Use: Arrian’s (‘Arrian’s’?) Letter to Lucius Gellius 89
- Cicero’s Epistulae ad Familiares: From Authentic Letters to Literary Artefact 107
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Part III: Pseudepigraphic Fictions
- The Latin Letters of Pseudo-Brutus (Cic. Brut. 1.16 and 1.17) 131
- Fictionality and Pseudepigraphy in the Apocryphal Letter Exchange between Seneca and Paul 161
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Part IV: Ekphrastic Fictions
- Fictions in the Real World: Language and Reality in Cicero’s Letters 181
- Let’s Get Real: Ekphrasis, Reality and Fiction in Pliny’s Epistles 207
- List of Contributors 239
- Bibliography 241
- General Index 259
- Index Locorum 263
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Acknowledgments V
- Contents VII
- Introduction: Fictions of Genre 1
-
Part I: (Auto)Biographical Fictions
- Fact and Fiction in Pliny’s Epistles: The Augustan Poetry Book and its Legacies 21
- Fiction and Authenticity in the Letters of Euripides 45
- Greetings from the Margin: Ovid’s Epistulae ex Ponto 69
-
Part II: Editorial Fictions
- Just Some Notes for My Own Use: Arrian’s (‘Arrian’s’?) Letter to Lucius Gellius 89
- Cicero’s Epistulae ad Familiares: From Authentic Letters to Literary Artefact 107
-
Part III: Pseudepigraphic Fictions
- The Latin Letters of Pseudo-Brutus (Cic. Brut. 1.16 and 1.17) 131
- Fictionality and Pseudepigraphy in the Apocryphal Letter Exchange between Seneca and Paul 161
-
Part IV: Ekphrastic Fictions
- Fictions in the Real World: Language and Reality in Cicero’s Letters 181
- Let’s Get Real: Ekphrasis, Reality and Fiction in Pliny’s Epistles 207
- List of Contributors 239
- Bibliography 241
- General Index 259
- Index Locorum 263
