This bibliography gathers publications on forgery in Classical Antiquity, with a particular focus on Latin literature. It is a continuously expanding resource and currently includes the scholarship relating to the two appendices central to the project (Vergiliana and Ouidiana). Further sections will be added in the future.
If you would like to suggest additional bibliographical entries, please send them to the following email address
Theoretical Approaches to Literary Forgery
Baum, A. D. (2001),
Pseudepigraphie und literarische Fälschung im frühen Christentum: mit ausgewählten Quellentexten samt deutscher Übersetzung, Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament 11.38, Tübingen
Brockington, L. H. (1953),
“The problem of pseudonymity,” Journal of Theological Studies, 4, 15–22, reprinted in Brox (1977), 185–94
Brox, N. (ed.) (1977),
Pseudepigraphie in der heidnischen und jüdisch-christlichen Antike.
Bruns, G. (1980),
“The Originality of Texts in a Manuscript Culture,” Comparative Literature, 32, 113–29
Candlish, J. S. (1891),
“On the Moral Character of Pseudonymous Books,” The Expositor, ser. 4, 4, 91–107, 262–79
Cerri, G. (ed.) (2000),
La Letteratura Pseudepigrafa nella Cultura Greca e Romana. Atti di un incontro di studi. Napoli, 15–17 gennaio 1998, Annali dell’Istituto Universitario Orientale di Napoli. Sezione filologico-letteraria, 22
Clarke, K. D. (2002),
“The Problems of Pseudonymity in Biblical Literature and its Implications for Canon Formation,” in The Canon Debate, ed. L. M. McDonald and J. A. Sanders, Peabody, MA, 440–68
Clift, E. H. (1945),
Latin Pseudepigrapha: A Study in Literary Attribution, Baltimore, MD
Connors, C. (2004),
“Monkey Business: Imitation, Authenticity, and Identity from the Pithekoussai to Plautus,” Classical Antiquity, 23, 179–207
Constable, G. (1983),
“Forgery and Plagiarism in the Middle Ages,” Archiv für Diplomatik, 29, 1–41
Conte, G. B. (2006),
“Questioni di metodo e critica dell’autenticità: riflettendo ancora sull’episodio di Elena,” Materiali e Discussioni, 56, 157–79
Ehrman, B. D. (2013),
Forgery and Counterforgery: The Use of Literary Deceit in Early Christian Polemics, New York
Feeney, D. C. (1993),
“Towards an Account of the Ancient World’s Concept of Fictive Belief,” in Lies and Fiction in the Ancient World, ed. C. Gill and T. P. Wiseman, Exeter, 230–44
Foucault, M. (1979),
“What is an Author?” in Textual Strategies: Perspectives in Post-Structuralist Criticism, ed. J. V. Harari, Ithaca, NY, 141–60
Franklinos, T. E.; Fulkerson, L. (2020),
Constructing Authors and Readers in the Appendices Vergiliana, Tibulliana, and Ovidiana, Oxford
Gazda, E. K. (2002),
The Ancient Art of Emulation: Studies in Artistic Originality and Tradition from the Present to Classical Antiquity, Ann Arbor, MI
Grafton, A. (1990),
Forgers and Critics: Creativity and Duplicity in Western Scholarship, Princeton, NJ
Groom, N. (2002),
The Forger’s Shadow: How Forgery Changed the Course of Literature, London
