The lively action and well-constructed plot of the "Phormio" make it an ideal introduction to Terence and to the Roman comic genre. It well illustrates Terence's subtle handling of plot and character - two fathers, two wayward sons in love, the latter abetted by the scheming slave and by the parasite who gives his name to the play. This edition, recognising that the simplicity of Terence's Latin can be obscured by initial unfamiliarity with his colloquial (and early) poetic idiom, includes a great deal of linguistic help in the annotation. There is a full vocabulary and the introduction...

Book III of Caesar's De Bello Civili is arguably the most interesting he ever wrote, containing as it does the two major campaigns of Dyrrachium and of Pharsalus - Caesar's titanic struggle with his arch-rival Pompey. This classic edition remains an extremely serviceable introduction, designed with the comparative beginner in mind.

An introduction contains the historical background; extensive annotation gives assistance with linguistic difficulties; and there is a full vocabulary. There are full chapter headings in English enabling the reader to follow the narrative and...

"Mostellaria" is one of Plautus' most lively plays. Probably based on a Greek original, Philemon's "Ghost," it concerns the scheming slave Tranio's attempts (including the invention of a haunted house) to disguise from his old master the sexual and financial prodigality of the latter's son. The complex plot of deceit and confusion is, in the way of the genre, finally resolved in reconciliation and forgiveness. This edition, first published in 1968, was conceived as a first reader in Roman comedy. Its introduction includes sections on Plautus, on the genre, on the play and its plot, on...