Two Centuries of Roman Poetry

Book excerpt: First published by Macmillian in 1964, this volume is designed to introduce students to a wider range of Latin poetry than they would encounter in a simple author prescription. The first century BC is represented by Lucretius and Catullus, the Augustan era by Virgil, Horace and Ovid, and the Silver age by Juvenal and Martial. Passages are chosen for their own intrinsic interest - Ovid on Romulus and Remus, Juvenal on the dangers of Rome at night, the sheild of Aeneas from Virgil Aeneid VIII ; they cover a wide variety of genres and styles - both Satires and Odes of Horace, elegiacs from the Fasti and hexameters from the Metamorphoses of Ovid. There are extensive notes on language and content, an introduction on metre and a full vocabulary.