Classical World

In this monograph, Volk continues her work on Latin didactic, this time focusing solely on Manilius and his Astronomica. The first chapter serves as an introduction in which Volk explains her approach in the book, noting that she will focus on the “larger picture” (9–10) of Manilius and his poem. Chapters 2 and 3 outline the astronomy and astrology in the poem, respectively. In the former, Volk notes various earlier treatments of the subject matter of the cosmos in authors from Homer to Plato and Aristotle to Aratus, before explaining what Manilius covers in his picture of the universe. In the latter, she tackles the nuts and bolts of astrology, which comprises the larger portion of Manilius’ poem, explaining the history of this field, and then how astrology works (and doesn’t work) in Manilius. This section may prove somewhat tedious for some readers, but one cannot help feeling grateful that Volk has done this work and summarized it for us.

Chapter 4 focuses on the poem in the context of the use of astrology in Rome. Here Volk gives material that has been covered at length in works such as F. H. Cramer’s Astrology in Roman Law and Politics (1996). Still, it is useful to have a summary here as a context for Manilius’ poem. Volk addresses the question of the date of the poem and which emperor(s) the poem alludes to (arguing that it is most likely Augustus for at least the first four books), and also explores briefly Manilius’ treatment of the emperor. Chapter 5 examines the work as a didactic poem, which was the subject of her previous book, The Poetics of Latin Didactic (2002). Volk notes (175) that her earlier treatment [End Page 282] of this subject was more thorough and refers readers to that work for what she does not cover here. Still, it is important to have some discussion in this monograph of the genre of the poem and Manilius’ place both in the poetic and, more specifically, didactic tradition.

In chapter 6 Volk steps back from the examinations of specific content and form to address some larger questions of Manilius’ view of the cosmos, and in doing so explores the poem’s relation to various philosophical schools of thought (Stoicism, Hermetism, Platonism, and Pythagoreanism) and even briefly touches on magic and the occult. Volk wrestles here with contradictions of various kinds in the poem, addressing this again in the seventh chapter, which also serves as a brief conclusion. She had examined these contradictions in her 2002 work, where she had explained them as a phenomenon she referred to as Manilius’ “have-one’s-cake-and-eat-it-too” principle. Here she goes a bit further to explain it as a tension between the cosmic and human perspectives (264). There being no simple explanation for these contradictions, Volk’s suggestions give the reader some solid food for thought.

In addition to a few illustrations in the earlier portion of the book to help demonstrate the astrological principles, a bibliography, list of cited passages, and general index, an appendix provides a useful outline of the poem for quick reference and a glossary explains relevant astronomical and astrological terms. While some of the material in this monograph is more a summary than a new argument, it is still quite helpful to have an organized, book-length treatment of Manilius and the context of his work such as this. As with her previous work, Volk manages to make a valuable scholarly contribution—here contributing both to the study of Latin didactic and of the Greeks and Romans’ understanding of the variety of complex subjects in the poem (astronomy, astrology, philosophy, etc.)—while doing so in a clear and straightforward manner. This book will be useful for those who have found the poem’s subject matter (understandably) confusing and also for those puzzling through the study of any classical didactic poem.