Gothicliteratureimaginesthereturnofghostsfromthepast.Butwhatabouttheghostsoftheclassicalpast?SpectresofAntiquityisthefirstfull-lengthstudytodescribetherelationshipbetweenGreekandRomancultureandtheGothicnovels,poetry,anddramaoftheeighteenthandearlynineteenthcenturies.Ratherthansimplyrepresentingtheoppositeofclassicalaestheticsandideas,theGothicemergedfromanawarenessofthelingeringpowerofantiquity.TheGothicreflectsanewanddarkervisionoftheancientworld:nolongerinspiringmodernitythroughitsexamples,antiquityhasbecomeaghost,hauntingcontemporarymindsratherthanguidingthem.ThroughreadingsofworksbyauthorsincludingHoraceWalpole,AnnRadcliffe,MatthewLewis,CharlesBrockdenBrown,andMaryShelley,SpectresofAntiquityarguesthattheseauthors’plotsandideaspreservetherememberedtracesofGreeceandRome.JamesUdenprovidesevidenceformanyallusionstoancienttextsthathaveneverpreviouslybeennotedinscholarship,andheoffersanaccessibleguidebothtotheGothicgenreandtotheclassicalworldtowhichitresponds.Infascinatingandcompellingdetail,SpectresofAntiquityrewritesthehistoryoftheGothic,demonstratingthatthegenrewashauntedbyafardeepersenseofhistorythanhaspreviouslybeenassumed.