Guzmán Guerra, A. (2005),
“Pseudo-literatura, falsificación y canon; una perspectiva programática,” in Actas del XI Congreso Español de Estudios Clásicos, ed. A. Alvar, Madrid, 177–216
Haywood, I. (1987),
Faking It: Art and the Politics of Forgery, New York
Hexter, R. J. (2006),
“Literary History as a Provocation to Reception Studies,” in Classics and the Uses of Reception, ed. C. Martindale and R. Thomas, Oxford, 23–31
Higbie, C. (2017),
Collectors, Scholars, and Forgers in the Ancient World: Object Lessons, Oxford
Holub, R. C. (1984),
Reception Theory: A Critical Introduction, London and New York
Hopkins, J. N.; McGill, S. (2023),
Forgery Beyond Deceit: Fabrication, Value, and the Desire for Ancient Rome, Oxford
Lennartz, K.; Martínez García, F. J. (2021),
Tenue est mendacium. Rethinking Fakes and Authorship in Classical, Late Antique & Early Christian Works, Eelde (NL)
Martínez García, F. J. (2011),
Fakes and Forgers of Classical Literature = Falsificaciones y falsarios de la literatura clásica, Madrid
Martínez García, F. J. (2012),
Fakes and Forgers of Classical Literature: Ergo Decipiatur!, Leiden
Mayer, R. G. (2003),
“Persona problems: the Literary Persona in Antiquity Revisited,” Materiali e Discussioni, 50, 55–80
McGill, S. (2010),
Plagiarism in Latin Literature, Cambridge
Meade, D. G. (1986),
Pseudonymity and Canon: An Investigation into the Relationship of Authorship and Authority in Jewish and Earliest Christian Tradition, Tübingen
Metzger, B. M. (1972),
“Literary Forgeries and Canonical Pseudepigrapha,” Journal of Biblical Literature, 91, 3–24
Mülke, M. (2007),
Der Autor und sein Text: Die Verfälschung des Originals im Urteil antiker Autoren, Berlin and New York
Najman, H.; Peirano, I. (2019),
“Pseudepigrapha and Pseudepigraphy,” in The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha: Fifty Years of the Pseudepigrapha at the SBL, ed. M. Henze and L. I. Lied, Atlanta, GA, 331–54
Paratore, E. (1971),
“Il problema degli Pseudepigrapha,” in La critica del testo. Atti del II Congresso Internazionale della Società Italiana di storia del diritto, Florence; reprinted in Romanae Litterae, Rome (1976), 5–32
Peirano, I. (2010),
The Rhetoric of the Roman Fake: Latin Pseudepigrapha in Context, Cambridge
Peirano, I. (2012),
“Authenticity as an Aesthetic Concept: Ancient and Modern Reflections,” in Aesthetic Value in Classical Antiquity, ed. R. M. Rosen and I. Sluiter, Leiden, 215–42
Peirano, I. (2021),
“Forgery, Pseudepigrapha, and Other Typologies of Continuation in Latin Literature,” in Forgery Beyond Deceit: Fabrication, Value, and the Desire for Ancient Rome, ed. J. N. Hopkins and S. McGill, Oxford
Ruthven, K. K. (2001),
Faking Literature, Cambridge and New York
Speyer, W. (1971),
Die literarische Fälschung im heidnischen und christlichen Altertum. Ein Versuch ihrer Deutung, Munich
Syme, R. (1971),
“Fraud and Imposture,” in Pseudepigrapha I: Pseudopythagorica, Lettres de Platon, Littérature Pseudépigraphique, ed. K. von Fritz, Geneva, 3–17
