Danuta Shanzer’s massive contribution to the fields of Classics, Philology, and textual criticism is undeniable. Her work is as important as any other that has come to light in the last forty years and certainly warrants being honored by this volume. The essays, as can been seen in the review below, not only reflect Shanzer’s interests, but also demonstrate the influence she has had on these authors, as well as on many scholars not included here. The volume provides a wide range of topics and demonstrates an equally varied set of methodologies and theoretical underpinnings, which I will try to capture as fully as possible. That said, a complete analysis of each contribution is not possible for a volume of this size (27 essays and nearly 460 pages in total), and in the brief amount of space provided by a simple book review. That said, it is possible to mention how each section and each essay relates to the larger project and its themes.

The first section of the volume, entitled “Roman and Late Antiquity,” harkens back to Shanzer’s formative work and where she started her scholarly career, in terms of subjects, interests, and methods. Roger S. O. Tomlin performs textual analysis and editing in its finest form through an examination of an amulet from Roman London. The author is able to demonstrate that the amulet may well be the first textual evidence for malaria in Roman Britain. Daniel Markovich moves the discussion from textual to stylistic analysis by returning to the De nuptiis of Martianus Capella, which was featured in Shanzer’s dissertation. The comparison between Martianus and Cicero shows the ways that the former departs from the latter and demonstrates a clever adaptation and the critical importance of historical context when considering a source and the style used to create it. In many ways, the themes of the first essays come together in Michael Winterbottom’s “Late Antique Theories of Latin Prose Rhythm.” Here, Martianus Capella is featured--as is the Fragmenta Bobiensia and Marius Plotius Sacerdos--in an exercise of superb textual analysis and comparison. The result is a better understanding of prose rhythm in “Platinum Latin.” We return to the importance of historical context, as James J. O’Donnell revises the traditional narrative of Boethius’s death. Another of Shanzer’s subjects, Boethius is read in context to show that in the end, Theoderic had to execute him for political and succession reasons, even though Boethius was not the actual problem. Benjamin Garstad looks to another late Roman author, Jordanes, to demonstrate that texts are not always what they seem. He concludes that Jordanes compared Hermanaric to Alexander the Great as a critique of the Gothic king, and not to flatter him as has been assumed in the past. The last essay in the first section again places a text in its context, which leads to a revisionary and important conclusion. A close reading of In Basilica, which was attributed to Martin of Braga, and an examination of the circumstances under which it was written, allows Florin Curta to question the reliability of the text for the history of the Slavs, which in turn will yield a more nuanced understanding of the period when more research is conducted.

Patristics, especially Augustine, was another favorite subject of Shanzer’s scholarly activity, and the second section of this collection turns to a selection of these authors. Victoria Zimmerl-Panagl takes Ambrose as her patristic of choice and closely explores two of his works on the prophets of the Old Testament: one on Daniel and the other on Ezechiel. Through careful, critical reading and analysis of the texts, as well as a thorough examination of the manuscript tradition, the author demonstrates that based on a series of biblical quotes, serious questions about the stemma of the texts can be raised and need to be accounted for. This again could prove to be a potentially important starting point for future research. Next, Andrew Cain sets up Rufinus of Aquileia and his version of Antony legend as a foil to Athanasius and his account of the saint. Relying on close reading and historical context, Cain concludes that Rufinus’s aim was “to present more holistic, even-handed assessment of Antony’s importance” (181). The goal was to problematize Antony in order for other legendary figures, who are described in Rufinus’s work, to be considered as well. Philip Polcar also works to challenge the traditional narrative as he examines Jerome’sAdversus Helvidum. The analysis here, as in so many of these essays, yields a new interpretation of a well-known text. Polcar argues that, in the end, Jerome deliberately misrepresented Helvedius’s hypothesis, which was little known and now lost, through a reductio ad absurdum, so that he could show himself as superior in learning and deduction. This is certainly something that would not be beyond Jerome in any case. In the next essay, Dorothea Weber turns the reader’s attention to Paulinus of Nola and his set of poems about his patron saint, Felix. By considering the structure of the series as a whole, Weber is able suggest that the arrangement of the poems was not based solely on the order in which Paulinus wrote them chronologically, but that there may be another, more significant organizing principle at work. All of the essays in this volume focus on texts, and their importance for understanding the past, and Stephen M. Beall goes one step further to demonstrate the importance of reading them in the original language. This is not a new argument for anyone who uses Latin and Greek texts, but the author provides more evidence by comparing a section of Augustine’s Confessions in the original to that in translations. The distinction is clear as the reader perceives the “iconic” qualities, seen in the language structure, and word choice present in the Latin, which would otherwise be lost. An argument for philology and for Classics Departments more generally could be extended from here. Augustine takes center stage in Gillian Clark’s contribution as well, because the author argued that both Augustine and Shanzer worked “to ensure the text, translation, and interpretation were as good as they could be” (225). The essay is in many ways a wonderful tribute focusing on both the authors and methods that Shanzer worked with closely. Clark, for her part, works through Augustine’s The City of God to examine the distinction between falsum and mendacium in his thought and its relationship to his quest for correct reading, accurate interpretation, and the fullest possible understanding of a text that was central to his life” (245).

