TheAugustanperiodinRomewasagoldenageforpoetry,andalsotheageinwhichthecultoftheauthorbeganinthewest.ByexaminingsomeearlypoeticunderstandingsofwhatitmighthavemeanttobeVergil,Ovid,andTibullus,ConstructingAuthorsandReadersintheAppendicesVergiliana,Tibulliana,andOuidianaexploreswhatthoseauthorsmeanttonear-contemporaries,andwhattheconstructionofauthorshiptheywereapartofmeanttothelaterwesterntradition.ConstructingAuthorsandReadersintheAppendicesVergiliana,Tibulliana,andOuidianatakesitsstartingpointfromtheAppendicesattachedtothreemajorAugustanpoets,exploringhowtheirdifferentconditionsofproduction,andthedifferencesbetweentheirauthorisingauthors,resultindifferentnotionsofwhatanappendicaltext’ought’tocontain.So,forinstance,Vergil’sbiographyleavesampleroomfor’juvenilia’,whileOvid’sdoesnot;theTibullanappendixexplicitlyengageswithawiderpoeticcommunity.Movingbeyondquestionsofforgeryanddeception,somechaptersaskhowwewouldbeabletoknowthedifferencebetweentextsofgenuineandofdisputedauthorship,giventhatmostofthestylisticfeaturesthatdistinguishauthorsarereplicable.Otherchaptersmakethecaseforre-evaluationofpoemsthathavebeenneglectedordisparaged,andstillothersmakesenseofindividualworksintheirlikelycontextofcomposition.ThevolumeisthefirsttotreatinconjunctionthemajorityoftheappendicalworksascribedtoVergil,Ovid,andTibullus,andtodrawconnectionsacrosscorpora.
