Acknowledgements
This edition of Manilius Cabacius Rallus’ poems was largely completed during the pandemic, with libraries and archives closed to the public. I am deeply grateful to the librarians and archivists who worked hard and with dedication to assist me, even during these difficult times. While I cannot thank each of them individually, I have recognized their invaluable contributions at the appropriate places throughout the book.
I would also like to thank the scholars who generously shared information and advice with me, including Marco Bernardi, Nadia Cannata, and Antonio Iurilli, as well as Franco Bacchelli and Giuseppe Germano, who are among the very few modern readers of Rallus. P. Domenico Castiglione is warmly thanked for his guidance in my search for information on the graves of the poet and his father at the Church of the Twelve Holy Apostles in Rome. My gratitude extends to my dear colleagues at the University of Oslo, especially Paola D’Andrea, Vibeke Roggen, and Tor Ivar Østmoe, for their expert advice and encouragement. The perceptive observations of the students who read Rallus’ poems with me in the fall term of 2019 also greatly contributed to this work. Erlend Østrem Myklebust has been helpful in various phases of preparing the manuscript.
A special word of thanks is due to Dirk Sacré and series editor David Marsh, whose invaluable advice and suggestions have consistently elevated the quality of this edition. Finally, I would like to acknowledge the precious advice of the anonymous peer reviewers and thank the associate editor of the series Ivo Romein for his support of this project.
An initial selection of Rallus’ poems was published in the sixty-second issue of Humanistica Lovaniensia back in 2013 (Lamers, “Manilius Cabacius Rhallus”). The current edition contains the complete collection of poems, based on a fresh collation of new evidence, as well as translations and notes, in addition to some previously unpublished texts. The introduction builds upon the material presented in 2013, while also incorporating new information and corrections. To avoid excessive references to the previous edition, I mention it here at the beginning. The present edition should be considered the most current and supersedes the previous one.
This book was generously financed by the Department of Philosophy, Classics, and the History of Art and Ideas at the University of Oslo.