About this episode

Katherine Krauss discusses her book on the dynamic engagement with classical texts in Macrobius' Saturnalia.

Exemplarity and Allusion in Macrobius' Saturnalia (Oxford UP, 2026) offers a new framework for interpreting interactions with classical source material in Macrobius’ Saturnalia. It argues that the Saturnalia, an educational dialogue from the fifth century ce, does not view its Greco-Roman models as hegemonic sources of authority but engages with these texts in dynamic and critical ways. In particular, Macrobius responds to both the literary and ethical agendas of his predecessors, a strategy which is termed ethical allusion. The book explores this intertwining of moral, social, and aesthetic commentary in the Saturnalia’s allusions to authors such as Aulus Gellius, Cicero, Plato, Plutarch, and Virgil. It also examines Macrobius’ ethical allusions alongside the aesthetic practices and moral thought of the late fourth and the fifth centuries, and sheds light on the Saturnalia’s role in pioneering a late antique intellectual culture at once less hierarchical and less engaged with civic life. New Books in Late Antiquity is presented by Ancient Jew Review. Katherine Krauss is Assistant Teaching Professor of Classics and Ancient Mediterranean Studies at Penn State. Michael Motia…

People in this episode

Guest: Katherine Krauss

Topics covered

• classical literature
• ethical allusion
• late antique culture
• Macrobian dialogue
• moral commentary
• Greco-Roman models

Keywords

• Macrobius
• Saturnalia
• classical sources
• ethical allusion
• late antiquity
• literary analysis
• moral thought

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Penn State, UMass Boston

Books & works: Exemplarity and Allusion in Macrobius' Saturnalia, Saturnalia

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