Books in the Loeb Classical Library series

Unlike his predecessors, Epictetus (c. 50-120 CE), who grew up as a slave, taught Stoicism not for the select few but for the many. A student, the historian Arrian, recorded Epictetus's lectures and, in the Encheiridion, a handbook, summarized his thought.

In Fasti Ovid (43 BCE-17 CE) sets forth explanations of the festivals and sacred rites that were noted on the Roman calendar, and relates in graphic detail the legends attached to specific dates. The poem is an invaluable source of information about religious practices.

Works such as those of the mime-writer Publilius Syrus, who flourished c. 45 BCE, and Rutilius Namatianus, who gave a graphic account of his voyage from Rome to Gaul in 416 CE, represent the wide variety of theme that lends interest to Latin poetry produced during a period of four and a half centuries.

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.

Cyropaedia by Xenophon (c. 430-c. 354 BCE) is a historical romance on the education of the sixth century BCE Persian king Cyrus the Elder that reflects Xenophon's ideas about rulers and government.

Diodorus' Library of History, written in the first century BCE, is the most extensively preserved history by an ancient Greek author. The work is in three parts: mythical history to the Trojan War; history to Alexander's death (323 BCE); history to 54 BCE. Books 1-5 and 11-20 survive complete, the rest in fragments.

The comedies of Plautus, who brilliantly adapted Greek plays for Roman audiences c. 205-184 BCE, are the earliest Latin works to survive complete and cornerstones of the European theatrical tradition from Shakespeare and Moliere to modern times. Twenty-one of his plays are extant.

Aelius Aristides (117-after 180), among the most versatile authors of the Second Sophistic and an important figure in the transmission of Hellenism, produced speeches and lectures, declamations on historical themes, polemical works, prose hymns, and essays on a wide variety of subjects.

Based on the critical edition of Malcovati, this three-volume Loeb edition of Roman Republican oratory begins with Ap. Claudius Caecus (340-273 BC) and with the exceptions of Cato the Elder and Cicero includes all individuals for whom speech-making is attested and for whose speeches quotations, testimonia, or historiographic recreations survive.

This eleventh and final volume in the Loeb Classical Library's complete edition of Hippocrates' invaluable texts contains Diseases of Women 1 and 2, focusing on reproductive life, the pathological conditions affecting the reproductive organs, and their proper terminology and recommended treatments. A lexicon of therapeutic agents is included.

Aelian's Historical Miscellany (Varia Historia) is a pleasurable example of light reading for Romans of the early third century. Offering engaging anecdotes about historical figures, retellings of legendary events, and enjoyable descriptive pieces, Aelian's collection of nuggets and narratives appealed to a wide reading public.

The philosopher Philo, born about 20 BCE to a prominent Jewish family in Alexandria, was trained in Greek as well as Jewish learning. In attempting to reconcile biblical teachings with Greek philosophy he developed ideas that had wide influence on Christian and Jewish religious thought.

Diogenes Laertius (probably early third century BCE) compiled his compendium on the lives and doctrines of the ancient philosophers from hundreds of sources. It ranges over three centuries, from Thales to Epicurus, portraying forty-five important figures, and is enriched by numerous quotations.

Ammianus (c. 325-c. 395 CE), a Greek from Antioch, served many years as an officer in the Roman army, then settled in Rome, where he wrote a Latin history of the Roman Empire. The portion that survives covers twenty-five years in the historian's own lifetime: the reigns of Constantius, Julian, Jovian, Valentinian I, and Valens.

The epic Dionysiaca by Nonnos of Panopolis in Egypt (fifth century CE) concerns Dionysus' earthly career from birth at Thebes to reception on Olympus. In a poem full of mythology, astrology, and magic, Nonnos relates the god's conquest of the East and also, sensually and explicitly, his amorous adventures.

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.

Aristotle (384-322 BC), the great Greek thinker, researcher, and educator, ranks among the most important and influential figures in the history of philosophy, theology, and science. Rhetoric, probably composed while he was still a member of Plato's Academy, is the first systematic approach to persuasive public speaking and a classic of its kind.

Appian (ca. AD 95-161) is a principal source for the history of the Roman Republic. His theme is the process by which Rome achieved her contemporary prosperity, and his method is to trace in individual books the story of each nation's wars with Rome up through her own civil wars. This Loeb edition replaces the original by Horace White (1912-13).

Though attributed to Hesiod (eighth or seventh century BC) in antiquity, the Catalogue of Women, a presentation of legendary Greek heroes and episodes according to maternal genealogy; The Shield, a counterpoint to the Iliadic shield of Achilles; and certain poems that survive as fragments were likely not composed by Hesiod himself.