Tarrant, R. J. (1985),
“The Reader as Author: Collaborative Interpolation in Latin Poetry,” in Editing Greek and Latin Texts, ed. J. N. Grant, New York, 121–62
Tarrant, R. J. (1987),
“Toward a Typology of Interpolation in Latin Poetry,” Transactions of the American Philological Association, 117, 281–98
Ouidiana
Primary Sources
Baligan, G. (1955),
Appendix Ovidiana. Bari: Adriatica
Blänsdorf, J. (1995),
Fragmenta Poetarum Latinorum. Stuttgart and Leipzig: Teubner
Courtney, E. (1993),
he Fragmentary Latin Poets. Oxford
Haynes, J.; Hexter, R. J.; Pfuntner, L. (2020),
Appendix Ovidiana: Latin Poems Ascribed to Ovid in the Middle Ages. Cambridge, MA – London: Harvard University Press
Lenz, F. W. (1956),
Ovidii Nasonis Halieutica-Fragmenta-Nux; Incerti Consolatio ad Liviam. 2nd edn. Turin
Vollmer, F. (1923),
Poetae Latini Minores, vol. II/2: Ovidii Nux, Consolatio ad Liviam, Priapea. Leipzig: Teubner
Secondary Literature
Dimmick, J. (2002),
“Ovid in the Middle Ages: Authority and Poetry,” in P. Hardie (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to Ovid,Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 264–87
Fedeli, P.; Rosati, G. (2018),
Ovidio 2017: Prospettive per il Terzo Millennio. Teramo: Ricerche and Redazione
Hexter, R. J. (2002),
“Ovid in the Middle Ages: Exile, Mitographer and Lover,” in B. W. Boyd (ed.), Brill’s Companion to Ovid, Leiden – Boston: Brill, 443–83
Hexter, R. J. (2009),
“Shades of Ovid: Pseudo- (and Para-) Ovidiana in the Middle Ages,” in J. G. Clark, F. T. Coulson, and K. L. McKinley (eds.), Ovid in the Middle Ages, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 284–309
Hexter, R. J. (2009),
“Lost and Spurious Works,” in P. E. Knox (ed.), A Companion to Ovid, Malden, MA and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 207–16
Consolatio ad Liuiam
Amat, J. (1997),
Consolation à Livie, Élégies à Mécène, Bucoliques d’Einsiedeln, Paris: Les Belles Lettres
Axelson, B. (1930),
“De aetate Consolationis ad Liviam et Elegiarum in Maecenatem,” Eranos, 1–33
Bellido Díaz, J. A (2015),
“Aportaciones a la historia de la transmisión de la Consolatio ad Liuiam,” Exemplaria Classica, 19, 5–27
Heyworth, S. J. (2020),
“The Consolatio ad Liuiam and literary history,” in T. E. Franklinos and L. Fulkerson (eds.), Constructing Authors and Readers in the Appendices Vergiliana, Tibulliana, and Ouidiana, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 223–41
Heroides
Courtney, E. (1965),
“Ovidian and Non-Ovidian Heroides Again,” Bulletin of the Institute of Classical Studies 12: 63–6
D’Alessio, A. (2020),
“«Saffo» nell’epistola di Saffo a Faone,” in C. Buongiovanni, F. Ficca, and T. Pangrazi, (eds.), La poesia di Ovidio: Letteratura e immagini, Napoli: FedOAPr., 11–22
Martorana, S. (2020),
“(Re)writing Sappho: Navigating Sappho’s (Posthuman) Poetic Identity in Ovid, Heroides 15,” Helios 47(2): 135–60. https://doi.org/10.1353/hel.2020.0005.
