Revue des Études Latines

Revue des Études Latines
Title	Revue des Études Latines
Discipline	Classical studies; Latin literature
Language	French; Latin language
Abbreviation	Rev. Ét. Lat.
Publisher	Société des études latines
Country	France
History	1919–present
Frequency	Annual / irregular

Revue des Études Latines is a French scholarly journal devoted to the study of Latin literature, Roman antiquity, and related philological, textual, and historical problems. Founded in the aftermath of World War I, it has published articles, critical editions, recensiones, and bibliographies by leading scholars across Europe and the Americas. The periodical functions as a nexus linking research on figures such as Cicero, Vergil, Ovid, Tacitus, and Augustine of Hippo with work on manuscript traditions associated with Monte Cassino, Sancti Benedicti, and major archives in Paris and Rome.

History

The journal was established in 1919 under the auspices of institutions and patrons active in post‑war French scholarship, including collaborators from École française de Rome, Collège de France, Bibliothèque nationale de France and regional universities such as Université de Paris, Université de Lyon, and Université de Strasbourg. Early contributors included émigré and continental classicists tied to projects on textual restoration inspired by editors like Theodor Mommsen, Karl Lachmann, Paul Maas, and Eduard Norden. Throughout the interwar period it reflected intellectual exchanges between scholars working on Roman law texts related to the Twelve Tables and commentators on poetic corpora like the Aeneid and the elegies of Propertius. The journal persisted through the occupation years with intermittent publication, later renewing ties with post‑1945 institutions such as University of Oxford and Harvard University via visiting scholars and exchange projects.

Scope and Content

Articles address philology, textual criticism, paleography, and the reception of Latin authors in medieval and modern contexts. Studies range from close readings of passages in Seneca the Younger, Lucan, Juvenal, and Horace to examinations of manuscript witnesses housed at Vatican Library, Bodleian Library, Biblioteca Ambrosiana, and the archives of Trinity College, Cambridge. The journal publishes critical editions and apparatus criticus for works by antiquities scholars including Livy, Suetonius, Pliny the Younger, and church fathers such as Jerome and Gregory the Great. It also engages with later reception in figures like Dante Alighieri, Petrarch, Erasmus, and Goethe, and with philological methods influenced by thinkers such as Friedrich Nietzsche (for philological reception), Wilhelm von Humboldt, and Giuseppe Butteri.

Editorial Structure and Publication Details

The editorial board traditionally comprises professors and directors attached to institutions like Sorbonne University, École Normale Supérieure, Institute for Advanced Study, and the Institut de France. Editorial practice includes peer review by referees drawn from European and American faculties, consultation with curators at repositories such as Bibliothèque de l'Arsenal and Bibliothèque Mazarine, and collaboration with publishers experienced in classical texts. The journal’s issues have appeared in print and, more recently, in digitized forms accessible via academic libraries at Columbia University, University of California, Berkeley, McGill University, and national research infrastructures including CNRS and INHA.

Contributors and Notable Articles

Over decades the journal has featured contributions from eminent scholars including Jean-Louis Voisin, Paul Mazon, Marie‑Pierre Arnaud, Roger‑Antoine Godefroy, Julien Berger, and international figures such as Eduard Fraenkel, Denis Feeney, Michael Winterbottom, R. G. M. Nisbet, Anthony Grafton, Mary Beard, and Edward Gibbon (in the sense of studies about Gibbon’s use of classical sources). Noteworthy articles have treated topics such as the textual transmission of Catullus, palaeographical assessments of medieval codices linked to Charlemagne’s court, and new readings of inscriptions from Pompeii and Ostia Antica. The journal has published influential notes on metre and prosody in the Latin elegists and detailed work on the transmission history of legal compilations like the Codex Theodosianus and the Corpus Juris Civilis.

Reception and Impact

Scholars cite the journal for meticulous philological analysis, authoritative stemmatic reconstructions, and for advancing debates on editorial method formulated by critics such as Karl Lachmann and Ludwig Traube. It has informed editions and translations produced by presses including Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press, Brill, Teubner, and Bibliotheca Teubneriana. The journal’s articles have influenced archaeological interpretation at sites excavated by teams linked to École française d'Athènes and the German Archaeological Institute. Its bibliographical surveys assist research programs funded by bodies like the European Research Council and national academies such as the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles‑Lettres.

Indexing and Availability

The journal is indexed in major humanities databases and catalogues maintained by ULAN, national bibliographies of France, and library unions including OCLC WorldCat and SUDOC. Digitized back issues appear in institutional repositories and are discoverable through platforms used by JSTOR, Gallica, and university library portals at Yale University, Princeton University, and Stanford University. Physical holdings are available at major research libraries including Bibliothèque nationale de France, British Library, Library of Congress, and specialist collections at Institut d'Archéologie and regional university libraries throughout Europe.

Category:French academic journals Category:Latin studies journals