Books by Petronius

"Revised and reprinted 1969 ... Reprinted with corrections 1987."

Cena Trimalchionis

The Satyricon is the most celebrated work of fiction to have survived from the ancient world. The father of the picaresque genre, it recounts the sleazy progress of a pair of literate scholars as they wander through the cities of the southern Mediterranean encountering en route type-figures the author wickedly satirizes. This lively translation captures the gaiety of the original, and is supplemented by extensive notes.

The Satyricon is one of the most outrageous and strikingly modern works to have survived from the ancient world. Most likely written by an advisor of Nero, it recounts the adventures of Encolpius and his companions as they travel around Italy, encountering courtesans, priestesses, con men, brothel-keepers, pompous professors and, above all, Trimalchio, the nouveau riche millionaire whose debauched feasting and pretentious vulgarity make him one of the great comic characters in literature. Estimated to date from 63 - 65 AD, and only surviving in fragments, The Satyricon nevertheless offers an unmatched satirical portrait of the age of Nero, in all its excesses and chaos.