Martorana, S. (2024),
“Una Saffo queer? Rileggere Saffo attraverso alcune forme di recezione nella poesia latina,” Eugesta 14
Tarrant, R. J. (1978),
“The Authenticity of the Letter of Sappho to Phaon (Heroides XV),” Harvard Studies in Classical Philology 85, 133–53
Thorsen, Th. S. (2019),
“The Newest Sappho (2016) and Ovid’s Heroides 15,” In Th. S. Thorsen, and S. Harrison (eds.), Roman Receptions of Sappho, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 249–63. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198829430.003.0014
Nux
Beck, R. (1965),
“Ovid, Augustus, and a Nut Tree”, Phoenix 19, 146–52
Bury, E. (1991),
“Zum Nachtisch: Nux: Einführung in die Poesie mit der (Ovidischen) Elegie,” Der Altsprachliche Unterricht 34/4: 36–53
Courtney; E. (1988),
Review of Ovid, Nux by M. Pulbrook, American Journal of Philolgy 109, 274–78
Ganzenmüller, C. (1910),
Die Elegie Nux und ihr Verfasser, Tübingen: J.J. Heckenhauer
Herrmann, L. (1949),
“La controverse du Noyer,” Revue Internationale des Droits de l’Antiquité 2, 421–24
Lanza, C. (1987),
“Il noce ovidiano,” Atti dell’Accademia Pontaniana 17, 123–25
Somnium (Amores 3.5)
Arnaldi, F. (1956),
“Sogni ellenistici,” Studi Italiani di Filologia Classica 27-28, 8–11
Bertini, F. (1976),
“La Ringkomposition negli Amores ovidiani e l’autenticità dell’elegia III 5,” Rivista di Cultura Classica e Medioevale 17, 151–60
Bertini, F. (1995),
“Amores III 5 e l’elegia pseudoovidiana De sompnio,” in I. Gallo and L. Nicastri (eds.), Aetates Ovidianae. Lettori di Ovidio dall’antichità al Rinascimento, Napoli: E.S.I., 223–37
Bretzigheimer, G. (2001),
Ovids Amores: Poetik in der Erotik, Tübingen: Gunter Narr
Della Corte, F. (1972),
“L’elegia del sogno (Ovid. Am. III 5),” in Studi classici in onore di Quintino Cataudella, 3, Catania: 319–30 = Opuscula IV, Genova 1973, 17–28
Kenney, E. (1969),
“On the Somnium Attributed to Ovid,” Agon 3, 1–14
McKeown, J. C. (2002),
“The authenticity of Amores 3.5,” in J. F. Miller, C. Damon, and K. S. Myers (eds.), Vertis in usum. Studies in honor of Edward Courtney, München – Leipzig: Saur
Munari, F. (1948),
“Sugli Amores di Ovidio,” Studi Italiani di Filologia Classica 23, 113–52
Munari, F. (1965),
Il codice Hamilton 471 di Ovidio (Ars amatoria, Remedia amoris, Amores), Roma: Edizioni di storia e letteratura
Semmlinger, L. (1988),
“Zur Echtheit der Elegie De Somnio = Ovid, Amores 3,5,” in U. Kindermann, W. Maaz, and F. Wagner (eds.), Festschrift für Paul Klopsch, Göppingen: Kümmerle, 455–75
Vergiliana
Primary Sources
Baligan, G. (1955),
Appendix Ovidiana. Bari: Adriatica
Blänsdorf, J. (1995),
Fragmenta Poetarum Latinorum. Stuttgart and Leipzig: Teubner
Courtney, E. (1993),
he Fragmentary Latin Poets. Oxford
Haynes, J.; Hexter, R. J.; Pfuntner, L. (2020),
Appendix Ovidiana: Latin Poems Ascribed to Ovid in the Middle Ages. Cambridge, MA – London: Harvard University Press
Lenz, F. W. (1956),
Ovidii Nasonis Halieutica-Fragmenta-Nux; Incerti Consolatio ad Liviam. 2nd edn. Turin
Vollmer, F. (1923),
Poetae Latini Minores, vol. II/2: Ovidii Nux, Consolatio ad Liviam, Priapea. Leipzig: Teubner
Aetna
Ascione, I. (1976),
Aetna v. 3. Vichiana, V, 128–32
De Vivo, A. (1983),