Just as Shanzer’s interests have moved chronologically and geographically, so too does this volume as Section three considers “Late Antique and Early Medieval Gaul.” Kurt Smolak leads off this part of the collection by examining the context of a particularly famous section of the story of the life of St. Martin. By examining the literary context of the episode in which Martin encounters the beggar, both within and across texts, the author is able to isolate, “latent narrative patterns,” which Shanzer similarly did with Augustine. Next, Maurus Mount turns the reader again to careful textual analysis and the importance of historical context, as he endeavors to make sense of the presence of demoniacs at the shrines of saints as seen in theVita Sancti Martini of Paulinus of Périgueux. Mount determines that such examples of prophecy and divination, otherwise condemned by the Church, were acceptable based on a long tradition of clerical and saintly care and supervision of this group of people, which stretched back at least to Augustine, if not before. Both Amy Oh and Gregory Hays feature Avitus of Vienne in their contributions, but in different ways. Shanzer co-published a collection of Avitus’s letters, so any collection dedicated to her would be remiss not to include essays on this individual. Oh examines De spiritualis historiae to determine the importance of time in Avitus’s thought and theology. By looking at verb tense, the juxtapositions of Adam and Lot, and of Eve and Lot’s wife, as well as the influence of Augustine (who appears in the collection once again), the author demonstrates that Avitus envisioned a shift from a cyclical prelapsarian sense of time to a linear one after original sin. The ramification here is that the past, both biblical and individual, always affects the present and future. Hays’s essay examines the meaning ofattentis and its relationship to sorrow in Avitus’s Carmina 3.209-3.212. The textual analysis is insightful and helps the reader to understand that when examining medieval works, confusion can occur as a result of the text, and not with modern interpretation. Unfortunately, Hays’ essay is very short, but there is much room for future researchers to develop the ideas. Ian Wood follows many of the essays in the collection by closely comparing texts, but he presents a different result. Through the use of multiple accounts, Wood traces the events surrounding the Burgundian Gundobad’s return to Gaul in 474, which in many ways rewrites the narrative. The end result is that the event is seen as a critical part of the history of the Late Roman Empire. When the region is seen not as a kingdom of its own, but rather as a province of the Empire, the importance of the Gibichungs can be seen, as can the larger dynamics in the post-Roman world. Wood is correct that these Burgundians deserve more recognition, and the hope is that future scholars will use this essay as a starting place for that project. Edward James continues the discussion of Merovingian Gaul by examining the use of material objects in miracle accords presented by Gregory of Tours. Although the analyses of the uses of dust, oil, candles and wax, and cloth are fascinating, the value of the essay lies in the fact that it is a preliminary database of all the miracles in the works of Gregory. This is a project that Shanzer herself argued would be of utmost importance and interest (320). One can only hope that James or another scholar can complete this project and create a full database that will greatly aid so many of us working in the field. Continuing the examination of Merovingian Gaul, Julia Barrow highlights a group of individuals who she claims are understudied: bishops who were uncles. The author’s aim is to see if there are Merovingian antecedents to Carolingian standards of behavior for the mentoring, and fostering of nieces and nephews, which Rachel Stone had previously laid out (330-331). Although Barrow also looks at narrative sources, such as those written by Gregory of Tours, her analysis of wills is what makes this contribution stand out. The conclusion is that there was a less well-defined spiritual relationship between episcopal uncles and their kin than in the Carolingian period, and that resulted in the remaining secular opportunities that existed for protégés. This comparison between Merovingian and Carolingian practices serves as a smooth transition to the next section of the collection, which contains essays on insular and Carolingian topics.

