Kategoria BISAC: Literary Criticism >> Ancient and Classical

Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso, 43 BCE17 CE), born at Sulmo, studied rhetoric and law at Rome. Later he did considerable public service there, and otherwise devoted himself to poetry and to society. Famous at first, he offended the emperor Augustus by his "Ars Amatoria, " and was banished because of this work and some other reason unknown to us, and dwelt in the cold and primitive town of Tomis on the Black Sea. He continued writing poetry, a kindly man, leading a temperate life. He died in exile.

Ovid's main surviving works are the "Metamorphoses, " a source of inspiration to artists and...

The correspondence of Fronto--a much admired orator and rhetorician who was befriended by the emperor Antoninus Pius and teacher of his adopted sons Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus--offers an invaluable picture of aristocratic life and literary culture in the 2nd century. His letters reveal Fronto's strong stylistic views and dislike of Stoicism as well as his family joys and sorrows. They portray the successes and trials of a prominent figure in the palace, literary salons, the Senate, and lawcourts, and they give a fascinating record of the relationship between the foremost teacher of...

Lucian (ca. 120190 CE), the satirist from Samosata on the Euphrates, started as an apprentice sculptor, turned to rhetoric and visited Italy and Gaul as a successful travelling lecturer, before settling in Athens and developing his original brand of satire. Late in life he fell on hard times and accepted an official post in Egypt.

Although notable for the Attic purity and elegance of his Greek and his literary versatility, Lucian is chiefly famed for the lively, cynical wit of the humorous dialogues in which he satirises human folly, superstition and hypocrisy. His aim was to amuse...

Cicero (Marcus Tullius, 10643 BCE), Roman lawyer, orator, politician and philosopher, of whom we know more than of any other Roman, lived through the stirring era which saw the rise, dictatorship, and death of Julius Caesar in a tottering republic. In his political speeches especially and in his correspondence we see the excitement, tension and intrigue of politics and the part he played in the turmoil of the time. Of about 106 speeches, delivered before the Roman people or the Senate if they were political, before jurors if judicial, 58 survive (a few of them incompletely). In the...

Cicero (Marcus Tullius, 10643 BCE), Roman lawyer, orator, politician and philosopher, of whom we know more than of any other Roman, lived through the stirring era which saw the rise, dictatorship, and death of Julius Caesar in a tottering republic. In his political speeches especially and in his correspondence we see the excitement, tension and intrigue of politics and the part he played in the turmoil of the time. Of about 106 speeches, delivered before the Roman people or the Senate if they were political, before jurors if judicial, 58 survive (a few of them incompletely). In the...

Florus, born apparently in Africa, lived in Spain and in Rome in Hadrian's time. He wrote, in brief pointed rhetorical style, a summary of Roman history (especially wars) in two books in order to show the greatness and decline of Roman morals. It is based chiefly on Livy. It was perhaps planned to reach his own times, but the extant work ends with Augustus's reign (30 BCE14 CE). This Epitome is a useful rapid sketch of Roman military history.

Poetry by Florus is also available in the Loeb Classical Library, in "Minor Latin Poets, Volume II."

Cicero (Marcus Tullius, 10643 BCE), Roman lawyer, orator, politician and philosopher, of whom we know more than of any other Roman, lived through the stirring era which saw the rise, dictatorship, and death of Julius Caesar in a tottering republic. In his political speeches especially and in his correspondence we see the excitement, tension and intrigue of politics and the part he played in the turmoil of the time. Of about 106 speeches, delivered before the Roman people or the Senate if they were political, before jurors if judicial, 58 survive (a few of them incompletely). In the...