Grammar, Philology, and Literary Criticism between Pergamon and Rome

Abstract This chapter provides an overview of the evidence for the interactions between Pergamon and Rome in the field of grammatical and literary studies, discussing the influence of the work of Crates of Mallos on Roman culture and analysing other evidence of exchange between the Hellenistic kingdom and the new rulers of the Mediterranean world. It explores Crates’ influence in linguistics, literary theory, and Homeric scholarship, reconsidering the evidence of Varro for the analogy/anomaly debate, exploring Roman responses to Crates’ literary theories (through Philodemus, Lucilius, and Lucretius), and examining Virgil’s possible engagement with Cratetean interpretations of Homer. It concludes by surveying the enduring presence of Crates’ followers at Rome (especially Panaetius, Alexander Polyhistor, Athenodorus Cordylion, Apion) and by studying the Archelaus relief as an early reception of Crates’ approach to Homeric epic that was perhaps alluded to by Catullus.