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Quintus Ennius (239-169), widely regarded as the father of Roman literature, was instrumental in creating a new Roman literary identity, domesticating the Greek forms of epic and drama, and pursuing a range of other literary and intellectual pursuits. He inspired major developments in Roman religion, social organization, and popular culture.
Of more than seventy works by Varro (116-27 BCE) we have only his treatise On Agriculture and part of his On the Latin Language, a work typical of its author's interest not only in antiquarian matters but also in the collection of scientific facts, and containing much of very great value to the study of the Latin language.
In his epic The Civil War, Lucan (39-65 CE) carries us from Caesar's fateful crossing of the Rubicon, through the Battle of Pharsalus, Pompey's death, and Cato's leadership in Africa, to Caesar victorious in Egypt. The poem is also called Pharsalia.
The only extant work by Livy (64 or 59 BCE -12 or 17 CE) is part of his history of Rome from the foundation of the city to 9 BCE. Of its 142 books 1-10, 21-45 (except parts of 41 and 43-45), fragments, and short summaries remain. Livy's history is a source for the De Prodigiis of Julius Obsequens (fourth century CE).
Marcus Aurelius (121-180 CE), philosopher-emperor, wrote the Meditations (his title was The matters addressed to himself) in periods of solitude during military campaigns. His ethical, religious, and existential reflections have endured as an expression of Stoicism, a text for students of that philosophy, and a guide to the moral life.
Nearly all the works Aristotle (384-322 BCE) prepared for publication are lost; the priceless ones extant are lecture-materials, notes, and memoranda (some are spurious). They can be categorized as practical; logical; physical; metaphysical; on art; other; fragments.
Vol. 1 revised 1928; vol. 2 revised 1930; vol. 4 includes index.
In letters to his dear friend Atticus, Cicero reveals himself as to no other, except perhaps his brother. These letters, in a four-volume series, provide a vivid picture of a momentous period in Roman history--years marked by the rise of Julius Caesar and the downfall of the Republic.
In his epigrams, Martial (c. 40-c. 103 CE) is a keen, sharp-tongued observer of Roman scenes and events, including the new Colosseum, country life, a debauchee's banquet, and the eruption of Vesuvius. His poems are sometimes obscene, in the tradition of the genre, sometimes affectionate or amusing, and always pointed.
We know more of Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 BCE), lawyer, orator, politician and philosopher, than of any other Roman. Besides much else, his work conveys the turmoil of his time, and the part he played in a period that saw the rise and fall of Julius Caesar in a tottering republic.
The main aim of Dionysius of Halicarnassus' Roman Antiquities, which began to appear in 7 BCE, was to reconcile Greeks to Roman rule. Of the twenty books (from the earliest times to 264 BCE) we have the first nine complete; most of 10 and 11; extracts; and an epitome of the whole.
Demosthenes (384-322 BCE), orator at Athens, was a pleader in law courts who also became a champion of Athenian greatness and Greek resistance to Philip of Macedon. His steadfastness, pungent argument, and control of language gained him early reputation as the best of Greek orators, and his works provide vivid pictures of contemporary life.
The poetry of Horace (born 65 BCE) is richly varied, its focus moving between public and private concerns, urban and rural settings, Stoic and Epicurean thought. His Odes cover a wide range of moods and topics. Love and political concerns are frequent themes of the Epodes.
The Iliad and the Odyssey of Homer (eighth century BCE) are the two oldest European epic poems. The latter tells of Odysseus's journey home from the Trojan War and the temptations, delays, and dangers he faced at every turn.
Lucian (c. 120-190 CE), apprentice sculptor then travelling rhetorician, settled in Athens and developed an original brand of satire. Notable for the Attic purity and elegance of his Greek and for literary versatility, he is famous chiefly for the lively, cynical wit of the dialogues in which he satirizes human folly, superstition, and hypocrisy.
We know more of Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 BCE), lawyer, orator, politician and philosopher, than of any other Roman. Besides much else, his work conveys the turmoil of his time, and the part he played in a period that saw the rise and fall of Julius Caesar in a tottering republic.
Dio Cassius (Cassius Dio), c. 150-235 CE, was born in Bithynia. Little of his Roman History survives, but missing portions are partly supplied from elsewhere and there are many excerpts. Dio's work is a vital source for the last years of the Roman republic and the first four Roman emperors.
This is the first part of a two-volume edition of Statius's epics "Thebaid" and "Achilleid", with a freshly edited Latin text facing an English translation.
Nearly all the works Aristotle (384-322 BCE) prepared for publication are lost; the priceless ones extant are lecture-materials, notes, and memoranda (some are spurious). They can be categorized as practical; logical; physical; metaphysical; on art; other; fragments.
Nearly all the works Aristotle (384-322 BCE) prepared for publication are lost; the priceless ones extant are lecture-materials, notes, and memoranda (some are spurious). They can be categorized as practical; logical; physical; metaphysical; on art; other; fragments.
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