Shanzer’s shift in interests, both to the Early Middle Ages and to Insular Latin, are reflected in the next four essays in the volume, in which the authors continue many of the themes already seen above. Mythology and textual editing come together in Lukas Dorfbauer’s contribution to the volume. Here the focus is on the relationship between a fragment of a manuscript from Mondsee, and a collection of Irish Orosius glosses as well as the Bern scholia. After a brief introduction to the fragment, Dorfbauer provides a new edition of it, which demonstrates its link to the other texts through the use of imagery from Virgil. Thomas Hill rightfully states he is attempting to explicate some aspects of an odd story as his contribution to honor Shanzer (372). Here, Hill looks at Bede’s account of the martyrdom of St. Albanus, with particular attention to symbolism and typology. According to Hill, because of the nature and historical circumstances of the martyrdom, the way Bede oddly places the story and the strange importance that he gave it are significant. The author then argues that the story is actually an attempt to retell the Bible in British terms, making Albanus a Christ-like figure who saves all of Britain. Although Hill admits to pure speculation, the essay does provide a model for using the odd cases in texts and history to better understand the conditions faced by the author and society as a whole at the time. In the next contribution, Michael Herren offers us, as scholars, a model for our own scholarly development. By tracing the stages of John Scottus Eriugena’s attempt to teach himself Greek over several decades (a worthy effort in its own right), Herren highlights the need for scholars to develop the skills we have and learn new ones, a lesson we should all take to heart, and one surely exemplified by Shanzer’s work as a whole corpus. In the last essay of the section, Thomas Noble attempts to cause what he calls “genre trouble” by moving Mirror texts beyond their somewhat isolated genre to a more central place in Carolingian political discourse. Through the examination of four of these treatises, Noble is able to successfully show that they belong to both the religious and political realms. This is an important conclusion in its own right, but the most valuable aspect of the essay is its short, concise, and helpful basic sketch of Carolingian political culture. It is used to place the texts in their historical contexts, a process that echoes many of the earlier essays in the volume, and a theme in Shanzer’s own scholarship.

As the collection moves into its final section, the contributors focus on applying the themes, approaches, and methodologies of Shanzer’s work to the Later Middle Ages, which demonstrates the importance of and vast applicability offered by her techniques and interests. First, the reader is directed to the eleventh century, as Robert Babcock attempts to answer the question of where Egbert of Liège studied and taught through thorough and careful textual analysis. Babcock looks at references and allusions to St. Martin in Egbert’s Fecunda ratis to uncover any possible aspect of Egbert’s biography. Something might be there, but even if they do not reveal personal details, the places where Martin can be seen certainly help us to better understand the Fecunda ratis. Thus, the closer analysis is well warranted (408) and will hopefully be continued by future scholars. Greti Dinkova-Bruun moves the reader back to the theme of literary allusion by analyzing the use of the mythical figures of Scylla and Charybdis in two later medieval poems that fit into the genre of biblical versification: Lawrence of Durham’sHypognosticon and the Aurora written by Peter of Riga. The use of these figures demonstrates that both authors had a wide-ranging knowledge of classical letters and that in the twelfth century, classical imagery was still an important medium through which to pass along thoroughly Christian messages. The implication of the study can be seen as more broad and possibly practical, for as Dinkova-Bruun concludes: the usage by medieval writers shows that, “Poetry has the ability to reconfigure the established boundaries of signification, and biblical versification is no exception” (428). The last example of textual editing in the volume comes from Winthrop Wetherbee, who provides an edition and translation of the Goliae dialogus inter aquam et vinum. Although there were three other modern editions of the text, which each had positive attributes they were lacking in their own individual ways. Wetherbee corrects this, and in the process shows the importance of the debate genre from the thirteenth century on, pays great honor to Shanzer, and demonstrates that at times, wine won this debate in the Middle Ages, a lesson worth noting. In the final essay, the reader is moved into the first years of the thirteenth century, a long time after the main interests of the honoree, but the method is familiar. Paul Hyams uses a legal case from Cockfield to demonstrate the complicated and often strange nature of English law at the time. In the process, the author provides important historical context that gives the texts more life and meaning, in the same way other authors in the volume and Shanzer have done.

This volume is an erudite, intriguing, and entertaining collection of topics, methods, and approaches that reflect the honoree well. In some ways, it is an argument for the continued existence of textual commentary, textual analysis, determination of historical context, philology, and Classics. It demonstrates the ability to employ all of these across the breadth and depth of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages. Although a hefty lift to be considered as a whole, the individual essays provide much that may be mined by individuals for future study, which seems to truly be a goal, both of the editors and of Danuta Shanzer, the honoree, herself.