This edition is the first since J.D. Denniston's of 1926 to present the Latin text and commentary on the First and Second Philippics, two of Cicero's most polished orations, composed less than six months after the murder of Julius Caesar in March 44 BC. This period--roughly 63-44 BC--is important because the Roman state was in transition from Republic to Empire. The Second Philippic not only presents Cicero's assessment of his own political career and his place in Roman history from a perspective late in his life, but it also provides a vivid eyewitness account of how Julius Caesar, with the...

This is the first ever full-scale commentary in English on Eunuchus (The Eunuch) by the Roman comic playwright Terence. This was his most successful play in his lifetime and one of his most popular plays in the Renaissance period, though it has been surprisingly neglected by modern commentators. The book provides a thorough examination of the literary and dramatic qualities of the play, and also offers a close study of Terence's Latin in comparison with that of his predecessor Plautus.

This is the first edition of Platus' Amphitruo to appear in English for approximately forty years. It contains introductory essays, Latin text and a line-by-line commentary. Students will find this an indispensable tool in reading and translating the play, which was enormously popular in antiquity and has inspired modern adaptations by Moliere, Giraudoux and Harold Pinter, among others. Dr. Christenson makes use of both current critical approaches to theater and traditional classical scholarship to offer many new insights into this delightful comedy.

This is an edition of Tacitus' work on oratory, with a substantial introduction and commentary. It is the first commentary in English in over 100 years and the only one at this level. It is designed to elucidate problems of language and reference in the text and to put the reader in the picture as regards late first-century AD society and literature, particularly oratory, still the most important activity within the Roman elite.

The seventy-eight letters in this Anthology are selected both for their intrinsic interest and to illustrate the range of functions letters performed in the ancient world. Dating from between c.500 BC and c.400 AD, they include naive and high-style, "real" and "fictitious," and classical and patristic items.

Propertius' fourth book is his most challenging and innovative. It disrupts genre; dislocates time and order; and meditates on gender, perception and history. A sort of postmodernism combines with narrative and structural verve, incisively physical writing and a gallery of colourful characters. This edition makes a demanding and rewarding text more accessible and more intelligible. The text is new; help and fresh ideas are offered on the text and meaning of words. A wide range of literary, inscriptional and archaeological material is used to illuminate this many-sided poetry. Much more space...

As consul in 63 BC Cicero faced a conspiracy to overthrow the Roman state launched by the frustrated consular candidate Lucius Sergius Catilina. Cicero's handling of this crisis would shape foreverafter the way he defined himself and his statesmanship. The four speeches he delivered during the crisis show him at the height of his oratorical powers and political influence. Divided between deliberative speeches given in the senate (1 and 4) and informational speeches delivered before the general public (2 and 3), the Catilinarians illustrate Cicero's adroit handling of several distinct types of...

This up-to-date edition offers a detailed literary and cultural analysis of Euripides' Helen, a work which arguably embodies the variety and dynamism of fifth-century Athenian tragedy more than any other surviving play. The story of an exemplary wife (not an adulteress) who went to Egypt (not to Troy), Euripides' 'new Helen' skilfully transforms and supplants earlier currents of literature and myth. The Introduction elucidates Euripides' treatment of Helen and sets the play in its wider intellectual context. It also discusses questions of genre and reception, rejecting such descriptions as...

Ninety poems by Martial, the first-century a.d. epigrammatist, are presented, with commentary, in this edition. Selected on the basis of their thematic importance, these concise poems provide an unique opportunity to interpret a significantly neglected author. The book considers the sociocultural and historical matrix from which the epigrams sprang and the Roman love of personal invective which sustains and enlivens a major portion of Martial's work.

This volume presents the Latin text, with an Introduction and full commentary, of Book XIII of the Roman poet Ovid's long work Metamorphoses. It discusses in detail Ovid's treatment of his sources and sets out the ways in which he adapted earlier literature as material for his novel enterprise. Guidance is offered on points of language and style, and the Introduction treats in general terms the themes of metamorphosis and the structure of the poem as a whole.