Contributi al testo dell’Aetna. Orpheus , VI, 90–108
De Vivo, A. (1987),
Sulla tradizione manoscritta dell’Aetna. Vichiana, XVI, 85–102
Goodyear, F. R. D. (1984),
The Aetna. Thought, antecedents, and style. Aufsteig und Niedergang der römischen Welt, II N° 32.1, 344–63
Hall, J. L. (2001),
Aetna 49. Classical Quarterly, N. S., 51(2), 624. Doi: 10.1093/cq/51.2.624
Santelia, S. (2012),
L’« Aetna (App. Verg.) »: scienza ed etica. In Maraglino, Vanna (Ed.), Scienza antica in età moderna: teoria e immagini (pp. 375-387). Bari: Cacucci
Catalepton
Annibaldis, G. (1980),
“Catalepton IX: tre richiami omerici,” Rheinisches Museum für Philologie, 123, 330–32
Campodonico, N. (2021),
“Virgilio nel circolo di Messalla: Ciris, Catalepton 9 e la letteratura di età tiberiana,” Maia, 73(3), 657–70
Campodonico, N. (2022),
“Before (pseudo-)Virgil: anonymity, pseudepigraphy, and authorship in ‘Catalepton’,” Sileno, 48(1–2), 23–38
Carlson, G. I.; Schmidt, E. A. (1971),
“Form and transformation in Vergil’s Catalepton,” American Journal of Philology, 92, 252–65
Conti, C. (1972),
Per l’esegesi dei Catalepton virgiliani,” Giornale Italiano di Filologia, 24, 251–73
Conti, C. (1975),
“Catalepton XI, lusus letterario o autentico epitafio,” Perugia: Tipografia Giostrelli
Hardie, P. R. (1982),
“Catalepton 7,” Liverpool Classical Monthly, 7, 50–51
Magnelli, E. (1997),
“Imitazione di Saffo in Catalepton 12,” Atene e Roma, 42(1), 42–44
Marmorale, E. V. (1960),
“Appunti e osservazioni su alcuni Catalepton,” in E. V. Marmorale (ed.), Pertinenze e impertinenze: prima serie (pp. 85–193), Napoli: Armanni
Naumann, H. (1978),
“Ist Vergil der Verfasser von Catalepton V und VIII?,” Rheinisches Museum für Philologie, 121, 78–93
Richmond, J. A. (1974),
“The archetype of the Priapea and Catalepton,” Hermes, 102, 300–04
Richmond, J. A. (1975),
“De forma libelli qui Catalepton inscribitur,” Mnemosyne, 28, 420–22, doi: 10.1163/156852575X00088
Richmond, J. A. (1976),
“Quomodo textus libelli quod Catalepton inscribitur ad nos pervenit,” Eranos, 74, 58–62
Richmond, J. A. (1978),
“Catalepton 9,” Museum Philologum Londiniense, 3, 189–201
Romano, D. (1969),
“Il significato del Catalepton III di Virgilio,” Annali della Facoltà di Magistero dell’Università di Palermo, 2, 237–44
Romano, D. (1988),
“L’ultima voce di Virgilio: interpretazione di Catal. 14,” Orpheus, 9, 55–64
Sbordone, F. (1977),
“In margine a Virgilio, Catalepton 5,” Rivista di Cultura Classica e Medioevale, 19, 693–97
Ciris
Bolisani, E. (1959),
“Dall’Appendix Vergiliana. La Ciris e il Virgilio maggiore,” Atti dell’Istituto Veneto di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti. Classe di Scienze Morali, Lettere ed Arti, 117, 1–48
Clarke, M. L. (1973),
“The date of the Ciris,” Classical Philology, 68, 119–21
Clausen, W. V. (1964),
“On editing the Ciris,” Classical Philology, 59, 90–101
Haury, A. (1957),
La Ciris, poème attribué à Virgile, Bordeaux: Bière
Knecht, D. (1968),
“Notice sur le texte de la Ciris contenu dans le codex Adalbertinus iv F 36,” L’Antiquité Classique, 37, 637–40
Knecht, D. (1970),
Ciris, authenticité, Bruges: De Tempel
Knox; P. E. (1983),
“Cinna, the Ciris, and Ovid,” Classical Philology, 78, 309–11
