Valerius Maximus, Facta et Dicta Memorabilia [Memorable Words and Deeds]

Rebecca Langlands (University of Exeter)

Ed. by Sophia Papaioannou, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.1.2: Ancient Roman Writing and Culture (Republic and Empire), -750-476.
Vol. editors: Anca Dan (École Practique de Hautes Études PSL), Martine Diepenbroek (University of Johannesburg), William John Dominik (University of Otago), Giacomo Fedeli (University of Exeter), Victoria Fendel (University of Oxford), Thomas Habinek (University of Southern California), Emily Kneebone (University of Nottingham), Elodie Paillard (University of Sydney), Sophia Papaioannou (National and Kapodistrian University of Athens), Guendalina Daniela Maria Taietti (University of Liverpool), Jula Wildberger (American University of Paris)

Dates

First circulation or publication c. 30

Places

Ancient Rome (Republic & Empire) (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Anthology/ Collection
Instructional / reference

Resources

Save to Bookshelf

Valerius Maximus’

Memorable Words and Deeds

is perhaps better known today as the inspiration for some of the greatest art and literature of later centuries than as a literary composition in its own right; most scholars of the Renaissance, for instance, will have come across Valerius as the author of a compendious source of moral tales from antiquity. Published in Rome in about 30 CE, during the reign of the emperor Tiberius, Valerius Maximus’ work is a compilation of over one thousand moral anecdotes, or

exempla

, of the kind regularly deployed by Roman orators and philosophers to illustrate their arguments, organised thematically within nine volumes. Most of these tales of virtue and vice, taken from historical works, would have been well known to the original Roman readers. They are…

Please log in to consult the article in its entirety. If you are a member (student of staff) of a subscribing institution (see List), you should be able to access the LE on campus directly (without the need to log in), and off-campus either via the institutional log in we offer, or via your institution's remote access facilities, or by creating a personal user account with your institutional email address. If you are not a member of a subscribing institution, you will need to purchase a personal subscription. For more information on how to subscribe as an individual user, please see under Individual Subcriptions.

3399 words

Citation: Langlands, Rebecca. "Facta et Dicta Memorabilia". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 18 September 2014 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=35515, accessed 22 November 2024.]

Valerius Maximus, Facta et Dicta Memorabilia [Memorable Words and Deeds]

Dates

Places

Genres and Modes

Resources

Save this article

Leave Feedback