Lyne, R. O. A. M. (1971),
“Ciris 85–6,” Classical Review, 21, 323–24. doi: 10.1017/S0009840X00220805
Lyne, R. O. A. M. (1971),
“The dating of the Ciris,” Classical Quarterly, 21, 233–53. doi: 10.1017/S0009838800028986
Lyne, R. O. A. M. (1972),
“The recentiores of the Ciris,” Proceedings of the Cambridge Philological Society, 18, 43–49. doi: 10.1017/S1750270500012732
Lyne, R. O. A. M. (1975),
“Ciris 89–91,” Classical Quarterly, 25, 156–57. doi: 10.1017/S0009838800033024
Nethercut, W. R. (1975),
“Weaving: A point of art in the Ciris,” The Classical Bulletin, 51, 62
Otón Sobrino, E. (1974),
“Tres notas literarias al poema Ciris,” Cuadernos de Filología Clásica, 6, 209–20
Salvatore, A. (1955),
Studi sulla tradizione manoscritta e sul testo della Ciris, I–II: Fonti manoscritte e edizioni antiche; Commentario e testo critico, Napoli: Istituto Editoriale del Mezzogiorno
Salvatore, A. (1971),
“La Ciris e Virgilio,” in Studi filologici e storici in onore di V. de Falco (pp. 353–75), Napoli: Libreria Scientifica Editrice
Salvatore, A. (1972),
“Ancora su la Ciris e Virgilio,” Vichiana, 1 (n.s.), 68–101
Salvatore, A. (1984),
“Echi degli Aratea nella Ciris,” Ciceroniana, 5, 237–41
Thomas, R. F. (1981),
“Cinna, Calvus and the Ciris,” Classical Quarterly, 31, 371–74. doi: 10.1017/S000983880000968X
Copa
Cutolo, P. (1990),
“The Genre of the Copa,” in F. Cairns and M. Heath (eds.), Roman Poetry and Drama, Greek Epic, Comedy, Rhetoric. Papers of the Leeds International Seminar 6 = ARCA 29, Leeds, 115–19
Cutolo, P. (1990),
“Note critiche ed esegetiche alla Copa,” in L. Nicastri (ed.), Contributi di filologia latina. Quaderni del Dipartimento di Scienze dell’Antichità, Università degli Studi di Salerno 7, Napoli, 103–120
Goodyear, F. R. D. (1977),
“The Copa: A Text and Commentary,” Bulletin of the Institute of Classical Studies, 24, 117–31
Goodyear, F. R. D. (1984),
“Copa,” in Enciclopedia Virgiliana, 1, Roma, 881–82
Grant, M. (2001),
“The Copa: Poetry, Youth, and the Roman Bar,” Proceedings of the Virgil Society, 24, 121–34
Greenwood, M. A. P. (1999),
“[Ps.-Verg.] Copa 3,” Eranos, 97, 50–53
Gómez Pallarès, J. (2002),
“La vida ‘silenciosa’: arte y epigrafía en Copa,” Habis, 33, 213–34
Henderson, J. (2002),
“Corny Copa: The Motel Muse,” in E. Spentzou and D. Fowler (eds.), Cultivating the Muse: Struggles for Power and Inspiration in Classical Literature, Oxford, 253–78
Jashemski, W. F. (1964),
“A Pompeian Copa,” Classical Journal, 59, 337–49
Kershaw, A. (1999),
“Copa 5–6 Once More,” Classical Philology, 87, 240–41
Culex
Barrett, A. A. (1968),
The Poetry of the Culex, Toronto: University of Toronto Press
Barrett, A. A. (1970),
“The Authorship of the Culex, an Evaluation of the Evidence,” Latomus, 29, 348–62
Barrett, A. A. (1970),
“The Catalogue of Trees in the Culex,” Classical World, 63, 230–32. doi: 10.2307/4347147
Bolisani, E. (1958),
“Il Culex dell’Appendix Vergiliana e il Virgilio Maggiore,” Atti / Istituto Veneto di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti, Classe di Scienze Morali, Lettere ed Arti, 116, 171–200
Clausen, W. V. (1964),
“The Textual Tradition of the Culex,” Harvard Studies in Classical Philology, 68, 119–38